1984! Japan Just Made Everything A Criminal Conspiracy

[grarpamp]

https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2017/06/new-law-japan-lets-police-arrest-surveil-merely-planning-discussing-certain-acts-like-copyright-violation/
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-40283730

New law in Japan lets police arrest and surveil those merely planning
or discussing certain acts, like copyright violation
“Unless a crime in committed in Japan, you don’t get punished … now if
they think you are thinking of preparing to commit a crime, even
before you’re arrested, you’ll be put under surveillance.

Earlier today, after an intentionally rushed consideration process,
Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe passed a new mass surveillance law
conveniently called the "anti-conspiracy bill." With the vague wording
of the bill, anyone suspected of planning any of [the 277 acts listed
in the bill] could be put under targeted surveillance. Of course, the
Japanese government has promised not to overstep their boundaries and
emphasized that the new law is only meant to increase security before
the 2020 Olympics. Among the noted crimes that would be punishable in
Japan under the new anti-terrorism law is copyright violation, which
is a criminal offense not a civil offense in Japan. Both the Japanese
Bar Association and the United Nation's Special Rapporteur have spoken
out against the law, saying that it will severely curtail civil
liberties in Japan.

BBC laid out some of the most ridiculous things that someone in Japan
can now catch a potentially terrorism-related charge for even planning
or discussing on social media the acts of: Copying music; Conducting
sit-ins to protest against the construction of apartment buildings;
Using forged stamps; Competing in a motor boat race without a license;
Mushroom picking in conservation forests; Avoiding paying consumption
tax. The stated rationale of the government is that these now-illegal
acts, such as copying music to CDs or foraging for mushrooms in
conservation forests, could be used to fund terrorist activities.
Hence, planning or thinking about them is bad. If this sounds like the
Thought Police, that's because it is.