DHS Looks to Spy on Video Game Consoles

djnexus

Welcome to the age of 1984, were more of your rights are dwindled away more and more everyday. Doing things in the name of terrorism and other things to curtail our liberties. "Its a new morning in america what rights will the government take from us today"  This is just one things lets not even get started on the new CISPA act introduced just recently trying to get passed after SOPA and the other one was shot down.

http://www.informationliberation.com/?id=39129

"The government is more concerned with the platforms rather than the games themselves, mainly because newer systems like Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation 3 allow users to communicate with one another via messaging and chat systems



The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and the U.S. Navy have launched a new research initiative that will explore ways of allowing the government to hack into gaming consoles like the Xbox 360, Wii, or PlayStation 3 to obtain information on gamers.



In 2008, a project called "Gaming Systems Monitoring and Analysis Project" was executed when law enforcement became worried about pedophiles using game consoles to talk to children. Later, law enforcement authorities went to DHS' Science and Technology Directorate in search of help on an instrument that could observe game console data. DHS then went to the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) to find Simson Garfinkel, a NPS computer science professor, to offer a contract to a company that could conduct the research and offer a product.



The U.S. Navy ended up recently awarding the $177,237 contract to Obscure Technologies, which is a computer forensics company based in San Francisco, California. Obscure Technologies will be expected to create new hardware and software capable of extracting data from video game consoles. DHS wants to be able to extract data from both new and used games systems bought on the secondary market as well.



According to DHS, the reason for tapping into game consoles is to find pedophiles, who are using communication resources on game systems to seek out victims, and even terrorists, which DHS believes are using consoles to communicate."



"Today's gaming systems are increasingly being used by criminals as a primary tool in exploiting children and, as a result, are being recovered by U.S. law enforcement organizations during court-authorized searches," said Garfinkel.

Gazenthia

At first glance I want to call bullshit on the intended purpose of this. How exactly is hacking into databases going to help them locate pedophiles, terrorists, etc? I'm all for that, but can someone explain to me what this actually does that isn't already accounted for? As far as I know these companies will allow authorities to do whatever they want if there is an actual investigation. This sounds like they want to datamine without, I guess it's 'probable cause'?

djnexus

Put simply its nothing more than an excuse just like 'terrorism' was and is an excuse to pass the Patriot Act, the NDAA etc to instill fear into americans so that when they are afraid they give up there freedoms. Just this week Homeland Security bought up millions of hollow point gun rounds and are installing bulletproof checkpoint barriers across the USA. Hello is anyone out there do you know whats happening to this country.

"Those who forget the past are doomed to repeat it" - can we say Nazi Germany

"What luck for rulers that men do not think" Adolf Hitler