Past threatening the future

Bram Cohen, the author of BitTorrent is under legal scrutiny for something he wrote back in 1999.

A technological activist's agenda

"I am a technological activist. I have a political agenda. I am in favor of basic human rights: to free speech, to use any information and technology, to purchase and use recreational drugs, to enjoy and purchase so-called 'vices', to be free of intruders, and to privacy.

I further my goals with technology. I build systems to disseminate information, commit digital piracy, synthesize drugs, maintain untrusted contacts, purchase anonymously, and secure machines and homes. I release my code and writings freely, and publish all of my ideas early to make them unpatentable.

Technology is not a panacea. I refuse to work on technology to track users, analyze usage patterns, watermark information, censor, detect drug use, or eavesdrop. I am not naive enough to think any of those technologies could enable a 'compromise'.

Despite my emphasis on technology, I do not view laws as inherently evil. My goals are political ones, even if my techniques are not. The only way to fundamentally succeed is by changing existing laws. If I rejected all help from the political arena I would inevitably fail."

The big fishes are already after Bram's blood for developing BitTorrent. Oh Bram, don't get into trouble for not knowing the future and writing this parody. "They" blame you for failure of their outdated business model. But why hinder the evolution of technology. BitTorrent is the present and future of how data will be transferred over network.