Re: Shifty Shell Prompts
Kenny Lussier wrote: So, using shell commands is now a sign of illegal activity... stirring the pot with a follow-up, the EFF reports: * A JUDGE HAS ORDERED POLICE TO RETURN A LAPTOP AND OTHER PROPERTY SEIZED FROM A BOSTON COLLEGE COMPUTER SCIENCE STUDENT'S DORM ROOM after finding there was no probable cause to search the room in the first place. The police were investigating whether the student sent hoax emails about another student. EFF and Boston law firm Fish and Richardson are representing the computer science student, who was forced to complete much of the final month of the semester without his computer, phone, and network access in the wake of the now-rejected search. For the full press release: http://www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/05/22 Disclaimer: not speaking as a GNHLUG official, just a private citizen (and EFF member) -- Ted Roche Ted Roche Associates, LLC http://www.tedroche.com ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Shifty Shell Prompts
On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 8:48 AM, Kenny Lussier kluss...@gmail.com wrote: So, using shell commands is now a sign of illegal activity... http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/boston-college-prompt-commands-are-suspicious According to the always-reliable Slashdot comments /irony, EFF is taking the warrant statements rather out-of-context. Reading it[1], I would agree. The reason the guy was arrested is that the police allege there is evidence he is fencing stolen goods, hacking into university grading systems, and posting libelous statements about his roommate. The roommate prolly just doesn't know Linux even is. It's also worth pointing out that even Windows has a command prompt; I spent a lot of time at %DAYJOB% at that prompt. If it wasn't for the university computer records that the suspect runs Linux or Unix, I'd say it would just as easily be that. [1] http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/inresearchBC/EXHIBIT-A.pdf The EFF does good work, but the nature of their work means they're sometimes rather overzealous. -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Shifty Shell Prompts
On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 8:48 AM, Kenny Lussier kluss...@gmail.com wrote: So, using shell commands is now a sign of illegal activity... http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/boston-college-prompt-commands-are-suspicious “…uses two different operating systems to hide his illegal activities. One is a regular B.C operating system and the other is a black screen with white font which he uses prompt commands on.” I'm more bothered that the witness said regular BC operating system instead of Windows. Of course, it could have been MacOS too. ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Shifty Shell Prompts
On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 9:25 AM, Tom Buskey t...@buskey.name wrote: I'm more bothered that the witness said regular BC operating system instead of Windows.. Well, sadly, that's a fair description of Microsoft Windows. It *does* have the vast majority of the market share. As someone on Slashdot pointed out[1], the thing that's really ominous is this EFF alegation: [The officer] executed the search warrant and seized ... a “postit” note on which [the suspect] was in the process of taking notes about the officers’ actions during the search. [The officer] left a Property Receipt with [the suspect] listing items seized during the search ... The seized post-it note does not appear on that receipt.[2] It's one thing to seize property when there's evidence of a crime. Thanks to due process, people like you and I can read the warrant and see what the police are doing. But when an accused can't even make notes for use in their own defense, that's a *real* problem. [1] http://news.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=1198771cid=27576931 [2] http://www.eff.org/files/filenode/inresearchBC/CalixteMemSupport.pdf -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Shifty Shell Prompts
On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 9:09 AM, Ben Scott dragonh...@gmail.com wrote: The reason the guy was arrested ... Correction: The suspect was not arrested. It was a property seizure, not an arrest. -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Shifty Shell Prompts
On Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:01:05 -0400 Ben Scott dragonh...@gmail.com wrote: [The officer] left a Property Receipt with [the suspect] listing items seized during the search ... The seized post-it note does not appear on that receipt... But when an accused can't even make notes for use in their own defense, that's a *real* problem. Speaking from total ignorance since I do not know what transpired during the search or the nature of the Post-It or the actions and behavior while it was being written upon, one could speculate it was not on the Property Receipt because it would not have been subject to the search warrant and thus could not have been listed as seized pursuant to the warrant. In other words, listing it would have been proof of exceeding the limits of the warrant. To speculate further, those who believe there is an increasing tendency for this country to be governed by men and not laws also tend to believe police officers increasingly feel empowered to take very suspect if not unlawful actions simply by reason of their position of authority and for their self interest. Who says there was a Post-It? Prove it. Are you alleging a law enforcement officer is not telling the truth? You are the accused are you not? Data point. In a argument to a court defending the strip search of middle school girl in a recent case, it was asserted the girl's spotless discipline record was not proof she was a good student, but only that she had not been caught violating school rules. Consider the implication of that statement. Ed Lawson ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Shifty Shell Prompts
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:08:46 -0400 From: Ed lawson elaw...@grizzy.com Cc: Greater NH Linux User Group gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org believe police officers increasingly feel empowered to take very suspect if not unlawful actions simply by reason of their position of authority and for their self interest. Speaking from personal experience, that's EXACTLY right. It's illegal; but that's exactly what happens. Police officers have recived such blind deference from the public (and the courts) that they'll often do anything which they feel is in their interest... as long as they're confident they won't get caught... regardless of whether or not they have legal authority to do so. Theft of post-it notes... perjury... destruction of evidence... you name it. In my case, video evidence the police had just disappeared. (More accurately, they claim it never even existed.) http://free-smiley.org/ Now, I carry a video camera with me wherever I go, and any interactions with the police get recorded, NO MATTER WHAT. In a argument to a court defending the strip search of middle school girl in a recent case, it was asserted the girl's spotless discipline record was not proof she was a good student, but only that she had not been caught violating school rules. Consider the implication of that statement. It means that people are guilty until proven innocent. Fortunately, we tech folks have an advantage over would-be abusive cops by virtue of our technological prowess: we can encrypt anything that might be incriminating, back up seizable data to remote, undisclosed, locations, and stream live audio/video of police raids via services like Qik or Porc411. But (while on the topic) there's one safe place that anyone can stash something even with no technical skills at all: a lawyer's office. Anything you give to your lawyer is protected by attorney-client privilege. No crypto required. :D Ed Lawson ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Shifty Shell Prompts
On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 8:48 AM, Kenny Lussier kluss...@gmail.com wrote: So, using shell commands is now a sign of illegal activity... http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/boston-college-prompt-commands-are-suspicious “…uses two different operating systems to hide his illegal activities. One is a regular B.C operating system and the other is a black screen with white font which he uses prompt commands on.” Not knowing what type of computers we're talking about here, it appears as if what *makes* the activity suspicios was the use of that system. The EFF argument is based on taking one line of text out of a MUCH larger document, and presenting as the the entire document. Typical 'Ub/||-| hAc3rz' types DO typically present their linux systems as being some sort of super-secret underground superplatform. I'm assuming based on the overall descriptions of this guy that it was presented this way. I can hear the ghosts of idiots from the past, Yea, look at this. I'm running Linux, because I'm part of the elite crowd, and we're all different'. Sure, I'm stereotyping him, but after the evidence which BC presented to the cop.. Well, I can't imagine what the guys like when he gets his kick from sending ananymous emails to a group of people saying, Hey everyone, I'm GAY!. -- -- Thomas ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Shifty Shell Prompts
holy war It's only suspicious if he was using EMACS, everyone knows vi is the One True Editor. /holy war 2009/4/16 Thomas Charron twaf...@gmail.com On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 8:48 AM, Kenny Lussier kluss...@gmail.com wrote: So, using shell commands is now a sign of illegal activity... http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/boston-college-prompt-commands-are-suspicious “…uses two different operating systems to hide his illegal activities. One is a regular B.C operating system and the other is a black screen with white font which he uses prompt commands on.” Not knowing what type of computers we're talking about here, it appears as if what *makes* the activity suspicios was the use of that system. The EFF argument is based on taking one line of text out of a MUCH larger document, and presenting as the the entire document. Typical 'Ub/||-| hAc3rz' types DO typically present their linux systems as being some sort of super-secret underground superplatform. I'm assuming based on the overall descriptions of this guy that it was presented this way. I can hear the ghosts of idiots from the past, Yea, look at this. I'm running Linux, because I'm part of the elite crowd, and we're all different'. Sure, I'm stereotyping him, but after the evidence which BC presented to the cop.. Well, I can't imagine what the guys like when he gets his kick from sending ananymous emails to a group of people saying, Hey everyone, I'm GAY!. -- -- Thomas ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/ ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Shifty Shell Prompts
On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 1:04 PM, Curtis Sandoval curtis.sando...@gmail.com wrote: holy war It's only suspicious if he was using EMACS, everyone knows vi is the One True Editor. /holy war I dunno. I mean, really, a hardcore emacs user would have customized their UI to provide color syntax highlighting. And the SPECIAl color for when you check you mail, do dishes, etc.. -- -- Thomas ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
Re: Shifty Shell Prompts
On Thu, Apr 16, 2009 at 12:31 PM, virgins...@vfemail.net wrote: ... we can encrypt anything that might be incriminating ... http://xkcd.com/538/ -- Ben ___ gnhlug-discuss mailing list gnhlug-discuss@mail.gnhlug.org http://mail.gnhlug.org/mailman/listinfo/gnhlug-discuss/
