
Home Computers Connected to the Internet Aren't Private, Court Rules - andreydrak
http://www.eweek.com/security/home-computers-connected-to-the-internet-arent-private-court-rules.html?google_editors_picks=true
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ominous
_A federal judge for the Eastern District of Virginia has ruled that the user
of any computer that connects to the Internet should not have an expectation
of privacy because computer security is ineffectual at stopping hackers._

 _" (...) the court FINDS that any such subjective expectation of privacy—if
one even existed in this case—is not objectively reasonable."_

Some days are more dystopian than others.

Also, see the EFF statement: [https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/06/federal-
court-fourth-a...](https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2016/06/federal-court-fourth-
amendment-does-not-protect-your-home-computer)

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AstralStorm
So there is no private property, because anyone can force doors?

There is then no intellectual property more so, because anyone can crack DRM.

I like this ruling. It is delicious dumb precedent.

Also it would imply that you needed a licenced for public screening of any
content played on a PC connected to the Internet.

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mirimir
This is a dangerous ruling, for sure.

But the problem is that most home computers connected to the Internet are in
fact not private. Sure, the defendant in this case was using Tor. But the fact
that NIT pwned him tells me that he was working in Windows. Probably with just
Tor browser. And obviously not with any protection against non-Tor Internet
connectivity. The Tor Project ought to warn users about these issues.

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surge
From an OPSec perspective, yeah, you shouldn't expect that your location
couldn't be compromised somehow, even with countermeasures. So in some sense
they're right, in a legal sense is where its a bit scary.

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haspoken
And the ramifications of companies and businesses connecting computers to the
internet?

Privacy policies?

Could this be used as a defense for an attacker?

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mirimir
Well, we know that the NSA pwns sysadmins.

More generally, the ruling seems inconsistent with CFFA. So websites could
freely compromise users, even more than they already do. And perhaps _vice
versa_. Although there's arguably a distinction between home computers and
commercial ones.

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type0
Arguable distinction is that no-one wants to talk about industrial espionage.

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PeekPoke
Sounds like this judge is in the agencies pockets.

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wisp-hr
Wow, that's not good

