Hack the Planet
Cari Machet · SSRN Electronic Journal · 2016
Abstract. The Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) is being used to hyper-criminalize hackers blanketing 'unauthorized' as a catch all. The overly-broad law has little nuance and prosecutors are taking advantage of the vague language and harsh penalties therein to over-prosecute, based on constructing a deterrent to hackers. The majority of government employees, judges, senators, etc., do not understand computers which exacerbates the problematic law. In Jeremy Hammond's case there was a severe level of over-prosecution, and, also the government had used the hacktivist to hack for them with the purpose of espionage during a sting operation targeting LulzSec and Wikileaks, which the court attempted to cover up. Instead of taking into account that the government 'benefited' from Jeremy's hacking skills the presiding Judge Loretta Preska imposed harsh sentencing, and instead seeming to want to bury him because of it. Also, Judge Preska decided that while Jeremy awaited trial he would basically be unable to touch a computer, which made preparing for his case and his pre-trial detention an untenable situation. The specter of government overreach and unprecedented exposure of just how far the American government will go to commit espionage of a foreign land for cash (economic ends) is laid out in this report. The justice system is supposedly constructed as a bridge between a tyrannical government and the people, however, judges are not held accountable and get to determine whether their very own impartiality is impaired or not. Judges are willfully blind to Executive Branch cover ups of the governments unlawful acts, which means the design of 3 branches of government has been obstructed and balance has been obliterated. Judges become complicit in the unlawful acts of the Executive Branch of government when they cover them up. It seems the government can hack with impunity and yet citizens are harshly prosecuted for the same action because they are acting indifferent to the government. America was supposedly initially designed purposefully as open and more importantly open to critique, (in opposition to the king) yet the people (subjects) are not allowed this 'luxury' of critique, and are therefore alienated from the design. This report addresses changes in the CFAA that need to be made immediately, explanations of how present structure of the USG are not an open Democratic Republic system but a closed Authoritarian Plutocracy (are more like that of Russia and China) as revealed in this case. The executive branch of America is illegitimate seen through executive orders and specifically through Executive Order 12333. Worse than merely corrupt the initial American structural design as a free society was never realized, nor was it designed to be realized; however, it is still marketed as such. The legal structure is not producing justice and is not some monolithic catch all for American cultures failures. Even though legal structures are more often than not pointed to as the solution, the very fact that legal structure is thought of as really the ONLY path is an actual giant block in the pathways to solutions. Solutions are laid out in this report.