BC student has all his electronic stuff seized by campus police
By Michael Kerpan - Tue, 04/14/2009 - 7:17pm.
A Boston College student had all his computers (and iPod and cellphone) seized by campus police investigating the sending of a derogatory e-mail to a college newsgroup. Some of the suspicious facts used to justify the seizure -- the fact that he was seen using lots of different notebook computers (apparently he claims he fixes computer problems for other students) and his use of a non-standard operating system that used a suspicious-looking command line and typed-in commands (i.e. Linux).
www.eff.org/press/archives/2009/04/13
See also:
www.eff.org/deeplinks/2009/04/boston-college-prompt-commands-are-suspicious
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Read the search warrant
Read the search warrant before you simply re-post what the EFF said. The individual has other accusations against him (by his roommate) including unauthorized access of the BC grading system.
Are they using the other illegal activity as an excuse to investigate the e-mail sent out? Perhaps. But the warrant is not as clear-cut as EFF makes it out to be.
I read everything
The key phrase is "by his roommate" -- and it appears that the two individuals are very much at odds with each other.
The only thing that appears to be under investigation is a non-crime (possible slander or libel at most, if the claims were untrue). It would seem that the individual may have made the postings in question, but the calling in of heavy-duty police power seems wildly disproportionate. The other claims are basically unsubstantiated charges by a person who has a grudge (rightful or not).
Hey Kerpan, lay off linux!
There ain't nothing "suspicious-looking" about the command line -- you can get it in Windows and Mac OS X, too!!!
And how is linux a "non-standard operating system"? Ever heard of a web server?
I always use Linux....
..at home -- where I have a choice.
I even use the command line on a regular basis.