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Richard Stallman Accosted For Tinfoil Hat
ndansmith writes "Bruce Perens posts in his blog about an amusing encounter between Richard Stallman and United Nations security at the World Summit on the Information Society in Tunis. It seems that RFID technology, which Stallman opposes for privacy reasons, was used in the identification badges for the conference. From the blog: 'You can't give Richard a visible RF ID strip without expecting him to protest. Richard acquired an entire roll of aluminum foil and wore his foil-shielded pass prominently.' During a keynote speech, Stallman also passed around the tinfoil for other to use as well. It seems that UN security was not amused, however, as they would not let him leave the room for some time." What makes this even funnier, of course, is that tin foil hats won't stop them.
The guy has balls and he'll make a stand against what he believes in no matter how it looks. Sure, the tinfoil hat doesn't actually work, but it's a visible symbol that cannot be ignored. Without people like him making a visible protest on a forum that so many high-level people will notice, protests against tracking technologies are just pissing into the wind.
Rock on Richard.
Not at all. The "major purpose" of Bit Torrent is to transfer large files efficiently. Bram Cohen intended that to be used for entirely legal purposes such as Linux distributions. The fact that, like most tools, it had wider application is completely irrelevant. You can break into someone's home with a screwdriver ... that doesn't make a screwdriver inherently evil.
Bit Torrent and similar technologies simply give individuals more power. Yes, more power to do things that some organizations would rather they didn't do, but also more power to make their lives better as well. A trade-off, in other words, and one that (for once) is on the side of the many, rather than the few.
Valid complaints about RFID are generally not "RFID rechnology is just inherently evil", but are oriented against governments and/or criminal organizations that would use it to hurt people. Yes, there are many legitimate benefits conferred by RFID tech, but those must be balanced against the potential for people to get hurt by them. Thoughtless dissemination of RFID technology (such as the U.S. State Department was all set to do with passports) will cause a lot more damage than it is worth.
The higher the technology, the sharper that two-edged sword.
Security people rarely have any idea what they are dealing with. The main reason why is they are simply given orders to "check an RFID badge" or "wave a wand around those people who set a metal detector off". They aren't paid to think critically or anything. This is often the charge levied by Schneier. If we hired smart security people, overall we'd be more secure.
This is exactly what he intended. If they hadn't harassed him, then the story wouldn't be in the news, and nobody would know about it. However, he knew that this would most likely cause some kind of stink, which would generated a news story that gets people talking about the issue. Now we're all here thinking about RFD, just as RMS wanted.
RMS played the UN security like puppets on strings just the same way as terrorists play the administration and congress: they know what the knee-jerk reaction will be and they use it to their advantage.
But we all know that "security" is not really about security. It's about giving people a "feel-good" product that earns some people vast amounts of money.
Most security is at best pathetic. Why? Because good security is expensive and sometimes invasive hence not acceptable by Joe Sixpack.
Example of such feel-good "security" is what's going on at airports around USA. Best illustrated in Soul Plane
If you mod me down, I *will* introduce you to my sister!
How is wearing tinfoil around a badge, and removing it when asked, being "a jerk to innocent guys?" Sounds to me like the confrontation is being caused by typical, officious guard behavior. Nor is it clear to me that he didn't protest the badge when it was handed to him--I don't know where you got that from.
If you read Perens' account, you doubtless saw the UN (according to Perens, anyway) broke a promise not to use RFID cards at this year's protest--presumably in response to complaints last year to the "head of security" or some such. The options are presumably complain again, boycott the conference, or do some sort of symbolic protest. Boycotting in a hissy fit would be acting like a jack ass; complaining has proven to be useless; he chose the last option.
I'm definitely not a Stallman fan (my impression of him is summed up by joking about killing an anti-Free Software spokesmen, then needing to explain to Perens that "he wouldn't really kill anyone.") But this two-bit protest became an issue because guards felt their manhood was being challenged.
Stallman wanted to make a point, not actually stop the signal.
To him, the message was more important than what it actually did.
People more immediately understood the significance of wrapping it in tin foil than anything else.
// file: mice.h
#include "frickin_lasers.h"
You don't seem to understand that the Free Software movement is a sociopolitical movement that cares more about freedom than about mainstream popularity. Strange concept in this day and age right?
I respect RMS because he has never waivered from his ideals, even though people running "Linux", think he's a crazy person. He doesn't let fear of perception goad him into giving over his integrity. He and the FSF are not just trying to become popular, they're trying to protect your freedom and mine.
IMO idealistic integrity is in too short supply in the world these days.
So, it's great that you like "Linux", but remember that without RMS and the FSF and their allies, your "Linux" would not exist.
Calling someone an especially undersocialized nerd is Insightful?
Last time I checked, RMS spoke several languages, and has visited heads of state and thousands of people in many countries across the globe. Also, he seems to be the unwaivering center of a worldwide socio-political movement to protect your freedom and mine, sometimes at the cost of looking foolish to people who don't understand what he's doing.
Linux is mainstream. Mainstream does not mean number-one; mainstream means widely-used.
The ideals of FOSS are far more important than the perceptions of any corporation about it. To quote a saying: "If you are willing to become evil in order to fight evil, why are you fighting it ?"
If you are willing to give up everything that FOSS stands for in order to get it accepted as "mainstream", why do you even bother - it won't be Free or Open anymore then, so you can just use the proprietary products and save yourself the bother.
There is nothing childish or immature in demonstrating your viewpoint. No matter how much powers-that-be try to make you think so, playing by their rules and silently accepting defeat instead of using your brains to make a scene that gets everyones attention is not a sign of maturity; it is a sign of weakness and/or stupidity.
Had Stallman played by their rules and simply refused to attend, or perhaps been given a special no-RFID ID card, they would have won; there would be no article here, no fuss risen over the use of RFID. Instead, Stallman played his own game, and drew attention to this issue. Stallman used his brains, and put up an effective fight; nothing immature in that.
Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.
I second you on that, Mr Stallman is sort of a hero, to me and being a bit eccentric goes with his personnality, me thinks. Thank god there are people like him to confront major 'decision-makers' on issues that the VAST majority of human beings take for granted.
Issued that will have an impact maybe decades from now, Mr Stallman for sure has made history with an A+. He HAS made this world a better place. I strongly believe Mr Stallman's crusades DO make a difference, and we need more people like him, in this world to balance things out.
Freedom of speech. Identity protection. Not even mentioning his unbelievable track record as a programmer.
My own 2 cents. Sorry for grammar mistakes no english spellchecker on this box *yet
It saddens me that so many here don't seem to understand a simple but very important concept behind Stallmans protest. It was a catch-phrase in the '60s. I was born in the '70s, but I guess I'm lucky that it was effectively taught to me.
I wish I could make this huge:
QUESTION AUTHORITY!
That is all RMS was doing. And when he did put the question to them we saw their reaction. It scares me, the number of people who think the UN's reaction was appropriate.
"It's because they're stupid, that's why. That's why everybody does everything." -Homer Simpson