"(9) A COMPUTER TECHNICIAN WHO HAS KNOWLEDGE OF OR OBSERVES A COMPUTER TECHNICIAN WHO FAILS TO REPORT KNOWLEDGE OR OBSERVATION OF CHILD SEXUALLY ABUSIVE MATERIAL AS REQUIRED IN THIS SUBSECTION IS GUILTY OF A MISDEMEANOR PUNISHABLE BY IMPRISONMENT FOR 93 DAYS OR A FINE OF $500.00, OR BOTH. "
This is our new series in reviewing selected laws, proposed or enacted, which fail the test of logic as defined below, hence becomes a Law Lacking Logic. The birth of our "Laws Lacking Logic" series came from reader input during our recent series on a federal law, S-431 "The Kids Act of 2008" which defies logic to the nth degree in virtually every aspect; see that series of articles.
"Law Lacking Logic" definition: Any law, proposed or enacted, or provision of one, where the wording is, illogical, vague or ambiguious, imposible to follow or enforce, or whose stated purpose is but a pretext for another real purpose.
5-31-2008 National:
The bill in question today is, Michigan's Senate bill 1328:
Lets begin with the definition of Computer Technician, the bill says: "(d) "Computer technician" means a person who installs, maintains, troubleshoots, upgrades, or repairs computer hardware, software, personal computer networks, or peripheral equipment."
Immediately one sees that the law, as written, is in the AND sense, and unless the business defines such jobs as "computer technicians" that business will not have to comply. Example: Best Buy has what they call the Geek Squad, software related, hence software technicians.
Simply said, the law doesn't allow for any other job titles performing some or all of those functions.
Next, study this bill, employers somehow must teach their employees to recognize "Contemporary community standards" "Erotic fondling" "Erotic nudity" "Listed sexual act" "Masturbation" "Passive sexual involvement" "Prurient interest" "Child sexually abusive activity" "Child sexually abusive material" "Sadomasochistic abuse" "Flagellation or torture" "Sexual excitement" "Sexual intercourse" with respect to a child (someone under 18) and using only the words of the statute and without ANY EXAMPLES, such as pictures, because under the Adam Walsh Act (Sec. 501(2)(E)), the instant ANYONE recognizes any of these, law enforment must seize the computer and prevent anyone from ever seeing that image again, including the defense attorney of the client so charged with the crime.
How many computer technicians will remain in their jobs when their job descriptions are changed to include such things as mentioned above? Especially since, many Mom & Pop computer stores use teenagers for computer repairs because they are more familiar with computers than most adults. Does anyone see a minimum age limit for computer techincians in the proposed law?
Has anyone ever taken a computer in for repairs, it goes something like this, they put the computer up on the counter and check it out to see what it doesn't do or what is wrong with it; in plain view of other customers should there be any. Does anyoen see anything in the proposed law requiring an area, secured from the public, for such checking? Oh yes, the employer may have to have such lest he be accused of showing child porn to the public if it should appear on the screen during a check out of the computer.
Apparently the points I made above are based on a law already enacted, now I'm getting to the newly proposed portion:
CHILD SEXUALLY ABUSIVE MATERIAL WITHIN THE SCOPE OF HIS OR HER PROFESSIONAL CAPACITY OR EMPLOYMENT SHALL REPORT THAT KNOWLEDGE OR OBSERVATION TO THE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY.
Lets look at the punishment for the computer technician who FAILS to report child sexually abusive materials. Oh folks say, why would the technician FAIL to report it? Well, lets look at HOW they would not know about it, but be accused of knowledge of it, after the fact.
Someone brings in a computer with a 500 giga byte hard drive admittedly containing thousands of pictures. The technician locates the problem, fixes it, and returns the computer to the customer.
Sometime thereafter that customer is arrested for downloading child porn from the Internet, the police confiscate the computer and see a repair tag somewhere on the computer or in his possession.
OK, the first thing law enforcement is going to do is see if the computer repair technician knew there was child porn on the computer at the time of the repair, likely the tecnician would say NO. However, the police forensics technician finds several pictures on the hard drive which are dated (files on computers are automatically dated by the computer operating system when created) BEFORE the computer repair date.
Obviously the computer technician isn't telling the truth, so sayeth law enforcement and the prosecuting attorney because it is an election year and they need convictions to get relected. How does the computer technician prove innocence?
S-1328 is inherently FLAWED, it is a "Law Lacking Logic," it ignores the way the fundamental computer business does business, and FAILS to include a requirement in the bill for the computer technician to view EVERY SINGLE PICTURE found on any computer brought in for repair.
OH, you say, thats a burden on the computer repair business, and would drive the cost of repairs up likely higher than the cost of the entire computer, well, you know what they say, anything to save one child.
I'll skip over commercial film or photographic print processors because their jobs are more cut and dried, excepting they frequently do it in view of the public, but we''l let that slide for today.
I could pick on the law and the newly proposed portions until the cows come home but I think above is sufficient to show a "Law Lacking Logic" and that lawmakers, not just those in Michigan either, have no business making such laws without the aid of industry people to advise them which they obviously skipped over when this FLAWED BILL was written. Typicial of lawmakers.
Oh yes, I've repaired many computers for folks in the past, but if I knew such a law existed, and if I lived in Michigan, I would never again repair any computer for anyone, its easy to see why!
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