If another nation had specifically trained agents in ways to subvert our constitution, and then managed to get these agents embedded into positions throughout the government, would we be afraid? Very afraid!
Ohm argues that a number of 'significant harms' flow from the acceptance of the 'exaggerated arguments' about Superhackers. For instance, laws that are made intentionally broad so as not to allow a Superhacker to go free on a technicality. Consequently, 'You might be a felon under the [Computer Fraud and Abuse Act's] broad "hacking" provisions if you: breach a contract; "transmit" a program from a floppy to your employer-issued laptop; or send a lot of e-mail messages.' Another effect is that the police are often grated 'better search and surveillance authorities and tools' to pursue Superhackers, but this 'can be used unjustifiably to intrude upon civil liberties. Search warrants for computers are a prime example; the judges who sign and review computer warrants usually authorize sweeping and highly invasive searches justified by storytelling' about the abilities of the Superhacker to cleverly hide illegal data on his computer.Privacy advocates fret about super-hackers who can steal millions of identities with a few keystrokes. Digital rights management opponents argue that DRM is inherently flawed, because some hacker will always find an exploit. (The DRM debate is unusual, because the power-user trope appears on both sides: DRM proponents argue that because they can never win the arms race against powerful users, they need laws like the DMCA.)
These stories could usefully contribute to these debates if they were cited for what they were: interesting anecdotes that open a window into the empirical realities of online conflict. Instead, in a cluttered rhetorical landscape, stories like these supplant a more meaningful empirical inquiry.
Plenty of people who link computers and other devices to the internet over a wireless network are finding they can no longer connect quite as easily as they once could. That's certainly my experience and, if the many, many emails I received after grumbling about it in public are anything to go by, it's a problem many Register Hardware readers face too.
Want to learn how to wash your hands in molten lead? Fancy making an egg dance, or writing appear on rose petals? For such tricky trickery, who would you turn to but the man who taught Leonardo da Vinci his numbers?
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