Wonder if at some point all those inconvenient people would simply start falling out of the windows.
French publisher arrested in London for refusal to tell police his passcodes
21–30 of 241 posts
Re: French publisher arrested in London for refusal to tell police his passcodes
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
> How is this different than refusing to tell where you've buried the bodies? They can get away with it because it’s on a computer. The voters don’t care, and the MPs by and large don’t understand. Those who do would love the same principle to apply to the body case as well.
That's because the memory of truly oppressive governments in Western Europe has faded. People who don't remember history, are doomed to repeat it.
I do wonder if the masses always end up voting in fascists every 50 years or so simply because they forgot that there were some things worth fighting for. Does it feel like to anyone else we are on the precipice of extremely big changes that might not be good for anyone?
Re: French publisher arrested in London for refusal to tell police his passcodes
#23The legal system in the UK recognizes several rights against self-incrimination, but there is a carve-out for the per se crime of failing to disclose a key to encrypted information - punishable by years in prison. How is this different than refusing to tell where you've buried the bodies? Why should the police be permitted to assume you're guilty and in possession of vital information under certain circumstances?
And perhaps more importantly, it becomes a de-facto crime to ever forget an encryption key. People forget the passkeys to crypto wallets all the time, losing millions. How can the police effectively prove that someone remembers the passcode? What if someone, after a few months in prison, says they've reconsidered and are willing to comply. They try to decrypt it but fail and subsequently say they the stress of incarceration has made them misremember the passcode?
Re: French publisher arrested in London for refusal to tell police his passcodes
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
> How is this different than refusing to tell where you've buried the bodies? They can get away with it because it’s on a computer. The voters don’t care, and the MPs by and large don’t understand. Those who do would love the same principle to apply to the body case as well.
That's because the memory of truly oppressive governments in Western Europe has faded. People who don't remember history, are doomed to repeat it.
The absence of a strong constitution protecting fundamental rights is also an issue. With a 50%+1 majority, the house of commons can vote pretty much any law it wants with no counterpower.
Re: French publisher arrested in London for refusal to tell police his passcodes
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's because the memory of truly oppressive governments in Western Europe has faded. People who don't remember history, are doomed to repeat it.
I do wonder if the masses always end up voting in fascists every 50 years or so simply because they forgot that there were some things worth fighting for. Does it feel like to anyone else we are on the precipice of extremely big changes that might not be good for anyone?
I think this is a big part of it.
I remember growing up reading Harrison Bergeron (in school) and always thinking there's no way such a system would ever come about by the will of the people... yet SF proves people are all too happy to implement such a system (tearing down gifted students for the perceived benefit of everyone else). SSDD.
Re: French publisher arrested in London for refusal to tell police his passcodes
#26Is this a surprise to anyone? Britain is quite well known for its draconian laws on free speech and encryption.
Seems its quite easy to get arrested for posting stuff online too. I hardly ever agree with the content but scares me to see people getting arrested for what amount to opinions.
Re: French publisher arrested in London for refusal to tell police his passcodes
#27It's even worse - under RIP act not only can you be "forced" to reveal any passwords:
- the onus is on _you_ to "prove" that you don't know it or have forgotten it - you can be told not to reveal that you've told them the password
Anyone administering systems might want to think about this, governments aren't known for good security.
Re: French publisher arrested in London for refusal to tell police his passcodes
#28Earlier quoted context omitted.
That's because the memory of truly oppressive governments in Western Europe has faded. People who don't remember history, are doomed to repeat it.
I do wonder if the masses always end up voting in fascists every 50 years or so simply because they forgot that there were some things worth fighting for. Does it feel like to anyone else we are on the precipice of extremely big changes that might not be good for anyone?
I don't think it's forgetting that some things are worth fighting for.
I think it's that, after a fascist government is ousted via violence, people spend so much time and effort to demonize them, that Joe Blow on the street doesn't see them as 'Us' anymore.
We would never make decisions like They made, so We don't have to worry if Our leader is a fascist. Our leader is nothing like Their leader was, other than in absolute power. Our leader has our best interests in mind. Their leader was just a power hungry madman.
When we remove the humanity from the monsters, we fail to remember that we could be monsters, too.
Re: French publisher arrested in London for refusal to tell police his passcodes
#29Western democracies are falling into authoritarian behavior at a remarkable rate. I am legit worried.
I guess to be fair, there always has been an authoritarian bent to Western democracies. It's just that most of us here on HN are not members of the groups against which those democracies employ authoritarian practices. It just kind of shows you why you have to stand up as soon as you see a practice or law that's F'ed up. It's pretty much a guarantee that on a time-scale long enough, that government will use that practice on you.
Re: French publisher arrested in London for refusal to tell police his passcodes
#30Couldn't you have a max attempt lockout set pretty low and keep giving a slightly wrong variation? I mean if you dont remember, you don't remember
Both my laptops and phone I need to be the one actually typing or inputting the code, I know them through muscle memory and get tripped up those few times my laptop ask for my iphone pass code, as an example