Tag: Law and Disorder

Why Legally Recording the Police is Needed

Several states have laws that make it illegal for us lowly peasants to video tape police officers while they’re on duty. These laws have been a problem since day one because it takes away one of the few weapons we mere serfs have to defend ourselves against police abuse. A great example that demonstrates the need for allowing the recording of police officers is the following:

On a mild February afternoon, Fiorino, 25, decided to walk to an AutoZone on Frankford Avenue in Northeast Philly with the .40-caliber Glock he legally owns holstered in plain view on his left hip. His stroll ended when someone called out from behind: “Yo, Junior, what are you doing?”

Fiorino wheeled and saw Sgt. Michael Dougherty aiming a handgun at him.

What happened next would be hard to believe, except that Fiorino audio-recorded all of it: a tense, profanity-laced, 40-minute encounter with cops who told him that what he was doing – openly carrying a gun on the city’s streets – was against the law.

The police officer was not only ignorant of the law but also threatened to murder Fiorino:

Get down on your knees. Just obey what I’m saying,” Dougherty said.

“Sir,” Fiorino replied, “I’m more than happy to stand here -”

“If you make a move, I’m going to fucking shoot you,” Dougherty snapped. “I’m telling you right now, you make a move, and you’re going down!”

Had Fiorino not recorded this entire encounter it would have been a situation of his word against the cops. As the government controls both the courts and police it’s not hard to figure out that the courts are generally going to side with the police in any he said she said arguments. This becomes even more important when those tasked with enforcing the law don’t actually know the law themselves.

So Stupid That It Could Only Come From California

California is the land of really stupid laws and court ruling thus I’m not surprised a ruling stating that unloaded guns are adequate for self-defense originated from that horrible state:

A federal judge ruled Monday there is no constitutional right to carry a hidden gun in public — a decision that dealt a setback to gun-rights advocates who had challenged how much discretion California law enforcement officials have in issuing concealed weapons permits.

Do I really have to point out the fact that a constitutional right isn’t a right if it’s regulated by the government? Color me not surprised that the state would rule a right can be regulated by itself. Still the stupidity is much deeper with this ruling than a simple claim of a right not really being a right:

Gura had argued that Prieto’s policy gives the sheriff arbitrary discretion over a fundamental constitutional right to bear arms.

England countered that California law currently lets gun owners carry an unloaded weapon so it can be quickly loaded and used in self-defense if needed.

That’s the counter argument that was considered acceptable? I guess when you’re being attacked by somebody who intends to murder you you’re supposed to say, “Oh pardon me Mr. Attacker could you give me a second or two to load my gun so that I may properly defend myself?” That argument is one of the dumbest things I’ve ever read and I’ve read works by John Maynard Keynes.

I’m not even remotely shocked that such a ruling can out of California as the state seems to have some hatred of its citizens’ lives.

An IP Address Isn’t a Person

A common method used by copyright holders to sue file sharers is to file John Doe lawsuits against IP addresses. This type of lawsuit has always been on shaky ground in my opinion and it appears as through a District Judge has decided that shaky ground was falling apart:

A possible landmark ruling in one of the mass-BitTorrent lawsuits in the U.S. may spell the end of the “pay-up-or-else-schemes” that have targeted over 100,000 Internet users in the last year. District Court Judge Harold Baker has denied a copyright holder the right to subpoena the ISPs of alleged copyright infringers, because an IP-address does not equal a person.

This is a great ruling because of the simple fact that having somebody’s IP address is in no way proof that said person was actually committing a violation against copyright holders. For example if you have an unencrypted or weakly encrypted wireless network it would be trivial for somebody to connect to it and start downloading movies illegally. When the copyright holders get a list of IP addresses that downloaded said movie illegally yours would be one on the list. Thus the lawsuit would be failed against the IP address holder, yourself. As you can see though just because the IP address traces back to you doesn’t imply any proof that you committed the crime. In fact this exact scenario has played out before:

In the case VPR Internationale v. Does 1-1017, the judge denied the Canadian adult film company access to subpoena ISPs for the personal information connected to the IP-addresses of their subscribers. The reason? IP-addresses do not equal persons, and especially in ‘adult entertainment’ cases this could obstruct a ‘fair’ legal process.

Among other things Judge Baker cited a recent child porn case where the U.S. authorities raided the wrong people, because the real offenders were piggybacking on their Wi-Fi connections. Using this example, the judge claims that several of the defendants in VPR’s case may have nothing to do with the alleged offense either.

This ruling is just but I bet money that a long process of appeals will be going down until VPR Internationale is able to buy find a judge more sympathetic to their crusade cause. For now though it’s good to see there is at least one judge out there with some common sense on this issue.

Osama Bin Laden is Dead

Unless you’ve been living under a very large rock you’ve probably heard this news already, Osama Bin Laden has been prounouced dead:

Al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden has been killed by US forces in Pakistan, President Barack Obama has said.

Bin Laden was killed in a ground operation outside Islamabad based on US intelligence, the first lead for which emerged last August.

Mr Obama said after “a firefight”, US forces took possession of the body.

Of course conspiracy theories will arise from this because instead of being smart and displaying the body apparently we decided to just discard it:

A US official quoted by Associated Press news agency said Bin Laden’s body had been buried at sea, although this has not been confirmed.

If that’s the fact I believe it was a very stupid move. Beyond that I really don’t have much to say on this subject. This is probably because I don’t see much changing. Most of the actions taken by Osama lead to reactions by our country that we will likely continue living; the PATRIOT Act, FISA, the TSA, a nebulous word on a tactic known as terrorism, the war in Afghanistan etc. In my opinion proper justice will not be served until we repeal many laws passed in the wake of 9/11 that stripped American citizens of many rights that our government was supposedly tasked with protecting.

Mexico is Suing American Gun Manufacturers

It appears as though Mexico hasn’t gotten the memo about the United States government smuggling guns into their country and instead opting to attempt lawsuits against American gun manufacturers. That probably makes a little bit of sense since the United States government isn’t going to allow itself to get sued but as the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) points out Mexico still doesn’t have a case:

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms industry, respects the work of President Calderon to willingly take on his country’s powerful drug cartels; however, we are disappointed that he would seek to hold law-abiding American companies responsible for crime in Mexico. This is especially troubling given investigative reports that show more than 80 percent of the firearms recovered in Mexico do not come from the United States. The most recent of these reports, from the independent research group STRATFOR, determined that less than 12 percent of the guns Mexico seized in 2008 came from the United States.

Furthermore, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), firearms traced in Mexico were originally sold at retail not recently, but, on average, 14 years earlier. This is completely inconsistent with any notion that a flood of newly purchased firearms are being illegally smuggled over the border. And let’s not forget that no retail firearm sale can be made in the U.S. until after an FBI criminal background check of the purchaser has been completed.

Have fun wasting money you don’t have Mexico. Maybe you should spend that money on fixing your failing state instead. Then again Mexico probably has just as likely a chance of accomplishing that as successfully suing American gun manufacturers so the point is really moot.

Documents Released Showing 150 Gitmo Detainees Are Believed to be Innocent

What happens when a government is granted the ability to hold prisoners indefinably without charges or trial? You get innocent people held in a prison, that’s what. Documents uncovered by Wikileaks have revealed the United States government believes many prisoners held in Gitmo are actually innocent:

Files obtained by the website Wikileaks have revealed that the US believed many of those held at Guantanamo Bay were innocent or only low-level operatives.

The files, published in US and European newspapers, are assessments of all 780 people ever held at the facility.

They show that about 220 were classed as dangerous terrorists, but 150 were innocent Afghans and Pakistanis.

You got that? 150 people people held in Gitmo are presumed to be innocent bystanders by the government of the United States. Oh and this is just a classy line by our benevolent Lords:

The Pentagon said the files’ release could damage anti-terrorism efforts.

By “damage anti-terrorism efforts” they really mean embarrass the Hell out of us. This also makes an excellent case for working hard to protect our rights from government intrusion.

ATF Trying to Cover Up Their Gun Smuggling Efforts

When you are given the power to enforce laws it’s often the case you will come to the understanding that you are above the law. Apparently this is what the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) think as they have been blowing off requests for information on their little gun smuggling effort:

Rep. Darrell Issa, Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, is not a happy man. He is not happy because the Department of Justice and the Acting Director of ATF, Kenneth Melson, are continuing to blow off the requests for documents related to Operation Fast and Furious (aka Project Gunwalker). This is in the face of a supoena requesting documents issued by the Committee.

Rep. Issa is so unhappy that he is threatening to have Melson cited for Contempt of Congress according to a letter released this morning.

I’m not surprised by this turn of events. The ATF was caught doing something illegal, something they were charged with stopping. Now that people are wondering what the Hell the ATF was thinking they agency is trying to sweep the entire situation under the rug.

If You’re Going to Commit a Crime Keep it Quiet

If you’re going to be one of those blokes who goes out and commits a crime it would probably be smart to avoid bragging about it. What would be really stupid is going on television and bragging about your capers which was the mistake made by a French hacker who is now in custody:

A French hacker has effectually tied a noose around his own neck when he bragged about hacking into the systems of a big government contractor on national TV.

He participated in a France 2 television program called “Complément d’enquête” (Further investigation), and he said – and demonstrated – that he has gained access to computers belonging to the French Army and Thales Group, a French company that provides information systems and services for the aerospace, defense, and security markets.

What I said goes double if your crime is against the government or its military. Doing crime is the government’s job and they don’t like competition.

More of Your Tax Dollars at Work

When the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF) aren’t busy providing guns to Mexican drug cartels they’re working hard to raid small town gun shops:

Ludco Gun Shop owner Fred Ludington was arrested this morning on federal charges.

Ludington was charged with selling firearms to felons and non-Indiana residents.

There is a great sign on the desk of Ron Paul that states, “Don’t steal, the government hates competition.” Apparently this holds true in all regards as Mr. Ludington was in competition with the ATF who also like to provide guns to felons and non-Indiana residents. The result was predictable though as 70 agents… wait how many? Thor fucking God of Thunder on a pogo stick:

Special agent Kimberly Riddell, public information officer for the ATF, told The Star Press that 70 ATF agents, investigators and support personnel were at the shop, with assistance from the Indiana State Police.

It took 70 agents plus help from Indiana State Police to rob a single gun shop? I’d hate to see how many agents it would take to perform an bust against actual criminals. They would probably have to mobilize the National Fucking Guard for that kind of raid.

Don’t Perform Criminal Acts for the State

If you are approached by the State to perform illegal acts for them don’t do it. When you’re finally caught they will ignore you and allow prosecution to be brought against you. That seems to be the problem Albert Gonzalez is now facing. He’s been found guilty of creating one big ass credit card heist and has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. The problem? His actions were likely authorized by the United States government:

The government has acknowledged that Gonzalez was a key undercover Secret Service informant at the time of the breaches. Now, in a March 24 habeas corpus petition filed in the U.S. District Court in Massachusetts, Gonzalez asserts that the Secret Service authorized him to commit the crimes.

“I still believe that I was acting on behalf of the United States Secret Service and that I was authorized and directed to engage in the conduct I committed as part of my assignment to gather intelligence and seek out international cyber criminals,” he wrote. “I now know and understand that I have been used as a scapegoat to cover someone’s mistakes.”

Good luck to you Mr. Gonzalez. The United States government has a long and proud history of leaving those who’ve helped them behind. It’s likely that if what Mr. Gonzalez claims is true the government will disavow any knowledge and let you rot in prison for 20 years. This should go as a lesson to everybody else though, don’t perform acts that are illegal in the United States for the government of said United States. Government agents are pricks and spend more time covering their own asses then doing any real work. Part of covering their asses involves finding other people to take the heat for the illegal acts they’ve committed.