US law
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Several recent government raids on computer users suspected of sharing child porn online hit the wrong targets. Instead of getting the perpetrators, some of the raids nabbed a neighbor with an open WiFi network instead. One obvious takeaway: letting total strangers use your Internet connection for any purpose comes with some risk.
After botched child porn raid, judge sees the light on IP addresses
Documents unsealed this week reveal that the year-long delay in returning the seized Dajaz1 domain name occurred in part because the government was waiting for copyright holders, including the Recording Industry Association of America, to provide more information.
Waiting on the RIAA, feds held seized Dajaz1 domain for months
Here was a typical Twitter message: “15% of Cincinnati’s Fire Dept browned out today to help pay for a streetcar boondoggle. If you think it’s a waste of money, VOTE YES on 48.”
Honest Hyperbole and Free Speech - Adam Liptak - NYTimes.com
Comment: Stolen Valor and Super PACs : The New Yorker
A peculiar law with a mellifluous name will meet its doom before the Supreme Court this week.American citizens can be ordered to decrypt their PGP-scrambled hard drives for police to peruse for incriminating files, a federal judge in Colorado ruled today in what could become a precedent-setting case. Judge Robert Blackburn ordered a Peyton, Colo., woman to decrypt the hard drive of a Toshiba laptop computer no later than February 21--or face the consequences including contempt of court. Blackburn, a George W.
Judge: Americans can be forced to decrypt their laptops | Privacy Inc. - CNET News
Post details: CA3: FISA surveillance led to domestic prosecution, and Patriot Act amendments not unconstitutional; even if they were, Krull wouldn't require exclusion
In the Fort Dix jihadist case, the use of FISA-derived evidence in a domestic case was not a violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Jurors Can Say No - NYTimes.com
IF you are ever on a jury in a marijuana case, I recommend that you vote “not guilty” — even if you think the defendant actually smoked pot, or sold it to another consenting adult. As a juror, you have this power under the Bill of Rights; if you exercise it, you become part of a proud tradition of American jurors who helped make our laws fairer.
With Liberty and Justice for Some : Six Questions for Glenn Greenwald—By Scott Horton (Harper's Magazine)
By Scott Horton In the wake of September 11, Glenn Greenwald emerged as the nation’s premier chronicler of the war that U.S. officials waged on the nation’s civil liberties under the pretext of battling terrorists. Persistent and technically skilled, he played a key role in unmasking shameless betrayals by government attorneys of their oath to uphold the law—exposing those who enabled the torture of prisoners, the introduction of a massive warrantless surveillance system, and the merciless war against loyal Americans who attempted to blow the whistle on such abuses.FISA
FOIA
ACTA / SOPA / PIPA / COICA
US law enforcement & criminal justice
PATRIOT Act
The House Judiciary Committee passed a bill yesterday that would make it a federal crime for U.S. residents to discuss or plan activities on foreign soil that, if carried out in the U.S., would violate the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) -- even if the planned activities are legal in the countries where they're carried out. H.R. 313, the "Drug Trafficking Safe Harbor Elimination Act of 2011," is sponsored by Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep.
U.S. Drug Policy Would Be Imposed Globally By New House Bill
I wanted to actually read the opinion before I posted (radical, I know).
11th Circuit – Broccoli wins! | The Incidental Economist
Hacker and activist Aaron Swartz faces federal hacking prosecution for allegedly downloading millions of academic documents via MIT’s guest network, using a laptop hidden in a networking closet.
Rogue Academic Downloader Busted by MIT Webcam Stakeout, Arrest Report Says | Threat Level | Wired.com
Aaron Swartz’s Web Activism May Cost Him Dearly - NYTimes.com
That image came to mind with the case of Aaron Swartz, a 24-year-old agitator for free access to information on the Internet who managed to download more than four million articles and reviews onto his laptop computers from a subscription-only digital storehouse.If it's true that Aaron Swartz's foray into an MIT computer wiring closet was as part of a project to copy JSTOR research and upload it to file sharing sites for open access, then I imagine part of the government's rationale for going after him would be the hope that it would act as a deterrent against anyone else doing the same thing.
Aaron Swartz Indictment Leading People To... Upload JSTOR Research To File Sharing Sites | Techdirt
The government argues that, in spite of the fact that Saifullah Paracha’s Gitmo Detainee Assessment Brief was leaked in April, his lawyer, David Remes, cannot talk about it. Because if he did, we might conclude the DAB was real.
DOJ: Calling Out Government Lies Would Endanger National Security | Emptywheel
SCOTUS