On Sat, Jun 23, 2001 at 01:40:25AM +0200, Erik Moeller wrote:
> 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.
I challenge you to find a country that doesn't prohibit some speech.
> 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".
The Freenet corporation does not merely advocate crime (advocating crime
in general is not illegal in the US), but specifically says that it is
going to do something to allow people to commit crimes with impunity.
However....
> 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.
Man, I should really avoid legal arguments more assiduously in the
future.
I exaggerated. The Freenet project is not inherently criminal, because
helping criminals is not always a criminal act in itself. But I insist
that both the promulgated mission and the general attidude of the
Freenet project are working to subvert the enforcement of the law. Good!
--
"Laws which can be broken without any wrong to one's neighbor are
counted but a laughing-stock; and so far from such laws restraining the
appetites and lusts of mankind, they rather heighten them." --Spinoza
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