The universality of the laundering criminal offence

[P.C. van Duyne]

In the FBI action against Kim Dotcom uploaders of copy right protected items now also face a laundering charge. It is a good example of the way in which the state bends and strechted the legal tools which were once put into place for a specific threat: first against drug money, then against organised crime (whatever that means), to protect the integrity of the financial system (but undermined by its own most non-integre greedy bonus hunters), and eventually applied to nerds uploading pirated music and films.

Morale: never follow the do-gooders in their drive to give "father state" more widely formulated powers arguing that it will only be used against a really "big threat". In the end such tools will be invariably used against any small transgressing fry. Legislation should become again "codified distrust", against law breakers and the state alike, as was the philosophy of the old 19th century liberals.