5 ms·

Sure, they could be convicted of treason and even sentenced to death. Can you imagine a better way to create a martyr?

pyre 15y ago
True. If a 'member' of Anonymous was convicted and sentenced to death for vandalizing a website, I can see a lot of public outcry. Especially if it is a teenager.
- forensic 15y ago
  there would be no trial. USA PATRIOT ACT was passed a loooong time ago
  - hugh3 15y ago
    Do you actually know what is in the PATRIOT act? You should try reading it. It's very boring.
- quanticle 15y ago
  He wouldn't be sentenced to anything in an open court. He'd be shipped off to Guantanamo (or wherever the current CIA prisons are), waterboarded until he confessed to collaborating with Al Qaeda, tried in a secret military tribunal, then sentenced to either death or life imprisonment in closed court. At the end of the process the Executive Branch would be lauded for successfully capturing and prosecuting a dangerous terrorist, rather than being excoriated for defacating all over our civil liberties.
  - hugh3 15y ago
    Is this really the kind of thing that happens in the world that you live in? Why is HN suddenly overtaken by paranoid weirdoes?
    - chrisjsmith 15y ago
      Err what about Bradley Manning. It's not paranoia - it's factual. There are countless examples of it happening every year.
ChuckMcM 15y ago
I don't think anyone involved (on the Gov't side) would plan things that poorly. Once the actions of any individual or group of individuals become a threat to the national security of the US they become 'enemy combatants' by the current definition and can (and have) been simply picked up and sent 'elsewhere.' So if you noticed that some guy you used to chat with on IRC isn't around any more what's it to you? How do you know they are dead? You don't. The tribunals for folks in Guantanamo have been classified. Its not about publicity for them, its about eliminating threats to this nation both foreign and domestic. Want to create a constitional amendment ala the first which says "Congress shall make no law to abridge the freedom of the people to use the Internet." ? You can be as noisy and active as you want, there is actually a path there for making it happen. But clandestinely attempt to 'punish' the Government for what you consider to be abuse of its power over what we know of as the Internet, to the extent that you disrupt its operation, and you might as well just walk into the Congressional Rotunda with a couple of M16's and open fire. In both cases the government has reserved the right to simply shoot you and move on, and frankly there probably won't be a lot of outcry one way or the other, teenager or not. Either way, its going to be educational.
- danenania 15y ago
  It is pretty clear that nothing in the Constitution matters to these people. Even when laws are stretched to an absurd degree to accommodate them, they still ignore and break these laws with impunity. You can't beat corrupt governments inside their own institutions. In our system, the legislative branch is not actually a tool of democratic participation, it is a tool of placation. It has no effective control over the security apparatus. It's Democracy Theater. It's a sad fact that we won't get our freedom unless we fight for it. No government gives up its power willingly. We see the terror and bloodshed of the Arab Spring and recoil, but that's what it takes to bring real change. Should Syrian protesters stay home because they may be shot or tortured? It depends on your perspective, but telling them to stay home because the government has machine guns and tanks is completely missing the point. Ignoring the law and going to the street is the only way they can win, even if it comes at a tremendous cost.
  - ChuckMcM 15y ago
gwern 15y ago
Actually, I'm not sure how they could be convicted of treason in the US if they didn't cooperate. As I recall, the formula went no one can be convicted of treason save "on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court." Who is a Witness to a exploit?

pyre 15y ago

True. If a 'member' of Anonymous was convicted and sentenced to death for vandalizing a website, I can see a lot of public outcry. Especially if it is a teenager.

forensic 15y ago
there would be no trial. USA PATRIOT ACT was passed a loooong time ago
- hugh3 15y ago
  Do you actually know what is in the PATRIOT act? You should try reading it. It's very boring.
quanticle 15y ago
He wouldn't be sentenced to anything in an open court. He'd be shipped off to Guantanamo (or wherever the current CIA prisons are), waterboarded until he confessed to collaborating with Al Qaeda, tried in a secret military tribunal, then sentenced to either death or life imprisonment in closed court. At the end of the process the Executive Branch would be lauded for successfully capturing and prosecuting a dangerous terrorist, rather than being excoriated for defacating all over our civil liberties.
- hugh3 15y ago
  Is this really the kind of thing that happens in the world that you live in? Why is HN suddenly overtaken by paranoid weirdoes?
  - chrisjsmith 15y ago
    Err what about Bradley Manning. It's not paranoia - it's factual. There are countless examples of it happening every year.

ChuckMcM 15y ago

I don't think anyone involved (on the Gov't side) would plan things that poorly. Once the actions of any individual or group of individuals become a threat to the national security of the US they become 'enemy combatants' by the current definition and can (and have) been simply picked up and sent 'elsewhere.' So if you noticed that some guy you used to chat with on IRC isn't around any more what's it to you? How do you know they are dead? You don't. The tribunals for folks in Guantanamo have been classified. Its not about publicity for them, its about eliminating threats to this nation both foreign and domestic. Want to create a constitional amendment ala the first which says "Congress shall make no law to abridge the freedom of the people to use the Internet." ? You can be as noisy and active as you want, there is actually a path there for making it happen. But clandestinely attempt to 'punish' the Government for what you consider to be abuse of its power over what we know of as the Internet, to the extent that you disrupt its operation, and you might as well just walk into the Congressional Rotunda with a couple of M16's and open fire. In both cases the government has reserved the right to simply shoot you and move on, and frankly there probably won't be a lot of outcry one way or the other, teenager or not. Either way, its going to be educational.

danenania 15y ago
It is pretty clear that nothing in the Constitution matters to these people. Even when laws are stretched to an absurd degree to accommodate them, they still ignore and break these laws with impunity. You can't beat corrupt governments inside their own institutions. In our system, the legislative branch is not actually a tool of democratic participation, it is a tool of placation. It has no effective control over the security apparatus. It's Democracy Theater. It's a sad fact that we won't get our freedom unless we fight for it. No government gives up its power willingly. We see the terror and bloodshed of the Arab Spring and recoil, but that's what it takes to bring real change. Should Syrian protesters stay home because they may be shot or tortured? It depends on your perspective, but telling them to stay home because the government has machine guns and tanks is completely missing the point. Ignoring the law and going to the street is the only way they can win, even if it comes at a tremendous cost.
- ChuckMcM 15y ago

gwern 15y ago

Actually, I'm not sure how they could be convicted of treason in the US if they didn't cooperate. As I recall, the formula went no one can be convicted of treason save "on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court." Who is a Witness to a exploit?