Aussie Cops Want Powers To Search Any Computer

goatherder23 writes in with news that the New South Wales cabinet has proposed new powers for police to search computers anywhere under a search warrant, and adds: "The Four Horsemen of the Infocalypse are invoked to explain why police need the new laws, which have yet to be introduced into Parliament. Would someone please explain to them before this happens that all computers on the Internet are "networked" and that some computers may be found outside NSW (or even Australia)?" "Police Minister David Campbell says police are currently only able to search computer hardware found on a premises named in a search warrant. He says with the changes, they will be able to go a step further and search other networked computers, regardless of where they are located. 'What we know is that there are organized crime gangs who use the Internet and other forms of technology to hide their crimes,' he said."

Options

[Anonymous Coward]

Well, you can always move to the United States.

Re:Four Horsemen of the Infocalypse?

[Sabz5150]

What's number four?

SCO.

Re:Get a warrant for one computer, get a warrant f

[Brian Gordon]

You'd expect that from a prison colony wouldn't you? :)

And next...

[kabdib]

The proposed legislation giving us X-ray Mind-Reading Super Powers will permit us to find out when people are thinking Bad Thoughts, anywhere! Criminals should give themselves up now!

Cop: "Yer unner arrest."

Perp: "What for? I haven't done anything."

Cop: "Dis machine here says you wuz gonna."

Perp: "You got me. It's a fair cop."

Re:Get a warrant for one computer, get a warrant f

[HTH NE1]

Before today you would have thought "Government Seeks Warrant to Search the Internet" was a headline from The Onion.

Re:Ineffective

[c0p0n]

Couldn't they just low-level image it and give the drives back? [...]

Verbing weirds language.

Re:What crime?

[Hanners1979]

If they can hide their crimes using the Internet, the crimes can't have been that bad in the first place?

You'd be amazed how many dead bodies you can hide in a series of tubes.

Re:Four Horsemen of the Infocalypse?

[Chris Mattern]

I count three:
1. terrorism (boogedy-boogedy!)
2. kiddie pr0n (think of the children!)
3. fraud (oh no, my precious inbox is filled with spam!)

What's number four?

4. ???
5. Profit!

Wow...

[Arancaytar]

And I thought we had it bad here in Germany! At least our government only wants to spy on the computers of its own citizens, not the rest of the world...

Re:Ineffective

[mentaldrano]

So that you can sleep the whole way.