Petition the Whitehouse to remove Carmen Ortiz from office
petitions.whitehouse.gov
Petition the Whitehouse to remove Carmen Ortiz from office
1–10 of 251 posts
Re: Petition the Whitehouse to remove Carmen Ortiz from office
#2For her misunderstanding of the word theft it nothing else
Re: Petition the Whitehouse to remove Carmen Ortiz from office
#3Don't blindly get the torches and pitchforks to treat a symtome, find the root problem and try to change the copyright/science/education/access system at the core.
Re: Petition the Whitehouse to remove Carmen Ortiz from office
#4Don't blindly get the torches and pitchforks to treat a symtome, find the root problem and try to change the copyright/science/education/access system at the core.
Arguably it makes the system less effective by adding a disincentive to enforcing the law in that specific fashion. There's also the risk that, to paraphrase kurt vonnegut, the moral will be to not go after people with friends.
Re: Petition the Whitehouse to remove Carmen Ortiz from office
#5Don't blindly get the torches and pitchforks to treat a symtome, find the root problem and try to change the copyright/science/education/access system at the core.
The fact is, there are real people involved in a specific set of events that contributed to the tragedy today. Those people are members of our government. Holding government officials accountable to the people for their actions is a fundamental tenet of the United States' constitution.
Re: Petition the Whitehouse to remove Carmen Ortiz from office
#6Don't blindly get the torches and pitchforks to treat a symtome, find the root problem and try to change the copyright/science/education/access system at the core.
The academic publishing racket was but a catalyst. That a possibly-effective protest against the status quo will get you persecuted into oblivion is the meta issue. The system is set up to deflect and even feed upon endless amounts of verbal criticism. But step out of line and do something beyond mere talk, and you'll see how quick the cryptofascism shows itself from the government and even many of your "peers".
(RIP Aaron - All progress depends on the unreasonable man.)
Re: Petition the Whitehouse to remove Carmen Ortiz from office
#7Don't blindly get the torches and pitchforks to treat a symtome, find the root problem and try to change the copyright/science/education/access system at the core.
Lack of accountability misaligns government officials' incentives. This is arguably a more important problem than copyright.
Re: Petition the Whitehouse to remove Carmen Ortiz from office
#8Petition to make the required changes to the law, not to remove a human cog from the machine.
Re: Petition the Whitehouse to remove Carmen Ortiz from office
#9Petition to make the required changes to the law, not to remove a human cog from the machine.
How about both? The cog is broken, as is the greater machine. Let's fix both.
Is the ball already rolling on a petition to have these particular laws changed?
Re: Petition the Whitehouse to remove Carmen Ortiz from office
#10Some more context about the prosecutor:
She was named "Bostonian of the Year" for her successful cases against mob bosses and drug companies: http://www.mainjustice.com/2012/01/03/massachusetts-u-s-atto...
Out of the 94 U.S. DA offices, her office alone collected ~67% of the total criminal and civil fines in 2012, mostly owing to the successful prosecution of drug companies. Her success led to speculation that she would run for higher office: http://www.mainjustice.com/2013/01/07/mass-u-s-attorney-carm...
She is no stranger to being part of a disenfranchised group, as she was the first Hispanic and first woman to hold the position of U.S. attorney in Boston. Her first internship was with the DOJ's public integrity unit, created after Watergate: http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011...
She's not of the "evil prosecutor" mold as is commonly thought and her background, particularly her history of fighting white-collar crime and corporations, doesn't strike me as someone who is intent on screwing the little guy over. That said, the seemingly-excessive charges could stem from a result of misconception and, let's face it, technological ignorance (hacking sounds bad, period). But in solving the overall problem in the justice system, let's not attribute to malice what can be attributed to other issues just yet.
-- One edit: a link to a piece by Aaron on yelling at the machine, rather than the person: http://www.aaronsw.com/weblog/nummi
My intent is not to say that the petition is wrong, but to argue that if people are going to call for action, call it for the right and productive reasons, rather than simplifying cause and effect to just one main person (even if the buck technically stops with her).