My company has some pretty sophisticated data transformation tools that we use in forensics. You can connect with me via the/. friends system if you manage to get hold of the source data. We may be able to return it to you in something simple like CSV and then from there things should be easy.
Not promising a result but happy to at least take a look
Logically it will be impossible to tell if an account belongs to a citizen or a visitor (unless they add some authenticated sign-up procedure for users). So if I use my email account in India as a visitor, does that make me open to have all my emails read? I have done business in India and lost several deals due to refusing to pay the "special fee" asked by the buyer to make the deal happen. So with my present level of trust in how things are done in India, I can't even begin to imagine how the knowledge gleaned by "intelligence services" from foreign visitors will find its way into the Indian economy. If the providers cave in to this, then that would be an EPIC FAIL and I would have to stop using most of those services and/or find secure alternatives. So, this is not a matter of the service providers missing out on business just in India. If they cave in, India might still have the services available, but many of the lucrative business users in the rest of the world may well walk.
Hmm - let's for a minute imagine that you are the person in charge of an essential utility (say an electrical retailer with the new "smart meters" installed) and you are under attack. You are not coping, your countermeasures are not working. Bit by bit, your network fall under the control of your attacker and people are slowly but surely getting their power turned off.
Lets add to that scenario that it is the middle of winter in one of the northern states, so people are starting to freeze to death.
In that equation, would you still not hand over your root password to safe lives? Just because it is "private property"?
I'm not saying that you are incompentent as a sys-admin - but I'm saying that there may be incompetent sys-admins out there in very critical private companies (in fact - I'm sure there is - at least incompetent when it comes to fighting a competent blackhat).
I'm not sure of the details of this bill - but as in the above scenario I can certainly think of situations where intervention by specialist government experts may be needed for the greater good or to save lives.
Who says we need a big-ass DB? It is not like the no-fly list is that large.. In fact, from a data perspective it is down-right puny. The trick with both the no-fly list and the more commonly checked SDN (Specially Designated Nationals from the US Treasury) list is that people deliberately make minor spelling changes to their name to avoid detection. So the name search has to be fairly "fuzzy" (which is not something SQL databases are very good at).
The block list is based on submissions from the public that is then reviewed by the classification board. So once this goes in, I'm going to submit anything that I encounter on the web that I personally find offensive. I might even for amusements sake (given that Conroy is backed by the Australian Christian Lobby) submit any and all nasty bible references I can find with Google (there are after all a few things in the bible that should be RC). I could then add a few government websites that informs me about taxes I don't agree with and therefore find offensive and maybe some news aggregators that make references to politicians. I find politicians like Conroy offensive as do a lot of my peers, so by the definition that a reasonable adult must find something offensive for it to be RC - well Conroy should be RC. The bureacracy is obliged to review every submission. They would soon drown in sheer volume. My point is: the concept and implementation is just so stupid and unworkable and dangerous it defies belief. How many censors would they need just to keep up and given the censorship list is secret, who reviews the censors? If it wasn't so serious, it would be laughable.
Well, Exit International (the Euthanasia assistance group) are already training elderly people in how to bypass the filter. They run organised classes that makes sure people are not denied critical information. I salute them!
Senator Conroy is a union hack. He has no qualifications in networking or communications. All he is experienced in is bullying to get things his way. Hence why that stupid kiddie porn comment comes up all the time. In addition he is supported by the Australian Christian Lobby as is the Australian prime minister. Fact remains: wikileaks was on the blacklist for the trial. Now why would that be the case? I just wish some journalist would ask that question and demand that the senator provides a very good explanation.
The Catholic church was never much into transparency. After all, knowledge is power. William Tyndale was burned at the stake in the 16th century for heresy. His heresy was to translate the bible into English so the common man could read it and make up his own mind about it. Now that was another piece of transparency the Pope of the time didn't like.
I don't think the Vatican has much of a moral high ground, nor do they reflect actual Christian values. They are just a bunch of sad old men who wants to control and get money from the ignorant/fearful populace. Probably the oldest commercial corporation still in existence.
"The way to make a million dollars is to start a religion." - Ron Hubbard.
Sad really....
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My company has some pretty sophisticated data transformation tools that we use in forensics. You can connect with me via the /. friends system if you manage to get hold of the source data. We may be able to return it to you in something simple like CSV and then from there things should be easy.
Not promising a result but happy to at least take a look
Great idea!! DUCKS!!!!
Logically it will be impossible to tell if an account belongs to a citizen or a visitor (unless they add some authenticated sign-up procedure for users). So if I use my email account in India as a visitor, does that make me open to have all my emails read? I have done business in India and lost several deals due to refusing to pay the "special fee" asked by the buyer to make the deal happen. So with my present level of trust in how things are done in India, I can't even begin to imagine how the knowledge gleaned by "intelligence services" from foreign visitors will find its way into the Indian economy. If the providers cave in to this, then that would be an EPIC FAIL and I would have to stop using most of those services and/or find secure alternatives. So, this is not a matter of the service providers missing out on business just in India. If they cave in, India might still have the services available, but many of the lucrative business users in the rest of the world may well walk.
I'd like to see that... Now where is that patent application form?
Lets add to that scenario that it is the middle of winter in one of the northern states, so people are starting to freeze to death.
In that equation, would you still not hand over your root password to safe lives? Just because it is "private property"?
I'm not saying that you are incompentent as a sys-admin - but I'm saying that there may be incompetent sys-admins out there in very critical private companies (in fact - I'm sure there is - at least incompetent when it comes to fighting a competent blackhat).
I'm not sure of the details of this bill - but as in the above scenario I can certainly think of situations where intervention by specialist government experts may be needed for the greater good or to save lives.
Actually, Greenland is the holder of the title of worlds largest island.. Just saying...
Who says we need a big-ass DB? It is not like the no-fly list is that large.. In fact, from a data perspective it is down-right puny. The trick with both the no-fly list and the more commonly checked SDN (Specially Designated Nationals from the US Treasury) list is that people deliberately make minor spelling changes to their name to avoid detection. So the name search has to be fairly "fuzzy" (which is not something SQL databases are very good at).
The block list is based on submissions from the public that is then reviewed by the classification board. So once this goes in, I'm going to submit anything that I encounter on the web that I personally find offensive. I might even for amusements sake (given that Conroy is backed by the Australian Christian Lobby) submit any and all nasty bible references I can find with Google (there are after all a few things in the bible that should be RC). I could then add a few government websites that informs me about taxes I don't agree with and therefore find offensive and maybe some news aggregators that make references to politicians. I find politicians like Conroy offensive as do a lot of my peers, so by the definition that a reasonable adult must find something offensive for it to be RC - well Conroy should be RC. The bureacracy is obliged to review every submission. They would soon drown in sheer volume. My point is: the concept and implementation is just so stupid and unworkable and dangerous it defies belief. How many censors would they need just to keep up and given the censorship list is secret, who reviews the censors? If it wasn't so serious, it would be laughable.
Well, Exit International (the Euthanasia assistance group) are already training elderly people in how to bypass the filter. They run organised classes that makes sure people are not denied critical information. I salute them!
Senator Conroy is a union hack. He has no qualifications in networking or communications. All he is experienced in is bullying to get things his way. Hence why that stupid kiddie porn comment comes up all the time. In addition he is supported by the Australian Christian Lobby as is the Australian prime minister. Fact remains: wikileaks was on the blacklist for the trial. Now why would that be the case? I just wish some journalist would ask that question and demand that the senator provides a very good explanation.
The Catholic church was never much into transparency. After all, knowledge is power. William Tyndale was burned at the stake in the 16th century for heresy. His heresy was to translate the bible into English so the common man could read it and make up his own mind about it. Now that was another piece of transparency the Pope of the time didn't like. I don't think the Vatican has much of a moral high ground, nor do they reflect actual Christian values. They are just a bunch of sad old men who wants to control and get money from the ignorant/fearful populace. Probably the oldest commercial corporation still in existence. "The way to make a million dollars is to start a religion." - Ron Hubbard. Sad really....