On 22 Jun 2001, at 12:01, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
> My point, which I think is valid, is that Freenet's mission statement
> is explicitly abetting criminals, given that publishing some data is
> illegal; and thus "being careful about what we say" is unproductive.
> The Freenet Project is a criminal organization.
I can hardly think of any use for Freenet that is illegal in one
country that isn't legal in another. As Freenet is an international
project/network, this alone makes it hard to determine which
activities are criminal/illegal and which aren't. Also, given that
Freenet is a network which is independent of its possible uses, and
that all members of the project have different motivations to enable
this network (some may be motivated to make illegal uses possible,
while others may be motivated to make legal uses possible), it is
certainly wrong to call Freenet a "criminal organization".
It is not only wrong, it is the kind of FUD that a PR agency would
spew, as "criminal" is an emotionally laden term that can be used to
refer to everyone, from the MP3 "pirate" to the murderer -- just like
"viral license" or "GPL is a cancer".
Freenet is many things to many different people. When its motivations
are presented, the lowest common denominator should be chosen, which
is certainly free speech, and when it is described, it should be
described as what it is -- a network protocol and an implementation
thereof.
Regards,
Erik
--
Scientific Reviewer, Freelancer, Humanist -- Berlin/Germany
Phone: +49-30-45491008 - Web: <http://www.humanist.de/erik>
The Origins of Peace and Violence: <http://www.violence.de>
"History is full of people who, out of fear or ignorance or the lust
for power, have destroyed treasures of immeasurable value which truly
belong to all of us. We must not let it happen again." -- Carl Sagan
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