packet j00r a55!

[nfotxn]

CNN Reports "Chat Rooms are a Haven for h4><0rZ!"

This is too funny. I can't believe that such a large news authority has such a distorted view on "hackers". Like every poseur with a ddos network of a bunch of cable modem users is a threat to national security. Get this, "terrorists" (fsck I am hating that word) aren't going to be hanging out on "1337h4x0rz" on AOL or #h4xz0rd00dz on efnet!

Why is it believed that every precocious kid should be persecuted? Ignorance, intolernace and plain old intellectual jealousy at every corner.

Comments

[brucelloyd.livejournal.com]

Information = power. The people who have conventional power, typically white guys running everything from phamaceutical companies to advertising agencies, don't like upstart kids having access to all this info. They can't change it, so they smear it, painting any kid with a cable modem as a potential threat - a terrorist. People are afraid of what they dont understand.

From a slashdot comment:

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

I think this all comes down to business interest usurping the intention of post 9/11 measures for competitive gain. To which I agree:

Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.
— President Thomas Jefferson.
1743-1826

Re: From a slashdot comment:

[notofthisworld.livejournal.com]

>Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one. — President Thomas Jefferson.

It's not that easy. The dilemma is always this: Any law which ensures the liberties of good citizens, also makes things easier for criminals. Any law which makes things more difficult for criminals, also infringes on the liberties of good citizens.

The U.S. value their civil liberties a lot, but they also have tremendously high crime rates. Japan, in contrast, has very low crime rates, but they don't exactly have the most liberal culture in the world.

Or so I vaguely (possibly incorrectly?) recall learning in that sociology class I did in 1996.

Oh, and Thomas Jefferson was a politician. I don't see how he has much cred.

Re: From a slashdot comment:

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Ok. I agree with you in entirety. I believe I learned something similar in my politics class once long ago.

Re: From a slashdot comment:

[notofthisworld.livejournal.com]

>Ok. I agree with you in entirety.

Wow. I don't think that's ever happened before.

;-)

[urso.livejournal.com]

Y'know what I heard? The telephone system is just crawling with drug dealers, rapists and murderers! Apparently, they all use it!

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

A good point was made that email and telephone conversations are (somewhat, I'd imagine) monitored by carnivore and echelon respectively. IRC, although easy to do, is not on any sort of scale that anyone knows of thus far.

This of course alarms the new civil liberty free US federal government in power right now.

[sultmhoor.livejournal.com]

Bah. There used to be a *.mil EFnet ircserver whose MOTD said any and all traffic going through it would be monitored. Let's not rewrite history...

[nfotxn.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, I remember that now.

It's a little relieving to know that it's just CNN being trashy.