What an idiot. I will admit, this guy is pretty out there. But they don't have a first amendment in the UK, and clearly this guy's never even used a modern browser (or at least hasn't paid attention to how it works), so perhaps his view is skewed.
But here in the US I am still not seeing that kind of viewpoint. Maybe because people here are smart enough to know how ridiculous this guy's ideas sound. Blow up ISPs that allow SSL? Precisely what the fuck is this guy smoking?
I read both articles and I think you're still being alarmist. The first referred to ISPs booting hate speech as a violation of TOS - something they've done for years. (Post a pro-KKK web site on Yahoo and see how long it stays up.) The second was more relevant, but nothing very substantial - just a discussion of one crank who posted a prediction on a Nostradamus bulletin board. (As if the very fact that he was on a Nostradamus board didn't already dismiss him as a nut.) That he was investigated was not much different from those stock-pumping kids that got caught last year.
Neither of these articles even implied that ObL was using these internet resources for terror, and in fact one suggested the opposite:
There is evidence that true terrorists are more circumspect. According to
security experts, Osama bin Laden and his followers do not trust the Internet,
and pass the most important messages face to face.
(i.e. ObL isn't stupid.)
Yes, the second implied that Carnivore might work in this case. But there was no serious discussion of crypto, stego, backdoors, etc. - appropriately, because it just isn't relevant in this case.
Please, tell me where it has? Last time I checked, most informed (not speculative) news analysis in mainstream papers (not Wired News) has discussed $6/hr rent-a-cop airport security, unpreparedness of the Pentagon, the years of flight training taken by the bad guys, and Osama bin Laden's ability to finance all of this and create terrorist cells around the world. Where's this clamor against the net that I haven't seen on the 10+ websites I read daily on the subject?
Reverse is also true: open source prevents government backdoors. Remember what the FreeS/WAN (Linux-IPSec) team did a few years ago - they developed it in the Netherlands, where they didn't have to worry about key-length regulations. This may happen again.
The story about this took less than five minutes to be rejected by the editors.
Right, because it was a boneheaded comment. You think we should have every dumbass comment by every dumbass geek on the front page? I mean, yes, sometimes it seems like we do anyway, but...
Okay, maybe it's time for a more nuanced opinion on civil liberties in wartime and afterwards.
RMS, and Roblimo before him,correctly argue that we must not let our freedom of speech (and freedom to control our personal property!) be compromised by mandatory crypto backdoors. Putting aside the fact that such a decree would be totally unenforceable, and that users would surely revolt (I know I would), and that it would surely be found unconstitutional as prior restraint on speech, nonetheless this is a terrible idea that we need to fight.
(Note that all discussion of this in connection with this incident is 100% theoretical anyway. If the bad guys used crypto, we don't know it yet - only grandstanding politicians have suggested anything of the kind.)
But I must say that I feel very differently about face recognition - particularly in airports. Such a system could have caught some of the hijackers - several of whom who were WANTED BY THE FBI and FLEW UNDER THEIR OWN NAMES! - before they killed 5000 people. Extending it to public spaces such as Times Square is more questionable to me, but particularly in airports where the possible harm is now much greater than we ever imagined, I think this is a technology that would be welcome.
Remember that you already give up a lot of rights while you fly. It's too bad, and I don't enjoy having to check potentially hazardous luggage (e.g. knives) any more than the next guy, but flying is materially different from all other forms of transit. You can't crash an Amtrak train into much more than another train, or a station. You can't do that much with a bus. But you can kill thousands with a plane, and as such we need to exercise extreme caution there.
I turned on Stern for about 20 min. on Wednesday and thought he was a total asshole. Fair enough that he wants to strike back, but his comments about Arabs et al. were completely uncalled for. Too bad, as he could have been a voice for reason (and may have been on the day of the attack).
I posted this elsewhere, but I'll say it again: this has been Slashdot's finest hour. The eyewitness accounts and individual stories have been so meaningful, and the readers have been great - almost zero harassment and trolling (a bit more in the last day) and very honest, heartfelt comments. Also great were the mirrors in the first day that many participants posted, to handle the excess load for the news sites; the many Red Cross donation links; the updates and corrections of the news; and more.
Slashdot itself did very, very well in my experience. I experienced far fewer delays and errors than on other sites. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to keep it running. You've made a huge difference for thousands of people.
This guy is an idiot if he thinks such a ban will be enforceable, or constitutional, or effective, or followed by anyone. What, does he think we'll all just kill our copies of PGP? Moron.
The airlines lied to us in order to protect their Airfone service. Fortunately the passengers ignored this during the emergency. Also it should be noted that the hijacked planes were flying lower than cruising planes normally do, so they were in cell range.
Alternate view: Now you know how it feels to have Palestinian suicide bombers blowing themselves up in pizza parlors. Except on a massive, massive scale. How about waking up to the need to fight terrorism?
President Bush, sticking to his cautious sing-song
monotone, fled to various bunkers and seemed to shrink throughout the day.
Incorrect! Bush was taken to secure locations due to a credible threat to Air Force One, and clear and present danger to the White House. He went to a secure location (Nebraska) to convene the NSC. These actions may have saved his life. Don't underestimate the importance of these secure locations.
A lot of normal, productive, innocent, patriotic American citizens carry pocket knives with them at all times, and would be inconvenienced if they
were not allowed to take them past security checkpoints (remember that at least before now, it's not just passengers that pass security, but their
friends and family too - people picking them up or dropping them off).
Too bad. I have in the past brought a pocketknife on the plane, but I would gladly forget about this if that's what's necessary to prevent the nutcases from bringing them on.
People are required to unload and declare firearms, and then they may send them as checked baggage. Probably no need to declare knives, but sending them through checked baggage seems appropriate.
And I never check bags. (Waste of time at the arrival end.) But in this case such a restriction seems appropriate.
Slashdot Mirror
I've gotten those in CA for years! Not genetically modified, but still yummy.
Can't we use the power of the internet to all opt out of these dumb-ass lawsuits and render the lawyers' cash-outs moot?
Damn right. That's why Congress dod the right thing to authorize the use of force, and why we need to get OBL - dead or alive.
Just like the Taliban!
Correct! Also unrelated to the internet.
But here in the US I am still not seeing that kind of viewpoint. Maybe because people here are smart enough to know how ridiculous this guy's ideas sound. Blow up ISPs that allow SSL? Precisely what the fuck is this guy smoking?
Still around. You can see some basic info about that program (pre-bombing) on the FAA site. (Report at DOT site on the program is also available.) 9-15 USA Today article also discusses this.
Neither of these articles even implied that ObL was using these internet resources for terror, and in fact one suggested the opposite:
There is evidence that true terrorists are more circumspect. According to security experts, Osama bin Laden and his followers do not trust the Internet, and pass the most important messages face to face.
(i.e. ObL isn't stupid.)
Yes, the second implied that Carnivore might work in this case. But there was no serious discussion of crypto, stego, backdoors, etc. - appropriately, because it just isn't relevant in this case.
Please, tell me where it has? Last time I checked, most informed (not speculative) news analysis in mainstream papers (not Wired News) has discussed $6/hr rent-a-cop airport security, unpreparedness of the Pentagon, the years of flight training taken by the bad guys, and Osama bin Laden's ability to finance all of this and create terrorist cells around the world. Where's this clamor against the net that I haven't seen on the 10+ websites I read daily on the subject?
Reverse is also true: open source prevents government backdoors. Remember what the FreeS/WAN (Linux-IPSec) team did a few years ago - they developed it in the Netherlands, where they didn't have to worry about key-length regulations. This may happen again.
Right, because it was a boneheaded comment. You think we should have every dumbass comment by every dumbass geek on the front page? I mean, yes, sometimes it seems like we do anyway, but...
Oh yes they would have .. some of them were wanted by the FBI
RMS, and Roblimo before him, correctly argue that we must not let our freedom of speech (and freedom to control our personal property!) be compromised by mandatory crypto backdoors. Putting aside the fact that such a decree would be totally unenforceable, and that users would surely revolt (I know I would), and that it would surely be found unconstitutional as prior restraint on speech, nonetheless this is a terrible idea that we need to fight.
(Note that all discussion of this in connection with this incident is 100% theoretical anyway. If the bad guys used crypto, we don't know it yet - only grandstanding politicians have suggested anything of the kind.)
But I must say that I feel very differently about face recognition - particularly in airports. Such a system could have caught some of the hijackers - several of whom who were WANTED BY THE FBI and FLEW UNDER THEIR OWN NAMES! - before they killed 5000 people. Extending it to public spaces such as Times Square is more questionable to me, but particularly in airports where the possible harm is now much greater than we ever imagined, I think this is a technology that would be welcome.
Remember that you already give up a lot of rights while you fly. It's too bad, and I don't enjoy having to check potentially hazardous luggage (e.g. knives) any more than the next guy, but flying is materially different from all other forms of transit. You can't crash an Amtrak train into much more than another train, or a station. You can't do that much with a bus. But you can kill thousands with a plane, and as such we need to exercise extreme caution there.
Shame on you, Falwell and Robertson.
I turned on Stern for about 20 min. on Wednesday and thought he was a total asshole. Fair enough that he wants to strike back, but his comments about Arabs et al. were completely uncalled for. Too bad, as he could have been a voice for reason (and may have been on the day of the attack).
Not sure this would make sense as many readers just read the threaded stories and don't click thru...
Slashdot itself did very, very well in my experience. I experienced far fewer delays and errors than on other sites. Thanks to everyone who worked so hard to keep it running. You've made a huge difference for thousands of people.
This guy is an idiot if he thinks such a ban will be enforceable, or constitutional, or effective, or followed by anyone. What, does he think we'll all just kill our copies of PGP? Moron.
Seriously. Fortunately we have the first amendment, and this would be prior restraint on speech, so this bluster is just that - bluster.
The airlines lied to us in order to protect their Airfone service. Fortunately the passengers ignored this during the emergency. Also it should be noted that the hijacked planes were flying lower than cruising planes normally do, so they were in cell range.
Alternate view: Now you know how it feels to have Palestinian suicide bombers blowing themselves up in pizza parlors. Except on a massive, massive scale. How about waking up to the need to fight terrorism?
Thank you. The Katz flames really could take a break and I would not complain.
not a big surprise, but more trains & cars have been added.
Incorrect! Bush was taken to secure locations due to a credible threat to Air Force One, and clear and present danger to the White House. He went to a secure location (Nebraska) to convene the NSC. These actions may have saved his life. Don't underestimate the importance of these secure locations.
Too bad. I have in the past brought a pocketknife on the plane, but I would gladly forget about this if that's what's necessary to prevent the nutcases from bringing them on.
People are required to unload and declare firearms, and then they may send them as checked baggage. Probably no need to declare knives, but sending them through checked baggage seems appropriate.
And I never check bags. (Waste of time at the arrival end.) But in this case such a restriction seems appropriate.