Next time you're reaching down for that iPod or Zune (or anything else for that matter), take care that you don't alarm the authorities with any suspicious movements -- or you could end up like the UK's Darren Nixon. Apparently, the mild-mannered mechanic was on his way home from work when the Bobbies surrounded him and drew their guns, believing that the MP3 player in his pocket was a firearm. According to the Daily Mail, Mr. Nixon was tracked on CCTV, arrested at gunpoint, swabbed for DNA, fingerprinted, and thrown in a cell -- all for listening to a bootleg of
Chinese Democracy on a 4GB Philips
GoGear. Said Darren, "I was really shocked when I saw the guns. They were pointing them right at me. It was a pretty scary experience. I had no idea what was going on." After the team of Mentat cops realized their mistake, they couldn't even offer an apology, said Nixon, "They just dropped me off at home and said a quick 'sorry for any inconvenience', and that was all I got from them, which I thought was pretty out of order." Once again, a hot serving of sweet justice.
[Via
CrunchGear]
posted February 13th 2008 11:08AM
Woah!! Swabbed for DNA!!!?? WTF! I thought Bloomberg was the only a$$hole who wanted to bring this sort of sh!t into law.
Man, I thought the US was going down the gurgler...
You have no privacy in the UK, none. Its like a futuristic horror movie.
Do you not live on Earth? Every country is crappy in at least one or two (or sixteen) significant ways.
And people call me crazy for wanting to one day steal an anti-satellite laser and take over the moooonnn!!!
Now they like to take your DNA for anything you do. They ask you personal questions "Are you a master of locksmithing, do you know how to break locks, are you a computer hacker? do you have advanced knowledge of computing?" and all that bollocks, along with taking a mugshot, fingerprints and a DNA swab.
All western countries are going down, the ruling class are going mad, the cops are the canaries in the mine.
As a response, I would point out that no one in the UK has ever been jailed, deported, or had their carers and livelihoods ruined by a group of paranoid mini-hitlers who deemed them to be practising "UnBritish activities".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Un-American_Activities_Committee
...and now every country on earth wants to start taking your picture and finger printing you when to visit them. WTF!
Fanman, funny, I thought that's why the Pilgrims left in the first place.
Hardly surprising. Orwell would be rolling in his grave knowing that the UK is leading the charge into totalitarianism, even more so than our crazy American brethren!
My question to you Brits: Why the hell do you keep voting for people that throw CCTV cameras up everywhere and routinely violate your rights? It *is* still a democracy, no?
This is the only way I know how to check my profile info. Disregard.
Potato
England is barely a democracy, they turn more socialist by the day. Voting is the only real right they have left, as they continually sacrifice their rights, especially privacy, for additional security.
If the countries of the world are heading down the road to 1984, England will be one of the first ones to get there.
And by the way fanman, HUAC was abolished after the red scare died down, after the people got the House to realize we completely overreacted to communist threats. And (this part is key), the collective of American people remembered that people who would trade freedom for security will loose both and deserve neither.
Although, unfortunately, it looks like the current viewpoint of Americans is that the opposite is true, with everyone being so paranoid about everything. And this worries me a whole lot because I do not want this country to wind up like England, where CCTV cameras monitor your every move. Does the common English person even realize how scary the acceptance of "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear" is?
But I digress. Isn't this a technology blog?
@Dave
Not Socialist. Totalitarian.
V for Vendetta?
I said it before and will again
"Homo Paranoicus"
(too bad there's no italics)
WebOn
@Dave
I agree. The republicans and their brain-dead constituents (if not stopped) are going to turn this country into 1984 faster than you can imagine. Amazing to me that these people can go through the "red scare" McCarthyism bullshit, and then a generation later are being lead into the same fear-mongering panic with terrorism. Seriously DOES NO ONE in this stupid country understand the extreme danger of revoking Geneva Conventions rights, indefinite detention with charges/trial, rendition, etc. I mean I constantly have to stop for a second and ask "Is this REALLY America I am living in?".
VERY SAD DAYS. BUSH IS A BIG STAIN ON OUR GOOD FLAG. FUCK THE CONSERVATIVES!
to Dave:
1984 was not a criticism of socialism. In fact, Orwell *was* a socialist. 1984 is a criticism of totalitarianism and corrupted communism. Don't confuse them - it can get awkward.
@fanman
I sort of remember a mini-Hitler by the name of King George!! He didn't like those upstarts in the colonies causing trouble. as I remember he imprisoned many people. Then there is the Tower of London, a prison to keep political prisoners (years ago).
The Patriot act is a horrible piece of legislature. it doesn't give street cops powers, bu tit does give overzealous moronic prosecutors and federal investigators a LOT of power. Those pricks!
I thought Bobbies only had clubs?
Same here.
Those cops are lucky they did not do that in the US, the law suits that the cops, operators, and anyone involved could of received would of allowed that guy to be set for life... he would of been able to listen to that mp3 player without going to work for his whole life.
Maybe - or maybe more so 8 years ago. Now, the Patriot Act can enable cops to get out of something like that by claiming fear of terrorism.
Bush & his cronies have really f&*ked this place up in the last 8 years!
@Skeezle
Ummm, since the Patriot Act passed the Senate 98-1 and the House 357 to 66 I think there is more blame to go around then just on "Bush and his cronies"
@Dorf
You really think anyone in congress would vote against something called the "PATRIOT act" ? The people who crafted the bill certainly knew what they were doing, unfortunately.
I love boobies!
If you haven't figured it out yet, the Senate and House will practically do whatever "The Prez" wants because they wouldn't want him to veto something down the line and they all pretty much go golfing on the weekends together. They wouldn't want to lose that privilege.
I also was under the understanding that Bobbies only carried Billy Clubs.
This just proves British cops shouldn't be given guns. Should have been obvious after they killed that Brazilian guy.
The Bobbies normally don't have guns, only a special armed forces division do. If a normal police officer suspects someone has a gun, they normally ask the armed force to take care of it. For this case, the man was in the car, so a police vehicle would probably follow quietly behind, until the armed forces division arrived.
Actually, it's USA PATRIOT Act, and it's an acronym designed to make it seem "patriotic" when it's anything buy.
If they were being honest, it would at least be called U.S.A.P.A.T.R.I.O.T. Act, but they purposely arranged it and dropped those periods to get an emotional response out of the name.
It stands for "Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001"
It includes such things as offering police, courts, and the government the right to deny a person an attorney, a trial, or their citizenship if they are declared a terrorist.
And what is a terrorist as defined by the Act?
Anyone who commits acts against the security of the United States or citizens of the United States.
That's the broad definition. Under that definition, they could legally declare a person who starts a brawl a "terrorist" and thus deny him bail, deny him a lawyer, and deny him a trial.
The President can determine who is a terrorist, and he need provide no evidence of his accusations. Under the current law as it stands, the President could literally point a finger at you and say "He's a terrorist" and you would go to prison with no trial. There is no burden of proof upon the President of the United States or the Attorney General to prove their claims of terrorism.
At least, that how it was last time I bothered to study it. Maybe it changed. I doubt it, though.
I dread the day when we get CCTV cameras everywhere like in the U.K., though. That system just plain sucks. I love the U.K., but having a camera everywhere in their society makes the place feel quite close to the Britain described by Mr. Orwell in his novel.
The PATRIOT Act has absolutely NO increase in power for the police. However, people *think* it does, so police are able to use this misconception to there advantages.
Know your rights and don't be afraid to assert them!
http://www.flexyourrights.org/
"didn't offer an apology". "Said sorry for the inconvenience".
Just contradicted himself didn't he? Related to any other Nixon's we know?
Wait a minute! He had a bootleg copy of music and they didn't lock the savage criminal up in a dank, dark hole for the rest of his natural life?
Hasn't anyone in UK law enforcement heard that the IIPA and RIAA released a report that IP crime is more significant then burglary, murder, bank robbery, terrorism, necrophilia, and speeding? This animal should have been simply shot on sight for having pirated music. He is obviously the root of all evil on the planet.
Sorry, couldn't resist.
I feel sorry for the bloke, but still what do people expect when CCTV is used to determine innocence or guilt?
@ Mike
Thankfully, this shows that cops still have more important issues than breaking copyright law. You know, such as murder and what not.
The BBC claimed the other day, that every time you download illegal music your ISP will warn you, and on the 3rd time your details will be given to the police and you will be prosecuted.
I would like to know how they are going to do this, how do they know what you are downloading?
if you ain't allowed a bootleg chinese democracy, then you ain't allowed nothing ;)
His DNA was sent to the RIAA. lol.
He might have been misquoted. But I was wondering the same thing when I read the article.
Lets spin this. You are the person the cops are pointing the guns at. You instantly become subhuman and they get your DNA, fingerprinted, arrested, recorded, and locked in a jail cell. Then they dump you off at your house and say "Sorry for the inconvenience." Don't you think that's grossly out of proportion?
That's like if someone went to your house, burned your cat, kicked your door down and raped you. Then said "Oops, wrong house. My bad, sorry"
Sorry, gunpoint? All my life I have lived here in the UK and not once have I EVER seen the Fuzz brandishing guns! Maybe we're going backwards :)
Go out in Liverpool over the weekend. I live there, trust me on this. The walk home can be VERY interesting.
I did once, and also near where I live, armed police surrounded someone carrying a BB gun. I live in the Garden of England, so that shows that the whole country has gone to crap.
Plus Hot Fuzz is one of the best films in the world.
If required, a force of around 10 armed police can be at the scene within 6 minutes.
Also, in airports armed police are everywhere, understandably.
Well at least Bobbies don't dump quadriplegics out of wheelchairs:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/02/12/florida-police-dump-quadr_n_86290.html
When did the Bobbies get the Mentat training? Were their names Miles and Duncan? Sign me up. Why didn't they just use their tachyon net to catch him? (Currently reading Hunters of Dune).
Given the nature of their actions, I think a more likely name would be Piter.
Is that thing out in paperback yet?
Is it a gun in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?
Sry it's a gun. Don't believe me? Take a look *points gun in Geir E's face*
It was bad luck for him they managed to find a policeman who wasn't busy arresting some-one for urinating in a public convienience, or driving a car with both hands on the wheel.
Everything, even obeying the law, gets you arrested in the UK, whereas I saw a Currys delivery driver using a hand-held mobile while a police car was behind him, I felt like stopping and telling the police-man to arrest the driver, but I would likely have been arrested for wasting police time by reporting a crime.
The currys vehicle was in motion, and he actually nearly crashed into a parked car, so I don't know what the police-man was doing at the time.
It seems like most of the clueless dolts commenting on this story didn't bother to read the original story. Here is a quote from it...
"The armed officers swooped on Mr Nixon when a woman thought she saw him carrying a handgun and called the police."
I am not sure what is worse, Engadget's misleading headline and summary, or people that don't bother to get any facts.
Because the truth is oh so boring.