4 ms·

Facilitating crime is generally illegal as well as performing it. That's where you get things like (for example) conspiracy and aiding and abetting charges.

zaroth 8y ago
The Internet facilitates a great many crimes. New forms of crime previously unimaginable. New scale of crime previously the stuff of nightmares. New reach of crime previously to the most innocent. Is the purpose of this infrastructure to facilitate all this criminality? Certainly not the sole purpose. Perhaps it was purposely build in a way that would allow scale and prevent censorship which enables many forms of criminality which a different architecture would have suppressed. Typically the law is written quite differently. If there is a uncoincidental legal purpose, then infrastructure must be legal. Because many times the purpose of a specific technical measure can serve both a legal purpose and a criminal one. To ask merely of a technical measure serves a criminal purpose without regard to a greater purpose is to criminalize any censorship resistant network.
- tastroder 8y ago
  >Is the purpose of this infrastructure to facilitate all this criminality? >To ask merely of a technical measure serves a criminal purpose without regard to a greater purpose is to criminalize any censorship resistant network. There's two vastly different talking points here, a) the Tor network and similar tech that could get caught in legalese crossfire and b) specific websites that utilize the above. I agree on your sentiment that a) should never be outlawed but the German text seems rather specifically worded to address b). Please be assured that I'm not trying arguing that these people have enough technical understanding to not make it unnecessarily broad and throw a) under the bus as well. I believe my main point still stands, b) is the equivalent of me opening a corner shop advertised as "illegal arms deals" and pretty much legislated enough.

zaroth 8y ago

The Internet facilitates a great many crimes. New forms of crime previously unimaginable. New scale of crime previously the stuff of nightmares. New reach of crime previously to the most innocent. Is the purpose of this infrastructure to facilitate all this criminality? Certainly not the sole purpose. Perhaps it was purposely build in a way that would allow scale and prevent censorship which enables many forms of criminality which a different architecture would have suppressed. Typically the law is written quite differently. If there is a uncoincidental legal purpose, then infrastructure must be legal. Because many times the purpose of a specific technical measure can serve both a legal purpose and a criminal one. To ask merely of a technical measure serves a criminal purpose without regard to a greater purpose is to criminalize any censorship resistant network.

tastroder 8y ago
>Is the purpose of this infrastructure to facilitate all this criminality? >To ask merely of a technical measure serves a criminal purpose without regard to a greater purpose is to criminalize any censorship resistant network. There's two vastly different talking points here, a) the Tor network and similar tech that could get caught in legalese crossfire and b) specific websites that utilize the above. I agree on your sentiment that a) should never be outlawed but the German text seems rather specifically worded to address b). Please be assured that I'm not trying arguing that these people have enough technical understanding to not make it unnecessarily broad and throw a) under the bus as well. I believe my main point still stands, b) is the equivalent of me opening a corner shop advertised as "illegal arms deals" and pretty much legislated enough.