In the US, the relevant department would be sued into oblivion. In Europe some token scapegoating would ensue.

The Byron Sonne case, “lawfull access” canadian bill…

OK, the game is over: big corporations and the government own the internet (and anything else may we add).

We must _now_ design, test and deploy control and attack resistant low bandwidth ad hoc wireless wide area networks for protecting (restoring?) free speech, justice and democracy.

Those tools cans be used in Syria, Libya, Yemen, Bahrain and .. hmm where else? wink wink..

Telecom EEs and cypherpunk hackers , where are you?

PS: 6 millions canadians voted for Harper and 9 millions refused to vote (don’t ask me why). Is this a sound, working democracy? Hurray for First Past the post electoral system!

PPS: I crossposted this on M.Geist and Jesse Brown SE blogs, sorry…

People can live in delusion for a long time but reality makes itself known eventually.

Inexorably. It makes me sad that Western civilization would throw away the liberty, individual rights and human dignity it’s taken so long and fought so hard to attain. It will make the road to recovery all the longer.

Anyone remember Marc Emery? This smacks of his ridiculous treatment. Canada is really taking up the role of baby Amerikkka these days, huh?

http://cannabisculture.com/v2/content/2011/05/11/One-Year-Marc-Emery-Ordered-Extradited-Conservative-Government

I hope that one day we finally get a psycho who kills people who actually deserve it. Canada’s conservative party seems like a good place to start.

Then they won, bud.

I didn’t like “can’t get fooled again” bush, but I was willing to give Americans the benefit of the doubt when it came to voting him in once. Then when he got the second term I lost all respect for Americans. Thank god you put Obama in the captain’s seat last election!

Oh, yeah… I might also add that Canadians are (since failing to vote their bumbling, retarded, repressive governmnet out) now in my list of people whose intelligence I must automatically question.

The bell curve is in effect always and everywhere. Just don’t make the mistake of assuming that where a person is born or lives determines their intelligence.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkCwFkOZoOY

The halfwits that buy in to hypothetical fantasies to rationalize the police state need to be publicly shamed until they’re afraid to open their fool mouths ever again.

As for the journalist who wrote the quoted article (not Doctorow, you do good work sir)

I know I shouldn’t be surprised by this sorry excuse for journalism, the only question is whether she’s internalized all this fearmongering war-on-terror crap, or if it’s just the editors playing thought police. Maybe a bit of both.

The article was 5 pages long and she spent most of it implying that Sonne deserved what he got, or that he might actually be dangerous, presumably because the cops say so because there ain’t any REAL evidence. Truly DISGUSTING!

I’m a librarian in rural BC and I think I’m going to print out the Toronto Life article and stick it in the back of Cory’s book…

Watch come November. The publication ban will lift and people will get to learn the details. I do expect heads will roll (figuratively speaking! (can’t take chances these days)).

I can be reached at media@freebyron.org

Thanks for taking an interest and helping to get the word out. Byron’s story is one that should simply not be in a democracy.

What I find truly depressing and infuriating in equal measure is the attitude displayed by a good proportion of the comments on the article, basically saying “He deserves it, what did he expect to happen?”

The Wisdom of the Cowed

“(Sonne and a friend) have been fascinated by rocketry since childhood, and they agreed to take up amateur rocket building together. Their ultimate goal was to make, from scratch, a rocket with a built-in camera to record the journey as it shot some 6,000 feet into the air. (Sonne’s friend) is an amiable 32-year-old who works in information security. He says it was all for fun, a pastime to share with his son. Sonne and (his friend) began contacting Industry Canada and amateur rocketeering associations to investigate what licences and materials they would need to kick-start their pursuit. Sonne, true to his DIY streak, bought some of the chemicals he’d need to produce solid rocket fuel, but they put the project on hold when an executive from the Canadian Association of Rocketry warned them it was illegal to experiment with the chemicals before they acquired the proper licences.”

No.

In the US, the relevant department would be sued into oblivion.

I’m afraid you live in a better, saner vision of the US than the reality supports. The US Supreme Court has made it clear that we’ll have none of that.

Also there’s a growing untrust of the Canadian police due to the G20, the Robert DziekaÅ„ski Taser incident, Winter Olympics 2010, and much much more.

Numbers are in the 30% average of recent surveys.