Whether I like the messenger or not, Mtinick is right. So long as humans are part of the security equation, we will have insecure systems. The song he's singing is true. A tune few are paying attention to. Like death, social engineering has no solution today, so it's avoided with discomfort or even ignored. Three people can keep a secret if two of them are dead. Social engineering is that last security hole still left unpatched.
I work in IT and I can blind dial any extension, introduce myself as employee X from Corporate IT and without any pretense, obtain a user ID and password. If I am trouble shooting a user complaint and ask their user ID, their password is often offered without me even asking for it. The vast majority of viruses rely on social engineering, as do tool bars, spyware, etc. I think Mitnick is right that the problems we have today are less technical than social. Most of the security holes in Windows could exist unexploited if it were not for social engineering.
Jack LaLane, the fitness guru, was viewed 40 years ago as a freak. It may take 40 years but once society finds a way to resolve or at least seriously takes an interest in the social engineering problems of network security, I wonder if history will label Mitnick as an early adopter or label him a "before his time" genius.
The only way to make bogus data work, name address, etc. is to use cash 100% of the time.
The moment you tie a member card to a transaction paid by cheque, debit card or whatever, there is now a link between you and the card. From that moment on, that card, bogus data or not, will be linked to you.
That's why many stores don't care if you fill out the application using the name Micky Mouse then you turn around and pay by debit card or cheque. Or a store manager upon asking will give you a card without filling out an application and then you turn around and pay by cheque. The minute the transaction is processed, your profile, the cards data, is updated with the new information.
There's not just one name linked to a card either. Swap with friends and all that does is link another name to the card. They still have records of this person bought this and this other person bought that.
My local store, if all you tell them is you forgot your card, they say no problem and the cashier scans a store card kept at the register. So what? As long as you pay by anything other than cash, a new transaction is created that can be cross referenced back to you. You don't think for a minute that debit card numbers, bank account numbers etc. are *not* part of the member card transaction record?
Member cards were a solution to group transactions by cross reference. One household may have 6-7 methods of paying. One couple has seperate checking accounts, their own credit/debit cards, that's four methods right there. Add different credit cards and now a household may have 7 ways to pay. Member cards were introduced only to help group these transactions into a larger household picture. Household demographics is what they're after, "household" is the holy grail of demographics.
They lost this household demographic when they started to accepted plastic as payment. Ever notice member cards were not introduced until stores started taking CC/Debit cards for payments? They've been tracking purchases for 30 years. Back then, joint checking accounts were common and paying by cheque was the only method other than cash. Back then household demographics was a simplier excerise. It's worth a few cents off an inflated price to incurage you to help them group these new plastic transactions by household.
So, except that the government has caught on that this can be a wealth of information, this is nothing new. Unless you use cash 100% of the time you're not beating the system the way you think you are by filling out the application with false data.
I don't think it was Dr Zhivago, but something like that. A mad scientist movie where he moves to a deserted island to do just this? Rejected by his peers and society he creates animal people and the whole thing blows up in his face?
Probably the only science fiction movie that has ever come true. At least for the beginning. We've yet to see the ending
I don't know how to answer your question except to tell you how I feel. When I was 14 and saw a group of 14 year old girls I, was sexually interested and wanted them in my own 14 year old way.
Fast forward 30 years.
Now when I go to the food court and see a group of 14 year old girls, all I see a bunch of giggling, screaming, cackling chickens. I can't get away from them fast enough and will go to the furthest table away I can find.
What was sexually attractive to me at 14 would be my worst nightmare at 40. This doesn't answer your question but it may give you some insight. Your older friend has grown up and now he needs to mature.
I quit reading when he countered with blah, blah, next please... as if his opinion is instead fact.
A closed mind should be working in closed software. Oh wait, he's a M$ employee. It shows.
Anyone who dismisses other people like that gets dismissed by me. Next Please.
In Atlanta Georgia, we have already had this for a while. www.georgia-navigator.com it comes complete with text messaging to your cell/pda about accidents, etc. You can even see the image from any traffic camera. They've done a good job. The site is often slow but as for spending tax dollars in a way that helps the community, this is leaps and bounds ahead of other metro areas.
"It does that because it has agreed from day one that what it broadcasts must serve the public interest not the interests of the networks or a select group of artists."
This is exactly the point and why we should ignore 99.9% of the complaints to the FCC. They come from exactly the small group of people they're not supposed to cater too to the exclusion of the public. This is not a moral majority thing either. The "moral majority" is neither.
That depends. The drop-dead date is Dec 13. That's the date the Electoral College elects the President. By Dec 22 the votes must be in the hands of the president of the Senate and on Jan 6, the congress will announce the winner.
Basically, after the EC votes on Dec13, that's it. We will have a President. The People only suggested to their State whom they wanted for President on Nov 2. Based on that, the States send the electors to vote for that ticket on Dec 13.
What I don't get is the Christian evangelical connection with Bush. I must be reading the abridged version of the Bible.
I don't get this connection with Jesus and war. Or the Jesus connection with discrimination against minority groups. The connection with Jesus and denying your neighbor what they themselves claim as their own. I personally despise abortion but what's this connection with Jesus and plucking slivers from neighbors eyes.
I can only guess they've chosen the deceitful one as their moral leader or my Bible is missing entire sections. I don't see the same connection they do.
About the Parent and the Moderator.
One moderator took extra care to mod my post to zero. My post was at +3 but the moderator (he/she) added a -2 "extra" modifier to reduce my post to zero. Making sure that with one moderation, my post would zero out.
I don't know why the moderator felt he/she was being baited. But apparently he/she felt that way. Even to the point of making sure my post zeroed out by using 2 extra mod points to do it. I can assure you (the moderator) that baiting for flames is not what I intended. I suspect when my post is meta-moderated you'll be found as moderating unfairly.
I'll appologize to the moderator for feeling bated. However, I suspect this moderator has an agenda and just read bating into my post when that was not my intention.
Nuff Said.
-[d]-
One moderator took extra care to mod my post to zero. My post was at +3 but the moderator (he/she) added a -2 "extra" modifier to reduce my post to zero. Making sure that with one moderation, my post would zero out.
I don't know why the moderator felt he/she was being baited. But apparently he/she felt that way. Even to the point of making sure my post zeroed out by using 2 extra mod points to do it. I can assure you (the moderator) that baiting for flames is not what I intended. I suspect when my post is meta-moderated you'll be found as moderating unfairly.
I'll appologize to the moderator for feeling bated. However, I suspect this moderator has an agenda and just read bating into my post when that was not my intention.
Running Linux I've put this stuff to the back of my mind. But, I do run a VMware Windows 2000 machine for some propritary VPN RSA connection software to connect to work. It's both software (KPF) and hardware firewalled.
I keep the VM patched but never figured I need to worry much about spyware. I hardly use it for web access unless it's work related. I was wrong. I just installed AdAware and found 24 instances. Now, I guess, I'll install the others, SpyBot etc.
The best I can figure is I must of had a brain fade while tele-commuting and drifted to a few sites while working. Usually when I do that I switch to another destop and use Linux to surf. That or the work related business site I've visited loaded them.
Live and learn. It's going to really suck if Linux ever starts having problems like this or something simular. I've enjoyed the freedom since moving to Linux a few years ago. I neglected my Vmware machines though. But, not any more.
Genetic engineering for the next few hundred years will consist more of correcting small genetic mistakes, dotting your i's and crossing your t's kind of stuff.
Your trust is nice abet nieve. It didn't take hundreds of years before blood samples used to test for disease were used before you could get health insurance. It didn't take hundreds of years before qualified people were refused jobs because of credit scores. Or refused auto or homeowners insurance because of a bankruptcy, late pays or a charge off. Over use and improper application of information is getting worse, not better.
GE and DNA information will be used exactly like it was in Gattaca. What will take hundreds of years, if it happens at all, is to change into the world you're dreaming about where it's no big deal.
An interesting thing was said to me while talking with our PC support manager. "We can't switch to Linux or anything else, our customers wouldn't allow it.".
I noticed a trend 10 years ago when the company I was working for first started to do business with Walmart. Customer Audits. The practice seems to have caught on especially after Y2K. As part of many business-to-business contracts are stipulations that certain known business practices are in place and adhered to.
When we enter into a contract we will sometimes state that they use XYZ software for EDI transfers. We know it, have tested it, trust it and have established our systems around it. It goes both ways. Customers will stipulate to us that we encrypt data transfers using 123 packaged software because that's what they use.
This is a common practice if the business you're in requires substantial IT interconnectivity between your business partners. We deal with some health care information as well. As a result of HIPPA and other regulations we have been audited by some of our clients who insist that we change this or that. Even down to passwords. One client contract required a password timeout of 90 days on all our desktops.
10 years ago with Walmart people were incredulous that another company could come in and dictate that in order to do business with us, you must first change this or that. Money talked and we wanted to listen. Ten years later it seems to have caught on and is now very common.
Switching to another OS sometimes is not always an option.
No case, civil or criminal in our system goes to jury without a judge approving it first. A judge must first approve 100% of all cases. That's why you'll see references to the judge throwing out the case. In essence, the case has no merit and the plaintiff cannot sue or an accused cannot be tried.
It's a several step process and the one SCO and IBM are in is discovery. This is where a judge (discovers) and decides if there's enough evidence to send a case to trial.
Has IBM been sued? Well, yes and kind of no. A judge still hasn't decided if it will go to trial. Novell is right now asking the judge to not approve the case and to throw it out with prejudice.
Normally a judge will just rule the case has no merit. A ruling with prejudice means not only has it no merit, you knew it didn't and there will be penalties for brining the suit. A ruling with extreme prejudice is even worse than that. My impression is that lawyers can loose licenses and people can go to jail in extreme prejudice rulings.
Beyond that, access to the legal system is a constitutional protected thing and cannot be denied to anyone.
I'm sure they have this worked out but I wonder how much outside RF interference is needed before it becomes an issue. A lightning strike wipes my TV from 5 miles away. I wonder how easy it will be for the black hats to come up a jammer. A focused narrow beam aimed at a Home Depot from the parking lot (hehe). Oh what fun!
I see it as self-incrimination to hand over testimony of my actions that will be used against me in a court of law. In my heart it's a 5th Amendment issue. I can voluntarily be a witness to my actions that will be used against me or decide not too. The constitution provides I have that choice and that I cannot be compelled to incriminate myself.
My current car is old enough not to have anything like a black box. But, before I purchase my next new car I will investigate what black boxes or recording sensors the manufacture uses. I will also investigate how to turn them off or short them out. I'm a GM man but I will base my next purchase decision on my ability to disable these recording devices.
For all those who welcome this I salute you. I however, reserve the right not to incriminate myself. I cannot stop the insurance companies or whomever from taking the box, they'll come to the body shop and just take it, even without a warrant. They do it all the time. To protect my 5th Amendment rights against self-incrimination, I only have one other choice. Disable it.
Give me a choice in the matter as I would in the witness stand and I'd leave it turned on.
As far as I can tell, as an American, I cannot go through my day without breaking the law. My quest is no longer to be a law-biding citizen, that's impossible, but rather not to get caught.
Even the bleach for my laundry says it's a felony to use the product inconsistent with its labeling. So, if rather than measuring the one-cup recommended amount I pour it in guessing, they could put me in jail.
Yes, but they'd never do that I hear someone saying for such a minor infraction. Uh-huh. Here in Atlanta a man was put in jail because a Viagra pill fell from his wallet when he retrieved his license for a police officer. He had a legal prescription; the problem was not that he had the pill. He was jailed because the pill was not being stored it's original container. Some jail time, sexual abuse checking cavities during intake, a few thousand dollars in fines, attorney and court costs and he's again a free man.
I cannot speak words strong enough to convey my conviction of the need for a totally un-traceable, encrypted form of P2P. This is not the United States I learned about in school. Maybe it never existed. But I know today is doesn't.
Other countries have faced or are facing this same thing. I don't believe greed and the desire for the power to control the masses is inherently American. I believe it will get to the point where certain laws are just going to have to ignored. This is where I think the P2P solution comes into place. Abet, it will only be a temporary solution. They will eventually outlaw and trace encrypted packets.
As far as I know all the laws deal with distribution not downloading. Why is downloading illegal? forget immoral, I'm talking illegal as in crime to download.
There are laws about distribution, theater cams etc. Laws about breaking copy protection. Which one of these laws covers downloading?
As far as I know, at least in the USA downloading a movie or song may be immoral but still is not illegal. I don't think it can be charged with reciept of stolen property, isn't copyright civil rather than criminal?
Maybe it can be argued it's illegal but is it really? Even the RIAA isn't going after the downloaders, even in the civil courts. So what's up with all the "illegal" stuff in the headlines?
"...but I tend to be of the view that smaller, less intrusive government is almost always better. For most of my life, that's made me a Republican."
The definitions of roles has been switched for some time now. Few pick up on it on how the definitions for the parties have switched. Your statement would make you a Liberal.
This country was founded on two schools of thought. Fear of the masses, the other, fear of government.
The conservative feared the masses, did not want a lot of changes, generally because they were rich and didn't want that to change, wanted a large intrusive government to control the masses and wanted a representative form of government so if the masses tried to change too much they could be stopped. By definition, conservative is controlled change. Controlled by the few.
The Liberal feared big government and wanted the masses to have the power. Government was useful to the Liberal for protection against foreign powers but that was about it. The Liberal wanted nothing to do with government and wanted it out of the peoples lives.
Neither side won. But the conservative made out with the republican or representative government. The Liberals got some say by insisting the masses are to elect the representatives so if they got too powerful the idea was they could be voted out.
How the PR spin got so many to believe conservatives are for a small government I have no idea. The conservative wants little change and for the government to control that change. Here's a clue how it works. Clinton, a Liberal cut the government by +20% and we had one third of the deficit paid down. Bush, a conservative, grew the government past what was paid back and more to the tune of the largest increase in government in this countries history.
Take a good government class in college. If I haven't explained it well enough, perhaps they can.
It will not be up for a Senate vote. There is no Senate version. It would have only been given to the Senate if it had passed the House. But, I'm sure Im only telling you what you already know. You just forgot how our government works in order to make a speedy dig.
Slashdot Mirror
Whether I like the messenger or not, Mtinick is right. So long as humans are part of the security equation, we will have insecure systems. The song he's singing is true. A tune few are paying attention to. Like death, social engineering has no solution today, so it's avoided with discomfort or even ignored. Three people can keep a secret if two of them are dead. Social engineering is that last security hole still left unpatched.
I work in IT and I can blind dial any extension, introduce myself as employee X from Corporate IT and without any pretense, obtain a user ID and password. If I am trouble shooting a user complaint and ask their user ID, their password is often offered without me even asking for it. The vast majority of viruses rely on social engineering, as do tool bars, spyware, etc. I think Mitnick is right that the problems we have today are less technical than social. Most of the security holes in Windows could exist unexploited if it were not for social engineering.
Jack LaLane, the fitness guru, was viewed 40 years ago as a freak. It may take 40 years but once society finds a way to resolve or at least seriously takes an interest in the social engineering problems of network security, I wonder if history will label Mitnick as an early adopter or label him a "before his time" genius.
The only way to make bogus data work, name address, etc. is to use cash 100% of the time.
The moment you tie a member card to a transaction paid by cheque, debit card or whatever, there is now a link between you and the card. From that moment on, that card, bogus data or not, will be linked to you.
That's why many stores don't care if you fill out the application using the name Micky Mouse then you turn around and pay by debit card or cheque. Or a store manager upon asking will give you a card without filling out an application and then you turn around and pay by cheque. The minute the transaction is processed, your profile, the cards data, is updated with the new information.
There's not just one name linked to a card either. Swap with friends and all that does is link another name to the card. They still have records of this person bought this and this other person bought that.
My local store, if all you tell them is you forgot your card, they say no problem and the cashier scans a store card kept at the register. So what? As long as you pay by anything other than cash, a new transaction is created that can be cross referenced back to you. You don't think for a minute that debit card numbers, bank account numbers etc. are *not* part of the member card transaction record?
Member cards were a solution to group transactions by cross reference. One household may have 6-7 methods of paying. One couple has seperate checking accounts, their own credit/debit cards, that's four methods right there. Add different credit cards and now a household may have 7 ways to pay. Member cards were introduced only to help group these transactions into a larger household picture. Household demographics is what they're after, "household" is the holy grail of demographics.
They lost this household demographic when they started to accepted plastic as payment. Ever notice member cards were not introduced until stores started taking CC/Debit cards for payments? They've been tracking purchases for 30 years. Back then, joint checking accounts were common and paying by cheque was the only method other than cash. Back then household demographics was a simplier excerise. It's worth a few cents off an inflated price to incurage you to help them group these new plastic transactions by household.
So, except that the government has caught on that this can be a wealth of information, this is nothing new. Unless you use cash 100% of the time you're not beating the system the way you think you are by filling out the application with false data.
RTFA: "Landcruiser 100 models LX470 and LS430 have been discovered with infected operating systems..."
I don't think it was Dr Zhivago, but something like that. A mad scientist movie where he moves to a deserted island to do just this? Rejected by his peers and society he creates animal people and the whole thing blows up in his face?
Probably the only science fiction movie that has ever come true. At least for the beginning. We've yet to see the ending
I don't know how to answer your question except to tell you how I feel. When I was 14 and saw a group of 14 year old girls I, was sexually interested and wanted them in my own 14 year old way.
Fast forward 30 years.
Now when I go to the food court and see a group of 14 year old girls, all I see a bunch of giggling, screaming, cackling chickens. I can't get away from them fast enough and will go to the furthest table away I can find.
What was sexually attractive to me at 14 would be my worst nightmare at 40. This doesn't answer your question but it may give you some insight. Your older friend has grown up and now he needs to mature.
I quit reading when he countered with blah, blah, next please... as if his opinion is instead fact.
A closed mind should be working in closed software. Oh wait, he's a M$ employee. It shows.
Anyone who dismisses other people like that gets dismissed by me. Next Please.
In Atlanta Georgia, we have already had this for a while. www.georgia-navigator.com it comes complete with text messaging to your cell/pda about accidents, etc. You can even see the image from any traffic camera. They've done a good job. The site is often slow but as for spending tax dollars in a way that helps the community, this is leaps and bounds ahead of other metro areas.
"It does that because it has agreed from day one that what it broadcasts must serve the public interest not the interests of the networks or a select group of artists."
This is exactly the point and why we should ignore 99.9% of the complaints to the FCC. They come from exactly the small group of people they're not supposed to cater too to the exclusion of the public. This is not a moral majority thing either. The "moral majority" is neither.
-[d]-
That depends. The drop-dead date is Dec 13. That's the date the Electoral College elects the President. By Dec 22 the votes must be in the hands of the president of the Senate and on Jan 6, the congress will announce the winner.
Basically, after the EC votes on Dec13, that's it. We will have a President. The People only suggested to their State whom they wanted for President on Nov 2. Based on that, the States send the electors to vote for that ticket on Dec 13.
What I don't get is the Christian evangelical connection with Bush. I must be reading the abridged version of the Bible.
I don't get this connection with Jesus and war. Or the Jesus connection with discrimination against minority groups. The connection with Jesus and denying your neighbor what they themselves claim as their own. I personally despise abortion but what's this connection with Jesus and plucking slivers from neighbors eyes.
I can only guess they've chosen the deceitful one as their moral leader or my Bible is missing entire sections. I don't see the same connection they do.
About the Parent and the Moderator. One moderator took extra care to mod my post to zero. My post was at +3 but the moderator (he/she) added a -2 "extra" modifier to reduce my post to zero. Making sure that with one moderation, my post would zero out. I don't know why the moderator felt he/she was being baited. But apparently he/she felt that way. Even to the point of making sure my post zeroed out by using 2 extra mod points to do it. I can assure you (the moderator) that baiting for flames is not what I intended. I suspect when my post is meta-moderated you'll be found as moderating unfairly. I'll appologize to the moderator for feeling bated. However, I suspect this moderator has an agenda and just read bating into my post when that was not my intention. Nuff Said. -[d]-
About the Parent and the Moderator.
One moderator took extra care to mod my post to zero. My post was at +3 but the moderator (he/she) added a -2 "extra" modifier to reduce my post to zero. Making sure that with one moderation, my post would zero out.
I don't know why the moderator felt he/she was being baited. But apparently he/she felt that way. Even to the point of making sure my post zeroed out by using 2 extra mod points to do it. I can assure you (the moderator) that baiting for flames is not what I intended. I suspect when my post is meta-moderated you'll be found as moderating unfairly.
I'll appologize to the moderator for feeling bated. However, I suspect this moderator has an agenda and just read bating into my post when that was not my intention.
Nuff Said.
-[d]-
Running Linux I've put this stuff to the back of my mind. But, I do run a VMware Windows 2000 machine for some propritary VPN RSA connection software to connect to work. It's both software (KPF) and hardware firewalled.
I keep the VM patched but never figured I need to worry much about spyware. I hardly use it for web access unless it's work related. I was wrong. I just installed AdAware and found 24 instances. Now, I guess, I'll install the others, SpyBot etc.
The best I can figure is I must of had a brain fade while tele-commuting and drifted to a few sites while working. Usually when I do that I switch to another destop and use Linux to surf. That or the work related business site I've visited loaded them.
Live and learn. It's going to really suck if Linux ever starts having problems like this or something simular. I've enjoyed the freedom since moving to Linux a few years ago. I neglected my Vmware machines though. But, not any more.
Genetic engineering for the next few hundred years will consist more of correcting small genetic mistakes, dotting your i's and crossing your t's kind of stuff.
Your trust is nice abet nieve. It didn't take hundreds of years before blood samples used to test for disease were used before you could get health insurance. It didn't take hundreds of years before qualified people were refused jobs because of credit scores. Or refused auto or homeowners insurance because of a bankruptcy, late pays or a charge off. Over use and improper application of information is getting worse, not better.
GE and DNA information will be used exactly like it was in Gattaca. What will take hundreds of years, if it happens at all, is to change into the world you're dreaming about where it's no big deal.
An interesting thing was said to me while talking with our PC support manager. "We can't switch to Linux or anything else, our customers wouldn't allow it.".
I noticed a trend 10 years ago when the company I was working for first started to do business with Walmart. Customer Audits. The practice seems to have caught on especially after Y2K. As part of many business-to-business contracts are stipulations that certain known business practices are in place and adhered to.
When we enter into a contract we will sometimes state that they use XYZ software for EDI transfers. We know it, have tested it, trust it and have established our systems around it. It goes both ways. Customers will stipulate to us that we encrypt data transfers using 123 packaged software because that's what they use.
This is a common practice if the business you're in requires substantial IT interconnectivity between your business partners. We deal with some health care information as well. As a result of HIPPA and other regulations we have been audited by some of our clients who insist that we change this or that. Even down to passwords. One client contract required a password timeout of 90 days on all our desktops.
10 years ago with Walmart people were incredulous that another company could come in and dictate that in order to do business with us, you must first change this or that. Money talked and we wanted to listen. Ten years later it seems to have caught on and is now very common.
Switching to another OS sometimes is not always an option.
Ya well, this may be fine for my simian brothers, but try and take away my dopamine and chance loosing a hand.
IAMAL:
No case, civil or criminal in our system goes to jury without a judge approving it first. A judge must first approve 100% of all cases. That's why you'll see references to the judge throwing out the case. In essence, the case has no merit and the plaintiff cannot sue or an accused cannot be tried.
It's a several step process and the one SCO and IBM are in is discovery. This is where a judge (discovers) and decides if there's enough evidence to send a case to trial.
Has IBM been sued? Well, yes and kind of no. A judge still hasn't decided if it will go to trial. Novell is right now asking the judge to not approve the case and to throw it out with prejudice.
Normally a judge will just rule the case has no merit. A ruling with prejudice means not only has it no merit, you knew it didn't and there will be penalties for brining the suit. A ruling with extreme prejudice is even worse than that. My impression is that lawyers can loose licenses and people can go to jail in extreme prejudice rulings.
Beyond that, access to the legal system is a constitutional protected thing and cannot be denied to anyone.
I'm sure they have this worked out but I wonder how much outside RF interference is needed before it becomes an issue. A lightning strike wipes my TV from 5 miles away. I wonder how easy it will be for the black hats to come up a jammer. A focused narrow beam aimed at a Home Depot from the parking lot (hehe). Oh what fun!
I see it as self-incrimination to hand over testimony of my actions that will be used against me in a court of law. In my heart it's a 5th Amendment issue. I can voluntarily be a witness to my actions that will be used against me or decide not too. The constitution provides I have that choice and that I cannot be compelled to incriminate myself.
My current car is old enough not to have anything like a black box. But, before I purchase my next new car I will investigate what black boxes or recording sensors the manufacture uses. I will also investigate how to turn them off or short them out. I'm a GM man but I will base my next purchase decision on my ability to disable these recording devices.
For all those who welcome this I salute you. I however, reserve the right not to incriminate myself. I cannot stop the insurance companies or whomever from taking the box, they'll come to the body shop and just take it, even without a warrant. They do it all the time. To protect my 5th Amendment rights against self-incrimination, I only have one other choice. Disable it.
Give me a choice in the matter as I would in the witness stand and I'd leave it turned on.
Just my personal point of view.
As far as I can tell, as an American, I cannot go through my day without breaking the law. My quest is no longer to be a law-biding citizen, that's impossible, but rather not to get caught.
Even the bleach for my laundry says it's a felony to use the product inconsistent with its labeling. So, if rather than measuring the one-cup recommended amount I pour it in guessing, they could put me in jail.
Yes, but they'd never do that I hear someone saying for such a minor infraction. Uh-huh. Here in Atlanta a man was put in jail because a Viagra pill fell from his wallet when he retrieved his license for a police officer. He had a legal prescription; the problem was not that he had the pill. He was jailed because the pill was not being stored it's original container. Some jail time, sexual abuse checking cavities during intake, a few thousand dollars in fines, attorney and court costs and he's again a free man.
I cannot speak words strong enough to convey my conviction of the need for a totally un-traceable, encrypted form of P2P. This is not the United States I learned about in school. Maybe it never existed. But I know today is doesn't.
Other countries have faced or are facing this same thing. I don't believe greed and the desire for the power to control the masses is inherently American. I believe it will get to the point where certain laws are just going to have to ignored. This is where I think the P2P solution comes into place. Abet, it will only be a temporary solution. They will eventually outlaw and trace encrypted packets.
-[d]-
The first thing I'd do is invest in one of those emergency medical bracelets: In big letters it would say "I'M NOT DEAD DAMMIT!"
Nothing changes unless those with the power to change it are effected. It works this way at work, in business, government...
As far as I know all the laws deal with distribution not downloading. Why is downloading illegal? forget immoral, I'm talking illegal as in crime to download.
There are laws about distribution, theater cams etc. Laws about breaking copy protection. Which one of these laws covers downloading?
As far as I know, at least in the USA downloading a movie or song may be immoral but still is not illegal. I don't think it can be charged with reciept of stolen property, isn't copyright civil rather than criminal?
Maybe it can be argued it's illegal but is it really? Even the RIAA isn't going after the downloaders, even in the civil courts. So what's up with all the "illegal" stuff in the headlines?
"...but I tend to be of the view that smaller, less intrusive government is almost always better. For most of my life, that's made me a Republican."
The definitions of roles has been switched for some time now. Few pick up on it on how the definitions for the parties have switched. Your statement would make you a Liberal.
This country was founded on two schools of thought. Fear of the masses, the other, fear of government.
The conservative feared the masses, did not want a lot of changes, generally because they were rich and didn't want that to change, wanted a large intrusive government to control the masses and wanted a representative form of government so if the masses tried to change too much they could be stopped. By definition, conservative is controlled change. Controlled by the few.
The Liberal feared big government and wanted the masses to have the power. Government was useful to the Liberal for protection against foreign powers but that was about it. The Liberal wanted nothing to do with government and wanted it out of the peoples lives.
Neither side won. But the conservative made out with the republican or representative government. The Liberals got some say by insisting the masses are to elect the representatives so if they got too powerful the idea was they could be voted out.
How the PR spin got so many to believe conservatives are for a small government I have no idea. The conservative wants little change and for the government to control that change. Here's a clue how it works. Clinton, a Liberal cut the government by +20% and we had one third of the deficit paid down. Bush, a conservative, grew the government past what was paid back and more to the tune of the largest increase in government in this countries history.
Take a good government class in college. If I haven't explained it well enough, perhaps they can.
It will not be up for a Senate vote. There is no Senate version. It would have only been given to the Senate if it had passed the House. But, I'm sure Im only telling you what you already know. You just forgot how our government works in order to make a speedy dig.