[BFatts]

I'm generally against Assange on all of this. Hacking is an illegal activity that results in the disclosure of information that the hacker does not own. This is theft of information and a federal offense. Anyone engaging is nefarious hacking should be jailed, if caught, and never allowed to use technology again. We have very lax laws when it comes to hacking - they need to be stronger.

[ben_w]

I’m not against use of hacking to reveal higher crimes.

I am against hacking in general.

I see no good reason for him to have targeted a newspaper.

I do see good reason to target secretive government agencies.

I see good reason for those agencies to have a problem with this and go after anyone who does it.

I am against government agencies having bad enough security that they can be so targeted.

Assange isn’t in prison right now for any of this, he’s in prison because he skipped bail to avoid extradition for a completely different charge to a completely different country to face his accusers for a potential maximum penalty less than the time he spent in the embassy he got kicked out of for breaking their rules, and which he fled to because for some reason that never made sense to me he claimed that going from the UK to Sweden put him in danger of the thing which actually happened in the UK.

[dependenttypes]

> he got kicked out of for breaking their rules

This was not really the reason.

> and which he fled to because for some reason that never made sense to me he claimed that going from the UK to Sweden put him in danger of the thing which actually happened in the UK.

He feared that either the UK or Sweden would send him to the US.

[ben_w]

> This was not really the reason.

While I am not naïve enough to ignore the possibility of dishonesty, the official statement was:

“We cannot allow our house, the house that opened its doors, to become a center for spying, … This activity violates asylum conditions. Our decision is not arbitrary but is based on international law.”

and also accusations of blocking security cameras at the embassy.

> He feared that either the UK or Sweden would send him to the US.

And yet, he initially submitted to the UK authorities while trying to deny access to the Swedish ones. That never looked sensible to me.

Don’t get me wrong, I paid attention when the UN accused the UK of torturing him, and the fact that the UK told the US about arresting him at the embassy before it told Sweden even though the latter had an outstanding warrant stinks — but thinking poorly of how governments treat a (very unusual) investigator who showed the world a whole bunch of the skeletons in their closets does not mean I have to think the investigator was doing anything other than fleeing justice in 2011.

[DEADBEEFC0FFEE]

Is criminal hacking such a awful crime that the punishment should include a custodial sentence and never having access to technology.

A lifetime ban seems completely inappropriate. Which specific technology did you have in mind?

[mikeyjk]

Consigned to a fate only understood by the Amish

[dependenttypes]

> Hacking is an illegal activity

And it should not be

> that results in the disclosure of information that the hacker does not own

Good thing I do not believe in intellectual property/owning numbers.

> This is theft of information

Copying is not theft.

> Anyone engaging is nefarious hacking should be

...given a monetary reward if they publish how they were able to gain unauthorized access.

[hootbootscoot]

And if it exposes war crimes? Crimes against humanity?

[close04]

Some of what he leaked showed criminal activity at high levels and yet nothing was done about that. There's no point discussing justice and who should be jailed as long as it's selective justice. It means the justice system has become just a blunt instrument to be used for some criminals and against others.

Having a bigger hammer means nothing as long as it's always selective with criminal interests, protecting some and not others. Just means they have a bigger hammer to use against anyone threatening those interests, criminals or not.