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Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

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Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#52

Am I to understand that a state governer has the power to instruct some lacky-lawyer to charge someone with a crime, and to prosecute them for that crime? In the land of the free, this is not an independent process?

You are surprised? We already know that a prosecutor will try for higher sentences near an election and... well, they are elected. It isn't hard to imagine that an elected official works with other elected officials, especially if they want to do other things in government.

In many countries, the executive trying to direct the public prosecutor would be a scandal that would end multiple careers.

Actually, I would think that it would be in the US, too, if done on a _federal_ level.

Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#54

I hope they charge him, because it's going to be very hard to prosecute I believe, and a victory would enshrine legal rights to 'Right Click' and view source. I think the trial would come under enormous scrutiny. If the reporter lost the case in local banana republic courts, I do believe it would go up to Federal or Supreme and it would win.

Think about how happy would the NFT owners be!

Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#55
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As European, I find it insane that I could elect the prosecutor or even the police. And in some ways that politicians would have any word on this apart from deciding the funding and laws...

I don't disagree with your point but how a prosecutor must be selected then? If someone is not chosen by a public and popular vote, it must be chosen differently. Any mechanism of choice will have an inherent bias. For example, you could decide that a prosecutor is the best at knowing the law, so let's have a law exam where the one with the best score is named prosecutor. However, being a good prosecutor can't always…

It varies by country. For instance, in Ireland, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is a civil service bureaucracy. It's lead by the director, who's appointed by the government for a ten year term and must be an experienced barrister or solicitor. The director is a civil service executive, not a dictator, so the amount of damage a bad or corrupt one can do is somewhat limited.

Until the 70s, the role was filled by the office of the attorney general, who's a direct government appointee (strictly speaking appointed by the president on direction of the government). The separate agency was created to defend against bias.

Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#56

stunning..and scary... the root problem here (or at least one of the root problems) is that government workers are not hired or promoted on merit. That leads to people of lesser intelligence being bosses. As evidenced here. That is a bad thing, in my opinion. You want smart people in charge. That's a good thing!

This is nothing to do with government worker competence. Undoubtedly, the governor has been advised that there is no case. It's legal harassment, and a sign of (a) a structurally flawed system (the executive should be in no position to make this sort of threat in the first place) and (b) a sick political system (even if the executive is legally able to make such a threat, it should be politically impossible for them to do so).

Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#57

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are surprised? We already know that a prosecutor will try for higher sentences near an election and... well, they are elected. It isn't hard to imagine that an elected official works with other elected officials, especially if they want to do other things in government.

I live in the UK. I am very suprised yes

I don't know why you're surprised. The courts have shown time and again that they are part of the establishment (that includes the civil service and government), and will act in accordance with government wishes most of the time.

"Yes, Minister" was documentary not fiction (also, since we seem to be remaking/rebooting everything good, can we have an updated version of this, please?)

Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#58

> If somebody picks your lock on your house It's not like picking a lock. It's more like turning over a sheet of paper to read what's on the other side. If this guy gets convicted, I'll eat my hat (I wear a fedora). "Thy just thow their fedora wherever the floor is And start doing horas and taps".

A sheet of paper that somebody placed inside your home in an unsealed envelope and said "here read this"

Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#59

I hope they charge him, because it's going to be very hard to prosecute I believe, and a victory would enshrine legal rights to 'Right Click' and view source. I think the trial would come under enormous scrutiny. If the reporter lost the case in local banana republic courts, I do believe it would go up to Federal or Supreme and it would win.

If I was the lawyer for the reporter I'd ask Tim Berners-Lee to testify. What a great testimony that would be.

Re: Reporter likely to be charged for using “view source” feature on web browser

#60

Am I to understand that a state governer has the power to instruct some lacky-lawyer to charge someone with a crime, and to prosecute them for that crime? In the land of the free, this is not an independent process?

The state Attorney General is part of the executive branch and takes orders from the governor. This is the case in most states and the equivalent is true at the federal level. People seem to think it is an "apolitical" post but that just isn't true.
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