Constitutional Protection (was Re: Is AB Dead? No, *he* is not dead)

In article cmiller@lightside.com (Chris Miller) writes:

>The point you [Jon Noring] are missing on the whole affair with Anonpennet fi,
>Netcom, etc is the one point that really matters. Is there a
>violation of law or not. That is why the police acted on Pennet fi.
>That is why the judge issued restraining orders on Erlich. These are
>matters of law. It is illegal to re-copy and distribute copyrighted
>material. It doesn't matter if YOU don't agree with it or not. That
>is the simplicity of what is trying to be gotten across and it is
>pretty simple. All the rest is noise. There are rights by law that
>should be followed and that is it.
Actually, this is quite a reasoned paragraph. And let me answer it.

Of course, there are laws concerning copyrights, etc., but the issue is not whether the laws are good or bad, but how the laws are enforced. There is such a thing as due process, the proper enforcement of the laws. In the United States there are restrictions on how laws can be enforced, most of which are based on the Bill of Rights. Most other democratic countries have similar restrictions on the enforcement of laws.

Without the proper and restrained enforcement of the laws, we would rapidly degenerate into a totalitarian, despotic state, and I'm sure we don't want that. The Church of Scientology would suffer more than the average organization from such a State. That is why we have due process as well as the Bill of Rights.

Now, my assertion all along is that the raid on anon.penet.fi had a lot of irregularities associated with it that need to be looked into further. If we find no irregularities after investigating, as you seem to claim, then there are no irregularities -- simple as that (so why worry about it?). But if there is shown to be irregularities, I'm sure you'd support a further investigation into them, as you seem to have a strong bent towards enforcing the law, and improper enforcement of the laws is itself a violation of law. Thus, you should welcome an investigation into these irregularities -- why do you seem to oppose them?

There were also a lot of irregularities associated with the raid on Dennis Erlich which need to be explored (and are being explored).

So, if I waste my time, I waste my time. It should not be a concern of yours. It's my life, not yours. Why worry about it?

Jon Noring

-- OmniMedia | The Electronic Bookstore. Come in and browse! Two 9671 S. 1600 West St. | locations: ftp.netcom.com <a href="/pub/Om/OmniMedia/books">/pub/Om/OmniMedia/books</a>South Jordan, UT 84095 | and ftp.awa.com /pub/softlock/pc/products/OmniMedia 801-253-4037 | E-book publishing service follows NWU recommendations.