The fact that you don't understand my perspective on an issue, or have decided to put everyone in the world into a "with me" or "against me" bucket, does not mean I'm being inconsistent. I wouldn't bother to respond to a comment like this except that this is such a common pathology it might be helpful to call it out.

What makes this pathology even more annoying is that it suggests we'd rather have punching bags than discussions. It's as if any place we agree on the issues, and any progress we make towards agreement, is something to be mad about.

My guess is you've put me in the "thinks Aaron should have gone to prison" bucket, and thus we disagree about what should or shouldn't be criminalized. But we do not now nor have we ever disagreed that Aaron didn't deserve prison time for downloading journal articles (for fuck's sake). People who steal credit cards online have received suspended sentences.

And if you find anyone anywhere writing online that is making a coherent effort to argue on behalf of criminal sentencing, I'd sure love to know about it.

C'mon man, that's not at all what I said. I don't understand your perspective from your comment because you didn't make any sense.

your comment that i replied to: "That's clearly not what happened in this case."

your comment as it is viewed now: That's clearly not what happened in this case. <i>Sorry, caught a call</i> This case didn't get picked up by or delegated to a loser; it was run by one of the most senior computer crimes prosecutors in the country.

Oh, you "caught a call"? When the phone rings you just hit "reply"?