Posted on 04/24/2011 9:10:24 AM PDT by decimon
BUFFALO, N.Y. – Lying on his family room floor with assault weapons trained on him, shouts of "pedophile!" and "pornographer!" stinging like his fresh cuts and bruises, the Buffalo homeowner didn't need long to figure out the reason for the early morning wake-up call from a swarm of federal agents.
That new wireless router. He'd gotten fed up trying to set a password. Someone must have used his Internet connection, he thought.
"We know who you are! You downloaded thousands of images at 11:30 last night," the man's lawyer, Barry Covert, recounted the agents saying. They referred to a screen name, "Doldrum."
"No, I didn't," he insisted. "Somebody else could have but I didn't do anything like that."
"You're a creep ... just admit it," they said.
Law enforcement officials say the case is a cautionary tale. Their advice: Password-protect your wireless router.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
From my reply in post #15: "Maybe kicking in doors is the wrong approach to all but crimes of imminent menace."
Going after pedophiles has a decided emotional appeal but I doubt that this approach will be much of a deterrent and is itself an abuse of the citizenry.
...says the guy's attorney. Gee, they never exaggerate. /s
Obviously it wasn't, the guy was innocent.
Suggestive evidence, yes. Worthy of a SWAT team entry and verbally abusing the man, HELL NO!
You think this is reasonable for serving a warrant?
Are you nuts?
Did you read the part about a potato chip can being used as a range booster? 10 million kiddie porn pics downloaded, according to the article.
No, obviously it was. A internet connection that he pays for every month was used to download child porn. That's about as "solid" as it gets. See my comment about a car you own at a fatality accident.
The only person he has to blame here is himself.
BTW, do I think that forced entry in a case of suspected child pornography is appropriate? You BET! - It's far from a victimless crime, in fact it's one of the single most heinous crimes imaginable, and it's a crime that can be covered up with literally a mouse click or key stroke. Surprise is the only advantage they have.
This is NOT a case of the cops showing up without cause or at the wrong address. They were at the RIGHT address with clearly established probable cause.
Good thing the guy didn't own a barking Chiuaua or Cocker Spaniel.
We have several unprotected routers in our neighborhood. A few days ago I noticed a white SUV on the street which would change positions every few minutes, up the street, down the street, one side, then the other. The dark glass on the vehicle didn't allow anyone to see the driver. There were no markings indicating a commercial vehicle. It finally hit me that it was likely someone positioning himself for the best reception from a wireless router. Not sure, but a good bet. Why the guy didn't park near a coffee shop or hotel, I don't know. Maybe because of restrictions?
Feds dont’ need to crack your router to know you’re downloading child porn pics or videos. They can sniff your network...
No kidding.
When did this SWAT home invasion stuff become acceptable in the US?
This was an innocent guy. I don't understand how "probably cause" gives LEOs the right to take away someone's rights.
>>>>I’ve only got one neighbor who might be close enough to use my wireless and that’s probably stretching the range a bit.
Depends on the antennas involved. I can supply my mother who lives about 800’ behind me and with just a small set of Yagi antennas from my 35/35 pipe and its full scale over there. Mom, said that was stealing and would have none of it. :) so now I have two yagi antennas :)
I have her on my logmein account so I can keep her computer maintenance going without leaving the house.
Testing with the laptop in the car with hand holding the antenna I could get into my router from over a mile away.
Amazing times we live in....
I see it being used as a means to erode gun rights. In a nation where people have and exercise the right to keep and bear arms in defense of their homes and families, kicking in doors is a potentially lethal proposition, regardless of who you are. The more the police come to rely on these tactics the higher the probablilty that innocent people could get killled over misunderstanding or paperwork error. The liberals can then argue that having guns in your home is inherently dangerous.
He is to blame? As another poster suggested, you're nuts.
and it's a crime that can be covered up with literally a mouse click or key stroke
That, is total BS. It's not like drugs that can be flushed which is what they use to justify their NAZI like armed entries.
At least the guys dog didn't get executed.
Do you shoplift to save money on groceries and clothes too?
A good wireless router has an unobstructed range of 100’ or so. In an apartment building, given walls and such, it’s probably 3 floors either way. That cannot be too many people. It shouldn’t take too long to find the culprit.
Please, when you're through wallowing in your pool of self-imagined melodrama, point out for me in the story where the word "SWAT" is used.
Thanks!
This stuff is garbage, I have no use for it, and can say I haven't even seen it.
That said, I think the cops are a worse problem than the one they are trying to “solve”.
Arrest those abusing children. Those who have a fictional text description of abuse?
I want to respond to all of you here.
Yes, I actually generally agree with every single one of you on the points you made. My thoughts are that I would really like to see more anonymity rather than less, but I believe strongly that it is going the other way. And there are good arguments for it doing that, just as there are good arguments for face recognition video cameras covering every square foot of public area. But, for obvious reasons, I prefer we err in the other direction. This is one of the reasons I use someone else’s wi-fi. My real reason was to save money, but it is nice to be one of those bucking the “lock down” cyberculture.
Heck, if I were someone wanting to do REALLY bad stuff it would be easy enough, especially in a large megalopolis. I would simply use cash to buy a laptop that I used solely for my “nefarious” purposes and, in all likelihood, keep it at a public storage place when not in use. I’d then do all of my web connection via various free wi-fi hotspots around the city and wear a somewhat concealing hat, glasses and logging shirt with a pillow strapped on whenever I visit them, eliminating the risk of being recorded by private security for later viewing by the police with a warrant. In some cases I could even access from the parking lot, but only if there were no security cameras there, in which case I would not even park there.
If someone were smart, he would not get caught doing this sort of stuff.
All of that reminds me: Back in the early 70’s a guy I worked with asked me why I tried to think of so many ways to rip off the retail company we worked for. I thought at the time that maybe I should have gone into the store security business (since I never ripped them off, nor would I have). It really didn’t sound like fun and I am much happier in IT.
I should add that the shirt, pillow, and hat I mentioned in the above post (and any other props) would be kept with the laptop at the storage unit. Smallest one I could find since I’m pretty cheap. :)
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