So yeah, quick query, who here has not had any games on their computer at school?

Thought so.

So I go to school today, not thinking anything would go wrong seeing as how it's 3 days away from the end of the year. About halfway through my C++ period I'm called into the office, and am proceeded to tell how the techies had just discovered I had 'games' 'programs' and 'viruses' on my computer. Only had them since effing SEPTEMBER.

I get to have the fun of getting the regular lecture, then 3 days of Out of School suspension next year. In school for the rest of the day (nothing monday or tuesday because they're finals days). Not only did they overreact, but the crappy techies at our school (it was the ones that work the entire system that actually caught me) proceeded to give the Assistant Principal incorrect information, thus probably making my punishment even worse.

And the fun just begins! I come home and of course all my stuff is gone (OSS doesn't go over well with the parents) but it doesn't matter anyways--I'm gone as of Wednesday morning at 5 AM. But there's a bigger problem--aparrently the Police made a nice little stop by my house and copied my hard drive (strangely enough didn't touch my DVDs or CDs) while my dad was going insane trying to figure out what was going on. To say the least, I'm far from clean on that box, and so there's the pending pirated games/music/videos bit that might just happen. Of course this had to do with school, but how I don't know.

So yeah, I'm leaving wednesday, and sit here wondering if I'm going to end up having some nice little felonies on my record, all because the techies saw me playing a game on my computer.

This sucks.

wow, that sucks, but as they say, don't do the crime is you don't want to do the time

But one crime has nothing to do with another...how they got permission to copy my HDD because I had a few games on my computer at school is beyond me. It's not like I brought it onto school property or anything.

Bah.

i'm guessing it was the 'virus' folder, virus attacks are considered terrorist attacks so ze police gets called in

This is why having your own laptop is a good thing. Not only can they not touch the damn thing, but its much easier to hide playing games

It's illegal to have a laptop in the school that doesn't belong to the school.

That sucks, I play on my laptop during Chemistry.

If you would have been using linux the police probably wouldn't have known what to do when they got there... :p

Jesus Christ, get a lawyer.

I assume the police had permission to take your HD and copy it from your parents. I'm told that legally nothing is actually yours but the property of your legal guardian(s). Fun to be a minor in the legal world eh?

Damn that sucks. Didn't the cops show your dad a warrant?

They don't have to if his parents agree to let him in anyway. A warrant just grants them clearance to enter by force if needed.

I don't see how an incidnet at school would allow the police to come into the home and copy his hard drive. They don't seem to be related. Yoshi, you should really try to fight what got you into trouble, beyond the games, that is.

Wait, did the police have a warrant? What for?

I very much doubt you're in any legal trouble, regardless. Certainly not felonies; a civil suit, maybe.

The police probably didn't have a warrant, they probably asked his parents, and his parents probably just said yes. The cops probably spouted some crap about obstruction of justice if the parents hesitated. This sounds like all around crap. If you need a place to hide out I'm there for you, dude.

Another thing you need to watch for, are INCOMPLETE WARRANTS.

If the thing isn't dated, or signatured, don't let them in.


I've done it before, with a cop beating on my door threatening to knock it down. Hey officer ahole, you didn't have an official warrant, get off of my property.

Never heard from him again, though.

You didn't have porn on that copied HD, right?

Nothing illegal on my HD, dang proud of it.

No, but he had 10,000 variatons of "Policie are Wusses" Bumper Stickers. :p

Seriously, though, get a cheap lawyer and go over the fine details of this thing. I'm sure there's an easy buck or two to be made somewhere.

Whats crazy is, they probably already know he goes to massassi and are moderating this thread.

Or maybe not, I don't know.

Hey that's right! Time for police jokes! Or better yet police soul jokes.

I wounder if Brain will be able to get out of any speeding tickets now.

Maybe the cops were already onto you and asked the school to check your school computer.

BTW, how is a putting a game on a school PC a felony? I would think it would be a bit of a stretch to even call it a misdomeaner. There's nothing I can't stand more than people making a big fuss about things they don't understand. Morons.

He probably broke school policy. Then they may have found something that could have been illegal, or that they might have thought illegal. So they probably consulted the police. Who knows what evidence they may have found that might have given probable cause to search a home computer. Now, if they did not have a warrant and they asked permission to search his computer from his parents I have to wonder was the computer actually his or a family type thing (an old computer he used, one that they bought and maybe did not expressly give to him) because if it was his property I am not sure anyone else can give consent to a search, possibly making anything found inadmissable. If his parents did have the authority to allow the search then it would be valid. Either way it is horrible that anyone might allow a search without a warrant. Never surrender your rights! If the police have a valid reason and probable cause, make them get a warrant! I'm just waiting for the day someone asks to search my car just so I can refuse, even though I have nothing to hide. Now, if they had a warrant, obviously it's all good but I doubt they care about pirated material. They're probably looking for evidence of viruses or hacking or something. Hopefully he's not into that kind of stuff.

As I said above, I don't think that the computer is legally his because he's a minor under the care of a guardian. As the one(s) watching over him, they are responsible for anything and everything that the child brings into the home. That's why the parent[s] can turn over anything that the child "owns" to authorities willingly.

I understood that point but I've also heard things to the contrary. Don't we have any lawyers here?

I think I'm the only one who never had games on his school computer... =\

Me neither. I ripped some MP3's though, but no games.

some guys warezed doom3 and installed it on the school comps, LANed it a few times with 'em too, banned for a year now of course

you were molishisly playing games wernt you!
[/sarcasim]

thay problly want to make an example of you to other students so that there computer systems wont get mucked up by every sally and joe who thinks that thay know jack about computers, but really dont. at least that's what my school would do.

I'd be so screwed if they looked on my HD...

Porn isnt illegal you know. Unless he's under 18.

They dont copy you're hard drive for piracy unless you're a primary source (ie work for a release group) or you sell pirated material.

I'm pretty sure it would be the virus thing. That's not to say if they do find pirated software/muisic/whatever on there they wont do anything. Although if they're looking for something more serious like viruses (maybe think you create them? i dunno) they may overlook any piracy charges.

Then again, you could show them #massassi logs and plead insanity

PSP+wipeout ftw!

Yes I am posting from my PSP.
Brian--he did have a warrant but I dont know if it was complete or not. My 'dad' was here. No word from police yet, will update ASAP

I never even thought about putting games on the computer at my school...it would have saved me a lot of boredom.....

?

Man, schools has gotten more strick than when I was in high schools a long time ago. I remember back in my freshman year one of the computer teachers allowed his students and their friends to come in and play video games during lunch and after school (The teacher actually played a game or two with the students!). The computers had Doom I and II, Duke Nukem 3D, Warcraft II, and Quake (only one had Quake 2 but the student that had it had it installed on a portable hard drive). I even installed a few games of my own (Tomb Raider, Jedi Knight, and Duke Nuken 3D atomic edition) and the teacher didn't even care. However, towards the end of the year, the computers were getting some viruses and the admin told the teacher he could no longer allow his students so much freedom with the computers so they all had to be reformated and games were no longer allowed. Despite the viruses, none of the students were busted. Strange how its no longer like this now of days.

#1: If someone came to my house and asked to copy my HD, they'd have to get through 3 different levels of security. All of which my parents don't know passwords to. It wouldn't matter anyway, because my parents would tell them to screw off, even if they had a warrent. My dad would rather go to jail than have the cops search something of his without a REAL reason.

#2: Do you have any reputable but fair compy teachers? Ask them if they'd be willing to cover for you and say you were doing a side-code project in which you were testing some code for a real game in order to try it in your own program, and you plan to be a gamer designer in college. It's worth a shot.

#3: They won't care about a handful of MP3s. It'd cost them more resources to sift through it all and determine what you own legally and what you don't for them to bother.

JediKirby

You do relise that you can go around security systems if you have dirrect access to the drive don't you. By heck, hackers and crackers can do it over the web.

Also there's software aroud that allows you to read a section of the drive without going through the security systems or even the table of contents.

Glad to clear that up

I don't like the idea of cops mucking about i my PC. "Oh, what's a hose doing in a PC ? *yank* Crap! Maybe the HDD isn't ruined."

If they had a warrant he'd go to jail and they'd search anyway so that's a lose-lose situation. Better to not fight the search and then later attack the grounds for the warrant incase it was not founded on a solid basis.