x1@oxy.edu (Rodney J. Hoffman) (03/28/91)
Writing in Wed.'s 'Los Angeles Times' (p. A3), Henry Weinstein reports on one of the keynote addresses from this week's Conference on Computers, Freedom, and Privacy, sponsored by Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility. According to the article, renowned constitutional scholar Laurence Tribe called for a 27th Amendment to the US Constitution "in order to preserve privacy and other individual rights threatened by the spread of computer technology.... to cope with the many questions raised by the advent of 'cyberspace,' a place without physical walls, or even physical dimensions, where an increasing amount of the world's communication and business -- ranging from ordinary letters to huge global transfers of money -- is taking place, via computer and telephone lines." Further quotes from the article: "The existence of such a place creates all sorts of potential problems, Tribe noted, because the nation's constitutional order historically has carved up the social, legal and political universe along the lines of 'physical places' which, in many situations, no longer exist. There is a 'clear and present danger' that the Constitution's core values of freedom, equality and privacy will be 'metamorphosed into oblivion' unless policy-makers come to grips with the ramifications of technological change, Tribe said...." "The proposed new amendment would provide that the Constitution's protections for free speech and against unreasonable searches shall be fully applicable, regardless of the technological method or medium used to transmit, store, alter or control information. The point, he said, would be to make it clear that the Constitution, as a whole, 'protects people, not places.'.... Tribe's speech generated lengthy applause from the audience of about 400..... [N]ormally wary of Constitutional amendments, .... he said the computer revolution has created 'substantial gray areas' that need to be addressed." "Lance Hoffman, a George Washington University professor of computer science [No relation to me! -- RH] said, .... 'We're casting about, because we're in a new age in our technological development, an age where a person can spend $1,000 and buy the computer equivalent of a Saturday Night Special and take down a large computer system.'"
rogue@cellar.UUCP (Rogue Winter) (03/30/91)
Rodney Hoffman writes: > "Lance Hoffman, a George Washington University professor of computer science > [No relation to me! -- RH] said, .... > 'We're casting about, because we're in a new age in our technological > development, an age where a person can spend $1,000 and buy the computer > equivalent of a Saturday Night Special and take down a large computer system. In that case, shouldn't the people arrested and harrassed by Operation Sundevil invoke the Second Amendment - the right to keep and bear arms?
zane@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Sameer Parekh) (04/03/91)
In article <VNVkZ3w163w@cellar.UUCP> rogue@cellar.UUCP (Rogue Winter) writes: >Rodney Hoffman writes: > >> "Lance Hoffman, a George Washington University professor of computer science >> [No relation to me! -- RH] said, .... >> 'We're casting about, because we're in a new age in our technological >> development, an age where a person can spend $1,000 and buy the computer >> equivalent of a Saturday Night Special and take down a large computer system. > > > In that case, shouldn't the people arrested and harrassed by Operation >Sundevil invoke the Second Amendment - the right to keep and bear arms? Interesting idea. . .the purpose of the 2nd Amendment (in my view) is to allow the people to protect themselves from the government. (The British didn't allow the colonists to have arms and hampered the revolution.) Then if we can apply computers (and the net, etc.) to the 2nd amendment we know that we use the usenet to further freedom and fight censorship, etc. so that there is an interesting connection. . . -- The Ravings of the Insane Maniac Sameer Parekh -- zane@ddsw1.MCS.COM