3 ms·

1. The police are not jackboots. Please don't Godwin a thread right off the bat. 2. If you are speaking of the search of a Gizmodo editors premises, this was c

1. The police are not jackboots. Please don't Godwin a thread right off the bat. 2. If you are speaking of the search of a Gizmodo editors premises, this was conducted to gather evidence with respect to the alleged purchase of stolen physical property, not over IP. As far as "it" is concerned, I'm with Steve. If you traffic in stolen physical objects, I want the police to investigate thoroughly. If you aren't home when they arrive with the search warrant, I expect them to behave exactly the same way with your door as they would with anyone else. The whole busting in the door thing would be far more effective rhetoric if the editor in question had been home and the police had burst in with guns drawn and executed a high-risk takedown. That isn't what happened. They knocked, there was no-one home, they entered the property to execute their search warrent.

sabat 17y ago
Please don't Godwin a thread right off the bat. Hee hee. If you traffic in stolen physical objects, I want the police to investigate thoroughly. You're probably right, but the objection I agree with is the priority that Jobs/Apple got because of who Steve is. They wouldn't bust down the door for just anyone. If some small startup complained that a prototype was stolen, the police would not have acted so promptly and decisively. And that's the problem I have with this. The response should have been proportional to the crime: it should have been "well, we have a lot of other complaints right now, and this isn't going to affect much of anything. Sorry." -- not "SIR YES SIR! We'll bust that door down forthwith, sir!"
- madair 16y ago
  Exactly.
madair 16y ago
The United States police forces are in severe need of reform, and I'll be calling them Jackboots until the day that reform happens. Kicking in doors for IP claims? Hmmm. (P.S. I love you Raganwald, you rawk, now just please consider the need for police reform in the United States, and whether the militarization of civilian peace officers and what they've done with that militarization over the past two decades makes it reasonable to call them the descriptive term "Jackboots". Okay, fine then, I'll try to think of something, hmmm, Agents of Oppression? Corrupt Cops? Power Hungry Monsters? Dicks with Guns? Please help me here, what's a good term? ;-) (P.P.S. So, if Apple steals an idea from me, can I get the coppers to visit Steve with a warrant? How about just one of his employees? Why not? Apple has more important claims than mine? Why? Break that down, the 5 whys method will help.)

sabat 17y ago

Please don't Godwin a thread right off the bat. Hee hee. If you traffic in stolen physical objects, I want the police to investigate thoroughly. You're probably right, but the objection I agree with is the priority that Jobs/Apple got because of who Steve is. They wouldn't bust down the door for just anyone. If some small startup complained that a prototype was stolen, the police would not have acted so promptly and decisively. And that's the problem I have with this. The response should have been proportional to the crime: it should have been "well, we have a lot of other complaints right now, and this isn't going to affect much of anything. Sorry." -- not "SIR YES SIR! We'll bust that door down forthwith, sir!"

madair 16y ago
Exactly.

madair 16y ago

The United States police forces are in severe need of reform, and I'll be calling them Jackboots until the day that reform happens. Kicking in doors for IP claims? Hmmm. (P.S. I love you Raganwald, you rawk, now just please consider the need for police reform in the United States, and whether the militarization of civilian peace officers and what they've done with that militarization over the past two decades makes it reasonable to call them the descriptive term "Jackboots". Okay, fine then, I'll try to think of something, hmmm, Agents of Oppression? Corrupt Cops? Power Hungry Monsters? Dicks with Guns? Please help me here, what's a good term? ;-) (P.P.S. So, if Apple steals an idea from me, can I get the coppers to visit Steve with a warrant? How about just one of his employees? Why not? Apple has more important claims than mine? Why? Break that down, the 5 whys method will help.)