We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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Blogger arrested! Blogger Sina Motallebi has been arrested by Iranian authorities for the ‘crime’ of giving interviews to Persian language radio stations outside Iran and for his blogging (in Farsi).
I suspect giving his plight as much publicity as possible may give the notoriously intemperate Iranian security services at least some motivation to play it cool if they think the spotlight of world opinion is on them.
It is a good thing we in the west have freedom of the press and internet, eh? No way would such heavy handed tactics be tolerated in somewhere like the USA, right? Right?
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Who Are We? The Samizdata people are a bunch of sinister and heavily armed globalist illuminati who seek to infect the entire world with the values of personal liberty and several property. Amongst our many crimes is a sense of humour and the intermittent use of British spelling.
We are also a varied group made up of social individualists, classical liberals, whigs, libertarians, extropians, futurists, ‘Porcupines’, Karl Popper fetishists, recovering neo-conservatives, crazed Ayn Rand worshipers, over-caffeinated Virginia Postrel devotees, witty Frédéric Bastiat wannabes, cypherpunks, minarchists, kritarchists and wild-eyed anarcho-capitalists from Britain, North America, Australia and Europe.
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Nice Troll. Both the cases cited in the US involve commercial speech. It would be a free speech issue if a site was censored for saying that both cases are bullshit. Let’s try it: Both cases are bullshit.
Digital Millennium Copyright Act is being used to prevent books about technology that might enable copyright theft… that is to say companies are using the state to prevent discussions of something they feel threatened by. Sorry but that is censorship by any other name.
hey who can we harass to help Sina? can we start a fund for his defense? whats the dealio?
I’m afraid my copy of the Constitution must be in error. It doesn’t seem to say “Congress shall make no law…abriding the freedom of speech, or of the press, unless the speech is commercial in nature.” Perhaps Mr. Wagner would care to post his corrected version?
There is only one answer.
We should all buy a bag of castor beans and boil them up. As this would count as an attempt to build weapons of mass distraction we would then be elegible for liberation by coalition forces! They would come and rescue us from all this copyright nonsense.
So we could solve two probelms at once. Bring the lads back home (at least their partners would be happy, I suppose) and they can “impose democracy” on a country that seems to be drifting further from it.
And they even have a few bases here already so they could have the neccessary continuing military presence to make sure the government doesn’t drift back to its old ways.
Hmmm, I’m sure there is a flaw in this argument somewhere…
Geez guys, aren’t you flying a little off the handle with the comparison to the U.S.?
After all, the Iranian blogger was arrested (and will probably face torture and a kangaroo court prior to execution).
The two articles you link to show the U.S. Attorney getting after two guys, one for selling hardware to facilitate the theft of game software, and the other for selling books to facilitate the same (admittedly a closer case).
While a book is commercial free speech, in some sense, directions for “cracks” of security codes are the equivalent of possession of burglary tools – whoops, another felony most places in the U.S.
And while a lot of the aspects of the DMCA are kind of silly, it is an effort to protect private property.
Standing up for software pirates on purely libertarian grounds, considering only the rights of the pirates, would be like standing up for bank robbers or jewel thieves on purely libertarian grounds, considering only the rights of the thieves. One of the bulwarks against government abuse is getting the government to admit that people’s ownership interest in their property must be respected; another bulwark is getting the government to admit that tangible property and intangible property alike ought to be let alone. Hence, the 5th Amendment takings clause, and the recent growth of caselaw with respect to intangible “regulatory” takings.
Without strongly enforced private property rights, life would be a Hobbesian nightmare of man preying on man for profit, and government preying on man for profit.
Hey wait a minute… how much did I pay in taxes last year?
Omnibus Bill (I get a chuckle every time I read that handle): Oh for sure… the two cannot be compared in terms of scope and consequences, and so yes, I suppose I am guilty of a bit of yellow journalism (blogerism?) by abutting the two issues… but I do like to point out that all is not well in the ‘Land of the Free’.
The DMCA is a travesty and an example of companies using the state in ways that go far beyond reasonable protection of private property and into legislating against whole technologies that threaten their shitty business models.
we have so bad sence for dear Sina. He is good jurnalist and we love him. 🙁 tanx for your link
please signe this page for help
http://www.petitiononline.com/sina/
i think arresting bloggers for DEMOCRACY;
is like fucking for VIRGINITY.
Perry,
I’m glad you like the handle. It describes my blog & me – a hash of things thrown together for political expedience.
I agree that copyright law has taken some bad turns. It reminds me of the late 70’s/mid 80’s suits by the movie companies against Sony and the other VCR makers. I think it will shake out at some point, though it will probably take a judicial giant like Posner to disabuse Congress of their notions of intellectual property rights. I would posit that there is nothing wrong with prosecuting a chap who sells warez geared at “cracking” security codes. It’s no different than selling burglary tools, because the only use I can conceive of the chips is to steal a commodity without paying for it. (The exception being locksmiths, of course, who open locks for the rightful owners of property).
Yes that’s right, fellow libertoids: DMCA applied against hawkers of warez is an effort to unhorse the notorious Free Rider, whose horse wrongly grazes for free on the commons. Milton Friedman might applaud.
As for restrictions on publishing literature describing cracks, hacks, and phreaking — that’s completely over the top. It’s the difference between teach a course on locksmithing, and selling black market jimmies and picks.
The distinction is probably lost on Congress — most members have email accounts, but only a relatively small number use it personally. In other words, a 20-something staffer responds to emails. (Though the staffers are “Crackberry” addicts.) I don’t think they are out to chill commercial speech. I firmly believe they are ignorant of the technology, and susceptible to industry manipulation. The passage of time, and ascension of the computer literate into power should remedy this, if the courts do not.