Comments on: Aggregating blogs in Greece could get you arrested

By: attorney

attorney — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 23:15:31 +0000

Law firms are going to make 20 % less money in 2011 compared to 2008. that will teach them.

By: Oneiros

Oneiros — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

This story needs coverage in local and global media! I wrote this article in english so that it could be submitted to multiple media and (digital) rights activist organizations; feel free to copy-paste and abbreviate as needed.

So far, I've posted a link and an excerpt of the story to the regional Amnesty Int'l office for Greece. An abbreviated version was also submitted to Slashdot but was rejected without any explanation. Ah, well...
Next up: Global Voices Online, RSF and EDRI; I'll also try to get in touch with Joi Ito. Let me know of any other ideas for publications, organizations or people to submit the story to.

By: Stathis

Stathis — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Actually the post has been posted at Slashdot Sunday October 29, @04:25PM PST

By: Artson

Artson — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

It would be nice to know who this ‘public figure’ is. Apparently they have a lot of influence with the cybercrime division.

Welcome to the birthplace of democracy!

By: Nίκος

Nίκος — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Congratulations, you’ve just been slashdotted.

By: Simone

Simone — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Sued? You mean arrested! Big difference, my friend.

By: Oneiros

Oneiros — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Well, I guess what with Slashdot, The Register and Instapundit ("An Internet embarrassment for Greece") linking to the story, the cat's really out of the bag now ;-)
Thanks for the repost, arcanumas! The story kicked off a mixed bag of interesting threads at Slashdot (130+ comments so far) with political, investigative, sociological and even theological subthemes (no Russian reversal or All your base puns as yet, though). Glenn Reynolds' comment is deadpan and dead-on, as usual ("Sounds like they need those panels"), while Kieren McCarthy's writeup for the Reg packs a bite: ("Many Greeks will be surprised to learn they appear to have joined the ranks of Iran, China and Vietnam").

I deliberately avoided speculating on the vague aspects of the case, Artson; for all the finger-pointing going around, there's no actual evidence as yet about who the plaintiff, or the source of his ire really is. Fixating on prepossessing the verdict could only hurt Mr. Tsipropoulos' case before the court (,I think; IANAL), and it'd made us all look like fools if it turned out that the rumours were off the mark. Myself, I'll defer judgment until the defendant releases more details on the case (or until they're provided pending a freedom of information request to the judiciary by public demand ;-)
Of course, if the rumors do turn out to be true, it'll pop a bigger can of worms in local affairs by orders of magnitude...

Thanks for the heads up, Νίκο, Στάθη (& Σταύρο); as far as I can tell, the blogentis server (little plug there ;-p) withstood the slashdotting, if there was any, but I'd have to ask Tassos to check the logs to be sure.

You're right, Simone -which is why I changed the title of the post- but the fact is that he was released pending arraignmnent. The original title was sensationalist enough as it was; I only wanted to bring the matter to attention, I'm not out to defame my country or anything like that. The truth of the matter is that incidents like that are few and far between (but tend to be spectacular!). The IT industry, academia and various communities around here are more than savvy and approachable enough to help the state avoid embarrassments like that, if only they were consulted with every now and then.

By: Oneiros

Oneiros — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

Now, there’s an idea: how about compiling a Greek version of EFF’’s Bloggers’ Guide for Investigating Government Agencies, released last week? Any kind of FOI how-to would be useful to foreigners living in , or visiting, Greece, as well.

By: betabug

betabug — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

I just signed up for the forum. If my application comes through, I will attend the "Openness" discussion, maybe I can get some questions in, like "what good is talking about freedom of speech, when you can get arrested for a link - even in a democratic country like Greece?"

I urge others in Athens to try to sign up and come there too: Signup Page.

By: Oneiros

Oneiros — Tue, 30 Nov 1999 00:00:00 +0000

IGF webcast / audiocast links have been made available. The opening ceremony is just wrapping up; coincidentally, I started accessing the stream just as Commissioner Reding's speech focused on the need for free speech...