
DOJ illegally obtained the identities of donors to Barrett Brown's defense fund - gasull
https://medium.com/@ageis/why-im-suing-a-doj-attorney-and-fbi-agent-7acd72eca928
======
trhway
reminds about how Russian FSB ~5 years ago forced Yandex (who has its own
version of PayPal) to quietly disclose donors supporting opposition:

[http://www.bbc.com/news/business-13274443](http://www.bbc.com/news/business-13274443)

Another note: looks like its ok for US government to have database of people
inclined to protest in opposition while it isn't ok to have database of gun
owners. That poses interesting question : what if a gun owner intends to use
it for a protest in opposition - would such a case fall under the former or
the later?

~~~
thaumasiotes
> Another note: looks like its ok for US government to have database of people
> inclined to protest in opposition while it isn't ok to have database of gun
> owners. That poses interesting question : what if a gun owner intends to use
> it for a protest in opposition - would such a case fall under the former or
> the later?

More "legal" than "ok", I'd say.

But for your question, I don't think it's particularly interesting. It's a gun
registry if the information recorded is "XXX has a gun", and it's a dissident
registry if the information recorded is "XXX is up to no good".

~~~
LyndsySimon
> More "legal" than "ok", I'd say.

Yeah - there has been legislation passed specifically to prohibit the creation
of an electronic firearms registration scheme.

For the record, it hasn't done much good. The ATF can still usually trace a
gun from manufacturer to the current owner in a matter of hours at most.

------
dilemma
Sounds undemocratic.

------
rdtsc
> On 17 July, the DoJ served a website-hosting company, DreamHost, with a
> search warrant for every piece of information it possessed that was related
> to a website that was used to coordinate protests during Donald Trump’s
> inauguration.

And by coordinating protests they mean coordinating riots because I remember
broken glass (including like say from bus stops, because Trump will be waiting
for the bus to go to work in the morning, so it makes sense to break those),
fires, including destroying a limo of an immigrant business owner, fireworks
etc.

It would have helped they had checked DC laws as the District has pretty
strict laws against either rioting or inciting / organizing one. And if
property damages are above $5000 the charges get very steep - felonies, up to
10 year imprisonment, etc.

[https://beta.code.dccouncil.us/dc/council/code/sections/22-1...](https://beta.code.dccouncil.us/dc/council/code/sections/22-1322.html)

~~~
int_19h
There were protests, and there were riots. The majority of people were
protesting peacefully, not rioting. And the website was coordinating protests,
not riots. So, unless there's any evidence that riots were pre-planned by the
organizers...

~~~
rdtsc
> And the website was coordinating protests, not riots. So, unless there's any
> evidence that riots were pre-planned by the organizers...

Well, the alleged spokesperson from DisruptJ20 (the site in question) seems to
be condoning and supporting it as quoted in WaPo :

[https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-
safety/protester...](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-
safety/protesters-who-destroyed-property-on-inauguration-day-part-of-well-
organized-
group/2017/01/21/096678c8-dfeb-11e6-ad42-f3375f271c9c_story.html?utm_term=.78d93c0cfe1f)

\---

He said that what appeared chaotic was purposeful in its symbolism and that
vandalism at a Starbucks shop and a Bank of America branch were executed as
attacks on capitalism and corporate greed.

“That’s what we’re making a strong stand against. I think that all of
Washington, D.C., feels that way, even if they wouldn’t express it in
something that results in a limo getting burned,” said Lacy MacAuley of the
District. MacAuley is the spokeswoman for DisruptJ20,...

\---

Not sure how trustworthy WaPo is as it part of the mainstream media but I
doubt they completely fabricated that quote. And from the videos I've seen,
there weren't a lot of peaceful protestors pulling these rioters away or
trying to stop them in any way.

