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John Gilmore interviewed by Greplaw

mpawlo writes "I have just published another one of those Greplaw interviews. This time, John Gilmore had the courtesy of answering a wide range of questions on various subjects such as terrorism and security, spam blocking, censorship, secret laws in airports and of course - sarongs. Gilmore starts: 'I'm a civil libertarian millionaire eccentric.' Enjoy!"

36 of 164 comments (clear)

  1. "I'm a civil libertarian millionaire eccentric" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Who isn't these days?!

    1. Re:"I'm a civil libertarian millionaire eccentric" by stonebeat.org · · Score: 2, Funny

      did i see this guy at Woodstock Market???? ;)

  2. greplaw? by jargoone · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not powerful enough. Give me egreplaw any day of the week.

  3. And I thought I was alone... by ElForesto · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Here I am thinking I'm the only one that argues what he's arguing. The right to travel *IS* fundamental to a free society, IDs and driver's licenses be damned! I'm glad someone with money gets it (meaning that he has the means to do something about it other than speak up).

    --
    There is a difference between "insightful" and "inciteful" other than spelling.
    1. Re:And I thought I was alone... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful
      driver's licenses be damned!

      Slow down, cowboy. Neither you or I were born with a-priori knowledge of how to drive a car. Licensing programs for operators of vehicles on public roads are not a restraint on freedom of movement.

    2. Re:And I thought I was alone... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      It is, because it's *prior* restraint. No one is saying that you have the right to drive dangerously. Neither do you have a right to wield a stick in a way that endangers others. But you don't need a license to have a stick, do you? If you drive dangerously then you are guilty of reckless endangerment, and you can be prosecuted and convicted by a jury. If you are NOT driving dangerously, then you are exercising a right. Permit = permission = not a right.

    3. Re:And I thought I was alone... by ElForesto · · Score: 4, Funny

      So it is the right of some drunk driver to mow down a pedestrian and be able to get away with it because in the name of civil liberties, he shouldn't have to have a license plate and drivers license eh?

      I have absolutely no idea how to respond to that. Perhaps I need to beat myself over the head with a blunt object to approach that level of thinking and interpretation. You might as well say "So it is the right of some mentally-unbalanced gun nut to mow down a pedestrian and be able to get away with it because in the name of civil liberties, he shouldn't have to have a license to own the gun eh?"

      The license had nothing to do with the fact that the guy was ACTING IRRESPONSIBLY. You act like that magic piece of plastic is going to automatically make Daryl the Drunk into Reginald the Responsible. Do you know why people as a whole drive safely? They don't want to damage their property and/or go to jail. The truly good people don't want to hurt other people. You act like the fact that a guy spent a few hours in a line at the DMV should account for his driving skill.

      I'm all for much tougher penalties for irresponsible driving practices. Drunken driving should be a felony with at least 30 days in the drunk tank. Repeat offenders should be locked up even longer (presuming we let them out, which we shouldn't). If someone demonstrates a lack of ability to handle liberty, by all means TAKE IT AWAY.

      You, sir, are an idiot. There, I said what everyone was thinking. You took my opposition to prior restraint and someone managed to walk away with an advocation of reckless and dangerous behaviour. I don't know what your problem is, but I'd bet it's hard to pronounce.

      Yes I agree that big brother should be kept out of your living room, but when you are on the road, you can very easily affect another citizen's right to "life, liberty and the persuit of happiness". This is what pisses me off most about these, "I can do whatever the fuck I feel like" civil libertarians, what you do can adversely affect other people.

      Can. That's a really sticky word, isn't it? I *can* choose to shoot a bunch of children with my gun. Should I be automatically subjected to intense psychological evaluation before I can own that gun? Prior restraint goes against everything this country has ever stood for. You cannot in any free society punish the innocent for the crimes of the guilty.

      Do people do bad things? Yeah, it happens. But if you go off the deep end trying to prevent bad things from happening, you might as well lock everyone into their own little padded room in restraints so they can't hurt themselves. (Yes, this is hyperbole. That's the point.)

      This is coming from someone who is a stron supporter of the ACLU(I would be a member, but I am a cheap bastard)

      That's a good thing that you aren't a member, because with your attitudes I'd doubt they'd have you.

      It's obvious to me you lost someone to a drunk driver, and I'm sorry about your loss. However, your emotional problems with that should not end up being the basis of law. By taking away someone's ability to chose, you become a petty tyrant as bad as King George III and an enemy to liberty.

      God gave me the right to choose, and I'll never give up that God-given right of agency and free choice. Don't try taking that away.

      --
      There is a difference between "insightful" and "inciteful" other than spelling.
    4. Re:And I thought I was alone... by jcr · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Speaking of drivers' licenses, I've always liked John's idea of a driver's license which was NOT an ID. It would prove that the person presenting it was the person who had passed the driver's test, but would not identify that person further.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    5. Re:And I thought I was alone... by jcr · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Next time someone close to you is killed by a drunk driver, think about that for a second, k?

      So, drunks won't get behind the wheel if they don't have a little government-issued laminated card?

      Think about *that* for a second.

      -jcr

      --
      The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
    6. Re:And I thought I was alone... by damiam · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You'll notice he's not fighting driver's licenses any more than he's fighting pilot's licenses. It's possible to travel anonymously in a car as long as you're a passenger. Similarly, he thinks it should be possible to travel anonymously in a plane. Aside from hijacking, it's pretty hard to hurt other people while riding in a plane. And having to show ID didn't stop the 9/11 hijackers; they all showed perfectly valid official IDs under their own names. So what's the point?

      --
      It's hard to be religious when certain people are never incinerated by bolts of lightning.
    7. Re:And I thought I was alone... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      "Your "prior restraint" argument sidesteps my argument that transportation on public roads is a priveledge, not a right."

      Too bad the "privilege" argument is pure propoganda:

      CASE #1: "The use of the highway for the purpose of travel and transportation is not a mere privilege, but a common fundamental right of which the public and individuals cannot rightfully be deprived." Chicago Motor Coach v. Chicago, 169 NE 221.

      CASE #2: "The right of the citizen to travel upon the public highways and to transport his property thereon, either by carriage or by automobile, is not a mere privilege which a city may prohibit or permit at will, but a common law right which he has under the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." Thompson v. Smith, 154 SE 579.

      CASE #3: "The right to travel is a part of the liberty of which the citizen cannot be deprived without due process of law under the Fifth Amendment." Kent v. Dulles, 357 US 116, 125.

      CASE #4: "The right to travel is a well-established common right that does not owe its existence to the federal government. It is recognized by the courts as a natural right." Schactman v. Dulles 96 App DC 287,
      225 F2d 938, at 941.

      Note #3 especially. It specifically precludes the use of prior restraint tactics by government entities. Oh and by the way foidulus, I want to make you wear your SSN on a big white panel over your clothing, so in case you kill someone all the bystanders and any cops can easily identify you. And I don't want to hear that this would violate any of your rights!

    8. Re:And I thought I was alone... by Pigbot · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I have always believed that freedom=responsibility, so the more freedom you have, the more responsible you must be for your actions. Accountability is part of this.

      I don't want the police to start searching my house without a warrant, but I have no problem with the requirement of presenting identification when you are driving any vehicle under 25,000 pounds (standard license). To me, this is common sense.

      Don't mean to harsh, but if someone wants to "live off the grid" and not have an id/dl then they shouldn't expect to share the same rights, since they are not willing to accept the same responsibility and accountability. Fine, live off the grid, walk or bike anywhere you want, you have that right. I just don't quite see how that extends to a drivers license that is not an ID.

      --
      print "Oink!\n" if ( $tail =~ "pull" );
    9. Re:And I thought I was alone... by JimBobJoe · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I've always liked John's idea of a driver's license which was NOT an ID. It would prove that the person presenting it was the person who had passed the driver's test, but would not identify that person further.

      We call those non-photo drivers licenses...you may still get one in Vermont and several Canadian provinces (New Brunswick and Quebec, perhaps a few others.) You may also get one with a bona fide relgious objection in many states, but as we know, that goes back and forth.

      To this day, the most non-photo licenses out there are found in New Jersey, which only recently elminated the non-photo license (or is trying to.)

    10. Re:And I thought I was alone... by halowolf · · Score: 2, Interesting
      I think this whole drivers license showing identity argument has gotten a little out of hand. Licensing people to drive vehicles (vehicles that can be dangerous) is a good thing for society. I view driving as a priviledge not a right.

      What I take from John Gilmore arguments, is that people should not be arbitrarily identified just because they are walking down the street or stepping on a plane. In a supposedly "free" societ you don't need a license to walk down a street, and you don't need a license to sit down on a plane and be flown somewhere. There isn't a good enough reason in a "free" society to just ask who you are if you are not doing anything wrong. Asking for ID as you pick up your ticket from the airport that you may of paid for earlier or something I think is reasonable so they can ensure that the ticket is given to the right person and not being stolen. Treating you as a suspected terrorist because you want to board a plane, that is not so reasonable in my books.

      If you are driving a car and speeding possibly endangering other lives and the police stop you and want some identification then they seems perfectly reasonable to me. Using these forms of identification to find out who people are when they are not doing anything wrong I don't think is on. But these things are my opinions and are not facts.

    11. Re:And I thought I was alone... by Ichoran · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Fine, there is a right to travel. But this doesn't mean that all rights are unconditional, context-insensitive rights.

      For example, a five-year-old has the physical ability to turn the ignition key in a car and press the accelerator pedal down. But this doesn't mean that they should be allowed to drive.

      The key principle is that certain actions are inherently dangerous to other people. Allowing other people to engage in these actions is a direct and severe imposition on *my* right to stay alive. Of particular importance, in the case of driving, is the fact that it is not possible for a completely untrained driver to not willfully (if unintentionally) endangering me, because he or she does not have the skill to operate a dangerous device in a way that won't endanger me.

      Simply by their using the vehicle, they are putting me at risk. There is no effective difference to me (as a victim) between them driving on public roads and them playing Russian roulette with me when I drive on public roads (using a gun with a sufficiently large cylinder).

      So we have to balance their rights to be able to act freely with my rights to not be killed by other people's free actions. The current solution is to require training for people who use dangerous devices so that the user of the device can, with high degree of confidence, willfully avoid causing harm to others.

      (Note also that it is not good enough for me for them to be punished after they kill me. I'm still dead. The rights we have in a free society should not include the right to kill one or more people, as long as we die ourselves or suffer some other punishment afterwards.)

      Now, obviously, if one has a requirement but never enforces it, it doesn't protect my rights at all. So the requirement has to be enforced. I don't really care how it is enforced. The key is that there must be some mechanism to distinguish between drivers who can intend to not hurt me and, to a high degree of reliability, follow through on that intent; and those who through incompetence or inability either cannot intend to not hurt me, or lack the ability to translate intention into action.

      A license is one way to accomplish this. A license that doesn't clearly identify itself as belonging to the driver isn't as useful, because this removes the ability for people to distinguish between proper drivers and threats to society. So, typically, you have to use something like a photo ID. I'd be happy with on-the-spot proficiency checks, or an IDless card with a hash value off my fingerprint that could be verified with a fingerprint scanner, or any other way to verify that the operator of the device has the capability to avoid harming others through using it.

      The principle of being able to avoid harming others is also why it makes sense to outlaw drunk driving (and increase penalties for hurting people while drunk). When sufficiently drunk, you can no longer guarantee the safety of others. So by driving while sufficiently drunk, you are willfully endangering others.

      So, the bottom line is: you can have a right to travel. But it doesn't follow that you have the right to travel and kill people while doing it. The right to travel is the right to travel *provided* that you possess the ability to do so without causing injury and death to others--if you do not possess that ability, their rights to stay alive trump your rights to move from A to B.

      (Note that this only applies for the people operating the devices. Having IDs for being a passenger is silly, unless the passenger can, by virtue of incompetence, cause a threat to others. And it's only worth implementing checks for commonly-used devices that can hurt others. Machine shop tools can be deadly if used improperly, but they're not sprinkled all over where they can kill bystanders when untrained people use them on a daily basis. Thus, there's no point requiring an explicit license for public machine shop tool operation.)

    12. Re:And I thought I was alone... by Feztaa · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I would have figured it the other way around, as a non-named ID. Think about it: if you have an ID without a photo, somebody could easily steal that and claim to be you. But if you just had an ID with your photo and the note "this person has passed the driver's test in state/province X", with no other identifying information, that would be proof that you are licensed to drive, without actually identifying yourself.

      Of course, it'll never happen. But it's a nice thought.

  4. This is the same civil libertarian, John Gilmore.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've read many reviews of John. He is brilliant! He knows how to uphold the law theory "all are equal and equally under the law", which United States currently doesn't like to admit. John knows how to use their laws against them. Civil libertarian is somewhat a stretch; John is more of a Jeffersonian, or sometimes known as a Christian Anarchist. If anyone out there dislikes or even enjoys Eric S. Raymond, this John is the gapstop that keeps people together within reason.

    PS: Moderators!
    *Before you knock this user
    *please recognize that Slashdot
    *should at-least mirror these
    *articles on *the server rather
    *than having thousands of people
    *click the URL. I happily read
    *the article from the parent's post

    You all just wait and laugh when Slashdot is charged for server crimes by the FCC. Even Yahoo News mirrors their stories for sake of all!

  5. Re:A wise man... by JeanBaptiste · · Score: 2, Insightful

    "I wonder when he will be taken out for thinking too much."

    Would you care to post a list of other people that have been taken out for thinking too much?

    For as much as some tend to complain about oppression in America, I'm not aware of such things actually happening.

    Thanks

  6. Judge Kafka? by orthogonal · · Score: 4, Interesting

    From the linked interview, on the subject of secret airport laws: (emphasis orthogonal's) "[i]t even worked at the District Court; our judge decided that if she couldn't see the law then it must by definition be constitutional (she ruled that I had no possible way to show it is unconstitutional)."

    Is this the United States the Founding Fathers built, or Stalinism by way of Kafka?

    1. Re:Judge Kafka? by QuantumG · · Score: 4, Funny

      Dude no. Read the summary judgement. The judge should have said "ok, where is this law? Oh it's secret. Ok, that's unconstitutional." But he didn't.

      --
      How we know is more important than what we know.
  7. Rights by t_allardyce · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Never mind sarongs, what about the banning of thongs in Florida and Louisiana!! this is going to far by the righteous far right.

    --
    This comment does not represent the views or opinions of the user.
    1. Re:Rights by Tirinal · · Score: 5, Funny

      Never mind sarongs, what about the banning of thongs in Florida and Louisiana!! this is going to far by the righteous far right.

      Obviously you're not thinking this through. With the current banning of thongs in two major states the resulting surplus will no doubt follow the third fundamental law of fashion: "Anything deemed unwearable by the religious right will surface within two weeks in San Francisco like a tidal wave."

      Given the concentration of techies in the Bay Area, I'd say we have something to look forward to.

      --
      ~Tirinal
  8. ahem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Domain Name: GROKLAW.NET
    Created On: 03-Oct-03

    Domain Name: GREPLAW.ORG
    Created On: 11-Apr-2002

  9. Deadhead by Dayze!Confused · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Which brings me to the belief that I have had that if every deadhead in this country voted this would be a different place. I can't emphasize how important it is that everyone votes. Please in the national election, everybody cast a vote. Bush won by having less than 60% of eligible voters vote and then only a marginal majority of those choose him.

    --
    "All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent." [Thomas Jefferson]
  10. wrong wrong wrong by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "The drug war is an ugly, corrupt set of policies that were bad when Nixon set it in motion to bash the hippie students who were hounding his ass out of office."

    the drug war was first created to get returning GI's , from vietnam off of heroin and originally focused on treatment over criminalization. Of course later Nixon was forced by the right to increase the drug war's focus on criminalization. Oh yeah just as an aside the hippies did not force nixon out of office...he won both terms of his presidency. It was his own criminal activities that forced him out of office....not a bunch of inefectual hippies. They had nothing to do with ending the vietnam war and nothing to do with forcing nixon out of office.

    Guys like this, history revisionist, asshole really make it hard for libertarian minded people to support ending the drug war. I mean any time i say the drug war is a waste of money regularly open minded people close thier doors to the idea becouse they have heard all the other consperiacy bullshit guys like this asshole have heaped on to a fairly straight forward argument. What is the saying "With freinds like this who needs enemies"

    stendec@gmail.com

    1. Re:wrong wrong wrong by commodoresloat · · Score: 4, Informative

      You're right that Nixon's drug war emphasized treatment over criminalization, at least compared to the Reagan/Bush/Clinton/Bush drug war. But you're wrong that Nixon didn't see the drug war as a way to bash the hippies. He did, and he said so to his cabinet, as many of his tapes record. They also record that he thought the hippies were in league with the commies and the Jews on this. When you bash the "conspiracy bullshit" coming from the hippies you might at least compare it to the extreme paranoid "conspiracy bullshit" of their main enemy here.

  11. Earlier interview by hotspotbloc · · Score: 3, Informative

    Last August John Gilmore was on the cover of and interviewed in Reason. Good reading from a great magazine.

    --
    "I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity but they've always worked for me" - HST
  12. Re:A wise man... by jbltk · · Score: 3, Insightful

    We can start with Galileo.

    Then we have Sherman Austin under the Patriot Act.

    http://rwor.org/a/1217/austin.htm

    With the Patriot Act, there is the distinct possibility of people being silenced and no one ever knowing.

    The point is not how many are being silenced now, but how many can and probably will be in the future.

    First they came for the Jews
    and I did not speak out
    because I was not a Jew.
    Then they came for the Communists
    and I did not speak out
    because I was not a Communist.
    Then they came for the trade unionists
    and I did not speak out
    because I was not a trade unionist.
    Then they came for me
    and there was no one left
    to speak out for me.
    Pastor Martin Niemöller

  13. Server up and fast, parent troll by Esteanil · · Score: 3, Informative

    See his posting history
    'nuff said

    --
    I'm a dreamer, the world is my playpen. But hey, I'm a serious person, I can't dream all the time.
  14. Re:Server is going down fast... here's the text by killjoe · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "Terrorism is now defined as force applied for political reasons by people other than the US Government."

    THis should read.

    "Terrorism is now defined as force applied for political reasons by people other than the US or the Israeli Government."

    Thank you.

    --
    evil is as evil does
  15. Re:A wise man... by killjoe · · Score: 2, Interesting

    "Would you care to post a list of other people that have been taken out for thinking too much?

    For as much as some tend to complain about oppression in America, I'm not aware of such things actually happening."

    Well if you are not aware of it then it probably never happened.

    Here let me go the TheListOfPeopleWeKilledBecauseTheyDaredToQuestionU s.gov and get the list. Oh wait a minute the US does not have a web site where they keep a list of people they assassinated. I guess that means the US govt has never assassinated anybody then.

    --
    evil is as evil does
  16. Re:As always, he's a freak by MultiModeRb87 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    He simply needs to get behind the wheel of his car

    That is, of course, if he happens to have permission from the U.S. Government in the form of a drivers' license.

    The point is not that airlines or private individuals don't have the right to choose how they wish to restrict access to their property. The point is that the government doesn't have the right to force airlines or private individuals, as proxies, to restrict access to their property.

    Although the kidnapping example is technically in the same category of movement restriction, perhaps a better example would be if police set up checkpoints at every major intersection, and required the identification of anyone who wished to pass. This would differ from the current system only in degree, and has been thus far prevented from taking place by both popular opinion and by the logistical nightmare that would ensue, although with the advent of cheap RFIDs, I wouldn't place too much faith in the latter, and I've little in the lasting ability of the former, given the example that you provided with your own comment.

  17. the right to be left alone by bodrell · · Score: 3, Insightful
    I'm glad someone is working on this problem. I'm just a card-carrying ACLU member, but if I had Gilmore's resources I'd love to challenge a few laws. Like the right to not be annexed. Isn't that taxation without representation? Reagan blew so many holes in the Bill of Rights, someone has to reverse those precedents. We now have almost no protection against illegal search and seizure. States' rights are practically non-existent (especially here in Oregon, where Ashcroft has swooped down multiple times--to threaten physicians re. the state's assisted suicide law, and also to rattle a saber about medical marijuana issues).

    Arrgh. Now I'm all riled up.

    Join the ACLU. It's safer than direct action against "the Man."

    --
    Si la vida me da palo, yo la voy a soportar Si la vida me da palo, yo la voy a espabilar
  18. Re:As always, he's a freak by Platupous · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The distinction you are failing to make is that Gilmore is speaking of public infrastructure. Now whether or not airports are private property (many are not) may be up for argument, but not many will deny the fact that they are still part of a public infrastructure system. Note, also, that the internet is a public infrastructure.

    You also make the point of ones passage being inconsistant; and use that as an example against Gillmores arguments, I fail to see how millions of passengers flying in the United States, each one who had to show ID, are demonstrating 'inconsistant pasage'.

    As for your statement about people wandering around nuclear plants; this is not what Gillmore is speaking of at all, he is talking about our transportation system, so stick to the point.

    I could go on, deconstructing the rest of your arguments, but I just realized I was suckered into replying to a troll. Ill leave it as an exercise for the reader to eliminate the rest of this commentators arguments. I got the ball rolling you may as well do your part. . . . . .

  19. Re:As always, he's a freak by putaro · · Score: 2, Insightful

    You just can't just have anyone wandering about nuclear plants, or onto planes while carrying bombs.
    Let's not even worry about the legalities, but let's think about the usefulness of your statement.

    Nuclear power plants can and should restrict who enters. The list of people allowed in the plant is small and known. The list of people carrying bombs on airplanes is small and unknown. Therefore, checking ID's makes sense to keep people out of nuclear power plants and checking people's bags for bombs makes sense in keeping bombs off of airplanes. Since no one's ID says "I AM CARRYING A BOMB" checking their ID is worthless for the purpose of keeping bombs off but is useful for infringing on civil liberties by preventing people who disagree with the government from traveling, and even people who are part of the government from traveling (Senator Ted Kennedy was recently put on the no-fly list - read about it here.)

    If you would care to explain how checking ID's will keep bombs off planes I'm sure it would be very illuminating for all of the readers.

  20. Re:Server is going down fast... here's the text by danila · · Score: 2

    Nope. The correct wording is now:

    "Terrorism is now defined as force applied for political reasons by people other than any government included in the secret amendment to this regulation."

    --
    Future Wiki -- If you don't think about the future, you cannot have one.