Senator (Feinstein) calls for The Anarchist Cookbook to be 'removed from the Internet'

[Newsjock]

Source: Ars Technica

In the wake of the Thursday arrest of two women accused of attempting to build a bomb, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) wrote on her website that the 1971 book on bomb making, which may have aided the terror suspects in some small way, should be "banned from the Internet.”

The senator seems to fail to realize that not only has The Anarchist Cookbook been in print for decades (it’s sold on Amazon!), but also has openly circulated online for nearly the same period of time. In short, removing it from the Internet would be impossible.

"I am particularly struck that the alleged bombers made use of online bombmaking guides like the Anarchist Cookbook and Inspire Magazine,” Feinstein wrote. "These documents are not, in my view, protected by the First Amendment and should be removed from the Internet."

... No one answered the phone when Ars called Feinstein's Washington, DC and San Francisco offices.


Read more: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2015/04/senator-calls-for-the-anarchist-cookbook-to-be-removed-from-the-internet/

[GGJohn]

1. She really needs to retire.

What other books would she ban from the internet?

[christx30]

2. Or burn in the real world? n/t

[mimi85]

60. Yes, her time has passed.

Lots of good Dems here to take her place. I just know Kamala Harris will win Boxer's spot.

[Cleita]

3. Interesting. I don't know if DiFi would do that since it's pretty easy to find

bomb recipes at a variety of resources. Censoring one source wouldn't make a difference of the common ordinary bomb makers.

[Jackpine Radical]

67. It's dumb from every angle, as far as I can see.

First, she has just advertised its existence.

Second, it's not like making a destructive device is all that difficult; it's pretty low-grade information, available from many sources.

Third, if I were the FBI looking for potential terrorists, I'd probably want to leave this site up just to see who checks in.

[Kelvin Mace]

4. Goddamn she is clueless

[blkmusclmachine]

37. That's the charitable way of putting it...

[cstanleytech]

49. Agreed. nt

[ripcord]

5. Even if she could some how ban it

The information is spread out over the internet in many places, is there really nothing productive she could be doing?

[Ageless Democrat]

6. Anarchist Cookbook is impossible to take off from the Intenet.

Once it's up, it's permanent.

Feinstein, you need to retire your ass and let the up and comers take over - and I want nobody but progressives that doesn't have anyone tied to the war.

[KingCharlemagne]

7. DiFi also backs some cockamamie proposal to certify who is and is not a 'real journalist,' the idea

being that only the former would enjoy the protections on press freedom guaranteed by the First Amendment. She's got an authoritarian streak a mile wide, which made her committee being hacked by the CIA a darkly comedic event. (If it didn't threaten an all-out constitutional crisis, we could even laugh.)

[F4lconF16]

9. Are you serious?

That's terrifying. Links?

[rpannier]

11. here's one. it would keep wikileaks from enjoying press freedom

http://watchdog.org/100682/feinstein-wants-to-limit-who-can-be-a-journalist/

[F4lconF16]

13. I'm a little stunned.

That is atrocious.

Thank you for the link.

[rpannier]

14. here's another link about the same issue

http://personalliberty.com/feinstein-says-free-press-only-means-people-on-msm-payroll/

[Shrike47]

42. I oppose the idea, but if enacted, there goes most of Fox, assuming the criteria are reasonable.

[Half-Century Man]

8. Bad Idea.

What would anyone like to bet sending the the title of that book out into the intertubes doesn't automatically trigger an NSA look see?
If you can catch stupid people be noticing stupid things they do....okay.

[greg1024]

10. Oh really 1971

Could you please tell me where to get a 1971 copy of The Anarchist Cookbook
The copy's that are on the internet are not the same as the original.
If you have a original copy you will be arrested.

[A Round Tuit]

15. Bullshit

If you have a original copy you will be arrested.

I have an original copy (with the red cover) printed by Outhouse Publishing, dated 1971.

I also have a blue covered one, from Paladin Press, dated 1988.

It is word for word the same as 1971 with red cover, but printed on better paper.

Send in the clowns.

[greg1024]

16. Thank you

The only one I have found on the internet is a 2000 copy
don't send in the clowns I stand corrected. I should keep my mouth shut if I don,t know what I'm talking a bout
Thank you

[A Round Tuit]

19. Re: Thank you

The only one I have found on the internet is a 2000 copy

I would heartily recommend that you not try any of the "recipes" in that copy.

As far as that goes, I would not recommend any out of the original copy.

It is well known that disinformation was deliberately put into the book, even the original and any copy you find now has not only been heavily redacted, but downright altered, to the point of dangerous.

There are no books banned from private possession in the US, that I am aware of.

There may be some crap put out by nitwits that profess to know how to build an atom bomb or some such silliness, but even that is not "banned". Hard to get hold of, but not "banned", per se.

And of course, there are the bible-thumpers that have "banned" so-called pornographic books, etc, but I submit that there is nothing that has been put into the general circulation that is not available and legal to possess...unless it has been classified by competent authority as a threat to National Security.

[foo_bar]

51. wait, so I should stop smoking banana peels?

Well, Feinstein should at least.

[mimi85]

61. My younger sister actually tried it back when.

[jeff47]

54. Yep, the recipes aren't quite accurate. Or safe.

Back in high school, a friend was mixing up one of the recipes. When it exploded, it blew off several fingers from his hand. They were able to save all but one of them.

[LiberalArkie]

62. They were talking about it on Reddit, and the general consensus is that you can tell

how many times a person has tried the formulas by checking how high they can count on their hands.

[byronius]

34. Dude I am so jealous.

I have a friend who ended up with our original copy of Steal This Book, but I've only read an original copy of the AC lent to me by a radical Boulder lesbian in the early eighties.

She was awesome. But she wanted it back.

[elehhhhna]

52. uh oh she coming for you

[project_bluebook]

12. She has been living in the world of the rich and pampered for too long

Makes me think that term limits isn't such a bad idea. Banning books? Really?

[jtuck004]

17. The Anarchist's Cookbook exists because of people's attempts to silence dissent.

Like hers.

[Starry Messenger]

18. You could get it through mail-order off Loompanics catalog over 20 years ago.

Never saw the need, but it's been around forever. They are definitely protected by the 1st from that kind of over-reach.

[hobbit709]

20. Talk about shutting the barn door...

And there's nothing in it that I didn't know how to do long before 1971.

[NV Whino]

21. Wait, isn't this the same woman who voted to bomb Iraq?

Or, Iran, or whomever? You know, the warmonger fom California. Cripes. Retire already, DiFi.

[DeSwiss]

22. ....

[newfie11]

40. +++++++++++nt

[Little Tich]

23. Sheesh. Maybe she should send a complaint to the President of the Internet.

[nxylas]

24. DUzy!

Do we have those at the moment. it's hard to keep track?

[Little Tich]

35. The internet is a series of tubes.

The President sits in the central hub of these tubes. You can send a message to the President of the Internet by giving a note to one of the many cats that patrol the tubes.

[Inkfreak]

41. Here's your proof.

[bemildred]

25. You can't just "remove" things from the Internet. nt

[BeanMusical]

26. Bwahahahahahahahaaa!

'removed from the Internet'???

This morons should Google Streisand effect.

[Earth_First]

27. Hey, Al...could you get on that, please? nt

[Enthusiast]

28. All Senator Feinstein accomplished was to call attention to the Anarchist Cookbook.

I assume most serious nutters have a copy anyway.

Way to go, Dianne.

[uriel1972]

29. good luck with that... nt

[AllyCat]

30. This book has been out for 44 years and she just NOW

Thinks it should be removed? Censor much?

[Ed Suspicious]

31. Idiot.

[JohnnyRingo]

32. The author asks the same thing

I was curious that it was still in print and available on Amazon so I took a peek. There is a lengthy "editorial revue" by William Powell where he pleads for the book to be taken out of print.

It seems the publisher has taken ownership of the book and grants no rights or royalties to the author. Powell claims to now be a Christian family man who no longer believes in violence as he may have in 1968. Pangs of guilt or bitterness?

I believe the publication on Amazon is not the same exact copy as the original manuscript. I don't know what's been edited.

On edit:
Finestein reminded me that I had this original book back in the early '70s when I first married (it was my wife's) She only reminded me that it's sadly been lost.

[Viva]

71. The author was paid for his work YEARS ago.

Last edited Sun Apr 5, 2015, 11:10 AM - Edit history (1)

The author never owned the copyright. He was paid to write it. He did not write the book and enter into a contract with the publisher. There was never an agreement of royalties.

The book was published as a joke book. Anyone who understands what the word Anarchist means, knows that this book is not about Anarchy. The recipes were never real.

I am sure that the current copyright owner would be more than happy to sell the rights to William Powell, if he offered enough money. I would think that the selling price would have many zeros. Instead of whining on Amazon, the author should raise a few million dollars and buy the rights back.

[byronius]

33. Chortle.

It's more mildly amusing than dangerous. This is silly.

[Fearless]

36. Or maybe we can break the military industrial complex

And change the social behavior of our wonderful citizens so that they wouldn't want to blow up, or whatever, anything... You know maybe by starting with fixing the income disparity in this country... that couldn't hurt...

But no, book burning, that's a sound investment in our future.

Someone needs to retire and open up the position for someone who is better qualified to deal with the issues that matter to the American people today.

[name not needed]

38. How about we remove her from the Senate instead.

[Jamastiene]

39. Oh, that will just guarantee that it gets spread further and wider on the internet.

She must not understand how the internet works.

[Shrike47]

43. Us oldies don't understand how the internet works. You mean delete doesn't make it go away?

[Scuba]

44. 'Cause banning books is a basic principle of Third Way "Democrats".

[DeSwiss]

45. Yeah, you should definitely get all the dangerous stuff off the Internets Diane.....

- Here's another one you and your colleagues may want to look at:

http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Guillotine

K&R

[AngryAmish]

46. ain't no fool like an old fool

Someone get her some soup.

[dembotoz]

47. now i want a copy and i don't know why

best way to make me want something is to tell me i can not have it

[NutmegYankee]

48. Do people really not understand freedom of speech and of the press?

The USA does not ban books and no one can be arrested for having a book.

[PeoViejo]

50. The Anarchist Cookbook is based, in part, on a USG publication

called the Improvised Munitions Handbook, also known as the Black Book, published by Frankford Arsenal. The original was classified FOUO ( For Official Use Only), but was later republished as a set of volumes and reclassified Confidential. Original copies are quite rare and contain a lot more useful information on the Black Arts.

[madville]

53. Remember all the hype in the early 1990's

OMG!!!!!!! The plans for a nuclear bomb are on the internet!

[shebolleth]

55. She might have a case

It incites violence.

[NutmegYankee]

66. To not be considered protected speech, it has to be inciting imminent lawless action.

Incitement to violence is protected speech. Hell turn on Fox News, they are inciting violence right now against the Persian People.

[broadcaster75201]

56. Sick to deqth of these old school Dems

Don't let the door hit your moronic ass on the way out.

[Babel_17]

57. Just plug the tube leading to it?

Meh, he/she who hasn't gone blank with something that is new, yet child's-play to, uh, children, cast the first stone.
Yeah, it could represent a disturbing gap of comprehension about a fundamental bit of technology, but presumably the Senator has a lot on her mind, and all the time.
But this really calls into question just how technologically literate are the people close to the Senator.
Hopefully she has a prime team, and they all just happened to be out of the room when this piece was composed and then released.
If that isn't the case then a lot of questions will be asked.
http://yro.slashdot.org/story/15/04/04/0139203/sen-feinstein-says-anarchist-cookbook-should-be-removed-from-the-internet

[Stainless]

58. She was once reputable.......

But now she's just another corporatist sellout DINO.

[Babel_17]

59. Hmm

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/11/feinstein_stimulus_amendment

From http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5030392

[Zorra]

63. Anarchists call for DiFi to be removed from Senate. nt

[Kelvin Mace]

64. I abhor violence

But I am willing to bet more people were harmed by Feinstein's votes than were ever harmed by The Anarchist's Cookbook.

[NaturalHigh]

65. How does she plan to do that?

This ranks right up there with "Mr. and Mrs. America, turn them all in." Feinstein deserves all the scorn and ridicule this idea will bring her.

[valerief]

68. "Get it off the series of tubes!"

[bowens43]

69. what other books does she want to 'burn'?

The woman is an idiot.

[Trillo]

70. I've never seen this book, but just read the wikipedia page about it.

I wonder if I should download a copy now. It seems like it would be a good book to give all kids in compulsory education chemistry class, but more than likely, a few kids might decide to go further that what the teacher or most any other reasonable adult would allow.

In high school, I think it was 10th grade, maybe 11th, a science teacher had a pyrotechnic display on his desk, it WOWed many of us, particularly the boys. He started with a pile of a whitish powder which he lit on fire and it burned a fabulous shade of purple-maroon, and it burned for longer than you might imagine. He asserted it could be created with regular items found under any of our kitchen sinks at home, but he also refused to tell us what those were. The same teacher taught us it was okay to dissect an anesthetized and live frog, to literally cut out its heart.

In 2007, a 17-year-old was arrested in Britain and faced charges under Terrorism Law in the UK for possession of this book, among other things.[15] He was cleared of all charges in October 2008, after arguing that he was a prankster who just wanted to research fireworks and smoke bombs.[16]

Sort of rambling, I know, but do we really want kids in schools to know how to make a bomb? Sure, there's educational value there, but the market for legal bomb builders is presumably highly limited, and hopefully moreso over future years.

I'm not really sure what is best in this case. Censoring such a book surely seems to break the First Amendment, but that was broken by the religious churches when they started getting government money "to help the poor." Now we have the RFRA laws, and in California, the Sodomite Suppression Act. Yeah, "to help the poor." Uh huh.

I don't think Feinstein deserves the piling on that she has received in this thread over this issue, though she has never been a favorite of DUers.

[Sunlei]

72. when you google search there is a big free PDF easy to download. I guess thats the FBI website :P

How would the fbi troll for dumbass fish without an easy 'free' download to track?

[GOLGO 13]

73. This is so dumb

You can't stop the internet just because you don't like something on it. She's clueless about the internet.