EFF And ACLU Sue FBI Over Seizure Of Activists' Computers
from the 4th-amendment-anyone? dept
The EFF and the ACLU has filed yet another lawsuit against the government, highlighting another scary abuse of power that feels straight out of a police state, rather than the free society we supposedly live in. Specifically, the FBI and other law enforcement officials raided the offices of two different activist organizations and seized all of their computers. There are two issues here that are important. First, if the FBI was concerned about the computers being used in commission of a crime, they easily could have followed the same policies used to get records off of computers at libraries (part of the issue is that these organizations offer public access computers to folks visiting their offices). The second issue is that both organizations act as publishers, and federal law makes it clear that the government can't just seize computers of publishers except in extremely narrow circumstances. So, in either circumstance, the Feds should not have seized the computers.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: 4th amendment, aclu, activists, computers, eff, seizure
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This is why I donate to the EFF
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Re: This is why I donate to the EFF
People are more willing to follow the laws when they can trust the enforces.
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Does anybody remember...
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I remember
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PS please adjust sarcasm detectors as necessary
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Yes, the First Amendment forcefully applies to much of what they are distributing to the public, but in many ways these groups remind me of Berkeley back in the late 60s and early 70s.
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Let's see, close Gitmo, stop the practice of child soldiers, allow 9/11 court case to be publicized, opposing pardons for those involved with torture, supporting habeus corpus rights, reform domestic surveillance... some highlights from the ACLU.
EFF wants to get an exception to the DMCA so people can legally unlock phones, oppose censorship, hold companies accountable for assisting in domestic spying, protect travelers' privacy, and many other things.
So... what exactly is your problem with these organizations? Honestly, I'd like to know. There seems to be a lot of mistrust and even hatred of the ACLU, especially from the right. I just don't understand why there would be so much opposition to an organization that works to protect civil liberties and Constitutional rights. The EFF would probably be in the same boat if they were more widely known.
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change is here :-)
http://www.jobstaxi.com
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Terrorist
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Re: Terrorist
In order to have balance, you will always have ultra conservatives and ultra liberals. Lack of either will lead to a shift in the balance to the other side.
The last thing I want is an ultra conservative police state.
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Re: Terrorist
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Think
as long as you can be imprisoned based on the types of weeds growing on your private property, you dont live anywhere near a "free scoiety" . . .
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Ah, Car Wars. Happy memories.
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