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It's funny when I think back, I was a teen in the 90s and did plenty of questionable stuff online and w/ local BBS scene (Kevin Mitnick was busted in Raleigh an

It's funny when I think back, I was a teen in the 90s and did plenty of questionable stuff online and w/ local BBS scene (Kevin Mitnick was busted in Raleigh and many rumors existed about his presence in the BBS scene, obviously fantasy though!). Nobody I know who got arrested ever managed to destroy anything. When I think about it, we all assumed the cops would storm in when we were in the act of doing something bad, probably like in the movies lol, when in practice, they tend to pick you up when you are really off guard, duh. Very few people had automatic protections because like, our parents would probably get mad if we burned down the house :) When it came to me, the FBI did knock on my front door, and I managed to dd if=/dev/random of=/dev/hda I lost my entire BBS, all the custom code and ANSI I had for it, among other ancient treasures that I'd probably still have with my napster mp3s :) Of course they didn't come for me, there had been a flasher in the neighborhood on halloween...

jandrese 6y ago
The FBI was investigating a flasher?
- codezero 6y ago
  I could be remembering incorrectly, but it may have been reoccurring or not even really the FBI, but state police or something and my parents said it was the FBI. I only saw people in suits with a black car outside knocking on the door, also this was like 30 years ago so don't twist my arm :)
rasz 6y ago
This is how you earn tampering with evidence charges, up to 20 years felony.
- eertami 6y ago
  Surely it has to be actual evidence before you "tamper" with it. If I delete a file on my computer today that would be potentially "evidence" if seized, and the police come knocking tomorrow, I haven't committed a crime by using my personal computer in the past.
  - sneak 6y ago
    I do not suggest that you test this theory. Your optimism seems wholly unwarranted here, knowing what we know about the federal prosecutors.
- abstractbarista 6y ago
  Eh, it's worth it, depending on what you're doing. I'd much rather get in trouble for a hard drive full of zeroes, than them knowing what was on it beforehand. Today, you should encrypt everything, and cut power before physical access is obtained. Will that count as "tampering"? I was just turning off my computer. No, I do not remember the key.
  - codezero 6y ago
    Looking back, federal authorities really only came when they had the evidence they needed already, and local authorities were way too far behind to know what was going on (in the 90s). In practice, the only real protection we had (those of us in my social group) was that we were minors, and lucky that laws hadn't caught up yet.
- codezero 6y ago
  Well, keep this in mind: I knew quite a few people who got interviewed with, and arrested by authorities. Everyone under the age of 18 in the 90s got a slap on the wrist because they hadn't got too good at punishing those kinds of crimes. I think the worst I saw was $1200 paid over 12 months to AT&T. After 18, you're done, even if they can't think of a good charge, they'll make them up, which is exactly what they did back then, cross state commerce was a blanket thing to grab folks. I stopped doing anything questionable well before I turned 18.
alfiedotwtf 6y ago
Hehe, yeah :) When I was a teen, I somehow got a modem number at NASA, and I stupidly gave it to a friend. He tried to brute force it, but he got door knocked. He quickly formatted his disks, but it wasn’t even the cops haha!

jandrese 6y ago

The FBI was investigating a flasher?

codezero 6y ago
I could be remembering incorrectly, but it may have been reoccurring or not even really the FBI, but state police or something and my parents said it was the FBI. I only saw people in suits with a black car outside knocking on the door, also this was like 30 years ago so don't twist my arm :)

rasz 6y ago

This is how you earn tampering with evidence charges, up to 20 years felony.

eertami 6y ago
Surely it has to be actual evidence before you "tamper" with it. If I delete a file on my computer today that would be potentially "evidence" if seized, and the police come knocking tomorrow, I haven't committed a crime by using my personal computer in the past.
- sneak 6y ago
  I do not suggest that you test this theory. Your optimism seems wholly unwarranted here, knowing what we know about the federal prosecutors.
abstractbarista 6y ago
Eh, it's worth it, depending on what you're doing. I'd much rather get in trouble for a hard drive full of zeroes, than them knowing what was on it beforehand. Today, you should encrypt everything, and cut power before physical access is obtained. Will that count as "tampering"? I was just turning off my computer. No, I do not remember the key.
- codezero 6y ago
  Looking back, federal authorities really only came when they had the evidence they needed already, and local authorities were way too far behind to know what was going on (in the 90s). In practice, the only real protection we had (those of us in my social group) was that we were minors, and lucky that laws hadn't caught up yet.
codezero 6y ago
Well, keep this in mind: I knew quite a few people who got interviewed with, and arrested by authorities. Everyone under the age of 18 in the 90s got a slap on the wrist because they hadn't got too good at punishing those kinds of crimes. I think the worst I saw was $1200 paid over 12 months to AT&T. After 18, you're done, even if they can't think of a good charge, they'll make them up, which is exactly what they did back then, cross state commerce was a blanket thing to grab folks. I stopped doing anything questionable well before I turned 18.

alfiedotwtf 6y ago

Hehe, yeah :) When I was a teen, I somehow got a modem number at NASA, and I stupidly gave it to a friend. He tried to brute force it, but he got door knocked. He quickly formatted his disks, but it wasn’t even the cops haha!