<story><title>This hacker might seem shady, but throwing him in jail is bad for everyone</title><url>http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/09/23/this-hacker-might-seem-shady-but-throwing-him-in-jail-is-bad-for-everyone/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>sneak</author><text>Weev&amp;#x27;s a right shithead, you&amp;#x27;re absolutely right.&lt;p&gt;I still bailed him out of jail for the time leading up to and during his trial.  Why?  Because UNPOPULAR SPEECH SHOULD NEVER BE CRIMINAL, no matter how revolting. Indeed, it is the unpopular and revolting stuff that needs the most defending:&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one&amp;#x27;s time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.&amp;quot;  —H.L. Mencken</text></item><item><author>austenallred</author><text>Reading this article &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/12/4693710/the-end-of-kindness-weev-and-the-cult-of-the-angry-young-man&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theverge.com&amp;#x2F;2013&amp;#x2F;9&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;4693710&amp;#x2F;the-end-of-kindnes...&lt;/a&gt; makes me feel not too terrible that he&amp;#x27;s being thrown in jail.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>PhasmaFelis</author><text>By &amp;quot;unpopular speech&amp;quot;, do you mean the AT&amp;amp;T bit, or the harassment bit? If the latter, I disagree. A free and fair society can certainly draw a line between &amp;quot;unpopular speech&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;criminal harassment.&amp;quot;&lt;p&gt;If I were to threaten to murder you, you wouldn&amp;#x27;t expect the police to say &amp;quot;Eh, nothing we can do, he&amp;#x27;s got a right to free speech. Call us back after he shoots you, you&amp;#x27;ll have a case then.&amp;quot;</text></comment>
<story><title>This hacker might seem shady, but throwing him in jail is bad for everyone</title><url>http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2013/09/23/this-hacker-might-seem-shady-but-throwing-him-in-jail-is-bad-for-everyone/</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>sneak</author><text>Weev&amp;#x27;s a right shithead, you&amp;#x27;re absolutely right.&lt;p&gt;I still bailed him out of jail for the time leading up to and during his trial.  Why?  Because UNPOPULAR SPEECH SHOULD NEVER BE CRIMINAL, no matter how revolting. Indeed, it is the unpopular and revolting stuff that needs the most defending:&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;The trouble with fighting for human freedom is that one spends most of one&amp;#x27;s time defending scoundrels. For it is against scoundrels that oppressive laws are first aimed, and oppression must be stopped at the beginning if it is to be stopped at all.&amp;quot;  —H.L. Mencken</text></item><item><author>austenallred</author><text>Reading this article &lt;a href=&quot;http://www.theverge.com/2013/9/12/4693710/the-end-of-kindness-weev-and-the-cult-of-the-angry-young-man&quot; rel=&quot;nofollow&quot;&gt;http:&amp;#x2F;&amp;#x2F;www.theverge.com&amp;#x2F;2013&amp;#x2F;9&amp;#x2F;12&amp;#x2F;4693710&amp;#x2F;the-end-of-kindnes...&lt;/a&gt; makes me feel not too terrible that he&amp;#x27;s being thrown in jail.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>mayanksinghal</author><text>I have no information of the case at hand, but that could the reason why the prosecutor went for hacking charges instead of harassment.</text></comment>