I don't really understand how come, in the lawsuit-happy US, there isn't a class action lawsuit in place already to sue the government for the damage caused by this sort of error.
U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’
31–40 of 161 posts
Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’
#32Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, there is recourse. IANAL, but as far as my understanding goes, the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances includes the right to sue the government, or at least to file a suit against the government in court.
You can file suits until the cows come home. It doesn't matter because of "sovereign immunity" (see http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Sovereign+Immu... ). Basically, the government is immune from lawsuit unless it chooses to allow you to sue it. And this is the presupposition, so they don't need to justify it. You've got only two defenses against this: (1) The right to vote; and (2) the right to keep and…
Yes, I'm aware of sovereign immunity, but the government has waived it for certain circumstances through the Federal Tort Claims Act. Since I'm not a lawyer, I'm nowhere near qualified to say whether or not this would be included in that exception, but it seems plausible to me that it might be. The act of the government seems to be non-intentional (I can't read the article due to a corp firewall, but it says "By Mistake" in the title) and it was committed by a person acting on behalf of the USG.
Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’
#33Earlier quoted context omitted.
From my understanding, there are no 'banned books' in the US, but rather ones that are blacklisted by library, teaching and bookstore groups making them difficult to come by. I'm personally unaware of any book that the US Government has banned, although I'm always willing to be wrong :)
hmm… you appear to be right: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most-commonly_challenge... That brings me to my second question: why don't we have a similar process for websites?
The book Bridge to Terabithia (of which a 2007 film was adapted) was at number 8 on the ALA's list of frequently challenged books because:
"The censorship attempts stem from death being a part of the plot; Jess' frequent use of the word "lord" outside of prayer; concerns that the book promotes secular humanism, New Age religion, occultism, and Satanism; and for use of offensive language."
Maybe it's better we don't have a similar process.
Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’
#34I have a great idea: Let's give these people more power!! You know, for like, Net Neutrality and stuff.
Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’
#35It's amazing that these operations and bills are intentionally wrapped in wording that makes them politically untouchable. I can see why lawmakers wouldn't want to investigate this. Who wants to be the congressman/woman that went against Operation Save our children ?
or the PATRIOT Act ...
Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’
#36It's amazing that these operations and bills are intentionally wrapped in wording that makes them politically untouchable. I can see why lawmakers wouldn't want to investigate this. Who wants to be the congressman/woman that went against Operation Save our children ?
Meh… it's semantics, they'd vote against Operation Save our Children if they were voting for the Internet Bill of Rights Act
You and I may know that but your average voter probably doesn't, and they certainly wouldn't two or three years later when it come back up out of context, in a attack ad.
Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’
#37Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, there is recourse. IANAL, but as far as my understanding goes, the right to petition the government for a redress of grievances includes the right to sue the government, or at least to file a suit against the government in court.
You can file suits until the cows come home. It doesn't matter because of "sovereign immunity" (see http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Sovereign+Immu... ). Basically, the government is immune from lawsuit unless it chooses to allow you to sue it. And this is the presupposition, so they don't need to justify it. You've got only two defenses against this: (1) The right to vote; and (2) the right to keep and…
Here's an example of a class action suit against the government that led to a settlement: http://www.mainjustice.com/2009/12/08/government-settles-ind...
Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’
#38Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is clearly an example unreasonable seizure, and it seems the DHS exists solely to perform unreasonable searches. This trend towards outright censorship is a worrying one. While I can't speak to the content of any of the sites in this round of censorship/seizure, the DHS certainly seems to be acting outside their mandate.
As a supporter (and someone who voted for) Obama, I'm frustrated by his lack of comment/participation on this subject. There's no way he can think this is constitutional.
Considering he chose Joe Biden as his vice president, you shouldn't be too shocked. I still think he was a better choice than McCain, but his reputation in these situations isn't why.
Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’
#39I have a great idea: Let's give these people more power!! You know, for like, Net Neutrality and stuff.
[deleted]
Re: U.S. Government Shuts Down 84,000 Websites, ‘By Mistake’
#40This is one of the reasons I host my DNS outside of the US. Hopefully there would be a few more hurdles to jump over before a mistake like this could happen.