[free-sklyarov] NC Call to Protest

[Sonia Arana]

On Tue, 31 Jul 2001, Adrian Dunston wrote:
> >FROM: Sonia Arana
> > > Dmitry Skylarov is the first man ever to be jailed for telling people
> how to
> > > decode and read a book.
> > > --------------------------------------------
> > 
> > Also, I doubt that's really true. A lot of people have been jailed and
> > even murdered by gov'ts for a lot of crazy reasons. Yes, even the great
> > USA does stuff like that all the time, past and present.
> 
> >indeed, it was illegal to teach a slave to read. i suspect the penalties
> >for being a (known) literate slave were higher than teaching one (death
> >vs. imprisonment).
> 
> This is a sensational statement which was correct to my knowledge.  I'm
> trying to qualify it, but I do not want it to lose impact.  Mentioning
> slavery would help to strike a cord in most Americans.  Maybe I should try
> to use that.

You just might. According to this web site, the fine in Georgia for being
a white person who taught a slave to read was $500. Anybody know how
much $500 was in 1829? I'm wondering how it compares with the $500k fine
for violating the DMCA. 

http://www.cviog.uga.edu/Projects/gainfo/tdgh-dec/dec12.htm