Petition to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act | Hacker News Reader

Petition to reform the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act

petitions.whitehouse.gov

39 pointsjmediast13 comments

It's a workable first step. Some suggestions:

You need to actually suggest new wording. Lawyers can be consulted -- does the EFF propose model legislation? Perhaps it should.

Convincing your senators and representatives that this is an injustice that needs to be fixed would help.

I think the danger with encouraging lawmakers ignorant of how computers work to make more laws is that they will not actually improve things.

I'm not sure I'd worry about that... if the proposed laws were worse, then I think you'd see another SOPA/PIPA style reaction.

And then you have to consider the chances that a response from the administration will actually start an investigation / reformation.

For better or worse though, I guess I'm willing to see where it goes.

Do you think Pussyriot would be free today if there were no laws against "hooliganism and incitement of religious hatred"? Once the prosecutors go after someone, they will try to win at all costs, to the point of ruining someone and their family members.

That is the issue that needs a petition.

Wrong country. If they had pulled those stunts in America, 2 of them wouldn't be sitting in a prison cell right now.

The problem is wider than the CFRA. The problem is with criminal prosecution of citizens that were not intending to commit a crime. Criminal intent is a cornerstone of our legal system but more and more it's becoming unimportant in prosecutions.

I've always heard the phrase "ignorance of the law excuses no one". Now, should it? In many cases maybe so, but we all know the obvious cases where it probably shouldn't.

But to assume that intent is the rule of thumb or has been since... Well, I'm 32 and have never understood it to be. To assume that it is, is odd to me. That's genuinely an attitude I've never heard argued by someone who wasn't an accused party.

The concept that ignorance of the law is not an excuse is certainly critical here. The principle exists since it would be easy to simply claim ignorance.

At the same time, the concept of "mens rea" or "a guilty mind" plays an important part in criminal law. If you knew what you were doing was wrong, and you did it anyway, that establishes intent. For example, you can't typically be punished for trespassing until you've been told you are trespassing (hence signs that say "Posted - No Tresspassing"). Once you continue onto the property, you've committed the act overtly, and are therefore guilty of a crime.

This petition is guranteed to fail. The domain of writing, passing, and modifying laws is the domain of Congress, not the President. You can pester the President all you want, but it is not within his Constitutional powers to do anything about the law. (Indeed, even announcing that the DOJ should not enforce the law is a potentially impeachable offense depending on the political environment.)

If you want the CFAA reformed, call, write, and/or meet with your Congressional Rep and Senator and tell them what you think of the law.

It's a useful vehicle for starting the process, bringing attention to the issue, clearly explaining what and why, providing a single point of action for people to focus on, and gauging support.

If all that goes well and the petition gets enough signatures and visibility, then that's a good point to segue off into the more difficult organizational problem of getting all those people to actually call their rep.

Additionally, the President has to sign such a law eventually anyway, so starting movements with a plea to the President has some benefit in that regard as well.

I love how this is being downvoted not by people who are upset at the inaccuracy of what you posted but rather out of either ignorance of how our country's government is designed to work, or those who are angry for some reason and take it out on your poor, little downvote arrow. What you've said is 100% true and starting/signing a petition such is this is the very epitome of slactivism. As @nhebb here said recently, " Slacktivism is like leveling up in a video game. It gives you the sense of accomplishment, even though you haven't done jack shit in real life."

How is it that every single post you make has some inaccuracy?

Right now, Obama is considering executive orders to change gun laws. If he wanted to issue an executive order about the CFAA, or instruct DOJ not to enforce it, or push Congress to do something, he sure could move the needle.

The petition is all about bringing attention to the matter.

EDIT: See? Every comment you make is so clearly wrong (no one outside HN cares, federal prosecutors have no discretion, seeing Ortiz disciplined would be a "fantasy") that it is falsified in realtime.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/15/zoe-lofgren-aarons-...

  WASHINGTON -- Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) took to the 
  online forum Aaron Swartz helped found on Tuesday night to 
  propose legislation honoring the late Internet activist.

  "I'm Rep. Zoe Lofgren & I'm introducing 'Aaron's Law' to 
  change the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act," Lofgren wrote in 
  a Reddit post. Swartz, 26, committed suicide on Friday.

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