Careful with what you click on!

[momopi]

http://prorev.com/2008/03/clicking-on-w ... s-now.html

Friday, March 21, 2008

CLICKING ON THE WRONG WEB SITE IS NOW A FEDERAL CRIME

CNET - The FBI has recently adopted a novel investigative technique: posting hyperlinks that purport to be illegal videos of minors having sex, and then raiding the homes of anyone willing to click on them.

Undercover FBI agents used this hyperlink-enticement technique, which directed Internet users to a clandestine government server, to stage armed raids of homes in Pennsylvania, New York, and Nevada last year. The supposed video files actually were gibberish and contained no illegal images.

A CNET News.com review of legal documents shows that courts have approved of this technique, even though it raises questions about entrapment, the problems of identifying who's using an open wireless connection--and whether anyone who clicks on a FBI link that contains no child pornography should be automatically subject to a dawn raid by federal police. . .

The implications of the FBI's hyperlink-enticement technique are sweeping. Using the same logic and legal arguments, federal agents could send unsolicited e-mail messages to millions of Americans advertising illegal narcotics or child pornography--and raid people who click on the links embedded in the spam messages. The bureau could register the "unlawfulimages.com" domain name and prosecute intentional visitors. And so on. . .

While it might seem that merely clicking on a link wouldn't be enough to justify a search warrant, courts have ruled otherwise. On March 6, U.S. District Judge Roger Hunt in Nevada agreed with a magistrate judge that the hyperlink-sting operation constituted sufficient probable cause to justify giving the FBI its search warrant. . .

The magistrate judge ruled that even the possibilities of spoofing or other users of an open Wi-Fi connection "would not have negated a substantial basis for concluding that there was probable cause to believe that evidence of child pornography would be found on the premises to be searched." Translated, that means the search warrant was valid.

Entrapment: Not a defense So far, at least, attorneys defending the hyperlink-sting cases do not appear to have raised unlawful entrapment as a defense.

"Claims of entrapment have been made in similar cases, but usually do not get very far," said Stephen Saltzburg, a professor at George Washington University's law school. "The individuals who chose to log into the FBI sites appear to have had no pressure put upon them by the government...It is doubtful that the individuals could claim the government made them do something they weren't predisposed to doing or that the government overreached.". . .

Civil libertarians warn that anyone who clicks on a hyperlink advertising something illegal--perhaps found while Web browsing or received through e-mail--could face the same fate.

When asked what would stop the FBI from expanding its hyperlink sting operation, Harvey Silverglate, a longtime criminal defense lawyer in Cambridge, Mass. and author of a forthcoming book on the Justice Department, replied: "Because the courts have been so narrow in their definition of 'entrapment,' and so expansive in their definition of 'probable cause,' there is nothing to stop the Feds from acting as you posit."

[jamesbond]

Wow, I guess big brother is watching us. Maybe these prophecy experts are correct in saying we are headed toward a new world order and a one world government! David Icke is one such person, check out his informative videos on youtube. He said within 5-10 years we will be living in a global facist state! Maybe we are headed in that direction! More of our civil liberties have been taken away over the past few years than ever before! Another reason to head to another country and start a new life where the government does not spy on it's citizens! Now they have microchips that fit under a persons skin and the government can keep track of people that way! It's some pretty scary stuff!

[Jackal]

Yikes! That is scary. Your browser could freeze up, you click on some random buttons, and then the government thinks you willingly clicked on something that you'd never click on normally.

I guess the lesson to us all is: Don't take candy from TGPs you don't know! There are also anonymizing web proxies and other privacy services out there. If you want real security, I hear you need Linux. Most servers run Linux, and Unix is the language of the internet (or at least it used to be). The NSA uses a special version of Linux custom-built for them.

Dang, penguins must be smart!

[Winston]

My God that is horrible.

First of all, the FBI would be committing a crime themselves for even posting such links.

Second, having thoughts of an unacceptable desire is not the same as acting on it. Everyone has crazy thoughts, even of suicide, sometimes, but as long as you don't act on them.......

Third, like someone said, one could accidentally click on them too.

Fourth, just cause someone has unacceptable or illegal desires and tastes does not automatically make them evil in the sense that they have chosen to follow Satan or the dark side of the Force. Some people just have very nonmainstream desires, but it doesn't make them monsters.

FBI staff tend to be highly intelligent, educated, and trained, the cream of the law enforcement crop so to speak, and should know better than to do this.

[Jackal]

Well, this is probably just an easy way for the FBI to get a lot of arrests and look productive. Every couple of years, political pressure begins to mount for an anti-smut brigade. I wonder how strict the definition of "minor" is. In many videos it's hard to tell if a girl is 18, 17, or 16 sometimes. I definitely think the FBI should crack down on the producers of real child porn though.

Wasn't Juliet 14 in Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet"? Maybe the FBI should arrest English teachers who teach this play since they're nothing but unrepentent smut merchants. Lol.

[Master]

what a load of crap. instead of wasting there money on education, economy, and real crime.