Sounds trite, but accidents like these are inevitable consequences of our civilization. Its our nature as human beings to maximize our effectiveness while minimizing our use of resources.
Well then, how about murder with malice aforethought? In Hawk's Nest, W. Va. in the early 1930's, more than 1000 workers died from silicosis- a degenerative lung condition caused by the inhalation of silica dust and associated with mining and sandblasting. They were digging a tunnel to to supply water to a Union Carbide hydroelectric plant. The executives and engineers knew about the dangers of silicosis, and took measures to protect themselves, but they didn't tell the workers or provide them with protective gear. They forbid the company doctors from telling the men what the real problem was, and had them prescribe placebos. Inevitable? Hardly.
The exact number of dead will never be known, since many of those who died were buried in unmarked and mass graves. To quote one UC executive who testified before Congress in '35, "I knew I was going to kill those n******, but I didn't know it was going to be this soon." Silicosis normally kills people over 20-30 years. At Hawk's Nest, people were dropping dead after a year or less of exposure. Since Hawk's Nest, the affected industries have banded together several times to bury the issue, adn for the most part have succeeded, even though an OSHA survey indicates that the condition is rampant, but is usually either concealed or misdiagnosed. Now tell me- how big a step is it from concealing the fact that someone's current job is going to kill them in relatively short order (because that's the most efficient use of resources), to simply killing someone outright because they're an impediment?*
Its your responsibility as a buyer to thuroughly research your choices before putting your name on the dotted line and putting your money on the table.
This leads into one of the big problems with capitalism- information. It's damn near impossible to get all the information that you really need to make a truly informed decision. It doesn't help that at least $10 billion (by one estimate) is spent in the US on public relations. This is just in the US, and dosen't even account for more blatant mechanisms for manipulating public opinions (like advertising). This isn't money spent on informing people so they can make a rational, informed decision. This is money spent manipulating perceptions, working off of our instincts, and shading the truth so that people will buy a certain product or service. Honestly- I couldn't get all the information I'd like about the cereal I eat for breakfast if I tried.
*-I haven't heard of the specific incident involving Silkwood, but I wouldn't be inclined to dismiss it out of hand, either.
Well, it would if your definition of a digital device includes software. Luckily, mine doesn't.
Unfortunately, Hollings' does:
3) INTERACTIVE DIGITAL DEVICE. -- The term "interactive digital device" means any machine, device, product, software, or technology, whether or not included with or as part of some other machine, device, product, software, or technology, that is designed, marketed or used for the primary purpose of, and that is capable of, storing, retrieving, processing, performing, transmitting, receiving, or copying information in digital form.
One thing that worries me is that this was a very well organized, planned and executed series of attacks. This suggests that the people who did it weren't stupid. Add in two facts, and this is troublesome. 1- Terrorisim is, essentially, an exercise in behavior modification: 'do x, or we'll do y.' We do q instead of x. y happens until we stop doing q and do x. 2- Historically 'not playing fair' (sneak attacks, assassinations, etc.) generally have one effect on the American psyche- they piss the hell out of us. One shot terrorism does not work well against the US, because we just get mad and try and slap someone around. Consequently, if the terrorists are actually trying to change national policy, it's not unreasonable to expect to see more of this in the coming weeks or months. One time might not work, but do it enough, and it will start to have a grinding effect on the national psyche, as well as the economy (we can only take so many air traffic ground stops).
Someone else, whose comment I can't seem to find at the moment, asked why this couldn't have been the work for a small group. Looking at most terrorist groups, fielding one terrorist requires a support network of ~50 other people, in varying levels of involvement with the organization. If we assume that there were 3-4 terrorists per plane, that gives us an associated organization of 600-800 people. Please note, this is the size of the logistical support group and involved sympathizers, not the size of the active cadre which is the number usually shown in law enforcement estimates. Also, we're dealing with suicide bombers here (essentially). Suicide bombers are usually isolated for days or weeks immediately preceding their missions, and are closely attended during those days by people who are skilled in psychological manipulation and indoctrination and are able to psych the terrorist up for his mission. This is an activity which requires at least a small handful of people for each terrorist, which is going to leave us again with at least 30-50 people actively complicit in the plot. It's hard to find 12-16 people who are a- suicidal; b-can plan an attack like this and c-can exercise enough self-restraint over a to do b. It's much easier to have a large group do the planning and logistics, and then pull a handful of suicidal or martyrdom-ready individuals from their ranks.
Just out of curiosity, what would happen if someone took the information used to create DeCSS, and used it in the creation of an unlicensed hardware decoder, and then presented that to the judge? Wouldn't he at that point be faced with the issue of granting the DVD-CCA an explicit, government-sanctioned monopoly on the creation of DVD players (insofar as only those who payed the CSS tax would be allowed to build them)? Why not try and cast things in that light?
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Sounds trite, but accidents like these are inevitable consequences of our civilization. Its our nature as human beings to maximize our effectiveness while minimizing our use of resources.
Well then, how about murder with malice aforethought? In Hawk's Nest, W. Va. in the early 1930's, more than 1000 workers died from silicosis- a degenerative lung condition caused by the inhalation of silica dust and associated with mining and sandblasting. They were digging a tunnel to to supply water to a Union Carbide hydroelectric plant. The executives and engineers knew about the dangers of silicosis, and took measures to protect themselves, but they didn't tell the workers or provide them with protective gear. They forbid the company doctors from telling the men what the real problem was, and had them prescribe placebos. Inevitable? Hardly.
The exact number of dead will never be known, since many of those who died were buried in unmarked and mass graves. To quote one UC executive who testified before Congress in '35, "I knew I was going to kill those n******, but I didn't know it was going to be this soon." Silicosis normally kills people over 20-30 years. At Hawk's Nest, people were dropping dead after a year or less of exposure. Since Hawk's Nest, the affected industries have banded together several times to bury the issue, adn for the most part have succeeded, even though an OSHA survey indicates that the condition is rampant, but is usually either concealed or misdiagnosed. Now tell me- how big a step is it from concealing the fact that someone's current job is going to kill them in relatively short order (because that's the most efficient use of resources), to simply killing someone outright because they're an impediment?*
Its your responsibility as a buyer to thuroughly research your choices before putting your name on the dotted line and putting your money on the table.
This leads into one of the big problems with capitalism- information. It's damn near impossible to get all the information that you really need to make a truly informed decision. It doesn't help that at least $10 billion (by one estimate) is spent in the US on public relations. This is just in the US, and dosen't even account for more blatant mechanisms for manipulating public opinions (like advertising). This isn't money spent on informing people so they can make a rational, informed decision. This is money spent manipulating perceptions, working off of our instincts, and shading the truth so that people will buy a certain product or service. Honestly- I couldn't get all the information I'd like about the cereal I eat for breakfast if I tried.
*-I haven't heard of the specific incident involving Silkwood, but I wouldn't be inclined to dismiss it out of hand, either.
Well, it would if your definition of a digital device includes software. Luckily, mine doesn't.
Unfortunately, Hollings' does:
3) INTERACTIVE DIGITAL DEVICE. -- The term "interactive digital device" means any machine, device, product, software, or technology, whether or not included with or as part of some other machine, device, product, software, or technology, that is designed, marketed or used for the primary purpose of, and that is capable of, storing, retrieving, processing, performing, transmitting, receiving, or copying information in digital form.
They're not going to make it that easy for us.
On a related note, how do you find out which congressional staffers are working an issue, and get ahold of them?
Someone else, whose comment I can't seem to find at the moment, asked why this couldn't have been the work for a small group. Looking at most terrorist groups, fielding one terrorist requires a support network of ~50 other people, in varying levels of involvement with the organization. If we assume that there were 3-4 terrorists per plane, that gives us an associated organization of 600-800 people. Please note, this is the size of the logistical support group and involved sympathizers, not the size of the active cadre which is the number usually shown in law enforcement estimates. Also, we're dealing with suicide bombers here (essentially). Suicide bombers are usually isolated for days or weeks immediately preceding their missions, and are closely attended during those days by people who are skilled in psychological manipulation and indoctrination and are able to psych the terrorist up for his mission. This is an activity which requires at least a small handful of people for each terrorist, which is going to leave us again with at least 30-50 people actively complicit in the plot. It's hard to find 12-16 people who are a- suicidal; b-can plan an attack like this and c-can exercise enough self-restraint over a to do b. It's much easier to have a large group do the planning and logistics, and then pull a handful of suicidal or martyrdom-ready individuals from their ranks.
Just out of curiosity, what would happen if someone took the information used to create DeCSS, and used it in the creation of an unlicensed hardware decoder, and then presented that to the judge? Wouldn't he at that point be faced with the issue of granting the DVD-CCA an explicit, government-sanctioned monopoly on the creation of DVD players (insofar as only those who payed the CSS tax would be allowed to build them)? Why not try and cast things in that light?