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Bob Barr Weighs In On Trusted Computing Group
bearwayne writes "Former representative Bob Barr (R-GA), a conservative and non-technophile, who has now has teamed up with the ACLU to fight growth of the Federal government's infringements on Civil Liberties ala the Patriot Act, weighs in on the Trusted Computing Group/Alliance in this article at Creative Loafing. Among other things, he expresses concerns about censorship, loss of control over one's PC, and other corporate/government abuses."
If government-sanctioned vigilantism ever comes about by way of corporations being allowed to mess with others' computers or in any other form, I swear I will move to Switzerland.
Esoteric reference.
*snort*
Libertarian groupthink exists, and is no different than liberal and conservative groupthink.
Wherever you have groups, you have groupthink, regardless of how many people bother to 'think on their own' in any given group.
The problem with most "trusted computing" proposals so far is that "trusted" is an accurate description of them. It's just an imcomplete description. They aren't about insuring that you, the owner of the computer, can trust the computer or the software on it. They're about insuring that third parties can trust your computer to do what they tell it to do. The proponents omit that part because they know all too well that if they did say all of what they meant that Joe Sixpack would scream bloody murder and refuse to have anything to do with it.
Just to make a point, imagine a virus that couldn't be removed from a computer. Under the "trusted computing" proposals someone could do exactly that by tagging the virus as "user does not have permission to delete" and the computer itself would prevent the AV software from removing the virus.
Even though Barr is out of Congress, he's still an influential Republican who can spread word to those still in power. He's more of a libertarian, but unless the specifications and implmentations of the Trusted Computing stuff comes to light, we should all cast a weary eye on it. A lack of vigilance in this day and age should not be an excuse for complaining about lost rights. We can fight this battle now before the TCPA is shoved down our throats, and more importantly, we can fight with our wallets. Why should we buy computers that we cannot control? As a computer programmer, the TCPA scares me.
Well, it's good to see that someone who's kinda involved in government is going against the idea of making the Hollings Bill law, but I don't really see what the big deal about this article is otherwise. Barr is no longer in the House of Representatives, so he probably has little ability to directly do anything to stop the bill. The article - although an easy read for non-technophiles, which is good - really doesn't say anything we don't already know, and Bob Barr doesn't sound like he has much political clout.
I don't mean to rag on the editors or the person who submitted it, but I don't see how this is news. It would be nice if this article (or something similar) was published in a widely-read newspaper, but I think we've heard this story a few times before.
By the way, even if whatever law Hollings wants passed doesn't make it, what's to stop the TCPA's system from becoming a de facto standard? If most of the computers and content out there use it, you're stuck either keeping your old computer and hoarding old CD's and DVD's, or breaking down and using computers and content that are "protected" by the TCPA's technologies.
I produce electronic music and write little games. Have a look.
This is what is needed, an article in a paper like Creative Loafing. For those who do not know, Creative Loafing is a *free* newspaper which can be picked up just about in any shop in the Atlanta area, and having lived in Atlanta for about a year, let me tell you, almost everyone who buys a paper picks up the free 'Loaf' at the same time.
The good thing about Creative Loafing is that a *huge* amount of people read it, and even better, these are the 'non geek' mainstream people who would *never* visit wired.com, or any other IT based news source.
99% of articles I've seen on the internet and in paper form are articles that are already 'preaching to the converted' - people who already know of the dangers of 'Trusted Computing'. This article in Creative Loafing will hit a huge mom and pop crowd, and hopefully the word will begin to spread about how evil DRM et all can be - and then hopefully, when Trusted Computing arrives (and it *will* arrive) these people will hopefully know better than to buy such crippled, enslaved hardware.
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Jaylen
I have a hard time believing Bob Barr is for civil liberties and people deciding their own laws- The people of Washington DC voted to use medical marijuana with a YES Vote and it was immediately blocked by Barr.
So, he is for civil liberties and freedom ONLY if you agree if its 'morally' acceptable. Does it really matter that it was Marijana? Regardless of Washington DC being a federal district, The whole point is the people have voted and decided on an issue and it was completely overruled by the Federal Government. The hypocrisy is amazing! How can you be worried about censorship, Patriot Act, and government abuses when you were the very person who prevented the people from governing themselves?
We need to wake up and see the whole story.
Bob Barr, when in office, was one of those insane neocons ranting about gays and hell all the time. But since he left office, it's clear that he's been treated by a good psychiatrist, and when he opens his mouth these days, good things tend to come out. He was on Bill Maher's show on HBO a few weeks ago and made a really good impression. Very anti-Ashcroft/Orwell. Good for him, and good for modern medicine.
Stupid people make stupid things profitable.
Are we supposed to like Bob Barr or hate him? I can't remember, and my group-think-ophone is out of service.
I need to know before I read the article so I can dismiss everything he says as biased or accept it all as enlightened.
So choosy with their freedoms
Can carry guns
Can't smoke dope, gamble, lap dance, be gay
State right's good when pro gun anti-abortion
State's rights bad medical marijuana gay rights, and physician assisted suicide