Slashdot Mirror
Editor of 'Reason' Discusses Federal Subpoena To Unmask Commenters
mi points out an article from Nick Gillespie, editor of libertarian website Reason, who was recently asked by the federal government to provide identifying information on anonymous commenters from one of the site's blog posts. Not only was Reason issued a subpoena for the commenters's identities, but they were also placed under a gag order, preventing them from even mentioning it to somebody who wasn't their lawyer. Gillespie says the comments in question were "hyperbolic, in questionable taste–and fully within the norms of Internet commentary." He continues:
To the extent that the feds actually thought these were serious plans to do real harm, why the hell would they respond with a slow-moving subpoena whose deadline was days away? By spending five minutes doing the laziest, George Jetson-style online "research" (read: Google and site searches), they would have found publicly available info on some of the commenters. I'm talking things like websites and Google+ pages. One of the commenters had literally posted thousands of comments at Reason.com, from which it is clear that he (assuming it is a he) is not exactly a threat to anyone other than common decency."
One reason for issuing a subpoena is to establish a provable and authenticated origin and chain of custody.
* (Agammamon 5.31.15 - 10:47AM) Its judges like these that should be taken out back and shot.
** (Alan 5.31.15 - 12:09PM) It's judges like these that will be taken out back and shot. FTFY.
To quote Telly Savalas, while playing Kojak and answering to someone who feels threatened by him: "Greeks... they don't threaten - they utter prophecies!".
To quote you: "[...] so what was the gag for? they could have legitimately wanted to investigate these particular people [...]" - i think that is the reason.
Antisthenes: "Wisdom begins by examining the words/names." - excuse my English, i am (slightly...) better with my Greek!
I agree, they seem over the top. but imma provide a bit of knowledge, maybe you'll find it interesting. Much of 1st amendment law is controlled by a landmark, precedent-setting case, brandenberg v. ohio which laid out definitions like "imminent threat exemption." This superceded the often-misunderstood "fire in a crowded theater" idea from the 1910's. The three components of the "brandenberg test" are intent, imminence, and likelihood. The troll comments fall short of imminence and likelihood, at the very least.
A question for you, no trolling, what's it like in Greece with the fiscal stuff? is everybody freaking out? is it like being on an out-of-control freight train?
I agree, they seem over the top. but imma provide a bit of knowledge, maybe you'll find it interesting. Much of 1st amendment law is controlled by a landmark, precedent-setting case, brandenberg v. ohio which laid out definitions like "imminent threat exemption." This superceded the often-misunderstood "fire in a crowded theater" idea from the 1910's. The three components of the "brandenberg test" are intent, imminence, and likelihood. The troll comments fall short of imminence and likelihood, at the very least.
Very interesting link - it supports my claim "in the USA free speech is respected and protected more than anywhere else in the world (much more than Europe for example)"! This case (mentioned in the Slashdot story), is one of those that (because of different ethics) a Greek/European like me can examine/understand only after reading links like the one you provided, so thanks.
A question for you, no trolling, what's it like in Greece with the fiscal stuff? is everybody freaking out? is it like being on an out-of-control freight train?
Don't worry Sir, i understand very easily when someone is trolling and when just asks a reasonable question about the situation.
People here are calm, considering the situation. While we had about 1/4 of our GDP/GNI vanishing, Greeks have a social net based on family that protects almost all from dramatic financial situations... e.g., no one is starving, the images with those waiting for some food are from illegal immigrants that the international media display just for drama!
Technically we are 5 days before declaring bankruptcy (in reality we have one more month before this bankruptcy becomes legaly valid). Greece is in a situation where we can declare bankruptcy (i.e., stop repaying our debt), continue public spendings at current levels (since we have a state's budget surplus), and staying in the EUROzone (i.e., using the "Euro" currency - our EU membership is not an issue even if we had to leave EUROzone) - this solution would be problematic because we could not fund our economy (we can not print Euros!), so if we declare bankruptcy the most logical and likely is to leave EUROzone (but not EU) so we can print Drachmas (our national currency, which we can devalue so our economy can start "moving"). Things are not so dramatic as most/all the international media describe, but are not good also - most Greeks (including myself) want to just continue using the Euro, but many Greeks (not me!) believed our current, 4 months old, (ridiculous) left-wing goverment that promised staying in EUROzone AND relaxing austerity... i am very pro-austerity and pro-EU/EUROzone, i hope that in the next weeks our current goverment will loose the support so our previous goverment can take control again, continue repaying the loans and you know... do what it must be done. Keep in mind: Greece is a poor state with rich citizens!
Antisthenes: "Wisdom begins by examining the words/names." - excuse my English, i am (slightly...) better with my Greek!