I'm still digesting the talk so I might think differently later...
I'm not sure understood his distinction between blackmail and extortion. My Black's Law Dictionary says that blackmail is equivalent to and synonymous with extortion. Maybe he meant that blackmail was obtaining money not to ruin your reputation and extortion was threatening to physically hurt you if you didn't pay up, but I don't know.
In any event, I agreed with his idea, as he explained it, about blackmail and privacy. If you are having an affair with s/o at the office and that is disapproved of by your firm, it is your job to keep it a secret and make sure no one finds out. If someone does find out it is perfectly within their rights to gossip about it. Now if they want you to pay them money so that they don't, that is between you and them. It's a contract between the two of you and no one else's business. I can't say I would admire the blackmailer morally, but I certainly don't find it criminal.
As far as privacy rights are generally concerned (like medical privacy or things like that) I would again say it is your job to keep things a secret if you don't want people to know. You could deal only with providers who would be willing to sign a confidentiality agreement and you could chose not apply for insurance that requires disclosure. There is no more right to insurance than there is to food, water, a home or a job...
Francoise
Francoise Fielding wrote:
I'm still digesting the talk so I might think differently later...
I'm not sure understood his distinction between blackmail and extortion. My Black's Law Dictionary says that blackmail is equivalent to and synonymous with extortion. Maybe he meant that blackmail was obtaining money not to ruin your reputation and extortion was threatening to physically hurt you if you didn't pay up, but I don't know.
He defines extortion as threatening to act illegally in a way that hurts you (e.g. killing your child), in order to use you.
He defines blackmail as threatening to act legally in a way that hurts you (e.g. reporting a past crime of yours), in order to use you.
In any event, I agreed with his idea, as he explained it, about blackmail and privacy. If you are having an affair with s/o at the office and that is disapproved of by your firm, it is your job to keep it a secret and make sure no one finds out. If someone does find out it is perfectly within their rights to gossip about it. Now if they want you to pay them money so that they don't, that is between you and them. It's a contract between the two of you and no one else's business. I can't say I would admire the blackmailer morally, but I certainly don't find it criminal.
In cases where the blackmailee has committed a crime, it seems that the blackmailer is being moral by reporting them, and perhaps being borderline by profiting from the situation instead. In either case, the blackmailee is in a sense paying for their crime.
However, there are cases there the blackmailee has done no crime, but still has a vulnerability. Let's look at the case where I am dating Anna and Julia, but they don't know about each other. Now my renter Alex tells me that he is going to tell Anna about Julia and Julia about Anna if I don't lower his rent. I see his action as "dirty and sneaky", however, I don't think it is a crime, and I certainly don't think the state should get involved. I knew ahead of time that I didn't want the girls finding out about each other. It is my duty to keep that secret, even from Alex, and if I am smart, from EVERYONE, so that my vulnerability cannot be used against me. And I accept such duties as part of the fabric of life. Incidentally, I try hard to avoid having vulnerabilities like this.
As far as privacy rights are generally concerned (like medical privacy or things like that) I would again say it is your job to keep things a secret if you don't want people to know. You could deal only with providers who would be willing to sign a confidentiality agreement and you could chose not apply for insurance that requires disclosure. There is no more right to insurance than there is to food, water, a home or a job...
I agree with Walter on all these points.
I agree that blackmail is not a crime.
I agree that privacy is not a right.
I agree that information is not property.
-Mike
[ blackmail].. I can't say I would admire the blackmailer morally, but I certainly don't find it criminal.
I for the most part agree. Should this also apply to national secrets? For example, if by chance some military secret falls into my hands, should I have to right to blackmail the government not to give it to a foreign power?
As far as privacy rights are generally concerned (like medical privacy or things like that) I would again say it is your job to keep things a secret
Here I also generally agree. But are there any limits to information gathering rights? For example, we'd probably agree that a neighbor has the right to look at your house with the naked eye. But do they have the right to set up a terahertz camera that can see through walls and clothing? Does the government share this right?
-- Steve