Slashdot Mirror
An Interview With Hacking Team's CEO
Alastair Stevenson writes: I talked to the leader of the world's most hated surveillance company about its path to recovery and morals, following a massive attack on its systems. CEO David Vincenzetti, as you might expect, thinks that his company "deserves the protection of law and order," and disclaims (also as you'd expect) responsibility for what its clients do with the privacy-unraveling software it provides: Law enforcement must have a way to do what it has always done, that is to track criminals and prevent or prosecute crime. With the development of global terrorism and especially the ‘lone wolf’ terrorist, this requirement is even more important.
Hacking Team has helped fight crime by providing a surveillance tool to law enforcement. The company believes this is a small step toward a more secure world for all who wish to used the Internet and digital tools lawfully.
There are laws for unreasonable search and seizure.
Shouldn't they apply to your electronics as well?
Minimum threshold fixed. Thanks!
You say that is if any of it is new. What you are lamenting is how the world works, and how it has always worked.
The primary function of law is to ensure that the aristocracy can maintain their authority over the proletariat. The primary function of the police is to protect the aristocracy from the proletariat. Any benefits instilled upon the proletariat are secondary, and there primarily to placate in an effort to avoid rebellion.
Revolutions accomplish nothing. You unseat one group of aristocrats in order to replace them with another. No one remains loyal to the proletariat once they attain wealth and power, and no one ever will.
The best thing you can do for yourself is figure out how humanity moves and breathes, and then conform. Doing anything else will just create a lot of suffering for you and others.
I recommend the book "Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces" by Radley Balko. It goes into detail on why and how we got the police we have today. It's not a coincidence and it's not about "a few bad apples".
Since the 1960s, there has been a systematic top-down development towards a more violent, heavier armed and more excessive police force. This has been achieved through government grants, incentives, and case-law favoring and encouraging the police behavior we see today. No-knock raids gone wrong where innocent people get hurt is now a regular occurrence. Forfeiture without a court charge is a major source of income for all law agencies, to the tune of billions a year. The wars on abstracts (drugs, crime, terror) has made our society more violent and less safe.
If we continue down this path, the next step will be the people having to defend themselves against their government and police.