warping the law to throw activist hackers behind bars for years.

[Dreamwalker.]

Hacktivists on Trial

Prosecutors are warping the law to throw activist hackers like Aaron Swartz behind bars for years.

Peter Ludlow

December 4, 2013 | This article appeared in the December 23/30, 2013 edition of The Nation.

Peter Ludlow

December 4, 2013 | This article appeared in the December 23/30, 2013 edition of The Nation.

http://www.thenation.com/article/177462/hacktivists-trial?page=0,1

Edited January 13, 2014 by Dreamwalker

[Sallubrious]

I've noticed your location is set as NZ and the article states "nefarious dealings between our government and unaccountable private intelligence contractors" and seems to be of US origin based on the wording and references to the first amendment etc.

If the article is someone else's work you really should quote the source or you will be infringing on Intellectual Property laws and could be exposed to similar draconian legislation yourself. When the new TPP agreement (which NZ will be a signatory to) is finalised IP laws will be able to be enforced retrospectively and heavy penalties will apply.

Sorry to take your thread off on a tangent, I 100% agree that this situation is getting way out of hand. All our governments are becoming complicit/submissive so I can't see things getting better any time soon.

[Dreamwalker.]

If the article is someone else's work you really should quote the source or you will be infringing on Intellectual Property laws and could be exposed to similar draconian legislation yourself. When the new TPP agreement (which NZ will be a signatory to) is finalised IP laws will be able to be enforced retrospectively and heavy penalties will apply.

thanks Sally.........is it really as simple as "quote the source" .is that all that is required? Does that also mean any utube music, pic's/images etc that's posted or copied and reposted..............there's so many laws now...............takes the fun from life...................

Edited December 17, 2013 by Dreamwalker

[Sallubrious]

I believe if you quote the source and provide a link you should be covered for now. As for the new legislation no-one really knows as it's still only a draft at the moment and details won't be released until after deal is finalised behind closed doors.

It does seem to have the capacity to affect all forms of digital storage, so it could trun out to be a real headache for web forums such as this and even personal storage of data.

[gtarman]

Same thing has been happening to all kinds of activists. You get people in the US who commit MURDER and they get off lighter than people who stand up for ennvironmental causes or what have you. It's politically motivated, the government wants to make examples of them...they label them "environmental terrorists" and throw the book at them as hard as they can (EDIT: actually, harder than they technically can). There's more than a few such souls rotting away in US jails already.

Edited December 17, 2013 by gtarman

[Distracted]

Just gonna leave this here... quite interesting for Australia!

 

[Sallubrious]

Yeah that apples here at the moment, I think it hasn't really been enforced much because of international disparites in IR laws. For a US based publisher to sue an Australian or New Zealander for what seems like a trivial breach could get a bit costly.

As far as I understand when the TPP is finalised there will be no provisions or very restricted provisions for fair use and breaches will be much easier to enforce.

[DiscoStu]

http://dissenter.firedoglake.com/2013/12/17/for-first-time-anti-terrorism-law-used-to-have-americans-protesting-keystone-xl-pipeline-arrested/

maybe this deserves its own thread, but it's tangentially related:

It is strongly suspected that this happened as a result of advice that TransCanada has been giving local law enforcement in states, where protests against the Keystone XL pipeline have been taking place. They have been meeting with law enforcement and suggesting how terrorism laws could be applied to stop citizens from protesting the corporation’s activities.