PUBLIC MARKS with tags pirate & internet

Fourteen years ago, a pasty Irish teenager with a flair for inventions arrived at Edinburgh University to study artificial intelligence and computer science. For his thesis project, Ian Clarke created "a Distributed, Decentralised Information Storage and Retrieval System", or, as a less precise person might put it, a revolutionary new way for people to use the internet without detection. By downloading Clarke's software, which he intended to distribute for free, anyone could chat online, or read or set up a website, or share files, with almost complete anonymity.

Aujourd’hui, j’ai 2895 fichiers dans mon partage. Nous sommes des millions à chercher, trier et échanger des fichiers ; et si la culture est bien ce processus collectif qui permet aux œuvres de perdurer au fil de l’Histoire et des générations, nous sommes aujourd’hui parmi ses acteurs principaux. Pour le malheur, j’en conviens, de ses défenseurs auto-proclamés.

First they came for the hackers. But I never did anything illegal with my computer, so I didn't speak up. Then they came for the pornographers. But I thought there was too much smut on the Internet anyway, so I didn't speak up. Then they came for the anonymous remailers. But a lot of nasty stuff gets sent from anon.penet.fi, so I didn't speak up. Then they came for the encryption users. But I could never figure out how to work PGP anyway, so I didn't speak up. Then they came for me. And by that time there was no one left to speak up. It can happen folks

le grand frisson...brrr