Sometimes I think I should have picked out the Demosthenes!Tecumseh as a slashdot handle.
But anyway...on to this ICANN stuff.
If ICANN is breaking the law by withholding information from a board member, then they are breaking the law plain and simple. It seems as though this is a fairly obvious case to me.
Even if ICANN isn't doing something illicit with their income, the practices that are described in the Salon article and in Gilmore's original email to Vint Cerf are despicable.
In regards to whether they have their hands in the cookie har, I have this thought...a quote from Independence day sort of..."Does anyone really believe a hammer costs 50 dollars?"
is to offer quality services in addition to hardware.
If people come back to you whenever they need some sort of training, upgrades, or repair work done, that would greatly increase your chances of survival.
I don't think this is a market in which you want to compete with companies like Wal-Mart and CompUSA by narrowing your product list to physical hardware.
There's a spiffy game called Jumble on Nextel's WAP deck. They give you a bunch of letters and you figure out what the word is. The hitch is, it keeps score over time (as you create a username and password the first time you play), and it's multiplayer. Usually in the mornings there are five to ten people on, up to fifty or sixty players in the afternoon.
You enter your answer, and then you have to wait 15-30 seconds for all the other players to enter their answers or time out, and then you get to see a rank! Each game consists of a set of ten jumbled-up words to figure out.
The concept might seem kind of lame but when you're waiting on the train, it's fun as hell!
You can reach it on a nextel phone by opening up the net menu, selecting websites, selecting entertainment, and then selecting "Play Jumble".
I see a lot of neat little games like this popping up on wireless devices in the near future.
I guess my main point is, that for the average U.S. citizen, who tends to have his head in the sand, these things aren't really an issue the same way they are a fact of life in other countries...and as prominent as problems like these are in other countries...is state respect for privacy even something they think about?
Let alone having the government monitor whatever they surf in an internet cafe?
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is the non-profit corporation that was formed to assume responsibility for the IP address space allocation, protocol parameter assignment, domain name system management, and root server system management functions previously performed under U.S. Government contract by IANA and other entities.
I have to ask: Why is a non-profit organization levying taxes? What's next? Make-a-wish foundation taxes terminally ill patients who haven't progressed very far in their illnesses to pay for trips to Disneyland for those kids who are very very sick? It's absurd!
It really amazes me sometimes how good we have it and how badly citizens of other countries have it.
A little over two hundred years ago, the colonists in America rose up over issues like taxation, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion...
Ok...so our ancestors (for those of us who are American) didn't have equal representation, their tea was too expensive, and they couldn't talk smack about the King...
The didn't have to put up with, and we don't have to put up with...
The government telling us how many babies we can have, and killing any that are "unauthorized" just as they are born
Going without food of any kind for days because the government squanders food supplies and spends all its money on bigger, badder weapons
Forced adherence to a political ideology (well ok, the Founding Fathers had to put up with the Sedition act and were subjects to the King)
A head of state who uses chemical weapons on his own citizens
A state "security service" who can snatch citizens off the street and do anything with them, any time, any place, any reason, but no recourse
The lists I've just written down are obviously not meant to be exhaustive or conclusive...just put things into a bit of perspective. When citizens of other countries are treated with far less value than those of us in the developed world, why would they care if their internet activity is being monitored? I think they have far bigger issues than that.
The really interesting question for me is, what is the breaking point for each of these peoples? Internet privacy might be a big issue for us because we're well-fed (most of us) and don't have to worry about how we're going to pay for a movie ticket, but for a lot of people in other parts of the world, I think it's just a continuation of the status quo into another part of life. In fact, I'm amazed that Internet cafe's weren't monitored by nations like China or Vietnam in the first place!
I'm afraid I don't really know enough history to be able to answer that question.
I don't think one can be too paranoid about Microsoft and their self-serving interests. It would be incredibly naive to assume that they are working on Palladium because of their altruistic and generous motives.
Personally, all I see here is more of the same anti-competitive behavior that got them into hot water in the first place.
I can't wait until their "accounting discrepancy" scandal leaks!
I remember reading a while back, probably on Slashdot, that AMEX was experimenting with providing one-use credit card numbers to its customers for use on internet purchases, etc. I forget exactly the details of how all this would work.
I think something like this would be awesome to stop fraud. If the number is only valid for one transaction and then you get a new one, then the number sitting around waiting to be sponged off the internet by unscrupulous sorts wouldn't be of any use by they time they got their paws on it. Your transaction would have been completed and your real account information would be safe.
I am not sure I agree with your assertions in their entirety.
It is true that some, and maybe a lot, of people at WorldCom knew what was happening. They lied, they screwed up, etc...
At the same time, I'm also sure of the fact that there were and are probably many more people working or investing in WorldCom who are going to be punished by losing their jobs, money, or retirement because of the bad decisions of a few.
I think your take on the the lack of terrorism as a motiviation in this case is correct, but I also think telstar makes a valid point.
I agree with you to an extent that terror is a principle component of terrorism, but individuals wishing to do harm to this country could do just as much harm by disrupting our economy or other aspects of our lives. IIRC, that was one of their chief reasons for choosing the WTC in the Sept. 11 attacks.
I also foresee in the future that said individuals might try to do nasty things to our economic institutions. While we don't have to live in fear of getting on the train to go to work (yet), a punch in the wallet would be almost as unpleasant for many of us.
You have a point there. I think this might have been a bit of spin on Worldcom's part, in exactly the manner you describe.
I think it is going to backfire on them because a lot of people, especially at the top levels of a large company, simply must know what is going on in order for that company to operate at all. One or two people or even the finance department cannot hide 3.6 to 3.8 billion dollars in improper accounting from their colleagues and fellow executives.
The analogy I would draw to this tactic would be one in which every phone representative in a call center was cursing at customers, and yet the call center's manager claimed no knowledge of the problem when confronted about it. Even if the manager did have no knowledge, they surely are responsible to some degree for the actions of their subordinates.
The CFO was a sacrifical lamb. Unfortunately, with a lot of guests coming to dinner, more lamb is needed.
Slashdot Mirror
I would love it if all Spam were required by law to come with ADV or SPAM in the subject line.
Sometimes I think I should have picked out the Demosthenes!Tecumseh as a slashdot handle. But anyway...on to this ICANN stuff. If ICANN is breaking the law by withholding information from a board member, then they are breaking the law plain and simple. It seems as though this is a fairly obvious case to me. Even if ICANN isn't doing something illicit with their income, the practices that are described in the Salon article and in Gilmore's original email to Vint Cerf are despicable. In regards to whether they have their hands in the cookie har, I have this thought...a quote from Independence day sort of..."Does anyone really believe a hammer costs 50 dollars?"
CNN is either taking their cues from the Chinese news media or Microsoft.
I don't know how to tell the difference between the two any more.
should be named Awk and Sed!!!
I love those books! Sax would be a great nickname for either a boy or a girl.
My aim name is based on the name of Sax Russel from the Mars trilogy.
Kira would be a great name for a boy!
This is probably the one and only time someone was completely glad they got a telemarketing call in all of history.
is to offer quality services in addition to hardware.
If people come back to you whenever they need some sort of training, upgrades, or repair work done, that would greatly increase your chances of survival.
I don't think this is a market in which you want to compete with companies like Wal-Mart and CompUSA by narrowing your product list to physical hardware.
There's a spiffy game called Jumble on Nextel's WAP deck. They give you a bunch of letters and you figure out what the word is. The hitch is, it keeps score over time (as you create a username and password the first time you play), and it's multiplayer. Usually in the mornings there are five to ten people on, up to fifty or sixty players in the afternoon.
You enter your answer, and then you have to wait 15-30 seconds for all the other players to enter their answers or time out, and then you get to see a rank! Each game consists of a set of ten jumbled-up words to figure out.
The concept might seem kind of lame but when you're waiting on the train, it's fun as hell!
You can reach it on a nextel phone by opening up the net menu, selecting websites, selecting entertainment, and then selecting "Play Jumble".
I see a lot of neat little games like this popping up on wireless devices in the near future.
Thanks for the information. It's nice to have an alternative.
You raise some good points.
I guess my main point is, that for the average U.S. citizen, who tends to have his head in the sand, these things aren't really an issue the same way they are a fact of life in other countries...and as prominent as problems like these are in other countries...is state respect for privacy even something they think about?
Let alone having the government monitor whatever they surf in an internet cafe?
From ICANN's "About ICANN" page:
Link is here
I have to ask: Why is a non-profit organization levying taxes? What's next? Make-a-wish foundation taxes terminally ill patients who haven't progressed very far in their illnesses to pay for trips to Disneyland for those kids who are very very sick? It's absurd!
It really amazes me sometimes how good we have it and how badly citizens of other countries have it.
A little over two hundred years ago, the colonists in America rose up over issues like taxation, freedom of speech, and freedom of religion...
Ok...so our ancestors (for those of us who are American) didn't have equal representation, their tea was too expensive, and they couldn't talk smack about the King...
The didn't have to put up with, and we don't have to put up with...
The lists I've just written down are obviously not meant to be exhaustive or conclusive...just put things into a bit of perspective. When citizens of other countries are treated with far less value than those of us in the developed world, why would they care if their internet activity is being monitored? I think they have far bigger issues than that.
The really interesting question for me is, what is the breaking point for each of these peoples? Internet privacy might be a big issue for us because we're well-fed (most of us) and don't have to worry about how we're going to pay for a movie ticket, but for a lot of people in other parts of the world, I think it's just a continuation of the status quo into another part of life. In fact, I'm amazed that Internet cafe's weren't monitored by nations like China or Vietnam in the first place!
I'm afraid I don't really know enough history to be able to answer that question.
You've provided a brilliant way for him to frighten his guests - by having good, quality time with them!
I don't think one can be too paranoid about Microsoft and their self-serving interests. It would be incredibly naive to assume that they are working on Palladium because of their altruistic and generous motives.
Personally, all I see here is more of the same anti-competitive behavior that got them into hot water in the first place.
I can't wait until their "accounting discrepancy" scandal leaks!
I remember reading a while back, probably on Slashdot, that AMEX was experimenting with providing one-use credit card numbers to its customers for use on internet purchases, etc. I forget exactly the details of how all this would work.
I think something like this would be awesome to stop fraud. If the number is only valid for one transaction and then you get a new one, then the number sitting around waiting to be sponged off the internet by unscrupulous sorts wouldn't be of any use by they time they got their paws on it. Your transaction would have been completed and your real account information would be safe.
I am not sure I agree with your assertions in their entirety.
It is true that some, and maybe a lot, of people at WorldCom knew what was happening. They lied, they screwed up, etc...
At the same time, I'm also sure of the fact that there were and are probably many more people working or investing in WorldCom who are going to be punished by losing their jobs, money, or retirement because of the bad decisions of a few.
Where is the justice in that, mc6809e?
I think your take on the the lack of terrorism as a motiviation in this case is correct, but I also think telstar makes a valid point.
I agree with you to an extent that terror is a principle component of terrorism, but individuals wishing to do harm to this country could do just as much harm by disrupting our economy or other aspects of our lives. IIRC, that was one of their chief reasons for choosing the WTC in the Sept. 11 attacks.
I also foresee in the future that said individuals might try to do nasty things to our economic institutions. While we don't have to live in fear of getting on the train to go to work (yet), a punch in the wallet would be almost as unpleasant for many of us.
Surely you are not implying that the purchase of slashdot caused a $249.00 per share drop in LNUX stock price?
You have a point there. I think this might have been a bit of spin on Worldcom's part, in exactly the manner you describe. I think it is going to backfire on them because a lot of people, especially at the top levels of a large company, simply must know what is going on in order for that company to operate at all. One or two people or even the finance department cannot hide 3.6 to 3.8 billion dollars in improper accounting from their colleagues and fellow executives. The analogy I would draw to this tactic would be one in which every phone representative in a call center was cursing at customers, and yet the call center's manager claimed no knowledge of the problem when confronted about it. Even if the manager did have no knowledge, they surely are responsible to some degree for the actions of their subordinates. The CFO was a sacrifical lamb. Unfortunately, with a lot of guests coming to dinner, more lamb is needed.