Schools Spy on Students

[TopSecure]

Re: Schools Spy on Students

In Indian Schools Where i come from, There is No Webcam to monitor, instead we have limited period of access time may be for 15 mins to 30 mins per day, and they could have blocked every site which is related to Movies, Games, etc except for Games specially Cricket

[streaker69]

Re: Schools Spy on Students

The final VERDICT WAS!!!!!!


610 THOUSAND DOLLARS AWARDED TO THE FAMILIES

Uhh, try again, first, there wasn't a verdict, it was an out of court settlement. Second, the attorney got $425K for himself, and the rest was awarded. Meaning the attorney got the lion's share of the money. It's disgusting.

[JMC31337]

Re: Schools Spy on Students

The final VERDICT WAS!!!!!!


610 THOUSAND DOLLARS AWARDED TO THE FAMILIES

[TheCotMan]

Re: Schools Spy on Students

You can kind of do your idea with Google news alerts. Pick a key phrase from the article and have it email you whenever that phrase shows up. I used to do it all the time. Although a dedicated service would be nice.

This is what I have been doing for the "Defcon in the news" thread. I have 2 or 3 different searches against google news for stories related to Defcon. Then I review the results, weed out the off-topic where they are using "defcon" to refer to something else and remove the repeated stories, or stories that are not interesting enough. What remains, gets tossed into the thread.

[streaker69]

Re: Schools Spy on Students

sadly, the news piece doesn't say what became of the original IT administrator, on whom much of this was initially pinned.

thanks for the follow-up to the story, however, streaker... i really get frustrated sometimes that in the 24-hour news cycle's endless quest for "what's new" we often don't get the follow-up to really important stories.

imagine such a news feed service... if you could flag incoming topics as relevant to you somehow, and then either months or even years later if such a topic had any movement on a case or developments in law or even if someone just spoke out and did a "whatever happened to" piece, it would ping you.

Glad to be of service.

You can kind of do your idea with Google news alerts. Pick a key phrase from the article and have it email you whenever that phrase shows up. I used to do it all the time. Although a dedicated service would be nice.

[Deviant Ollam]

Re: Schools Spy on Students

Just an update

sadly, the news piece doesn't say what became of the original IT administrator, on whom much of this was initially pinned.

thanks for the follow-up to the story, however, streaker... i really get frustrated sometimes that in the 24-hour news cycle's endless quest for "what's new" we often don't get the follow-up to really important stories.

imagine such a news feed service... if you could flag incoming topics as relevant to you somehow, and then either months or even years later if such a topic had any movement on a case or developments in law or even if someone just spoke out and did a "whatever happened to" piece, it would ping you.

[streaker69]

Re: Schools Spy on Students

Just an update:

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/10/11...bcam-spy-suit/

...and the most disgusting part:

The settlement calls for $175,000 to be placed in a trust for Robbins and $10,000 for a second student who filed suit, Jalil Hassan. Their lawyer, Mark Haltzman, will get $425,000 for his work on the case.

[JMC31337]

Re: Schools Spy on Students

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/br...o_charges.html



Hopefully one of the Lawyers that frequent this forum can chime in here, because this really confuses me. I'd be willing to bet there are thousands of people in jail that did not intend to act in a criminal manner but did so either in ignorance of the law or a misunderstanding of the law. But in this case the administrators are getting a pass because they didn't intend to behave like criminals?

Im no lawyer, but i've read many case laws and Title18 laws.. The police are of the slogan
"ignorance is not an excuse" and as for the administration, cmon! $$ talks, if OJ can get off then anyone with power and $ can do that same... According to the PA Eastern District PDF copies of the allegations and facts, the case is still on. These things take months to years. They allege abuse while the other party (the school) alleges Insurance Policy matters. Also, the Phila FBI investigated. They arent much help. Your better off asking a brick wall to investigate than the Phila FBI

[JMC31337]

Re: Schools Spy on Students

Well supposedly the kid was taking what looked like pills to the webcam but it turned out to be candy, if i heard through the rumor mill correctly... but we know how whisper down the lane goes...read the asst principal repsonse and it sounds like the poor kid was "improper behavior"
kids will be kids

[Thorn]

Re: Schools Spy on Students

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/br...o_charges.html



Hopefully one of the Lawyers that frequent this forum can chime in here, because this really confuses me. I'd be willing to bet there are thousands of people in jail that did not intend to act in a criminal manner but did so either in ignorance of the law or a misunderstanding of the law. But in this case the administrators are getting a pass because they didn't intend to behave like criminals?

According to the Supreme Court, "ignorance of the law or a mistake of law is no defense to criminal prosecution." Cheek v. United States, 498 U.S. 192 (1991)

Also, I believe there are different measures of intent for different crimes.

Exactly. For example: In most jurisdictions, a First Degree Homicide needs intent before the act, while a Second Degree needs intent contemporaneously with the act. Manslaughter doesn't need intent, only a willful disregard that death might result.

So the answer is "it depends." It comes down to the nature of the crime, how the actual statues are written, as well as prior case law regarding the implementation of the statutes.

[theprez98]

Re: Schools Spy on Students

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/br...o_charges.html



Hopefully one of the Lawyers that frequent this forum can chime in here, because this really confuses me. I'd be willing to bet there are thousands of people in jail that did not intend to act in a criminal manner but did so either in ignorance of the law or a misunderstanding of the law. But in this case the administrators are getting a pass because they didn't intend to behave like criminals?

According to the Supreme Court, "ignorance of the law or a mistake of law is no defense to criminal prosecution." Cheek v. United States, 498 U.S. 192 (1991)

Also, I believe there are different measures of intent for different crimes.

[streaker69]

Re: Schools Spy on Students

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/br...o_charges.html

"For the government to prosecute a criminal case, it must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the person charged acted with criminal intent," U.S. Attorney Zane Memeger said in a statement released by his office. "We have not found evidence that would establish beyond a reasonable doubt that anyone involved had criminal intent."

Hopefully one of the Lawyers that frequent this forum can chime in here, because this really confuses me. I'd be willing to bet there are thousands of people in jail that did not intend to act in a criminal manner but did so either in ignorance of the law or a misunderstanding of the law. But in this case the administrators are getting a pass because they didn't intend to behave like criminals?

[facon12]

Re: Schools Spy on Students

According to http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/201...amprobe-judge/ the feds seem pretty interested in this. I'm really curious who they would go after on a criminal level if they did find something they think they can prosecute with. Right now it seems like all roads are running to the IT admin. I don't fully understand how they expect to pull that off in the civil case because my understanding is that a school administrator confronted a student with one of the photos, which to me would show that they were ok with at least some of the pictures being taken of the students.

[shrdlu]

Re: Schools Spy on Students

I just remain so disturbed by all this. The evil that permeates all this is incredible. Yes, I did indeed use the word "evil" and I meant it. I cannot fathom a person who would participate in this, and feel that it was justified. I would object to this if it had been imposed upon adults. To think that people took advantage of their position which should have been the protector of our children, and used that position instead to exploit them, enrages me.

That someone could do this, without hesitation, shows a profound and gaping hole where one's moral compass should reside. There can be no amount of prosecution, no lengthy jail term, that will ever make up for any of this. If any of them attempt to use the I was just doing what I was told defense, I hope they're the first to meet cousin Bubba when they go to the prison term that they so richly deserve.

Yes, I've had coffee. You should have seen the first response that I wanted to make.

[streaker69]

Re: Schools Spy on Students

This could get them in even more trouble:

"Not only was Blake Robbins being spied upon, but every one of the people he was IM chatting with were spied upon," said Haltzman, whose lawsuit alleges wiretap and privacy violations. "They captured pictures of people that have nothing to do with Harriton. It could be his cousin from Connecticut."

IF the school actually had a written policy that the students signed and agreed to the potential of being monitored, third parties most certainly could not have been included in that agreement. So tapping into private conversations via IM with third parties not associated with the school would probably violate federal wiretap laws, and taking pictures of people that were not members of the school is probably illegal in some way.

The other question here is, what other organizations are using this same software? I doubt that LMSD is the only client of whatever company wrote it.