Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

German Police Seize German Pirate Party Servers

Posted by timothy on from the perhaps-they-got-the-names-backwards dept.

fph il quozientatore writes "The German police have seized today the servers from the German Pirate Party after an attack on the French company EDF. Apparently they are looking for evidence of allegiance with the Anonymous group. In completely unrelated news, the website of the German police was down this afternoon."

121 comments

  1. Police Seize Pirate Party Servers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    This would've been better if Police Pocket Pirate Party Processors Punctually.

    1. Re:Police Seize Pirate Party Servers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Police Pocket Pirate Party Processors Punctually.

      Postulating Past Prank Participation

    2. Re:Police Seize Pirate Party Servers? by Hatta · · Score: 4, Funny

      Police procure Pirate Party processors. Probably probing protester pact.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    3. Re:Police Seize Pirate Party Servers? by Samantha+Wright · · Score: 0

      Perhaps prefixing plosives pervasively presents palpably pesky prose problems?

      --
      Bio questions? Ask me to start a Q&A journal. Computer analogies available for most topics!
    4. Re:Police Seize Pirate Party Servers? by Pf0tzenpfritz · · Score: 2

      The funniest part is that it was pecause of a publicly availaple EtherPad...

      --
      Oh, the beautiful gloss of greality!
    5. Re:Police Seize Pirate Party Servers? by Husgaard · · Score: 3, Interesting

      This is the same as confiscating all of Googles servers because somebody used Google Docs for an illegal purpose. The police did not even try to contact the party before taking their servers. And they did not just take the server that might have been used for an illegal purpose, but all servers at the site.

      The timing is interesting, as the DDoS attack that allegedly was planned on this public EtherPad installation took place months ago. And now - two days before election day in a federal state - they confiscate almost all their servers.

    6. Re:Police Seize Pirate Party Servers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Post-Preussian Police and Post-Preussian Pirate Party that is.

    7. Re:Police Seize Pirate Party Servers? by Sene · · Score: 2

      That's german police for you. They do most amazing things without caring about the reality.

    8. Re:Police Seize Pirate Party Servers? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Must... resist... Nazi... comparison...

    9. Re:Police Seize Pirate Party Servers? by oliverthered · · Score: 1

      Proper Precuration Prevents Pissed Police Presence.

      --
      thank God the internet isn't a human right.
    10. Re:Police Seize Pirate Party Servers? by lostthoughts54 · · Score: 1

      the parent and parent of my parent are awesome.

  2. Mayhem only begets mayhem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    This is what happens when you hack for the sake of hacking. I don't know if the German police really had reason to believe that Anonymous was related to the pirate party, but when you open Pandora's box, these things can be expected.

    1. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Interesting

      So when some group attacks some company we seize the property of a random pro-liberty group?

      Is that your understanding of democracy?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This is what happens when you hack for the sake of hacking.

      Ah, yes. Hacking for the sake of profit is definitely a better alternative there.

    3. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by qpqp · · Score: 1

      Hmmm? This comes to mind: This is what happens Larry... But seriously, hacking for the sake of hacking brought us where we are today.

    4. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by VortexCortex · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Pro-pirate is not pro-liberty. Look up the meaning of the word "pirate" that these guys are trying to emulate.

      They are not trying to "emulate" the term Pirate -- The pro-copyright corporations began using the term as a derogatory label (hopefuly having negative connotaion), the term stuck, and so we throw it in their faces.

      These are pro-liberty only in the sense that they wish to have more liberty to break the law and enable others to break the law.

      The "law" is unjust. Copyright is not required, per constitution, it is allowed, solely for the betterment of society as a whole. It is an outdated and over-broad, in the time that it was first allowed the founding fathers thought thought it should last only around 10 to 14 years. Now, in an era when not only big businesses have copy machines (nearly any one has many), the laws have been twisted to harm society, and extended for TWO GENERATIONS. My lifetime +70 years -- Beyond the life expectancy of my children!

      If they actually wish to change the law instead of merely breaking it, then they should boycott the media that is copy protected. That is do not steal the music/games/video but instead refuse to listen/play/watch.

      Yes, we want "free" stuff, like our freedom of speech and freedom of expression back. We don't want the restriction of only being able to legally share information that is over 100 years old. Freedom to sing songs publicly and share knowledge and information with our neighbors. The black people of America, and their supporters, had to stand up for their rights when Jim Crow was the LAW. Occasionally this means breaking the fucking unjust, oppressive, ridiculous law -- you dolt! Rosa Parks; Ring any bells!?! (sorry, excuse the rage -- ignorance is abhorrent to me)

      As long as they continue acting like common thieves they will get zero respect from the public but if they start a boycott that catches on then they'll start making headway. But this won't happen since the vast majority of pirate party supporters just want the free stuff.

      When your civil rights are abused it is your duty to peacefully protest -- What a better way to protest peacefully than to participate in the free sharing of ideas and information with your friends. No one is "stealing" anything. The only thing that has been taken away is the freedom to sing, say, write, or copy anything you want. We allowed aurthors a limited monopoly over their works to keep the greedy publishers in check. Now, the publishers force contracts on the authors or else the work doesn't get published, and these contracts take the rights of the authors and give them to the publishers.

      We've tried the civil protest route... Hell, it this case We Have A POLITICAL PARTY, and yet the pockets of the corporations are deeper still than our own. Not participating in the society we helped create is not an option. If you can think of any more peaceful a protest than having a network connection and two computers duplicating 1s and 0s, please, FUCKING LET ME KNOW!

      If it weren't for free sharing of ideas human society and the very languages we use that enable us to be more than just emotional animals would not have formed. It is in our very nature to share knowledge and information, to outlaw such things is the very definition of a police state. (Now, there's a fucking term it would do you well to look up!)

    5. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You clearly have no clue what the Pirate Party is about. It is not pro-pirate, as defined by the MAFIAA; it is anti-IP. The concept of Intellectual Property is fundamentally abhorrant, and severely infringes on peoples intellectual liberties. This is about far more than the copying of movies, it is about the liberty to think freely. To invent or create freely, without being mired in lawsuits, where the parasites who "own" some idea demand rent for any and everything.

      One may be the first to have an idea, but chances are nearly certain that they won't be the last. Granting the first-to-file or first-to-invent (which is more often not debatable), an unlimited monopoly is starkly in opposition to the public good. It puts a huge damper on what could otherwise be exponential progress, in order to enrich a select few.

      Granting a monopoly on an idea is extremely detrimental to society.

    6. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Rosa Parks never whined that she was being sent to jail. She and other civil rights activists knew they'd be arrested and willingly put up with it. I don't see many modern activists with the same attitude. You can earn respect through dignity. I don't see the pirates doing anything to earn respect.

    7. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by cavreader · · Score: 1

      "The concept of Intellectual Property is fundamentally abhorrent, and severely infringes on peoples intellectual liberties. " This declaration wins the BS of the week award. Oh wait, I take that back this "it is about the liberty to think freely" that tops the list.. What IP is preventing you from thinking freely? Some IP restrictions are beneficial and there are those of a more questionable nature but people or companies should at least be able to re-coup their expenses when developing and distributing their IP. Same deal for copyrights for those who produce the books and movies. There is a alot of BS going on in the tech industry with regards to source code and algorithm patent claims. As well as the methods used in to handle certain ordinary and obvious actions like the "1 Click sales button". These kind of actions deserve to be criticized and dealt with but I seriously doubt they are inhibiting people from thinking up new stuff.

    8. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Go read Against Intellectual Monopoly by Boldrin and Levine.

      You're probably just assuming I"P" is beneficial. It isn't.

    9. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by CTU · · Score: 1

      I could not have said it better myself.

      It is such a shame when governments use any excuse to protect there bribe money...and you can't say the the RIAA and the MAFIAA and such are not giving lots of money to politicians who act for them in the government.

    10. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      They are not trying to "emulate" the term Pirate -- The pro-copyright corporations began using the term as a derogatory label (hopefuly having negative connotaion), the term stuck, and so we throw it in their faces.

      The term "pirate" for an unauthorised copy predates copyright. Hardly something we can blame on the modern media cartels. And why would they use that term? The public perception of a pirate is Jack Sparrow or the Dread Pirate Roberts. Even the piratical villains like Long John Silver are pretty damn suave.

      Aside from that, good explanation.

    11. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      What's in a name? Have you looked at party names throughout the times? When has a party ever stood true to its name? Most of the former communist parties had "people's" somewhere in their name. Have you looked up the meaning of "people" and how little it had to do with how these parties acted?

      The name "pirate" was adopted when the copyright holders started their blanket accusations of everyone who dares to think invasive copyright and reduction of consumer rights is a bad thing must be interested in "pirating" their content. And everyone who refused to buy it and hence reduced their sales must have "pirated" it as well because it's unthinkable that we can exist without their hypecrap. The term "pirate" was thrown at us, the consumer who dared to do what you suggest: Abstain from buying things we do not want, refuse to pay for content we cannot use the way we enjoy it.

      The Pirate Parties just picked up the term and ran with it. In this context, a "Pirate Party" is a party that takes this (I don't like the word "battle" in this context, but it has turned into one) battle between content creator and content user into a political agenda. In a quite similar way how the Green parties turned the ecological movement of the 80s into a political platform.

      What "Pirates" want is not a free pass to break the law. What they want, and this is an agenda I can and do support, is to return to a copyright law that does what it was supposed to do: Protect the interests of producers AND customers, so both can coexist as supplier and consumer of content.

      A boycott first of all requires unity. And that is something you will not be able to achieve, this is why the free market system doesn't work: The demand side is too weak.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    12. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Rosa Parks was at the end of a century long battle for civil rights for the non-white minorities, do you really want to wait for a century 'til copyright and privacy erosion gets so unbearable that facing jail time isn't a deterrent anymore? I don't know if you noticed it, but the US were on the verge of a civil war in the 60s, I doubt this would end well today, especially without the Soviets that require our government to pretend they're the good guys and that they actually have any interest in our liberties.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    13. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      Maybe some of the more "radical" PP proponents consider IP-laws a horror, but please try to see the whole party, not just its fringe groups.

      Most PP members don't want to throw IP-laws out the window (some of them are actually protecting YOU, the customer. At least they still do, don't count on it after the next change), but they want a reform back to the balance IP-laws were supposed to grant, to balance the interests of producer and customer. Until the advent of IP-laws, inventing and content creating was a tricky business where time was essential. You had to get a head start on your competitor or he'd simply take your research and use it, and in the end nobody would research but simply wait and copy.

      IP-laws and copyright are not by themselves a bad thing, but they are out of check. 70 years after a creator's death is simply insane. No other business can enjoy this kind of protection. Could you see a bricklayer's grandson charge rent from you from your own house because his grandfather built it?

      The problem isn't so much that an inventor gets the exclusive right to his invention for some time. The problem is that this time is stretched too far. When copyright started and distribution took a lot of time (you had to get your manuscript printed, it had to be distributed...) copyright protection was a few years and you really had to hurry to benefit from it. Today, with instant creation, multiplication and distribution, copyright protection is longer than ever before. THIS is what's out of sync with reality and this is what needs changing.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    14. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by sourcerror · · Score: 2

      " I don't see many modern activists with the same attitude. "

      Yeah, they all comment anonymous.

    15. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by master_p · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Your post is totally hyporcritic. You put freedom of expression and copyright in the same context, which is totally wrong: copyright has nothing to do with the freedom of expression; you are free to express yourself as much as you want, perhaps more free than any other time in history. Enjoying the works of others without their consent is not freedom of expression, it is a violation of the rights of other people to make their works available in the way they see fit.

      The only reason you wrote the above is that somehow you feel alarmed that you cannot copy software, movies and songs as freely as you used to.You don't give a rat's ass about freedom of expression, because if you trully did, then you (and people like you) would protest for a lot of other cases of freedom of expression being violated.

      Enjoying the works of others without obeying their terms of usage is illegal. Just like we slashdotters complain so much about free software being used illegally in commercial settings, and we cry foul each time the GPL is violated, so can the song writers, movie producers and software developers complain when their terms of usage are violated. You cannot complain that a company violated the GPL, while at the same time you download the latest movies from torrent. In both cases, some people produced something with specific terms of usage that must be respected.

      As for copying those 1s and 0s, an item does not have to have a physical form to be considered a product. Suppose that you have an idea for a new way to produce energy that you worked really hard all your life on. Wouldn't you like to be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor? would't it be unfair to you, after all the difficulties you went through, if someone came along and simply copied your paper, claiming "freedom of expression"? then you would not be able to enjoy thee fruits of your labor! therefore, illegally enjoying digital goods is no different than stealing? in both cases, someone is derived from something. When you steal something, the owner is deprived of the item, when you pirate something, the owner is deprived of the value of the pirated item.

      Shame on you for what you wrote. I know this post will be condemned to oblivion, because it goes against the line of thinking of the majority, but someoen had to post a rebuttal.

    16. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by cynyr · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I can not post a video to youtube expressing my like or dislike of a few short clips of a moive/song....

      I can get hassled by the "owners" of a large metal object in the middle of a public park (the bean in chicago), for taking pictures of it, to share with those that are unable to visit the free park.

      Suppose that you have an idea for a new way to produce energy that you worked really hard all your life on. Wouldn't you like to be able to enjoy the fruits of your labor?

      Make a working prototype, and patent it. This has nothing to do with copyright at all. Also no patents on ideas, methods, or other non physical goods.

      illegally enjoying digital goods is no different than stealing? in both cases, someone is derived from something. When you steal something, the owner is deprived of the item, when you pirate something, the owner is deprived of the value of the pirated item.

      But the stream of 1s and 0s does not it's self have value. It can be recreated at any time for marginal cost(you could argue that if I did download it from a server of the artist, that I should be responsible for the bill for the bandwidth used to do that. That would be fair, so here is the $0.002 that I owe for the 2MB song. I would be unable to otherwise aquire the "thing" how did I do any harm? In fact i may end up helping if i like it and share it with many friends, and some of them have the means/will to buy it, but would not have otherwise known about it. There are a great many music artists making a decent living while giving all their songs for free on the internet in high quality.

      Now I would not say that there is not a place for copyright, patents, trademarks, "freedom of expression", and whatnot, but there needs to be some balance there. 140 years (unless assigned to a company that lives for 400) is a bit extreme, why should you make money all your life, and for the entire lives of your children just because you thought something. I think lots of things at work everyday (Custom HVAC equipment), but yet the company only gets paid when the gear is sold to the customer. Maybe we should try leasing out or gear with terms like,

      "A fee of no less than the value of 1oz of gold on ${DATE} shall be paid for every person hour that this equipment provides service. If this is a process application, the fee shall be the value of .25oz of gold on ${DATE} per hour of service. If this is a datacenter application, the fee shall be the value of 2oz gold on ${DATE}, per server per hour of service. All fees shall be provided at the first of the month, and shall be no less than 60 hours of service per month for 140 years from date of purchase or final comisioning which ever is later, and shall start on date of shipment to authorized agent."

      If we tried that we would be laughed out of the market.

      You do know why no restaurants sing "happy birthday" don't you? right because it is under copyright and they would need to pay up to sing it.

      --
      All of the above was encrypted with a Quad ROT-13 method. Unauthorized decryption is in violation of the DMCA.
    17. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by The+Archon+V2.0 · · Score: 1

      IP-laws and copyright are not by themselves a bad thing, but they are out of check. 70 years after a creator's death is simply insane.

      Rights are often signed away (work-for-hire) before the work is created. So it's the content creator's employer who owns the copyright. They could fire the guy the day after he hands the sheet music in and he'll never see another penny. (But they're protecting the creators from having their work stolen!)

      This is why copyright extends for so long and keeps getting extended - because corporations never die of old age and they're buying immortality for their copyrights on an installment plan.

    18. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by jmcvetta · · Score: 1

      The term "pirate" for an unauthorised copy predates copyright.

      That sounds completely, 100% bogus. Please feel free to prove me wrong with a strong citation.

    19. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Someone must have patented the brilliantly original idea of "using line breaks to make your text readable", and you didn't want to pay the royalty fee?

    20. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by cavreader · · Score: 1

      If you were responding to my comment I specifically said patenting common methods is wrong and should be fought.

    21. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by 91degrees · · Score: 1

      Certainly.

      Online Etymological dictionary entry for pirate: 'Meaning "one who takes another's work without permission" first recorded 1701;'

      Statue of Anne considered the first copyright statute dates back to 1709. Strictly speaking the term predates the first complete copyright act, rather than any form of copyright restriction such as printing guild rules and the like, so apologies for imprecision in my language.

    22. Re:Mayhem only begets mayhem by master_p · · Score: 1

      Make a working prototype, and patent it. This has nothing to do with copyright at all. Also no patents on ideas, methods, or other non physical goods.

      But patenting only the result of the work, instead of the work itself, will not make you any money. Others will copy your idea and make other products similar to yours.

      But the stream of 1s and 0s does not it's self have value. It can be recreated at any time for marginal cost(you could argue that if I did download it from a server of the artist, that I should be responsible for the bill for the bandwidth used to do that. That would be fair, so here is the $0.002 that I owe for the 2MB song. I would be unable to otherwise aquire the "thing" how did I do any harm? In fact i may end up helping if i like it and share it with many friends, and some of them have the means/will to buy it, but would not have otherwise known about it. There are a great many music artists making a decent living while giving all their songs for free on the internet in high quality.

      You don't understand what value means. Have you ever wondered why a physical product has a certain price? it's not only because the materials cost a certain amount of money. It's not only because of the paychecks of those involved in creating it. Value it's about what one things he/she deserves to profit for his/her effort. We value physical products on the basis of what we want to buy. A product's value is a completely fictitious concept, and therefore it does not apply only to physical products.

      Now I would not say that there is not a place for copyright, patents, trademarks, "freedom of expression", and whatnot, but there needs to be some balance there. 140 years (unless assigned to a company that lives for 400) is a bit extreme, why should you make money all your life, and for the entire lives of your children just because you thought something.

      Well, in a free world, the only person that can set the prices of his/her works is the author of that works. If someone wants, then he can even have a forever copyright on his/her creation. It's their creation, they can do whatever they want with them.

      You do know why no restaurants sing "happy birthday" don't you? right because it is under copyright and they would need to pay up to sing it.

      So? sing another song. Don't sing anything. Big deal.

  3. Sigh by mseeger · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Idiots on both sides.... But we can say: the police started it...

    Taking down the central server of political party just 2 days ahead of elections is not nice.

    CU, Martin

    1. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Taking down the central server of political party just 2 days ahead of elections is not nice.

      ...but if the PP-G is smart, they have a great opportunity to get some more people to vote... tweet: SEIZE-BACK... RETRO STYLE! Actually go to a booth and vote Pirate Party! #servergate

      But then in German of course. Maybe from #6 they can become #5.

    2. Re:Sigh by ustolemyname · · Score: 1

      Hmmm... two days does seem like the right amount of time for a social media campaign to grow really big over a single issue, but not long enough for it to fizzle out.

    3. Re:Sigh by Yvanhoe · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The German pirate party was probably not involved in anything. They host an etherpad service (piratenpad.de) that was working well and provided anonymity. Some attackers probably used it to share data without the PP's knowledge.

      Also many sources say that shutting down all servers of the political party was really exaggerated and that there will likely be legal consequences. It might sound like a joke, but Germans are a bit sensitive when seeing the police raid a political party. I think that this accident will, rightfully, help the pirate party.

      --
      The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
    4. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the European "Pirate" Parties have absolutely nothing to do with copyright infringement.

    5. Re:Sigh by machine321 · · Score: 2

      I hear there are a lot of pirates in Pittsburgh.

    6. Re:Sigh by artor3 · · Score: 1

      Uhh... their primary stated purpose is copyright reform. They certainly aren't calling themselves "Pirate" parties in solidarity with the Somalis.

    7. Re:Sigh by Squiddie · · Score: 4, Insightful

      That may be, but they are trying to reform the law, not break it. Or should that be a crime too?

    8. Re:Sigh by Daniel+Dvorkin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Here's a hint for people who are innocuous: don't call yourselves "pirates."

      It's pretty common for insults to be adopted as terms of pride: "yankee" and "redneck" come to mind, along with all sorts of racial slurs, and sometimes the word even becomes the official name of the group, as with "Methodist." So the Pirate Party is following in an old and largely successful tradition. Also, since it's self-evidently absurd to equate copying bits on a hard drive with armed robbery on the high seas, they might as well have fun with it; how else are you supposed to respond to something so over-the-top?

      --
      The correlation between ignorance of statistics and using "correlation is not causation" as an argument is close to 1.
    9. Re:Sigh by cyberfin · · Score: 1

      I absolutely agree with the poster. Also, Germany is a country where privacy laws are taken über-seriously (pun intended). They also take crime very seriously. Whoever made the call to send the police in must have either balls of steel, perfectly knowing the media shitstorm that would ensue.

      --
      "I'm taking this loop off." - Jack O'Neill
    10. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      hot damn, i'm gonna go start the Yankee Redneck Methodist party right now!

    11. Re:Sigh by Znork · · Score: 2

      Perhaps the Tories should heed that as well, considering the origin of the term as irish outlaw or brigand. Or perhaps the rather disparaging origin of Whig as cattle driver.

      Appropriating disparaging names has a long political history.

    12. Re:Sigh by oliverthered · · Score: 1

      well they would be called the parrot party, but Monty Python already killed that one.

      --
      thank God the internet isn't a human right.
    13. Re:Sigh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      hot damn, i'm gonna go start the Yankee Redneck Methodist party right now!

      You're trying to be funny, but I know about ten people who would eagerly join a party called that.

    14. Re:Sigh by Yvanhoe · · Score: 1

      Well, that's how you call people who want to share culture, knowledge and question the dogma of intellectual property.

      --
      The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
    15. Re:Sigh by blair1q · · Score: 2

      It's successful if you do it to mock the people who call you that, and they get it.

      If you do it because you think people in a far-off land who called themselves that are pretty cool, and the people who don't understand where it comes from think you're doing it because you think stealing stuff is cool, then you have begged for the adverse publicity and antipathetic attitudes of the general population around you.

  4. Nazis by Hatta · · Score: 5, Funny

    What a bunch of Nazis!

    --
    Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    1. Re:Nazis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What a bunch of Nazis!

      "Today the Pirate Party, tomorrow the world!"

    2. Re:Nazis by Dan541 · · Score: 2

      This is why you don't host servers in the same country as the government that you're challenging.

      --
      An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
    3. Re:Nazis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      the jews have returned to owning all major media and international banking and disproportionately running all universities and colleges.

      it's not just a stereotype. look it up yourself. where's the diversity we keep praising?

      Who cares?

    4. Re:Nazis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Mel, is that you?

    5. Re:Nazis by a_n_d_e_r_s · · Score: 2

      It was Anonymous that was using the german pirateparty etherpad server for their coordination.

      The takedown was ordered from France... the police was not after the Pirateparty but Anonymous.

      --
      Just saying it like it are.
    6. Re:Nazis by Dan541 · · Score: 2

      Why not just ask the Pirate Party to take the pad offline?

      I don't buy it. The police don't shut down phone exchanges just to stop a drug deal. Sounds like a scapegoat to me.

      --
      An SQL query goes to a bar, walks up to a table and asks, "Mind if I join you?"
    7. Re:Nazis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I don't buy it. The police don't shut down phone exchanges just to stop a drug deal.

      I'd bet $20 that that's only true because it never occurred to them that would be possible.
      Police officers are not hired for their brains, and these people are definitely a few megabytes shy of the minimum requirements.

  5. Johnny Depp to play Jens Seipenbusch by retroworks · · Score: 0

    The movie will be 15 minutes long, with soundtrack by Andy Warhol's Velvet Underground. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jens_Seipenbusch.

    Seriously, I'm not sure there is not enough here (unless it's in the German language, second link) to tell whether this is newsworthy or whether Jens lives in his mother's basement and sent a wormy email.

    --
    Gently reply
    1. Re:Johnny Depp to play Jens Seipenbusch by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Not newsworthy?

      The servers of a party that has online liberty as one of its core agendas have been seized, with an allegation of being involved in an attack against some French nuke power company (who, in turn, has been accused of rather questionable security and even more questionable garbage disposal). From what it looks now, ONLY this party's servers, despite being most likely nothing more than the equivalent of a TOR exit node that has been abused.

      And all of that a few days before an election.

      Sorry, if that's not newsworthy, I guess personal liberty and its limitation by certain "interest groups" really isn't an issue for nerds anymore.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:Johnny Depp to play Jens Seipenbusch by retroworks · · Score: 1

      I just meant it is not evident from the article. Western press routinely reports false flags of government intervention (false reports that Bob Dylan's song list was censored in China last month, e.g.) I don't know, maybe there is something going on which is sinister, but it is in the interest of people who care that we not react to false alarms. I did not see anything in the article that told me whether the server was a 486 with a spam trojan, or a legitimate party mailing system abusively taken days prior to an election, or a massive denial of service machine aimed at shutting down the French online porn industry... There's just not enough in the article to form a strong opinion about.

      --
      Gently reply
    3. Re:Johnny Depp to play Jens Seipenbusch by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Cui bono?

      From such a move, i.e. launching a false flag op and pretending it is so when it ain't, there is only one possible beneficiary: The Pirate Party. Who else would have an interest to accuse "the powers that are" of trying to suppress a small party? No, not even the opposing parties do, why would they want to give the limelight to a party that is their direct competitor for votes?

      Plus, the people interested in the PP are usually young, internet-savvy and put a very strong emphasis on civil liberties and personal freedom, and are generally quite fed up with lying. And such a lie is usually VERY quickly debunked, the police only had to say "there was no raid, what are they talking about", and believe me, they have a WAY bigger news outlet than the PP. Plus a lot of parties would enjoy pushing this "they lied to you and tried to blame us" topic 'til everyone has heard about it.

      Sorry, but it's very, very unlikely to be a false flag op. There's very little, if any, interest outside of Germany for this raid (hell, it's not even being reported in the mainstream media there as far as I could tell), so why would anyone from abroad try something like that?

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    4. Re:Johnny Depp to play Jens Seipenbusch by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also, in information matters, the police have never been of the "seize as little as necessary" type, but generally of the "take anything that is shiny or blinking or flashy or smelling weird" imposition. Considering that they may be raiding criminals, this is probably the only valid approach, as otherwise evidence might go amiss.

      Really, no surprise here.

      Yeah normally they did not just take the computers, but also the monitors, printers ... how smart.

    5. Re:Johnny Depp to play Jens Seipenbusch by silanea · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Leaving the individual and your rather cheap ad hominem at him aside: The Pirate Party is one of the few smaller parties here in Germany with the potential to bring really disruptive change to the political landscape; Not so much through their own share of votes, they do not usually fare all that well in elections, but because they almost single-handedly brought matters formerly at the fringe of public interest - freedom of information and expression in the digital age, a sensible approach to compensating artists, governmental transparency and accountability - to the centre of attention for all parties. And by now they have left the initial image of an anarcho-nerdy kindergarten behind. People above the age of twenty are beginning to recognise them as a serious political movement.

      And now, two days prior to a state election (that in and of itself is not really important considering it is "only" about a rather small city-state but that is closely watched as a barometer of public opinion for the next federal elections) police take their whole infrastructure offline under very questionable circumstances. I am biased as I am both German and a Pirate Party supporter, but I do consider such an act newsworthy even for such a diverse audience as slashdot's.

      --
      Rudolf Hess edited Mein Kampf. He was the very first grammar nazi.
  6. Hmm... by The+Master+Control+P · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The official state apparatus being used to harass opposition parties? In Germany? Days before an election? No, I'm not touching this one with a ten foot pole.

    1. Re:Hmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How about a Pole that's say... 39 - 45 in length?

    2. Re:Hmm... by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      I have a very tasteless analogy to the "HAN SHOT FIRST" meme on my mind now... I guess I'll refrain from posting it.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:Hmm... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Invoking Godwin's law already;)

    4. Re:Hmm... by oliverthered · · Score: 1

      why too stressed?

      see I rember the protestant reform like it was yesterday... Oliver's Army staying just round the corner, white niggers everywhere.

      Martin Luthor getting the Lyrics down... oh come on... ye faithful. get ye arse in gear.

      I wonder, is there any mention of any kind of prediction relating to the good old catholic deed dooing lot and their bloody ponzi schemes anywhere lurking on the English Parliament website?
      red blue red blue... oh such a card choice if only I could stop thinking of myself for once.

      --
      thank God the internet isn't a human right.
    5. Re:Hmm... by oliverthered · · Score: 1

      it's the law of protestant reform.

      vote tends to self tends to ponzi scheme tends to deeds tends to stess tends to protestants.

      --
      thank God the internet isn't a human right.
  7. false flag by decora · · Score: 1

    if your system is hackable, someone can hack in and make you look like a criminal.

  8. how about an eleven foot pole? by decora · · Score: 1

    you can take a ten foot pole, and then find the cardboard from a roll of paper towels, and kind of stick it in the end.

    1. Re:how about an eleven foot pole? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      great minds think alike!

  9. ross perot bollixed by stuxnut virus in texas by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    that was a different canpain

  10. im sick of the mom basement stereotype by decora · · Score: 1

    some of us live in our own basements thank you very much. not all basements are 'moms' basements

    1. Re:im sick of the mom basement stereotype by kronosopher · · Score: 1

      The windows and doors are boarded up just the same.

  11. Just like the good old days by nurb432 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Point a finger at your competition/enemy and make some unfounded claims about 'crimes against the state', and the police come in and take care of the problem for you.

    This remind anyone of something? Like Poland late 1939?

    --
    ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    1. Re:Just like the good old days by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 5, Informative

      More like the RIAA today.

      --
      Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
    2. Re:Just like the good old days by jhoegl · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Or you know... the Jews being the reason Germany lost WW1. o.O
      Or today, anything on Fox News.

    3. Re:Just like the good old days by maxwell+demon · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure that they were scapegoated as being the reason Germany lost WWI.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stab-in-the-back_legend

      --
      The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
    4. Re:Just like the good old days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Great to see that the fine old "Germans = nazis" reflex is well and alive. Pavlov would be proud!

      Of course, reading the very first sentence of TFA would have shown that it was the French police that instigated this, but let's not get the facts in the way of promoting nationalistic stereotypes, eh?

    5. Re:Just like the good old days by Jesus_666 · · Score: 2

      That's not a problem. The Germans are French Nazis.

      And yes, I can say that because I'm German. Victoire intact! *marches off to the west to make France a part of France*

      --
      USE HOT GRITS WITH STATUE OF NATALIE PORTMAN (NAKED AND PETRIFIED)
  12. sarah silverman can rule over me anytime by decora · · Score: 2

    all i have to say about this is thank god. i welcome our new jewish overlords.

  13. What goes around comes around by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Gotta admit, it's amusing seeing other people and authorities so powerless.
    The funny thing is, to avoid being attacked all you have to do is be an ethical business that actually cares about the people.
    I'm not saying it's right to do mess with piddly websites. It's only a website after all. But It's definitely wrong to be a bad business or entity.
    You could argue that they are sort of like an invisible police. But then again that's what america thinks it is too, except publicly.
    There's no country out there where we don't meddle with if there's any kind of profit to be made, advantage gained, or trying to make sure *bad guys* aren't doing anything wrong, a million miles away.

  14. More like "Police Party Poopers" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    These Police are such buzz kills

  15. "Allegiance" to an abstract idea, eh? by mykos · · Score: 0

    Sounds a lot like chasing witches, communists, drugs, and terrorists. And wind. And their own tails.

    Why do governments love chasing what they can't catch?

    1. Re:"Allegiance" to an abstract idea, eh? by tftp · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Why do governments love chasing what they can't catch?

      Because you can do it for as long as you want, and no particular results are expected. See "war on drugs" - there is no metric that is commonly used to show that "the war" is successful or not.

      For a cubicle dweller it would be equivalent to reporting to the boss every day that "I'm working on it" year after year, and still being paid in full for delivering nothing but appearance of effort.

    2. Re:"Allegiance" to an abstract idea, eh? by cbiltcliffe · · Score: 1

      Why do governments love chasing what they can't catch?

      Because then they can continually ask for more money to catch it. Duuh.

      --
      "City hall" in German is "Rathaus" Kinda explains a few things......
  16. Servers seized by airfoobar · · Score: 2

    Two days before the elections. Coincidence?

    1. Re:Servers seized by mykos · · Score: 0

      This should be the big story. Uganda, anyone?

    2. Re:Servers seized by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It sounds like they need to take the revolutions happening elsewhere and overthrow the government... It clearly isn't working.

    3. Re:Servers seized by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whoganda?

  17. Some notes about this by kju · · Score: 5, Informative

    The summary is very uninformative. This needs to be mentioned:

    - The reason for the seizure was topic of speculation all day long. It was very soon suspected that the reason was abuse of the "piratenpad", a publically available etherpad installation operated by the pirate party. Apparently this platform was used to coordinate a DDoS attack against the french energy and utility company (according to Wikipedia the largest of the world) EDF. Pirate party later stated that a SSH key for there webserver was posted on the piratenpad. See http://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Polizei-kapert-Server-der-Piratenpartei-1246963.html (german).

    - This service was only running on one of the servers but the police took all servers nethertheless which includes their mail and other important infrastructure.

    - The seizure was not the result of some german investigation but rather a reaction to a judicial assistance request by the french police.

    - As well-known german lawyer Udo Vetter points out (http://www.lawblog.de/index.php/archives/2011/05/20/ein-akt-der-deutschen-behrden/ - german) the german police was not required by law to react in this way. Furthermore political parties are somewhat protected by law and it is very arguable that the measures taken were adequate as required by law.

    - There is a state election in the German state of Bremen on Sunday. The pirate party is running there. This seizure is of course very unfortunate in light of this. This has promptly caused conspiracy theories that the reason for the seizure might be political.

    1. Re:Some notes about this by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As well-known german lawyer Udo Vetter points out (http://www.lawblog.de/index.php/archives/2011/05/20/ein-akt-der-deutschen-behrden/ - german) the german police was not required by law to react in this way

      Above, you essentially state that they did not have to take the servers. Then you go on to say that it "is very arguable that the measures taken were adequate as required by law[,]" which is to say that it was required to take the servers? Which is it?

  18. links? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why isn't there a link to the downed police website?

    1. Re:links? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      www.bka.de

    2. Re:links? by sammyF70 · · Score: 1

      Here, but it's in german

      --
      "DRM is like the Ford Pinto: it's a smooth ride, right up the point at which it explodes and ruins your day."-C.Doctorow
  19. In completely unrelated news.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Germans Love David Hasselhoff.

  20. And The Beat Goes On by b4upoo · · Score: 1

    There's a concept! Search people just because they just might be guilty of something. No concept of probable cause need exist these days.

  21. Not mom's basement == Dad got custody by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    not all basements are 'moms' basements

    When most of the kiddies around here claim its not Mom's basement all they really mean is that Dad got custody of the kids after the divorce. :-)

  22. Reminds me of a Joke by labnet · · Score: 5, Funny

    In Heaven: The cooks are French, The policemen are English, The mechanics are German, The lovers are Italian, The bankers are Swiss.
    In Hell: The cooks are English, The policemen are German, The mechanics are French, The lovers are Swiss, The bankers are Italian.

    --
    46137
    1. Re:Reminds me of a Joke by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The barmen are of course Irish in both.

    2. Re:Reminds me of a Joke by interkin3tic · · Score: 2

      You have to adapt the joke to the slashdot audience: In heaven, the lovers are other people.

    3. Re:Reminds me of a Joke by Carewolf · · Score: 2

      No, in hell the barmen are swedish and so are the bar-prices.

      Barman: Are you sure you sure you should be having ANOTHER beer? you have already had ONE!

  23. Newsies by drb226 · · Score: 1

    I read "The German police have seized today" and immediately started heard newsies singing in my head. I guess confiscating other people's servers is their way to carpe diem.

  24. Mentioned it once. Think I got away with it by Hognoxious · · Score: 2

    I'm not touching this one with a ten foot pole.

    Then try a Belgian or a Dutchman. Then maybe a Frenchman or a Russian.

    Brits are off, I'm afraid.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  25. Re:Mentioned it once. Think I got away with it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Rules on insulting countries in europe: If it is a neighbouring country go all out, for example, the dutch make fun of the belgiums and the germans, and slightly less of the french. The brits are a bir special because they are across the water.

    So, a dutchman, belgian, or frenchman would do fine.

  26. EDF ... Not Surprised by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So after installing tracking devices on a french Green party personality going after the presidential election, hacking the desktop of a Greenpeace activist and spying the "Sortir du nucléaire" (stop using nuclear power) association, it just play as "victim" to get some server down ?

    Why ain't i surprised ?

  27. So the present political party in power... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    ... is using its power to attack another political party - using the police to carry out their goal to destroy its opposition... Sounds like the present US administration to a T. Maybe they have been taking lessons.

  28. Barnum's Law in action by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Barnum's Law: "There is no such thing as bad publicity."

    If I was the German Pirate Party, I would be laughing fiendishly and proclaiming, "Nothing can stop me now!"

  29. Mod parent up, please! by sgtrock · · Score: 1

    I burned through my mod points just yesterday. Dangit. :(

  30. Re:Mentioned it once. Think I got away with it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    What's that flying over your head, is it a Junkers? Is it a Heinkel?

  31. Why not copy instead? by BlueTemplar · · Score: 0

    Why would you even need to SEIZE a server? Isn't copying all the information on it almost as fast, and far more respectful of a third party that is essentially a host and doesn't have to take responsibility about what is going on on the hosted websites?