Charged with sedition, and facing a real risk of imprisonment, Eastman bravely stood up for socialism during a famous trial by admitting that it might well be a "beautiful mistake" but that, even if it was, it was still worth having new ideas about it, just in case the ideas were right.
While law-abiding individuals will be able to live without any real fear of imprisonment under this new cyberstate, the danger to whistleblowers in this climate is a troublesome conflict, and at the very least, we should all be aware of who is listening to us and why.
"No, it's not a metaphor," he writes, "the imprisonment is real".
He claimed that the real reason for his imprisonment was that he made himself a nuisance by demanding rights for gypsies.He drove a Mercedes car, which upset some Romanians.
Saudi Arabia is one of the world's leading violators of human rights, and Saudis who seek asylum tend to be real victims of torture, imprisonment and severe violations.
Many believe the real reason for his imprisonment lies elsewhere - namely, in politics.
You can't move your mouse pointer today without rolling over an Assange fanboy blogger, either propounding conspiracy theories on the real reason for his imprisonment, or demanding to know why Time cruelly overlooked their man for "Person of the Year".
Imprisonment is a real threat.
"They've failed to come to terms with the self-correcting mechanisms of foreclosure, bankruptcy, debt restructuring, fines, imprisonment and a real rule of law," he says.
"The Evening Land" whirls merrily on, to an account of Ali's Albanian childhood, his adoption by a "Pacha" and surrender to his real but mad father, false imprisonment, rescue by a "zombi," the slave trade, misadventures in London society, a mysterious doppelganger and much else.
