Fajar Priyanto wrote: > On Tuesday 29 May 2007 05:20, Thomas Hertweck wrote: > >> Michael S. Dunsavage wrote: >> >>> I'm confused. Can someone sum this up for me? I'm from USA. >>> >> Last Thursday, the German parliament passed a concept that had been >> proposed by the German government parties. The concept concerns the >> German criminal code and is meant to tighten laws against cybercrime. >> >> According to the new §202c, anybody who prepares a crime by building, >> supplying, distributing or making available passwords or security codes >> for data access or typical computer programs whose purpose is to prepare >> or commit such a crime, can be fined or sent to jail for up to one year. >> There were other changes concerning §202, but the one mentioned above is >> the one most criticized. >> >> Many people say that it's not possible to distinguish between programs >> that might be used to prepare a crime and programs that serve to detect >> vulnerabilities and secure computer systems (I personally agree with >> that statement). Therefore, §202c could criminalize many tools that are >> frequently used these days, for instance port scanners etc. There is no >> clear definition given in §202c and at the end of the day a German court >> might have to decide in individual cases. The intention of §202c, >> however, seems to be to criminalize only software that might cause a >> "damage". >> >> In order to become a law, the concept has to pass the German Bundesrat >> (upper house of the German parliament) as well. This could happen in >> July. Then the new concept would become a law shortly thereafter. >> >> It could affect openSUSE (in Germany) since the distribution of programs >> that fall into above mentioned category (yet to be clearly defined) is >> then forbidden. >> > > A knife can be used to kill someone. So, does that mean that we are not > allowed to have a knife? > This is so stupid. I can't believe it. >
This is what happens when you let the politicians who have been reading "Computer security for dummies" try to pass legislation. -- To unsubscribe, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] For additional commands, e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
