- At the time Kernell took steps to clean his computer, he does not appear to have known that there was any investigation into his conduct. Regardless, the government felt that they were entitled to that data, and the court agreed that Kernell was legally required to have preserved it.
- Hanni Fakhoury, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says the feds’ broad interpretation of Sarbanes-Oxley in the digital age is part of a wider trend: federal agents’ feeling “entitled” to digital data.
- “At its core,” Fakhoury says, “what the government is saying is, ‘We have to create a mechanism that allows everybody’s [cellphone] data to be open for inspection on the off-chance that one day in the future, for whatever random circumstance, we need to see that data.’”
This is absurd. Imagine the non-digital equivalent. You're expected to keep any scrap of paper you've ever scribbled a note on, any written correspondence of any kind with any person (and you'd better make a copy of anything you send to keep on hand). Receipts from every purchase you've ever made. Keep a written record of everywhere you go, every business, home, etc and every person you talk to wherever you are. I could go on but I won't. If it's ridiculous to assume in the "real" world it's ridiculous in the digital world.
That's disgusting. Whoever said that clearly doesn't know 2 shits about computers. ANY access point that is not through direct user authentication can be used to hack into a device. Even access points that aren't directly clear or known. Apple literally removed any sort of master-key access to iPhones for this exact reason. Are they going to throw every apple employee in prison for "obstructing the investigation"? ‘We have to create a mechanism that allows everybody’s [cellphone] data to be open for inspection on the off-chance that one day in the future, for whatever random circumstance, we need to see that data.’”
Part of the larger problem, there not being any case law yet for the internet. From Flash Boys: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergey_Aleynikov He also cleared his work computer of his traces when he left (keystrokes etc) out of habit, and took a flash drive with some code he'd written, basic stuff according to him, which Goldman decided it owned. The courts have no idea what to do, and the judges and prosecutors frequently had no idea what the technical terminology of the case meant.On July 3, 2009, he was arrested by FBI agents at Newark Liberty International Airport after Goldman raised the alarm over a suspected security breach. He was accused by the FBI of improperly copying computer source code that performs "sophisticated, high-speed and high-volume trades on various stock and commodity markets", as described by Goldman. The events leading to his arrest are covered by Michael Lewis in his 2014 book Flash Boys.[6] According to Assistant United States Attorney Joseph Facciponti, "the bank has raised the possibility that there is a danger that somebody who knew how to use this program could use it to manipulate markets in unfair ways."[7] Aleynikov acknowledged downloading some source code, but maintained that his intent was to collect open-source code. As this is a common practice among programmers, this is notoriously difficult to prove.
Lawl. FFS though. This is why you need to have people who know what the hell they are talking about judging cases. Not just some random dude.The courts have no idea what to do, and the judges and prosecutors frequently had no idea what the technical terminology of the case meant.
I delete my history regularly. I wonder if this would hold up if you had a program that automatically deleted your history every day. It seems the intent is that people that knowingly delete incriminating evidence can be charged. However, would you be charged for not preventing a program from deleting it on a schedule that was created before the evidence was?Prosecutors are able to apply the law broadly because they do not have to show that the person deleting evidence knew there was an investigation underway.