Category: Rights, Justice, & Judgement

FBI Harassment | Patterns in the Void

Source: FBI Harassment | Patterns in the Void

Everyone knows you don’t talk to the police.

Is my family safe in the US? Should I worry about the FBI raiding my parents’ house and shooting our family dog? Should I worry about FBI agents stalking and harrassing my mother?

 

Is there currently a branch of government at any level in the US which a large majority (75%, 3/4ths) of Americans nation-wide would recognize as the government and instinctively/intuitively expect to serve and protect them without caveat or wary reservation? EMS (emergency medical services)? Firefighters?

How about any law enforcement? FBI, CIA, NSA, state police, local cops – are there any that you think most people would be content to see show up at their home (in person or communication by mail or telephone) and communicate with them freely, without extenuating circumstances (e.g. actively reporting a crime, recent natural disaster, legal counsel present), under the assumption that they aren’t personally at risk?

In U.S., Confidence in Police Lowest in 22 Years | Gallup News

*** It is a problem if the populace is afraid of bad-apple law enforcement to the point that it complicates the job of the good people trying to actually protect average people from actual criminals. There needs to be more active self inspection, more active removal of bad apples (sorry, but even the optics matter; they only have to *look* like bad apples to a moderately/passingly informed outsider to be a problem!), and much less crying wolf (if everything is a SERIOUS THREAT to NATIONAL SECURITY, then nothing is).

Italian court rules food theft ‘not a crime’ if hungry – BBC News

Source: Italian court rules food theft ‘not a crime’ if hungry – BBC News

A homeless man did not commit a crime when he stole small quantities of food, an Italian court rules, because he clearly acted out of need.

right to survival prevails over property

in a civilised country not even the worst of men should starve

It criticised the fact that a case concerning the taking of goods worth under €5 went through three rounds in the courts before being thrown out.

How Technology Helps Creditors Control Debtors – The Atlantic

Source: How Technology Helps Creditors Control Debtors – The Atlantic

From software that records your every keystroke, to GPS tracking, to ignition kill switches—lenders have more power over their customers than ever.

a woman in Austin, Texas, had fled her abusive husband, only to be tracked down by the subprime lender that had financed her car. By driving to the shelter, she had violated the loan agreement, which restricted her from driving outside of a four county radius. She was tracked down via GPS and her car was repossessed.

The law, working in tandem with DRM, shrank the very concept of ownership, allowing companies to force end-users into renter relationships.

Access controls ensure that the possessions you lease or rent don’t belong to you, even as you bring them into the most intimate parts of your life. The controls make sure that the privacy and security of the debtor come second to the property rights of the lender.

Judge Who Authorized Police Search of Seattle Privacy Activists Wasn’t Told They Operate Tor Network – Slog – The Stranger

Source: Judge Who Authorized Police Search of Seattle Privacy Activists Wasn’t Told They Operate Tor Network – Slog – The Stranger

One week after Seattle police searched the home of two well-known privacy activists for child porn and found nothing, critics are questioning why the department failed to include a key piece of information in its application for a warrant—the fact that the activists operated a Tor node out of their apartment, in order to help internet users all over the world surf the web anonymously.

It’s like raiding the mailman’s house for delivering an illegal letter with no return address. Sure, it could have been sent by the mailman, but it could have been sent by anyone.

“When we get into things like this,” he said, “anonymizing stuff, that’s well over my head technologically, then it becomes very murky and hazy.” — Judge William Downing

Nest Reminds Customers That Ownership Isn’t What It Used to Be | Electronic Frontier Foundation

Source: Nest Reminds Customers That Ownership Isn’t What It Used to Be | Electronic Frontier Foundation

It used to be that when you bought an appliance, you owned it, and you could take it apart, repair it, and plug in whatever accessories you wanted without the manufacturer’s knowledge or permission.

Nowadays, software enables devices to do new, useful things, but it also enables manufacturers to exert more control than ever before over their customers. Manufacturers use software to ensure a device serves their financial interests throughout its lifetime, forcing you to go to an authorized repair shop, buy official parts, and stay out of the secret workings of the device that would let you know what it’s doing with the data it collects about you.