Australia hands over man to US courts - National - theage.com.au
I think I can say, first and foremost, I am a patriot. This is my country, right or wrong, but always my country. I owe allegiance to it and to its laws, and if I break them, I am tried in their courts.
But I don't think the same can be said of Hew. Hew was extradited to stand trial in the United States even though he had never set one foot within our borders. He hasn't lived here, he hasn't voted here, yet somehow he can be tried here. Were the situation reversed, and a US citizen were extradited, we'd be fit to be tied.
There are also a few other things that are just priceless in this story: "But Drink or Die's activities did cost American companies money — an estimated $US50 million ($A60 million), if legal sales were substituted for illegal downloads undertaken through Drink or Die. It also raised the ire of US authorities."
That priceless word "if". If legal sales were substituted for illegal downloads. Doesn't that assume--and we all know what that does--that these people given the choice between not having the software and having it would pony up the cash? And if they had the cash at that point, why wouldn't they have bought it in the first place?
No comments:
Post a Comment