
Toronto HackLab member arrested by G20 security forces - faramarz
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/toronto/the-strange-case-of-the-artist-and-the-hacker/article1615797/
======
faramarz
Another article:
[http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/Wife+suspect+arreste...](http://www.nationalpost.com/news/canada/Wife+suspect+arrested+after+searches/3198723/story.html)

Interestingly, Byron maintained a special blog that up until august, exposed
security measures in and around the G20 zone and they're nailing him down
because of it. <http://torontogoat.blogspot.com/>

Also note officials quietly passed a legislature on Monday that essentially
gives the Police an absolute authority for the duration of the G20 in the
Downtown core.

~~~
ergo98
That "absolute authority" being that they can demand your identification. Not
too scary.

------
aarongough
I live in Toronto, and I have to say that it's pretty scary the way that
everyone's civil liberties have gotten suspended the second some big mucky-
mucks roll into town.

The number of police officers standing around downtown has to be seen to be
believed, and this is not the first arrest in the last few days on seemingly
trumped up charges.

My best wishes to Byron and his wife, hopefully this blows over without long-
lasting consequences...

~~~
steveklabnik
Yeah, man. When they rolled into Pittsburgh, it was really crazy.

I had half of a nervous breakdown.

The G20 coming to Pittsburgh did more to radicalize my politics than years of
listening to punk music and wearing black clothing.

EDIT: I actually posted a description of what it was like on Reddit, check it:
[http://www.reddit.com/r/Anarchism/comments/b21ws/what_should...](http://www.reddit.com/r/Anarchism/comments/b21ws/what_should_we_rename/c0klofm)
And some photos taken by a friend of mine:
<http://seancolombo.com/g20/captioned/>

~~~
aarongough
Personally I just think it's sad that these _people_ are considered so
important that they're allowed to inconvenience thousands of other people
solely for their own safety/comfort.

I think that if you're going to organize something like the G20 it should be
held in a remote location. Easier to secure, less disruption for everyone
else...

~~~
semanticist
They had the G8 (as was) meeting in a remote location (Gleneagles) in 2005. It
just meant that all the protests, demonstrations, and marches were held in the
nearest city (Edinburgh) instead.

We had half the Met. (London's police force) up here acting like thugs.
Meanwhile, some lunatics blew themselves up on the London Underground.

These meetings are a farce. Anything that's going to be agreed at the meeting
was in reality agreed beforehand. Why bother creating a target for protestors
and a distraction that evil bastards can use?

Never mind a remote location - why do it at all?

~~~
billswift
It isn't about "agreements" - it's about a bunch of politicians and courtiers
demonstrating how powerful they are.

------
raganwald
Some years ago a major Canadian Union Head was denied entry to the US. The
reason? He had a criminal record. The crime in question stemmed from a protest
a number of years previous, and he needed to get all sorts of legal wheels
turning to get written permission to enter the USA.

In theory, this is understandable, a crime committed at a protest could well
include something like assaulting police or destroying property. But I'm
disturbed by the direction these laws are going and I really don't like the
idea of taking photographs or other such actions branding someone as a
"criminal."

~~~
marcusbooster
It goes both ways. The Canadian border patrol routinely denies US citizens
entry for having a criminal record, even for misdemeanors. It's all up to the
officer's "discretion", whatever that means at a given time.

~~~
joe_the_user
I'm not sure that's "going both ways". It's more the US and Canada going in
the same problematic way.

~~~
marcusbooster
I wasn't writing metaphorically.

------
jessor
Watch your karma if you're active on full disclosure:
<http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2010/Jun/391>

He wrote this a few days before the bust.

------
thefool
Its funny in an ironic way.

Hopefully he'll be fine though. The criminal "justice" system doesn't take
kindly to pranksters like this.

------
plk
Why is it relevant that this person is a member of the Toronto HackLab? Even
members of HackLabs can do stupid or even illegal things. I just don't see the
relevance here.

~~~
aarongough
I was going to write a comment, then didn't because of the possible effects it
could have on me if someone in law enforcement read it.

The fact that I felt uncomfortable expressing myself about a subject that is
perfectly legal is the reason why we should be scared that this happened, and
why we should be thankful to Byron for taking the heat to point out to us how
the system is broken...

