First and foremost, I am a huge privacy advocate, and live in fear of what the government is doing to erode our Citizens' Constitutional & Civil Rights in the name of Homeland Security.
Secondly, I do believe that there is a difference between Watching & Besetting, and shooting a RAM Card full of photos of a property and its surroundings. It seems to have been a one time effort, so stalking is out. Privacy applies to a home's interior, and gardens, but not to its exteriors (terraserver anyone?). Your license plate is public property, etc.
Most importantly, I think it is important to illustrate (via this case), that OPEN information, exchanged PUBLICLY, can yeild results which will ASSIST Law Enforcement in making arrests which otherwise would not have been made.
Notice that the press often aceive similar results by publicizing a problem, photographically and in text? Without Watching and Besetting, without stalking, etc.
He didn't use the information in a clandestine way, secreting it away for purposes of control (1984). He didn't use it for blackmail. He made it OPEN, and that openess of information helped create results.
This is not some guy collating information on when you pee in the morning so he can use it to profile you. This is not some guy scanning every e-mail for the word Allah. This is not some guy doing his stalking, as I think was proven adequately by the (verifiable) names he included in his documentation. This was not a child pornographer (they don't often invlove the police with their computers). This was a taxpayer getting the shaft.
This was a guy who's $3000 problem was less important than lesser, more public crimes & and greater, more threatening crimes. This was a guy who got no justice from the justice system, so he handed them all the clues on a silver freakin platter.
This is a guy who was smart enough to get some results...not by being a vigiliante, but by creating enough clamor, by providing enough evidence, by doing enough research, that Law Enforcement would have been publicly shamed by not completing the arrest.
Secondly, I do believe that there is a difference between Watching & Besetting, and shooting a RAM Card full of photos of a property and its surroundings. It seems to have been a one time effort, so stalking is out. Privacy applies to a home's interior, and gardens, but not to its exteriors (terraserver anyone?). Your license plate is public property, etc.
Most importantly, I think it is important to illustrate (via this case), that OPEN information, exchanged PUBLICLY, can yeild results which will ASSIST Law Enforcement in making arrests which otherwise would not have been made.
Notice that the press often aceive similar results by publicizing a problem, photographically and in text? Without Watching and Besetting, without stalking, etc.
He didn't use the information in a clandestine way, secreting it away for purposes of control (1984). He didn't use it for blackmail. He made it OPEN, and that openess of information helped create results.
This is not some guy collating information on when you pee in the morning so he can use it to profile you. This is not some guy scanning every e-mail for the word Allah. This is not some guy doing his stalking, as I think was proven adequately by the (verifiable) names he included in his documentation. This was not a child pornographer (they don't often invlove the police with their computers). This was a taxpayer getting the shaft.
This was a guy who's $3000 problem was less important than lesser, more public crimes & and greater, more threatening crimes. This was a guy who got no justice from the justice system, so he handed them all the clues on a silver freakin platter.
This is a guy who was smart enough to get some results...not by being a vigiliante, but by creating enough clamor, by providing enough evidence, by doing enough research, that Law Enforcement would have been publicly shamed by not completing the arrest.
