Follow Slashdot stories on Twitter

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Censorship The Internet

Pakistani Lawyer Wants Mark Zuckerberg Executed 1318

Earthquake Retrofit sends along a piece from The Register reporting on a nightmare scenario of legal jurisdiction on the Internet: a Pakistani lawyer has filed blasphemy charges, carrying the death penalty, against Mark Zuckerberg and other Facebook executives (and the pseudonomous user who initiated the "Draw Muhammad" contest last month). Pakistani police have apparently opened an investigation, according to this Google translation of a BBC Urdu report."
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.

Pakistani Lawyer Wants Mark Zuckerberg Executed

Comments Filter:
  • by Dyinobal ( 1427207 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:26AM (#32614142)
    I for one am glad to see the Islamic religion embracing their moderate side.
    • by rolfwind ( 528248 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:37AM (#32614328)

      What do you really expect for a religion literally meaning "submission" and where the very founder spread it at the point of a sword. As a society, we all want to have a very PC belief that all religions are created equal, have good intentions, at their core are always good messages and what not and it's only the bad people that pervert them.... but I think that's naive and I'm saying this as an agnostic. Treating unsubstantiated beliefs as sacred and taboo will always be a bad thing because you can't challenge a good or bad interpretation with logic and clearly any and all belief systems set up by man for various agendas will have downsides - some more than others.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by Anonymous Coward

        Ya I don't understand these blasphemy charges. If someone says something they disagree with, then should just ignore him and move on. I'm not religious so I guess the equivalent for me would be someone claiming that coconuts are fruits. I'll think he's an idiot but that's it, I won't want him executed.

      • by Tarlus ( 1000874 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:55AM (#32614672)

        Treating unsubstantiated beliefs as sacred and taboo will always be a bad thing because you can't challenge a good or bad interpretation with logic and clearly any and all belief systems set up by man for various agendas will have downsides - some more than others.

        Not to mention, any time that a death penalty is suggested for anything less than homicide, there's something terribly wrong with the picture.

      • by SirGarlon ( 845873 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @12:04PM (#32614836)

        What do you really expect for a religion literally meaning "submission" and where the very founder spread it at the point of a sword

        What I really expect is for people to be able to tell the difference between an entire religion, and one asshat who claims to follow that religion. You can claim that the behavior of the asshat characterizes the entire religion, but that doesn't make it so.

      • by Eivind ( 15695 ) <eivindorama@gmail.com> on Friday June 18, 2010 @12:05PM (#32614842) Homepage
        Actually, I'd be more likely to agree that all religions are, at the core, about power and influence. Frequently they're tools whereby a tiny elite try to influence and control a large flock of sheep.
      • by DoofusOfDeath ( 636671 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @12:08PM (#32614906)

        As a society, we all want to have a very PC belief that all religions are created equal, have good intentions, at their core are always good messages and what not and it's only the bad people that pervert them.... but I think that's naive and I'm saying this as an agnostic.

        I don't think that's right. I think about the only people who think all religions are equal are:

        • Athiests - who think all religions are crap, and just hope people won't be jerks about their religions.
        • Politicians - who just want everyone to get along.
        • Unitarians and maybe Hindus (have I got that right?) - who basically think all religions are partially accurate and pointing towards the same actual truth.

        As a fellow agnostic, what I want is just for people to give me enough space to figure this stuff out, without threatening to kill me if I don't buy into their religion.

    • by mark72005 ( 1233572 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:44AM (#32614448)
      Well, at least they are bothering to pursue the execution through legal channels this time.

      Progress is progress.
    • by rednip ( 186217 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @12:07PM (#32614882) Journal
      Art only becomes idolatry when one feels that it has some special representation. Pledging to kill the creator of an image is in fact proof of worshiping it.
  • I demand (Score:5, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:27AM (#32614152)

    I demand a pony! I want a pony! So I can chop it's head off and put it in a Pakistani lawyer's bed.

  • by elrous0 ( 869638 ) * on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:27AM (#32614154)
    If Pakistan were to actually uphold this absurd attempt, it wouldn't hurt Mark Zuckerberg (I'm pretty sure he's not planning on going to Pakistan anytime soon and no civilized country is even going to consider extradition). But it WOULD certainly hurt Pakistan (which already has a pretty bad rep to begin with). It's the equivalent of holding up a big sign to the world that reads "We're a backwards shithole, filled with intolerant Koran-thumping hicks. Don't even think about coming here or doing business here." It would be a valuable lesson on what religious fanaticism can do to your country, I suppose--especially for countries that don't have oil (the only reason any businessman from the civilized world would even be caught dead in Saudi Arabia).
  • You know... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by bsDaemon ( 87307 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:27AM (#32614156)

    ... while the wider implications are scary, I'm not sure I really have a problem with this particular case. Think they could make Four Square a crime against humanity while they're at it?

  • by icsx ( 1107185 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:28AM (#32614172)
    Islam - a religion of peace. Are you serious?
  • Sure, why not? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by bigstrat2003 ( 1058574 ) * on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:28AM (#32614174)
    We seem to be willing to cave to the Muslim extremists in every other way, so why not this one too? Surely it's only sensible to be pussies every time the extremists pressure us, life and liberty be damned!
  • by Tackhead ( 54550 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:28AM (#32614176)

    Pakistani Lawyer Wants Mark Zuckerberg Executed

    That's not "a nightmare scenario of legal jurisdiction". That's an opportunity. Allow me to sever the Gordian knot of tangled jurisdictional issues with justice, THUNDERDOME style.

    Tonight's card: Muslim Fundamentalist Lawyer vs. Mark Zuckerberg. Two men enter, one world wins.

  • by tekrat ( 242117 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:29AM (#32614200) Homepage Journal

    All the Pakistanis have to do is give us Osama Bin Laden first!
    In the meantime, we'll keep Mark in a nice safe cave built by the CIA.

  • by BrotherBeal ( 1100283 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:32AM (#32614242)

    ...a nightmare scenario of legal jurisdiction on the Internet...

    Exaggerate much? This is up there with the summary from a few years ago about how the squid's beak will revolutionize engineering [slashdot.org].

  • by jamesyouwish ( 1738816 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:33AM (#32614250)
    should unfriend the Pakistani Lawyer
  • by bigredradio ( 631970 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:35AM (#32614280) Homepage Journal
    I don't think the pages for "Draw Muhammad Day" is that big a deal. FarmTown, now THAT is a reason for execution.
  • by SlappyBastard ( 961143 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:36AM (#32614304) Homepage

    Once canvas takes over, we draw can Muhammad every fucking where.

    It's sad, because I really want to support executing Zuckerberg. But . . .

    I get the general religious offense in drawings of Muhammad. In that regard, it's like the Piss Crucifix. But, I don't see the need for the great animus behind all this. I mean, are Muslims really such pussies they can't take a fucking joke about their Prophet? Also, isn't this sort of elevating the Prophet to the level of a deity? And if so, doesn't that sort of nullify the Muslism creed (there is no god but God, and the stick figure behind the "censored" blackout bar is His Prophet)?

    In the meantime, here's a fucking ASCII drawing of Muhammad . . .

    O ----( Allahu akbar! ) -|- | /\

  • Dark Ages (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Jerrry ( 43027 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:40AM (#32614376)

    Yet another example showing that the Islamic world is still in the Dark Ages that most of the rest of the world emerged from sometime in the 13th century.

  • by NeutronCowboy ( 896098 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:40AM (#32614386)

    I guess this is a development that no one really foresaw in the early stages of the Internet: instead of creating a global village with a global set of social mores, the Internet is creating a global court room where every jurisdiction can claim tort against anybody who does something over the Internet. Furthermore, it was always implicitly assumed (especially in the US) that the Internet users would adopt, or at least move to American moral standards. Instead, we're discovering that there are plenty of communities out there who are happy to apply their local standards to the world, and that these communities have enough power to at least make life uncomfortable for everyone.

    There is a lesson here. Actually, there are two lessons here. One, Americans aren't the only ones willing to export their values, and they will have a difficult time arguing that others shouldn't. Two, we can lay to rest the notion that the Internet sees censorship as damage and routes around it: nations have enough power, and those in power have enough incentive, to use the other code base to control the Internet - the code of law.

    I have a sneaking suspicion I know which one is going to win, and it's going to give geeks heartburn all over the world.

  • Jurisdiction (Score:3, Insightful)

    by NixieBunny ( 859050 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:40AM (#32614388) Homepage

    I don't think that Mark Zuckerberg is under the jurisdiction of the Pakistani police. He doesn't live there, he isn't a citizen of Pakistan, he didn't even commit this infraction himself.

    Of course, I am not a Pakistani lawyer, so don't take this as legal advice, Mark.

  • by CannonballHead ( 842625 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:41AM (#32614396)

    And yet people get so upset and claim that the US "made" the terrorists. I guess they did. Just like Mark Z. did. It does not take much for a western to anger someone. In fact, most people on slashdot would be likely candidates for execution; most of them deny that Allah exists.

    But what we really need to do is talk about this with them and come to an understanding...

    And by the way, Israel is bad. Israel shouldn't have a blockade, Hamas isn't really a big threat. They just want to "execute" Israel...

    Hm.

  • Islam question (Score:4, Interesting)

    by DoofusOfDeath ( 636671 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:42AM (#32614418)

    Could someone explain why some Muslims believe that their rules need to apply to non-Muslims?

    As a point of contrast, many Christians believe that their primary responsibility is to not themselves sin. Secondarily is to encourage their fellow Christian to avoid sinning; this includes (at the worst) kicking people out of the church when they're chronically unwilling to shape up. But But it's pretty hard to find anything directly in Christian theology that suggests Christians are supposed to try to impose these standards on non-Christians.

    So what is it about some Muslim theologies that leads them to try to, for example, feel justified and/or compelled to try to kill Dutch cartoonists and Facebook executives?

    • Re:Islam question (Score:5, Informative)

      by painandgreed ( 692585 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:54AM (#32614650)

      Could someone explain why some Muslims believe that their rules need to apply to non-Muslims?

      Because the Koran is not just a book of religion with philosophy, it also presents the plans for civil government, laws, and punishments as well. That's the entire Sharia law that you hear about when talking about Muslim countries and the Taliban. It doesn't just apply to Muslims because it is stating the laws that their government should use for everybody under its jurisdiction, believers and non-believers.

  • by mdm-adph ( 1030332 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:46AM (#32614486)

    Even if you look at it from their perspective, that Mark Zuckerberg is somehow guilty because he's "enabling" these "offensive" actions on his website, doesn't that make their entire religion guilty because they're enabling the grisly murders of people like Daniel Pearl, or hell, all of 9/11?

  • by Rivalz ( 1431453 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:46AM (#32614494)

    If you think about it. If Mohammed actually ever came to meet his people. They'd execute the guy for defaming himself. I mean seriously who the hell could live up to the hype that they've been pumping for generations. Aren't they at least a little bit embarrassed by this?

  • by Animats ( 122034 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:48AM (#32614536) Homepage

    It's a real problem for Zuckerman. He's previously made fund-raising trips to Dubai. [techcrunch.com] That's over. The UAE has blasphemy laws [wikipedia.org], which they enforce. The UAE also has an extradition treaty with Pakistan [dailytimes.com.pk], but not with the United States. So he can no longer visit Dubai, and is unlikely to get funding from any source in the Arab world. He can't even fly Emirates Air.

  • by Rivalz ( 1431453 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:48AM (#32614544)

    Would they be willing to settle for a plea bargin of having a drawing of Mark Z executed on national television?

  • by arielCo ( 995647 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:51AM (#32614596)
    Pakistan's Deputy Attorney General is preparing to also file charges against the blasphemous group Anonymous and his leader 'moot' for their continued and aggravated offenses against ... pretty fucking much everything.
  • by poet ( 8021 ) on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:53AM (#32614630) Homepage

    To bite America's shiny metal ass?

  • Not fair! (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Arancaytar ( 966377 ) <arancaytar.ilyaran@gmail.com> on Friday June 18, 2010 @11:53AM (#32614634) Homepage

    Just earlier this month I WANTED to strangle Zuckerberg. How is it possible for these assholes to suck the fun out of everything?

Avoid strange women and temporary variables.

Working...