Declan McCullagh and prosecutions

[Declan McCullagh]

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
>