The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Comments on: Feds fiddle as cybertopia burns

Return to Cybertron: Into the Smelting Pit 

Posted Monday 2nd July 2007 22:53 GMT

"Over the next nine months, special agents purchased and repeatedly viewed at least six porno videos" - surely they could have paused, and taken notes? They didn't have to watch the films over and over and over again for nine months.

When this story reaches The Sun the journalists will make up a detail about the packages going astray, perhaps to a nunnery, if such a thing exists in Utah.

Never underestimate the bandwidth of FBI special agents after having viewed hardcore porn non-stop for nine months.

Notice the jurisdiction shopping 

Posted Tuesday 3rd July 2007 06:45 GMT

Notice two things: They chose their target, then sought to find something they could be arrested for. They chose the jurisdiction to have the best chance of a successful prosecution. i.e. started with the people, then found the best crime to arrest them for in the best jurisdiction.

Notice the same pattern in the EU, as they expand their reach into criminal law. You can be innocent using 26 countries interpretations of an EU treaty, but the 27th's countries interpretation alone is enough to convict you.

eCommerce/Terrorism act being an example of where country X can make laws against country Y's citizens, and since we have the EU arrest warrant, country Y no longer gets to defend it's people under it's own interpretation of the laws. So protected free speech in country Y, doesn't protect against, weird creepy British anti-terror/Tesco's clubcard type laws.

And visa-versa of course, there's 26 other EU countries all playing with their own laws to their own agendas.

Re; Jurisdiction Shopping 

Posted Tuesday 3rd July 2007 08:35 GMT

"They chose their target, then sought to find something they could be arrested for"

And then prosecuted under "community standards law in Utah". Which by all accounts bans absolutely everything anyway.

But! 

Posted Tuesday 3rd July 2007 09:01 GMT

None of the movies had a plotline!!!!!!!!!! The agents were so disappointed. :(

No Story Here 

Posted Tuesday 3rd July 2007 09:06 GMT

""None of the three films has a plot line," the FBI's Special Agent Martin Schwarz wrote in a court complaint."

???

Wow...What a waste of tax payers money that was.

Title 

Posted Tuesday 3rd July 2007 09:59 GMT

They can't arrest you for thoughtcrime, so they arrest you for sexcrime? Just like the Aussie woman and her 'underage' paramour?

Why WERE these people arrested? Why were they targeted so specifically? Why did it take 9 months in order to bring everything together?

What were they REALLY guilty of?

Fuck. Time to get out of this country. Canada's starting to sound better and better.... Or maybe New Zealand... or maybe Antarctica. Something's sick at the core of this country, and I don't want any part of it.

So... 

Posted Tuesday 3rd July 2007 14:20 GMT

If these people were arrested for seeling movies that are against one's state law, How about Porn broadcasted through Cable TV to that state??? would it make the providers criminals as well???? No wonder I moved from the US to the UK, that country is going nuts

And the buyers? 

Posted Tuesday 3rd July 2007 21:41 GMT

Are they also prosecuting the buyers? Were the buyers the Feebs, in which case this smells of entrapment.

I agree with another poster, shouldn't DirectTV be prosecuted for beaming porn into Utah?

Since when has plot had anything to do with obscene? I've seen many movies that were devoid of plot or acting. I've wanted my money back, but I've never seen those theaters prosecuted. Should have prosecuted Ang Lee for The Hulk. I guess the millions who stayed home punished him.

Title 

Posted Wednesday 4th July 2007 00:38 GMT

"The FBI's complaint spends eight pages documenting details of the films."

Only eight pages? Were the rest of them stuck together?

Surely the Feds who watched them are guilty too.