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Monday, November 23, 2009

forbidden Knowledge Is a crime Power!

I know certain things.
I possess certain objects.

If a persecutor prosecutor could prove (because I had an electronic or paper copy) that I knew the things, I would be an instant Federal Felon. Because it can't be proved (yet) that I know what I know due to the lack of a paper trail, I am scot-free.

Thought for the day:

Learn. Then delete!
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6 comments:

  1. DavidDecember 21, 2009 at 10:21 AM

    So what sorts of information constitutes a felony? I can only think of child porn (not really knowledge), and government classified information, except even in the case of the latter if you did not acquire it illegally you aren't guilty of any crime.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Vote For DavidDecember 21, 2009 at 10:50 AM

    What I know, and how I came to know it, are mine to know. ;)

    But since you mention it, I am a fan of child pornographers being turned loose in the "we don't go in there with fewer than 4 guards" parts of a particularly nasty foreign prison. You know, in one of those countries where "human rights" are only very loosely associated with people who don't behave in humane fashion.

    ReplyDelete
  3. DavidDecember 21, 2009 at 4:46 PM

    Of course I'm not asking you to confess to a crime. I'm just not aware of any "knowledge" crimes in this country. So the existence of such a law would be extremely illuminating. Can you provide any hypothetical examples? Or did you not actually mean to suggest that there is such a thing as a knowledge crimes in the U.S.?

    ReplyDelete
  4. Vote For DavidDecember 21, 2009 at 8:08 PM

    The one that comes to mind just now is having a book that purports to show how to make an SKS into a machine gun, and having an SKS, and some basic machine tools.

    With the current BATFE crowd, that's a good way to get jacked up.

    Just sayin'.

    ReplyDelete
  5. DavidDecember 22, 2009 at 6:45 AM

    Interesting example -- "constructive intent."

    After thinking about this more I suppose that we have seen examples where proof of knowledge has made the difference in securing search warrants, arrests, and convictions -- especially w.r.t. "conspiracy." E.g., guys in possession of infrastructure plans, videos, and explosives recipes can get "jacked up" in a way they couldn't if they were just BSing offline with their friends and collecting trunks of acetone and powdered aluminum.

    It also occured to me that if you have material information about crimes, criminals, or criminal plans, you might be criminally liable for not taking action to report them: Another case where "possession of knowledge" could get you convicted in a way you couldn't without proof of the knowledge.

    It just seems Orwellian -- not only does our government enforce "speech crimes" (e.g., threats) and "thought crimes" (e.g., "hate") but also "knowledge crimes."

    ReplyDelete
  6. Vote For DavidDecember 22, 2009 at 7:22 AM

    It's a tangled web.

    Hence the content of this post ;)

    ReplyDelete

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