Slashdot Mirror
White House To Appoint "Internet Czar"
An anonymous reader writes "The Washington Post reports that President Obama is set to appoint a 'Cybersecurity czar with a broad mandate': 'The adviser will have the most comprehensive mandate granted to such an official to date and will probably be a member of the National Security Council but will report to the national security adviser as well as the senior White House economic adviser, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the deliberations are not final.
The announcement will coincide with the long-anticipated release of a 40-page report that evaluates the government's cybersecurity initiatives and policies. The report is intended to outline a "strategic vision" and the range of issues the new adviser must handle, but it will not delve into details, administration officials told reporters last month.' Cynics are expecting the appointee to be a lawyer for the RIAA."
Why do I suspect that this "czar" will spend about 10% of his time dealing with security issues and 90% of his time finding ways to help big media companies protect their IP from evil pirates, teenagers, and Youtube?
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Is it really that necessary to appoint a czar fro EVERY issue? I'm waiting for the Toilet Paper Czar, who will coordinate government efforts to regulate both the orientation of the roll in the holder as well as the direction of wipe.
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
I'm find with this as long as the government doesn't start sizing up security companies for consolidation/acquisition.
If conficker blows a gasket will white hat hackers get drafted?
Could we have a poobah or a caliph or sultan or something, please God, anything else for a change, plz?
No folly is more costly than the folly of intolerant idealism. - Winston Churchill
Having the adviser report to both the national security and economic advisers suggests that the White House is seeking to ensure a balance between homeland security and economic concerns, the sources said.
Economic concerns like what? The fact that internet commerce explodes on Cyber Monday as consumers and businesses enjoy a wealth of increased buying/spending? Or would you so happen to be referring to economic concerns like the MPAA/RIAA are short one ivory back scratcher? Perhaps the concerns that all that internet commerce is happening with most of it untaxed? Maybe concerns that used books, DVDs and games are being sold increasingly with a down-turned economy?
I am certain the economic concerns you speak of are only economic concerns of lobbyists when you should maybe be paying attention to what consumers are interested in?
You want to help the consumer, you should mandate that proprietary DRM violates anti-trust laws as it locks consumers into the software and hardware associated with their music service. Or maybe you should look into allowing people to use whatever level of encryption they want to secure their financial transactions? Nah, nobody's paying you for that.
Throw on top of that the fact that Biden's good friends with the MPAA and RIAA (and I'm sure Obama's not far behind) there may be cause for concern.
My work here is dung.
How many slashdot "White House to Appoint Internet Czar" stories are we going to see? Let's just report it when it happens (if it ever does).
Michael Lynton, CEO of Sony Pictures Entertainment....
http://xkcd.com/494/
through
http://xkcd.com/498/
When did we start offering offices to czars? I don't see any emperors or kings in charge of this country. And doesn't our constitution say something about not allowing titles of nobility? The government is like a child who constantly tests it boundaries and so far nobody's doing anything about it.
is he going to hire for this job.
more importantly what country is he going to borrow the money from to hire this ACORN/RIAA moron from?
-- I am the NRA, enough said...
I want an internet dictator! Or how about internet proconsul?
Mandate != Power to Change
... could possibly go wrong?
Thanks to file sharing, I purchase more CDs
Thanks to the RIAA, I buy them used...
... it might be a CEO. Why, I hear the CEO of Sony just wrote an article about Guardrails for the Internet.
I bet if the price were right, he could get the job!
"MIT betrayed all of its basic principles."
We need someone to scapegoat and fire today when fundamental errors made 20 years ago finally become manifest.
That's how we roll.
Would he be the Russian czar? Condi Rice was an alleged expert on the topic, would that make her the Russian czarina?
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
This *is* democracy. Democracy isn't a synonym of "good" and it doesn't imply a just or free society, it's not a poney filled land. Democracy is a political system and this is the result of such a system.
\u262D = \u5350
Hackers and pirates beware . . . Bruce Willis won't be there to save you this time . . .
There is one man, and only one man, with the decisiveness, ruthlessness, all-round leadership quality, and refined taste in footwear needed for this post. I refer of course to that great, great expert in matters internet [no, AFP], Kim Jong-Il.
LOL! The real irony here is that pre-election, the Democrats were busy pointing out what a moron Bush was.
I'll take bets in this thread over how long it takes till Obama to land in a pile of dog crap and end up just as popular or less than Bush.
Oh No! It's the gambling czar saying I cant do that. Oh crap! wait, I can't do that either the feces czar says " all your crap are belong to us"
Well I guess little Obamas solution is to turn a bunch of czars loose on the citizens in whats supposed to be a free country.
He won't be missed when he is finally shamed out of the whitehouse as an incompetent pretender.
Now don't get the idea that I hold any love for Republicans either, at least they're openly crooked.
Until we start electing outside of this imaginary two party bullshit, we get the government we deserve. Wait a minute, I didn't vote for these screwups! I guess anyone who offends themselves with what I say deserves that kind of government.
*Repent!Quit Your Job!Slack Off!The World Ends Tomorrow and You May Die!
... to oversee all the czars: I propose Czar-Czar Gabor.
Does anyone find it strange that a country steeped in an anti-communist / pro-capitalist past / present / future chooses to adopt a Russian term for an overseer? We've seen so many fuck ups by past US administrations because they got their panties in a twist about the fear of communism with Cuba, the McCarthy trials etc. The Republicans in particular have their supporters mind warped into seeing commies everywhere, yet it hasn't occurred to them that "Czar" is not a Western / US word.
They rail against state control over personal freedoms and here the government are trying to let people know where they stand and the people don't notice. Not only that, but many right wingers are thrilled that a Czar is taking charge to impose order, although presumably that only applies when the order being imposed is on an area they agree with and not with their rights to own guns etc.
It's like the story telling entertainment industries. They tell so many stories of corporate / political abuse of citizens which resonate with the audience and the audience never notices why. Stories resonate because they have enough basis in reality for the audience to relate to, yes they are fictional characters, fictional corporations, fictional laws etc but the base is real, and believable. It's believable because there is plenty of news about REAL people committing similar crimes and abuses and often getting away with it. The entertainment industry is showing us the world as it is through fictional rewrites and what do we do about it? Fuck all.
How many more times do we have to be shown reality before we decide that enough is enough?
Oi didn't vote for 'im!
/* No Comment */
...far away from us!
- "Fiddler on the Roof"
if i recall correctly, after the browser wars of the 1990s, the internet czar abdicated following the y2k debacle during which he and his family were imprisoned first in a cisco router at a server farm in virginia beach, then later in a backup tape at an ibm server facility in omaha, and finally at an iPod nano in spokane. The internet czar, his wife, his son, his four daughters, the family's medical doctor, the czar's valet, the empress' lady in waiting and the family's cook were all killed in the same disk partition by the internet bolsheviks on the night of the release of google's ajax mapping software.
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Queue the internet censorship in 3...2...1...
This is my signature.
soid st egr.hyTa rsiugm usnin
Any questions?
Where's the 'democrats' tag? The appointment of Kings, or 'Czar' if you speak Russian, is typical of the Democrat party. Ask any Brit...it'll be recorded and reviewed by his Government. And yours, soon.
Dammit these people in power in America piss me off. STOP USING THE TERM 'CZAR', 'TSAR', whatever! STOP STOP STOP.
I can't wait until a President is ready to march to Congress and appoint Der Fuehrer of Alternative Energy, which would prove that they have no clue what these titles mean to people around the world as well as citizens in our own country. I doubt Obama would appoint an Imperial Wizard of Credit Debt or Grand Dragon of Terrorism.
The term 'Czar' relates to a despicable history of oppression and murder. The term itself comes from Caesar, not exactly a bright point in Europe's history. There are better terms, and we as a Democratic people are more creative than this.
Scott
"Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for a good blaster at your side, kid."
... a lawyer from the RIAA?
No, I expect he'll hire someone with actual internet experience, like a "private investigator" from MediaSentry.
except for all the other forms of government which have been tried"
-winston churchill, badly paraphrased
it does no good to point out the flaws of democracy, simply because for every flaw democracy has, any other government system you can show me has those same flaws, but more and worse... or not the same flaws, but much more horrible flaws
so what is your point? the probative value of your criticism of democracy is zero without the ability to describe a superior system
democracy sucks. and yet it is still better than any other governmental system out there (including and especially the absence of a governmental system)
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
Does he live in his parents basement? How about a funny hat, all Gov appointed Czars should get one.
The love of good Whiskey,Woman,Weed is all i need.
Obama has appointed more czars than any other President that I can remember. And I think this is a bad thing, as czars end up with the same (or more) power as a constitutional cabinet official and don't have to go through the scrutiny of confirmation.
This makes it easy to slip in cronies and lobbyists. And yes, I expect the person to have MAFIAA ties.
The Obama administration runs like it has two cabinets, the one that had to be confirmed by Congress, and the "shadow" one made up of czars and all these "focus groups" he's been running.
This definitely doesn't lead to transparency in government.
Corporatism != Free Market
... we should become cyber Bolsheviks.
Hah - with Slashdot being the popular front, and our leader - the great Commander Taco.
To meet the needs of the expanding bureaucracy...
"We fought for freedom and all we got was democracy."
Pieter-Dirk Uys
Prove anything by multiplying Huge Number times Tiny Number
An economist and two other cabinet members who evaded paying taxes, a 'car czar' who knows nothing about cars, a 'banking czar' who knows nothing about banks, and the admission that "I don't know much about finance", and he appoints another guy who likely knows nothing to round us up here, on the net.
I would say he means "FieldMarschall" but those were the best-n-brightest Germany could offer.
Is anyone else aware that the "Bail Outs" are actually "Buy Outs" which permits the Federal Government to control things not in the Constitution? We're in the midst of a coup.
But at least we'll have those sexy arms of Michelle's to watch as they crack the whip.
--- For a good time mail uce@ftc.gov
Seriously! The Czars PREDATE SOVIET RUSSIA! That's why they did the whole Bolshevik Revolution! So we can't even counteract this new rise in Czars with the whole "IN SOVIET RUSSIA" meme that's become so popular around here! What's a Slashdotter to do?!?!
1) Make Lobbying illegal, punishable by death, and Create a "Czar" for the "People".
2) ???
3) Profit
I really need one more bureaucrat controlling my life. Rebranding them Czars must have played well in focus groups.
Well, I know czars were there before the Soviets (councils), but hey, this is Slashdot!
But why would you appoint a lawyer to a position that clearly needs a person with a technical skillset, a technical background, in order to even understand the security issues and assess the implications.
I wonder what Ron Paul has to say about all of this...
Well all I have to say is that if you get this czar near any 4chan people you will soon hear headlines of "Internet Czar Rickrolled", or "Internet Czar Looking at Goatse"
Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
the words you say are so humorously ignorant of reality one hopes that you are merely green
you do realize that a country that doesn't have legal guarantees of your freedoms has no such freedoms, that you somehow miracuolously exist in dubai, or an ancient monarchy
as for no government: allow me to come over and shoot you in the face. who's to punish me? that's what "no government" means
intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
His appointees have been disasters and are idiots and now you're no longer an adult at 18 with the new credit card law.
Whole Grain food is not a drug.
People who believe in the US Constitution are not domestic terrorists.
Yeah, there's plenty more but these two get my goat.
I had high hopes for this idealist but he is now just as bad as Bush in my book and historically, will probably be as bad as Carter (we'll see).
if you steal from one source, that is plagiarism, if you steal from many, well, that's just research.
Rush, is that you? Oh, sorry Sean. Gee you're puttin' on weight.
I thought this administration was trying to stop using the term?
I swear to God...I swear to God! That is NOT how you treat your human!
So as I count them...
The Romanov Dynasty: 15 Czars (Peter I - Nicholas II)
The Obama Administration: 15 Czars (Border Czar, Climate Czar, Cyberspace Czar, Copyright Czar, Climate Czar, Car Czar, Drug Czar, Energy Czar, Education Czar, Economic Czar, Health Care Czar, Housing Czar, Mortgage Czar, Technology Czar, WMD Czar)
I may have missed some in either category, but I'm still betting Obama will wind up with more.
Get off my lawn.
....Anything we can do to protest this?
The purpose of appointing a Czar is to avoid all congressional oversight, both in the creation of the office and in the selection of the czar. Welcome to change ... Obama = Bush.2.0
You know what "gets my goat"? Uninformed nerd rage.
What are you talking about? Please don't say HR 875.
Correct. However, domestic terrorists often claim to be 'defending the constitution'.
Read the damn DHS report before you freak out, not just some blog summary. The DHS is targeting actual Nazis and militants, not regular conservatives.
...with you people.
Moran.
The drug thing was a reference to the FDA threatening Cheerios.
Domestic terrorists most often claim nothing in common. Believing in the Constitution and defending it make you a freedom fighter. If that brings up feelings of terror in the politicians, then sure, they're going to label that person as a terrorist.
This country is fucked.
Whole Grain food is not a drug.
Now that's funny Cheerios Warning
My favorite comment was from Dr Kim
I hope it remains over-the-counter
lol
Next I'll have to get a prescription for my Quaker Oats
"The stupid neither forgive nor forget; the naive forgive and forget; the wise forgive but do not forget." -Thomas Szasz
If you're old enough to vote, and old enough to be drafted, shouldn't you be old enough to be given a line of credit from a bank much less drink a controlled substance?
I understand his intent was to protect college students from getting into debt but that falls into the asinine thinking that 260 million people that have health care in the US need government health care and that the 73% of mortgage holders that pay on time need some sort of bailout.
This country is fucked. And if there is a politician that believes that defending the Constitution is an act of terror, that politician should be promptly voted out of office. I thought that's what their oath is.
Next, it will be OK for doctors to no longer adhere to "Do no harm."
if you steal from one source, that is plagiarism, if you steal from many, well, that's just research.
> its jewish tradition to not 'spell out' the letters of god's name.
Yeah, but the actual tradition only applies to Hebrew writing, and to only very particular forms of God's name which were considered to be more or less "proper" names.
It's, er, "quaint" to do it in other languages.
Czar is becoming overused. I think we need to start appointing Emperors. And we should give them cool names like Emperor Jones, Scourge of the Broke Automobile Companies.
Wroops! You added climate czar twice. That's 14. What's the 15th?
I agree with you about the use of "czar" or "tsar." Freedom-loving countries should not use that as a title for a political position. The spelling, in particular, links it to terrible regimes that are anathema to the spirit of the U.S. Constitution.
However, on a geeky note, the etymology of the word branches out to more than just "Caesar." There are many personal titles that are or may be related, and most are positive more often than negative: Sire, Sir, Sieur (Old French) leading to Monsieur (lit. my lord), Senior (Latin; disputed), Kaiser (German; the original pronunciation of "Caesar" in Classical Latin), etc. Most interesting to me is sar, which is a Hebrew word that appears hundreds of times in the Bible. To emphasize a positive use of the word, "Sar Shalom" is a prophetic title for the Messiah (Isaiah 9:6; 9:5 in Tanakh).
This page just about covers it all.
Why are we appointing Russian monarchs to US government positions?
How long before we have gubmint firewalls like China to "protect us" from "evil information" like what the gubmint is up to next?
Sig Heil!!!!!!!!
http://xkcd.com/494/
National Security "Czar" or Tzar -- are you Polish -- trumps Internet Czar (Tzar) in White House Pinus Pull Fight.
When the National Security "Czar" (Tzar) calls for imprisonment of all US Citzens, the Internet "Czar" (Tzar) will attempt to ram his Pinus into his Ars, in a fit of National Extesy.
I have a very bad feeling about this. Normally people appointed judges are lawyers who have (apparently) studied law, passed the bar, practiced for many years, and shown outstanding service. Surgeon General, same criteria. Med. School, board certification, lots of experience, in-depth knowledge of the field, etc. Cyber czar? Oh, a lawyer. Someone well versed in economics. Perhaps a politician who understands the internet as a series of TUBES! I don't know why this industry, moreso than any other I've ever seen, has total idiots appointed or put in charge over people who have clue. An accountant will be put in charge. Maybe someone trained as an electrician. Perhaps a musician, to get back at those computer people, and "make the bastards pay". Bruce Schneier won't be on the list. Neither will Linus Torvalds. Some dumbass from the RIAA/MPAA? Yeah, they are likely candidates.
Actually, uh...
American doctors don't really take the hippocratic oath anymore.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hippocratic_Oath
A widely used modern version of the traditional oath was penned by Dr. Louis Lasagna, former Dean of the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences of Tufts University.[9]
In the 1970s, many American medical schools chose to abandon the Hippocratic Oath as part of graduation ceremonies, usually substituting a version modified to something considered more politically and medically up to date, or an alternate pledge like the Oath or Prayer of Maimonides.
And linked off of the wikipedia, the modern oath eh...closest thing to do no harm is "But it may also be within my power to take a life; this awesome responsibility must be faced with great humbleness and awareness of my own frailty. Above all, I must not play at God." Which from what I can tell means, "Hey, I could kill people. Better be careful but y'know I can still do it."
Is that like one of those Thai SheMales???
Wasn't the word "czar" a nasty little "red" word just a couple decades ago? *
Next, it will be OK for doctors to no longer adhere to "Do no harm."
It already is.. It's called "physician assisted suicide", alive and well in Oregon and Washington..
And don't even get me started on the "doctor" I had here in Georgia the early part of this century.......
I comment, therefore I am (procrastinating elsewhere)..