The ubiquitous access to wireless, electronic information raises increasingly relevant questions and concerns to what belongs to the People’s Common-wealth specifically; does the legal defense of government sponsored, corporate profit gain supersede the People’s right’s and freedoms to access all forms of digitized knowledge categorized as intellectual property?
The duplicity and hypocrisy of the legal system in dealing with cases of fraud, theft and ethical business practice is no better illustrated then in the prosecution of offenses under the criminal code of the land, as that pertaining to the Internet (cyber-crime) and the institutionalized, financial banking system.
Two recent cases within the media can no better highlight the existence of a TWO-TIER LEGAL SYSTEM:
Case A: Aaron Swartz paid the ultimate price in defense of his right to access, utilizing what was at the time free and legal for his doing so, professional articles licensed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) via on-campus, wireless and connected technology. The charges brought against him were for essentially ‘hacking’ into the MIT system for unauthorized downloading of numerous articles. . The Prosecution was seeking a maximum 35 years in prison however, claims, a plea-bargain for a guilty plea to the charge would reduce this to a six month term. Though not fully understood why, the two-year long proceeding is blamed to be cause for Mr. Swartz to take his own life but many dispute this claim.To delve deeper reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Swartz.
Case B: The HSBC Bank (http://www.globalresearch.ca/sweetheart-settlement-for-hsbc-bank-on-drug-money-laundering-charges/5315486), found guilty of aiding and abetting money laundering for drug cartels; negotiating and process to sanctioned Iran and numerous other criminal activities that could have amounted to loosing license to practice in the United States were ultimately find 1.4billion dollars. An amounted reputed to be recoverable by HSBC in a matter of four weeks of banking activity. The conclusion of the prosecution in not pursuing the ultimate penalty is the claim that such would dramatically and drastically affect the financial and banking interests, both domestically and internationally, having disastrous affect on an already tenuous economic recovery. In the end no banking official at any level within the organization was criminally prosecuted and imprisoned for their involvement and promulgation of the crimes committed. In essence HSBC is too big to indite for any present and or future criminal activity rendering them carte-blance to do as they please.
These are but two cases that should rile any law-abiding citizen to rally against the legal system of the United States and other western nations that are willing and obliging to follow suit in these matters.
naykdpoet 