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Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

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Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#161

Post by gaws »

account-5 wrote: post #132

State makes the personal information of state employees freely available to anyone with an internet connection and a web browser. Reporter notices, reports it to the state, waits for it to be fixed, then runs the story. State governor goes after reporter. The state governor is either an idiot, or trying to cover up iltheir incompetence, or both. And doing so in a way that makes him look like more of an idiot. If the…

> The state governor is either an idiot, or trying to cover up iltheir incompetence, or both.

He's both, in addition to trying to "stand up to the fake news" for his voter base.

Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#162

Post by gaws »

denton-scratch wrote: post #19

> If somebody picks your lock on your house It's not like picking a lock. It's more like turning over a sheet of paper to read what's on the other side. If this guy gets convicted, I'll eat my hat (I wear a fedora). "Thy just thow their fedora wherever the floor is And start doing horas and taps".

> I'll eat my hat (I wear a fedora).

You should do that regardless.

Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#163

Post by gaws »

agar wrote: post #140

I find it overly amusing that the article is tagged with "CHRIST WHAT AN ASSHOLE". After clicking through to see other stories with the same tag, it's...apt.

What did you expect? It's BoingBoing. Not really at the pinnacle of American journalism.

Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#164

Post by gaws »

wonderwonder wrote: post #138

We are very much on the slippery slope of elected officials making prosecutors punish people they don't like. Short hop and a jump to Putin like rule. We are not going in the right direction in the US.

> We are very much on the slippery slope of elected officials making prosecutors punish people they don't like.

Are you living under a rock? This has been happening for a while.

Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#165

Post by rbanffy »

badRNG wrote: post #152
ensignavenger wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reporter did not access anything they did not have permission to access! It was on a publicly accessible website, posted publicly, for the purpose of public dissemination. The statue is even more restrictive than that- the part you didn't quote: "A person commits the offense of tampering with computer data if he or she knowingly and without authorization or without reasonable grounds to believe that he has such a…

I totally agree with you in principle. Everything the reporter accessed was publicly accessible. That said, it seems like a prosecutor could articulate an argument that the reporter accessed information he had no reasonable grounds to believe he was authorized to access because he deliberately decoded some Base64-encoded strings that the reporter expected to contain sensitive information. Further, that because the re…

> think to yourself whether you are confident you could convince a tech-illiterate prosecutor (who is looking to "hold fake news accountable") to see things your way.

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.”

— Upton Sinclair

Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#166

Post by pbhjpbhj »

MR4D wrote: post #25
pbhjpbhj wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any thoughts on how to tailor political systems to work around demagoguery but maintain functioning democracy?

We already have it - it’s the 3 branches of government that provide for an independent judiciary.

In USA? Judiciary are political appointees aren't they.

Apologies if that was a joke.

Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#167

Post by 908B64B197 »

pyrale wrote: post #18

I don't really like the framing that the reporter is framed for using "view source". This reinforces the idea that the people responsible for this are just uneducated. I'm sure, at this point, someone already explained them. That reporter is a victim of harassment, and that if it wasn't for "view source", it could be for some unrelated stuff. It's the same as protesters being arrested for all kinds of bogus reasons,…

This whole story honnestly paints a very bleak picture of the state of Missouri.

Honnestly, if I was a young, college educated innovator would that make me more likely to move to Missouri (or stay there) or move out of state?

Is Missouri attracting talent with these policies and practices?

Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#168

Post by salawat »

tharkun__ wrote: post #112
salawat wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're going down dicey waters there. Say your neighbor has an atrium and gets medication delivered. Said medication is clearly labeled as light/heat sensitive, and the package is left by the delivery person in direct sunlight. Their front door is unlocked. You open the door and tuck the package safely inside. Breaking and entering? Anyone telling me that qualifies has some serious thinking on Mens Rea to do.

Technically yes, you are breaking and entering under what I can find as the legal definition of breaking and entering in the US (IANAL and don't live in the US even): https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/breaking_and_entering Breaking and entering is the entering of a building through force without authorization. The slightest force including pushing open a door is all that is necessary. Breaking also includes entering a…

>Breaking and entering is the entering of a building through force without authorization.

Where's the force? Door unlocked. I'll give ya the lack of auth though as I'm not willing to die on the hill of unlocked doors being an implied grant of authorization.

Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#169

Post by denton-scratch »

gaws wrote: post #162
denton-scratch wrote: post #19

> If somebody picks your lock on your house It's not like picking a lock. It's more like turning over a sheet of paper to read what's on the other side. If this guy gets convicted, I'll eat my hat (I wear a fedora). "Thy just thow their fedora wherever the floor is And start doing horas and taps".

> I'll eat my hat (I wear a fedora). You should do that regardless.

I'm aware that there are people here who object to fedoras! TBH I guess I was trolling them.

I don't know what it is; maybe they think it's vanity and fashion. If you asked anyone I know whether that matched me, they'd all burst out laughing - I'm a notorious slob.

I wear a hat because my natural scalp insulation is wearing out, and when I buy things I like to buy good things. A good felt hat with a brim is resistant to heavy rain, for example, and makes a brolly unnecessary.

I like to cook; but I don't know how to cook rabbit-fur felt so that it can be chewed. And my digestion isn't that great. Maybe I went too far, saying I'd do that.

Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#170

Post by ethbr0 »

Volker_W wrote: post #99
ethbr0 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I can't believe the defense wouldn't be able to present an expert witness / cross-examine the prosecution's on the distinctions between "encoding" and "encrypting."

If Wikipedia tells you how to read something, it is not encrypted. If base64 is an encryption, then so is jpeg or *.docx .

I guess base64 is cryptographically a substitution cipher with a public pad. Which... you'd think using a ~2000+ year old method in a known-harmful way would stretch the term.
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