[extropy-chat] the non-transparent society

[Charlie Stross]

The Avantguardian wrote:
> --- Damien Broderick <thespike at satx.rr.com> wrote:
> 
>> If Holliday were to film a similar scene of 
>> violence in France today, he could end up in 
>> prison

> Whoa. So much for France's liberal image.

1. The French establishment is not and never has been "liberal" in the
sense of current American usage.

2. What the news article Damien cited did *not* mention was that this
law was an attempt to deal with the problem of "happy slapping" which
seems to have crossed the channel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_slapping

Not a terribly nice activity -- indeed, one which already involves
criminal behaviour -- but in this case I think it's fairly clear that
the French law is a badly-drafted and heavy-handed approach. Possibly
something to do with it being an election year, and Sarkozy (the current
French PM) running for president on a law'n'order ticket.


-- Charlie