
Weev threatens prosecutors with info from Ashley Madison leaks - amyjess
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/10/weev-threatens-prosecutors-with-info-from-ashley-madison-leaks/
======
jerf
So, the threat is that Weev is going to take public information and make it...
public?

Basically, the threat unpacks to "I'm going to use the fact that I'm
newsworthy to make already-public information more public by putting it in the
news." To which I would suggest that our clickbait-driven, eyeball-obsessed
media should find it ethical to decline to participate in such shenanigans.
Though my phrasing should suggest what I consider the odds of that to be. They
really shouldn't even have run this, and, well, they did, didn't they?

~~~
roflchoppa
It's public, but I myself have not gone through the records searching for
people.

This dude is hella salty. If we wanted to make change he should try to change
legislation.

~~~
rabite
Legislation has done a real shitty job ensuring liberty. Where did CFAA reform
go? Did Aaron Swartz killing himself change anything? That was the best effort
legislation was going to get, because Aaron was rich and well-connected and
the bill had a bunch of lobbyists and PACs he worked with or were friends of
his family pushing for it.

It went nowhere.

Legislation will not work. Only violence will.

~~~
derrickdirge
But violence just makes it easier for the other side to vilify your side and
completely disregard your original point.

The story becomes 'people who think x are violent terrorists' and all of a
sudden no one wants to admit they think x, or even discuss x from a rational
standpoint. Everyone will just remember the violence.

~~~
rabite
Sure, if you're the loser. Obviously such violent efforts need to destroy the
current state and create a new one, or they're completely pointless.

Perhaps not, though. Bill Ayers still ended up in a position of powerful
political influence and mainstream academic acceptance even after he and his
associates in the Weather Underground committed a number of terrorist
bombings. If your ideological clique ends up in a position of significant
state influence, you'll be forgiven your crimes, even if the state is not
replaced in its totality.

~~~
AnimalMuppet
OK, free clue: You're the loser. So be careful about starting violence
thinking that you're going to win and change everything.

In a bit more detail: You're the loser with 99% probability. The only way
you're going to win is by having an amazing plan, or getting amazingly lucky,
or most likely some of both.

That leaves two options: You lose and get crushed, or you don't make any
change and it's irrelevant. For the rest of the world, it's better that you be
in the second category, because you cause less damage that way.

And, in fact, I think you are in the second category. You're talking big about
"destroy[ing] the current state and creat[ing] a new one", about how "only
violence will [work]." And what's your violence? You're publicizing the Ashley
Madison info of people who you're mad at. Pathetic.

But, in fact, I prefer pathetic big-talker do-nothings in this area, because
they cause a smaller body count.

~~~
rabite
Now is the time for rhetoric. The future may perhaps become time for other
strategies.

------
alexandercrohde
One the one hand, it's pretty clear that "Weev"'s reaction is emotional,
ethically questionable, and not an effective way to build sympathy toward
reform.

But on the other hand maybe that's too much to ask of a man who was imprisoned
for 3 years.

~~~
amyjess
He wasn't exactly the most ethically-upright, sympathetic person before his
imprisonment, either.

Before the whole hacking charges thing happened, he was mostly known for being
a vocal misogynist and antisemite. He has a history of doxxing women, too
(even to the point of posting Kathy Sierra's _social security number_ online).

~~~
alexandercrohde
I'm not sure what character has to do with anything. I think the real story
here is how emotions (both by Weev and prosecutors) interfere with our ability
to give all equal justice.

