Closure of thread by "Occupy" member

I'd like some clarification from the moderation about their closure of this thread.

While I agree that it was something of a touchy subject, and certainly had the potential to break a forum rule, it had not IMO actually done so. The reasons give for closure were:

1. Political activity
2. Discussion of potentially illegal activity

Re: Political activity

The OP did not make any attempt to discuss or promote his group's political aims, but merely approached the forum for technical advice regarding communications security. I feel there was no breach of ToCs.

Re: Illegal activity

• Legitimate political protest is not illegal
• Use of technology for secure communications is not illegal
• The OP did not advocate or ask for information regarding anything illegal

I'm not expecting the thread to be re-opened, I'm just a bit concerned that the reasons given for closure don't seem to reflect the actual content of the thread. If the mods involved can justify their decision that's fine.

I did not close the thread, but it is overtly political.

If the OP requires technical support, allow them to ask a technical question without the political introduction or posting in the café.

As it is, the question, as asked, is both political and open ended. The OP seems to have done little or no "home work" on the issue (thus the question is open ended).

As it is , the question comes across as "how do I circumvent Big Brother?" and / or "help me circumvent the law", (political) and less "How do I use TOR?" (technical).

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Originally Posted by bodhi.zazen

As it is , the question comes across as "how do I circumvent Big Brother?" and / or "help me circumvent the law", (political)

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Hmmm, I've seen plenty of other discussions regarding online privacy that didn't get stomped. I think we've been a little too touchy here.

You may not agree with Occupy's politics (I don't feel any great affinity to them myself), but they've got just as much right to their privacy as the rest of us. They're not doing anything illegal. Considering how paranoid a lot of Linux users are I'd say they're a lot less privacy-obsessed than a lot of regular folks here. There's a lot of very paranoid talk about Google on here, for a start. Why is it considered unacceptable to discuss privacy when the agency you're trying to hide from is a government instead of a corporation?

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and less "How do I use TOR?" (technical).

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Well, that's the kind of thing they were after, they just didn't get much help along those lines.

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Originally Posted by Paqman

Hmmm, I've seen plenty of other discussions regarding online privacy that didn't get stomped. I think we've been a little too touchy here.

You may not agree with Occupy's politics (I don't feel any great affinity to them myself), but they've got just as much right to their privacy as the rest of us. They're not doing anything illegal. Considering how paranoid a lot of Linux users are I'd say they're a lot less privacy-obsessed than a lot of regular folks here. There's a lot of very paranoid talk about Google on here, for a start. Why is it considered unacceptable to discuss privacy when the agency you're trying to hide from is a government instead of a corporation?



Well, that's the kind of thing they were after, they just didn't get much help along those lines.

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Like bodhi.zazen, said we have nothing against someone asking and getting help keeping their online activities as private as possible, if the op were to ask a question without the political preamble, and in the proper section of the forum, we wouldn't have a problem with helping him out.

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Originally Posted by cariboo907

Like bodhi.zazen, said we have nothing against someone asking and getting help keeping their online activities as private as possible, if the op were to ask a question without the political preamble, and in the proper section of the forum, we wouldn't have a problem with helping him out.

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I fully agree with this.