Re: complaints about the governemnt spying!

[bkfsec <bkfsec () sdf lonestar org>]

Leif Ericksen wrote:

> It comes back to ignorance of the law is no excuse.
>
>  
Ahh, but there's a BIG difference between willful or unwillful ignorance 
and intentional ignorance.

It's one thing to not know a law that you should know; it's a completely 
different thing to be blocked from knowing the law and expected to 
respect it.

For instance, in securing networks, corporate security personnel in the 
United States should be familiar with Sarbanes-Oxley and the like, at 
least in passing.  Compliance is expected because compliance can be 
tested.  Not being aware of the requirements of Sarbanes-Oxley is not an 
excuse because the law is readily available and transparent.  However, 
if the government passed Sarbanes-Oxley and then turned around and said 
"But for security reasons, the requirements are classified and even the 
judges can't see them without clearance..." that would be different.

How can you guarantee compliance with a behavior when you don't have 
access to the standard?

This is no different than any other standard of behavior.  If people are 
not allowed to know the laws, they have no way to verify their 
complicity with them.   I respectfully submit that the situations are 
different in their entirety and that in the case of a classified law, 
ignorance is intentionally created as a function of the creation of the law.

Such things cannot simply be written off.

                 -bkfsec


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