October 31, 2002 - Halloween
I've just finished reading about one of the scariest pieces of US
legislation I've ever seen - UCITA
or Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act makes all that verbiage
(and more) that you find on "click-throughs" during installation
of software (that won't install unless you click "OK") and
inside sealed boxes of software (i.e. you can't read it until you've
purchased the software) and even on web sites, binding even if it
contravenes other laws such as those against fraud and other consumer
protection statutes.
Watch this space for some thoughts and comments.
November 2, 2002
Today was "cherry tree" day - the tree in our back yard
finally was removed. Lots of work hiking heavy pieces to Vance's van so he
could take it to his home on Vancouver Island for carving. I'll post
pictures of the results as I get them.
Today was also the date for the local Vancouver Cyber
Crime gathering. I'm sorry I couldn't be there but the cherry tree has
been in the works for several months now :(
There are lots of things in this world that I think should be changed -
but the changes proposed in the cyber crime bill are so far out in left
field that they are laughable - at least they would be if they were not
real.
The biggest problem with it is the fact that such well meaning people
have such a warped and bogus idea of what technology in general and the
Internet in specific is all about. On the other hand, I suppose it is a
not unrealistic attempt by well meaning people to deal with a problem they
can't yet come to complete grips with.
So... having stated that I'm kind of in the middle; what is my specific
stance on the problem or, what are my suggestions in the matter?
On the one hand we have the pornographers, bettors, spammers, frauds,
cheats, liars, terrorists, fanatics, lunatics, etc.
On the other we have the law enforcement agencies, FBI, CIA, CSIS
(Canada) and other national, regional, and local police forces as well as
the various religious and ethnic organisations opposed to moral, legal and
ethical subversions of all types and expressions.
And in the middle we have the civil libertarians and, increasingly,
those of us who while not specifically aligned, give a damn about what is
happening to our basic expectations of freedom of expression and actions.
What is a fence-sitter to do?
Well, beside picking splinters out of the nether regions, I guess we
have to take a stand.
In my case I'm coming down on the side of the civil libertarians. Lots
of reasons why, but a couple of main ones are:
