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US Fears Loss of ICQ Honeypot

AHuxley writes "US law enforcement bodies view the sale of instant messaging service ICQ to a Russian company as a threat to homeland security. In spring 2010, Russia's largest Internet investment company, Digital Sky Technologies, agreed to purchase the service for $187 million from AOL. The US is sure that most criminals use ICQ and, therefore, constant access to the ICQ servers is needed to track them down. As the system is based in Israel, American security service have had access. The article concludes, 'Lawyers [of unspecified nationality] say that to block the deal the US Committee on Foreign Investment needed to cancel it no later than within 30 days after the deal has been announced — so unless the rules are broken, nothing can be changed.'"

319 comments

  1. Criminals use ICQ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    But it's the compuserve psychos you have to watch out for.

    1. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by Lord+Byron+II · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Seriously, where did they get this claim:

      "The US said it is sure that most criminals use ICQ"

      Who actually said that? The article claims "US law enforcement bodies", but doesn't say which ones. It doesn't even say if they are federal, state, local, or private law enforcement bodies.

      "Most" criminals is probably too broad. Maybe they meant terrorists. Maybe they meant spies. Who knows? But I doubt that every drug dealer and pimp out there is using ICQ.

      And why would criminals all congregate to the same service? There are lots of great ways to disseminate information (text messages, email, phone calls, etc). Why would criminals use only one particular version (ICQ) of a particular method (IM)?

    2. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by Z00L00K · · Score: 3, Interesting

      And why wouldn't they develop their own protocols for communication?

      I can think of various ways to communicate, most of them rather narrow-banded but still useful for key information.

      If you are into big time crime you can even get news media to communicate for you, but that means that you must have exchanged some protocol first. Let's say that you agree that news reported in a certain newspaper online can contain some key information - like where a bank heist shall occur. You can then communicate a lot of information through other channels to coordinate the "when" and "how". Then just cause some other happening - like a large fire that will be reported in the news in the area where you shall pull it off.

      And even in computer communication you can get around direct tracking, like posting on Slashdot or ping some servers with an incorrect sender address that will cause the ping reply to end up at your expected target system.

      --
      If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker would destroy civilization.
    3. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by ericlondaits · · Score: 4, Funny

      By now they probably posted the link to this article in the criminal forum and are organizing a mass migration to MSN Messenger, GTalk and Facebook.

      --
      As a Slashdot discussion grows longer, the probability of an analogy involving cars approaches one.
    4. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by icebike · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Actually developing their own probably calls more attention to themselves than just using something where they can hide in the herd.

      But ICQ seems an odd choice. Usership is dwindling, twitter and facebook and any number of other im services are eating its lunch.

      One wonders who these "criminals" are that use ICQ.

      The whole thing sounds fishy to me.

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    5. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by tmach · · Score: 5, Funny

      They aren't going to MSN. Criminals don't want to be spammed any more than the rest of us.

    6. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by phoenix321 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      ICQ has millions of users in the former eastern bloc. ICQ is for Russia and most of its Slavic neighbors pretty much the same as QQ is for China and their neighbors.

      People with these ethnic backgrounds living abroad have usually the same preference for their IM networks, of course, to reach the rest of the family back home. Now no one would ever dare to suggest that emigrants from the Eastern Bloc - those that use ICQ - have a high involvement in crime, but I'm sure there's some people who have more than a hunch on that. I wonder where all these new AK47s used in street crime from Belgium to California come from anyway...

    7. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by sortius_nod · · Score: 1

      They probably are, seeing as MS doesn't log conversations nor allow law enforcement to monitor conversations on MSN Messenger... Hotmail/MSN Mail is another story. Have a read of the instruction book for law enforcement that MS set up. It's freely available via Wikileaks.

      http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Cryptome.org_takedown:_Microsoft_Global_Criminal_Compliance_Handbook,_24_Feb_2010

    8. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by nametaken · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I've read that most criminals use "phones" to communicate. Where's that Echelon shortcut...

    9. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by Runaway1956 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      ""The US said it is sure that most criminals (insert who use ICQ) use ICQ"

      There. The sentence still doesn't make a lot sense, but I've fixed it as well as I know how. And, I agree that "most criminals" certainly don't use ICQ. Half the criminals that I know aren't even SMART enough to use ICQ without an IT guy to hold their freaking hands.

      Yeah, someone is going to point out that some very intelligent people happen to be criminals - but I'll just remind them that a lot of people become criminals because they are smart enough to make an honest living. And, the dummies far outnumber the smart but dishonest and/or lazy bastards that the US intelligence community might be interested in.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    10. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by Runaway1956 · · Score: 1

      Actually, if I were masterminding a secret criminal organization, I would look to TOR or I2P for "secure" communications channels. An off-the-shelf installation of TOR might not be good, but some modifications could make it useful. And, I2P may work right now, with default installation. All you would need to do, is set up some mailing addresses for the people you need to communicate with.

      Hell, encrypted IRC might be better than the social networking tools you mention. Set up a server, and send the addresses to the poeple you need to communicate with. No one gets on the server without an invitation, and no one can log on unless his connection is secure and encrypted.

      No plan is foolproof, and my ideas are subject to man-in-the-middle attacks, but they seem a whole lot better than readily accessible media that anyone in the public can see.

      --
      "Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
    11. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by Anachragnome · · Score: 2, Informative

      ""The US said it is sure that most criminals use ICQ""

      They know this because ICQ is really the main communication system of the CIA. It was all the NSA would let them play with.

    12. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe they mean US lawmakers?

    13. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

      > ...private law enforcement bodies.

      There is no such thing.

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    14. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

      > Who actually said that?

      The reporter, perhaps after getting one of the hundreds of thousands of cops in the US to agree with something vaguely similar.

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    15. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by Nimey · · Score: 1

      See, it's hyperbolic unsupported claims like these that make me skip over a lot of Slashdot stories anymore. A story could actually be interesting, but I see that kind of crap and go straight to the next posting... which all too often has the same sort of verbiage. Rather like the established media, really.

      It's really sad - I used to read most Slashdot articles.

      --
      Hail Eris, full of mischief...

      E pluribus sanguinem
    16. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by Securityemo · · Score: 2, Informative

      No, it's a known fact in information security circles that a lot of criminal stuff goes down, or at least has gone down, over ICQ. Why beats me, maybe it just got widely popular in Russia? It sounds stupid, but consider that until recently, most large-scale botnets where controlled via IRC channels.

      --
      Emotions! In your brain!
    17. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by Securityemo · · Score: 1

      I think that the "rouge" mentality is more centered towards interpersonal information security rather than technocratic solutions.

      --
      Emotions! In your brain!
    18. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by HungryHobo · · Score: 1

      Why not go for the best of both worlds?
      it'd be pretty easy to use some basic stenogaphy to communicate pleanty of information.
      Write something which encrypts your messege with public key crypto, hides it inside some lolcats and posts it to a facebook page.(this could of course be made reasonably transparent to the user.)
      Pretty much inpossible to pick out from the crowd and utterly secure.

    19. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by Securityemo · · Score: 1

      We're not talking about Laughing Man meets Ocean 11 here, we're talking about Dave, who runs a meth lab/ID theft combo out in the boondocks, feeding junkies ice as payment for raiding postal boxes. There exists people who are criminals just for the thrill of running complicated high-profile heists (like a commando-style like money depot robbery via helicopter here in Sweden a while ago, where they blew the door to the counting room at precisely the moment the bills where out of their containers and being counted, didn't harm anyone, and had access to piloting skills described as "either suicidally lucky or based in military training"), but those people seem to be a separate kind of breed.

      --
      Emotions! In your brain!
    20. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by Thelasko · · Score: 1

      Seriously, where did they get this claim: "The US said it is sure that most criminals use ICQ"

      They probably got ICQ and IRC confused.

      --
      One of our competitors trademarked the term "hypothesis". From now on, we will call them "boneheaded ideas".
    21. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by nurb432 · · Score: 1

      Its the same people that say only terrorists need to encrypt, or only pirates use P2P. And that internet porn is the greatest risk to the world since sliced bread.

      --
      ---- Booth was a patriot ----
    22. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

      it'd be pretty easy to use some basic stenogaphy to communicate pleanty of information.

      Well, yes, shorthand does work for communicating information, but I don't think it's very secure.

      Oh. You wrote "stenogaphy". "There were no results matching the query."

      Pretty much inpossible to pick out from the crowd and utterly secure.

      Nothing is utterly secure. Steganography is merely a form of security through obscurity: useful, but fragile.

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    23. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

      > And that internet porn is the greatest risk to the world since sliced bread.

      It is if your world depends on centralized control (i.e., intrusive government).

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    24. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by Thalagyrt · · Score: 1

      I wasn't aware anyone had a reddish-pink colored mentality. Brain maybe, but mentality?

      --
      Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo!
    25. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by dave562 · · Score: 1

      Actually developing their own probably calls more attention to themselves than just using something where they can hide in the herd.

      Not only that, it also makes it easier to shut down.

    26. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by Peach+Rings · · Score: 1

      Of course, they could easily just use encryption, which is dead easy and widely available. Just encrypt the message and send it over some clear channel like IRC. If you don't mind a little centralization, run a Jabber server and connect securely to that, and you don't have to fiddle with PGP.

    27. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by powerlord · · Score: 1

      Actually I wonder if there might be a "middle" ground.

      Has anyone written an IRC client that decrypts chat based on a private key and encrypts chat based on a public key?

      If not, just have it encrypt any outbound text via a public key (perhaps even let you select WHICH key so you can chat with multiple people over the same channel, and while everyone can "see" everyone else's text, they can only decode the stuff to them).
      Add a "to:" tag at the beginning of a message, or have it attempt to decode against multiple keys with some "head"/"tail" tag so it knows if it got the right key, and you're done.

      Just use any standard IRC server and your communication is encrypted. Need more than one-on-one? Pass around a 'one-shot' key (or have a group of ready to go pre-shared ones), for the meeting.

      --
      This space for rent. All reasonable inquiries will be entertained at proprietors discretion.
    28. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by HungryHobo · · Score: 1

      steganography+some solid encryption is pretty bulletproof.

      Create a small encrypted volume.
      Drop your communication in it.
      Select picture from library of lolcats.
      Encode in the least significant bits of the image(or pick your own stenographic strategy)
      post lolcat to facebook page.
      check for new messages on contacts facebook pages.(try to distinguish this from teenagers regular behaviour)
      (automate this with a small app of course so the end user only has to worry about the initial setup and can then use it like email)

      There are methods to detect when there are stenographic messages hidden in natural images but they tend to be computationally intensive and have a terrible false positive rate when you have to deal with large volumes of images which have been otherwise manipulated in other ways like lightening,darkening, recompressing, sharpening etc etc

    29. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by shiftless · · Score: 1

      ICQ was widely popular in the US until AIM came around; it was the first "instant message" protocol I remember using or even seeing. Was AIM ever released in Russia? It was integrated into AOL for a long time, and I'm pretty sure AOL was US-only.

    30. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If it gets sold I'm definitely going to start using ICQ...fucking retards.

    31. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by Bungie · · Score: 1

      You forgot about Chuck Norris.

      --
      The clash of honour calls, to stand when others fall.
    32. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So, can we consider ourselves reverse slashdotted?

    33. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by slacker001 · · Score: 1

      Half the criminals that I know aren't even SMART enough to use ICQ without an IT guy to hold their freaking hands.

      ... and how many criminals do you know?

    34. Re:Criminals use ICQ... by bandmassa · · Score: 1

      Criminals use note pads (the old paper and pen variety), criminals use telephones, criminals use (dah dah daaahhh ) iPhones and the internet in general. FFS, there is so much stupidity in law enforcement and enforcement policy worldwide.

      --
      "I hope you like Guinness, Sir. I find it a refreshing substitute for, er... food." Col. Jack O'Neil, SG-1
  2. National Security Act by Brett+Buck · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Nothing can be done?! Nonsense. The National Security Act could be used to simply seize the entire operation, if it's that important.

    1. Re:National Security Act by Kitkoan · · Score: 1

      I don't think it's that simple since it's a now approved deal between 2 business's that aren't government based/ties with the government. Its a chat program used by many different people and only a small percentage is using it for illegal means, and this doesn't make it a true national security issue.

      --
      Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
    2. Re:National Security Act by sadness203 · · Score: 1

      Anyway, at this point... I wonder why they would still bother.
      They basically said "hey you, I saw what you did".

    3. Re:National Security Act by DigiShaman · · Score: 3, Interesting

      And why should they seize it? Last I heard, ICQ was a private company selling to another private company. Do we *really* want the Feds seizing private property / assets (corporate or otherwise) under the guise of national security? Not only does that set a dangerous precedent, it dilutes the true mention of national security. A power-grab if I ever saw one.

      The Feds should only be seizing weapons with premeditation that would constitute a clear and present danger. ICQ is not that.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    4. Re:National Security Act by Totenglocke · · Score: 1

      Except the government wouldn't risk seizing it and outing their agenda......what was the quote from the Exorcist when the Devil wouldn't move the object - "that's far too overt a display of power"?

      --
      "The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." ~Thomas Jefferson
    5. Re:National Security Act by Brett+Buck · · Score: 1

      This is hardly a unique situation and it has been done before. Of course, the value of it in this case is dubious, but it's perfectly legal and has been for a very long time.

    6. Re:National Security Act by AffidavitDonda · · Score: 1

      Can they really seize a company based in Israel? (And now in Russia, as the article says)

    7. Re:National Security Act by DigiShaman · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If it's "perfectly legal", than I'm quite disturbed. I mean, screw what the Russians think. I'm more afraid of my own government. I'm sure they feel the same way about us.

      I'm all about protecting national security, but not to the level where it becomes more (if at all) authoritarian.

      --
      Life is not for the lazy.
    8. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Since when has that stopped them?

    9. Re:National Security Act by hedwards · · Score: 1

      Sure they just have the CIA sneak in and abduct all the employees and make off with the servers. Quite simple really, the tough part is trying to explain why your luggage is twitching to customs agents at the border.

    10. Re:National Security Act by King+InuYasha · · Score: 2, Insightful

      The American government could "advise" the Israeli government to do this, yes. The Israeli government has no qualms about doing stuff like that, because as a state in perpetual war with itself, it has certain abilities that its government framework gives them that they wouldn't have if they weren't in a state of war. Which includes seizing property.

    11. Re:National Security Act by AnAdventurer · · Score: 2, Informative

      How exactly will the US (ie, my country) block the sale of one company based in Israel to another company based in Russia? On what grounds do we [sic] have the authority to do this?

      --
      6.8SPC TR of 550, l xwind at 6, drift rt at 26" drops 77". AT has 503 ft-lbs at 1403 fps. FT 0.86
    12. Re:National Security Act by rolfwind · · Score: 1

      Ever heard of a "limited government"?

    13. Re:National Security Act by Thinboy00 · · Score: 1

      I think he's talking about eminent domain.

      --
      $ make available
    14. Re:National Security Act by Zebai · · Score: 1

      I doubt its important any more, after all its now public knowledge the government has been sniffing at ICQ logs.

    15. Re:National Security Act by unity · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "limited government" you say? That notion died in 1913 and it ain't ever coming back without a full-on revolution.

    16. Re:National Security Act by Wyatt+Earp · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Israel isn't at war with itself.

      Israel is at war with terrorist groups trying to destroy it (Hamas, Hezbollah, Islamic Jihad, etc) and nation-states it's in conflict with (Syria and Iran).

    17. Re:National Security Act by camperdave · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Perfectly legal for the US to intervene in a sale from an Israeli company to a Russian one? If that's truly the case, the US has far, far too much power.

      --
      When our name is on the back of your car, we're behind you all the way!
    18. Re:National Security Act by Tastecicles · · Score: 0

      "Legal" it might be, and I'd argue that point. LAWFUL it certainly is not. The US Constitution, which itself is based upon the British Constitution of 1689, stipulates the right to engage in commerce without interference. Every former British colony, Commonwealth State, or current territory or dependency, still enjoys and deserves coverage and protection of the 1689 Constitution. International Law does not allow for supranational interference in private commerce except where LAWFUL sanction exists (eg in time of war). Is the Cold War still on, then?

      --
      Operation Guillotine is in effect.
    19. Re:National Security Act by Q-Hack! · · Score: 0

      Sure they just have the CIA sneak in and abduct all the employees and make off with the servers. Quite simple really, the tough part is trying to explain why your luggage is twitching to customs agents at the border.

      Um... if the CIA wanted to abduct people, they sure as hell wouldn't go through customs. The CIA has there own planes and airports, no need to use the commercial airlines.

      --
      Some days I get the sinking feeling Orwell was an optimist.
    20. Re:National Security Act by King+InuYasha · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What about the Arabs that live in the area that Israel was carved out of? And what about what is left of Palestine?

      Making a Jewish state was not a good idea. In general, founding countries using religion always leads to insanity like this...

    21. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      AOL is not an Irsraeli company, they are the ones doing the selling, the ICQ servers reside in Isreal where the US is allowed unrestricted access to them by the Isreali government. The issue isn't that a Digital Sky a company based in russia is buying them but that they will most likely move the ICQ servers to Russia where the US will not have unfettered access to them.

    22. Re:National Security Act by tombeard · · Score: 1

      I think it is as simple as an IP redirect.

      --
      The reason we subjugate ourselves to law is to better procure justice. If law does not accomplish this purpose then it m
    23. Re:National Security Act by Vlad_the_Inhaler · · Score: 3, Funny

      There is an option missing in the current /. The worst I've ever been in trouble w/ the law ... poll.

      • I have an ICQ account
      --
      Mielipiteet omiani - Opinions personal, facts suspect.
    24. Re:National Security Act by Trepidity · · Score: 5, Informative

      The Israeli company (ICQ) has been a subsidiary of an American company (AOL) since 1998.

    25. Re:National Security Act by Trepidity · · Score: 2, Informative

      The U.S. Constitution explicitly acknowledges the federal government's authority to seize property for public use, so long as just compensation is paid.

    26. Re:National Security Act by Trepidity · · Score: 1

      Mirabilis, the Israeli firm, was sold to AOL, an American firm, in 1998. Presumably they could have seized it from AOL at the time AOL owned it, if U.S. law permitted doing so, since it was just overseas property of an American firm.

    27. Re:National Security Act by aztektum · · Score: 1

      Oh it died well before that. The notion that the government ever really minded its own business has always been a fairy tale. It has stuck its fingers in our pies from the start.

      --
      :: aztek ::
      No sig for you!!
    28. Re:National Security Act by Trepidity · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I agree, but I'd say the same of, say, Turkey. Only they were a bit more genocidal about "solving" their Greek and Armenian problem, so, perversely, they don't get as much shit about it anymore--- Israel was much nicer to its domestic minorities, so gets more shit about it.

    29. Re:National Security Act by Tastecicles · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Granted, but where does this come in to unlawful interference in extranational commerce?

      --
      Operation Guillotine is in effect.
    30. Re:National Security Act by icebike · · Score: 1

      The real question is why to the Russians want it?

      Its not like it makes a lot of money.

      Is it because it allows user encryption on top of the normal ICQ channel with plugins like SimpLite?

      --
      Sig Battery depleted. Reverting to safe mode.
    31. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Its in Israel. Not Israel California, or Israel Florida, or Israel Oklahoma, but that country in the middle east, far from the United States. Its one of those "Far Far Away"(tm) places. Its not a place where the official "Do As I Say, Not As I Do"(tm) policy of the "United States Government"(tm) gets all the Harumpf that "World Domination Americans"(tm) would like it to have. They might even use the phrase "So What?"(tm) in response to the "United States Government"(tm) wanting total control over the deal between one "Foreign Country"* and another "Foreign Country". Those "Foreign Countries"(tm) sure are full of Foreigners (And Suzuki Four Runners). Its really strange how when Americans go to those "Foreign Countries" full of those Foreigners, how the Foreigners call Americans "Foreigners". Crazy!

    32. Re:National Security Act by Kitkoan · · Score: 5, Informative
      --
      Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
    33. Re:National Security Act by rtb61 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      So it would seem that the ICQ purchase is a Russian security issue, I suppose it is because of the location of the servers in Israel. So is US security really complaining or are they the puppets of Israeli security yet again, as you can bet the servers for ICQ will not remain where Israeli security can control them, once a Russian company owns them.

      The US President and Russian President chumming it up at a burger joint http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDzHvAcysWQ (I wonder if nutburger Palin is still paranoid about the Russian President leering into her yard), would mean the cold war is well and truly over and Israel's significance in the region (due to Russian support of Arabic nations) is dwindling.

      From a Russian perspective it makes normal commercial sense for them to expand into global internet market as can readily be witnessed by the growth of Russian today http://www.rt.com/, pretty much middle of the road english news site in terms of reliability, well ahead of Fox News.

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    34. Re:National Security Act by jackchance · · Score: 1

      I agree, but I'd say the same of, say, Turkey. Only they were a bit more genocidal about "solving" their Greek and Armenian problem, so, perversely, they don't get as much shit about it anymore--- Israel was much nicer to its domestic minorities, so gets more shit about it.

      So true.
      And really, what happened in Turkey happened in America. Both Canada and the US are lands colonized by Europeans. Telling the Jews to leave Israel is like telling the Europeans to leave America. The Europeans killed enough of the native population in North America to subdue them (+ alcohol and casinos....) ......

      --
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    35. Re:National Security Act by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 5, Informative

      The US Constitution, which itself is based upon the British Constitution of 1689, stipulates the right to engage in commerce without interference.

      No, it isn't, and no, it doesn't.

      There is no "British Constitution of 1689". The "British Constitution" is not a written document but a set of traditions. You may be thinking of the 1689 Bill of Rights, which certainly did inspire similar enumerations by states and eventually by the federal government, but it's a far stretch to say that our Bill of Rights is based on that document.

      And the U.S. Constitution does not have any passage about a "right to engage in commerce without interference". (Nor, from my admitted quick scan, does the 1689 Bill of Rights) The Constitution does, though, explicitly stipulate the power of the federal government to "regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes" (Article I, Section 8). As AOL is an American company, and the buyer is Russian, the feds have legitimate Constitutional authority to regulate the transaction as they wish.

      May I suggest you read the document in question before you make statements about what it stipulates?

      I tell ya, conservatives and propertarians remind me more and more often of that old Star Trek (TOS) episode where there's a barbarian tribe that worships the Constitution but has no idea what it actually says. ("E pleb neesta...")

      --
      Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
      You cannot wash away blood with blood
    36. Re:National Security Act by joeszilagyi · · Score: 1

      It's not like it's the encryption thing. You can do that on AIM (and for all I know, Yahoo, MSN, Jabber etc etc etc).

      --
      Dude, where's my packet?
    37. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's more easily said than done. What if one of the employees is an orthodox Jew?

    38. Re:National Security Act by wolfv · · Score: 1

      i don't care if they stick there fingers in the pie, its when they come over and say, that pie you just baked, ok, 1/3 of its mind, and i may take another 1/3 for other stuff i want done. thats not a finger, they taking most of the pie.

    39. Re:National Security Act by Wyatt+Earp · · Score: 3, Interesting

      What about the Jews who were kicked out of Persia, Lebanon, Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen?

      The insanity was the Arab world's decision to throw the Jews into the sea in 1947, 1967 and 1973. No, the Arab world couldn't stand the thought of a tiny trip of land with Jews on it, so they decided to refuse Israel's right to exist, something that blew up in their faces.

      Had Poland, the United Kingdom and France not treated the Holocaust survivors like the cause of the Second World War and given them some options other than death and concentration camps things might have turned out differently.

      Israel is not founded on a religion, it's founded on an racial heritage, something that's true from Morocco to Vietnam across Africa and Asia.

    40. Re:National Security Act by Wyatt+Earp · · Score: 2, Informative

      Casinos in the United States are gaming organizations set up and established by the Indian Tribes, not the White man.

      The genocide of Armenia, Greeks and Kurds was far more organized than the American Indian Wars that lead to the conquest of the United States.

      Example, the Northern Great Plains Indian Wars from 1850-1890 lead to about 3,000 white deaths and 8-11,000 Indian dead.

      600,000 Armenians "died or were massacred during deportation" in the years 1915–1916.

    41. Re:National Security Act by tmach · · Score: 1

      Well, it took controlling interest of GM because allowing it to fail would be harmful to national interest. (And the gov't still has controlling interest,even though GM allegedly paid back its bailout money), Same goes for a lot of banks. And if the financial reform bill passes, it'll be legal for it to take over any company it thinks is big enough to affect the economy. How big is big enough? The gov't decides that, of course. So it pretty much has the ability to seize anything it wants to at this point. It's a little late to complain about it now. There used to be a word for that...

    42. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Would someone please care to define "limited government" in a clear, unambiguous way - this term gets used a lot and despite trying to understand it, I still have no idea what it means. What sort of powers would such a government retain? What services would it provide?

    43. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      ICQ is mainly used in Russia, Germany and Israel, but it is owned by Americans. Why would US law enforcement bodies care about the sale of a messaging network that is not being used in America? It doesn't make sense. Perhaps the US want to keep using icq to spy on the Russians.

    44. Re:National Security Act by phoenix321 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, and they battled for decades over the topic eminent domain and continue to do so every time it is invoked.

      Seizing private property for public use is probably unavoidable sometimes, but generally allowing it on a day-to-day basis is equal to real, old-school, hard-core Communism or Fascism.

      And no, that's no slippery slope argument: The State removing private property from its rightful owner to give it to The People is what Communism is all about.

      Compensation paid is the only thing that makes this oppressive move halfway acceptable in some cases where it is unavoidable, or airports or highways could not be build, nowhere, never. The discussions will not end there, since the amount of compensation that is deemed fair is usually wildly differing between the owner and the state trying to seize it. I'm glad I don't have to decide what amount of fair compensation is added to a seized real-estate for "owner was born there" or "owners family lived there for ten generations", and I highly doubt anyone can put a number on that.

      Think about it: Private property free to nationalize at the whim of whoever currently has executive authority. It can hardly get anymore Communist than that at all. Short of wife sharing and forced meals in the communal mess hall, this is the real deal, live and in true color 3d.

      Evicting people from their homes to build a much-needed airport is one thing. Seizing property in other countries to somehow magically and unquantifiably "ease" law enforcement is out of the question.

    45. Re:National Security Act by phoenix321 · · Score: 1

      [citation needed]
      [dubious - discuss]

      Forum posts under a pseudonym are hardly more reliable than Wikipedia.

      I suggest to edit and correct the respective Wikipedia article if you have proof and source instead. It is much easier for you than trying to correct wrong forum posts all around the Internet.

    46. Re:National Security Act by rich_r · · Score: 4, Informative

      Bzzt! We do not, and never have had, a formal written constitution. If you have citations to refute this, I'd love to see them.

    47. Re:National Security Act by phoenix321 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Founding countries on the basis of a common ethnicity was not a great idea either, was it?
      Maybe the idea on ownership of production equipment is?
      Multi-ethnic, multi-religious, large-terroritory-encompassing states didn't fare too well either so far, and neither did stateless societies with unenforced borders and free-for-all non-rule.

      We've pretty much tried everything. All failed, but Western democracy failed less spectacularly so far, but that, too, will change when it finally succeeds in allowing Muslim immigrants to reach a 50% population share in Western Europe somewhere around 2040.

      Now what *should* be the defining and founding criterion for a state?

    48. Re:National Security Act by laura20 · · Score: 3, Informative

      There is no British Constitution, in the sense of a piece of paper that William of Orange could have signed. It's uncodified, famously so. What you are speaking about, in a somewhat confused and uninformed way, is the British Bill of Rights, which is one of the things that make up the Constitution. And while it is an important document in the development of constitutional theory, in no way is "EVERY national constitution is based on the 1689 British Constitution".

    49. Re:National Security Act by forkazoo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Would someone please care to define "limited government" in a clear, unambiguous way - this term gets used a lot and despite trying to understand it, I still have no idea what it means. What sort of powers would such a government retain? What services would it provide?

      A properly limited government is defined as follows:

      A government with sufficient limits that it leaves me alone, but with sufficient powers to bother everybody else to make sure that they leave me alone.

    50. Re:National Security Act by phoenix321 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The White Man is responsible for all evil in the world. Didn't you get the memo?

      It was on telly only yesterday:

      Nigeria: all other religions are slowly extinguished, entire provinces convert to Islam, complete with Sharia law and beheadings, stonings and all the other things we've learned to expect from an Islamic state.

      Yet, the documentary (done by White Men) blamed the White Man, notably the British, to be responsible for religious warfare in 2010 because of something they did prior to Nigerian independence - what was back in 1950s.

      Nigeria is independent since Oct. 1st, 1960, and religious warfare 50 years later is still attributed to White Man even by White Men's documentaries.

      I have much respect for the impact that history has on current events, but it's getting increasingly ridiculous.

    51. Re:National Security Act by phoenix321 · · Score: 1

      All countries have a right to be founded on ethnical heritage. Except people of European heritage. They need to accept any number immigrants from any origin.

    52. Re:National Security Act by Rashdot · · Score: 3, Funny

      The real question is why to the Russians want it?

      Because they have a history of icey queues?

      --
      This is not the sig you're looking for.
    53. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sure, and then the feds run ICQ, they are known for there IT skills...

    54. Re:National Security Act by Yvanhoe · · Score: 1

      If law has still any value in USA, they should buy it, not seize it.

      --
      The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.
    55. Re:National Security Act by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

      They would, of course, be required to pay for it. It won't happen, though, nor will the sale be blocked. Despite the excitement of the newsies it isn't that important. Perhaps if the natcops had made their concerns known when ICQ was first put on the market a domestic buyer might have been found but it's too late now.

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    56. Re:National Security Act by markdavis · · Score: 1

      Well, there is this old concept called the Constitution that did a pretty darn good job of defining the limitations of the Fed. You know, that document that all Fed officers and elected officials must swear to protect and defend. Unfortunately, it is completely ignored and its meaning was corrupted and twisted.

      The Fed is at least 100 times larger than it should have ever been allowed to become. But people seem to think that safety is more important than Liberty. They want the government to take care of them like the fathers they never had. Most citizens think the primary goal of the government should be to take money from some people (the evil "rich") and put it in their own pockets. They believe that the free market generally just doesn't work and must be regulated in every possible way.

      The Fed has become so large, entrenched, and corrupt, that the majority of citizens work directly or indirectly for it or have some amount of their income dependent on it. There are so many special interest groups, lobbyist, and people on it's payroll that it is impossible for it ever to shrink or reform.

      The Constitution clearly states the powers not specifically laid out in the document are to be reserved for the States. Today, the States have very little power. Combined with endless, uncontrolled debt and constantly expanding social programs, the USA is evolving into the United Federal Socialist State of America.

    57. Re:National Security Act by ikkonoishi · · Score: 1

      Jews are an ethnic group not just members of a religion.

    58. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So the only service it provides is that of ensuring people don't bother one another? Would the government maintain a military and police force in order to accomplish this goal? Would it also serve to regulate industries to ensure that disasters like the latest financial crisis and the BP oil spill don`t occur? Who paves the roads?

      Your answer is far from unambiguous and only serves to generate more questions. I challenge anyone to submit a fullfledged document detailing a ``limited government``, its powers, the services it provides, the resources it would require, and an analysis of its impact on society.

    59. Re:National Security Act by Post-O-Matron · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Israel is not "founded using religion". Period.

      Israel is a liberal democracy with full freedom of worship. It was founded to serve as a home for Jewish people, which during the 1940s turned out to be a VERY GOOD idea.

      In Israel you can be whatever you want: Jewish, Muslim, Christian, gay - even a Slashdot reader. The only implications of the fact that this is a Jewish state are that the official language is Hebrew, the symbols and holidays are based Jewish heritage, and Jews get an automatic citizenship if they apply for one. Nobody is forced to be Jewish. The laws are not based on the Jewish religion but on liberal western principles, with civil rights and protection for minorities.

      Explain to me please how any of that is different to Germany, France, Spain or the UK?

      If you want to see true Theocraties I suggest you look more to the east than Israel.

    60. Re:National Security Act by GameboyRMH · · Score: 1

      You seem to forget that Israel and the US are BFFs.

      Also the 4Runner is made by Toyota.

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    61. Re:National Security Act by ascari · · Score: 1

      Ok, but do you really think the alleged criminals would keep using ICQ in that scenario? IMHO such a move would be completely pointless.

    62. Re:National Security Act by fineghal · · Score: 1

      Hugo Chavez? Why are you lurking on slashdot! You've got an oil company to run! And an electricity company, and... Thanks but I'd rather avoid such a precedent.

    63. Re:National Security Act by King+InuYasha · · Score: 1

      I'm sorry, you are right. However, preferential treatment to Jews is still not right.

      The only true theocracies I'm aware of are Iran and the Papal States (Vatican City).

    64. Re:National Security Act by Chih · · Score: 1

      There used to be a word for that...

      Bailout?

      --
      For best results, avoid doing stupid things.
    65. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think that word might be "ignorance"...

      The US Gov't didn't "take" a controlling interest, they bought it. A ship was sinking and they paid to have it fixed. They felt that it was in the best interest of The People that these various companies shouldn't fail, that the damage caused by a failure would be greater than the price of fixing it.

      We can argue about whether this was a good thing to do, but it is inarguable that they *took* anything. These were companies that didn't have anything: they owed more than they were worth and were going to go down hard. So rather than let the (potentially horrifying) externalities of a liquidation wreck everything, they did like any other market participant was free to do and bought the failing company.

      This is completely different from taking a successful company because they wanted to use its success for its own purposes.

      Also, the government didn't take over any banks. The FDIC assumed control of a number of banks in compliance with the contract those banks signed with the FDIC, basically agreeing that if the bank failed to meet minimum standards for banking integrity, that the FDIC could take control of them. This is unarguably a good thing- a stable financial system depends on depositors knowing their deposits are insured, and bankers know that if they fuck up, they lose their business.

    66. Re:National Security Act by Chih · · Score: 1

      ...Jews get an automatic citizenship if they apply for one.

      Explain to me please how any of that is different to Germany, France, Spain or the UK?

      No difference at all.

      --
      For best results, avoid doing stupid things.
    67. Re:National Security Act by Post-O-Matron · · Score: 1

      The preferential treatment ends with applications for citizenship. All citizens enjoy the same rights.

      There is nothing wrong with ancestry rules, they exist in the UK and Germany as well and even the US. Check the rules regarding the eligibility of children and grand-children of ex-US citizens for citizenship and green cards. I'd love to move to the US and live there for a while, work in Silicon valley. I can't. However if I did have an opportunity to do so, I would enjoy the same civil rights and protection as any other US resident. What's wrong with that?

    68. Re:National Security Act by Post-O-Matron · · Score: 1

      I'm not sure if you are being sarcastic or not, but if you are implying that there is a difference then you should look into the ancestry rules of these countries.

      Here's one example: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UK_Ancestry_Entry_Clearance

    69. Re:National Security Act by King+InuYasha · · Score: 1

      I disagree with having those laws in the USA as well. However, I can understand why they are in place, both in Israel and in the United States.

    70. Re:National Security Act by gumbi+west · · Score: 2, Informative

      It used to be that you could get +5 informative simply by RTA and giving some facts from it, now even quoting something from the summary gets you +5 informative.

    71. Re:National Security Act by Reservoir+Penguin · · Score: 1

      Hmm, so really Russian Jews and Jews from Ethiopia and I believe they recently imported some Jewish practicing tribe from India have common ethnicity now? BTW, just for fun check with your local Rabi, it is possible (bit rather hard) for a person of any ethnicity to convert to Judaism, and then... you get an automatic ticket to Israel.

      --
      US-UK-Israel: The real Axis of Evil
    72. Re:National Security Act by Reservoir+Penguin · · Score: 1

      Maybe it was true hundreds of years ago but now Israel eagerly imports people of any ethnicity practicing Judaism, be they more of slavic, ethiopian or indian origin.

      --
      US-UK-Israel: The real Axis of Evil
    73. Re:National Security Act by Post-O-Matron · · Score: 1

      So? The state was founded as a potential home for all Jewish communities around the world. There is no argument that being Jewish is a combination of heritage, identity and ethnicity - why should that matter? Is it written anywhere that ancestry rules are only allowed if they are based on enthinicty?

      If anything it only makes Israel's ancestry rules less restrictive than those of UK / US / Germany. One cannot convert into being German or English, right? The US ancestry rules BTW are not based on athnicity either.

      BTW I believe you are referring to Ethiopia, not India: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beta_Israel.

    74. Re:National Security Act by tomtomtom · · Score: 1

      Technically, you are incorrect - the British constitution is uncodified, not unwritten; (most of) our constitution is indeed written down somewhere, it's just not all in the same place or in a document called a "constitution".

    75. Re:National Security Act by dryeo · · Score: 0, Troll

      Seizing private property for public use is probably unavoidable sometimes, but generally allowing it on a day-to-day basis is equal to real, old-school, hard-core Communism or Fascism.

      And no, that's no slippery slope argument: The State removing private property from its rightful owner to give it to The People is what Communism is all about.

      And Capitalism is all about removing the People's property to give it to private interests, often killing millions to do it. (The USA as an example had a national policy of genocide for a long time and may have killed more people then Stalin)

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    76. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Laughable. What about the fact that "Palestine" was actually carved out of Israel first?

      Historical Israel (and Judea) was renamed to "Palestine" as an attempt by the Romans to crush a local Jewish rebellion: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine#Origin_of_name

      They named it Palestine after the Jews' ancient enemy Phalestine, which has absolutely no relations to modern-day Arabs calling themselves Palestinians.

    77. Re:National Security Act by dryeo · · Score: 1

      Are your numbers including all the Native Americans that starved to death due to the American governments policy of genocide by starvation (killing all the buffalo)?
      Also while we have become nicer in our genocide, it has continued until recently. eg my wife was forcibly removed from her parents at birth to be raised by white people. Her step mother was forcibly removed from her family to be sent to the Catholics to be raped into submission.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    78. Re:National Security Act by barberousse · · Score: 1

      That would be really strange. Mirabilis was an israeli company after all.

    79. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Israel would do anything to please their US masters for fears of losing the 100 billion in aid and trade they enjoy with us in highly subsidized industries like defense and tech. Do you really think Intel would be in Israel if it wasn't for the US government?

    80. Re:National Security Act by Velex · · Score: 1

      And Capitalism is all about removing the People's property to give it to private interests, often killing millions to do it.

      The People aren't individually private interests?

      I think our system has clearly failed and has instead instated an aristocracy of C*Os, but let's keep the terminology straight. Corporations, if anything, are public interests, at least they were before they were granted personhood. Perhaps revoking corporate personhood and removing the abomination that is an LLC is all that's needed to right things again.

      That, and it'd be nice to hold the board individually, personally, and criminally responsible for the acts of the corporation. If a member of the board feels a decision will cause them to be criminally responsible for something they oppose, they can resign. Policies that are systematically unenforced until something bad happens will give them enough wiggle room to escape liability anyway. (Guilt by association is bad [e.g. McCarthy], but I don't think what I'm proposing is guilt by association.)

      If what you mean to say is that corporations as they exist today represent a moral hazard (a detachment of responsibility from the ability to act), I agree 100%. The problem isn't private interests, though, it's the very moral hazard itself. If I bankrupt my private DBA or partnership business, then I cry. If I'm an incompetent C*O who's only looking at the next quarter's numbers, and I bankrupt the corporation, then I get a bailout and a golden parachute. That's the very definition of moral hazard.

      --
      Join the Slashcott! Stay away entirely Feb 10 thru Feb 17! Close all tabs to prevent autorefresh!
    81. Re:National Security Act by Chih · · Score: 1

      I don't think anyone living now had a grandparent born in Judea. Despite that, there's a HUGE difference between "my recent ancestors came directly from..." and "I feel a cultural connection to...". From what you said, one doesn't need to prove Hebrew descent, just that he's Jewish. Care to extrapolate your position?

      --
      For best results, avoid doing stupid things.
    82. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The location of the company is irrelevant. Ownership is. ICQ is a wholly owned subsidiary of AOL, an American corporaton, hence ICQ is an American company subject to all the laws thereof.

    83. Re:National Security Act by Post-O-Matron · · Score: 1

      I've answered this elsewhere in this thread.

    84. Re:National Security Act by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      Sellout, to the U.A.W.

      Or maybe that should be 'debt payback.'

    85. Re:National Security Act by Bing+Tsher+E · · Score: 1

      The parallel would be stronger, of course, if the Indians had been driven across the border into Mexico, and Mexico had set them up in semi-permanent refugee camps, refusing to let them become citizens of Mexico, in order to use them to attack the United States.

    86. Re:National Security Act by jackchance · · Score: 1

      The genocide of Armenia, Greeks and Kurds was far more organized than the American Indian Wars that lead to the conquest of the United States. 600,000 Armenians "died or were massacred during deportation" in the years 1915–1916.

      I have no interest in getting into a debate about which crime was worse, but people have estimated that over 10 Million indigenous people died through war and disease because of the colonization of America.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocides_in_history#Americas

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      1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233 377 610 987 1597 2584 4181 6765
    87. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My only question is do we have to have our own wives or does the wife sharing just pass the ladys to us basement dwellers?

      Yes I know it was a rude and crude joke.. If your offended.. well frankly I don't care. Have a nice day either way.

    88. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      One minor correction: The ICQ servers are in the USA, not Israel.

    89. Re:National Security Act by Cwix · · Score: 1

      Frankly, I could care less if the US Bill of rights was based upon an german porno.. the point is, in the US the government does have the right to regulate commerce, in fact they over use it... see marijuana laws.. I dont care if the 1689 UK bill of rights says they cant.. GUESS WHAT.. THE US IS NO LONGER PART OF THE UK. Its been well over 200 years since we have been. Our laws are different..

      Run along now.

      --
      You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
    90. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Hi Stormfront!

    91. Re:National Security Act by Cwix · · Score: 1

      Shhh!!

      The tea partiers might hear you. They will just yell louder then you. Because being loud is more important then being correct.

      --
      You are entitled to your own opinions, not your own facts.
    92. Re:National Security Act by uvajed_ekil · · Score: 1

      I don't think anyone was suggesting that it is necessarily the right thing to do. But if ICQ *is* in fact used extensively by criminal and terrorist networks, and unfettered government access to it is actually essential to national security, then its seizure could certainly be defended. If that is the case (which is the part we don't know), then not seizing it now would be a Homeland Defense failure. I'm not that concerned about it, since seizing it would just alert the criminals tot he fact that it is heavily monitored, driving them elsewhere rather than exposing their every word. A lot of "ifs" there, and some other forms of communication are faster or more secure, but this is certainly a topic worth discussing.

      --
      This is a hacked account, for which the owner can not be held responsible.
    93. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's based out of Israel. It can't be seized. Sorry! LOL

    94. Re:National Security Act by Wyatt+Earp · · Score: 1

      Your link also has the number 1.8 million people, the fact is no one knows how many died in the 400 years between the European re-discovery of the Americas and the closing of the Frontier in 1890.

      I was talking exclusively about the Northern Great Plains.

      Things like the Conquest of Mexico and the plagues there might very well have been from local vectors like Hanta and not caused by the Europeans.

    95. Re:National Security Act by Wyatt+Earp · · Score: 1

      The killing of the American Bison was not a "government policy" but due to the market demand for leather in Europe.

    96. Re:National Security Act by Bungie · · Score: 1

      Are you kidding? Remember they have to go through US customs. Even the CIA wouldn't want to deal with those guys. They probably even give Obama the rough treatment!

      --
      The clash of honour calls, to stand when others fall.
    97. Re:National Security Act by kriston · · Score: 1

      ICQ is not based or even hosted in Israel. It has been hosted by AOL for the past dozen years, the first two of which it was hosted in New York, not Israel.
      Ubique was founded in Israel and once hosted ICQ in Israel but this was 1996 and earlier. Nothing about ICQ operations now has anything to do with Israel.

      --

      Kriston

    98. Re:National Security Act by kriston · · Score: 1

      This discussion would make any sense if ICQ had anything to do with Israel.
      ICQ has nothing to do with Israel. It is not hosted in Israel. It is an America Online service and has not had anything to do with Israel since 1996.

      --

      Kriston

    99. Re:National Security Act by kriston · · Score: 1

      Of course, by "Ubique" I mean Mirabilis. I got my Israeli AOL acuisitions mixed up, but of course ICQ has nothing to do with Israel since 1996.

      --

      Kriston

    100. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you're Palestinian you don't get to vote in your "democracy", nor do you have to right to buy homes in certain neighborhoods. There are certain neighborhoods that are basically jewish only. Christians/Muslims *might* be able to buy homes there but Palestinians certainly cant.

    101. Re:National Security Act by Post-O-Matron · · Score: 1

      You're absolutely right about the status of the Palestinians. But the Palestinians were never given Israeli citizenship (and now they vote for their own government BTW). Still, I won't argue with anyone saying that their status is in the shits - that's a given.

      However, this is besides the point. The argument against Israel here is that it's based on religion and therefore makes non-Jews 2nd class citizens purposely - which is simply not true. There are Israeli citizens who are Arabs, Muslims, Christian and so on and they enjoy the same liberties and opportunities as Jewish Israelis. The status of the Palestinians has aboslutely nothing to do with the fact that Israel is defined as a Jewsih state. It has everything to do with the fact that we are and have been in a violent conflict with them for the past 100 years.

      My point is that there is nothing wrong with Israel being a Liberal democracy and a Jewish state - it *can* work, and the status of the Arab Israelis and all other minorities and religions in Israel is proof of that.

      RE your comment about neighborhoods again separate the Palestinians from Arab Israelis - any Israeli Citizen can live anywhere they want. In fact there was a case that made the headlines a couple of years back of an Arab family that wanted to live in a Kibutz and were rejected - the high court then overruled the Kibutz's decision and forced it to accept them. I remind you that Kibutzes have entry criteria that all would-be members must comply with (they are basically socialist villages). The situation with the Palestinans is of course different and they can't live outside the territories, but goes back to the my point above. Furthermore, Jewish Israelis can't in practice live in Israeli Arab villages or in most of the Palestinians territories anyway.

      The bottom line is that there is nothing wrong with the way Israel is defined, or inherently because of it. The problems are all the result of the circumstances, practicalities, the tensions between the different groups in question, etc. When we finally have peace in this corner of the world one day all of these problems will go away and we'll just have a liberal western democracy with a Jewish theme.

    102. Re:National Security Act by Post-O-Matron · · Score: 1

      Israel has both. Check you facts.

    103. Re:National Security Act by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      (Score:-1, Jew)

  3. Two words: by bl4nk · · Score: 5, Funny

    Uh-oh!

  4. ICQ is AIM by joe_bruin · · Score: 5, Informative

    As the system is based in Israel, American security service have had access.

    While ICQ was founded in Israel, it's been owned by AOL for over a decade. The ICQ network has been integrated with AOL's AIM network many years ago and the servers are located in AOL's network supercenter in Virginia.

    1. Re:ICQ is AIM by LostCluster · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I think the fear is that link bay be broken up by this sale.

      Anybody who was watching MSNBC's Countdown around 2008-2009 know that there's a highly controlled rooms at AT&T where nearly all long distance telephone traffic flow through and while curious AT&Ters are not allowed, government agents are.

      This is the spy community saying "If ICQ moves to Russia, we might not be able to tap it anymore!"

    2. Re:ICQ is AIM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      Northern Virginia, as it happens; conveniently close to both the CIA and the NSA. :D

    3. Re:ICQ is AIM by Kitkoan · · Score: 3, Informative

      As the system is based in Israel, American security service have had access.

      While ICQ was founded in Israel, it's been owned by AOL for over a decade. The ICQ network has been integrated with AOL's AIM network many years ago and the servers are located in AOL's network supercenter in Virginia.

      ICQ's networks haven't been integrated with AOL servers, they are still in Tel Aviv, Israel. They are a subsidiary of AOL, but not merged or located in the US. They are 2 different IM programs that were kept separated to appear as if there is competition, this is why you can download both an AIM chat program and a ICQ chat program and the user names are not cross-compatible.

      --
      Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
    4. Re:ICQ is AIM by Coward+Anonymous · · Score: 0

      "They are 2 different IM programs that were kept separated to appear as if there is competition, this is why you can download both an AIM chat program and a ICQ chat program and the user names are not cross-compatible."

      Except, umm, I use my ICQ UID directly on AIM with iChat... oops.

    5. Re:ICQ is AIM by Kitkoan · · Score: 2, Informative

      Except, umm, I use my ICQ UID directly on AIM with iChat... oops.

      iChat is an instant messaging program that that can support AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo and Google Talk. Unless I'm mistaken, iChat is just using the needed settings to chat with between them. Other programs like Trillian does this as well that I know of.

      --
      Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
    6. Re:ICQ is AIM by Martin+Blank · · Score: 5, Informative

      As an experiment, I logged out of all of my IM connections, and reconnected only ICQ, then watched it in Wireshark. The connection went to 205.188.8.188, a reverse lookup of which resolves to bos-d037b-rdr1.blue.aol.com. I use Digsby primarily, and I thought that may have something to do with it, so I downloaded ICQ 7 into a VM and traced that traffic. The DNS query was for api.screenname.aol.com, and the login attempt went to 207.200.74.251, which resolves to openauthprod-vn01.evip.aol.com.

      ICQ switched to AOL's OSCAR protocol several years ago. There is a definite link between the backend architectures of the two programs. AOL largely sold the name, and perhaps included some rights to use the protocol.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
    7. Re:ICQ is AIM by negRo_slim · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Anybody who was watching MSNBC's Countdown around 2008-2009 know that there's a highly controlled rooms at AT&T where nearly all long distance telephone traffic flow through and while curious AT&Ters are not allowed, government agents are.

      Anybody who's been reading the Telecom Informer in 2600 for years now has been aware of the scope of the governments monitoring capabilities in that sector. And I'm sure they're not the only source but I'll be damned if I let you attribute that information to an MSNBC program.

      lol.

      --
      On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
    8. Re:ICQ is AIM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are mistaken. You can use any AIM client (using the OSCAR protocol) to connect to ICQ or AIM and send messages to either ICQ or AIM accts.The login servers are integrated and you can add ICQ contacts to an AIM screenname and vice versa.

    9. Re:ICQ is AIM by Coward+Anonymous · · Score: 1

      iChat supports ICQ by virtue of it supporting AOL's OSCAR protocol. I use the same UIN with AIM SW directly and have AIM and ICQ buddies.It's a seamless integrated service.

    10. Re:ICQ is AIM by Trepidity · · Score: 2

      The networks were linked, and user names were made cross-compatible in 2002. If you login to AIM, and send a message to a "username" consisting of an ICQ number, it will be delivered.

    11. Re:ICQ is AIM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      but I'll be damned if I let you attribute that information to an MSNBC program.

      Agreed Sir, I'd be just as likely to believe Fox News made the breakthrough... good point.

    12. Re:ICQ is AIM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Awareness_Office

      The only real difference is the wiki lies about them being defunded they, were just moved from 'open funding' to backdoor funding.

    13. Re:ICQ is AIM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It was possible to log into an AIM client with an ICQ UIN even several years ago.

    14. Re:ICQ is AIM by phoenix321 · · Score: 1

      [citation needed]
      [dubious - discuss]

    15. Re:ICQ is AIM by Urkki · · Score: 1

      This is the spy community saying "If ICQ moves to Russia, we might not be able to tap it anymore!"

      No it's not. Not a real spy community at least. If they're late in the whole affair, they're no proper spies. If they were proper spies, the process of stopping the deal would have started as soon as there were first informal discussions between AOL and the Russian company about the possibility of maybe doing business.

    16. Re:ICQ is AIM by Man+Eating+Duck · · Score: 1

      [citation needed]
      [dubious - discuss]

      He's not a goddamn encyclopædia, and this is probably not his thesis... Drop the [citation needed], please.
      What's more, he provided you with a reference to educate yourself about his claims.
      I'll give you a hint, start here or here.

      --
      Are you a grammar Nazi? I'm trying to improve my English; please correct my errors! :)
    17. Re:ICQ is AIM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      prove it, show us the packets on cloudshark.org

    18. Re:ICQ is AIM by Man+Eating+Duck · · Score: 1

      @phoenix321: I'm sorry, in my previous post (sibling to this) I thought you were responding to the earlier post about 2600. The article linked to in your real parent still seems pretty well documented, at least at a quick glance. No [citation needed] in the whole article as of the time of my accessing it.

      --
      Are you a grammar Nazi? I'm trying to improve my English; please correct my errors! :)
    19. Re:ICQ is AIM by bjartur · · Score: 1

      The domain doesn't tell you at all where the hosts are located, and you can't trust the IPs as they're all routed through AOL (it bein it's own ISP).

      Both may the IPs seem to refer to US hosts, and if you're wearing a tin-foil hat they could easily "spoof" IPs (pick some IP that's supposedly allocated for servers in the USA), add/remove traceroute info, tunnel packets through their datacenters, and do about anything but artificially remove latency. Also, where are actual ICQ messages routed through and logged?

    20. Re:ICQ is AIM by Martin+Blank · · Score: 1

      Those are all things that one could do, but I think you give AOL a little too much credit. Having known people who have worked at AOL not just in customer service but also working on the servers in the data center, that level of sophistication just isn't there, at least on a large scale when it comes to the IM infrastructure.

      As for where they're routed and logged internally, that is anyone's guess. Direct connections are not terribly common anymore for the privacy and security reasons that someone mentioned elsewhere in this topic. Logging messages is a lot easier than all the tunneling and manipulation that you suggest. As the messages mostly seem to route through their datacenters, it would be trivial to set up a mechanism to log them. No need to ship them off to overseas datacenters or alter return packets.

      --
      You can never go home again... but I guess you can shop there.
    21. Re:ICQ is AIM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I guarantee you that most or all of the ICQ servers are in the USA. When AOL originally acquired ICQ the servers were in NYC, now they are in Virginia. The Israeli office is for development.

      With things like MSN and Yahoo and Google talk and straight-up jabber and IRC, there is abundant competition, limited only by network effects.

    22. Re:ICQ is AIM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Owned by a 1.7mil uid. Scrub.

    23. Re:ICQ is AIM by kriston · · Score: 1

      No!! What you say is not true in any way, and your "Informative" moderation should be removed.

      ICQ's systems had been merged with AIM systems in the early 2000s.
      They both now use the *same* protocol, OSCAR, and the ICQ clients that don't use OSCAR are gatewayed into the OSCAR systems.
      I am telling you this because I've seen it with my own eyes as a developer at AOL.

      ICQ *is* AIM. In addition, you *can* talk to ICQ users from AIM accounts.

      Why your kind of misinformation is marked "Informative" is beyond belief.

      --

      Kriston

    24. Re:ICQ is AIM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In Virginia? How interesting....

  5. Do people still use ICQ? by masdog · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Do people still use ICQ? I thought it was a dying technology in 2000 when I first signed up for it as it was being supplanted by AIM, Yahoo, and MSN (which have been supplanted in many ways by Facebook).

    1. Re:Do people still use ICQ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why would it be "a dying technology"? Just because it's old?
      I've never had any problems with ICQ, but the same can't be said about MSN. If it were up to me I'd use ICQ instead of MSN, but I can't since only russians use it now (technically I can, but I'd have no contacts).

    2. Re:Do people still use ICQ? by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      Do people still use ICQ?

      I wouldn't know about US or other countries, but it's the single most popular IM service in ex-USSR countries, and there are no signs of this changing anytime soon.

    3. Re:Do people still use ICQ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Some people I know are still on Yahoo! Messenger and Windows (Live) Messenger, but none of them ever uses ICQ or AIM.

    4. Re:Do people still use ICQ? by masdog · · Score: 1

      Sorry. Poor choice of words. I should have said dying network, not dying technology.

    5. Re:Do people still use ICQ? by ascari · · Score: 1

      Hello. ICQ - the criminals choice. Where have you been, dude? :-)

    6. Re:Do people still use ICQ? by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      Some people I know are still on Yahoo! Messenger and Windows (Live) Messenger, but none of them ever uses ICQ or AIM.

      Your phrasing is a little backwards, since your wording insinuates that Yahoo Messenger and Windows (Live) Messenger were the old thing and people use other things now.

      In general, at least in the US, most people cycle through Yahoo Messenger, MSN, and AIM.
      There are others that are used by more computer-literate (or exploratory) individuals such as Google chat, Jabber, and the occasional straggler on facebook/myspace.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  6. All criminals use ICQ. by OnePumpChump · · Score: 3, Funny

    But good luck, they're behind 7 proxies.

  7. in soviet russia by circletimessquare · · Score: 3, Funny

    kgb c u but usa no c u!

    --
    intellectual property law is philosophically incoherent. it is your moral duty to ignore it or sabotage it
    1. Re:in soviet russia by smileytshirt · · Score: 1

      In Soviet Russia, ICQ buys YOU!

      --
      www.shortman.com.au - top shorted stocks on the ASX
    2. Re:in soviet russia by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In Soviet Russia:
      "KGB to have bottles of baleen but to have!"
      Gotta love Google Translate.

    3. Re:in soviet russia by selven · · Score: 1

      i c q

      No, wait, I don't see the guy that keeps poking his head into the Enterprise and the Voyager.

  8. ICQ used by any people at all ? by KiloUtrechtTango · · Score: 1

    The US is sure that most criminals use ICQ
    Proof ?

    1. Re:ICQ used by any people at all ? by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

      > Proof ?

      "Prime Time Russia" says so.

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    2. Re:ICQ used by any people at all ? by Kitkoan · · Score: 1

      Well, the Financial times also has quoted an unnamed senior law enforcement officer as saying "Every bad guy known to man [is on] ICQ". The ft.com article (requires free registration): Link. And at least for me, if you click on the link from Google, it doesn't seem to need any registration (it's the first listed link): Link.

      --
      Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
    3. Re:ICQ used by any people at all ? by LostCluster · · Score: 1

      Bad guys use hard-to-intercept communication... and those who do use intercepted communication tend to land out of play in an area called "Jail" or "Dead".

      Therefore, by that selection process, only those use the non-intercept-able network keep going.

    4. Re:ICQ used by any people at all ? by Weedhopper · · Score: 1

      The Russians are buying it. What other proof do you need?

    5. Re:ICQ used by any people at all ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not sure about that, but I wouldn't be surprised if the converse were true: Most currently on ICQ are criminals, assuming you count Russian spammers as criminals. I got rid of my ICQ account a few years ago when I realized the only messages I EVER got on it were Russian spam messages.

    6. Re:ICQ used by any people at all ? by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the FT link. I did see that first but the RT link seemed to be better for slashdot due to the need for free registration.
      Glad so many people are now thinking about long term total protocol data retention via friendly countries :)

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
    7. Re:ICQ used by any people at all ? by ExtraT · · Score: 2, Interesting

      LOL, that's actually the funny part.

      You see, ICQ is very popular in Russia - hence the interest to buy it. RT, being a propaganda horn of the lowest caliber, doesn't realize that by issuing such generalizations it actually reaffirms the public's view of modern Russia: criminal and corrupt. Which, by the way, is actually true :)

      Anyhoo, anything coming from RT must be taken with a grain of salt - it is a propaganda channel after all....

    8. Re:ICQ used by any people at all ? by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

      > Therefore, by that selection process, only those use the non-intercept-able
      > network keep going.

      No, most keep going because most are never caught.

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  9. Do you have a source for this... by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

    ...other than "Prime Time Russia"?

    --
    Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    1. Re:Do you have a source for this... by Kitkoan · · Score: 1
      --
      Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
    2. Re:Do you have a source for this... by Kitkoan · · Score: 1

      Seems that the ft.com link needed free registration when I click the link. Doesn't seem to want me to register when I click the Google link (which is the first one listed), so if you don't want to register on ft.com try going from Google...

      --
      Attention... all grammer nazi"s! Is they're anything; wrong with: my post,
    3. Re:Do you have a source for this... by AngryK9 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Since when has the US Government needed any proof to substantiate any of it's suspicions?

    4. Re:Do you have a source for this... by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

      Thank you.

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
  10. Surprise, surprise by anti-NAT · · Score: 4, Insightful

    A peer-to-peer architecture would be better for IM - no single point of failure at a server that impacts all conversations, end-to-end security rather than client to server, server to client, and no man in the middle attacks by government agencies or anybody else who chooses to record the conversations going through the servers. I sometimes wonder whether all the public IM servers are run by the "Air America" airline. The only use of a server in IM should be as a directory and participant availability service, not to carry the conversations, unless both participants are behind NAT. If one of the participants have a public IP address the conversations could go direct between the end-points. SIMPLE

    --
    The Internet's nature is peer to peer - 20050301_cs_profs.pdf
    1. Re:Surprise, surprise by Stupendoussteve · · Score: 5, Informative

      AIM has supported this for years, it's called Direct Connection. Trillian and Pidgin both support IM encryption as well.

      Another option is to run your own XMPP server, which can at least guarantee that conversations on that server are safe, but not necessarily those with people on other servers.

    2. Re:Surprise, surprise by Arancaytar · · Score: 1

      The only use of a server in IM should be as a directory and participant availability service, not to carry the conversations, unless both participants are behind NAT.

      XMPP does that, or can do if you want it to,

      end-to-end security rather than client to server,

      and OTR will do that.

    3. Re:Surprise, surprise by LostCluster · · Score: 5, Informative

      Direct Connection has been removed more recent versions of AIM because its risks outweighed its benefits. Disclosing your IP address to somebody you barely or don't know is risky. Disclosing your IP address and the fact you're using an certain versions AIM is an invitation to hackers.

    4. Re:Surprise, surprise by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "A peer-to-peer architecture would be better for IM [...] no man in the middle attacks [...] The only use of a server in IM should be as a directory and participant availability service"

      And there goes your "no MiM" asumption.

    5. Re:Surprise, surprise by anti-NAT · · Score: 1

      []"no MiM"[]

      Looks like you agree with me (Selective quoting can easily change the argument.)

      I didn't say there wasn't an opportunity for any MiM - what I said was -

      "no man in the middle attacks by government agencies or anybody else who chooses to record the conversations going through the servers."

      --
      The Internet's nature is peer to peer - 20050301_cs_profs.pdf
    6. Re:Surprise, surprise by WNight · · Score: 1

      Presumably in a p2p network, where everything is a potential mitm attack, you wouldn't be able to ignore the possibility of it and would thus build encryption, signing, and data hiding into the protocol.

    7. Re:Surprise, surprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      You're assuming that the directory server would honestly connect you to your intended interlocutor and not to a transparent proxy that would in turn connect to the recipient in order to record the conversation. You would have to trust the directory server to give you the IP of your interlocutor... there's no way to verify that it's not a proxy instead.

    8. Re:Surprise, surprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Both participants are almost always behind NAT. At least until widespread ipv6.

    9. Re:Surprise, surprise by Trogre · · Score: 1

      That's where I really think Jabber missed the boat - I remember back in 2001 or so being disappointed I needed to specify a server to connect to with my fresh Jabber account rather than just seeking out the closest (in TCP/IP terms) node.

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    10. Re:Surprise, surprise by phoenix321 · · Score: 1

      Your computer is broadcasting an IP address. Click here to fix it.

    11. Re:Surprise, surprise by JackSpratts · · Score: 1

      true, and waste comes quickly to mind. developed by justin frankel (winamp, another aol product) and similar enough to aim or icq that anyone familiar with them would be comfortable with it immediately.

      encrypted (and with "chaff" yet) and free of centralized-servers, no self respecting person concerned about private communications should use the internet without it.

      - js.

    12. Re:Surprise, surprise by turbidostato · · Score: 1

      "I didn't say there wasn't an opportunity for any MiM - what I said was -
      "no man in the middle attacks by government agencies or anybody else who chooses to record the conversations going through the servers.""

      OK: if you meant literally that, then I misunderstood you. The *usual* understandment of a phrase built that way, however, is implying that the presumtion is impossible *because* of the conclusion. So I understood that as "there's no way for a MiM *because* there's no server that works as a passthrough for conversations" which is false because there still were a central server (the one for the directory) that certainly can be either compromised or MiM'ed to persuade you to talk to an unintended third party (the very definition of MiM).

    13. Re:Surprise, surprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And users were incapable of deciding whether or not they wanted to disclose their IP to certain people?
      Sure.

    14. Re:Surprise, surprise by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It also just never worked most of the time if you were behind a NAT router. You would pretty much have to put the PC that you are using AIM in the routers DMZ since AIM just picks random ports for DC.

    15. Re:Surprise, surprise by Burz · · Score: 1

      Presumably in a p2p network, where everything is a potential mitm attack, you wouldn't be able to ignore the possibility of it and would thus build encryption, signing, and data hiding into the protocol.

      Yes, and anonymity too.

    16. Re:Surprise, surprise by soroka · · Score: 1

      The only use of a server in IM should be as a directory and participant availability service, not to carry the conversations, unless both participants are behind NAT.

      That is precisely how ICQ works

    17. Re:Surprise, surprise by DrRiffic · · Score: 1

      jabber (RFC 3920, XMPP) hasn't missed any boat.

  11. If *I* were a criminal.... by buanzo · · Score: 2, Funny

    i'd hide myself behind russian proxies and use ICQ. The "intelligence" community is *SO* trusting...

    --
    Buanzo Consulting - 15 Years of GNU/Linux experience, for you.
    1. Re:If *I* were a criminal.... by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

      You may be failing to take into account the stupidity of the average criminal.

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    2. Re:If *I* were a criminal.... by buanzo · · Score: 1

      Not really.... I was talking about me, I consider myself a.... wait, this is egotistical :P

      --
      Buanzo Consulting - 15 Years of GNU/Linux experience, for you.
  12. hmmm by Charliemopps · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I dunno what's more shocking, that the government thinks ICQ has any relevance with anything anymore or that someone thought the network was worth $186 MILLION dollars. That's just insane.

    1. Re:hmmm by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      someone thought the network was worth $186 MILLION dollars. That's just insane.

      "Someone" is a Russian company. ICQ is extremely popular in Russia (it's the most popular IM service).

    2. Re:hmmm by LostCluster · · Score: 1

      ICQ's current network is worthless... it's an AIM client with it's own interface and numbering-for-usernames scheme. However, as a brand name it's still worth something to those who remember when it was cool.

      Look what's happened to Napster. From being the #1 illegal file sharing system, to now a division of Best Buy selling legal streaming and MP3 downloads... people realized that once separated from the sued-to-death original company, the name and logo still had value.

    3. Re:hmmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      #1. ICQ is NOT an AIM client. They are two different protocols. Many clients these days can handle multiple protocols (see Trillian for example).

      #2. ICQ is *Still* cool in Russia and some other countries.

    4. Re:hmmm by grasshoppa · · Score: 1

      Not to point out a flaw in your logic, but one kinda follows the other, don't you think?

      --
      Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
    5. Re:hmmm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Wrong I'm afraid - ICQ uses OSCAR, is backed by AIM's servers and uses an AOL proprietary library to connect just like AIM used to (COOL). AIM now uses a further abstracted client (AIMCC) which uses COOL itself.

    6. Re:hmmm by westlake · · Score: 1
      I dunno what's more shocking, that the government thinks ICQ has any relevance with anything anymore or that someone thought the network was worth $186 MILLION dollars. That's just insane.

      It's not insane for a Russian buyer to be interested in a service has 50 million users in its core markets of Israel and eastern Europe.

    7. Re:hmmm by PietjeJantje · · Score: 0, Troll

      What doesn't shock me is to learn that Americans still are ignorant of the bigger world around them, and still, for some reason, smugly arrogant about it, like it is an accomplishment. You're just looking ignorant however. Next, you are gonna be shocked to learn that Yahoo is king in Japan, Google is marginal in China, and Denmark is not the capital of Amsterdam, and then tell us about it like you have insight on their sanity.

    8. Re:hmmm by Trogre · · Score: 1

      Funny, the network still works for me now just as well as it did in 1997. The clients have improved a bit, so I can see history in my message window, and see when someone is typing but that's about all that's changed.

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    9. Re:hmmm by caluml · · Score: 1

      There are a lot of very rich Russians who wouldn't even notice if they lost $186 million.

    10. Re:hmmm by John+Hasler · · Score: 1

      > What doesn't shock me is to learn that Americans still are ignorant of the
      > bigger world around them...

      Why doesn't it shock me to learn that you still so bigoted that you generalize a demonstration of ignorance by one American on one obscure subject to all...

      --
      Warning: this article may contain humor, sarcasm, parody, and perhaps even irony. Read at your own risk.
    11. Re:hmmm by Hatta · · Score: 1

      Are those users really worth $3.72 each?

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    12. Re:hmmm by PietjeJantje · · Score: 1

      Only one, modded 5 insightful by himself? I guess it is very insightful to be uninformed and then shocked by knowledge.

    13. Re:hmmm by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      You sound like a Michael Jackson impersonator, using the word ignorant so obtusely :)

      It's hilarious.

      In America, people couldn't care less what the "cool" thing is in Japan, China, or Singapore. In America, people care what the people they will communicate with will use.
      *fluffs your hair* You're cute, so young and rebelliously pseudo-confrontational. Misaligned, but that's a given.

      By the way, if a person wants to know the capital of a foreign country, there will be documentation about it. People don't just randomly pick a place and say "OH! This is the capital!" Besides, Amsterdam is a city, you dimwit.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  13. Obligitory by SrLnclt · · Score: 1, Informative

    In Soviet America government seeks you!

    1. Re:Obligitory by jellyfrog · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Eww, that wasn't obligatory at all. In fact, never do it again.

  14. Then why didn't they buy it? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why didn't some CIA front company buy it instead? They have these big black budgets, don't they?

  15. 50 million active users by westlake · · Score: 1

    Do people still use ICQ? I thought it was a dying technology in 2000

    ICQ is based in Israel and has always had strong regional loyalties. Bids are in for AOL's sale of ICQ--it's down to 'UN' of 4 buyers [Feb 8]

  16. Nice one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    IIRC once you announce something is a honeypot, it stops being a honeypot ~

    Also who the hell still uses ICQ?

    1. Re:Nice one by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The internet is a honey pot. O SHIT

    2. Re:Nice one by AHuxley · · Score: 1

      Re it stops being a honeypot People still buy MS products :)

      --
      Domestic spying is now "Benign Information Gathering"
  17. Criminals? by TehNoobTrumpet · · Score: 1

    Use ICQ? Data/proof please? Or is this one of those "foreigners use ICQ therefore that's where all da crime at!"

  18. We use wow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    My organization left ICQ a long time ago. We whisper each other in WOW. And if it's a really important deal, we insist on face to face meetings in Booty Bay.

  19. Honeypot! by catmistake · · Score: 1

    I always knew AOL was a decoy network set up to trap black hats! But not even the grey beards of the US Gov't could match the talent pool that meets daily on ICQ to discuss their new devious missions.

  20. Re:Golden Girls! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    Golden Girls fucking rule. They really need to reboot that series into a new film featuring a story that only a teenager would find "deep" and meaningful, a cast of women who aren't afraid to take charge and effeminate boys posing as men.

    Oh and lens flares. Tons of lens flares.

  21. Obligatory sound by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    uh oh!

  22. The US is SURE of WHAT?? by purpleraison · · Score: 3, Insightful

    First off, if the 'US' is 'sure' of something (for example weapons of mass destruction), then you can be 100% certain the US is up to no good.

    Second, "The US is sure that most criminals use ICQ and..." ---- really?? I will happily plunk down a $1,000,000 bet and walk down to the nearest prison and ask a random sampling of 'criminals' what they know about ICQ. Rest assured, almost none of the criminals will have a clue about ICQ. Kids however, would be able to tell you all about it. ...maybe the US is referring to kids who download shitty music as 'criminals'? If keeping ICQ in order to track a bunch of pimply-faced kids downloading music is 'National Security', then America is truly fucked.

    --
    I am open source, and Linux baby!
    1. Re:The US is SURE of WHAT?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Kids? Not unless they're 20. ICQ hasn't been popular in the US for a long time.

    2. Re:The US is SURE of WHAT?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Kids don't know what ICQ is, either.

    3. Re:The US is SURE of WHAT?? by Hatta · · Score: 1

      That you think you can find a representative sampling of criminals in prison is even more stupid than the statement you are protesting.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
    4. Re:The US is SURE of WHAT?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ICQ is really, really common in the spammer/carding/phishing world. It's pretty much how you contact Eastern Europe (though Skype has an ok share as well). I'm no federal government fanboy, but they're spot on in this instance.

    5. Re:The US is SURE of WHAT?? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea- I'm thinking like 10 years ago ICQ was used by criminals. Now anybody who is a criminal and knows what they are doing have moved onto other protocols. :)

  23. It's true! by Alsee · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    The US said it is sure that most criminals use ICQ

    It's true. I once parked in a handicap space about a dozen years ago, which was about the same number of years ago that I tried out ICQ for a couple of days.

    -

    --
    - - You can't take something off the Internet! That's like trying to take pee out of a swimming pool.
  24. Our government or thiers by kainosnous · · Score: 1

    I'm not at all a fan of Russia, and I don't really believe that the cold war ended. We just stopped fighting it. At least I know that they still aren't our friend. That being said, I don't trust my own government here in the United States either.

    This is actually a good thing. When they fight it out, the people win. Russia will have the exclusive right to part of the information, and the US will have the other part. If both of them refuse to cooperate, then perhaps our personal data is a little safer. After all, neither one of them is a freind to the people.

    --
    There are 10 commandments: 01)Thou shalt love the Lord Thy God 10)Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.Matt22:34-40
    1. Re:Our government or thiers by unity100 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      and are you a friend of anyone ? even yourselves ? a foreign corporation fucked up an entire ocean worth of ecosystem right now. with all the implications it will do to your health, your small businesses, the people. what happens ? nothing. an entire wall street full of corporations fucked up entire world economy, possibly without any fix. (due to poisonous assets). innumerable crises around the world, billions losing their livelihoods, leave aside whats happening in usa. what happens ? nothing. 4-5 media corporations are buying out laws to fuck up internet for good, to end all anonymity and freedom online so that they can push their business model and make everyone obey it. what happens ? nothing.

      excuse me, but wake up; usa is a bigger enemy than russia can ever be, both to the world, and to american people.

  25. Wow... by Heratiki · · Score: 0, Troll

    Holy shit people still use ICQ??? I thought it fell off the face of the map... I mean who says "Hey what's your ICQ" or "Are you on ICQ?"... It's been forever since ICQ was anything but a novel messenger service... I mean really???

  26. You are missing the bigger picture by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    Forget the U.S. potentially snooping ICQ, and pay attention to the fact that Russians almost certainly will. If you thought it was unsafe to send a CC or SSN over ICQ before now (which it was), well you better double down on that conviction and warn everyone you know that uses ICQ just where the traffic will be headed from now on...

    I don't mean to offend anyone, but the simple fact is that bribery is not that uncommon in Russia so there are many more paths for organized crime to get to key numbers such as these from network techs that work in Russia. And it takes only one...

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  27. Existence proof by jackchance · · Score: 1

    i've been in a holding cell and i've never used ICQ.
    (Although i wasn't actually convicted... so maybe we'll need someone else to come forward)

    --
    1 1 2 3 5 8 13 21 34 55 89 144 233 377 610 987 1597 2584 4181 6765
  28. Don't listen to RT propaganda by ExtraT · · Score: 3, Interesting

    A warning to people out here: RT is the Russian international propaganda channel - ANYTHING it reports should be taken with a grain of salt and verified through other sources.

    RT is a farely new Russian government owned news channel, and has been gaining more and more presence everywhere lately. Their journalism is extremely untrustworthy - fabrications are common and government anti-america propaganda is rampant.

    1. Re:Don't listen to RT propaganda by Ryunosuke · · Score: 1

      "RT" is simply "FOX" in Russian, it was only a matter of time.

    2. Re:Don't listen to RT propaganda by yoshi_mon · · Score: 1

      Ah, phew. For a second there I was worried. Let me just turn to Fox News for some objectivity and...

      --

      Really, I know what I'm doing...Ohhhh, look at the shiny buttons!
    3. Re:Don't listen to RT propaganda by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Corrections in brackets.

      A warning to people out here: [The entire US media] is the [US] international propaganda channel - ANYTHING it reports should be taken with a grain of salt and verified through other sources.

      [The US Media] is a farely [old American] government [supporting] news channel, and has been gaining more and more presence everywhere lately. Their journalism is extremely untrustworthy - fabrications are common and government anti-[everything non-]america[n] propaganda is rampant.

    4. Re:Don't listen to RT propaganda by Reservoir+Penguin · · Score: 1

      Soon the great Russoan soldier will wash his dusty boot in both Atlantic and Pacific oceans and they proceed to raping and pillaging plump and juicy American women! Prepare to submit!

      --
      US-UK-Israel: The real Axis of Evil
    5. Re:Don't listen to RT propaganda by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      RT has been going for over 5 years and is an excellent source of news, via satellite, for many people. It is much better than Fox or CNN and is seemingly modeled on the BBC. It certainly does not have an "anti-american" bias.
      Try watching it now and then, rather than making ill-informed comment. As an Australian, I enjoy watching many news channels from around the world and picking up the nuanced biases of their coverage and I can tell you that NONE are as biased as Fox News.
      Even Press TV from Iran is a more erudite and balanced coverage than Fox. I also enjoy the BBC coverage, despite some of their recent poor coverage of problems in Palestine.
      I certainly have no problem with the quality of the journalism on Russia Today, particularly in a world of declining journalistic standards.

    6. Re:Don't listen to RT propaganda by ExtraT · · Score: 1

      My friend, you can't even imagine how much worse it is in Russia. The stuff shown on news there is mind-numbingly RIDICULOUS. I'm well aware of US propaganda, but it doesn't even come close to it's Russian counterpart and for one reason: US media (and people) are infinitely less obsessed about Russia - frankly, they don't care. Russians, however, are heavily obsessed with the "American enemy" and the government is actively cultivating this obsession.

      Also, in US you have a choice: don't like this channel, watch another one. Most channels are privately owned, etc. At least you can get different brands of propaganda if you want it. On Russian TV there is no choice: ALL of Russian TV and most radio stations are directly owned by the government. Independent radio stations are weak and routinely shut down by government officials when they get to loud (their antennas get cut off, literally).

      Oh, and another little tidbit of information about the modern Russia: Internet forums have been recognized as a major source of information for the population outside of government control. So, the government employs people to continuously troll and flood the forums with crap, destroying their ability to function. It's a major problem nowadays - almost every significant Russian language forum is under constant attack by these assholes and a lot just can't take the pressure.

    7. Re:Don't listen to RT propaganda by ExtraT · · Score: 1

      Sure, FOX News is bad. But why is this used as an excuse for RT? What, journalism doesn't have to be objective anymore? Cutting out inconvenient sections from video footage is OK? Blindingly repeating government propaganda is fine? Spreading drool over every little thing that the PM or Prez did today is news? Spreading libelous statements about sovereign countries is acceptable?

      And one more thing: You are Australian, and probably not of Russian origin. I, however, am of Russian (Soviet) origin, so I recognize the propaganda very well. Fuck, they even have days commemorating various past Soviet leaders, like tgey did with Andropov the other day. They actually say that "he fought corruption and slackers" - anybody who actually lived in this time and had any personal experience with his policies can tell you how ridiculous they were.

      Anyhoo, if you like RT then watch it.

  29. Could get messy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    > Which includes seizing property.

    Israel has a working democracy, more or less, so the case could quite easily get stuck in the courts and make it all the way up to the Supreme Court, like this case where a village from the occupied territories sued to prevent its land being appropriated because of the planned location of the separating wall between Israel and the occupied territories (they originally lost, more or less, but then later the Supreme Court decided that the separating wall had to be moved, which returned about 40% of the lost land --- when the army got around to it, almost three years later).

    I doubt that the either the US or even Israel would really want the bad publicity concerning such close complicity that such a case might raise (it might be done "in secret" but one of the other good things about Israel is that those kinds of secrets tend to leak out, somehow).

  30. unicode or buffer overflow by nten · · Score: 1

    I eventually gave up using the service because I kept getting huge messages from people I didn't know with cyrillic names. I always assumed it was an attempted buffer overflow attempt and hoped because I was using a nonstandard client on linux that it didn't have the same leak, or that if it did, that the payload would simply crash in the linux environment. I wonder now if it was perhaps just cyrillic unicode explanations how some pill or another would enhance my virility, that displayed as extended ascii characters (all I allowed in the text window). All the people I know have migrated to other services now anyway.

    --
    refactor the law, its bloated, confusing and unmaintainable.
    1. Re:unicode or buffer overflow by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The Russians normally use Cyrillic letters to spell their names.

    2. Re:unicode or buffer overflow by Nimey · · Score: 3, Funny

      How would you know that unless you were a COMMUNIST SPY?!?!?

      The computer is my friend!!!

      --
      Hail Eris, full of mischief...

      E pluribus sanguinem
  31. Priorities by Wowsers · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Let me get this right, the US authorities are worried about the ICQ* service going to the Russians.... has the US seen just how much their economic rivals China own of the US economy? Get your priorities in order.

    * Does anyone actually use ICQ any more?

    --
    Take Nobody's Word For It.
    1. Re:Priorities by WaroDaBeast · · Score: 1

      * Does anyone actually use ICQ any more?

      Last time I connected to ICQ messenger, I noticed that some of my old German contacts were still using it. So I would go with "a bunch of uninformed Germans."

      --
      "The body may heal, but the mind is not always so resilient." -- Deus Ex: Human Revolution
    2. Re:Priorities by scream+at+the+sky · · Score: 1

      uin:56505020 There are about a dozen active users still on my list. I'm using Pidgin on xunbutu these days, so it all looks the same to me, I don't even know what protocol is being used unless I check. Of those that still use ICQ (I have them all on gtalk and msn as well), they do tend to use ICQ more often than others. Most of us the user (myself included) are Canadian, but there are few internationals as well.

      --
      I wish I was a neutron bomb, for once I could go off...
  32. Democracy?!? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm getting sick of US government ...democracy ?! Yeah right .... if democracy means protecting corporate interest.... You americans really need to get your shit together .....
    Who the frick do you think you are ?! Phunny 200years old country... stop messing with other ppl's stuff , go fix your problems first.... 8y with Bush .....and you think you are democracy? That the ppl have any power ..ahahahah ... ICQ is where criminals are ... yeah , like there where wepons of mass distruction in Iraq ?

  33. Proper use of ellipses by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    There are quite a few simple rules for the proper use of ellipses, which are used more often in legal writing than most forms of writing, since lawyers often (generally too often) quote material from other sources. Failure to use the proper form of an ellipsis could misrepresent the work of another person and result in legal liability for the writer. Correct use of ellipses, on the other hand, shows that the writer has carefully attended to detail, and thus increases the reader's confidence in the reliability of the written work.

    In formal writing, the most common way to use an ellipsis is to show that you've omitted words. For example, if you're quoting someone and you want to shorten the quote, you use ellipses to indicate where you've dropped words or sentences.

    I wouldn't consider this formal writing, but comic strip writers have been known to use ellipses instead of periods. I'm speculating here, but it seems as if the ellipses are being used as a way to draw you into the next frame--as if they are saying, "Keep going; there's more to come." For example, Charles Schulz always used ellipses instead of periods at the end of sentences in Peanuts.

    Are you a comic book?

  34. The US government has no right to spy on people by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    It constantly shocks me just how totalitarian the United States has become.
    This kind of state spying would be illegal in a democratic country.
    Americans should seek immediate regime change, and force a transition toward democracy.
    If other counties behaved in the same way as the United States, spying on people, and interfering with the business of other nations, then I'm pretty sure the nazis in Washington would have a meltdown.
    As has been clearly evidenced over the last half century, US policies have had a universally negative effect on the world. The United States should turn its attentions to its own failed currency, indebted economy, mass unemployment & poverty, failed ideology, and collapsed industrial base.

  35. Re:Do niggers use honeypots? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
  36. Oh no! by MacGyver2210 · · Score: 1

    What are our hackers going to talk on now ... ??? All we have is IR....oh wait. Nobody's used ICQ in years.

    --
    If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can't be taken on its own merits
  37. Who uses ICQ? /sarcasm by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Okay, seriously. People who claim or think ICQ is barely used by anybody nowadays obviously have their heads too far up their ass. You do realize that there exists a wide, grand world outside of the glorious US of fuckin' A, right? Just because ICQ isn't popular in the US doesn't mean it's the same way everywhere else. ICQ is very widely used in Germany, for example. Some other comment mentioned the ex-USSR countries as well. Even if you say it as a joke ... it's not funny. Those of us who know otherwise just facepalm and remember that the internet is full of blithering idiots like you.

    1. Re:Who uses ICQ? /sarcasm by arkane1234 · · Score: 1

      No, it's funny, you just don't get the joke.
      The joke comes from historical activities with instant messenging applications and the fight that was in effect in the late 90's, early 2000's. The fact is that once ICQ was purchased by AOL, quite a bit of technological shifts occurred, and people bounced between messenging protocols.

      So, that's where the joke is from.

      Now that we're past the geopolitical base of it, let's settle the fuck down and realize you're hysteria is becoming non-amusing.

      --
      -- This space for lease, low setup fee, inquire within!
  38. Bzzt. Wrong. Citations here. Loser. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Bzzt. Wrong. Citations here. Loser.

    Magna Carta
    Queen Anne Statutes
    Etc

    http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/collection/magna-carta/features/the-british-constitution-finished

    Sheesh. How certain could you be and how wrong at the same time????

    1. Re:Bzzt. Wrong. Citations here. Loser. by Homburg · · Score: 1

      Which page concludes with:

      A 19th century American judge, Justice Bradley, put the point well in the course of delivering his opinion in a case heard in Louisiana in 1873:

      “England has no written constitution, it is true; but it has an unwritten one..."

      As the parent says, Britain does not have a formal, written constitution - it has an informal constitution which consists of both written statutes and unwritten conventions.

  39. And what Russia could do by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And what Russia could do: seize Microsoft Code under Eminent Domain. And, since all government information is available to ANYONE no matter what the copyright or NDA says anywhere in the world (see the people clamoring for Phil Jones' blood in the CRU data "scandal"), print it out on the internet.

  40. Re:Fuck Islam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you sound very gay.

  41. I'm not talking P2P network - it's P2Parchitecture by anti-NAT · · Score: 1

    And that's exactly the problem with jabber. Some applications run better when each participant acts both as a client and a server at the same time - i.e. the dictionary definition of a peer. An IM conversation occurs between two peers - they both send and receive information. So the peers should communicate directly if they can, not via some intermediary unless they have to. NAT is a reason why they might have to, which is why IPv6's goal is to get rid of NAT - so that if a peer-to-peer application architecture suits, then the network fully supports it.

    --
    The Internet's nature is peer to peer - 20050301_cs_profs.pdf
  42. Right.. by matthiasvegh · · Score: 0

    Because bad guys use ICQ instead of Freenet right?

  43. Define irony. by Tastecicles · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    pot: kettle.

    Forum posts under a pseudonym are hardly more reliable than Wikipedia.

    --
    Operation Guillotine is in effect.
    1. Re:Define irony. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think he meant to say: Forum posts under a pseudonym and a 7-digit uid are hardly more reliable than Wikipedia.

  44. "Most criminals use ICQ"?? by EWAdams · · Score: 1

    That's got to be one of the dumbest things I've ever read on Slashdot... which is saying something.

    The vast majority of criminals in the USA are people breaking the speed limit. I doubt that a significant percentage of them use ICQ, and even if they did, they probably wouldn't be talking about the speeding they're doing.

    --
    I piss off bigots.
    1. Re:"Most criminals use ICQ"?? by Hatta · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure whatever law enforcement officer said that didn't think anyone was dumb enough to think he was talking about speeders. Guess he was wrong.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  45. ICQ vie QIP by Max_W · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ICQ is used in FSU via a convenient client "Qip" http://qip.ru/ Almost nobody is using an original ICQ client.

    I think the US and RF governments should fight cyber-crime together.

    Businesses in the FSU usually have a low profit margin. At the same time, the USA is one of the top spam generating countries http://www.projecthoneypot.org/spam_server_top_countries.php

    Spam kills our businesses in FSU because colleagues spend a lot of working time on dealing with it. Spam filters do not help anymore. This is an area where the RF government should be interested in cooperation with the US authorities to reduce the amount of spam incoming into our businesses. Without an international effort this problem can not be solved.

    I guess there could be criminals who may use ICQ, but I know for sure that there are criminals who flood our servers with spam. Significant part of this spam has the US origin. So there is a vast field for law enforcement agencies to cooperate.

    For example, a mobile police team from Russia could bust a spam kings, say, in Alabama, destroy spam servers and go home in Russia. It is much harder task to do for local cops. And vice-versa. A team of the US police officers could bust, say, a soft pirates' sweetshop somewhere in Siberia and go home after destroying the illegal production and equipment. Again it is not an easy task for local police to come and destroy a business, even an illegal one.

    Nowadays when we are in one and the same network it would be more productive to cooperate than to confront.

  46. AIM has no Whois by tepples · · Score: 1

    Disclosing your IP address and the fact you're using an certain versions AIM is an invitation to hackers.

    Your computer is broadcasting an IP address. Click here to fix it.

    I detect sarcasm. The "broadcasting an IP address" adverts appear to be for anonymizing web proxies. But there's a difference between disclosing your IP address to a legitimate machine listed in the DNS, such as a web site, and disclosing your IP address to another residential user. If a contact originating in the DNS turns malicious, you can pull info from Whois when you file the police report. AIM and ICQ, on the other hand, have no reliable counterpart to Whois as far as I know.

    1. Re:AIM has no Whois by Velex · · Score: 1

      But there's a difference between disclosing your IP address to a legitimate machine listed in the DNS, such as a web site, and disclosing your IP address to another residential user. If a contact originating in the DNS turns malicious, you can pull info from Whois when you file the police report. AIM and ICQ, on the other hand, have no reliable counterpart to Whois as far as I know.

      I'm not sure which parallel universe you live in, but I'm certain the cops over here aren't going to do jack whether a malicious IP has a DNS entry or not. My company's website got PWNed the other day by an IP in DNS.

      Additionally, I'd rather have a system that doesn't expose vulnerabilities whether the system connecting to it has a DNS or not.

      Oh! I've got it. You're in the alternate universe where the MAFIA got into the internet a bit earlier than the one I'm living in and managed to successfully turn it from a peer to peer system to a content delivery system. Only content producers have DNS entries, I get it.

      Or did I miss it?

      --
      Join the Slashcott! Stay away entirely Feb 10 thru Feb 17! Close all tabs to prevent autorefresh!
  47. What PKI? by tepples · · Score: 1

    Presumably in a p2p network, where everything is a potential mitm attack, you wouldn't be able to ignore the possibility of it and would thus build encryption, signing, and data hiding into the protocol.

    Verifying a digital signature requires some sort of public key infrastructure. OpenPGP has a web of trust, but it's not very useful if you've never been to a key signing party outside your home town. When you connect to an IM buddy in another country for the first time, how do you verify that the certificate actually belongs to the buddy and not a government man in the middle without having to fly to key-signing parties to build links to the web of trust in the country where the buddy lives?

    1. Re:What PKI? by WNight · · Score: 1

      If there's nothing earlier from out of band, you don't, can't, and never will be able to trust someone in a situation like that even if there's a server in the middle.

      But once you have their key fingerprint, perhaps typed into a 3d game chat window (how did you meet them?), you can keep your communications to them secret regardless of how your packets are routed or who eavesdrops.

  48. You appear to misunderstand organized crime by tepples · · Score: 1

    walk down to the nearest prison and ask a random sampling of 'criminals'

    The so-called "Russian Mafia" consists of organized crime syndicates. You won't find many members of these syndicates in a prison near you because if you did, the crime wasn't organized enough.

  49. Re:You asked for this. by Mr.+Slippery · · Score: 2, Insightful

    All you've done is copy the very same document I linked to way up-thread.

    Which is the English Bill of Rights of 1689. Not a "Constitution".

    You're digging yourself a deeper and deeper hole, Tastecicles. I'm sorry, but you're simply misinformed, and it's time to become silent, listen, and become more knowledgeable.

    --
    Tom Swiss | the infamous tms | my blog
    You cannot wash away blood with blood
  50. Manufacturing by MrEricSir · · Score: 1

    Certainly the loss of manufacturing has been a far greater blow to national security than anything else. If we can't build tanks, missiles, airplanes, etc. without relying on other countries, then what do we do if those countries become our enemies? Go back to bows and arrows?

    --
    There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
  51. Go back to bows and arrows? by /dev/trash · · Score: 1

    Oh we will soon enough but not because of loss of manufacturing.

  52. Haven't you been paying attention? by N0Man74 · · Score: 1

    Criminals are already on Facebook... haven't you heard of Zynga? Though, I suppose that you meant criminals communicating to each other as peers, not looking for marks...

  53. Tapping by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Well, of course we all knew that the government is tapping our conversations, but them admitting it so openly still seems callous.

  54. honeypot by sixsixtysix · · Score: 1

    does that mean us intelligence uses icq to lure non-terrorists in, chat them up into a frothy rage, and then tell them they'll help them, thus turning them into terrorists?

    --
    ...
  55. Even if not criminal, it can still be civil by tepples · · Score: 1

    My mistake. Even if the police refuse to get involved, it's easier to find whom to sue in civil court if you access a server behind its own domain than if you access a random member of a DSL pool.

  56. But Israel's OK ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    So apparently the US have no problem with the world's No1 terrorist nation running ICQ, but they are concerned with a company from Russia running it ?
    Israeli companies run their airports, their security companies, their banking, their telecommunications but god forbid a Russian company owns an IM business that operates in the US?
    Moral bankruptcy comes to mind.

  57. T'is one of those grey areas in national securiity by ibsteve2u · · Score: 1

    Have you noticed that the decision to interfere with the free flow of commerce in the name of national security is a difficult one for our government, yet they find interfering in the rights and way of life of the American people for the same - or any other - reason to be a piece of cake?

    Yet people call me a "liberal" for saying that the SCOTUS made corporations super-citizens when they made them de jure living entities complete with the right to free speech...

    --
    Orwell: "In a Time of Universal Deceit, telling the Truth is a Revolutionary Act"
  58. ICQ is not in Israel by kriston · · Score: 1

    ICQ hasn't been based in Israel for more than a decade.
    Before that, its main "data center" was an office in New York.
    Since then, it's been in America Online's data centers spread mostly in the US and several non-US locations, none of which are Israel.
    Ubique was founded in Israel. That's about all you can say about Israel and ICQ in the past dozen years or so.

    --

    Kriston

  59. Of course he was talking about speeders! by EWAdams · · Score: 1

    Sorry, insulting me when I'm in the right doesn't help your case. He said, "the majority of criminals." Criminals are people who do or have committed crimes. There's only one interpretation of that: the majority of people who do or have committed crimes use ICQ.

    Too many people make gross generalizations in the press already. Either speak precisely or STFU.

    --
    I piss off bigots.
    1. Re:Of course he was talking about speeders! by Hatta · · Score: 1

      Context matters.

      --
      Give me Classic Slashdot or give me death!
  60. Jews views of others, from their talmud by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Quotes from TALMUD:

    6. Yebhamoth 11b:"Sexual intercourse with a little girl is permitted if she is three years of age."

    7. Schabouth Hag. 6d:"Jews may swear falsely by use of subterfuge wording."

    12. Szaaloth-Utszabot, The Book of Jore Dia 17:"A Jew should and must make a false oath when the Goyim asks if our books contain anything against them."

    13. Baba Necia 114, 6:"The Jews are human beings, but the nations of the world are not human beings but beasts."

    14. Nidrasch Talpioth, p. 225-L:"Jehovah created the non-Jew in human form so that the Jew would not have to be served by beasts. The non-Jew is consequently an animal in human form, and condemned to serve the Jew day and night.

    15. Aboda Sarah 37a:"A Gentile girl who is three years old can be violated."

    16. Gad. Shas. 2:2:"A Jew may violate but not marry a non-Jewish girl."

    58. Jews May Lie to Non-Jews Baba Kamma 113a. Jews may use lies ("subterfuges") to circumvent a Gentile.

    68. Sanhedrin 90a.Those who read the New Testament ("uncanonical books," see footnote #9) will have no portion in the world to come.

    69. Shabbath 116a (p. 569). Jews must destroy the books of the Christians, i.e. the New Testament

    70. Says Jesus was a Sorcerer, Sanhedrin 43a . Says Jesus ("Yeshu" and in footnote #6, Yeshu "the Nazarene") was executed because he practiced sorcery.

    71. Horrible Blasphemy of Jesus, Gittin 57a . Says Jesus ( see footnote #4) is being boiled in "hot excrement."

    72. Insults Against Blessed Mary (in Talmud), Sanhedrin 106a . Says Jesus' mother was a whore:"She who was the descendant of princes and governors played the harlot with carpenters." Also in footnote #2 to Shabbath 104b it is stated that in the "uncensored" text of the Talmud it is written that Jesus mother,"Miriam the hairdresser," had sex with many men.

    84."It is the law to kill anyone who denies the Torah. The Christians belong to the denying ones of the Torah." Coschen hamischpat 425 Hagah 425. 5

    85."A heretic Gentile you may kill outright with your own hands." Talmud, Abodah Zara, 4b

    86."Every Jew, who spills the blood of the godless (non-Jews), is doing the same as making a sacrifice to God." Talmud: Bammidber raba c 21 & Jalkut 772

    87. Abhodah Zarah 26b Tosephoth:"A Jew who kills a Christian commits no sin, but offers an acceptable sacrifice to God."

    88. Iore Dea(158,2)Hag.-- Kill renegades who turn to Christian rituals.

    89. Sepher Or Israel (177b): If a Jew kills a Christian he commits no sin. He has done God a service.

    90. Zohar (L, 38b, 39a): A Jew to receive a high place in heaven if he kills a Christian.

    91. Babha Bathra (54b): Christian property belongs to the first Jew claiming it.

    Small wonder Jews are so afraid of "anti-semitism" and trying to pass laws to circumvent and undermine that of free speech in the United States (Jew-Nited States), because once people get wind of what they think of others, as shown above by their own books? It's no small wonder why they have been kicked nation to nation since time immemorial. Ask yourselves why that much has always occurred for them. The answer is obvious once you read the above. They're a thieving race of scumbags, and everyone knows it all over the world.

  61. Jews views of us straight from their TALMUD by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Quotes from TALMUD:

    6. Yebhamoth 11b:"Sexual intercourse with a little girl is permitted if she is three years of age."

    7. Schabouth Hag. 6d:"Jews may swear falsely by use of subterfuge wording."

    12. Szaaloth-Utszabot, The Book of Jore Dia 17:"A Jew should and must make a false oath when the Goyim asks if our books contain anything against them."

    13. Baba Necia 114, 6:"The Jews are human beings, but the nations of the world are not human beings but beasts."

    14. Nidrasch Talpioth, p. 225-L:"Jehovah created the non-Jew in human form so that the Jew would not have to be served by beasts. The non-Jew is consequently an animal in human form, and condemned to serve the Jew day and night.

    15. Aboda Sarah 37a:"A Gentile girl who is three years old can be violated."

    16. Gad. Shas. 2:2:"A Jew may violate but not marry a non-Jewish girl."

    58. Jews May Lie to Non-Jews Baba Kamma 113a. Jews may use lies ("subterfuges") to circumvent a Gentile.

    68. Sanhedrin 90a.Those who read the New Testament ("uncanonical books," see footnote #9) will have no portion in the world to come.

    69. Shabbath 116a (p. 569). Jews must destroy the books of the Christians, i.e. the New Testament

    70. Says Jesus was a Sorcerer, Sanhedrin 43a . Says Jesus ("Yeshu" and in footnote #6, Yeshu "the Nazarene") was executed because he practiced sorcery.

    71. Horrible Blasphemy of Jesus, Gittin 57a . Says Jesus ( see footnote #4) is being boiled in "hot excrement."

    72. Insults Against Blessed Mary (in Talmud), Sanhedrin 106a . Says Jesus' mother was a whore:"She who was the descendant of princes and governors played the harlot with carpenters." Also in footnote #2 to Shabbath 104b it is stated that in the "uncensored" text of the Talmud it is written that Jesus mother,"Miriam the hairdresser," had sex with many men.

    84."It is the law to kill anyone who denies the Torah. The Christians belong to the denying ones of the Torah." Coschen hamischpat 425 Hagah 425. 5

    85."A heretic Gentile you may kill outright with your own hands." Talmud, Abodah Zara, 4b

    86."Every Jew, who spills the blood of the godless (non-Jews), is doing the same as making a sacrifice to God." Talmud: Bammidber raba c 21 & Jalkut 772

    87. Abhodah Zarah 26b Tosephoth:"A Jew who kills a Christian commits no sin, but offers an acceptable sacrifice to God."

    88. Iore Dea(158,2)Hag.-- Kill renegades who turn to Christian rituals.

    89. Sepher Or Israel (177b): If a Jew kills a Christian he commits no sin. He has done God a service.

    90. Zohar (L, 38b, 39a): A Jew to receive a high place in heaven if he kills a Christian.

    91. Babha Bathra (54b): Christian property belongs to the first Jew claiming it.

    Small wonder Jews are so afraid of "anti-semitism" and trying to pass laws to circumvent and undermine that of free speech in the United States (Jew-Nited States), because once people get wind of what they think of others, as shown above by their own books? It's no small wonder why they have been kicked nation to nation since time immemorial. Ask yourselves why that much has always occurred for them. The answer is obvious once you read the above. They're a thieving race of scumbags, and everyone knows it all over the world.

  62. See the JEWS' VIEW of NON-JEWS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See the JEWS' VIEW of NON-JEWS, via quotes from their own TALMUD on JEWS' views of non-jews (goyim):

    6. Yebhamoth 11b:"Sexual intercourse with a little girl is permitted if she is three years of age."

    7. Schabouth Hag. 6d:"Jews may swear falsely by use of subterfuge wording."

    12. Szaaloth-Utszabot, The Book of Jore Dia 17:"A Jew should and must make a false oath when the Goyim asks if our books contain anything against them."

    13. Baba Necia 114, 6:"The Jews are human beings, but the nations of the world are not human beings but beasts."

    14. Nidrasch Talpioth, p. 225-L:"Jehovah created the non-Jew in human form so that the Jew would not have to be served by beasts. The non-Jew is consequently an animal in human form, and condemned to serve the Jew day and night.

    15. Aboda Sarah 37a:"A Gentile girl who is three years old can be violated."

    16. Gad. Shas. 2:2:"A Jew may violate but not marry a non-Jewish girl."

    58. Jews May Lie to Non-Jews Baba Kamma 113a. Jews may use lies ("subterfuges") to circumvent a Gentile.

    68. Sanhedrin 90a.Those who read the New Testament ("uncanonical books," see footnote #9) will have no portion in the world to come.

    69. Shabbath 116a (p. 569). Jews must destroy the books of the Christians, i.e. the New Testament

    70. Says Jesus was a Sorcerer, Sanhedrin 43a . Says Jesus ("Yeshu" and in footnote #6, Yeshu "the Nazarene") was executed because he practiced sorcery.

    71. Horrible Blasphemy of Jesus, Gittin 57a . Says Jesus ( see footnote #4) is being boiled in "hot excrement."

    72. Insults Against Blessed Mary (in Talmud), Sanhedrin 106a . Says Jesus' mother was a whore:"She who was the descendant of princes and governors played the harlot with carpenters." Also in footnote #2 to Shabbath 104b it is stated that in the "uncensored" text of the Talmud it is written that Jesus mother,"Miriam the hairdresser," had sex with many men.

    84."It is the law to kill anyone who denies the Torah. The Christians belong to the denying ones of the Torah." Coschen hamischpat 425 Hagah 425. 5

    85."A heretic Gentile you may kill outright with your own hands." Talmud, Abodah Zara, 4b

    86."Every Jew, who spills the blood of the godless (non-Jews), is doing the same as making a sacrifice to God." Talmud: Bammidber raba c 21 & Jalkut 772

    87. Abhodah Zarah 26b Tosephoth:"A Jew who kills a Christian commits no sin, but offers an acceptable sacrifice to God."

    88. Iore Dea(158,2)Hag.-- Kill renegades who turn to Christian rituals.

    89. Sepher Or Israel (177b): If a Jew kills a Christian he commits no sin. He has done God a service.

    90. Zohar (L, 38b, 39a): A Jew to receive a high place in heaven if he kills a Christian.

    91. Babha Bathra (54b): Christian property belongs to the first Jew claiming it.

    Small wonder Jews are so afraid of "anti-semitism" and trying to pass laws to circumvent and undermine that of free speech in the United States (Jew-Nited States, and without the US' military muscle behind the Jews. well, their own relatives (that's right, they are related in antiquity) the arab nations would destroy the jews once & for all I think), because once people get wind of what they think of others, as shown above by their own books? It's no small wonder why they have been kicked nation to nation since time immemorial.

    Ask yourselves why that much has always occurred for them. The answer is obvious once you read the above. They're a thieving race of deceitful, thieving, EVIL scumbags (and everyone knows it all over the world).

    They're a FUCKING HUMAN VIRUS, & just like a virus? They spread nation to nation, until that nation is sickened & dies from their financial thieveries.

    Jews HAVE to do this, because they are not allowed to "prey on their own" which is WHY Jerusalem is so "multi-cultural/multi-racial" - they NEED to have goyim around to prey on and enslave, and they also do the same to other nations as they infest said nations all over th

  63. Jews are a HUMAN VIRUS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    See the JEWS' VIEW of NON-JEWS, via quotes from their own TALMUD (on JEWS' views of non-jews (goyim)):

    6. Yebhamoth 11b:"Sexual intercourse with a little girl is permitted if she is three years of age."

    7. Schabouth Hag. 6d:"Jews may swear falsely by use of subterfuge wording."

    12. Szaaloth-Utszabot, The Book of Jore Dia 17:"A Jew should and must make a false oath when the Goyim asks if our books contain anything against them."

    13. Baba Necia 114, 6:"The Jews are human beings, but the nations of the world are not human beings but beasts."

    14. Nidrasch Talpioth, p. 225-L:"Jehovah created the non-Jew in human form so that the Jew would not have to be served by beasts. The non-Jew is consequently an animal in human form, and condemned to serve the Jew day and night.

    15. Aboda Sarah 37a:"A Gentile girl who is three years old can be violated."

    16. Gad. Shas. 2:2:"A Jew may violate but not marry a non-Jewish girl."

    58. Jews May Lie to Non-Jews Baba Kamma 113a. Jews may use lies ("subterfuges") to circumvent a Gentile.

    68. Sanhedrin 90a.Those who read the New Testament ("uncanonical books," see footnote #9) will have no portion in the world to come.

    69. Shabbath 116a (p. 569). Jews must destroy the books of the Christians, i.e. the New Testament

    70. Says Jesus was a Sorcerer, Sanhedrin 43a . Says Jesus ("Yeshu" and in footnote #6, Yeshu "the Nazarene") was executed because he practiced sorcery.

    71. Horrible Blasphemy of Jesus, Gittin 57a . Says Jesus ( see footnote #4) is being boiled in "hot excrement."

    72. Insults Against Blessed Mary (in Talmud), Sanhedrin 106a . Says Jesus' mother was a whore:"She who was the descendant of princes and governors played the harlot with carpenters." Also in footnote #2 to Shabbath 104b it is stated that in the "uncensored" text of the Talmud it is written that Jesus mother,"Miriam the hairdresser," had sex with many men.

    84."It is the law to kill anyone who denies the Torah. The Christians belong to the denying ones of the Torah." Coschen hamischpat 425 Hagah 425. 5

    85."A heretic Gentile you may kill outright with your own hands." Talmud, Abodah Zara, 4b

    86."Every Jew, who spills the blood of the godless (non-Jews), is doing the same as making a sacrifice to God." Talmud: Bammidber raba c 21 & Jalkut 772

    87. Abhodah Zarah 26b Tosephoth:"A Jew who kills a Christian commits no sin, but offers an acceptable sacrifice to God."

    88. Iore Dea(158,2)Hag.-- Kill renegades who turn to Christian rituals.

    89. Sepher Or Israel (177b): If a Jew kills a Christian he commits no sin. He has done God a service.

    90. Zohar (L, 38b, 39a): A Jew to receive a high place in heaven if he kills a Christian.

    91. Babha Bathra (54b): Christian property belongs to the first Jew claiming it.

    Small wonder Jews are so afraid of "anti-semitism" and trying to pass laws to circumvent and undermine that of free speech in the United States (Jew-Nited States, and without the US' military muscle behind the Jews. well, their own relatives (that's right, they are related in antiquity) the arab nations would destroy the jews once & for all I think), because once people get wind of what they think of others, as shown above by their own books? It's no small wonder why they have been kicked nation to nation since time immemorial.

    Ask yourselves why that much has always occurred for them. The answer is obvious once you read the above. They're a thieving race of deceitful, thieving, EVIL scumbags (and everyone knows it all over the world).

    They're a FUCKING HUMAN VIRUS, & just like a virus does to human bodies? Jews, like viruses, spread nation to nation, until that nation is sickened & dies from their financial thieveries. Then, they enter their "lytic stage" and depart to find "fresh meat" in another nation and peoples, just like viruses!

    Jews HAVE to do this, because they are not allowed to "prey on their own" which is WHY Jerusalem is so "multi-cultu

  64. Jews like goyim in Israel to victimize 'em by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Explain to me please how any of that is different to Germany, France, Spain or the UK?" by Post-O-Matron (1273882) on Sunday June 27, @08:19AM (#32708274)

    I will. First, see subject line above. Second, see jews own views of non-jews/goyim next below straight from their own TALMUD (on JEWS' views of non-jews (goyim)):

    6. Yebhamoth 11b:"Sexual intercourse with a little girl is permitted if she is three years of age."

    7. Schabouth Hag. 6d:"Jews may swear falsely by use of subterfuge wording."

    12. Szaaloth-Utszabot, The Book of Jore Dia 17:"A Jew should and must make a false oath when the Goyim asks if our books contain anything against them."

    13. Baba Necia 114, 6:"The Jews are human beings, but the nations of the world are not human beings but beasts."

    14. Nidrasch Talpioth, p. 225-L:"Jehovah created the non-Jew in human form so that the Jew would not have to be served by beasts. The non-Jew is consequently an animal in human form, and condemned to serve the Jew day and night.

    15. Aboda Sarah 37a:"A Gentile girl who is three years old can be violated."

    16. Gad. Shas. 2:2:"A Jew may violate but not marry a non-Jewish girl."

    58. Jews May Lie to Non-Jews Baba Kamma 113a. Jews may use lies ("subterfuges") to circumvent a Gentile.

    68. Sanhedrin 90a.Those who read the New Testament ("uncanonical books," see footnote #9) will have no portion in the world to come.

    69. Shabbath 116a (p. 569). Jews must destroy the books of the Christians, i.e. the New Testament

    70. Says Jesus was a Sorcerer, Sanhedrin 43a . Says Jesus ("Yeshu" and in footnote #6, Yeshu "the Nazarene") was executed because he practiced sorcery.

    71. Horrible Blasphemy of Jesus, Gittin 57a . Says Jesus ( see footnote #4) is being boiled in "hot excrement."

    72. Insults Against Blessed Mary (in Talmud), Sanhedrin 106a . Says Jesus' mother was a whore:"She who was the descendant of princes and governors played the harlot with carpenters." Also in footnote #2 to Shabbath 104b it is stated that in the "uncensored" text of the Talmud it is written that Jesus mother,"Miriam the hairdresser," had sex with many men.

    84."It is the law to kill anyone who denies the Torah. The Christians belong to the denying ones of the Torah." Coschen hamischpat 425 Hagah 425. 5

    85."A heretic Gentile you may kill outright with your own hands." Talmud, Abodah Zara, 4b

    86."Every Jew, who spills the blood of the godless (non-Jews), is doing the same as making a sacrifice to God." Talmud: Bammidber raba c 21 & Jalkut 772

    87. Abhodah Zarah 26b Tosephoth:"A Jew who kills a Christian commits no sin, but offers an acceptable sacrifice to God."

    88. Iore Dea(158,2)Hag.-- Kill renegades who turn to Christian rituals.

    89. Sepher Or Israel (177b): If a Jew kills a Christian he commits no sin. He has done God a service.

    90. Zohar (L, 38b, 39a): A Jew to receive a high place in heaven if he kills a Christian.

    91. Babha Bathra (54b): Christian property belongs to the first Jew claiming it.

    Small wonder Jews are so afraid of "anti-semitism" and trying to pass laws to circumvent and undermine that of free speech in the United States (Jew-Nited States, and without the US' military muscle behind the Jews. well, their own relatives (that's right, they are related in antiquity) the arab nations would destroy the jews once & for all I think), because once people get wind of what they think of others, as shown above by their own books? It's no small wonder why they have been kicked nation to nation since time immemorial.

    Ask yourselves why that much has always occurred for them. The answer is obvious once you read the above. They're a thieving race of deceitful, thieving, EVIL scumbags (and everyone knows it all over the world).

    They're a FUCKING HUMAN VIRUS, & just like a virus does to human bodies? Jews, like viruses, spread nation to nation, until that nation is sickened & dies from their fina