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.
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).
"Czar" title has a distinct advantage. Czars were abolished when the last of them had been put against a wall and the shot.
We need someone to scapegoat and fire today when fundamental errors made 20 years ago finally become manifest.
That's how we roll.
The advantage of a Czar is that it's much more fun to overthrow them than a king. Just ask Lenin.
I think in this case the parallels with the excess and oppression of imperial Czars, and the ruling of the Internet, will be quite apt.
Of course it's just as likely that this new Czar will be just as effective as other previous government Czars. The Drugs Czar for example. Since being appointed in 1982 we can congratulate the holders of that office as having done a great job. There is now no drug problem whatsoever, as everyone knows.
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
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!
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?
And while we're at it...
Election != Mandate
Though I'm open to suggestions about which percentage would establish a "mandate" I certainly think it should be higher than ~52%. Especially considering the collected intelligence (read "clue") of the middle 40%.
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."
Czars have a mandate and little authority, they're not supposed to actually accomplish anything. They get appointed for two reasons:
1. To give the appearance of activity without actually doing anything. ("Of course we care about issue X! We appointed a czar to oversee it.")
2. To reward allies and contributors with plum patronage positions but few actual responsibilities to worry about.
The "best" part is everybody cynically expects them to fail, so there's no complaint or comment when the appointee accomplishes nothing. It's really quite brilliant... Bush's mistake was making patronage appointments to positions which actually hold responsibilities, like managing FEMA.
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.
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