[AusNOG] Ans So It Begins

[Andrew Fort]

On Wed, Oct 6, 2010 at 9:35 AM, Phil Pierotti
<phil.pierotti at platformnetworks.net> wrote:
> "The federal government has confirmed that circumventing the proposed internet filter could constitute a
> criminal offence, and said it has not received any evidence suggesting the policy will lead to an increase in
> encrypted internet traffic."
>
> Maybe I'm just getting old-n-senile but I'd swear that previously we had been *very clearly* told that circumventing the filter would *not* be a crime.
>
> So:
> - as an ISP failing to implement the filter is a criminal offence.
> - as a customer circumventing the filter is a criminal offence
> - giving advice on how to perform criminal acts is (I'd assume) a criminal offence
> - so teaching people about ways to circumvent the filter is a criminal offence
>

Excuse me while I wipe that non-existent look of shock off my face :/.
 What concerns me is that simply training people about network
engineering could eventually be considered a "circumvention training",
and thus, be a criminal offense.  I'd argue the government is already
doing a good enough job of sending all our talented engineers overseas
(both sides of government, for at least 35 years: history's a bitch).

If you think that's paranoid - and yes, right now, it is - well
consider that every field within 100km of a city in Australia will
eventually be paved, have a shopping centre and an airfield, etc...
The use of laws evolve in similar ways.

Consider the US Lanham Act (http://www.bitlaw.com/source/15usc/).
Initially used for trademark protection (e.g., to avoid a bootlegger
getting some barley and muddy water and calling it Your Trademarked
Rum), but is now used to sue people who use your product in ways in
which they did not originally intend (e.g., a Coca-Cola bottle being
used in a sex act).  While most of these things get thrown out of
court (such as this hilarious case;
http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/807), I certainly imagine this
being used to enrich bottom-feeding lawyer scum in the case of
'circumvention' training, much as it has in DMCA related cases.

-- 
Andrew Fort (afort at choqolat.org)