If the Dems had only used Macs . . .

[numediaman]

. . . might have been able to prevent this.

Here's a link to the complete story:
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2004/01/22/infiltration_of_files_seen_as_extensive?mode=PF

Here is an excerpt.:

Infiltration of files seen as extensive
Senate panel's GOP staff pried on Democrats

By Charlie Savage, Globe Staff, 1/22/2004

WASHINGTON -- Republican staff members of the US Senate Judiciary Commitee infiltrated opposition computer files for a year, monitoring secret strategy memos and periodically passing on copies to the media, Senate officials told The Globe.

From the spring of 2002 until at least April 2003, members of the GOP committee staff exploited a computer glitch that allowed them to access restricted Democratic communications without a password. Trolling through hundreds of memos, they were able to read talking points and accounts of private meetings discussing which judicial nominees Democrats would fight -- and with what tactics.

The office of Senate Sergeant-at-Arms William Pickle has already launched an investigation into how excerpts from 15 Democratic memos showed up in the pages of the conservative-leaning newspapers and were posted to a website last November.

[Taft]

An equally fitting title might have been:

If only the Republicans in the US Senate Judiciary Commitee weren't such immoral ***holes.

On a brighter note, maybe it'll inspire some in government to start using more secure systems. That can't be a bad thing.

Macs anyone?

Taft

[SPG]

How about some jail time for this? I think it's a direct violation of the cyberterrorism portion of the Patriot Act. Oh the irony and sweet justice of it all if they take DeLay off to jail in handcuffs over this!

[zimv20]

conspiracy, too. RICO act, anyone?

[jrv3034]

This just has bad written all over it.

Watergate, anyone?

Of course, Dems would have done the same thing, given the chance.:rolleyes:

[Frohickey]

Originally posted by SPG
How about some jail time for this? I think it's a direct violation of the cyberterrorism portion of the Patriot Act. Oh the irony and sweet justice of it all if they take DeLay off to jail in handcuffs over this!

Um... that would be Senate Judiciary Committee...

Tom Delay is in the House. :D

The one you would be after would be Orrin Hatch and Arlen Spectre.

[Frohickey]

I think that this is related to another story that came out around November 2003 about using classified information from the Intelligence committee (http://www.townhall.com/news/politics/200311/POL20031106d.shtml)...

[SPG]

Originally posted by jrv3034
Of course, Dems would have done the same thing, given the chance.:rolleyes:

Could you imagine the reaction if Dems had done this?
Really. Just close your eyes and imagine what would be going on right now.

[LaMerVipere]

This will never become a massive story, as it should.

The Republicans would never allow such a thing.

What sort of democracy to the Republicans supposedly support? One where free speech is obliterated, the opposition party has no privacy, facts are cast out and lies are embraced? We can have no true democracy while the republicans are in power.

[Frohickey]

Originally posted by LaMerVipere
This will never become a massive story, as it should.

The Republicans would never allow such a thing.

What sort of democracy to the Republicans supposedly support? One where free speech is obliterated, the opposition party has no privacy, facts are cast out and lies are embraced? We can have no true democracy while the republicans are in power.

Supposition

Why don't you post some proof that there were more than just Congressional staffers without enough supervision that were involved in this.

We at Macrumors always want proof. ;)

[Frohickey]

Ahh...here (http://www.knoxnews.com/kns/state/article/0,1406,KNS_348_2606822,00.html) is the low down on this story.

The committee's Republican and Democratic members for years have shared the same computer server - a large memory for a network of computers - but there was supposed to be a security system separating the opposing parties' accounts.

Miranda said a 24-year-old Republican staffer discovered some unsecured portions of the committee's computer network in 2001 when Democrats regained majority control of the Senate. Months later, Miranda said, a Republican aide told the Democrats' computer liaison of the glitch that left some Democratic and Republican folders in the unsecured area. But it was not fixed.

Truth is not as sensational as the rumors.

[mactastic]

So what? It's slightly less criminal to steal a pile of money you find on the sidewalk as opposed to finding it in a bank vault, but stilll a crime nonetheless, correct?

The investigation needs to pinpoint who leaked those memos to the press. That is most certainly not supposed to happen.

[zimv20]

Originally posted by mactastic
So what? It's slightly less criminal to steal a pile of money you find on the sidewalk as opposed to finding it in a bank vault, but stilll a crime nonetheless, correct?


It is criminal to steal a purse, daring to steal a fortune, a mark of greatness to steal a crown. The blame diminishes as the guilt increases. -Johan Christoph Friedrich von Schiller, poet and dramatist (1759-1805)

[wwworry]

Frohicky supports stealing computer files?

[Frohickey]

Originally posted by wwworry
Frohicky supports stealing computer files?

Nope.

All I'm saying is that the follow-up story sheds more information, and it wasn't as sensational as the initial story.

In fact, there are indications that the people were contacted about the security hole.

I wonder if these were using Microsoft Windows.

[Desertrat]

Is not an open Window "contributory negligence"? :D

Hackers hack. That's what they do. Raison d'etre and all that. Anybody wanna bet that both parties have folks who have been and are doing that at other levels than this in D.C.? I will.

I have no clue as to what laws--if any--have been broken. Is there a computer version of a Peeping Tom law?

'Rat

[wwworry]

'Rat, I have to say I am amazed about the number of times when some sort of administration wrongdoing comes up your reply is:

"they all do it"
Anybody wanna bet that both parties have folks who have been and are doing that at other levels than this in D.C.? I will.

"that's just the way it is"
Hackers hack. That's what they do.

"damifino"
I have no clue as to what laws--if any--have been broken.

I always thought you would be the type that would be in favor of accountability. Why do you want to let these guys off the hook all the time?

[Desertrat]

I'm happy for wrongdoers to be held accountable. I point out that "they all do it" because they do--which is why I don't get excited that it's done. I take it for granted that wrongdoers should be penalized.

So, publicize; keep the spotlight on, but don't get all breathless with excitement over what is really just another pile of poop on the sidewalk of life.

I'm less interested in the hackers, themselves, than in knowing who is supposed to bring whatever charges should be brought, and what disciplinary action is being taken--or not being taken--by the hackers' bosses. THAT is where the true accountability lies.

'Rat

[radhak]

Originally posted by mactastic
So what? It's slightly less criminal to steal a pile of money you find on the sidewalk as opposed to finding it in a bank vault, but stilll a crime nonetheless, correct?


seriously though, is it a crime if i pick up a pile of money (or even a dollar) from the sidewalk? how so - can i be charged, arrested? i mean strictly legally here, not ethically/morally/etc.

Originally posted by Desertrat
I'm happy for wrongdoers to be held accountable. I point out that "they all do it" because they do--which is why I don't get excited that it's done. I take it for granted that wrongdoers should be penalized.

So, publicize; keep the spotlight on, but don't get all breathless with excitement over what is really just another pile of poop on the sidewalk of life.

I'm less interested in the hackers, themselves, than in knowing who is supposed to bring whatever charges should be brought, and what disciplinary action is being taken--or not being taken--by the hackers' bosses. THAT is where the true accountability lies.

'Rat
interesting take, 'Rat, and i have to say, makes sense.
(HAVE to because i have disagreed with your viewpoint many times in the past even though i appreciated your debates ;) )

[mactastic]

Originally posted by radhak
seriously though, is it a crime if i pick up a pile of money (or even a dollar) from the sidewalk? how so - can i be charged, arrested? i mean strictly legally here, not ethically/morally/etc.


All it has to do is have a sign on it saying "My Money" and if you take it, knowing it's not yours, that's illegal. Actually I don't even think you need the sign. I'm pretty sure the folder that these things were taken from was labeled "DemFiles" or something like that.

Do you know what you are supposed to do with property you find in public places? I'll give you a hint. Putting it in your pocket and walking away is NOT the correct (legal) answer.

[wwworry]

they say the test of honesty is what one does if one knows one will not be caught.

[Frohickey]

Originally posted by mactastic
All it has to do is have a sign on it saying "My Money" and if you take it, knowing it's not yours, that's illegal. Actually I don't even think you need the sign. I'm pretty sure the folder that these things were taken from was labeled "DemFiles" or something like that.

Do you know what you are supposed to do with property you find in public places? I'll give you a hint. Putting it in your pocket and walking away is NOT the correct (legal) answer.

Hmm... i know this goes a bit off topic, but how is it that you get all high and mighty about taking money that is not yours, but you are alright with taking my money for your proposed national health care? Not very consistent, eh?

[Taft]

Originally posted by Frohickey
Hmm... i know this goes a bit off topic, but how is it that you get all high and mighty about taking money that is not yours, but you are alright with taking my money for your proposed national health care? Not very consistent, eh?

Right, because those two sets of circumstances aren't at all different. :rolleyes:

On one hand, you have a central system which collects money so that society has a "safety net" in terms of providing everyone healthcare, regardless of their economic capabilities. This system would strive to dole out coverage based on need, and would likely have inefficiencies. But, nonetheless, everyone would be covered.

On the other hand, you have a scenario where a single person, acting out of self interest, takes money he knows doesn't belong to him.

While you may not agree with the government taxing you to provide services to everyone (including yourself), you must certainly admit that the situations have very little in common.

Taft

[mactastic]

Originally posted by Frohickey
Hmm... i know this goes a bit off topic, but how is it that you get all high and mighty about taking money that is not yours, but you are alright with taking my money for your proposed national health care? Not very consistent, eh?

It's only inconsistent if you think taxes = stealing. I think you are pretty much the only one around here who actually thinks that.

[Desertrat]

radhak, if some high-and-mighty does something of which I disapprove, I'm happy to complain, stating why I think he's wrong. I see no point in merely bashing.

I disagreed with much of Clinton's philosophy; I spoke my mind as to the reasons I disagreed. I very rarely offered gratuitous slams against him. (Not saying I never did, of course. I'm no saint.)

When Bush was running for President, I supported him. To me, his overall history was more favorable than that of Gore. Pretty much until the overall package of Patriot Act and airport insecurity and his choices for various high positions, I still supported him. I think the administration has made a lot of mistakes since late in 2002; even so, there's no point in bashing and name calling.

All that said, I admit that when I read most any newspaper with articles about the doings of the Beltway Bandits, I'm an equal-oppportunity griper: "Those effing idiots!" :D But I don't feel I have to spout off on the Net...

Hey, mac, "Morals, ethics and conscience have to do with what you do when nobody's looking." (This sorta derived from TFL/THR website discussions about hunting: Fair chase, legal limits, legal hours, etc.)

"Not illegal" ain't the same thing as moral, either.

:), 'Rat

[mactastic]

Originally posted by Desertrat
Hey, mac, "Morals, ethics and conscience have to do with what you do when nobody's looking." (This sorta derived from TFL/THR website discussions about hunting: Fair chase, legal limits, legal hours, etc.)

"Not illegal" ain't the same thing as moral, either.

Hey 'Rat, are you giving me morality lessons? Suggesting I'm in some way immoral or in need of such lessons? What are you telling me this for?

[Desertrat]

Naw, mac, nuthin' aimed at you. I've just found that to be a fun comment when dealing with a known blowhard who professes integrity--and you already know better. :) (Real estate agents, used car salesmen, stock brokers, politicians...)

'Rat

[mactastic]

Oh ok, 'cuz that same line was posted before yours by wwworry.