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IP: U. K. "Scanning" of PCs
From: Dave Farber <farber () cis upenn edu>
Date: Wed, 26 Aug 1998 09:51:00 -0700
Here here!! djf To: David Farber <farber () CENTRAL CIS UPENN EDU> Subject: U. K. "Scanning" of PCs Date: Wed, 26 Aug 98 09:49:55 -0500 From: William Hugh Murray <whmurray () sprynet com> X-Mailer: E-Mail Connection v3.1 -- [ From: William Hugh Murray * EMC.Ver #3.1 ] -- Oliver Cromwell's government justified its postal franchise in part by the need to prevent "many dangerous and wicked designs which have been and are daily contrived against the welfare of this Commonwealth, the intelligence whereof cannot well be communicated but by letter of escript." Everyone understood that the only crime that the government was really concerned about were plots to restore the monarchy; that anything which was not obvious as to its meaning, and even much that was, would be taken as evidence of such a plot. One application of Occam's Razor says that one should never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity. By that test, what is being done by HM's government will simply disappear of its own weight and should not be a matter of concern. However, this razor cuts both ways. It is prudent to believe that the most obvious motive for behavior is the real one. It is dangerous to grant to governments only the motives that they are prepared to admit to. In this instance, suppose that HM's government had been silent on their motive; what would you assume? Would it ever even occur to you that such a procedure was aimed at something that one is unlikely to find on any computer, such as child pornography, or would you assume that it was aimed at something that is likely to be found on most computers, business intelligence? Even if HMs government believes their own propaganda, business travelers must assume that, whatever the government's motive for looking, they will use whatever they see for its best purpose. It is simply in the nature of government.
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