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Italy Invests 150 Million Euros In Surveillance, With Emphasis On PS4 Chats (thestack.com)
An anonymous reader sends word that Italy will spend 150 million Euros on reforming information and security services. Part of this reform will be monitoring communication among users of the "chat" feature on PlayStation 4. The Stack reports: "Italian Minister of Justice Andrea Orlando has revealed that Italy is spending 150 million euros ($157mn) on new technology and staff to improve surveillance capabilities, and emphasized that the 'new instruments' (it's not clear whether this means new technology or new requisitions) will also target the Sony PlayStation network which fell under suspicion as a possible forum of organization for the Paris attacks (though no evidence was found to support this)."
Listening to millions of 12 year old kids will be hard on the listeners, I hope they have no longer shifts than 2 hours.
And to _understand_ what the hell they are saying is even harder than listening to Urdu or Suaheli conversations, because most of them have a lisp these days.
There may not be professional terrorists on the PS4 network, but I'd sure as heck be terrorized if I had to listen to it all day.
"Set a man a fire, he'll be warm for the rest of the night. Set a man afire, he'll be warm for the rest of his life."
PS4? They're fighting last week's war over again. Stupid Italians.
Ok, it would have made lots of sense about 2 months ago. Now, it's just pointless. You're literally guarding the barn after the stampede.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
That's how modern politics works, unfortunately.
Ignore the facts. Pick the first easy thing that shows we are doing something.
Ignore the real problem. Pick a random thing from the headlines and act on that.
Ignore the known solutions. Make sure you are never seen continuously working on the same thing until it's done, our attention span is too short for that.
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
La rete - ha sottolineato Orlando - offre numerose opportunità di comunicazione, nelle indagini antiterrorismo è stato segnalato anche l'uso delle playstation, per questo ogni forma di messaggio va monitorata con nuovi strumenti.
English translation:
"The network - said Orlando - offers numerous opportunities for communication, in counter-terrorism investigations has also been reported the use of the Playstation, so any form of comunication should be monitored with new tools."
So sorry, no emphasis on ps4 chats at all. It's just a clickbait title, so people can be outraged for nothing.
Assuming PS4 were monitored by intelligence agencies, then the people they're monitoring would just move somewhere else. It's not like there is any shortage of websites, email systems, games, forums and chatrooms situated all over the world that they could pick from.
This is just some politician who saw the "PS4" stories and decided he needed some new offices. The plain facts never entered into it.
Film at 11.
No sig today...
They will implement it ... just after the PS5 comes out
Don't forget the We Must Be Seen To Be Doing $Something factor.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
"...will also target the Sony PlayStation network which fell under suspicion as a possible forum of organization for the Paris attacks (though no evidence was found to support this)."
Since this has been common knowledge almost within hours of the attacks, please choose whether it is corruption or pure fucking stupidity that allowed their government to continue with a bill to spend hundreds of millions for monitoring, which will include PS4 networks.
Corruption or Stupidity. Pick one, because they're the only options that fit here. It really is, and I grow tired of asking why these things occur in the blatant absence of evidence. Time to call a pig a pig no matter what color of lipstick they're slapping on.
Everyone knows that all terrorists play Xbox.
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Corruption or Stupidity. Pick one, because they're the only options that fit here.
You're assuming they aren't lying on the headline. Look again:
“The net offers numerous opportunities for communication. Antiterrorism investigations have highlighted the use of the [PlayStation]. Because of this every method of communication will be monitored with new instruments.”
PS4 is the excuse. NSA-style monitoring is the objective.
Employees : We discovered that terrorists use PS4s to plan attacks and we have no mean of monitoring them.
Boss : But, it is just like regular chat, and we have packet sniffers, and...
Employees : No, no, no. They use strong encryption that only real PS4s can decode. We need PS4s in every office.
Boss : Ok, but your proposal is too cheap, so every one of you will get a PS4.
... later...
Boss : What are you doing, are you playing (looks at the box besides the console) Call of Duty ?
Employee : Yes, hum.. no, I am conducting surveillance. Just look at the chat, they are talking about bombs and guns, I think we are up do something.
Boss : Great work, is there anything you need.
Employee : Yes, if possible, I would like a PS4 for home, so I can, you know, get more efficient tracking terrorists.
Boss : Of course, it is a pleasure to see such devotion to our homeland security. I'll make sure you'll get that promotion.
Do you have a Geiger counter?
Or a seismologist. There seems to be a growing anti-intellectual movement in Italy.
Brilliance without wisdom, power without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants.
> Italy is spending 150 million euros
...on dragnet'ing a katamari blob scrutinized by automation /at best/ with a negligible chance of detecting activity that can pick any number of alternative, unmonitored channels for communication*.
A bullshit motive means ulterior motive. Naive optimists hope for (A) incompetence, theater, tax dollars wasted; expect (B) malice, blanket surveillance, mass scooping, terrorism is an afterthought if not omitted entirely.
not even including srs bsns super-secure ones for the real masterminds who dgaf if the fall guy tier use skypesnapper.
Great excuse for government officials to buy 50 million worth of PS4s and games and spend the other 100 Million man-hours playing video games.
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