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Warez Suspect To Be Extradited, After All
usefool writes "After the U.S.'s first extradition request against an Australian man was denied, the U.S. appealed that decision and has now won the right to try Hew Raymond Griffiths in the U.S."
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Why is it unfortunate that he will probably be convicted? If he did what he is accused of doing, why shouldn't he be convicted? Unauthorized distribution of copyrighted music and software is indeed illegal, and its hard to believe he didn't know it. While many of us, including myself, favor free software, that doesn't make it right to violate current law, on which many people's business models and livelihoods are based. Indeed, licenses such as the GPL are based on the very same copyright law. As far as I can see, this guy and people like him are common criminals, not visionaries, rebels,or heroes.
Shouldn't the bigger picture here center around freedom?
Why should anyone be prohibited from copying and distributing any information that comes into his possession? Is it not more important to live in a free society than it is to uphold the IP rights of a few.
IMHO, sharing information should be a basic right of human existence.
A truly free people should be able to parse, manipulate, duplicate, and disseminate any information that comes into their possession, except, of course where it concerns public safety of national security.
Remember, artists are under no obligation to write of produce anything. And when information is truly free the world will change in ways we can not possibly imagine.
Click here to practice non violent civil disobedience today.