A policy on electronic crime should offer protection for security and privacy on both individual and institutional systems. Defining a measure of damages and setting proportional punishment will require further goodfaith deliberations by the community involved with electronic freedoms, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service, the bar associations, technology groups, telephone companies and civil libertarians. It will be especially important to represent the damage caused by electronic crime accurately and to leave room for the valuable side of the hacker spirit: the interest in increasing legitimate understanding through exploration.
Predictor: Kapor, Mitchell
Prediction, in context:In a 1991 article for Scientific American, Electronic Frontier Foundation co-founder Mitchell Kapor states: ”Developing and implementing a civil liberties agenda for computer networks will require increasing participation by technically trained people. Fortunately, there are signs that this is begining to happen. The Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference, held last spring in San Francisco, along with electronic conferences on the WELL (Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link) and other computer networks, have brought law-enforcement officials, supposed hackers and interested members of the computer community together in a spirit of free and frank discussion. Such gatherings are beginning to work out the civil liberties guidelines for a networked society. There is general agreement, for example, that a policy on electronic crime should offer protection for security and privacy on both individual and institutional systems. Defining a measure of damages and setting proportional punishment will require further goodfaith deliberations by the community involved with electronic freedoms, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Secret Service, the bar associations, technology groups, telephone companies and civil libertarians. It will be especially important to represent the damage caused by electronic crime accurately and to leave room for the valuable side of the hacker spirit: the interest in increasing legitimate understanding through exploration.”
Biography:Mitchell Kapor founded the Lotus Development Corporation and also founded the Electronic Frontier Foundation with WELL (Whole Earth ‘Lectronic Link) members John Perry Barlow and John Gilmore in 1990 in direct response to a threat to free speech. He was an outspoken supporter of open access to the Internet, and was asked to speak in many venues about the issue, including Congressional hearings. (Pioneer/Originator.)
Date of prediction: January 1, 1991
Topic of prediction: Controversial Issues
Subtopic: Crime/Fraud/Terrorism
Name of publication: Scientific American
Title, headline, chapter name: When Does Hacking Turn From An Exercise of Civil Liberties Into Crime?
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.eff.org/Publications/Mitch_Kapor/cyberliberties_kapor.article
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney