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To be clear, I am not defending what RMS said, but "defending child rape" is oversimplifying and over exaggerating his position. His remark related to the age

To be clear, I am not defending what RMS said, but "defending child rape" is oversimplifying and over exaggerating his position. His remark related to the age of consent being different in different places (states/countries).

legulere 6y ago
Please read his email again and think about if what you said is really true. It’s quoted in this article: https://thenextweb.com/dd/2019/09/13/free-software-icon-richard-stallman-has-some-moronic-thoughts-about-pedophilia/ https://thenextweb.com/dd/2019/09/13/free-software-icon-rich...
- anonymousiam 6y ago
  https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/richard-stallman https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/richard-stallman... After one person wrote that "Giuffre was 17 at the time; this makes it rape in the Virgin Islands," Stallman responded, "I think it is morally absurd to define 'rape' in a way that depends on minor details such as which country it was in or whether the victim was 18 years old or 17." Minsky (and Minsky's wife) disputed the claims that he had sex with Giuffre. Stallman was not supporting child rape, he was objectively looking at how a local government can criminalize behavior that is not illegal in many other jurisdictions. To be clear, Stallman was not supporting Epstein, and I am not supporting any of them, but Perens' point about Stallman being shunned because he was insensitive is spot on.
  - legulere 6y ago
    You cannot take one sentence by Stallman and ignore all the rest, Stallman has a year long history of trivializing child rape. This is not about one sentence discussing the age of consent (which in my opinion has little place in a discussion about a child rape and trafficking ring, but that’s debatable)
dragonwriter 6y ago
> To be clear, I am not defending what RMS said, but "defending child rape" is oversimplifying and over exaggerating his position. He explicitly supported a political campaign that aimed to immediately reduce the age of consent to 12 and ultimately eliminate it, on the basis that sex acts that were “consensual pedophilia” was not only not an oxymoron, but also something that wasn’t harmful. (He also raised questions about rhe factual guilt of someone accused of nonconsensually sexually exploiting an Epstein-trafficked young woman, but that wasn’t where he defended child rape.)
- flukus 6y ago
  > He explicitly supported a political campaign that aimed to immediately reduce the age of consent to 12 No he absolutely didn't, certainly not explicitly. He linked to the news item and added a sentence of commentary, he did it for 3 news items that day and thousands over the decades. It's right here, 2006-06-05: https://www.stallman.org/archives/2006-may-aug.html https://www.stallman.org/archives/2006-may-aug.html
- emmelaich 6y ago
  The lowest age for marriage in USA is 12 -- with judicial and parental approval. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_age_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_age_in_the_United_Sta... The lowest age of consent is 16 -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_age_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_age_in_the_United_Sta...
  - pseudalopex 6y ago
    Marriage at 12 doesn't mean sex at 12. California has a law against "any lewd or lascivious act" with a child under 14 for example. Spouses aren't exempt.[1] And age of consent means without judicial or parental approval. [1] https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=288 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySectio...

legulere 6y ago

Please read his email again and think about if what you said is really true. It’s quoted in this article: https://thenextweb.com/dd/2019/09/13/free-software-icon-richard-stallman-has-some-moronic-thoughts-about-pedophilia/ https://thenextweb.com/dd/2019/09/13/free-software-icon-rich...

anonymousiam 6y ago
https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/richard-stallman https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/03/richard-stallman... After one person wrote that "Giuffre was 17 at the time; this makes it rape in the Virgin Islands," Stallman responded, "I think it is morally absurd to define 'rape' in a way that depends on minor details such as which country it was in or whether the victim was 18 years old or 17." Minsky (and Minsky's wife) disputed the claims that he had sex with Giuffre. Stallman was not supporting child rape, he was objectively looking at how a local government can criminalize behavior that is not illegal in many other jurisdictions. To be clear, Stallman was not supporting Epstein, and I am not supporting any of them, but Perens' point about Stallman being shunned because he was insensitive is spot on.
- legulere 6y ago
  You cannot take one sentence by Stallman and ignore all the rest, Stallman has a year long history of trivializing child rape. This is not about one sentence discussing the age of consent (which in my opinion has little place in a discussion about a child rape and trafficking ring, but that’s debatable)

dragonwriter 6y ago

> To be clear, I am not defending what RMS said, but "defending child rape" is oversimplifying and over exaggerating his position. He explicitly supported a political campaign that aimed to immediately reduce the age of consent to 12 and ultimately eliminate it, on the basis that sex acts that were “consensual pedophilia” was not only not an oxymoron, but also something that wasn’t harmful. (He also raised questions about rhe factual guilt of someone accused of nonconsensually sexually exploiting an Epstein-trafficked young woman, but that wasn’t where he defended child rape.)

flukus 6y ago
> He explicitly supported a political campaign that aimed to immediately reduce the age of consent to 12 No he absolutely didn't, certainly not explicitly. He linked to the news item and added a sentence of commentary, he did it for 3 news items that day and thousands over the decades. It's right here, 2006-06-05: https://www.stallman.org/archives/2006-may-aug.html https://www.stallman.org/archives/2006-may-aug.html
emmelaich 6y ago
The lowest age for marriage in USA is 12 -- with judicial and parental approval. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_age_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_age_in_the_United_Sta... The lowest age of consent is 16 -- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_age_in_the_United_States https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_age_in_the_United_Sta...
- pseudalopex 6y ago
  Marriage at 12 doesn't mean sex at 12. California has a law against "any lewd or lascivious act" with a child under 14 for example. Spouses aren't exempt.[1] And age of consent means without judicial or parental approval. [1] https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySection.xhtml?lawCode=PEN&sectionNum=288 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displaySectio...