Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Longer jail terms for viewing terror content online

bbc.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 102 posts

Re: Longer jail terms for viewing terror content online

#91

Post by seanmcdirmid »

koenigdavidmj wrote: post #80
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, ya, isn't this post about making terrorism illegal? I feel like we've come full circle at this post.

This whole subthread is about states being heavyhanded and our options in responding. Also, terrorism is kind of illegal already.

In a thread about prosecuting people for watching terrorism videos, we have gone on about how the 2nd amendment gives Americans the tools to fight against the therapy of their government, and then it was pointed out the USA military is much better armed than civilians can be. Finally, the comment was made that the military could be faught with ambushes and IEDs, probably just as explained in those terrorism videos.

I just think it is really ironic.

Re: Longer jail terms for viewing terror content online

#93

Post by skrause »

carlossilva33 wrote: post #58
rjeli wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why Americans have the 2nd amendment

As a European I am jealous of your Bill of Rights (specially the 2nd). If only it wasn't being trampled on and used as toilet paper... Addendum: Regarding the inevitable issue of gun violence, it has actually decreased since the early 90's https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/12/03/weve-...

Don't say "European". The rights may be bad in the UK, but here in Germany we have rights as strong as the Bill of Rights.

Re: Longer jail terms for viewing terror content online

#94

Post by tim333 »

This seems like a bad law. I know the government doesn't plan to use it for average Joes surfing the web but even so. I quite often have a look to see what the other side is arguing in conflicts including downloading dabiq (an ISIS mag) and reading Breitbart. It shouldn't be an offence unless you get involved doing or at least supporting terrorism.

The government seems to be overreacting to the earlier days when some of the ISIS founders did their organizing and preaching in London.

Re: Longer jail terms for viewing terror content online

#95

Post by seanmcdirmid »

rjeli wrote: post #92
seanmcdirmid wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So we can participate in Swiss-style militias in defense of our country?

No, so we can resist and overthrow a totalitarian government

Ah, so the 2nd amendement is not about militias at all?

Re: Longer jail terms for viewing terror content online

#96

Post by dTal »

csomar wrote: post #46
negativity wrote: post #27

Holy shit. I'd leave the country and renounce citizenship over something like this. Reading words? Looking at pictures? Watching a video? Felony jail time? Really? This is policy that any sane person would resist.

Given that the video is, at the end of the day, a Binary number; this is going to be quite interesting. Is it about downloading the wrong number? Or watching the video? If I downloaded, it doesn't mean I watched.

sigh again with the "files are numbers" thing.

Above the generous threshold of about 128 bits, any given number is vanishingly unlikely to have been derived through any other process. If your 134-byte file turns out to be valid SVG for the Cartoon Network logo, then functionally speaking it is the Cartoon Network logo because it's incredibly unlikely you just pulled those particular 1072 bits out of your ass.

Similarly, if you are in possession of a 30-million digit binary number that happens to be valid h264 for an ISIS recruitment video, "oh what a stunning coincidence" isn't going to wash.

So "files are just binary numbers" doesn't get you anywhere, at all.

https://qntm.org/number

Re: Longer jail terms for viewing terror content online

#98

Post by applecorruption »

I know... is this actually leading to scenario, where Alex Jones and Infowars are stamped to be terrorist organisation .. and if you watch any they videos you could be jailed ?

- hard to trust our governments really. We as normal poor people seems to be always the loosers and abused.

Re: Longer jail terms for viewing terror content online

#99

Post by lucb1e »

pythonaut_16 wrote: post #24
lucb1e wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> then when you navigate to the site it immediately says the announcement/law is actually about watching videos promoting terrorism. Huh, is that somehow better? Can I not watch promotion videos for whatever reason and not go to jail? Research and journalism are obvious examples, where the politicians will say "of course those people will not get prosecuted" (until there is a journalist publishing negative stuff abou…

Not better necessarily, but outrageously different from the article's (and original HN title's) claim that people were going to be sent to jail for 15 years for reading banned literature.

I still don't see any difference between the severity of reading banned literature or banned terrorism videos. Neither should be illegal or, failing that, punishable by a severe sentence (10 years jail is already ridiculous, let alone 15).

Re: Longer jail terms for viewing terror content online

#100

Post by dbuder »

Defend yourself by forcing the court to watch your entire internet history in full. By the time they are done most of the jury will be in therapy. Is it easier for me a white guy to argue curiosity than someone of an Arab background? Why can't they be curious to why so many young men go off to Syria to seemingly throw their lives away? Why can't they want to know who these people are and what they've done?
Post reply on HN