It's true that I was subpoened in the Carl Johnson case (along with John Gilmore and perhaps some other list-members) and ended up testifying very briefly. My lawyer at the time indicated that because Johnson was not a source -- just some random guy who sent me a few messages -- I had no journalistic privilege that I could raise. But I do now, and I have raised it. As for the motion, I didn't write it, and those aren't the *moral* or *principled* objections I would raise (and I have raised). Those are the objections my lawyer thinks constitute the best trial tactics, and I respect his judgment. Saying more than that seems inappropriate at this point. -Declan On Mon, Apr 02, 2001 at 11:01:19AM -0400, Greg Newby wrote:
On Mon, Apr 02, 2001 at 02:52:15AM -0400, Seth Finkelstein wrote:
I'm probably going to be deeply sorry for this, but the following question has been bothering me for a while:
Why in the world does anyone on this list trust Declan McCullagh?
Your argument doesn't do much for me, Seth. The problem is, what you say of Declan could be true of ANYONE you talk to, journalist or not, and ANYONE on mailing lists or other forums where you send your thoughts.
The advantage of talking to Declan is that maybe, possibly, some "freedom of the press" issues will let him avoid spilling everything. In that case, you'd need to trust him to keep your best interests.
For non-press, you'd still need to wonder whose interests they have at heart, but without the (minimal) protection offered by a member of the press.
More importantly, a member of the press isn't going to get a lot of inside scoops if he develops a reputation as a turncoat. This, to me, is the crux: It's in any journalist's interest to be trustworthy. In the context of cypherpunks activity, being trustworthy means not playing into the hands of over-zealous law enforcement techniques. After all, the DATA are there (that is, the Web pages, mailing list postings, news articles, etc.). All the Feds are looking for, in this case, is someone with credentials a judge will listen to.
That's my logic, anyway.
Personally, on what I've read from Declan, I'd trust him more than 99% of other journalists who write about technological issues. This is based on technical understanding, as well as what I consider to be a decent track record of standing up against authority.
-- Greg