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My guess is Byron Sonne's jailing was meant to send a message to dissident geeks. I would also guess that the fact he wasn't released until after the federal el

My guess is Byron Sonne's jailing was meant to send a message to dissident geeks. I would also guess that the fact he wasn't released until after the federal election isn't a co-incidence. It's disappointing that there isn't more outrage at this, the G20 mass arrests (which are the largest in Canada's history), and the fabrication of the "secret fence law".

tptacek 15y ago
My guess is that Sonne's imprisonment has nothing to do with "dissidents" or, particularly, geeks. Instead, it's that western governments have no sense of humor or intellectual flexibility about terrorism anymore. That is a bad thing, but it is a different kind of bad thing than the one that creates a soap opera about oppressed geeks.
- pyre 15y ago
  Personally, I see it as the same 'bad thing' that happens all of the time. Law enforcement doesn't like to be challenged, so they set out to 'teach a lesson' to the person that challenged their authority.
  - tptacek 15y ago
    That is credible. "Part of an initiative to suppress dissident geeks", though, is not.
ryanisinallofus 15y ago
Actually I think the people in charge are just that ignorant. They looked at the data in front of them and it looked like terrorism. They aren't clever enough to see the truth. • Wierd chemicals they don't understand that could be used for explosives? - check • Seemingly anti-social activities? - check • Filming weak points in security? - check • Was voted most likely to be a terrorist in high school? - check Hey this is a text book terrorist! I would have understood if he was detained. Maybe even for a week or two before given an apology and maybe a "what were you thinking?" But this is ridiculous. It's obvious that they totally boned this up. They should drop the charges pronto and issue an apology, and hope it ends there.
- SoftwareMaven 15y ago
  Do governments apologize? That would imply weakness and, more concerning, fallibility. Can't have the plebes thinking something might be wrong within the government.
  - pyre 15y ago
    Governments apologize... sometimes... usually decades later when most of the affected people are already dead... and no one that was culpable is in a position to get in trouble.

tptacek 15y ago

My guess is that Sonne's imprisonment has nothing to do with "dissidents" or, particularly, geeks. Instead, it's that western governments have no sense of humor or intellectual flexibility about terrorism anymore. That is a bad thing, but it is a different kind of bad thing than the one that creates a soap opera about oppressed geeks.

pyre 15y ago
Personally, I see it as the same 'bad thing' that happens all of the time. Law enforcement doesn't like to be challenged, so they set out to 'teach a lesson' to the person that challenged their authority.
- tptacek 15y ago
  That is credible. "Part of an initiative to suppress dissident geeks", though, is not.

ryanisinallofus 15y ago

Actually I think the people in charge are just that ignorant. They looked at the data in front of them and it looked like terrorism. They aren't clever enough to see the truth. • Wierd chemicals they don't understand that could be used for explosives? - check • Seemingly anti-social activities? - check • Filming weak points in security? - check • Was voted most likely to be a terrorist in high school? - check Hey this is a text book terrorist! I would have understood if he was detained. Maybe even for a week or two before given an apology and maybe a "what were you thinking?" But this is ridiculous. It's obvious that they totally boned this up. They should drop the charges pronto and issue an apology, and hope it ends there.

SoftwareMaven 15y ago
Do governments apologize? That would imply weakness and, more concerning, fallibility. Can't have the plebes thinking something might be wrong within the government.
- pyre 15y ago
  Governments apologize... sometimes... usually decades later when most of the affected people are already dead... and no one that was culpable is in a position to get in trouble.