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Information Sharing In Danger
Tinman57:
Came across this today, and yet some more insanity....
The future of information sharing is in danger.
In a case that has set a dangerous precedent for journalists and average internet users alike, Barrett Brown is facing 105 years in prison for his activity as an investigative journalist. The journalist and satirist has already spent almost a year in jail on charges connected to his reporting on the intelligence firm, Stratfor. The firm had been hacked revealing information regarding the surveillance of Bhopal activists at the behest of Dow Chemical, of PETA on behalf of Coca-Cola, and of Occupy Wall Street under contract to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Brown copy-and-pasted a link that included the hacked information, from one chatroom to another to share the data he was researching with his peers. Though he was not involved with the hacking, and has never been accused of such, this act of sharing a link to already publicly available information led to charges including credit card fraud and identity theft. Brown was also charged with obstruction of justice in his attempt to protect his sources when served a warrant for his computers.
His imprisonment has raised concern among journalists, as well as civil liberties and internet activists, some of whom have created a Free Barrett Brown campaign which is collecting funds to help cover his legal expenses. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) published an article explaining the threat that the prosecution of Barrett Brown poses, by “criminalizing routine journalism practices” and our ability to freely share information through links or other means.
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http://cms.fightforthefuture.org/barrett-brown/
Renegade:
:wallbash:
Vurbal:
As important as it is to do something about what's going on, the future of information sharing is not in jeopardy. Every new communications technology fundamentally changes the power dynamics in society. People who were empowered by the limits of the old technology see it as a threat and use whatever means are available to control it.
They always appear successful in the beginning and their success is always short lived. Humans are as dependent on communication as we are on food, water and oxygen. Our social networks are a lot like the Internet. When our communication is blocked we route around the error.
The more people are empowered by the Internet, the more draconian the reaction by the legacy power base. The more draconian their response the more they push us to bypass their control and the tool which makes that possible is the Internet. The more we fear them the more that fear unites us. The more united we are, the more information we share.
It's not a question of having the odds in our favor. The game is rigged and they're on the losing side. They can make it an expensive victory but eventually enough people will be scared enough and angry enough their money and power won't matter. I'd be willing to bet that day is a lot closer than people expect.
Tinman57:
As important as it is to do something about what's going on, the future of information sharing is not in jeopardy. Every new communications technology fundamentally changes the power dynamics in society. People who were empowered by the limits of the old technology see it as a threat and use whatever means are available to control it.
They always appear successful in the beginning and their success is always short lived. Humans are as dependent on communication as we are on food, water and oxygen. Our social networks are a lot like the Internet. When our communication is blocked we route around the error.
The more people are empowered by the Internet, the more draconian the reaction by the legacy power base. The more draconian their response the more they push us to bypass their control and the tool which makes that possible is the Internet. The more we fear them the more that fear unites us. The more united we are, the more information we share.
It's not a question of having the odds in our favor. The game is rigged and they're on the losing side. They can make it an expensive victory but eventually enough people will be scared enough and angry enough their money and power won't matter. I'd be willing to bet that day is a lot closer than people expect. -Vurbal (August 13, 2013, 09:59 PM)
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As wonderful as your opinion is on this, I just have to disagree, at least for the U.S. side of things, because most U.S. citizens are sheeple, with their heads buried deep in the ground. It's why the government has been getting away with so much all these years.....
Shades:
Almost everyone born after 1990...is born without spine. Only some have heard of the concept. Society made it so, I'm afraid.
The ones born earlier have one, but it's hidden very deep level...the formula would be: 1 + <last two digits from the year of your birth>
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