From: grendel@netaxs.com (Michael Handler) Subject: Digital entrapment == thoughtcrime? Date: 30 May 1994 19:05:51 -0500 Organization: UTexas Mail-to-News Gateway Distribution: inet NNTP-Posting-Host: news.cs.utexas.edu -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Philadelphia Inquirer, Monday, May 30, 1994, Page A1 "Cybercops zap computer hackers, crackers and phreaks" [excerpt] Martin's parents had grounded him for riding his bicycle too far from home. Martin, seething, logged onto his father's computer and vented the rage of a 13-year old. His pal Don understood. Don's messages, cool and consoling, blinked across the color terminal whenever Martin logged onto Internet, the international network of computers. Martin's parents were unfair, Don wrote. _What's wrong with riding your bike?_ And so their friendship grew -- Martin, a junior high schooler in California's Silicon Valley, trading thoughts with Don, a 26-year-old he knew only through the global net of computers linked and crisscrossed through telephone lines like a series of spider webs. Don wanted to change that. One night, a new message appeared on Martin's screen: _Let's meet._ The teen wasn't so sure. Would his parents understand? _Don't worry about that. Tell them a lie._ What about school? No problem, Martin messaged. _Just write an excuse and sign your dad's name._ Martin finally agreed: A restaurant, lunchtime, on a day in mid-June last year. Don got there first. When San Jose police arrested him, Don was carrying a vibrator, condoms, and a tube of lubricating jelly. He had reservations at a nearby motel. He had a pack of cards for a game of strip pokes. He was looking for a 13-year-old kid. He got Jim McMahon instead -- Sgt. McMahon of the San Jose Police Department, who charged the man with pedophilia, a felony. "Don" was not 56, not 26, police learned. But then "Martin" was no 13-year-old. He was actually McMahon, 39 and a new breed of cop travelling that newest thoroughfare of all, the information superhighway. [ end excerpt ] I thought this should be brought to people's attention. I have already sent a copy to John Perry Barlow. Given the facts here, it seems like a case of entrapment. How can they charge "Don" with pedophilia when he actually never touched anyone? If he is convicted, this looks to me like a "thoughtcrime". Has anyone else seen more information on this? Does anyone know when this happened? NOTE CROSSPOSTING! NARROW FOLLOW-UPS WHEN THREADS DIVERGE! Crossposted: comp.org.eff.talk, misc.legal, alt.sex.intergen, alt.privacy, alt.politics.datahighway - -- Michael Brandt Handler Philadelphia, PA, USA PGP v2.6 public key via server / finger / mail "I am iron, I am steel, nobody can touch me when I'm on the wheel" -- Curve -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: 2.6 Comment: Michael Brandt Handler iQCVAgUBLep+WQwaBQX8AxMhAQGdOgQAu9lsTgPssOto2+HhwiKp76kmXezZtrT9 gl+79SHS+2KxU8iYpRqwoej8Mo5IUTKscaTfiS2QIrScyRmzTFSEmQ1jFY1Zi2Gx 1NcfdhKWbseykv/BxTvmRg6t13oQn/2MeIEjcnN76R1lcc87t2KyjI8lMga/E/WM jFLFEDKbQaY= =ExZL -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----