by Mr Penguin | Jul 30, 2022 |
On Thursday July 28th judge Joseph N. Laplante concluded the sentencing hearing for Crypto6’s Mr Nobody with a ruling to the maximum degree possible in his favor, and below is a run down of the defenses, prosecutors, and judges thoughts and arguments.
For more detail of what happened and a bit of a backstory on the sentencing check out Freedom Decrypted episode 170 where we covered the pre-sentencing motions that went into the variance granted (or in other words the request to reduce the sentence below that typically authorized by the sentencing guidelines).
The notes from the sentencing hearing are as follows:
– Mr Nobody is pleading guilty to a single count of wire fraud
Judge opens with a speech on the sentencing guidelines being the guiding force behind determining the sentence, but are not a hard rule to be followed, and he can sentence Mr Nobody outside of the guidelines.
There is a sealed pre-sentencing report that was created by the court of which came to 26 pages in length. Unfortunately due to certain information contained within it is sealed, but this is for Mr Nobody’s benefit and it may be that this report can be released by him and/or released by him with appropriate sections redacted. While this may not be relevant to Mr Nobody’s sentencing report the type of information that can be included includes information such as histories of mental illness that would be inappropriate to release to the public. Our opportunity as the public therefore to be outraged by the malicious, manipulative, or outright lies contained in it must therefore be reserved till a later date.
Possible outcome based on sentencing guidelines and guilty plea:
The guidelines recommend:
– 10 to 16 months imprisonment
– 2 to 5 years of supervised release
– A fine of $2,000 to $1 million dollars (more…)
by Mr Penguin | Jan 16, 2022 |
The BIGGEST most important date (Jan 20th) of the decade for freedom may just be upon us so mark your calendar and come support the New Hampshire independence rally & public hearing this Thursday ! Don’t be the reason we’re stuck without options- freedom loving people unite- lets create a home and free place to live and give our kids a bastion of hope for the future.
If New Hampshire voters say yes to independence it will separate New Hampshire from the US empire and immediately halt the abuse by Washington DC. What we can accomplish by ourselves will be far greater than anything we can accomplish under the threat of Washington politicians. Independence will offer New Hampshire citizens many things- everything from a reduced tax burden and economic growth to reducing the staggering amount of regulatory barriers placed on New Hampshire businesses. Unhappy with forced vaccination? We can fix that! If we’re independent the feds can’t dictate what should be a matter between us and our doctors. Don’t like Washington’s gun regulations? We can go farther at eliminating arguably unconstitutional restrictions. Unhappy about our schools? Without DC bribing our politicians to pass laws we otherwise wouldn’t and they can’t pass directly we can fix our schools.
When all else fails, what is the plan New Hampshire? 71% (78% at its height) of Union Leader readers said YES to a vote on independence! Now we need to get the legislators to put it on the ballot so the voters can actually decide to declare independence from Washington DC. This New Hampshire constitutional amendment will do just that.
For those not aware New Hampshire’s constitution pre-dates that of the United States and should we choose to do so we can leave the union and divorce DC. We can lead the US just as our forefathers did before us during the Revolutionary War. Just as they declared independence from Great Britain we too can declare independence from the new empire.
However unlike that insurrection this isn’t a declaration of war. This is a means of declaration via proper legal channels- and that’s something even the US courts have acknowledged. Where some would lead you to believe that independence is illegal or that it’s impossible the truth is that even the courts have ruled that the procedure rather than the declaration itself has in prior instances been improper.
Let’s keep our options open and support CACR 32 by joining together with democrats, conservatives, and other independent voters this Thursday Jan 20th, 2022:
Address: 33 N State Street, Concord, New Hampshire
Time: Rally starts at 2:00 pm, press conference @ 3:00, and the public hearing is at 3:30 Room LB 206.
Can’t make it? See our directions below for how you can testify electronically.
For more details read the latest article by Liberty Block:
Breaking: NH Exit Legislation Assigned House Committee & Hearing
Want to express support for the constitutional amendment on New Hampshire independence? Here is how to testify (in other words inform the committee on your thoughts) electronically on what you think of this important legislation.
Can’t Make It? Here is how to testify electronically via email
Step 1: Open the link here http://gencourt.state.nh.us/house/committees/remotetestimony/default.aspx?mc_cid=0cc3e8800e&mc_eid=6d8bda0b1a
Step 2: Select January 20th on the calendar shown
Step 3: Under Select the Committee find House State-Federal Relations and Veterans Affairs
Step 4: Under Choose the Bill find 3:30 pm – CACR32
Step 5: Under I am select A Member of the Public
Step 6: Under I’m Representing leave Myself
Step 7: Select the bubble I Support this Bill
Step 8: Click Continue
Step 9: Enter your First and Last name, Town, State, and an email address.
Step 10: Click the Continue button
Step 11: Check the box that says “By clicking this checkbox, you agree that the information you have provided is truthful to the best of your knowledge.”
Step 12: Click the Continue button
You’ve now registered your support for giving voters of New Hampshire the opportunity to vote for independence from Washington DC.
The next thing to do is send the Committee your thoughts and comments in why they should support democracy and give the people the chance to vote on this very important constitutional amendment.
Please email written testimony to: HouseState-FederalRelationsandVeteransAffairs@leg.state.nh.us
It’s currently unclear if the hearing will be live streamed by the state itself or not, as nothing is shown under scheduled live streams as I write this, but this may change, and we will certainly be posting a video of the hearing afterward on just what happened so stay tuned in to Free Keene for updates. Here is a link to the live streams just in case you are able to watch it live via the state’s cameras:
https://www.youtube.com/c/NHHouseofRepresentativesCommitteeStreaming/videos?view=2&live_view=502
by Mr Penguin | Jan 13, 2022 |
On Tuesday a democrat in New Hampshire’s house introduced a bill in support of free software. The House Bill (HB) 1273 would be a step forward for software freedom. It proposes to help protect the user freedom of New Hampshire residents in a number of important ways.
- Prohibits the state government from requiring residents to use proprietary software, whether in remote court appearances, tax filings, standardized test-taking, coursework in public schools, or matters relating to any state benefits
- Forbid employers from using non-compete clauses to prevent their employees from contributing to free software
- Prevents state agencies from mandating the use of non-free JavaScript
- Prohibits NH law enforcement from participating in the investigation or prosecution of copyright claims brought by proprietary software developers against free software developers
- Forms a state commission to promote the use of free software in state agencies
Now much of the legislation is a bit wishy-washy with no real teeth, but there are some parts that in theory if passed could have a beneficial impact on our freedom. Other parts could be a little more problematic for those who are libertarian and do not believe in the use of violence to achieve social and political objectives (outside that of a defensive nature anyway). Fortunately most of the bill is tailored toward government and is more defensive in nature than not. Some not so great parts would likely also not have much real world impact.
One part in particular should get libertarians everywhere excited. While it probably was not intended by the legislator proposing the bill, a democrat, it would none-the-less be an amazing step forward in reducing the harm of violent thugs in government. The bill would ensure that users have the right to access the source code for any device utilized in the creation of evidence. This would in effect result in evidence being thrown out whereby the government could not produce the source code to the device that created it. Evidence from such devices as radar guns would no longer be valid in court for all practical purposes. The reason for this is that the suppliers of such devices will not release such source code and thereby prosecutors won’t be able to comply with the law. Before the socialists get upset by this though it’s something everyone should be concerned about. It’s already well known that these devices are full of bugs and this would likely result in evidence being invalidated everywhere if the code were released- not just in NH- and so the device manufacturers would never want to do this short of significant improvements to the code. The solution is to pass this in more states and force manufacturers hand-else let this stand as a means of eliminating a law that should not be in that there is no party that can actually show injury.
To have any real chance of seeing this pass the legislation would likely need to be significantly trimmed. Some parts are problematic such as the forbidding of employers from using non-compete clauses to prevent their employees from contributing to free software for instance. This would likely be unpopular with many state legislators who otherwise support software freedom while also supporting ones right to negotiate a contract free of government interference. Maybe there is a way to put this into law that were more freedom-focused, like letting such terms be unenforceable via law, but either way much of the legislature isn’t going to want to interfere in the private affairs of employee-employer relations either way. I suspect this is likely to have little impact in either case given non-compete clauses within the free software world are already taboo and many of us (myself included) would not sign (or require it) such in an employment contract.
One interesting aspect of the bill is that it would prohibit NH law enforcement from partaking in investigation or prosecution of copyright claims against free software developers. While I can in good conscious support this and would go farther to argue for the elimination of copyright it’s unclear to me where this is currently an issue. Maybe it’s connected to the breaking of digital restrictions such as would be the case with something like DeCSS. A free software program that breaks encryption on commercial DVDs. This falls under copyright law and might be prosecuted by state agencies although that said it’s normally a federal offense. State law enforcement can generally however prosecute federal crimes as I understand it or otherwise partake in federal investigation and prosecution thereof. Of which is more common I do believe with civil asset forfeiture cases.
In spite of some of the issues with the legislation a small contingent of libertarians showed up to more or less in support the legislation as well as others from the free software community. One Jon “maddog” Hall, the Board Chair for the Linux Professional Institute, for instance came out and spoke in favor of the legislation.
Jon “maddog” Hall is the Board Chair for the Linux Professional Institute
The main theme surrounding the hearing seemed to be that of software security and the cost of implementation. New Hampshire’s head of IT for instance also spoke from what appeared to be a purchased lobbyist point-of-view. Declaring more or less that it would be of significant burden and cost to transition to free software (while saying they’re already using free software humorously). The opposing side of course pointed out the truth in that there is always a cost to migrate from one release of a program to another, but it’s not significantly different from that of migrating to free software. Not to mention that while free software isn’t about price, but the liberty, security, and control, this twisting and confusing of the bill was quite disingenuous. The long term costs are reduced as no license agreements need be acquired. Commercial support is generally available too despite the head of IT trying to confuse the reps by comparing commercial software to free software. These are for all intensive purposes one and the same. You can acquire commercial support from Redhat for instance for free software and even much of Microsoft’s own code is based on free software. This bill was about libre, not gratis where libre means freedom, and gratis means price.
While the head of NH IT argued against free software on the basis of features, commercial support, and security the reality is these are more often than not mute points given features can be added to free software unlike the proprietary software he favored. Security bugs can be fixed not at the whim of a particular company, but that of either, you, the community, or the commercial entity you contract with for said free software (example: Redhat). Yes- you can buy free software and many companies do. Just because something is libre doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t pay for its development/support. And unlike proprietary software free software can be seen, read, and audited by third parties with or without the consent of the company producing it (once released). These are the things that ensure security- not anti-virus software or proprietary software vendors of which the former is a kin to putting up a fence and expecting it to stop ants from coming onto your property. The head of IT didn’t stop there- even implying that free software was insecure through association with Bitcoin. While not said outright during the hearing he referenced recent socially engineered attacks on municipalities. Somewhat recently there were reports of municipalities being ‘hacked’- which were in reality social engineering attacks primarily involving the traditional banking system. It was only after the attacks occurred and the money paid by employees of the municipalities to criminals overseas that said money was utilized to purchase Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies. If there is a flaw- it’s not the software- and it’s certainly not the result of it being libre.
Video Of The Hearing On House Bill (HB) 1273
by Mr Penguin | Jul 8, 2021 |
Aria DiMezzo, one of the Crypto6 raided on March 16, 2021 over selling of Bitcoin and co-host of the nationally syndicated radio show Free Talk Live speaks out on the US government’s attempt to oppress the worlds population through draconian attacks on financial freedom. Aria spoke at this years Porcupine Freedom Festival at Rogers Campground in Lancaster NH. It’s not just those selling Bitcoin that have something to fear, but all of us.
First they came for the socialists, and I DID speak out—
Even though I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I DID speak out—
Even though I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I DID speak out—
Even though I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and I realized speaking out wasn’t enough.
Migrate to the shire– because alone- and spread out we’re all helpless. Talk is cheap. However together we’re a force to be reckoned with and that’s the real reason the FBI is on the attack. The FBI is very afraid. Undoubtedly the FBI can attack a few free staters, but they’ve already ultimately lost the war whether they realize it yet or not. Win or lose any particular case in court and it does not matter. The publicity draws in far more people and with each new mover we inch closer to achieving our long term goal of freedom and liberty in our lifetime.
I also want to put out a special thank you to the FBI for without them we would not have been able to generate the amount of publicity this case has brought nor attracted a new generation of activist to the migration. For the first time in the history of the migration movement the Porcupine Freedom Festival sold out almost doubling that of any prior year.
Direct IPFS link to video: https://ipfs.io/ipfs/QmRGbS2sJFqnhA8RCjUKjHer5PZ6mu4Q8Xdn7Nw2WtEQ4u
by Mr Penguin | Jun 19, 2021 |
Defund the police rally in Keene, NH
A socialist led organization the NH Youth Movement has been rallying its troops across NH this past week in an effort to get cities and towns to defund their police forces. However the rally that was planned for Keene didn’t go quite as the organizers expected.
While there isn’t a significant socialist presence in New Hampshire there are plenty of socialists in surrounding states that from time to time muster up the occasional rally in NH through the busing in of left wing extremists. This is particularly easy to do in Cheshire with the county neighboring Vermont and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts being right next door plus students from out of town attending Keene State College.
A few days before the rally was to occur the Keene City Republican Committee Chair Anne L. Farrington got wind of the socialists organizing of a protest and rallied her opposition country-folk to attend a counter protest for the same time and date.
“We want to show our support for law enforcement by coming out in strength to Back the Badge! The rally will be in Central Square tomorrow from 5:30pm-8:00pm. Please join us and bring friends who support our police!”
– Anne L. Farrington
This attempt at undermining the NH Youth Movement’s protest turned out to be as hilarious as one might have anticipated. Not so much because there were people shouting back and forth, but in that it appeared that the rally attracted all of one intentional NH Youth Movement member and another five or so socialists who just happened upon the Republican’s counter-protest.
To make for an entertaining afternoon a handful of libertarians got together to join in on the fun making a few signs in advance of the event, saying things both opposing sides would theoretically agree with and disagree with at the same time, like “Defund the pigs & end socialism”. Is it a socialist protest? Is it a right wing protest? Who knows, but certainly the passerbys didn’t quite follow what was going on with all the shouting from every side and direction. Both from protesters and from passing cars alike.
After numerous conversations with the right-wing nut jobs and left wing extremists it turned out that each side had a lot in common. Both the republicans and the socialists were in favor of socialist programs, but the agenda for which programs to fund and defund were different. The young socialists wanted to see free college tuition and police dollars redistributed to other social programs like housing the homeless. The counter protesters expressed a desire to continue funding social security and the police state.
What both the left and right failed to grasp was that the money doesn’t exist to fund all of these programs. The use of violence and the state to take money from the populous only works up to a point before that theft becomes so great that it undermines the revenues that can be generated. This leads to a failure of the programs both sides are trying to fund through theft.
Now this doesn’t mean that all parties can’t get what they want, but the means by which those funds are raised must not be through the violence that is the state. The overhead of state mandated programs is significant, the inefficiencies great, and the ever increasing amounts undermining to the objectives of both sides.
When the state gets involved a significant portion of the revenues generated are eaten up by the extraction of those funds from the populous and the overhead of management- not to mention corruption. When people are left to decide for themselves by comparison individuals pick the least expensive options which deliver the maximum benefit thus reducing costs and making such services affordable. Between competing offerings individuals can afford to pay for college when competition is left to run its course, government isn’t handing out ‘free’ money, and security (policing) doesn’t cost six figures per employee. Lets end all of the social welfare programs: Police, education, health care, social security, corporate welfare, and so on, and then hand back the financial resources to the people by eliminating the taxes that make these programs perform poorly as only then will those dollars stolen be best and most efficiently utilized.
Check out the entertaining video with left wing extremists, libertarians, and right wingers all competing for air time in or surrounding the public square.
