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Johnstech

July 21, 2004

Downloading for Democracy


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Internet users typically flock to "peer to peer" networks like Kazaa to share music, movies, software and even pornography. A 2nd year student at St Johns School of Law in Queens has found a very different use for file-sharing.

Thad Anderson is disseminating hard-to-find government and court documents on the Kazaa, Limewire and Soulseek networks. They include memos about the prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib; a Senate Intelligence Committee report on what the government knew about weapons of mass destruction before it invaded Iraq; and details of contracts awarded to Haliburton Corporation for the reconstruction of Iraq.

Anderson is a Democrat but says file-sharing can be useful for people all political persuasions.

Comments (1)


Our use of the Internet makes me hopeful for democracy.
The printing press, invented in 1450, helped to end the Dark Ages. It made information available to way more people than ever before.
Now the ordinary person's learning options, at home, are unimaginably multiplied.
And Google! 'Most any info you desire in less than a second.
Many find this more interesting than watching TV.
The ordinary person can communicate with other individuals around the world and feel a personal connection.
Maybe humankind could make it, I don't know.
If Americans realize how crucial it is to vote.
If I had hope that the vote tallying would be honest.


Posted by Carolyn James | July 23, 2004 10:59 AM

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