Ransomware gang threatens release of Washington D.C. police records

Re:Ransomware gang threatens release of Washington D.C. poli... by SkyBelow on Wednesday May 12, 2021 @08:57AM (#27129772)

There is a distinction between what is legal to do and what is socially acceptable to do. While black mail over illegal actions are the most common example used, a society that is very liberty focused in the law but who has strict standards on what is considered acceptable behavior can still lead to blackmail.

A society would need to be both liberty focused and tolerance focused to reduce the potential for someone to be blackmailed, but this runs counter to the notion that the fallout of blackmailable material being released is a just occurrence.

Blackmail is a side effect of punishment, legal, social, or otherwise, and the only cases where I think the majority will agree to reduce punishment to reduce blackmail is cases where people already believe the punishment isn't deserved.

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Re:Ransomware gang threatens release of Washington D.C. poli... by clarkmoody on Wednesday May 12, 2021 @11:03AM (#27131164)

You seem to think blackmail is the issue here. The real problem is that drug gang informants risk being murdered.

Since drugs are a black market with lots of money on the line and no legal protections for the business, things get violent rather quickly. Gangs can also use the violence of the police against their rivals, in a deep twist of irony.

There is a long and nuanced discussion to be had that blackmail can actually serve a useful societal function and laws against it make things worse, but I don't want to get into that here.

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Re:Ransomware gang threatens release of Washington D.C. poli... by DubiousPusher on Wednesday May 12, 2021 @11:29AM (#27131453)

Stigma and criminality often go hand-in-hand.

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