Previous Politech message:
"SF Weekly columnist suggests surveilling John Poindexter at home"
http://www.politechbot.com/p-04206.html
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Date: Sat, 21 Dec 2002 19:12:16 -0600
To: declan_at_well.com
From: Mickey Chandler <micklc_at_earthlink.net>
Subject: John Gilmore advocates vigilantism?
I guess I missed this when it was originally sent to Politech on 2 Dec
because I sympathize with John Gilmore's stand on the dangerousness of TIA,
but the following quote from the C|Net story you filed yesterday just
screamed at me: "Even if some of the information that people end up
revealing or using about such targeted scumbags is incorrect, such a public
demonstration would highlight the damaging effects that incorrect database
information can have on innocent peoples' lives, when used to target them
for harassment without due process of law."
It seems to me that John's argument when it came to his open mail relay was
that the ends do not justify the means. Yet here he argues that the ends do
justify the means, even with the knowledge going in that innocent people
could get hurt. The main differences between the two scenarios that I can
see is that the "damaging effects" and "harassment" are not aimed at anyone
named "John Gilmore" and that "the damaging effects that incorrect database
information can have on innocent peoples' lives" when used in the manner
that Mr. Gilmore is advocating here (for harassment) are potentially far
more damaging than forcing him to use UUCP for email (since he refused to
secure his open relay).
We don't need to engage in such an action in order to find the problems.
There are already examples of the damage that could be caused if you only
look at the effects of the "Megan's Laws" on innocent people. For instance,
this story (http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,53075,00.html), makes
reference to a mentally handicapped man who was beat up in Dallas, Texas,
because he lived at the address where a sex offender had lived at some
point in the past (the offender had not updated his location information
after moving).
The examples of the dangers of such things as TIA are already there for
John if he would only be willing to investigate, without the need to create
more of them because he feels it to be educational, newsworthy, or
entertaining (cf. his comments in http://www.politechbot.com/p-04206.html)
to encourage people to engage in vigilantism.
--
Mickey Chandler
micklc_at_earthlink.net
"USA Today has come out with a new survey: Apparently three out of four people
make up 75 percent of the population."
David Letterman.
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Received on Dec 22 2002
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