Professional Documents
Culture Documents
The Constitution & Political Activism in the Hacker Community Michael theprez98 Schearer Louisville, KY
"Under certain circumstances DDoS is protected political speech and should be afforded First Amendment protection.
Law student, University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law
Before we begin
What is Politics? What is Activism? Hacktivism? Where is the line between legal and illegal? Should it be moved? Does it matter? Do the ends justify the means? Does process matter at all, and if so, how much?
Bottom line: Every decision has costs and benefits, not just to the individual, but to families, groups and society at large
A sense that things are beginning to change as more issues invade our space
Is this good? Bad? Is there anything we can do about it?
Any method of disruption, at any cost, any means necessary. -- Jeremy Hammond, DEFCON 12
First Amendment
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Civil Forfeiture
Concept
Vs. property instead of party Presumption of innocence vs. guilt
Domain takedowns
Jurisdiction In personam In rem (.com, .net, .org) Homeland Security/ICE Microsoft
Licensing Laws
Purpose Desirability Examples
Doctors Lawyers Locksmiths? Private investigators? Digital forensics? Masseuse?
Current Worldview
Islands of liberty in a sea of power Not surprising giving massive size of government bureaucracy Do you have the right to wear a red hat on Wednesday? Why or why not? Or should we ask the question another way? The presumption of constitutionality
Proposed Worldview
Islands of power in a sea of liberty This is a fundamentally different way of asking the question It shifts the burden from the individual to the government to justify its actions The presumption of liberty
Skepticism
Does the law actually accomplish its intent? Short term solution or long term solution? Does it benefit the whole, or just a few? What are the consequences to all groups, not just a few groups?
One of the great mistakes is to judge policies and programs by their intentions rather than their results. -- Milton Friedman
There is nobody in this country who got rich on his own. Nobody. You built a factory out there good for you. But I want to be clear. You moved your goods to market on the roads the rest of us paid for. You hired workers the rest of us paid to educate. You were safe in your factory because of police forces and fire forces that the rest of us paid for.... You built a factory and it turned into something terrific or a great idea God bless, keep a big hunk of it. But part of the underlying social contract is you take a hunk of that and pay forward for the next kid who comes along.
Philosophical Issues
Social contract Balance of powers Separation of powers Federalism
Legislative
Executive Federal
Judicial
Local
Lens of Liberty
This returns again to our theme of process Here, its about process rather than substance You may view issues through this lens and still come up with the same answers, or you might come up with different answers
Hacktivism
"All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. -- COPS
Activism
OpenCongress.org
Notes
YouTube videos [http://www.youtube.com/theprez98] For the most up-to-date version of these slides, please visit [http://www.scribd.com/theprez98] Twitter: @theprez98