Tom, do you think maybe it's time for a Political Thread [17]?

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No animals were harmed in the making of the above post... much.

BrainSmashr,

Why call the cops?....in the countryside the cops wave at young boys walking down the street with a shotgun. They know that what they're doing is nothing nefarious. They're either going hunting or more likely, shooting beercans that the cops were cleaning up from the night prior by men who should know better....

Nobody needs to own a permit for a weapon. Why do you have to be required to run and beg to big nanny 'gubmint' to get a 'right' to arm yourself? As far as I know, no philosopher has ever successfully answered that question....just as no philosopher has ever explained why man can't live for his own sake and must therefore sacrifice himself for others......if you can point me to one, I'd like to see it. Aside from Immanuel Kant, of course.

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Founder of BOINC team Objectivists. Oh the humanity! Rational people crunching data!
I did NOT authorize this belly writing!

1. A port scanner is not a malicious piece of software, by itself. It is only capable of scanning for open ports, not exploiting them. Not to mention that the average PC users has no need for port scanners or key loggers or any other "questionable" piece of software since the average user is not a network administrator.

There are several US statutes that purport to criminalize "intent," but that intent is always measured against some quantifiable criteria. Posessing twenty or thirty doses of an illicit drug is considered "intent to distribute." Similarly, if someone's computer has a dozen hacking tools, and hundreds of unlicensed commercial software packages, that might constitute "intent" to hack.

I haven't read the treaty in question. These international efforts tend to be long on intrusiveness and short of effectiveness.

2. You have a Constitutional right to bare arms in the USA with a permit and background check, which does not include fully-automatic weapons and some assualt rifles. Not to mention this isn't a global right, but rather one that's pretty darn unique to Americans.

And let's be realistic about this one for a second. If you saw a kid walking down your street with a pistol, shot gun, or assualt rifle....are you thinking "that's his 2nd Amendment right" or are you thinking, "I better call the cops"?

The Second Amendment doesn't mention permits and background checks. However, the US's legal tradition tempers rights with "reasonable" controls. A felon is demonstrably unable to live by the rules, and thus allowing a felon to bear arms is "unreasonable" in most states (this would be a reason for someone to continue appealing a conviction even after the sentence is over). One has the right to political speech, but the courts have decided that it is unreasonable to allow major media outlets to accept ads from one candidate and not his/her opponent.

3. If you need to "hack" into someone's elses computer for information, then you're not supposed to have that information. I see no difference here than if someone broke into my house for "TV watching purposes".

There are legitimate reasons to hack a system, just as there are legitimate reasons to crack safes or stockpile explosives. In the latter cases, governments tend to license the practitioners and limit the distribution of the tools/materials. Software "hacking tools" are inherently difficult to inventory, and much of the IT industry is anethema to government regulation of any kind.

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No animals were harmed in the making of the above post... much.

BrainSmashr,

Why call the cops?....in the countryside the cops wave at young boys walking down the street with a shotgun. They know that what they're doing is nothing nefarious. They're either going hunting or more likely, shooting beercans that the cops were cleaning up from the night prior by men who should know better....

Nobody needs to own a permit for a weapon. Why do you have to be required to run and beg to big nanny 'gubmint' to get a 'right' to arm yourself? As far as I know, no philosopher has ever successfully answered that question....just as no philosopher has ever explained why man can't live for his own sake and must therefore sacrifice himself for others......if you can point me to one, I'd like to see it. Aside from Immanuel Kant, of course.

I was not talking about "the countryside". Show me a cop that waves at a gun toteing individual within the city limits and I'll show you one heck of a negligence lawsuit.

As far as reasons for needing a permit...well the most obvious is we don't want bank robbers and rapists buying .45's at Wally World.....and of course we also want to know the individual in possession of the firearm has at least had some basic training and common sense.

As far as philosophers....I think we've had that conversation before.

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You are right, Octagon. This thread really is too long. Please continue here.[/quote]