Michigan Votes Forum

Introduced in the Senate on May 20, 2008

Click here to view bill details.

Hey--I'm anti-porn all the way, but this is way over the line. Let computer techs do their jobs, and not require them to invade my privacy. What's next?

make to where going to a website doesn't get you redirected to a porn site, and CAN'T redirect you to a porn site, i'll START thinking about this law as being enforceable.

When the state requires ordinary citizens to spy on one another? Totalitarianism.

this looks like a quick and easy way to ATTEMPT to get around the protections of the 4th amendment of the united states constitution. but seeing as since it's a LAW, then the computer repair shop is acting as an officer of the law, and acting under COLOR of law. that means that the repair shop has to have a WARRANT before he can even take in the computer to work on it. or nothing he finds inside, incriminating or not, can be admitted into court. it's amazing how few of our legislators understand the constitution, much less stand for it.

"I'm from the government and I'm here to help." We need to vote these bozos out of office.

If you're going to prosecute the computer techs for NOT turning in the owner of the computer, then at least offer an incentive for snooping, spying and being a snitch. If any computer tech has the balls to do it I suspect they will become an out of work computer tech real quick. And if no computer tech turns anyone in then this will just be another useless law on the books. If we all unite against unconstitutional, invasive laws and get some real changes made by our representatives, then we can take back OUR government.

PURE STUPIDITY! Part time, One House Legislator NOW.

Evil prevails when good stands by and does nothing. Computer techs will not be REQUIRED to snoop into other people's files on their computers. However, if they happen to run across something that looks like it may be child porn, they will then be REQUIRED to report it. It's no different than suspecting someone of abusing their kid. Any person who works with kids such as a teacher or a doctor is REQUIRED by law to report such suspicions. ANYTHING that is geared towards protecting children is something that I am all in favor of.

are known for compelling neighbors to spy on neighbors. this bill is another step in that direction.

in effect that cover this. any person acting as a policeman OR under the direction of policemen, is acting 'under color of law', and is, as such, a law enforcement agent. if a law enforcement agent 'snoops' into your files WITHOUT A WARRANT, then anything he finds is SUPPOSED TO BE INADMISSABLE.

As a certified computer technician (one of the many hats I wear) for over 10 years, I can tell you i've seen many technicians snoop and view images on a customer's system (while running an antivirus scan, or anything else time consuming). If you think for one minute that your data remains confidential with a unsupervised computer technician, think again. In my years of experience as a technician, I've come across pornography and completely legal pictures and videos of young-looking adults that are labeled as "teens" that are watermarked with images from legitimate adult sites (think Girls Gone Wild type stuff). With this law, I can't make that distinction anymore on whether or not it's appropriate to report or not, because if I didn't, and it actually was, I would be criminally liable. In doing so I would be forced to literally ruin a person's life (and lose a customer) by merely REPORTING it. If you think getting the authorities involved is harmless, I know first-hand how these criminal investigations go when it involves discovering possibly "illegal" content. They typically start with a raid in cooperation with local law enforcement, taking all computers, flash drives, discs, hard drives, anything that has data on them (usually making a mess of your house while doing it), and shipping them off to a forensics lab. This usually takes months, and (depending on the jurisdiction) in some cases years, to complete and get your systems back (presuming you're innocent) and to clear you of any wrongdoing. This is of course presuming of course the police, or your neighbors, or the repair company hasn't gone to the media yet. Learning to use TrueCrypt (www.truecrypt.org) is a great start to securely store your files and keeping them from prying eyes, and storing your private files on a flash drive that you keep with you when bringing in a computer for repair. Furthermore, use removable "flash drives" to keep your sensitive documents secure. I'm not talking about pornography here, I mean bank records, confidential work information, medical documents, ANYTHING you don't want someone else seeing. And it's more than just pictures that technicians scour over -- anything you don't want someone else viewing should be securely protected, because in my experience, there are plenty of technicians out there that intentionally stick their noses where it doesn't belong, and depending on the work being done, unintentionally. Think of the children? Ha! Tell that to the high school kid who has naked pictures of his 17-year-old girlfriend, and who's now charged as an adult and labeled as a pedophile and sex offender for the next 25 years.

i speak from experience. A neighbor who was "dishonorably discharged" from military service spied on neighbors and created havoc and destruction in the lives of the community where he lived!!! Just for the heck of it--controlling the lives of neighbors was a MISSION, so he unscrupulously! CPS is a self-serving agency promoting power, money and control of the lives of others. Abolish such unlawful citizens. Just take a look at CPS UNLAWFULLY KIDNAPPING precious children from FLDS parents at a Texas Ranch--a complete violation of the 4th amend-ment. A Ha!!1 They were caught and designated lawbreakers--that is exactly what they do in all cases!!!! Will they be charged with a crime? Of course not, they are "above the law." Fight the Senate's inclination to pass another useless law--if they should fail at charging the porn person, that's okay. They will bring charges to the computer tech for failure to report what he probably didn't know! Gastapo actions. The state of Michigan is such a MESS economically already--so, here they go attempting to make additional moniestaxes for the state from crime!!