Thread: Assignment: US Bill of Rights... what would you do?

Originally Posted by Hanna

1) I would look at how the 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th amendments apply to Guantanamo Bay and its' inmates and to the activities of the CIA abroad. I assume all that must somehow be excempted from this Bill of Rights. (but if you are going to allow exceptions, then what's the point of having the Bill in the first place?

The Amendments only affect legal citizens of the US. The inmates of the Guantanamo Bay are accused of terrorism and most of them are foreigners which, however, doesn't change a thing. What kind of treatment would you suggest for a person guilty of terrorism?

Originally Posted by Eric C.

The Amendments only affect legal citizens of the US.

That's interesting to hear. So non-US citizens who are a accused of a crime in the USA have no rights to legal representation or a trial?

Originally Posted by Eric C.

What kind of treatment would you suggest for a person guilty of terrorism?

My suggestion: Since America seems to have a near obsession with the perceived great value of these amendments, I suggest that they should be applied consistently to everybody who finds himself/herself on American soil, whether a citizen, a tourist, business traveller or an individual kidnapped by the CIA from the Middle East (as in the case of the Guantanamo inmates). If these types of rights are not applied consistently, then they are meaningless!

And remember that one mans terrorist / criminal is another mans human rights advocate, Nobel Prize winner or partisan hero. I have no love to spare for terrorists, but Guantanamo is reprehensible in every way; something you'd expect to find in a brutal dictatorship. It's taken down the credibility of the USA several notches in the view of most people in Europe.

Personally I am not in favour of countries kidnapping and abducting citizens of other countries, full stop. But since it has already happened these individuals they should immediately be given a fair trial, or be released. As things stand, you are no better than those countries you put yourself in moral judgement over - only more two-faced.

Originally Posted by Hanna

Personally I am not in favour of countries kidnapping and abducting citizens of other countries, full stop. But since it has already happened these individuals they should immediately be given a fair trial, or be released.

Here I totally agree. Most of the "inmates" are gonna get the electric chair, plenty of the rest will be jailed for dozens of years, and quite a small percent will be released. Why not? Or do you think it's a trap for victims?

@Rockzmom: The US decided to block a number of popular web sites for EVERYONE in the whole world, because they link to material that the US thinks is copyrighted. The sites were not hosting the material themselves and the material can equally easily be found through Google. It's by no means certain any crime according to American law has been committed - there has been no trial, the action was just undertaken using anti-terror laws.

Some of these sites are located outside the US, but it is the US that controls ICANN which governs internet address resolution. No other country has that power - leading to all other countries wondering whether this situation shouldn't be changed.

People from all across the world who try to visit these very popular sites now get a message that the sites are a risk to US Homeland Security and inaccessible: Here is the story: http://torrentfreak.com/u-s-government-seizes-bittorrent-search-engine-domain-and-more-101126 It generated over 1080 reader comments in one day!

One might wonder how it's a risk to "US Homeland Security" if a few French kids download some cartoons.... but there you go...

Originally Posted by Hanna

@Rockzmom: The US decided to block a number of popular web sites for EVERYONE in the whole world, because they link to material that the US thinks is copyrighted. The sites were not hosting the material themselves and the material can equally easily be found through Google. It's by no means certain any crime according to American law has been committed - there has been no trial, the action was just undertaken using anti-terror laws.

Some of these sites are located outside the US, but it is the US that controls ICANN which governs internet address resolution. No other country has that power - leading to all other countries wondering whether this situation shouldn't be changed.

People from all across the world who try to visit these very popular sites now get a message that the sites are a risk to US Homeland Security and inaccessible: Here is the story: http://torrentfreak.com/u-s-government-seizes-bittorrent-search-engine-domain-and-more-101126 It generated over 1080 reader comments in one day!

One might wonder how it's a risk to "US Homeland Security" if a few French kids download some cartoons.... but there you go...

The material IS Copyrighted. Do you really believe you or anyone else has the right to steal? Should everything be free? How much money is ABBA© making by selling the rights to use their copyrighted material to the Broadway show and movie "Mama Mia"©? I know!
So much money that if their copyrighted music was being used for free (stealing) that ABBA© would have a busload of lawyers shut down the theatrical and film versions of "Mama Mia"©.

If I was hosting, on my servers, your Hit Single© and giving it away for free, that would be stealing and you would be upset.
If I was bit-torrenting your Hit Single© (telling people how and where to steal it) you would be pretty upset about that too.

Here is what bit-torrenting is: stealing copyrighted material.
Read this: 10 Big Myths about Copyright explained
By posting here, on this site, by agreeing to the terms of use, we have forfeited our rights and given them to Master Russian.

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Originally Posted by capecoddah

The material IS Copyrighted. Do you really believe you or anyone else has the right to steal? Should everything be free? How much money is ABBA© making by selling the rights to use their copyrighted material to the Broadway show and movie "Mama Mia"©? I know!
So much money that if their copyrighted music was being used for free (stealing) that ABBA© would have a busload of lawyers shut down the theatrical and film versions of "Mama Mia"©.

If I was hosting, on my servers, your Hit Single© and giving it away for free, that would be stealing and you would be upset.
If I was bit-torrenting your Hit Single© (telling people how and where to steal it) you would be pretty upset about that too.

Here is what bit-torrenting is: stealing copyrighted material.
Read this: 10 Big Myths about Copyright explained
By posting here, on this site, by agreeing to the terms of use, we have forfeited our rights and given them to Master Russian.

"Copyright © 2010 vBulletin Solutions, Inc. All rights reserved." (it's on the bottom of the page)

It doesn't matter what pretense the US government used to attack the DNS of these sites, which are OUTSIDE of the USA. The real reason that they are now getting involved with interactions between PRIVATE entities (Many OUTSIDE the USA) like this will be rather starkly evident to all when one day you find that you are not able to access the Internet at all for ANY information that they HAVE NOT FIRST APPROVED!
This is a very dangerous situation. America is now a police state on many fronts and the traps are being set as this moment to be in place for the time intended.

The USA has overstepped her bounds and Constitution while the good sheeple of America sleep. Almost EVERYTHING that Americans believe about world affairs has been carefully guided since shortly after WWII including THE COLD WAR, which in actuality was a strategy agreed upon by both the SOVIETS and USA. That news came out 30 years ago and still no one is listening. Not listening because the good sheeple of America still believe that "it couldn't happen to us."