TechHui

Hawaiʻi's Technology Community

From Rep. Kym Pine to TechHui

I would like to share with you a message from Kym Pine.  I asked her to address the concerns mentioned here on Tech Hui and she did. What she says here about legislators being open is true, her quick response to my request is a great example.  Here you go:


"Aloha TechHui members, I am writing to deeply apologize for any
offense we have caused you or your industry this legislative session.
I have whole heartily supported the tech industry for many years
including support Act 221 which allowed many of you to thrive in your
businesses.  I also support the many bills currently at the
legislature which will help you to continue to succeed.

The cybercrime bills that have been introduced this year came from
recommendations from law enforcement during a hearing on cyber crimes which occurred this last summer.  I can post the video from the hearing if this is needed.  I know that many would like to say that I
am getting back at a web designer as the reason behind all of these
bills, but this is simply not true.  It is true that my experience in
cyber crimes awakened me to the cybercrime issue and as a result I
have helped many victims get the help they need.  I have chosen to
allow law enforcement to handle my situation, and I know that in time,
my harasser will be in jail using our regular laws on the books now.

Please know that legislators welcome your input at the state capitol.
All bills are crafted by lawyers at the legislative reference bureau
and they are often written to be vague on the first draft so as to
give committee chairs flexibility to narrow the focus of the bill
based on testimony. One or two consultants from your industry advising us on various bills may not have the same opinion as another and that is why your opinion is so important.

HB2288 was a bill referred to the legislature by law enforcement who
are already working with companies that do save information to catch
serious cyber criminals.  During the committee hearing, the testimony
made it clear that this was not the solution, and I went up to the
chair and told him so and the bill did not make it out of committee.
As a result, of the hearing I have made important contacts with HiTech companies who now want to help victims of cyber crime and we will get together to see if we can do this without legislation.  This is a huge gain for cyber victims who for many years have asked for help and until now have not been listened to.

I encourage members to come to the capitol or call legislators that
may have introduced legislation that relates to your industry.  My
office is room 333 and my number is (808) 586-9730.  I will make it my personal priority to hear your concerns.  You will be surprised how
open legislators are to your ideas and how willing they are to amend
legislation to include your ideas.

I caution members however from attacking legislators personally for
introducing a bill.  90 percent of the time if you just talk to them
they will change or table a bill until the right solution is created
for a particular problem.  HB2288 is a great example.

Attacking legislators, especially well loved and highly popular
legislators like John Mizuno who wins by landslides and knows everyone in his district only makes other legislators want to support him more.  I especially worry that someone created a website in his name because now that will motivate our federal congressional delegation to make that a federal crime.

We need to lower the tone a bit and start talking about how your
industry and law enforcement can work together to help cyber crime
victims.  What has happened is that for some reason your industry has a reputation of only wanting things from the legislature and not
working with us on the things we need your help on.  Legislators have
given your industry $1 billion in tax credits which could have gone to
helping our homeless issue, paid for affordable housing, upgrades to
our schools etc.  We were highly criticized for doing this.

You could really be the heroes in all of this and I look forward to
seeing it work out that way.  You have so much to offer and I am
excited to have this dialogue with you.

Sincerely,
Rep. Kymberly Pine

Views: 1045

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Comment by Karen Chun on February 19, 2012 at 8:11pm

And if you are trying to sell us on these bills being all high-minded law enforcement driven -- sorry.  Introduction of these bills only served to blacken Rep Pine's reputation and make her a national laughing stock.  She would have been much smarter to ignore the web designer who is dissing her and let the whole thing languish in obscurity.  I sure never would have seen the Kym Pine Is a Crook website if she hadn't gone on the offensive against ALL Web designers.

Comment by Karen Chun on February 19, 2012 at 8:07pm

Jared, you can try to whitewash Pine and Mizuno but their histories show them to be legislators who favor oppressive laws which violate if not the letter of the Bill of Rights, at least the spirit of the Bill of Rights.  For instance, Mizuno introduced a bill to require drug testing of anyone who obtains public help for housing.  Since legislators can receive per diem, one testifier handed him a cup and said, "You first".

Both Pine and Mizuno have lost the respect of large sections of the voting community for their willingness to further erode civil rights and their utter ignorance of the consequences and even MEANINGS of the laws they keep introducing.

At this point I am not worried about the tech community's ability to fight Mizuno and Pine's continued onslaughts on our civil rights,  since the rest of the legislators hold them in quite low opinion due to their own actions and ill-thought-out bills. My hope is that the other legislators now view ANY bill offered by either of them with deep suspicion.

Bottom line:  If you are going to offer a bill, be darned sure YOU understand the bill, instead of blindly offering nonsense like these bills on the say-so of some over-zealous law enforcement type.

Comment by Daniel Leuck on February 19, 2012 at 7:59pm

Aloha Daniela - Thank you for relaying Rep. Pine's message and for participating in the conversation.

Aloha Rep. Pine,
Thank you for your response. You deserve credit for joining the conversation and addressing the tech community. Many politicians chose to take the safer route and stay out of the conversation, especially on this sort of issue. As you rightly point out, engagement between the industry and lawmakers via intelligent discourse, free of ad hominem attacks, is the best way forward. Note that I have never personally attacked you or Rep. Mizuno. I believe you are well intentioned (I said as much in the CNET interview), and I know you have done good work in other areas, but I strongly object to the content of numerous bills to which you have lent your efforts.

The cybercrime bills that have been introduced this year came from recommendations from law enforcement during a hearing on cyber crimes which occurred this last summer.  I can post the video from the hearing if this is needed.

We understand this but, as I'm sure you know, the tendency of law enforcement is to make discovery of evidence as easy as possible. This is understandable, and I commend our hard working law enforcement professionals for their efforts to catch and build strong cases against dangerous criminals. That being said, this pursuit must be tempered by the fourth amendment, the rules of evidence and local lawmakers. The privacy of our residents, especially those for whom there is no evidence of wrongdoing, must not be sacrificed on the alter of "for the children". This battle cry, which has been used at the federal level by Rep. Lamar Smith and at the local level by Rep. John Mizuno, is a play to emotion that can be used to justify intrusion on any level. As a new father, I fully appreciate how effective it can be, but we can't be slaves to such emotions.

I know that many would like to say that I am getting back at a web designer as the reason behind all of these bills, but this is simply not true.  It is true that my experience in cyber crimes awakened me to the cybercrime issue and as a result I have helped many victims get the help they need.  I have chosen to allow law enforcement to handle my situation, and I know that in time, my harasser will be in jail using our regular laws on the books now.

I'm glad you addressed this issue. I'm sure, given the order of events, you can understand why many of us were left with this impression. I'm glad you are pursuing existing legal remedies.

What has happened is that for some reason your industry has a reputation of only wanting things from the legislature and not working with us on the things we need your help on. 

That is very interesting. I recall last week offering to provide advice on improving computer terminology used in cyber-laws to make them more durable (an offer I repeated at the Greenhouse.) In previous years I gave my time, uncompensated, to help groups organized by legislators and the state on topics such as workforce development and improving public education. Many of us submit testimony in an effort to better your bills every year. Please research our community before amplifying stereotypes.

I invite any lawmaker making such assertions to spend some time looking around our TechHui community at all the efforts our members have made in areas such as sustainability and improving the lot of the homeless. Many of the most community oriented people I know are techies.

Thank you again for your response. I hope this marks the beginning of a fruitful dialog.

Comment by Jared I. Kuroiwa on February 19, 2012 at 7:21pm

Sadly, HB2288 wasn't the larger issue from her (in my opinion). It was the web developer bills,HB2762 and SB2951, one that she introduced. HB2762 may have died in committee. However, SB2951 is still alive and these were aimed specifically at web developers.

HB2288 and the other cybercrime bills weren't from her as she says. It was from law enforcement around the country and world. While she may have had a part in it locally, she did not introduce it or write the verbiage.

And she is 100% correct that attacking the legislature will get the tech industry nowhere. It's about getting to know them and making contact.

Because of the flare ups over the litany of bills on the federal and state level, there's been a lot of confusion such as the three bills I've highlighted in this comment. If we are just reacting without looking at what the facts actually are it lowers the credibility of the industry. 

HB2762: Web Designers and Developers; Unfair and Deceptive Practices
Description: Prohibits certain acts by web designers and developers, such as using unauthorized graphics or other material, subject to penalties under the unfair and deceptive practices law.

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&bi...

SB2951: Web Designers and Developers; Unfair and Deceptive Practices
Description: Prohibits certain acts by web designers and developers, such as using unauthorized graphics or other material, subject to penalties under the unfair and deceptive practices law.

http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&bi...

Comment by Karen Chun on February 19, 2012 at 5:51pm

Rep Pine.  I'm sure if law enforcement had its way, they'd totally eliminate the requirement to get warrants prior to phone tapping, searching citizens' homes, etc.

That does not excuse a lawmaker from responsibility for introducing an unconstitutional law trying to implement this.

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