Commission suggests hacking and hijacking the computers of suspected IP pirates

May 27, 2013

Should owners of intellectual property be allowed to attack anyone they suspect of pirating their goodies? That's a question that was raised last week by the Commission on the Theft of American Intellectual Property. While the commission's observation's about IP thieving by China grabbed most of the headlines when it released its 90-page report last week, buried in the document was a disturbing analysis of the merits of offensive cyber operations by rights holders that, if given legal life, could do some serious harm to the digital lives of many consumers. The commission—made up of former U.S. government officials and military men—is interested in protecting corporate and government networks from IP thieves, but some of their action points, if they became legal, could easily be used by groups like the RIAA and MPAA to bully consumers. A slippery, dangerous slope At issue is something in cyber security circles known as "active network defense," which has more to do with offense than defense. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Link: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2039902/commission-suggests-hacking-and-hijacking-the-computers-of-suspected-ip-pirates.html#tk.rss_all