Proposed EU law makes possession of hacking tools a criminal offense

[Richard B Riddick]

European Union legislators have approved a draft law that would make cyber attacks on IT systems a criminal offense, punishable by at least two years in prison. The proposed law is an update to an existing one, and would also prohibit anyone from producing or selling the kinds of programs that can be used for these attacks — essentially making it impossible for a company to make software that could be used to test its own security, since it could also be used to attack others. While the penalty for these offenses would start at two years, in cases involving "aggravating circumstances" (i.e. a large-scale attack that causes plenty of financial damage), the sentence would be at least five years. The EU voted overwhelmingly in favor of the law, with 50 votes for as opposed to just one against, and a final decision is expected to be made over the summer.

http://www.theverge.com/2012/4/4/292...iminal-offence

Old news but thought maybe I should post it before some europeans go crazy and try to cyber attack me with pings of death.

It may be interesting to see how things develop.

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If anything, this may be similar to how european countries banned guns thinking it would improve circumstances.

When, in reality, it may actually hinder the criminal process and deprive people of the right to defend themselves.

In terms of political parallels, there could be some, yehs.

[Emmy the Great]

They did not post a link to the bill itself so it is difficult to make assumptions based on that article alone. For all we know their could be provisions stipulating that a company can test its own system if they apply for a license or something

[DragonByte Tech]

*sigh* Another case of people reading an article and not the actual legislations.

Point 1) Whoever wrote the article has no idea how the EU works. The "minimum" sentence would not be 2 years. The minimum MAXIMUM sentence would be 2 years. In other words EU countries would have to ensure the MAXIMUM sentence for the crime is AT LEAST 2 years. No minimum sentence is specificed. In fact...

Point 2) If you read the actual legislation it says:

However, no criminal sanctions should apply to "minor cases", i.e. when the damage caused by the offence is insignificant.

Link to an actual rundown of the discussion/bill: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/news/e...iminal-offence

P.S The EU has a significantly lower murder rate than the US, which has lax gun control. In fact in the UK, where there is more violence per head, there is still significantly less murder, showing that banning guns leads to - shocker - less people being killed.

P.P.S technically carrying a knife is illegal in the UK - that doesn't mean if there is evidence you weren't planning to use it for a crime (your job requires it or it's still-packaged kitchen knife for instance) you can be thrown in jail for possessing it. There needs to be some degree of intent involved - the same would apply to this law.

[Richard B Riddick]

They did not post a link to the bill itself so it is difficult to make assumptions based on that article alone. For all we know their could be provisions stipulating that a company can test its own system if they apply for a license or something

Licenses cost money.

Do you know how United States Presidents talk about providing funding for clean and alternative energies?

What they don't tell you is applying to qualify for those funds sometimes carries as much as a $1 million dollar "filing fee".

If its to be regulated by the government, its not necessarily a good thing.

*sigh* Another case of people reading an article and not the actual legislations.

Point 1) Whoever wrote the article has no idea how the EU works. The "minimum" sentence would not be 2 years. The minimum MAXIMUM sentence would be 2 years. In other words EU countries would have to ensure the MAXIMUM sentence for the crime is AT LEAST 2 years. No minimum sentence is specificed. In fact...

Point 2) If you read the actual legislation it says:

However, no criminal sanctions should apply to "minor cases", i.e. when the damage caused by the offence is insignificant.

Yeah, but the UK's justice system is so screwed you never know what they'll decide.

Man Jailed 56 days for Racist Twitter Comments

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-17515992

P.S The EU has a significantly lower murder rate than the US, which has lax gun control. In fact in the UK, where there is more violence per head, there is still significantly less murder, showing that banning guns leads to - shocker - less people being killed.

I plan to make a gun control post, later.