On 05/14/2012 05:44 PM, Derek Smythe wrote:
Nobody is saying we should be vigilantes. What I am saying is we have to give law enforcement the tools to be able to do their work. At the same time we should take cognizance of the international nature of the net.
Those tool, at least here in the US, are called a subpoena, or a search warrant, an indictment, etc. There are rules about how those are executed and issued. Police have always found them inconvenient. But then again, all rights are inconvenient to those who wish to intrude upon them. Here in the US even those accused of being "terrorists" get the benefit of a FISA court. It strikes me as odd that those accused of internet bad acts are deserving of fewer protections than that accused terrorist with the ticking bomb. Having seen official bad acts, including police murder of a naked man, I am not one to concede the height of wisdom and unbiased justice to those who carry the banner of "law enforcement". Breaching Whois privacy may seem a small step, a small price. But as Avri points out, it is not hard to see where protection of identity on the internet *is* important and of great social value. --karl--