12 WAYS TECH COULD LAND YOU IN JAIL (OR WORSE)

12 Ways Tech Could Land You in Jail (Or Worse)
By Chandra Steele, PC Magazine, 24 January 2015.

Living in a connected world often bestows a false sense of freedom. Your computer monitor and smartphone screen do not protect you from laws governing privacy, security, or harassment, of course, but sometimes, tech-related activity you thought was legit might land you in a whole lot of trouble.

When we unbox a new gadget or download an app, we often hastily discard or dismiss the accompanying pages of dry documentation and fine print. But those pages may come back to haunt us as a lawsuit if they're not properly heeded.

The government and technology companies often tangle in court, but tech users have also faced off with in civil and criminal trials. On their side, if not always at the defense table with them, are digital rights organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation, which defends, informs, and advocates on their behalf in matters that range from consumer rights to free speech. There are even times when a situation is so dire it gets human rights advocates from Amnesty International involved.

Here are a few examples of how tweeting, jail-breaking, and even getting spam can put people on a precarious legal ledge that in some cases may cost them their lives.

1. Think Before You Link

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Just this week journalist and former member of Anonymous Barrett Brown was sentenced to 63 months in jail. Brown was originally arrested for linking to data obtained in the hacking of intelligence contractor Stratfor, obstructing the FBI in its search for evidence, and making threatening statements about a federal employee in an angry YouTube video he produced after his mother was arrested in connection with his investigation. The main charge of accessory after the fact in the unauthorized access of a protected computer (to which Brown plead guilty), is daunting to those who report on security issues.

2. Je Sue Charlie

We are all Charlie except when we're not. The demonstrations in the name of free speech that followed the terrorist attacks in Paris did not reach the ears of law enforcement. French comedian Dieudonné has espoused views on Israel and said things about Jews that have led him to be convicted for anti-Semitism. Following the events of this month, he posted on Facebook, "Tonight, as far as I'm concerned, I feel like Charlie Coulibaly," using the last name of the person responsible for the killings in the kosher market. Dieudonné was arrested shortly after.

3. Don't Be Selfie-ish

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Selfie sticks, like it or not, are actually catching on. But if you're selling them in South Korea, watch out. Those selling selfie sticks that have not been tested by and registered with the government could face prosecution. The sticks use Bluetooth, which make them telecommunications devices subjected to regulation.

4. Go Directly to Jail-breaking

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Jail-breaking gets its edge from sounding criminal, and there's a reason for that. Though you might think you can do whatever you want with something you purchased, that's often not the case with electronics. In 2010, the Copyright Office ruled that jail-breaking a smartphone is permissible under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's fair use provisions. They renewed that decision in 2012, but they must reconsider it every three years under the DMCA, so groups like the Electronic Frontier Foundation are campaigning once again, and hope to gain an exemption for tablets this time, too.

One of the more well-known jail-breakers is George Hotz, who was sued by Sony in 2011 after he hacked the Sony PS3 and posted his circumvention technique on his website. After much back and forth, the two sides mutually agreed to settle their suit, with Hotz agreeing to a permanent injunction against posting information that Sony had wanted removed. Serial jail-breaker George Hotz is one of many waiting for news. Hotz is known for breaking the entire iDevice clan out of jail and for similarly freeing a Sony PlayStation 3 and publishing the root key. Sony sued Hotz and the two eventually settled when Hotz agreed to erase any info he posted about the hack. Hotz later donated US$10,000 to the EFF, which had supported his defense.

5. Freedom of Tweet

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Hamza Kashgari, a 23-year-old journalist from Saudi Arabia, was at risk of being sentenced to death for daring to imagine a conversation between himself and Mohammed in which he addresses him as a man but does not accept him as a prophet. Kashgari's medium was Twitter and hours after he posted the series of tweets, he removed them and began apologizing publicly. But soon he had enemies calling for his death on a Facebook page called "Saudi People Want Punishment for Hamza Kashgari." The comments were more than hyperbole; Kashgari fled to Malaysia but was extradited back to Saudi Arabia where he was held for 20 months and nearly faced trial for apostasy, a crime punishable by death. He was freed after public outcry and then opened a Twitter account where he immediately posted: "Mornings of Hope and Undying Spirits. Praise to God whose Grace is Eternal."

6. Texts From the Ex

Texting your ex is rarely a good idea. If you're really, really mad, it's a worse idea. A French man who had split from his girlfriend wanted her to compensate him for some repairs they had done to the apartment they shared. So he texted her 21,807 times. Some prison time and a mediator for the incident stopped him from texting again.

7. With Friends Like That

Ever agonize over a friend request on Facebook? It seems ridiculous, right? It's not. Jelani Henry went to prison essentially for being Facebook friends with members of the Goodfellas gang. An NYPD gang raid resulted in his arrest and a stint in Rikers based on Henry appearing in Facebook photos and YouTube videos with friends who were members of the gang.

8. Emoji Stick-Up

Emojis are just adorable cartoons you affix to your text messages and social media posts, right? Not for a Brooklyn teen, who was arrested this week for a Facebook post that included "gun emojis pointed at police emojis," Gothamist reported. The teen, who has had previous run-ins with police, had other posts that appeared to threaten violence against the police, who are on high alert in New York after the shooting of two police officers in Brooklyn.

9. Work It Out

You've killed your friend in a car accident, gone to prison for six months, and gotten out. What's the first thing you do? Post a selfie about how great you look from your prison workouts and weight loss. Ryan Fye went back to jail for violating his probation for a Facebook post that touted the benefits of his prison routine and taunted his haters.

10. Free Shi

Chinese journalist Shi Tao served eight years and six months in prison. His crime? Sending a Communist party document that ordered the suppression of coverage of dissidents returning to China on the 15th anniversary of Tiananmen Square to the Asia Democracy Foundation in the U.S. Conspiring against Shi was his own email, supplied without question to the Chinese government by Yahoo, which said it was following local law. The government deemed the email evidence of "illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities." Shi's wife was harassed and forced by officials to divorce him. His mother, uncle, and brother also faced harassment and surveillance.

Wang Xiaoning was sent to prison under similar circumstances.

Yahoo got sued and settled with the families in 2007. The deal included the creation of a fund "to provide humanitarian and legal aid to dissidents who have been imprisoned for expressing their views online."

11. The Ballad of Jammie Thomas-Rasset

Jammie Thomas-Rasset was accused of sharing 24 songs, and the cost of that crime escalated from US$54,000 to US$1.92 million and back again over the course of a long-running case. Ultimately, the Supreme Court refused to hear the case, leaving Thomas-Rasset with a US$222,000 bill.

12. The Right of Eminent Domain Names

Americans believe the law lives by the motto "Innocent until proven guilty," but it's not always so. Some domain name seizures have been conducted by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division of the Department of Homeland Security and they fall under the heading of "civil asset forfeiture," which is a game changer. The seizures don't need a conviction to take place and there's no transparency as far as who flagged the site (though ICE presented the first of its seizures on a Disney soundstage with MPAA representatives there for the show). Sites seized under ICE's Operation in Our Sites include a raft of torrents, sites selling what the trademark owners said were counterfeit or illegally resold products, and what were effectively search engines. Hip-hop blog DaJaz1.com had its domain name seized (but ultimately returned after much legal wrangling) for what it says was copyrighted content sent directly to it from record companies.

[Source: PC Magazine. Edited.]