Strict German Computer Crime Law Now in Effect 226
SkiifGeek writes "With little fanfare, section 202c of the German computer crime laws came into effect over the weekend. Worryingly for Security professionals, the laws make the mere possession of (creates, obtains or provides access to, sells, yields, distributes or otherwise allows access to) many useful tools illegal. A similar law was proposed for the UK, however it was modified prior to passing through parliament due to the outcry from the industry. Phenoelit, KisMAC, the CCC, and the Month of PHP Bugs are just some of the relatively high profile projects and groups to have already taken measures to remove or modify content under this law."
Very smart move (Score:5, Funny)
Insensitive, but... (Score:5, Funny)
Then they came for the portscanners, but I said nothing, because I was not trying to hack boxes
Then they came for the packet sniffers, but I said nothing because I thought my firewall was strong enough
Then they came for SATAN, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't an admin
And then, they came for my elite box, and I had to go back to using my mom's e-Machine, and I cried and cried
Time to SIGALRM before it's too late (Score:5, Funny)
Then they came for process_id 0050, but I did not SIGTRP because I did not depend on that process.
Then they came for process_id 0003, but I did not SIGALRM because my timer had not yet expired.
When they came for me, there were no processes left from which to spawn.
Oh wow... (Score:4, Funny)
They won't even notice the URL. It'll be encrypted under SSL.
Re:source code t-shirts again? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:There is no effective law against curiousity (Score:5, Funny)
Re:source code t-shirts again? (Score:5, Funny)
Don't you mean 'double sided double density hacker tool'?
(thanxx to Jerry Pournelle for that one...)
Re:There is no effective law against curiousity (Score:5, Funny)
That's right, I countered your Thomas Paine quote with another Thomas Paine quote. I'm challenging you to a Thomas Paine quote-off! May the best Thomas Paine quoter win! I urgently await your reply.
Defcon must be good for something (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Very smart move (Score:5, Funny)
There you go.
Re:There is no effective law against curiousity (Score:3, Funny)
Schrodinger's Cat (Score:5, Funny)
But in this case you won't know for sure if the cat is dead until the German police kick in your door to look.
Security through Fascism! (Score:1, Funny)
It's 9am in Germany... (Score:3, Funny)
And I've just run an nmap scan of bundestag.de [bundestag.de] .
I await the knock on my door with interest.
Re:As the author of Nmap ... (Score:3, Funny)
Same FUD, different day... (Score:5, Funny)
It is an unusual characteristic of Germany that everyone suffers from angst (fair enough, they invented the word) but the angst is all about really unlikely events (acrylimide in barbeque food causing cancer for example) and yet they throw caution to the winds the moment they get in a car.
This angst condition is so endemic I have christened it "Fright Club". Only a few weeks ago they were obsessed with "wifi smog" people were switching of their routers and phones to protect themselves from this new scourge. It didn't appear to stop them from watching television or listening to the radio, but there you go - science and magic confused or just interchangeable.
Coupled with this angst is another curious condition called Gründlichkeit or thoroughness. Gründlichkeit is just so much part of the German character. Back in Scotland you could read the important parts of the Blue Book tax guide in the bookshop and easily identify any new legal tax avoidance strategies. You couldn't do that with the German Tax Books because there are about 127 of them (the last time I tried to count them). My accountant just photocopies pages out and sticks them in the tax return. You have to pay canal tax but there's no canal and you don't get one either.
In Germany when you change your address, you have to inform the special municipal department -Wohnanmeldegungamt- (department of names and addresses)of the change and fill in three forms. A group of students could not understand how this did not exist in Britain or USA. "What's to stop you getting on a plane, flying to the UK, robbing a bank and then flying home?" was their completely serious question and my answer: "Even German bank robbers don't normally use their identity cards or leave a forwarding address during the robbery," leaves them completely unconvinced.
Conversation with Wohnamt Official:
Official:"What is your father's occupation?"
"He's dead, what difference does it make?"
Official:"I have a space in the form for it"
"which job would you like?"
Official:"His last one..."
Official:"What religion are you?"
(proudly) "Agnostic"
Official:"You can have: Catholic, Protestant or atheist."
"But I'm an agnostic"
Official: Ticks 'atheist'
As for thoroughness, Non-German partners are often very surprised when they clean the entire house from top to bottom only to have their partner point out that they forgot the single cup they drank their post cleaning coffee in which is standing on the immaculate sink - dirty. There is no mention of all the good work, because the concept of balancing good things against negative things (one good thing outweighs loads of bad things) is rather specific to English speakers. German anthropology uses the concept of a linear measure of perfection (or distance from it!) and the streets are so clean you could eat your dinner off them. Well, almost but this is the real reason behind this action, more national character than conspiracy.
Ban the Screwdriver! (Score:1, Funny)
Sane person - But how do I get into my PC without one?
Lawmaker - Don't bother me with such minor questions I am making the world a safer place.
Homer - Doh!
Re:There is no effective law against curiousity (Score:1, Funny)
Re:Germany... (Score:1, Funny)