Japanese Police Arrest 2Channel Founder Because Users Talk About Illegal Stuff Occasionally
from the here's-your-award dept
As we wrap up 2012, I think it's an appropriate time announce the first annual "Most Incorrect Law Enforcement Action Of The Year" award (yes, I just made that up). While it would be obvious hyperbole to claim that law enforcement in general is somehow inept or evil, it's been a hallmark year for silly LEOs. We once again saw several countries attempt to make it illegal for citizens to film police in action, despite such filming often occurring in public places. We also discussed how the German government whoopsie'd its way into informing the world of all the ways it monitors its citizens. Seriously, if you're going to go all 1984 on us, at least have the capability to not shove it in my face. These are just a few examples we've seen this year.That said, for the truly deficient aficionado, you just can't beat the Japanese police, who recently announced charges against the founder of 2Channel (the super popular Japanese forum site), named Hiroyuki Nishimura, because some users of the site have been found to discuss illicit narcotics. And it all appears to have stemmed from one nonsense news report on one single little 2Channel post.
Since last year 2channel, Japan’s largest internet forum, has been subject to pressure from Tokyo police. According to a January 2012 post by Avery (2channel Fights Police Pressure, So-Called “Viral Marketers”), the whole police investigation began after Fuji TV aired a sensational news report about drug dealers making posts on the site. The news report was aired only a few days after 2channel users helped organize street protests condemning Fuji TV’s alleged anti-Japanese bias.So, let's get the obvious stuff out of the way, because then we can really have fun. 2Channel is Japan's largest internet forum. It's huge. Policing every post on it would be similar to owners of a private beach checking each individual grain of sand on their property. If such forums are going to exist, forum operators need to be protected from these kinds of charges in order to survive. On top of that, just as with Craigslist, dedicated law enforcement officers should be able to make at least some use of the forums themselves for their own activities, but not if they attack the site's owners.
"Their evidence for the drug trade was a single post from 2010 that used code words to refer to MDMA, marijuana, and cocaine….investigators are calling 2ch a “hotbed of crime” because moderators did not delete the single post from 2010. (Over 1,800,000 posts are made on 2channel every day.)"
Great, the normal stuff out of the way. Now let me explain why these charges are really stupid.
Nishimura will be charged with abetting drug dealing. However, some twitter users have pointed out that the statute of limitations for the drug law in question is 3 years, and Nishimura sold 2channel more than 3 years ago.Oops. So charges are being brought against the guy who simply founded the site that someone else may have once used to talk about something illegal, even though he sold the site 3 years ago and the statute of limitations has expired. I'm certain Unites States LEOs will soon be bringing charges against the long-rotting corpse of E.L. Cord, founder of American Airlines, since terrorists used a plane of his to attack the World Trade Center. I mean, they really have no choice at this point, assuming they want to make a late entry into this year's "Most Incorrect Law Enforcement Action Of The Year" award.
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Filed Under: 2chan, drugs, forums, japan, secondary liability, statute of limitations
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This was a BIG mistake.
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Oh, Timmy. So SOON with a counter-example from JAPAN?
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One simple and trumping response to anyone blaming Law Enforcement for drug dealing, and it's only one word:
Japan.
End of story. Find another scapegoat...or, better yet, the actual cause. Retreading old pet tropes actually HARMS the efforts to make sure unspeakable shit like this doesn't happen again....
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It's the ALL-TRUMPING WORD, Timmy! YOU ARE TRUMPED!
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Seriously?
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Re: Oh, Timmy. So SOON with a counter-example from JAPAN?
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Re: Oh, Timmy. So SOON with a counter-example from JAPAN?
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Re: Oh, Timmy. So SOON with a counter-example from JAPAN?
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Re: Oh, Timmy. So SOON with a counter-example from JAPAN?
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Don't forget...
Pretty sure those conversations come up periodically in cars as well.
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Most Law Enforcement is Excellent
This doesn't go nearly far enough. Most Law Enforcement Officers are honorable and excellent people doing a job which is necessary and for which they don't get enough credit.
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Re: This was a BIG mistake.
would the Japanese techies here please keep us updated along with mike?
something tells me this is going to be interesting....
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Re: This was a BIG mistake.
would the Japanese techies here please keep us updated along with mike?
something tells me this is going to be interesting....
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Re: Seriously?
Oh, Timmy. So SOON with a counter-example from JAPAN?
I'll just show how silly one of your recent posts was by changing the targets (italicized):
------- snip -------
One simple and trumping response to anyone blaming Law Enforcement for drug dealing, and it's only one word:
Japan.
End of story. Find another scapegoat...or, better yet, the actual cause. Retreading old pet tropes actually HARMS the efforts to make sure unspeakable shit like this doesn't happen again....
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It's the ALL-TRUMPING WORD, Timmy! YOU ARE TRUMPED
WHAT THE FU-BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!! MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
or at least that's how i see it.
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Re: Re: This was a BIG mistake.
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South Park predicted this eventuality.
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Next thing you know, the Japanese will be trying a dead man
Why Russia Is Trying a Dead Man
17 December 2012 | Issue 5036
By Jamison Firestone
At the end of November, the Prosecutor General's Office announced the upcoming trial of Sergei Magnitsky, a man who's been dead for more than three years. Putting a dead person on trial hasn't been done in Europe in more than 1,000 years. The reason is obvious: a dead person can't defend himself, no matter how absurd the charges.
The story of this latest twist in the Magnitsky case begins with his death on Nov. 16, 2009. Magnitsky's death in detention led to the automatic closing of the criminal case against him.
In July 2011, the Kremlin's human rights council published its conclusions about the arrest and death of Magnitsky. They were unequivocal:
1. Magnitsky's arrest and detention were in breach of the European Human Rights Convention.
2. Magnitsky was beaten by prison officials before his death.
3. In contravention of the law, Magnitsky was prosecuted by the same officers he earlier implicated in corruption.
4. Authorities resisted full investigation into corruption and fraud uncovered by Magnitsky.
5. The Russian courts failed to provide any legal redress to Magnitsky.
These were not conclusions Russian law enforcement officials wanted to hear. They led to an avalanche of criminal complaints, many of which were filed by Magnitsky's mother, against those who participated in the theft Magnitsky reported and in his illegal arrest and death. Therefore, in July 2011, the Prosecutor General's Office decided to legitimize the case against Magnitsky by reopening it.
Under Russian law, a case against a dead person can be continued only at the request of his family for the express purpose of attempting to rehabilitate the reputation of the deceased. Neither Magnitsky's mother nor any of his relatives have requested that this discredited case be reopened. They demanded that the case against Magnitsky be closed and that the original embezzlement scheme that Magnitsky first disclosed be reinvestigated, along with the officers who arrested and abused him. The complaints filed by the Magnitsky family relied heavily upon the conclusions of the presidential human rights council.
It is clear that the Russian government needs to justify Magnitsky's arrest. It needs to turn attention away from the fact that corrupt officials from the tax agency and Interior Ministry became wealthy after stealing $230 million from the state and also that they jailed and tortured Magnitsky in an attempt to cover up their crimes. Notably, nobody has been convicted in Russia on these charges. Meanwhile, on Friday U.S. President Barack Obama signed the Magnitsky Act, which will deny visas and freeze U.S.-based assets of Russian officials implicated in Magnitsky's death and the related embezzlement scheme.
And to add insult to injury, the government is attempting to try a dead person. Who shall speak for the dead? Boris Kibis, an Interior Ministry investigator, assigned Magnitsky's mother the status of a "legal representative of a deceased defendant," which is a legal term that has no basis in Russian law. She refused this role and asked to be removed from this illegal posthumous prosecution, only to be summoned for questioning, where it was made clear that there could be serious consequences if she didn't cooperate. When she protested, the Interior Ministry tried to replace her lawyer with one of their own.
In the end, starting in January, Magnitsky's 62-year-old mother will be forced to defend her dead son at his trial in the capacity of "legal representative of a deceased defendant."
Magnitsky's mother will not be allowed to introduce any evidence from the presidential human rights council or from any other independent investigation. If she refuses to take part in the cruel mockery and humiliation of being forced to participate in a show trial of her dead son, she could be prosecuted.
This is the real face of President Vladimir Putin's "dictatorship of law." Get used to it. It is a sign of things to come.
Injustice and stupidity is alive and well everywhere.
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Tim, you ignorant slut!
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Re: Most Law Enforcement is Excellent
its not that cops are bad TM.
its just that good cops sometimes are led or involved with bad people.
and they don't say anything about it because of the damn blue wall of silence and it takes balls to go against the department. especially with a bunch of crooked blood sucking leaches that will have your job if you do something
had a case around here where they had to hire a private investigator because people in our local department were too scared to talk about corruption police brutality etc.
and when its found out? slap on the wrist or nothing at all.
although i cant absolve everyone of responsibility because people should know better and should stand up for what is right.
like my dad used to say many will sit when its time to stand and that's going to be the end of everything.
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Re: Next thing you know, the Japanese will be trying a dead man
There. That is all I can say.
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Re:
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Re: Re: Oh, Timmy. So SOON with a counter-example from JAPAN?
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Fuck the police
It is not too surprising that fuckups happen often in the US. Why? Because of the IQ cap on policemen. Yes, they have a cap. (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/gnxp/2012/01/too-smart-to-be-a-good-cop/#.UNPHHYaGdcM)
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Re: Re: Oh, Timmy. So SOON with a counter-example from JAPAN?
The word you're looking for is.... "anyway."
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Perhaps someone should nominate them for one of Usenet's notorious "kook awards". The "Loony Maroon Award" seems particularly apropos for charging the wrong target, who is doubly not responsible after having sold the site, and after the statute of limitations had run out.
Of course, if everyone that does something stupid that gets reported on by Techdirt got nominated, the copyright maximalists would run away with all of the kook awards and leave none for anyone else.
(A recent instance of a "Loony Maroon Award" nomination is archived by google at: http://tinyurl.com/c4exo49)
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Will we next hear about how the top cop in Japan is being held liable for comments made by his officers? Or that the men who built the building are under arrest for criminal conspiracy?
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Re: Re: Oh, Timmy. So SOON with a counter-example from JAPAN?
The poor thing.
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Re: Re: Re: Oh, Timmy. So SOON with a counter-example from JAPAN?
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Re: Oh, Timmy. So SOON with a counter-example from JAPAN?
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