Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by Xylakant 4638 days ago
Easy enough: only american people (or people in america) enjoy the legal protection of the american constitution. So the only fight that can be fought here is for americans. You'll need to convince your own government to fight for your rights.

please note: IANAL, but that's what I gathered so far.

2 comments

I'm not sure convincing my government would make any difference since I'm connecting to an american server right now just to type this (I'm also working in the US). It's like saying that if you're connecting to a german server and they're violating your privacy then you should fill a complaint with your own government.
Am I the only one who sees this and thinks, "Why are international borders so important on the Internet?" Maybe we need to be thinking in terms of protocols and designs that do not allow the government to violate privacy rights regardless of where particular computers happen to be located...
The US Constitution doesn't "protect" anyone except insofar as it mandates/prohibits actions of the Federal and State governments, and those mandates/prohibitions apply wherever agents of the state act under constitutional authority.
Bingo. It's amazing how many people don't understand this.