First of all, I don't think privacy is an issue anymore. With all of the databases, echelon, etc. privacy is nearly dead.
The real issue is POWER. Who owns the cameras that watch us?
The idea of reciprocol privacy is bogus for that reason. Case in point: Video cameras mounted on police cars. They have been used to good effect to prosecute criminals for assaulting/killing police, and for throwing out bogus brutality claims. But, when a valid police brutality case comes up, the tape (or sometimes just parts of it) has a tendancy to mysteriously disappear. Thus, the cameras operated by the police increase the power of police, and do not increase the power of anyone else.
If everyone owned a few cameras, and nobody owned lots of them, then the power would be evenly distributed and we would have a "transparent society". But, history has shown that power is never evenly distributed. Instead of everyone owning a few cameras, we will end up with 5% of the population owning 95% of the cameras. We will not have a more transparent society, but rather a more Owellian society.
The same elite who own big databases of purchace information will own big databases of movement and personal association information.
There were some noisey comments about the target="_blank" thing here. Looks like they have been killed. Oh well.
It prompted me to try to hack a way to stop Netscape from popping up another window every time some idiot decides to shove one down my throat. Here's what I came up with but only briefly tested
mv netscape.bin netscape.bin.bak sed 's/target/XXXXXX/' netscape.bin chmod a+x netscape.bin
Don't forget to disable JavaScript.
I've done this to my 3.04 Gold and it seems to be working.
Slashdot Mirror
That's got to be the stupidest thing I've ever seen. :)
Troops is worth a viewing too.
The real issue is POWER. Who owns the cameras that watch us?
The idea of reciprocol privacy is bogus for that reason. Case in point: Video cameras mounted on police cars. They have been used to good effect to prosecute criminals for assaulting/killing police, and for throwing out bogus brutality claims. But, when a valid police brutality case comes up, the tape (or sometimes just parts of it) has a tendancy to mysteriously disappear. Thus, the cameras operated by the police increase the power of police, and do not increase the power of anyone else.
If everyone owned a few cameras, and nobody owned lots of them, then the power would be evenly distributed and we would have a "transparent society". But, history has shown that power is never evenly distributed. Instead of everyone owning a few cameras, we will end up with 5% of the population owning 95% of the cameras. We will not have a more transparent society, but rather a more Owellian society.
The same elite who own big databases of purchace information will own big databases of movement and personal association information.
It prompted me to try to hack a way to stop Netscape from popping up another window every time some idiot decides to shove one down my throat. Here's what I came up with but only briefly tested
mv netscape.bin netscape.bin.bak
sed 's/target/XXXXXX/' netscape.bin
chmod a+x netscape.bin
Don't forget to disable JavaScript.
I've done this to my 3.04 Gold and it seems to be working.