Judge orders handover of Trump protest website records – DreamHost claims victory A US judge has ordered that all user details of a Trump protest website be handed over to the US Department of Justice following several weeks of argument over the demand. Hosting company DreamHost went public with its concerns over the DoJ's original search warrant, which demanded all information related to the disruptj20.org …
This is overly dictatorship like by the U.S government. They are in basic just fishing for anything that oppose Donald Trump in the hope that the person in question has spoken out against him. Why the judge allowed this is beyond me but this needs to be stopped (if that is possible).
This wasn't a 'dictatorship' action.
Dictatorship would have tossed everyone in the loop in jail and seized the information outright.
Or the courts would have rubber-stamped the request without a second thought.
The reality is that the actions of the website could be tied to a protest where the protesters were violent causing criminal acts. So you have some legal (Criminal) laws which allow the Justice Department to go on and request the information.
You have a certain idiot state rep who called for Trump's assassination and that led to a Secret Service investigation along with her being forced out of office.
Remember not all speech is protected and if you say "yeah, lets get the bastids" and someone does because of your post... you may have some criminal liability. (Note: There is more to this... I've just dumbed down the example.)
You clearly don't know the law and you've never dealt with judges. Some are good, Some are idiots who clearly ignore the law when they see fit.
In this specific case... its not a fishing expedition, and while the warrant was overly vague, the judge was right to limit the scope to those registered to the site since they would be the ones facing the most legal jeopardy.
"What happened to the republican politician that published pictures of her opponents in a gunsight - and then one of them was assassinated?"
That was Sarah Palin and it was a visual effect commonly used in many situations. And on of her opponents was not assassinated, that was a just an attempt to make a non-existent connection by her opponents who were losing and doing desperate things to try and win.
Finally a comment that I agree with that is not giving the PC liberal scumbags a free ride and put some of these morons and hopefully antifa scum into jail. The Democrats have been dragging this country down with trying to give a free ride to anyone and driving the country into the poorhouse further and driving more business overseas with their unbelievable trade treaties that give away jobs to the 3rd world that use labor like slaves. Hell I was guessing the people here would be more conservative since the EU treaties have made it easy to outsource high paying tech jobs and Brexit just made my day seeing that the people in the UK haven't been brainwashed by this PC bullshit like the US has.
ROFL
Really?
I guess they really are in a real life Trumpton.
I feel sorry for those identified by the records being handed over. Even if they can't pin a crime on you there are other ways 'The Man' can get their own back. IRS Tax Audits would just be the start.
What document starts with "We the People..."
I'd better stop now before I get put on a list by some TLA.
The DOJ cannot willingly share the information, but nothing will stop the FBI, NSA, and CIA from hacking the DOJ and gaining access to said data.
We saw a story just today that more Wikileaks documents reveal CIA spying on other government agencies (not that we needed proof to know it was happening).
Well yes I guess none of us have any illusions that the other agencies could get the data if they wanted it. What this ruling means is however that the information is not legally admissible in future court cases. Because they should never have had it.
Example; somebody on the website is discussing the Cocaine he has stashed under his sink at home. Local plod get a warrant based on this, break into his house and discover said cocaine. His prosecution would be thrown out because the basis for the warrant was inadmissible (the PD) should in theory never have known the cocaine was there so couldn't have obtained a warrant).
Of course in reality plod will simply sprinkle a little talc and a baggie on the doorstep of the target house, one of their number will just happen to be walking past and 'notices' said baggie, warrant break-in and surprise surprise he had cocaine under the sink.
So yes in theory a court mandate that the info can't be shared is sufficiently protective. In reality it's as protective as a teabag condom.
Wikileaks documents reveal CIA spying on other government agencies
This is why it is a defeat ... now, this is a website, if, say, a "Matt Bryant" on that site called for an assassination, for example, then they should be able to request the details of that "Matt Bryant", anything more is just plain wrong and a defeat.
Now, I once saw, with my OWN eyes, a French police officer, wearing ordinary clothes (saw his "Police" armband hanging out of his pocket) smash the window of a bank with a metal bar during a demonstration. (You cannot find these long metal bars in the street, walking around with one would be considered extremely "suspicious", to say the least, it was some 4 or 5 feet long).
It would not surprise me if the "violent" actions were committed by Trump supporters ... if you see what I mean ... to discredit the movement ... French Police do that all the time ... and often win in the public opinion ... Now, I am not saying lefty extremists are not violent ... extremist are often violent, that is why one calls them extremists, d'oh, but ... I read the site ... harmless, if you ask me ...
Trump supporters are relatively nonviolent, it's antifa and black lives matter that are funded through Soros and his Son that are the violent ones and far left. We don't need anarchist but people to get off the welfare and to work because they are breaking the country. Hell kids today have no idea what life was like 40 years ago and how easy they have it, hell most are better off than someone a 100 years ago that was middle class but they are so lazy and envious of everyone that has worked hard that they won't even try unless they make like 15 dollars an hour at a mcjob which is nuts. Hell a lot won't even quit smoking pot long enough to even be able to get a real job, morons. The right are workers and the left are whiney bums buts it's always been that way. Hell I was a democrat up until Obama's second term and then I said screw this bullshit I'm voting for someone which I can trust a little.
Wow.
You seem to be living in the Obama era where he changed the rules to allow for illegal sharing of data. You may dislike Flynn and think him an idiot for lying... however, the law was broken because of the leaks, and then there's the Obama Administration spying on their political adversaries. That's a major illegal act even if unmasking request was legal.
But you also forget that there are rules and laws in place on how the government can use the data. Even combine the data.
Google, FB and others have captured more data about you and others that the US Government could. Yet you seem to be ok with it.
And you also forget the illegal acts by the IRS under Lerner and of course Trump.
I'm not a huge fan of Trump, but when you see politicians getting rich while in office... Or push Obamacare on the American people while exempting themselves... no bueno.
> "And you also forget the illegal acts by the IRS under Lerner and of course Trump."
Um, I recall the IRS under Lerner being used to persecute Republican organizations for being Republican, but I don't recall any comparable crimes committed by Trump, or in fact any crimes at all. Unless one considers it a crime merely for him to be the elected President.
"and then there's the Obama Administration spying on their political adversaries..."
Wasn't this Fake News(TM)? Or was it an Alternative Fact(TM)? I forget which one but it was definitely one of these. And no, Trump's Twitter ejaculations don't count as proof of anything except that he apparently didn't make it all the way to the end of the assembly line.
I like the disclaimer though - "I'm not a huge fan of trump, but...". Sure buddy, you keep telling yourself that.
No, it wasn't fake news. If it was you would have seen it on CNN or MSNBC, of Obama doing whatever it took to get Hillary elected and even with the election rigged and the Media paid off to lie about everything Trump, she still lost because working Americans unlike democrats can only be bullshit so long before they decide the DNC and all their kind could care less and screw them we want our country back so we elected the non politician that is actually trying to keep his promises though because of a few higher up republicans "McCain for one" are trying to trip him up until of course election time when these traitors will all be tossed out on their asses since the people are watching now.
IF IF IF IF the protesters did NOT ACTIVELY work to not only hide their identities but acted in concert to protect any & all individual law beakers I would agree that requesting all information would be an overreach. Is it not reasonable that if a society wants to exist under the Rule of Law that those who actively pursue violations of law be punished. It would take much more than knowing who MAY have attended to bring charges on any specific crimes. Fighting this subpoena further protects those who would violently pursue an illegal overthrow of the ELECTED government.
It appears by the reaction of most commentators that they back and support illegal activities as long as it doesn't hit their personal pocketbook not that apparently care what happens to the LAW. Apparent support for the illegal activities of a different agenda shows that they are no better than those who actually broke the law - cowards as they apparently hide behind the actions of others without the fortitude to use the Rule of Law to peacefully change what they disagree with. They advocate following the law only when convenient.
In our world of polarized factions, its not Left vs Right, its Government vs people.
The Government is not seen as acting morally or ethically, the law in general as being used as a tool to exploit the already disadvantaged, rather than a protection for their rights.
Political authority has lost its moral mandate, it is perceived as an exploiter of the citizenry. The various factions within the political structure all share responsability for this, gleefully pointing out the flaws and failures of their opponents without comprehending they are no better.
None seem genuinely committed to the nations interest, instead adopting minority causes and pressure groups and media spectacles for short term tactical advantage while their long term strategic goals are just personal enrichment.
or its all a russian plot.
The problem is more complicated than "the government is not seen as acting morally or ethically" or "political authority has lost its moral mandate." Those are results more than causes.
"The government" has been oversold as "runner of the country" (or sometimes economy) which, in the case of any country with a legal market economy, which is to say one much to the "right" of North Korea, is ludicrously false. As a result, when things go wrong, as inevitably will happen, the government is constrained to accept a portion of the responsibility and blame, maybe a large one. Because it comes to be seen as ineffectual, possibly a participant in what went wrong, the government loses authority, the right to issue commands within a defined scope and have them obeyed (relatively) unquestioningly.
"The government" also is portrayed, with enthusiastic support of both candidates for elected offices and civil service officials in some of the agencies the elected officials create; as the righter of wrongs, deliverer of benefits and favors, and transferrer of resources from those with substantial resources and few votes to those with many votes and few resources. The voters, like the officials, proclaim these actions to be based on rights to avoid condemnation for being little better than thieves and racketeers and to persuade themselves of their moral rectitude. Some, maybe an increasing number, see this differently and come to doubt its righteousness and question its authority.
Finally, as enforcer of the rules that deal, at bottom, with right and wrong, "the government" is in a scarcely tenable position in a country with as varied a population as the US (or, for that matter, the UK, Netherlands, Belgium, France or Germany) where the basis of right and wrong, and more particularly its detailed content, are disputed loudly, often, and sometimes violently Putting that together with the absurd notion that these questions can be decided for all by a majority vote has got us to a rather bad state of factionalism from which I do not see any likely deliverance.
But have an upvote anyway.
I've always respected Donald Trump; happy marriage, successful businessman, beautiful hair, sensible and grounded children. But I think the thing I most admire him for is his urge to understand all points of view, to discuss, to listen, to engage. Trump truly is running a presidency of open collaboration, of synergy and of sheer joy. So if he wants to use the courts to encourage engagement from stroppy babymen who really should know better, then fine by me, and, I reckon I can speak for the whole USA, probably the whole world, and roar: fine by us!
So come on you Trump protestors! Donald's playing fair with you, so play fair with him. Write him a letter calmly and carefully listing your complaints - and please, watch your spelling and grammar, even though your sort probably didn't go to good schools.
But no matter how brightly your ire shines, it is but a candle next to a raging sun, so don't be surprised if Donald comes and blows you off.
The Register 
Biting the hand that feeds IT
Copyright. All rights reserved © 1998–2024
