Re:Run a script when police raid your house
by nkw on Friday January 23, 2015 @10:55AM
(#8935433)
IAALBIANYL, so I will leave whether or not this would be operationally useful to those smarter than me, but from a legal standpoint, one should be aware that operation of a system like this as far as the United States would likely result in additional charges for obstruction of justice[1].
It is by no means unusual for the government to fail in the prosecution of the original crime they investigated, but succeed in convicting a defendant for obstruction. (See, e.g. Martha Stewart[2]). In fact it is not at all impossible (though not likely) to imagine a scenario in which someone committed no crime, was running a utility like this, and was eventually charged with obstruction. Say I'm Brian Q. Krebs, some nice people on the Internet decide to swat[3] me confusing me with someone with a similar name[4], police enter my house, swatd deploys and ambitious and creative young prosecutor decides to charge me with a violation of 18 USC 1519. Might not succeed, but boy will he get some press.
As always, the best advice if you are going to engage in a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy is to make sure you have some goofy-reasoned memos from DOJ lawyers approving your activities[5] and Congress on call to provide you retroactive immunity[6].
Re:Run a script when police raid your house
by saganus on Friday January 23, 2015 @01:34PM
(#8936413)
IAALBIANYL - I'm thinking this means "I Am A Lawyer But I Am Not Your Lawyer"? I haven't seen this before but it seems to make sense. Or does it mean something else?
It is by no means unusual for the government to fail in the prosecution of the original crime they investigated, but succeed in convicting a defendant for obstruction. (See, e.g. Martha Stewart[2]). In fact it is not at all impossible (though not likely) to imagine a scenario in which someone committed no crime, was running a utility like this, and was eventually charged with obstruction. Say I'm Brian Q. Krebs, some nice people on the Internet decide to swat[3] me confusing me with someone with a similar name[4], police enter my house, swatd deploys and ambitious and creative young prosecutor decides to charge me with a violation of 18 USC 1519. Might not succeed, but boy will he get some press.
As always, the best advice if you are going to engage in a wide-ranging criminal conspiracy is to make sure you have some goofy-reasoned memos from DOJ lawyers approving your activities[5] and Congress on call to provide you retroactive immunity[6].
[1] 18 U.S.C. 1519 (or 1001 or 1501, or 1510) - http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/1519
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martha_Stewart#Stock_trading_ca...
[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swatting
[4] http://krebsonsecurity.com/tag/swatting/
[5] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torture_Memos#Letter_from_John_...
[6] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty_law#United_States or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Intelligence_Surveillan...