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Comment by hastur | Hacker News Reader

Of course they realize that the NSA already has a full copy?

You might think: so what, I'm not a terrorist. But think twice, because people opposing US interests (and the interests of some of the most powerful lobbies, like MPAA & RIAA) are increasingly being afforded the treatment you'd expect for a terror suspect.

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> But think twice, because people opposing US interests (and the interests of some of the most powerful lobbies, like MPAA & RIAA) are increasingly being afforded the treatment you'd expect for a terror suspect.

[citation needed]

kim dotcom raid?

Pfft. If that were the case, every commenter on this site would be locked up by now. Dotcom was basically waggling his ass in the general direction of the USA.

Nope. Kim Dotcom was arrested by NZ police to face extradition hearings. He's been released on bail and hasn't even left New Zealand, much less been spirited away to CIA black sites or detained at Guantanamo Bay or declared an illegal enemy combatant or brought before a military tribunal or denied access to legal counsel. Whatever problems there are with his arrest and the searches and seizures that took place with it, they're following the exact same procedures they would for any extradition case, nothing like the procedures used for terror suspects.

Why do you need a SWAT team to arrest someone for copyright infringement?

Great great grandparent used the words increasingly and expect, not simply are.

90% of the time a SWAT team is used, you don't need a SWAT team. Overzealous law enforcement is a problem, but it's a problem that predates, and is largely separate from, the even-more-exceptional counterterrorism measures. It's not useful to conflate the two issues. Kim Dotcom wasn't "treated as a terror suspect" any more than the "don't tase me bro" kid. Not to say that it isn't an issue, just not the same issue.

Jacob Appelbaum. And a lot of other crypto/privacy advocates and/or civil right activists.

Of course they realize that. But what can they do about that?

Who cares? There's no risk they are going to sell it or try to make some dirty money using it in other ways.

> Who cares? There's no risk they are going to sell it or try to make some dirty money using it in other ways.

What makes you think that? All the big telecom companies make "dirty money" by processing the millions of warrantless wiretap and information requests. Facebook probably already does too, it's not much of a difference between that and utilizing a face database.

While the NSA having this tech can be worrisome, there is zero chance they are going to blow their load by revealing they have it to catch someone doing copyright infringement, no matter how much control you think the maFIAA exerts.

The NSA aren't covered by EU privacy law, however.

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