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Should bomb-making instructions be protected free speech?

Should publishing/posting bomb-making instructions be protected as free speech?

  • Yes

    Votes: 35 70.0%

  • No

    Votes: 14 28.0%

  • IDK/Other

    Votes: 1 2.0%
  • Total voters
    50
joko104 said:
Sorry, I won't search, and would not link to such a website if I knew. The news has been covering a specific website specifically set up by Al Quida for how to make bombs to use and how to use them for terrorism, which appears is where the Boston bombers found their design and made it exactly from, using it exactly as suggested.

I voted no. Since bombs are always illegal without strict permits/Lincense, I believe such websites could be outlawed, banned and removed.
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I wouldn't mind if the government hacked that AQ website and changed their bomb making instructions. Either so that the bomb is a dud or bomb explodes in their face while they're assembling it.
 
PirateMk1 said:
Nope. Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. What part of Congress shall not do you not understand?
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You have to put things in context, freedom of speech was about being able to openly criticize the government or anyone else for that matter without being executed as happened in countries that the founding fathers came from. Bomb making instructions are not in that category.
 
Harry Guerrilla said:
It's sad that some people believe that banning bomb instructions on the net will actually do anything.
But go ahead, ban them. :roll:
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That's what I say, but nobody ever listens to Libertarians.... **** 'em. :rock :blastem:
 
Sure it should be protected...it can be used for educational purposes. It doesn't mean that everyone who reads it has malice in their hearts and wants to murder folks.

Don't give an INCH of freedom or they will take a MILE of it.
 
joko104 said:
There are websites giving exact details on how to make bombs easily, including such as was used in the Boston murders and attack. Should the government be able to outlaw it? Should websites that give bomb-making instructions be protected free speech?
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Should we ban instructions on how to make guns? It's hard to justify banning information that is not classified by the goverment. Furthermore, if the information is located outside the country, who will ban it?
 
Muhammed said:
I wouldn't mind if the government hacked that AQ website and changed their bomb making instructions. Either so that the bomb is a dud or bomb explodes in their face while they're assembling it.
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As long as it's hosted outside the US (and probably most of Europe) then I wouldn't have a problem with it - as long as they don't get caught! ;)


But that's quite a different subject than censoring websites.
 
Muhammed said:
I wouldn't mind if the government hacked that AQ website and changed their bomb making instructions. Either so that the bomb is a dud or bomb explodes in their face while they're assembling it.
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I WOULD mind if our government did that...but if, say, some, I don't know...Anonymous group did it, I certainly wouldn't put too much thought or effort in trying bring them to justice for the crime.
 
sawyerloggingon said:
You have to put things in context, freedom of speech was about being able to openly criticize the government or anyone else for that matter without being executed as happened in countries that the founding fathers came from. Bomb making instructions are not in that category.
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I don't see ANY qualifications in that amendment. Congress may make NO law abridging the freedom of speech. Seems clear enough for me. Again what part of Congress shall not do you not understand?
 
joko104 said:
There are websites giving exact details on how to make bombs easily, including such as was used in the Boston murders and attack. Should the government be able to outlaw it? Should websites that give bomb-making instructions be protected free speech?
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Government should not be able to outlaw it. Websites should be protected, it is information and nothing more.

Fear the educated populace.
 
Captain America said:
You couldn't PAY me to click on a website like that!

You'd have black S.U.V.'s in your driveway before you know it! Yikes!
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This site is monitored for extremist activity. The ultra right members who say water the tree of liberty are under investigation.
 
DVSentinel said:
Other than mine.

I kind of figure they keep a close tab on such sites. Like the fabled, Anarchist Cookbook site. I say fabled because I have never actually tried to find out if it was real or not.
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Yep, it's real and available on Amazon, according to a report I saw last night. The author has apologized for it and would like to see it removed from circulation. The publishing house which owns the rights, the author no longer does, dropped it saying there is no purpose to keeping it in print.
 
It absolutely should be protected.

Unless it explodes, a bomb is just a thing. An inanimate thing. You may as well ban guns, knives, cars, baseball bats, and anything else that is innocuous itself but can be used to kill or maim.

I don't think a slippery slope should be created here. Pretty soon, we'll turn into China.
 
joko104 said:
There are websites giving exact details on how to make bombs easily, including such as was used in the Boston murders and attack. Should the government be able to outlaw it? Should websites that give bomb-making instructions be protected free speech?
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No the government should not be allowed to ban it. Instructions are speech.Speech is articulation of words regardless if its done verbally,written/typed or done in sign language.
 
DVSentinel said:
Actually, I have made soda bottle bombs before and used them to scare away deer and other animals in the fields. Some toilet cleaner, tin foil in a plastic soda bottle, boom. Makes a loud noise like a shotgun going off. But they are probably not very dangerous other than to the person doing them.
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Those sound like fun! The biggest bomb that I've ever made was baking soda + vinegar in a snap cap Rx bottle. Those just make a little pop and shoot the lid up about 5 feet (I was only 8 y/o).
 
Ah, the Works bomb. I made plenty of those as a kid. They're technically a "bomb" by strict definition, but the chances of getting hurt by one are as close to zero as you can get, unless legally retarded or irrationally brave/daredevil-ish.
 
I don't consider bomb-making instructions a part of free speech. Some may, but it really isn't speech at all. It's simply a guide on how to hurt as many people as possible, and no good can come from that. This is my personal opinion; on the legal side, it will most likely remain protected by freedom of speech.
 
Monkey said:
I don't consider bomb-making instructions a part of free speech. Some may, but it really isn't speech at all. It's simply a guide on how to hurt as many people as possible, and no good can come from that. This is my personal opinion; on the legal side, it will most likely remain protected by freedom of speech.
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An oppressive government can hurt more people than any bomb could ever hope to do.
 
Gipper said:
An oppressive government can hurt more people than any bomb could ever hope to do.
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True, but can you realistically call outlawing bomb-making instructions oppressive? I call it smart.
 
Monkey said:
True, but can you realistically call outlawing bomb-making instructions oppressive? I call it smart.
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What's next then? When you allow a nanny state to become even nannier (for lack of a better term...or a real word), you're essentially opening the flood gates for Orwellian tactics.

How many millions of people die to diabetes or obesity-related illnesses? Should we seize the formula for Coca-Cola in the annals of an Atlanta vault and destroy it?

This isn't the movie Minority Report. Just because someone builds a bomb, does not mean that they intend to use it, let alone use it to cause harm to others. What if I want to make a bomb to help destroy a rotting shed in my backyard? Am I a felon? Am I a bad person?

People who want to ban this knowledge are people who would not stop here. They'll slowly give away their rights to the state and let a governing body dictate what they can and cannot do.

Sorry, I won't stand for that.
 
Monkey said:
True, but can you realistically call outlawing bomb-making instructions oppressive? I call it smart.
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I call it dumb. Any kid who has taken high school chemistry has the knowledge to make a bomb. Are you going to regulate Chemistry knowledge too?
 
Ikari said:
I call it dumb. Any kid who has taken high school chemistry has the knowledge to make a bomb. Are you going to regulate Chemistry knowledge too?
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You know what happens when you mix acids and bases, don't you?

 
Gipper said:
What's next then? When you allow a nanny state to become even nannier (for lack of a better term...or a real word), you're essentially opening the flood gates for Orwellian tactics.

How many millions of people die to diabetes or obesity-related illnesses? Should we seize the formula for Coca-Cola in the annals of an Atlanta vault and destroy it?

This isn't the movie Minority Report. Just because someone builds a bomb, does not mean that they intend to use it, let alone use it to cause harm to others. What if I want to make a bomb to help destroy a rotting shed in my backyard? Am I a felon? Am I a bad person?

People who want to ban this knowledge are people who would not stop here. They'll slowly give away their rights to the state and let a governing body dictate what they can and cannot do.

Sorry, I won't stand for that.
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I'm guessing you're referring to Mayor Bloomberg's soda ban proposal. If it makes any difference I've never supported it, but I don't consider this a...nanny'ish' (since we're making up our own words) thing to do. I consider bombs an entirely different thing, because at least for the most part, there is hardly anything good that comes out of making a bomb. Soda intake however can be regulated by the individual, and whether or not the individual is responsible is his own problem. The great thing is someones choice to drink ungodly amounts of soda has a limited impact on my life. Someone planting a bomb in my home-town, however, could definitely have an impact on my life. I'm not sure that you need a high-grade bomb to take out a shed, and even so, that doesn't seem like a very common way of dismantling things.

Ikari said:
I call it dumb. Any kid who has taken high school chemistry has the knowledge to make a bomb. Are you going to regulate Chemistry knowledge too?
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A bomb like the one set off in Boston? Perhaps, but I've already completed a semester of college-level Chemistry and I'm not all that well-versed in bomb making at this point in time.
 
Monkey said:
A bomb like the one set off in Boston? Perhaps, but I've already completed a semester of college-level Chemistry and I'm not all that well-versed in bomb making at this point in time.
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Maybe you should have paid attention. It's one of the simplest things in all of Chemistry to make things blow up. I took a lot of science, and I can tell you that from high school chemistry, I learned enough to be able to build "bombs". It's not tough.

It's like claiming you didn't know thermite was nothing more than rust powder and aluminum powder ignited with a high temperature source like Magnesium after taking high school chemistry.
 
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