My first reaction to this verdict was that a crime had not been committed, but the more I think about it, the less certain I am. I have come up with an analogy to help me sort it out:

A business writes the names and personal information of its customers on an ourside wall. In order to access the wall, a person must first walk down an alley. The alley leads directly to the street and there is not any security or signs indicating if the alley is public or private. I walk down the alley and see the data. I return later, with a notepad, and record all the customer information. I turn over the information to a local newspaper. It turns out the alley was private property.

Have I committed a crime? If yes, which crimes and what punishment could I expect?

The jury had some problems with a few phones. In one case, they ordered the phone had not infringed and then later ordered compensation for the phone. In another instance, the breakdown of compensation didn't equal the total compensation awarded (bad math on the part of the jury) and the judge doesn't know which amount they meant. There are probably more, but those are the first two I can remember.

So, the judge order new trials on all the phones she couldn't figure out what the jury meant or they clearly used "impermissible legal theory" in determining damages.

And without government, what is to stop companies from using tools such as physical violence to secure their markets. Conversely, without government intervention to secure a brand name, trademark, what would stop another company from selling an Apple iPhone that was not an iPhone? Without any protections, how would companies make any profits at all? I am not for government control of markets, but my concerns are the extent of government influence. I cannot envision a scenario where no government intervention would turn out well.

While I don't disagree with your assessment, are you suggesting that government is the only tool a company can use to gain a monopoly? Considering that the goal of most capitalist, free market, ventures is to become a monopoly, I would expect them to use any resource available to attain that end (and I see many alternatives to government). The benefit of government in this situation (good government at least) is to ensure that markets remain competitive despite the desire of all the participants to destroy each other (along with free market). If you take away government, what force will rectify the market once a monopoly has been achieved?

This seems like a damned if you do, damned if you don't situation.

I think most of the people here understand the protection of classified information. The concern is that too much of the government and military's operation is now classified. As a result, citizens have a difficult time becoming informed. The benign nature of most of documents released by Manning gives credence to that concern.

Many believe that uninformed citizens, marching lock-step with their leaders, is not a good foundation for a democracy. With the rise of secret courts and selective justice, targeting for assasination of citizens on the word of the Executive alone, and domestic spying on an unprecendented scale, some citizens are concerned. In that context, the wrongs of PFC Manning are weighed against the wrongs of the government. Some have decided that Manning's actions are the lesser evil.

This law seems quite broad. Just thinking out loud here, but if a soldier in the field gave a candy bar to a local child knowing that the child might or might not have connections to the enemy, wouldn't that be actionable under this law? It could be seen as violation of number 1, as a transfer of supplies or a violation of 2, as indirect intercourse.

I guess that is the value of vague laws, then the powers that be get to decide when to enforce them.

The website clearly states that it is a "fansite" and not affiliated with Ron Paul. While they could do more to distance their site from Ron Paul, that is not what this dispute is about.

They have raised millions of dollars for Ron Paul and built him a supporter list of 170,000 people. He did not refuse the money when running his multiple campaigns despite knowing its origins. Did Ron Paul ask the website to cease its operations at any time in the last 5 years? Has Ron Paul offered to pay the costs to build and run the website and mailing list during that time? It sounds to me like Ron Paul knowingly benefitted from the site for a substantial period of time. I would characterize that as, at the very least, implicit consent.

I think it is quite a stretch to call this situation cybersquatting.

I think you need to read the post more closely. They are responding to someone who believes that copyright should work like trademark. Currently, trademark law creates some undesirable outcomes and they don't want to see those outcomes also apply to copyright law.

How is this different from the "private" internet? The government is already filtering and monitoring traffic right now. Google "AT&T NSA" if you need any evidence.

They are funding this one ongoing. Accoring to the Wall Street Journal, 80% of Tor's funding comes from the U.S. government.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324677204578185382377144280.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

But Facebook has already admitted to creating "shadow accounts" for people who have not opted in. They still track their behavior through like buttons around the internet unless you surf with noscript, etc.They still try to learn faces, habits, etc. and they also sell the information.

And yet onion networks were developed by DARPA (U.S. government) and Tor is still largely funded by the U.S. government. While I would like to agree with you in principle, in this instance the government made the Silk Road's anonymity possible (of course selling drugs, prositution, hitmen, etc. isn't the primary goal of the network).

Don't forget the giant private prison system in the U.S.

It is legal to grow your own plants and transfer up to a ounce of pot to another person in Colorado (passed last election). The government has until July (if I remember correctly) to come up with the framework for the full retail sale of Marijuana. Washington state is also working in a framework to sell legal pot.

The funny thing is that it exists and can stay anonymous thanks to a system designed by the United States government (DARPA to be exact). The network still gets most of its funding from the U.S. government.