[LINK] Fwd: Re: local article on attempts of 'control of the internet' and Aaron Swartz

[David Boxall]

Ooops; sent this to Jan instead of the list.


-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [LINK] local article on attempts of 'control of the 
internet' and Aaron Swartz
Date: Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:07:30 +1100
From: David Boxall <david.boxall at hunterlink.net.au>
To: Jan Whitaker <jwhit at janwhitaker.com>

On 22/01/2013 9:56 PM, Jan Whitaker wrote:
> http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/for-our-information-politicians-need-to-let-go/544/
> ...
 From the article:
> The US prosecutors have a history of heavy-handed overreach across the globe, as evidenced by the cases of Bradley Manning, Thomas Drake, John Kiriakou, Andrew ‘Weev’ Auernheimer, Jeremy Hammond, Kim Dotcom, Richard O’Dwyer, Barrett Brown, Gary McKinnon and of course Australian Julian Assange. The operational mode of American prosecutors appears to be simply this: threaten ridiculously draconian penalties to frighten into submission those who would buck control. These penalties cannot be seen as justice.

That led me to:
<http://yro.slashdot.org/story/13/01/23/0319214/andrew-auernheimer-case-uncomfortably-similar-to-aaron-swartz-case>
"Andrew Auernheimer doesn't appear suicidal, no thanks to U.S. prosecutors"
and this comment:
> Uhm, it's the Obama administration, silly.
>
> The sad truth that NO ONE wants to hear or face:
>
> In general, the slashdot crowd voted for this. Obama sold the VP to the copyright industry for two terms before his first election: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13578_3-10024163-38.html
>
> This issue has always been avoided by the slashdot crowd, and downvoted when Obama needed to be elected.
>
> Biden, however, before Obama's first election, has made very clear that he wants hard prison time for copyright violators. This is his job, he was hired for it by the industry. You know, hard prison time for REAL persons. His sponsors are also public and well known.
>
> So most of you voted for this. And are hypocrites now. Because you choose to ignore it, to get your man elected. Granted, the other man was worse, but had other sponsors. The hard prison time for REAL persons was ignored. So, Swartz' death is the collateral damage of your own actions and vote, and to make it worse, many are totally ignoring this while pointing fingers at "the government" and "the prosecutor", who are just implementing the administration's policy, which you voted for.

Before Obama's election, I remember hearing Biden referred to as a
sock-puppet of the copyright industry. Perhaps the saddest comment of
all is that the alternative was worse.

-- 
David Boxall                         | "Cheer up" they said.
                                     | "Things could be worse."
http://david.boxall.id.au            | So I cheered up and,
                                     | Sure enough, things got worse.
                                     |              --Murphy's musing