[ExI] ExI] are we publishing?

[spike at rainier66.com]

-----Original Message-----
From: extropy-chat <extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org> On Behalf Of
Keith Henson
Sent: Tuesday, May 28, 2019 8:14 AM
To: ExI chat list <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
Subject: [ExI] ExI] are we publishing?

On Mon, May 27, 2019 at 11:24 PM <spike at rainier66.com wrote:

>>... Julian Assange is being charged in the USA of publishing classified
information.

>...No mention that Julian was a very early member of this list?  He is,
without a doubt, the most famous Extropian.  So far anyway... Keith

Ja Keith as I recall, you were one of those on the group we had, an offline
ExI subgroup of about a dozen guys, Eugen Leitl started it as I recall.
Julian was in that, Hal Finney, the libertarian firebrand whose name I
cannot recall.  Julian was an interesting character, kinda one-dimensional
in his way.  Always going on about the importance of openness, nobody has
any inherent right to privacy etc.  If I understand it correctly, Julian's
position was that if you can figure out how to secure your own privacy, good
for you.  But the government is not obligated to give you privacy.  Our
local hardcore Libertarian disagreed, in what looked like a
self-contradictory line of reasoning.

>...It feels like charging someone in another country with treason, i.e.,
not logical.
_______________________________________________

Ja, isn't that crazy?  I am guessing that charge isn't going anywhere.

Fun aside: Julian was charged with rape in Sweden.  We USians have a picture
in our minds what constitutes rape.  In Sweden, if a man tells his partner
he is going to use protection then doesn't, that is considered rape.  It
isn't that way in the US.  But did you hear that was the charge against him?
Neither did I until a couple weeks ago.  I went years thinking Julian was a
rapist.  

I just don't see failure to use a condom or deception in foreplay as
equivalent to rape.  In my mind, we have already established that lying with
regard to sex isn't even really lying, it's... emmmm... you know... it's
what... we humans do when we are trying to coax a mate.  Honest people can
lie in that particular area and still be considered honest.  Do we have any
Swedish here who can comment or enlighten us?  Are things really that
different there?

Regarding privacy, I tend to see Julian's POV: if one has secrets they
failed to secure and someone else publishes it on the internet, I don't see
a crime there.  The US government has a 4th amendment, but that only
restricts what the government may do to invade citizens' privacy.  It
applies only to Big Brother.  It does not guarantee Big Brother can or will
somehow provide privacy from millions of snoopy Little Brothers.

Julian published a bunch of stuff stolen by Corporal Manning, which was
classified up the kazoo.  But the way he really pissed off masses of people
is in publishing stuff that was not classified at all.  The biggest deal was
obtained by guessing a password (the victim's password was Password.)
Sheesh.

Regarding the publishing of classified info, Corporal Manning damn sure did
commit a crime, a very serious one.  Yet Corporal Manning has already been
freed, after serving a short sentence.  It is illogical to charge a foreign
national for doing something a tiny fraction as serious as what Manning did.
Ja?

I never retained copies of that subgroup discussion from about 1996 or so.
Too bad for us: that would be some fascinating material today.

Oh I just remembered: Mike Lorrey, that was our hardcore Libertarian's name.
Mike Lorrey.  I heard from him about 4 or 5 yrs ago.  He was doing well as I
recall.

spike