Jew World Order

March 8, 2018

This isn’t necessarily a problem, considering companies performing computer repairs are legally obligated to report discovered child porn or pirated software to law enforcement.

However, the EFF’s argument in the case of Mark Rettenmaier — a California doctor who was charged with child pornography possession after Geek Squad employees say they discovered it on his computer, is that the documents show that Geek Squad employees made actual efforts to find the illegal material, potentially using forensic software to search his devices.

Further, there is evidence that Geek Squad employees were paid when they would find child pornography, which the EFF said would act to encourage the employees to actively search for the content. That changes the motivation from legal obligation to a chance to earn some additional extra cash by digging around in files that may not be essential to the repair, which is an obvious overreach.

One of the documents obtained recorded a $500 payment from the FBI to a Geek Squad employee, OC Weekly reported. According to the EFF, this payment is one of the payments that has been linked to Rettenmaier’s case.

The released documents found that Best Buy had the FBI visit one of their repair facilities for the agency’s “Cyber Working Group” and that Geek Squad employees gave FBI officials a tour of the facilities.

One former agent confirms in her declaration that the employee who alerted the FBI to alleged child pornography found on the computer of the defendant in this case had been signed up by the FBI as a “confidential human source” (CHS) in 2009 two years before the offending content was discovered in this case but contends that this worker was “never asked” to “search for child pornography or evidence of any other crime on behalf of the FBI.”

However, in a December 19th order, in this case, the judge notes that emailed communications may hint at a deeper connection between the agency and the Geek Squad employee.

For instance, in Oct. 2009, this agent emailed the Best Buy staffer to set up a meeting “to discuss some other ideas for collaboration.” The since-retired agent now says she has no “independent recollection of what ‘collaboration’” refers to in that email, blaming her memory lapse on brain damage caused by Lyme disease.

The documents were released following an EFF Freedom of Information Act lawsuit in 2017.

The EFF has plans to challenge the FBI in court later this year for withholding other requested documents and refusing to answer questions about whether the agency had similar relationships with other computer repair companies.

What should be taken away from this is that the FBI directed Geek Squad to search through customers’ computers without probable cause.

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There is also a very problematic scenario when you introduce any type of financial incentive. What if a Geek Squad employee decides to start planting child pornography on customers’ computers just to get paid?

Another issue is that malware can secretly implant files on the computer. There is malware that will implant child porn on a person’s computer, which is why that can’t be relied upon. A person’s own search history and capturing their IP address on a child porn site is more reliable than metadata.

That may be why a federal appellate court declared in February 2011 (USA v. Andrew Flyer) in an unrelated case that “pictures found on unallocated space did not constitute knowing possession because it is impossible to determine when, why or who downloaded them.”

Then there is the issue of a parent having a picture of their own child in the bathtub or something of a similar nature on the computer and the Geek Squad agent falsely accusing someone by reporting them to the FBI. And what if a customer has legal pornographic images of a girlfriend, boyfriend, husband, or wife– it’s a severe invasion of privacy.

However, in this case, during a search of Rettenmaier’s seized iPhone, prosecutors say the phone contained more than 800 pictures of naked or partially nude girls including some taken during gynecological exams, the LA Times reported.

What more should we take away from this? This case will set a precedent, and whether you think the individual is a sick child predator doesn’t matter because this will affect your own rights, too.

While Activist Post doesn’t have any sympathy for pedophiles and purveyors of child pornography, we worry about how the information was obtained by agents at Best Buy without a warrant, as this is a violation of the Fourth Amendment which protects against “illegal search and seizure.”

Aaron Kesel writes for Activist Post. Support us at Patreon. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Steemit, and BitChute. Ready for solutions? Subscribe to our premium newsletter Counter Markets.

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