4 ms·

Some background that helped me understand why any of the is is important - The government want a way to charge assange with something, that they don’t then hav

Some background that helped me understand why any of the is is important - The government want a way to charge assange with something, that they don’t then have to also charge all the national newspapers with who helped him - because that would then be a much more blatant attack on press freedom. They want to charge him as some form of hacker instead of what it’s really about - that they don’t like what he did as a journalist.

jonplackett 6y ago
Further releasing about this, posted earlier in the week on HN. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2020-09-22/guardian-silent-assange-trial/ https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2020-09-22/guardian-silen...
- singron 6y ago
  This reminds me of Particularism[0]. Instead of applying consistent moral principles to this case to determine right or wrong, they have already decided that this particular case is wrong and are figuring out what moral principles they can come up with to make it wrong. 0: https://iep.utm.edu/morlpat/ https://iep.utm.edu/morlpat/
  - MrsPeaches 6y ago
    Which in turn reminds me of the (apocryphal) quote from Óscar Benavides, former president of Peru: "For my friends everything, for my enemies the law" [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_R._Benavides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_R._Benavides
  - jonplackett 6y ago
    They do a similar thing to this with hackers in general. The various computer misuse acts essentially criminalise so many things we all do all the time - like if go to a coffee shop and put in fake info into the wifi sign up form, technically it's illegal but obviously something they'll never bother to enforce - unless they want to for some other reason. As soon as you start applying the law (or not) on a whim, you're in trouble.
- Wistar 6y ago
  Yes. The Cook Guardian piece did a great job of making me understand the weaselly underpinnings of this case.
  - jonplackett 6y ago
    Do you have a link to that? It's good the guardian are finally saying something about it - even if too quietly.
    - Wistar 6y ago
      I think that this was the article I was referencing. I apologize for not linking it with my comment. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2020-09-22/guardian-silent-assange-trial/ https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2020-09-22/guardian-silen...
      - jonplackett 6y ago
        Ah I misunderstood - I thought the Guardian had changed tack and published an article by Cook, rather than him just writing about how they had not said anything. I got my hopes up for a minute that they'd grown a pair.
meroes 6y ago
100%
freeassange2021 6y ago
Wikileaks provides an invaluable service, they much to teach us. The pulled back the curtain and revealed... - diplomats sometimes engage in diplomacy - the Iraq war was bad - many other revelatory items they don't want you to know about Also this is fun too, perhaps to keep things interesting (November 2016): "Hi Don [Jr] if your father 'loses' we think it is much more interesting if he DOES NOT conceed and spends time CHALLENGING the media and other types of rigging that occurred—as he has implied that he might do."
- liability 6y ago
  Novelty account 8 minutes old.

jonplackett 6y ago

Further releasing about this, posted earlier in the week on HN. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2020-09-22/guardian-silent-assange-trial/ https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2020-09-22/guardian-silen...

singron 6y ago
This reminds me of Particularism[0]. Instead of applying consistent moral principles to this case to determine right or wrong, they have already decided that this particular case is wrong and are figuring out what moral principles they can come up with to make it wrong. 0: https://iep.utm.edu/morlpat/ https://iep.utm.edu/morlpat/
- MrsPeaches 6y ago
  Which in turn reminds me of the (apocryphal) quote from Óscar Benavides, former president of Peru: "For my friends everything, for my enemies the law" [1] [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_R._Benavides https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%93scar_R._Benavides
- jonplackett 6y ago
  They do a similar thing to this with hackers in general. The various computer misuse acts essentially criminalise so many things we all do all the time - like if go to a coffee shop and put in fake info into the wifi sign up form, technically it's illegal but obviously something they'll never bother to enforce - unless they want to for some other reason. As soon as you start applying the law (or not) on a whim, you're in trouble.
Wistar 6y ago
Yes. The Cook Guardian piece did a great job of making me understand the weaselly underpinnings of this case.
- jonplackett 6y ago
  Do you have a link to that? It's good the guardian are finally saying something about it - even if too quietly.
  - Wistar 6y ago
    I think that this was the article I was referencing. I apologize for not linking it with my comment. https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2020-09-22/guardian-silent-assange-trial/ https://www.jonathan-cook.net/blog/2020-09-22/guardian-silen...
    - jonplackett 6y ago
      Ah I misunderstood - I thought the Guardian had changed tack and published an article by Cook, rather than him just writing about how they had not said anything. I got my hopes up for a minute that they'd grown a pair.

meroes 6y ago

100%

freeassange2021 6y ago

Wikileaks provides an invaluable service, they much to teach us. The pulled back the curtain and revealed... - diplomats sometimes engage in diplomacy - the Iraq war was bad - many other revelatory items they don't want you to know about Also this is fun too, perhaps to keep things interesting (November 2016): "Hi Don [Jr] if your father 'loses' we think it is much more interesting if he DOES NOT conceed and spends time CHALLENGING the media and other types of rigging that occurred—as he has implied that he might do."

liability 6y ago
Novelty account 8 minutes old.