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Old 18th September 2010
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TerryP
Government has the power to do anything they damn well please.
In a sense, that's what it comes down to. Of course, usually there will be some limits on what a Gov't can do. But in the case at hand, it seems they do have the power to seize equipment based on the suspicion of piracy. Whether that suspicion is reasonable or trumped up as an excuse may not matter. Once the fed goons show up at the door, I don't think telling them you run open source will stop them. After all, you could be lying, right? They have to check the equipment to make sure. And once they have the computers, the gig is up, they can read your data (the real purpose of the seizure). They might even be able to force you to unlock encrypted data.

About the only benefit of using open source in this situation I can think of off hand is, that if the Gov't actually has any shred of integrity (a big assumption in some cases!), then if you aren't a pirate they won't punish you for piracy. Of course, once they've seen your data, maybe they have other laws to punish under.
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