Would that include, for example, hedge fund managers doing risky credit default swaps, corporate shenanigans and the likes?
Well⌠well⌠(sputter) âŚnot that kind of damage! Real damage - like embarrassing the government, or uploading a song!
Donât forget whistleblowing and sousveillance. Taking video of abusive cops and uploading it would totally count.
WONâT SOMEONE THINK OF THE ECONOMY!!! Aparently I canât rant in all caps?
Iâm racking my brain trying to think of an offense that cannot be claimed to be damaging one of those things. Itâs pretty much the very definition of âcrime.â
As you point out, the wording also fails to define âcomputer.â Does an iPhone count? A graphing calculator? A difference engine? An abacus?
The silver lining is that the USA would get some more company in the Never Visit There Club.
If the crime is a politically determined issue (this, or small-scale drug things), and the sentence is disproportionately high, wouldnât such convicts count as sort of political prisoners?
So⌠are they gonna jail for life all those politicians who fucked up the economy?
DO they know how to use computers?
Tories, they are the very literal justification for the US reserving the personal right to assault weapons for governmental overthrow to this day. (edit) If you want to asplode an American Republicanâs brain explain that the founding fathers were Whigs, the opposition to the tar-and-feather-them-bastards Tories which eventually merged with other factions to create the modern UK Liberal Party.
Tories, ever heard of the potato famine genocide while Ireland remained a food exporting nation?(edit)1 million people died and a million more emigrated from Ireland, causing the islandâs population to fall by between 20% and 25%
Need I go on?
At least American Republicans believe in a God whoâs bible you can use to starkly call them on their anti-poor people policy, what final appeal can you make to a modern Tory?
They are the literally Cavalier greed-is-god party for the ultra wealthy and for those who hope to become ultra-wealthy and crush the poor under their boots.
I love this:
The word âToryâ derives from the Middle Irish word tĂłraidhe; modern Irish tĂłraĂ: outlaw, robber or brigand, from the Irish word tĂłir, meaning âpursuitâ, since outlaws were âpursued menâ
Interesting, I have only read on his foreign policy. Tories posturing as the workers party vs the wealthy elite Liberals, what a weird pole shifted parallel universe.
Taking from normal people to enrich the 1% is patriotic and part of the war on poverty!
I think we can get George Osborne on three of those. Does anyone have evidence of him damaging national security using a computer though? A triple life sentence just isnât good enough for him.
I would say Daveybloke Piefaceâs Great Firewall Of Cameron advisor who got nicked for having child porn on No. 10s network ought to bloody well count.
Most of our MPs have used a computer and clearly damage ânational security, human welfare, the economy or the environmentâ constantly with their insane rightwing policiesâŚ
Are they going to jail themselves?
No, not them. Anyone with a well-funded legal team will surely be able to climb out through the thoughtfully designed loopholes and over the vague, overly broad wording. The Government wonât even try. Itâs the low hanging fruit that they want.
If someone has damaged the economy and national security and put human lives at risk, Iâm not sure how the tool they used to do so is so important. Suppose someone drove a vehicle-born fertilizer bomb into a building in the financial district of London. That would damage the economy, and if they were careful they could even do so without using a computer. But using a computer deserves a special sentence?
It has happened at least twice before in my lifetime.
I donât think that computers were a significant part of the IRAâs campaign.
