Friday, March 25, 2005

Censorship and Starvation at The Corner.

A couple of quick bits totally ganked from the Corner. First, Andrew Stuttaford has this to say about those America-haters over seas in the Old Country:

One of the more sinister aspects of EU integration is the way that the existence of a common EU extradition warrant can be used to punish behavior that would not actually be criminal in the country where it took place.

Lets take a look at the case of Gerhard Haderer. He’s an Austrian cartoonist who published a satire on the life of Jesus. Like most satires, it is not very respectful, but it contravenes no Austrian law. Unbeknown to him, however, the book was republished in Greece, a country not known these days for its attachment to freedom. The book was banned, Haderer was found guilty of blasphemy and sentenced to jail. He’s appealing, but if he loses, he can under EU law be extradited to Greece to serve his time and Austria cannot do anything about it.

That’s bad enough in its own right, but the implications are worse.

What, for example, if a writer posts an article on the internet that is perfectly legal in his country, but contravenes the law elsewhere in another EU state (perhaps one of those ludicrous, but increasingly fashionable and increasingly repressive laws directed against ‘xenophobia’)? If that article is then downloaded in that country, is there a chance that its author could find himself extradited, convicted and silenced?

I think there is.


Nice. I'm glad America hasn't proceeded down the path to be more like the Europeans as the liberals constantly whine we should because they're oh-so-advanced over there compared to us stupid NASCAR fans here.

Of course, liberals love Europe because Europe loves the same things they do: anti-Semitism, genocide, fascist governments, fat hairy men in Speedos and a common hatred of America.

Next up is this observation from Jonah Goldberg:

I listened to Michael Schiavo's lawyer on the radio complaining at the outrageous rhetoric from opponents of having her feeding tube removed. Starvation and dehydration, he explained, are part of the natural process of death. Thousands of patients dying from cancer and the like stop eating when the end comes he explained. It is natural to refuse sustenance when dying, he assured reporters more than a bit indignantly.

The only problem is that she hasn't refused food and water, she's been denied food and water. She isn't dying of something that causes her to taking food and fluids, she's dying because she's being denied such things.

If she must be put to death can we at least speak clearly that this is what's being done?


No, because the Big Lie campaign won't allow it, you self-hating Jewish sellout Jesus freak!!!!

[/irony]

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

"I'm glad America hasn't proceeded down the path to be more like the Europeans as the liberals constantly whine we should because they're oh-so-advanced over there compared to us stupid NASCAR fans here."

You're an idiot and so is Stuttaford.

Your homework assignment is to Google these names and tell me what you learned.

1) Hew Raymond Griffiths
2) Dmitry Sklyarov

Here's some help:

http://tinyurl.com/2ydkr

http://tinyurl.com/5lmv8

I'll be back to put my foot in your ass again later.

Dirk Belligerent said...

Your foot in my ass? Uh, I'd apreciate it if you'd keep your sexual desires out of my comments section, please. Thank you.

As for the hackers - your point was what?

Anonymous said...

You're so weak it's painful.

Hew Raymond Griffiths, a native of Australia is fighting to keep from being extradited to the United States for software piracy. He has never set foot in the United States, and he has violated no Australian law.

Dmitry Sklyarov is a programmer who worked for a Russian company called Elcomsoft. As an employee of theirs, he created software that allowed a user to create a PDF from an Adobe eBook. This software violated no laws in Russia. He visited the US for a convention and was promptly arrested by the FBI for violating the DMCA.

The point, in case you've missed it, is that the US is already behaving as badly as this new EU extradition treaty.

Dirk Belligerent said...

Well, well....looks like I'm gonna end up with my boot up your butt, beyatch!!! HIT IT!!!

1. If you can't tell the difference between enforcing copyright laws that are intending to protect intellectual property* and fascist governments in one part of the anti-American collective know as the EU dragging people from one country to another for speech code violations, then you're going to be experiencing some serious disillusionment when you learn the truth about the Easter Bunny and pro wrestling.

B. Why don't you use Google and find some info on Dmitry Sklyarov that's actually accurate? The link you posted is a page dated Feb. 2005 that talks about last July. Unfortunately, he was arrested in July 2001 and ACQUITTED in Dec. 2002.

3. The Griffith story was from 2003! Ya got anything CURRENT or are you so desperate to play "gotcha!" that you ended up playing yo'self foo'?

Well, that was easy. I shant more waste time bothering replying to your drivel because intelligent readers will be more than able to laugh at you without my assistance. Buh-bye now cuz...

CLASS DISMISSED!!!


* My mention of the DMCA is NOT an endorsement. The DMCA is pure evil funded by corporations to keep information locked away under the guise of profit protection. Copyright should be protected, but this goes too far.

Anonymous said...

Don't be in such a rush to declare victory before slinking off.

1) Visit this article (dated 7/8/2004):

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/07/07/1089000229684.html?oneclick=true

"Accused web pirate back behind bars
By Leonie Lamont
July 8, 2004

An accused Australian internet pirate is back in a Sydney jail after the United States won the latest round in its landmark fight to have him extradited to face copyright charges."

The United States is attempting to extradite a citizen of another country for committing a crime against the laws of a country he has never visited. Please explain to me how this is different from Gerhard Haderer.

2) Yes, Dmitry Sklyarov had his indictment dismissed, but he was still detained for 5 months for violating the laws of another country with a product that was not illegal in the country it was created in.

"a common EU extradition warrant can be used to punish behavior that would not actually be criminal in the country where it took place."

His software was not illegal where it was created.

Dirk Belligerent said...

Slink off? Bub, I LIVE HERE? You're the visitor who refuses to wipe his feet before coming in to crap all over the place.

I'm not bothering to register to read the Oz Times, but you're still a year old and creating straw men.

Both cases are proof that global law is a thorny situation because a click of a mouse allows anyone anywhere to circumvent local laws or violate local ordinances, like when some bluenose in Tennessee can drag a Las Vegas-based porn site in for breaking the local obscenity laws.

I'm not sure what you're trying to prove, but you're obviously doing a poor job of it or else you just don't like anyone criticizing Europe.

You're splitting hairs and playing semantical games. If you want to debate the merits of law, start your own blog and I'll roll by and help break the place up, er, in.

Buh-bye.

Anonymous said...

You know exactly what I'm "trying to prove", you just don't have the cojones to admit that you linked to something you knew nothing about because it fit your "liberals are evil" agenda. I know it's embarassing to admit you've been owned in your own house, but really, we don't think any less of you.

You want to talk about straw men? That the last news on the Griffiths case is a year old says NOTHING about the merits of the case. If anything, it would not be incorrect to assume that in March 2005 he is STILL in prison awaiting extradition for violating the laws of a country he never visited. I'd imagine that if he were freed there'd be some kind of more recent news about it-- it is a "landmark" case, after all.

P.S. I'm not sure why you have to register to see that page; I don't. Try this link, which has the text of the article.

http://www.zone-h.com/en/news/read/id=4324/

This way you'll have some actual information about the case before you shoot your mouth off again. It'd make for a nice change, don't you think?

Dirk Belligerent said...

OK, I could read that latest link but you're still not proving anything, Bub. If anything, you're comparing apples to tire irons.

Software piracy is a crime. Due to the Interweb's global reach someone overseas can run a criminal distribution network trafficing in the intellectual property without setting foot in the country, but does not physically being on the scene exempt you from culpability for the crimes commited?

OTOH, in the Haderer case, this is an example of one state being able to reach into another for SPEECH CRIMES that run afoul of their local mores and being able to drag that person into a foreign jurisdiction for NOT trafficing in stolen property, but offending their political or religious sensibilities.

Despite your self-congratulatory chest-thumping, you haven't owned anybody in anyone's house. I guess you were trying to compare two different incidents in hopes that no one would notice that you were just being contradictory to be a jerk. If you're were trying to prove hypocrisy between American and European laws, you failed miserably because they weren't comparable situations.

The BIG difference is that while the U.S. is TRYING to extradite this hacker, there is a process that can keep him home while the EU laws allow one country to grab another country's citizen to punish under their laws WITHOUT RECOURSE. (I guess European enthusiam for fascism is limited to their own home-grown tyrants.)

Also, you've totally misunderstood what MY point was in the first place - typical of liberals who knee-jerk uncontrollably when their views are held up to scrutiny - and you made a fool of yourself in frantically hurling dissimilar and irrelevant cases in hopes of obscuring the dire morass that Europe is descending into.

If you've got a valid point, then make it - otherwise, go find another blog to crap on. You're welcome.