* Posts by Graham Marsden

6899 publicly visible posts • joined 19 Jan 2007

Child abuse suspect won't be forced to decrypt hard drive

Graham Marsden

Re: Re: Re: Re: Oh deary, deary me, rtli-

Oh deary, deary me. Once again, rtli- you ignore the argument and, instead, attempt a pathetic point-scoring exercise. "Oh look, Graham said ten instead of a hundred, I WIN!!!" Yeah, whatever.

As for your "rebuttal" this is *why* we have things like the Right to Silence and the Presumption of Innocence and Due Process and the requirements for Search Warrants and Habeas Corpus and all those other pesky little things that you seem to be quite content to sweep away just to "help Police with their enquiries."

I'll leave you with the words of Thomas Moore in "A Man for All Seasons":

* * * * *

William Roper: So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!

Sir Thomas More: Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?

William Roper: Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!

Sir Thomas More: Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!

* * * * *

Feel free to get the last word in (I'm sure you will). I've wasted enough time here.

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

Re: Re: Oh deary, deary me, rtli-

"This is precisely why we have laws: to protect society from individuals who believe they are more important than other people."

Society has Rights such as the Presumption of Innocence and the Right to Silence to protect individuals from the authorities (and people) who believe that convicting someone of a crime is more important than protecting the liberties of everyone.

(I'm talking about you there, by the way.)

"Better a hundred guilty men go free, than one innocent man suffer." - William Blackstone.

"Better a hundred innocent men suffer, than one guilty man go free" - rtli-

Graham Marsden

Oh deary, deary me, rtli-

Now that the fallacies in your arguments have been explained again, but this time in terms that even you cannot wilfully misunderstand, you stoop to ad hominem attacks.

Graham Marsden
FAIL

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Meanwhile, back in Blighty...

@rtli-

"How fortunate we have a jury-based legal system based on evidence, rather than the deranged examples of an internet poster."

Yet one particular deranged internet poster seems to be happy with the idea of instead of a Jury being told "If the prosecution can't prove their case, you *cannot* find the defendant guilty" them being told "if the defendant cannot prove his innocence you *must* find them guilty".

"Now explain to me why a dichotomy is a bad thing in law?"

Apart from playing sad little word games, you really don't understand this principle of "Presumption of Innocence" do you? Under the system you propose, you either have to incriminate yourself by revealing your password or incriminate yourself by saying "I don't know it" in which case the prosecution says "AHA! He clearly has something to hide therefore the jury must find him guilty!"

Presumed guilty until proven guilty. Bravo.

Graham Marsden
Boffin

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Meanwhile, back in Blighty...

@rtli-

Try researching a little law. Obstructing a Police Officer means, for instance, deliberately getting in his way when he's trying to arrest a suspect. Simply saying "I'm not going to help" is not an offence, nor should it ever be.

As for "if they don't -know- the password", under the sort of laws you seem to prefer, the prosecution could simply claim "the defendant *does* know the password and is refusing to reveal it, so he should be locked up for obstructing us until he tells us what it is!"

In vain would the Defence say "he doesn't know it" because you have presumed guilt and require the Defence to prove innocence. Corrupt cops would *love* that...

Graham Marsden

Re: Re: Re: Re: Meanwhile, back in Blighty...

@rtli-

Remember than in Britain it's now a criminal offence *not* to give up your password if the Authorities demand it.

Naturally this law was introduce simply to protect us from terrorism. It's not as if anyone else would ever be convicted under it, is it...

[quote]The first person convicted under this law was a vulnerable eccentric who refused to decrypt the files on his laptop when the Met's terror squad told him to. He was convicted and jailed despite prosecutors accepting that he was not involved in terrorism at all.[/quote]

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/25/jfl_ripa_opinion/

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

Re: i wonder....

Well in England of course (that noted bastion of freedom...) if you *don't* hand over the password you can be convicted of a crime!

Graham Marsden
Boffin

@Anonymous Coward and lotus49

Once again it seems it's necessary to remind people of the principle of Presumption of Innocence.

Requring (or forcing) someone to incriminate themselves or even simply "facilitating the analysis of evidence" means that a suspect has to prove they have not committed a crime, rather than the authorities demonstrating that they *have* done so.

Younger generation taking 'sledgehammer' to security

Graham Marsden
WTF?

"a freight train coming that will hit businesses like a sledgehammer"?

So, not like, oh, I don't know, a freight train, but only a sledgehammer...

Playboy, Virgin Galactic tout zero-grav nookie in spaaaaace!

Graham Marsden

Re: Re: "We might create guns big enough to shoot things into space"

"The first mass driver known in print was actually called the "electric gun" and described in detail as a way to launch vehicles into outer space from the Earth's surface in the 1897 science fiction novel A Trip to Venus by John Munro and published in 1897 by Jarrold & Sons, London"

Heinlein's story was good, but not the first.

Graham Marsden

"We might create guns big enough to shoot things into space"

I'm sure I've seen prior art on this...!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxB2x9QzXb0

Galaxy is teeming with homeless planets

Graham Marsden
Coat

Re: Well, duh!

Daleks? There's some Cybermen from Mondas here who disagree...!

Boffins build blood-swimming medical microbot

Graham Marsden
Coat

Re: Heh, what?

Don't you know? He works alongside the famous Chinese Doctor Tang...

Met Office wants better supercomputer to predict extreme weather

Graham Marsden
Stop

Re: Re: The real problem ...

And yet every news report on BBC News 24 today has started with something like "remember the barbecue summer that wasn't?" as if it was the Met Office that got it wrong, rather than the media misunderstanding the fact that a 60% chance means that there's a 40% chance of it *not* happening.

CRACK made by quakes FOUND ON MOON

Graham Marsden
Alien

Aliens!!

British Medical Association calls for long, slow rollout of NHS 111

Graham Marsden

Remember that...

... the only reason 111 wasn't chosen as the Emergency Services number many years ago was that, in the days of pulse dial systems, if the phone lines got blown together in a high wind it was too easy for 111 to be "dialled" by accident (just as you could call a number on a rotary dial phone with a lock on it by tapping out the number on the phone cradle!).

So they picked 999 because it was unlikely to be dialled by accident and it was easy to call it in the dark.

SMS compo firms fined £200k for typosquatting, misleading punters

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

Problem not solved...

... because there are perfectly legitimate businesses who make it clear up front that if you sign up to their services you'll be charged for texts and will stop when requested.

Why should those businesses be affected by an overly broad and draconinan piece of "big boot" legislation?

Squirrelled away: seeds survive 30,000-year winter

Graham Marsden
Thumb Up

@Graham Dawson

Just what I was thinking! :-)

Two thirds of Brits crippled by mobile phone loss terror

Graham Marsden
Trollface

Nomophobia?

Surely that should be no-mobe-o-phobia...

Feds to carmakers: 'Rein in high-tech dashboards'

Graham Marsden

"Right of way" != "Priority"

The term "right of way" specifically means the right to "pass and re-pass" along a piece of land, but it does not mean that you get to go first.

"Priority" occurs when the law states you do have to let someone go first, for instance if you are turning from a major road into a minor road across a Stop or Give Way line and a pedestrian is crossing, they have priority. At a Give Way line going from a minor road into a major road other vehicles have priority, as do those who are approaching from your right at a roundabout.

Pedestrians do have priority when they have taken possession of a Zebra Crossing or when they are on a pedestrian crossing (Pelican, Puffin, Toucan etc), but they do *not* have the right to step out into the road and force traffic to stop for them.

Satnav blunders blamed for £200m damages

Graham Marsden
FAIL

"Clueless idiots blamed for £200m damages"

There, fixed it for you!

Sat Navs are wonderful tools, but like any tools, need to be used with your brain switched *on*!

Official: Sony and Ericsson are divorced

Graham Marsden

Erm...

... so what is my phone now? A Sony? An Ericsson? A Sony (minus) Ericsson...?

Reptile boffins spot world's smallest chameleon

Graham Marsden
Linux

But...

... have they found any penguins yet?

Excuse me, someone's tapping on my shoulder...

"You ain't seen us! Right?!"

Err, sorry, forget the above post...!

Hey Commentards! This pre-populated 'reply to' is for you

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

Re: Re: Next niggle:

@Drewc

Yes, it tells you if someone else has posted in a forum, but when the comments start stretching to two or three pages that really isn't much help.

21st Century Sex: the shape of things to come

Graham Marsden

@Mycho and Semaj

The thing is, it's not just "pseudo photography" or jpegs etc, nor is it any longer drawings taken from actual photographs of the abuse of children (which were already, quite rightly, illegal).

With the passing of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009, even entirely fictitious images (ie drawings created without reference to a living subject) or Poser renderings have been deemed to be "child pornography" meaning that a whole load of Anime and Manga could be caught by this simply because, in someone's mind, a drawing looks "underage".

Muscle pants give girls that skin-stripped look

Graham Marsden

@AC

"I think they have some way to go to compete with micro swimwear specialist wickedweasel.com"

Pah! I've seen some pictures of young Japanese women wearing bikinis which quite literally have the same area of coverage as three postage stamps!

Graham Marsden
Trollface

How about...

... wearing the skeleton top and a pair of those skin-stripped leggings next time you have to go through the Perv-o-scanner at an airport...?!

CERN boffins to lift LHC beam power

Graham Marsden
Boffin

@jake

If you're referring to the alleged famous last words of General John Sedgewick, the unit of measurement you require is the elephant...

European Parliament prez slams ACTA 'in current form'

Graham Marsden
Paris Hilton

But...

... how can the President of the EU Parliament be right when we've been told on El Reg that we're just being masochists for objecting to ACTA??

Pakistan blocks 13,000 grumble flick sites

Graham Marsden
WTF?

"the increasing prevalence of online smut had exacerbated violence against women"

Right, because they're responsible for all those Honour Killings and other such "cultural" behaviours which have made your country such a delight for women to live in...

Apple demands US ban on Samsung's Galaxy Nexus

Graham Marsden
Facepalm

"Samsung sells products copying features that make the iPhone distinct"

And, of course, the iPhone contains *nothing* which is blatantly Prior Art based on technologies and ideas which have been knocking around for years yet which, due to the unconscionable failings of the USPO, have been granted to Apple as "original" patents.

Sun hacks cuffed after being DOBBED IN by News Corp

Graham Marsden
Thumb Up

@Pinkerton

We have already had the Associate Editor of the Sun, Trevor Kavanagh, moaning about the "Witch Hunt" and whinging that "Instead of being called in for questioning, 30 journalists have been needlessly dragged from their beds in dawn raids, arrested and held in police cells while their homes are ransacked,"

"Wives and children have been humiliated as up to 20 officers at a time rip up floorboards and sift through intimate possessions, love letters and entirely private documents."

Of course if the people involved had been suspected of being terrorists or paedophiles I have little doubt that his paper would be lauding the brave Police for "swooping" in "coordinated dawn raids" as concerned neighbours looked on (having been told, of course, by the noble Police that they're wrong'uns) whilst the suspects (who should be presumed innocent) are hauled away in handcuffs for questioning and their computers are seized to be searched for the incriminating material they no doubt contain...

Cable thieves wreak havoc for cops, BT punters

Graham Marsden
FAIL

@Obviously!

Err, this a comment from the same person who, in a reply above said "Also, what is wrong with you, have you not got a mobile phone? Are you not able to connect via the mobile network in times when the fixed infrastructure is down?"

Please make up your mind, Obviously! or is these just "Typical English, engage the mouth before the brain" comment?

Germany stalls over ACTA treaty ratification

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

@Drewc

However when one of your staff decides that *his* opinions are the only ones that matter and that *nobody* else is allowed to post comments disagreeing with him (even when he gets fundamental details wrong such as thinking that Yvette Cloette is male!) it's not so much "our site - our rules" but "this is my ball and my back yard and if I don't like you, you're not allowed to play".

Music fans not welcome in RIAA-backed .music

Graham Marsden

What a great idea....

... after all, it's easier to type .music than it is to type .prepackagedbanaltediuouslowestcommondenominatormanufacturedpap

Indian ministers quit in parliament smut flick scandal

Graham Marsden
FAIL

@Rampant Spaniel

"Yes because I was obviously serious."

Err, so that's why you followed what *could* have been read as a satirical Daily Fail Reader style rant with "Seriously, what is it about politics that seems to attract the most duplicitous, morally repugnant puppy ****ers on the planet?"

Malware devs embrace open-source

Graham Marsden

@Keith T

"Where in god's name is law enforcement?"

They're too busy tracking down those eeeeevvillll Copyright "Thieves"....

Met thumbed through Oyster card data up to 22,000 times in 4 years

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

@DrXym

On the contrary, it is entirely "theoretical usefulness" and it is the sort of justification for mass ANPR, facial recognition to be added to all CCTV systems, DNA databases and every other "It's for your own protection, citizen" invasion of privacy which ignores the fundamental principles of presumption of innocence.

"Hello DrXym, this is the Police. There was a crime committed at ($location) and we notice from our records that you were in the vicinity at the time. Can you prove that you weren't involved....?"

StreetView disappears Dutch office tower

Graham Marsden

Not bad, but google also does weather control!

Visit Street View here: http://tinyurl.com/75r9bkt then go one arrow forward, bingo from rain to sunshine in one move!

(I would have made the link clickable, but I don't know how to on here...)

Google will swap you a box of crisps for your web privacy

Graham Marsden

And...

... at least the Ladies of Negotiable Affection are honest about how they'll screw you!

Google drive cloud to rain on Apple, Dropbox parade

Graham Marsden
Alert

More targetted advertising...?

We noticed that you like Goatse, perhaps you'd be interested in these other images...!!!

Russians drill into buried 20 million-year-old Antarctic lake

Graham Marsden

That is not dead...

... which can eternal lie...!

Heathrow facial recognition tech stalled by borders fiasco

Graham Marsden
Big Brother

@Jim Wormold

"Why would you want to "break" the system"?

Because if this works at airports, some bright spark will, once again, say "Hey, let's link it to every CCTV camera in the country, that way we can track everyone, everywhere and consider them *all* to be criminal suspects!"

Beware Freedom of Info law 'privacy folktale' - ICO chief

Graham Marsden

@Tom 13

I've just downvoted you for a silly analogy.

Yes, some things need to remain state secrets, but when a government passes laws through Policy Based Evidence Making or selects a supplier for a contract based on a handshake done in a back room with an agreement for a lucrative directorship to follow or many of the other decisions that are made on behalf of the public but not for the *benefit* of the public, we, the votes and taxpayers want, need and *deserve* to know what is being done in our name.

Graham Marsden
Thumb Down

@Neil B

"Good policy grows from lively, uninhibited debate"

Which is a really great idea. Except people like Blair consider that "Good policy grows from everyone doing what *I* say" so the idea that the plebs find out that those who they elected to *represent* them in Parliament are being brow-beaten and having their arms twisted to support "Government Policy" is anathema to him.

TRENDnet home security camera flaw exposes thousands

Graham Marsden
WTF?

El Reg writers has a security camera...

... in the bathroom?!

2020: A Press Odyssey – reporter licensing explained

Graham Marsden
Boffin

"deleted voicemails on a missing girl's phone"

"But it turns out they hadn't".

No, they just listened to the voice mails (which they shouldn't have been doing) and then the automatic system decided "Oh, look those mails have been listened to and not saved, so let's delete them".

So the actions of the News of the Screws *were* responsible for the voicemails being deleted and frankly, given that it was a gutter rag with a habit of fabricating details in their stories, they got everything they deserved.

Google goggles with Terminator HUD 'coming soon'

Graham Marsden
Terminator

1GHz ARM CPU running Android?

But everyone knows that the T-800 used 6502 Assembler!

Prehistoric cricket love songs recreated for your listening pleasure

Graham Marsden
Coat

Katydids?

What Katydids?

(Sorry!)

Boffins uncloak G-rated teledildonic breakthrough

Graham Marsden

Didn't Howard and Raj....

.... experiment with something like this in the Big Bang Theory...?!