Comments on: How to fix the worst law in technology http://boingboing.net/2013/03/21/how-to-fix-the-worst-law-in-te.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Mon, 20 May 2013 08:29:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: oasisob1 http://boingboing.net/2013/03/21/how-to-fix-the-worst-law-in-te.html#comment-1685943 oasisob1 Fri, 22 Mar 2013 19:45:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=220106#comment-1685943 ...over broad laws... the fucking-problem. http://xkcd.com/37/ …over broad laws… the fucking-problem. http://xkcd.com/37/

]]> By: scav http://boingboing.net/2013/03/21/how-to-fix-the-worst-law-in-te.html#comment-1685321 scav Fri, 22 Mar 2013 13:12:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=220106#comment-1685321 Exactly. I can't believe they are touting selective enforcement as a weak reassurance that over-broad laws aren't so bad, when selective enforcement is always the fucking *problem* with over-broad laws. Exactly. I can’t believe they are touting selective enforcement as a weak reassurance that over-broad laws aren’t so bad, when selective enforcement is always the fucking *problem* with over-broad laws.

]]> By: howaboutthisdangit http://boingboing.net/2013/03/21/how-to-fix-the-worst-law-in-te.html#comment-1685304 howaboutthisdangit Fri, 22 Mar 2013 12:30:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=220106#comment-1685304 <blockquote>....federal prosecutors don’t bother with minor cases—they only go after the really bad guys.</blockquote>"Bad" is highly subjective.  Prosecutors looking for easy wins have no problem bringing out the big guns to go after little guys.  They will slap a "bad" label on any case they choose, regardless of size or importance.

….federal prosecutors don’t bother with minor cases—they only go after the really bad guys.

“Bad” is highly subjective.  Prosecutors looking for easy wins have no problem bringing out the big guns to go after little guys.  They will slap a “bad” label on any case they choose, regardless of size or importance.

]]> By: asuffield http://boingboing.net/2013/03/21/how-to-fix-the-worst-law-in-te.html#comment-1685228 asuffield Fri, 22 Mar 2013 08:34:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=220106#comment-1685228 My observation here is that this configuration of government is probably not what you want, because it's set up the appointed supreme court as the defenders of civil liberty and the elected politicians as the ones responsible for attacking it. My observation here is that this configuration of government is probably not what you want, because it’s set up the appointed supreme court as the defenders of civil liberty and the elected politicians as the ones responsible for attacking it.

]]> By: lafave http://boingboing.net/2013/03/21/how-to-fix-the-worst-law-in-te.html#comment-1685184 lafave Fri, 22 Mar 2013 04:43:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=220106#comment-1685184 Waiting on Obama to do the right thing - hilarious. Waiting on Obama to do the right thing – hilarious.

]]> By: Pope Ratzo http://boingboing.net/2013/03/21/how-to-fix-the-worst-law-in-te.html#comment-1685155 Pope Ratzo Fri, 22 Mar 2013 03:25:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=220106#comment-1685155 You might as well scream this into a windstorm for all the good it will do.  As long as wealth is the greatest measure of legality, there will be more Aaron Schwartz who get crushed.  And more Jon Corzines and bankers who realize untold profits from illegal activity who will never be held to account or inconvenienced by conscience.  Corporations are the new institutions of the law.  They make them, they enforce them, and they benefit from them. "Too big to jail", is the phrase that pays.  Unfortunately, the underside of that rule is that the little ones are all imprisoned, one way or the other. This isn't a prediction, it is a description of the world we've been living in for at least the past 30 years.  Supply-side legal system, and we are the supply.  Consumer economy and we are the consumables. You might as well scream this into a windstorm for all the good it will do. 

As long as wealth is the greatest measure of legality, there will be more Aaron Schwartz who get crushed.  And more Jon Corzines and bankers who realize untold profits from illegal activity who will never be held to account or inconvenienced by conscience.  Corporations are the new institutions of the law.  They make them, they enforce them, and they benefit from them.

“Too big to jail”, is the phrase that pays.  Unfortunately, the underside of that rule is that the little ones are all imprisoned, one way or the other.

This isn’t a prediction, it is a description of the world we’ve been living in for at least the past 30 years.  Supply-side legal system, and we are the supply.  Consumer economy and we are the consumables.

]]> By: chorizo http://boingboing.net/2013/03/21/how-to-fix-the-worst-law-in-te.html#comment-1685140 chorizo Fri, 22 Mar 2013 02:56:00 +0000 http://boingboing.net/?p=220106#comment-1685140 Just like he stopped enforcing federal drug laws against medical marijuana. Don't hold your breath. Just like he stopped enforcing federal drug laws against medical marijuana. Don’t hold your breath.

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