rhetorical trickery

Vladimir Z. Nuri vznuri at netcom.com
Sat Mar 9 18:19:29 PST 1996



>> there is an infamous case of a child pornographer or pedophile in
>> California that is sometimes cited by law enforcement representatives
>> as a good example of the evils of encryption: supposedly he encrypted
>> his diary and it couldn't be unlocked by them. this was mentioned in
>> the article.
>> 
>> but I have a question: how did they know it was his diary?
>
>If I remember some earlier discussion about that case from a few years
>ago, the file was called "diary.pgp".

how did they know it was *his* diary?

granted, this is highly suggestive, but again not conclusive.
it could be his friend's diary, or a diary of his flowertending,
or whatever.

sure, a government agent could insist, "well, don't be a bonehead.
it's obviously his diary, and surely contains all his crimes against
children".

ah yes, just as, obviously, even before trial, "the man is a criminal"







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