Friend of mine seems to be in trouble with the law, although he’s not sure why. Apparently the FBI just showed up at the door and displayed a warrant and took away his computers (yes, plural, he’s a programmer). They left his ipod but kept the cable. Word from friends who have had the same treatment is that you’ll never get the machines back, so you might as well just write them off and buy new ones. All I have is questions.
Does insurance pay for things that the government impounds for investigation? I mean, what about a rental for while you’re waiting for the old one back? How do you get to work if your car is impounded and there’s no bus? Is this how police departments get their IT equipment? Maybe they were just crooks impersonating FBI agents? I’d have wanted proof– maybe you could call 911 and ask. Is there an FBI hotline for things like this? “What the fuck do you want from me?” I mean, do you need to file a FOIA request just to find out why you’re being arrested? Can you file such a request from prison? Can you it up online once they’ve taken away your internet access?
I guess this really is a police state after all. Maybe I should really reconsider that Canada thing. Montreal can’t be much colder than this, and condos are cheaper there by a long shot anyway. On the other hand, freedom of speech in Canada is badly broken.
Secretly Ironic 