4 ms·

Even with a single home, a single computer and no wifi the computer could easily be hacked and used as a VPN for such matters. I don't think it's that open and

by tyfon 8y ago

Even with a single home, a single computer and no wifi the computer could easily be hacked and used as a VPN for such matters. I don't think it's that open and shut. Unless you require every person who has an electronic device to be personally responsible for security bugs on such systems. You can get owned even if you are careful given the right security holes.

mchannon 8y ago
I did kinda muddle the difference between guilt at trial and probable cause for a search and seizure in my post, but I believe most Americans at least would be of the opinion that even considering that possibility, it's still good enough for them to go in and seize/search that computer. It's not a charge or a conviction at that point. If no contraband shows up on the computer, charges are dropped and computer is returned intact•. And maybe hopefully there's forensic traces of malware that the defendant can use to argue his innocence. That last point has never been argued ("look here's some malware"), at least in my reading of the caselaw. Most guys (it's always men) just usually confess or plead and then try to argue their way out of it unsuccessfully afterward. Hitting and killing a kindergartener with your car carries lesser criminal penalties in this country than downloading and storing a GIF that millions of others have already downloaded and stored. Fixing the science discrepancy is only one of many things due for a reckoning in this country.
- mikeash 8y ago
  Probable cause based on an IP address you had seems reasonable to me. It’s the digital equivalent of footprints leading from your door to the crime scene. It could have been a guest or a burglar, but it’s enough to justify a search. No way should it be anything close to sufficient for a conviction, though.

4 ms·

Even with a single home, a single computer and no wifi the computer could easily be hacked and used as a VPN for such matters. I don't think it's that open and

by tyfon 8y ago

mchannon 8y ago
I did kinda muddle the difference between guilt at trial and probable cause for a search and seizure in my post, but I believe most Americans at least would be of the opinion that even considering that possibility, it's still good enough for them to go in and seize/search that computer. It's not a charge or a conviction at that point. If no contraband shows up on the computer, charges are dropped and computer is returned intact•. And maybe hopefully there's forensic traces of malware that the defendant can use to argue his innocence. That last point has never been argued ("look here's some malware"), at least in my reading of the caselaw. Most guys (it's always men) just usually confess or plead and then try to argue their way out of it unsuccessfully afterward. Hitting and killing a kindergartener with your car carries lesser criminal penalties in this country than downloading and storing a GIF that millions of others have already downloaded and stored. Fixing the science discrepancy is only one of many things due for a reckoning in this country.
- mikeash 8y ago
  Probable cause based on an IP address you had seems reasonable to me. It’s the digital equivalent of footprints leading from your door to the crime scene. It could have been a guest or a burglar, but it’s enough to justify a search. No way should it be anything close to sufficient for a conviction, though.