If you are on the south side of the Peace Bridge in Buffalo, New York and are arrested by the Buffalo Police Department, the cops can’t search the contents of your cell phone unless they get a warrant. Their attempt to rely on an exception to the warrant requirements called “search incident to a lawful…
DetailsIt hasn’t been a good few weeks for Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE). Their networks were taken down, employees threatened, e-mails exposed, salary and personal information disseminated. Its stars and executives have been portrayed as overpaid petulant jerks. And at least some of its movies have been leaked online – including movies currently in theaters, and some…
DetailsAt a recent computer security and privacy conference here in Washington, Judge Richard Posner made headlines when he announced that privacy was “overrated” and existed mainly for the purposes of protecting criminals. According to published sources, Posner stated: “Much of what passes for the name of privacy is really just trying to conceal the disreputable parts…
DetailsImagine if someone hacked your home wireless router. Imagine if they then changed the settings to open up a separate channel on your router – a channel that allowed them to access both the router and the Internet without your knowledge or consent. Imagine then if they charged people in the neighborhood money to be…
DetailsTwo recent cases, one in the United States and the other in Germany, point out the problem of how we determine the appropriate punishment for computer hackers. To a great extent, we both over-punish and under-punish these crimes; sometimes both in the same case. Most crimes are fairly discrete events. You rob a bank, you commit an assault, and…
DetailsIt all sounds like the plot of a major Hollywood blockbuster. Dave Skylark of the TV show “Skylark Tonight” and his producer Aaron Rapoport are recruited by the CIA to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in the movie, “The Interview.” Haven’t seen it? It’s no wonder. The film’s distributor, Sony Pictures, was supposed to release…
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