Wikileaks Releases Docs Before Trial of TPB Founder Warg 70
Pirate Bay Founder Gottfrid Svartholm Warg is to be tried starting tomorrow in Sweden, after his indictment last month for computer hacking and fraud. Wikileaks has released several documents related to his detention and the associated charges.
From the summary of this material: "This material includes inter alia the interrogations with GSW and his co-accused, internal correspondence from the Swedish Foreign Minister and the Swedish embassy in Cambodia, damage assessment reports by the companies and the authorities concerned, and correspondence between GSW and Kristina Svartholm and the Swedish prison authorities. The material is formally public, but the Swedish prosecution authority has refused to provide the documents in digital format. Photocopying this volume of paper costs around £350."
Notable is the refusal of Warg's request to obtain a graphing calculator while in prison.
Re:a graphing calculator these days... (Score:3, Insightful)
Most prisoners would get access to that in Sweden too. The problem here is that Mr. Warg didn't rape or murder someone, instead he did something that pissed off the authorities.
O.o (Score:4, Insightful)
350 british pounds is a small fee to you?
Can i bum 100 off ya? I uhm, need to buy a small coffee.
Re:a graphing calculator these days... (Score:5, Insightful)
Convicted felons have (and should) their rights restricted. For example, in America, ownership of firearms is restricted. Reasonable.
It's not reasonable at all. The persons paid their debt to society. Why can they never vote or own a firearm again? Remember, the VAST majority of convicted felons were convicted of things that were non-violent drug offenses and in most cases were years or decades in their past. If they've served their time, why are they punished for the rest of their lives? We're talking about a dude that got busted in his 20s with some coke and now he's 50, has a family, a good job, and can't vote or own a gun. It's ridiculous. All punishments should be finite and have an end.
The prohibition on voting is simply a way to keep people that might have insight into what needs to change about the prison system from having any ability to vote to change it.
Re:a graphing calculator these days... (Score:4, Insightful)
A 2008 audit revealed that 12,948 game consoles were purchased for use in prisons with taxpayersâ(TM) money. The cost of the consoles and games totaled £221,726.
That's £17.12 per console. Including both console and games. What are they playing, Pong?
Re:a graphing calculator these days... (Score:5, Insightful)
Let me ask you a question – is your objection that felons who have served their time can't vote or that the standard for felonies – those major crimes against society – has been watered down? Because it sounds to me that it is the watering down of felonies that is your issues – and I would agree with you there.
Re: Of course (Score:5, Insightful)
You might sound convincing, but what you are describing is BS.
Electronic locks require voltage to unlock, which is not local to the door, especially in a prison.
It takes much more than a few electronic parts to spoof a card, also you first need to clone said card.
Also, this doesnt take into account the cameras, and doors that do not have card readers for egress. These doors require remote unlocking with visual verification.
Oh also for those wondering, you cant shoot a reade to unlock a door ;)
Re:wikileaks shakes the world... again! (Score:2, Insightful)
If it is just processing cost then the government should be happy wikileak is publishing the same document more efficiently in a better format for free. In fact they should even link to wikileak directly as a cheap and faster alternative while thanking them for their good work.
On the other hand if it is about censorship then they will be mad about it. They will blame wikileak for all the evil in the world and use the legal system to bully someone into compliance.
Let see what they do next...