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Weekly column on Mike Hawash: Guilty until proven innocent
- Date: Mon, 14 Apr 2003 12:12:33 -0400
- To: politech@politechbot.com
- Subject: FC: Weekly column on Mike Hawash: Guilty until proven innocent
- From: Declan McCullagh <declan@well.com>
http://news.com.com/2010-1071-996625.html
Guilty until proven innocent
By Declan McCullagh
April 14, 2003, 4:00 AM PT
Intel engineer Mike Hawash is in solitary confinement in a federal
prison in Sheridan, Ore.
On Mar. 20, the FBI arrested Hawash at gunpoint in Intel's parking lot
near Portland for reasons that remain confidential. A 38-year-old
American citizen with a wife and three children, he has not been
charged with a crime.
This is a development that deserves close attention in the technology
community. More than other industries, the computer business relies on
immigrants. And some, like Hawash, are getting caught up in the U.S.
Justice Department's campaign against suspected domestic terrorists.
The Hawash case is not an isolated situation. I wrote recently about
how Attorney General Ashcroft wants more power to snoop on the
Internet, observing private conversations by installing secret
microphones, spyware and keystroke loggers. Combine that with the
broad powers that the Justice Department received under the 2001
Patriot Act, and you've got a situation that concentrates a tremendous
amount of surveillance power in a small group of federal police and
prosecutors.
[...]
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