wex@dali.pws.bull.com (Buckaroo Banzai) (10/20/90)
The following is excerpted from a Boston Globe article printed in today's (10/19) Business section: "The Dukakis administration, the state attorney general and [the Massachusetts Computer Software Council] yesterday hammered out a tentative compromise on a computer crime bill that could allow final legislation to be signed into law by the end of the year. "Congress and other states have enacted statutes that make unauthorized entry into computers a criminal offense. But revisions to the Massachusetts bill break new ground my more carefully balancing security needs against the privacy and First Amendment rights of computer users [...] "''This explicitly recognizes that any time you make laws about computers that affect their data, you should make sure you don't unintentionally violate somebody else's privacy interests,'' said Mitch Kapor, [of ON - later the article identifies him as an EFF founder]. "Final terms of the compromise still ahve to be worked out [...] a bill should be ready for Dukakis' signature by December [...]. [the bill more carefully defines what's really a crime and makes differentiation between serious offenses and more mild ones.] "Kapor said he backed the compromise because it ensures that the ''least restrictive means'' will be used to stop ''hackers'' and others who break into computers." [...] I will provide more info about this bill as it comes to light. I have no other information right now, nor have I ever heard of the Massachusetts Computer Software Council before now. -- --Alan Wexelblat phone: (508)294-7485 Bull Worldwide Information Systems internet: wex@pws.bull.com Never worry about theory as long as the machinery does what it's supposed to do.