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Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2001 10:22:24 +1100 (EST) Subject: US secret service investigates kuro5hin.org reader From: "Ian Cumming" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Declan, I've only been subscribed to your list for little while, but I thought people might be interested in this. A poster to Kuro5hin.org (a site discussing technology, politics and culture) was apparently questioned by the US Secret Service about a comment he made on the site. The comment regarded methods of infecting a person with smallpox, in reply to an article theorising a smallpox attack. You can read about the incident on kuro5hin's temporary page (their co-lo is moving) - http://www.kuro5hin.org cheers, Ian --- Kuro5hin.org is down for unrelated reasons, but the post in question is available via Google's cache here: http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:hnr2WC2xC1s:www.kuro5hin.org/comments/2001/10/4/3591/14167%3Fpid%3D15+kuro5hin+lee+malatesta+smallpox&hl=en It says: >I can think of two ways to have a decent shot of infecting the VP. Use >some sort of aresolizer. Infect an suicide-ready individual. The first >method seems to me to be prone to discovery if one wants to make certain >of getting the VP. Given that vaccines work after infection but before >onset of symptoms, hitting the VP with an aerosolizer of some sort would >give a very large clue to the Secret Service as to what was happening. The report of the visit by the Secret Service is here: http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=24310&cid=2634875 >At the conclusion of the interview (which involved searching my house to >which I aqueisced) the agents told me that probably nothing would come of >it, but the decision on whether to prosecute or not was up to the attorney >general's office. I'm still not entirely sure how my comment can be >construed as an actual threat, but I do understand why secret service >agents are a bit high strung about now. Kuro5hin.org's editors say: >I've talked to Lee, and believe that he's not making this up. The comment >in question was this one, attached to the smallpox story. (Google cache is >the best). Basically, Lee was visited at work by a couple of Secret >Service agents, who asked him some questions about the comment, in an >attempt to >ensure that it was not a credible threat. He was a little frightened, but >I don't think anything came of it. >While I have great doubts about the wisdom and cost-efficiency of >following up a comment like this, given that I have a really hard time >imagining what kind of person could actually read that as a threat that >warranted investigating, it doesn't seem like Lee's civil liberties were >violated in any way, and he wasn't dragged off to some secret chamber for >the third degree. >Our government is doing a lot of things we Americans should probably be >worried about, but I think this is just dumb, not actually evil. -Declan ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
