[extropy-chat] the non-transparent society

[The Avantguardian]

--- Charlie Stross <charlie at antipope.org> wrote:
 
> 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.

Agreed its not nice behavior but the very videos that
they are outlawing are the evidence that could get the
happy-slappers, who are apparently mostly teenagers,
convicted. Crime is crime whether it is recorded or
not. Outlawing the recording makes little sense from a
"law'n'order" perspective and seems irrational enough
to make you wonder what the true purpose of the law
really is.


Stuart LaForge
alt email: stuart"AT"ucla.edu

"Now what I contend is that my body is my own, at least I have always so regarded it. If I do harm through my experimenting with it, it is I who suffers, not the state." -Mark Twain


 
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