EFF Files Brief in Case to Hold IBM Responsible for Facilitating Apartheid
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Re: EFF Files Brief in Case to Hold IBM Responsible for Facilitating Apartheid
#2There might be some network equipment vendors nervously observing this case. They probably haven't done anything as awful as building a bespoke apparatus of apartheid, and arguably they've done nothing technically different than Room 641A. However, there are probably some dissidents who would make convincing plaintiff's witnesses, were they ever to get out of the dungeons and into an American courtroom.
Re: EFF Files Brief in Case to Hold IBM Responsible for Facilitating Apartheid
#3This is pretty sweet.
Given that corporations are people these days, I guess they can be charged with knowingly facilitating war crimes?
Re: EFF Files Brief in Case to Hold IBM Responsible for Facilitating Apartheid
#4This is pretty sweet. Given that corporations are people these days, I guess they can be charged with knowingly facilitating war crimes?
Which war?
Re: EFF Files Brief in Case to Hold IBM Responsible for Facilitating Apartheid
#5There might be some network equipment vendors nervously observing this case. They probably haven't done anything as awful as building a bespoke apparatus of apartheid, and arguably they've done nothing technically different than Room 641A. However, there are probably some dissidents who would make convincing plaintiff's witnesses, were they ever to get out of the dungeons and into an American courtroom.
Cisco is probably feeling pretty nervous about this.
Some may say "but why does this matter now? It's all in the past."
The problem is I think we're going to see many more such cases in the next couple of decades (at least). There are already companies that knowingly help governments spy on their citizens and help them catch dissidents or even kill journalists (think the self-driving cars of the future or cars that have remote controls).
History may not repeat itself, but it rhymes. It's important to punish the people responsible in helping totalitarian leaders (even within "democratic" countries). Maybe such a case will prevent say Intel from installing a backdoor in their chips in the future, or giving certain governments their future SGX keys to secure applications.
Also, IBM already got off with helping the Nazis. If they would've been punished for helping the Nazi, maybe they would've thought twice about helping with the Apartheid.
EDIT: Apparently punishing companies that helped in the Holocaust and the Apartheid isn't popular on HN.
Re: EFF Files Brief in Case to Hold IBM Responsible for Facilitating Apartheid
#6This is pretty sweet. Given that corporations are people these days, I guess they can be charged with knowingly facilitating war crimes?
One does not even need jurisdiction in order to try someone for war crimes. The Kuala Lampur War Crimes Commission tried and convicted George W. Bush and Tony Blair for "crimes against peace" in 2011 under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Their sentence was to be entered into a register of war criminals to be published worldwide.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuala_Lumpur_War_Crimes_Commiss...
Re: EFF Files Brief in Case to Hold IBM Responsible for Facilitating Apartheid
#7This is pretty sweet. Given that corporations are people these days, I guess they can be charged with knowingly facilitating war crimes?
One does not even need jurisdiction in order to try someone for war crimes. The Kuala Lampur War Crimes Commission tried and convicted George W. Bush and Tony Blair for "crimes against peace" in 2011 under the principle of universal jurisdiction. Their sentence was to be entered into a register of war criminals to be published worldwide. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuala_Lumpur_War_Crimes_Commiss...
I hereby accuse Hackernews user vinceguidry of war crimes for the publishing of propaganda. His trial will be held in one paragraphs time.
In light over overwhelming evidence that vinceguidry has published news that is fallacious and quite frankly silly (The idea that GWB and Tony Blair are being held accountable for War Crimes because some self-appointed group of people in some backwards state can hold a war crimes tribunal and publish a document), I find him guilty. His sentence is execution, disembowelment, being kicked off the internet, and being tickled with many soft feathers. News of his sentence will be published to a registry of war criminals located here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9029804
Re: EFF Files Brief in Case to Hold IBM Responsible for Facilitating Apartheid
#8This is pretty sweet. Given that corporations are people these days, I guess they can be charged with knowingly facilitating war crimes?
Which war?
Good question!
Without the Hollerith card machines, Hollocaust would have been impossible to perform at that massive scale that eventually became evident. Computing Tabulating Recording Company (CTR) that sold the equipment to Germany at the time, later changed name to International Business Machines.
Apartheid was awful too.
Re: EFF Files Brief in Case to Hold IBM Responsible for Facilitating Apartheid
#9For those who might want a fuller description of IBM's active facilitation of these kinds of crimes, you should read Edwin Black's book, "IBM and the Holocaust".
Those tattoo's on Holocaust victim's arms? They were serial numbers directly tied to IBM punchcards designed by IBM for the Third Reich.
It gives context to former NSA chief Michael Hayden's comment, "We kill people with metadata".
Re: EFF Files Brief in Case to Hold IBM Responsible for Facilitating Apartheid
#10Okay, while we're at it let's sue Intel for providing a platform to enable digital crimes, CERN for developing a copyright circumvention mechanism, oh and how about we sue Maybach for proving engines for the Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger Ausf.E and therefore enabling Hitler to start a World War.
This is just ridiculous, nobody holds the developers of Little Boy responsible, instead we should hold the people and governments who exploited the inventions.
Note, I'm not rationalizing or supporting any of the negative effects of such activities, merely trying to look at this issue through a different perspective.