If only people with something to hide used encryption, then using encryption would mean you have something to hide.
Of course, the factors used in making your decision of whether to cross the border with encrypted data change as soon the consequences change. If they can lock you up for not providing the encryption key--as they can in the UK now, I believe--then the moral argument quickly becomes less compelling than the practical one for many people.
I'm a u.s. citizen and had my laptop confiscated at the canadian border when re-entering the u.s. about three years ago. They also held me in a cell for a few hours until a person from ICE (immigration and customs enforcement) could arrive to interrogate me and my friends. After a few hours they let me through, turned around my canadian friends, and kept my laptop. They returned the laptop to me about four months later (with a burned copy of an EnCase client cd left in the cd rom drive).
I had nothing to hide and there was nothing I could imagine useful to them on that laptop. If I thought I had something to hide or a reason the government would think I was up to something that would warrant their taking my laptop (something more than my political activism), I would not have carried it across the border. In any event, this taught me me a few things: 1) always encrypt entire partitions, including one's root partition, not individual files as I had been doing, 2) don't carry one's private encryption key when crossing borders [or in any obvious way the rest of the time], 3) always keep plenty of encrypted backups in different physical locations so that you can be back up to speed as soon as possible if your laptop is taken, 4) avoid carrying electronics across the border at all if one can't afford to replace the hardware soon afterward.
Personally, it made me happy to know the government spent time and resources copying and possibly picking through my innocuous files while there were other people out there busy with bringing an end to a government that found such activity useful.
Funny side note: my canadian friends, after being turned around and having to cross back to the canadian side a few hours later, were asked by the canadian border person, "why were you there at u.s. customs so long?"
My friends told them, "they said our friend was a suspected terrorist."
The canadian border person *laughed*, said "those americans are crazy", and let them on their way without any further hassle.
i was contacted by a macromedia person a little over a year ago about the possibility of dreamewaver on linux. they said they were very interested in it and were not considering making it native but instead were working (or going to work with) with the wine people to make it run perfectly under wine. among their questions, they wanted to know if i'd buy licenses for it for my linux systems if it ran seamlessly through wine.
there could be a situation someday where even you and your loved ones had something to fear from people knowing what you were reading and expressing, as well as knowing with whom you interacted. that fear could be real and major, not imagined and insignificant.
and you're right, living in fear isn't healthy. but the world is full of massive amounts of oppression and suffering and it is difficult for some to not live in fear every day.
so, while the geeks of the world have privilege and resources and inherent interest in developing technology, they may as well create technology that can be used by those who have legitimate need for it. and, of course, some of those geeks probably do have "legitimate" need for it, also. and, further, tomorrow may bring a need for it to those who do not have such a need today.
you are a very lucky person to not be able to imagine people fearing worse than "Oh no they might see me reading/." i hope you and your family appreciate what you have and i wish everyone could live is such peace.
this is more than strange. this is a major f* up. it totally defeats the purpose of the combination of 1) their wide appeal, and 2) their increased intelligence and politicization over the years. --- what's the purpose of waking up socially and politically and having the power to make change if you then *let* the system keep you in check. (keep you in ch-ch-ch-ch-check, i guess that would be.)
the album aims to encourage people to fight (albeit nonviolently --- better than nothing) against bush and the system. not only did the beastie boys let their message get stifled by record company copy protection (thus the record companies do their little part to keep progressive/anti-bush messages from disseminating, how nice of them) but they also lose the trust of those people who dislike the system and like the b-boys.
what a huge mistake. it's like, wouldn't it be stupid if michael moore agreed to some new fangled dvd copy protection scheme for when farenheit 9/11 comes out? wouldn't you think, "that makes less than no sense". same with the b-boys. of all people they should have fought this tooth and nail (maybe they did, i want to hear the apology and details of the battle of failure).
yo, adam, adam and mike: what the f*ck? what about those kids out there who won't get to hear your album because their friend tried to copy it for them but they couldn't, and they aren't middle class enough to afford to buy it? and maybe this album would have been a huge turning point in their life. i want an answer. i'm going to get one. (i notice for now the beastieboys.com forum is down for registering, they couldn't handle or didn't like the result of the/.'ing, i guess? )
so, yeah. anyways, i plan to make it a personal mission to share this album with as many people as i can. it's been on the bittorent sites since almost the first day. it still doesn't change the fact that they messed up big time.
i still love the b-boys. i feel like i grew up and matured with them. i'd like them to take the right step here and fight the label bullshit (someone told me they are on Capitol (capital?) who are among the most fanatic of the copy protectors).
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If only people with something to hide used encryption, then using encryption would mean you have something to hide.
Of course, the factors used in making your decision of whether to cross the border with encrypted data change as soon the consequences change. If they can lock you up for not providing the encryption key--as they can in the UK now, I believe--then the moral argument quickly becomes less compelling than the practical one for many people.
I'm a u.s. citizen and had my laptop confiscated at the canadian border when re-entering the u.s. about three years ago. They also held me in a cell for a few hours until a person from ICE (immigration and customs enforcement) could arrive to interrogate me and my friends. After a few hours they let me through, turned around my canadian friends, and kept my laptop. They returned the laptop to me about four months later (with a burned copy of an EnCase client cd left in the cd rom drive).
I had nothing to hide and there was nothing I could imagine useful to them on that laptop. If I thought I had something to hide or a reason the government would think I was up to something that would warrant their taking my laptop (something more than my political activism), I would not have carried it across the border. In any event, this taught me me a few things: 1) always encrypt entire partitions, including one's root partition, not individual files as I had been doing, 2) don't carry one's private encryption key when crossing borders [or in any obvious way the rest of the time], 3) always keep plenty of encrypted backups in different physical locations so that you can be back up to speed as soon as possible if your laptop is taken, 4) avoid carrying electronics across the border at all if one can't afford to replace the hardware soon afterward.
Personally, it made me happy to know the government spent time and resources copying and possibly picking through my innocuous files while there were other people out there busy with bringing an end to a government that found such activity useful.
Funny side note: my canadian friends, after being turned around and having to cross back to the canadian side a few hours later, were asked by the canadian border person, "why were you there at u.s. customs so long?"
My friends told them, "they said our friend was a suspected terrorist."
The canadian border person *laughed*, said "those americans are crazy", and let them on their way without any further hassle.
i was contacted by a macromedia person a little over a year ago about the possibility of dreamewaver on linux. they said they were very interested in it and were not considering making it native but instead were working (or going to work with) with the wine people to make it run perfectly under wine. among their questions, they wanted to know if i'd buy licenses for it for my linux systems if it ran seamlessly through wine.
there could be a situation someday where even you and your loved ones had something to fear from people knowing what you were reading and expressing, as well as knowing with whom you interacted. that fear could be real and major, not imagined and insignificant.
/." i hope you and your family appreciate what you have and i wish everyone could live is such peace.
and you're right, living in fear isn't healthy. but the world is full of massive amounts of oppression and suffering and it is difficult for some to not live in fear every day.
so, while the geeks of the world have privilege and resources and inherent interest in developing technology, they may as well create technology that can be used by those who have legitimate need for it. and, of course, some of those geeks probably do have "legitimate" need for it, also. and, further, tomorrow may bring a need for it to those who do not have such a need today.
you are a very lucky person to not be able to imagine people fearing worse than "Oh no they might see me reading
nice. you may be the first person to ever get it without explanation (although, i've normally only spoken it, not written it.)
(by the way, 1901 was a very good year.)
(off topic, i know... but it's so worth it.)
this is more than strange. this is a major f* up. it totally defeats the purpose of the combination of 1) their wide appeal, and 2) their increased intelligence and politicization over the years. --- what's the purpose of waking up socially and politically and having the power to make change if you then *let* the system keep you in check. (keep you in ch-ch-ch-ch-check, i guess that would be.)
/.'ing, i guess? )
the album aims to encourage people to fight (albeit nonviolently --- better than nothing) against bush and the system. not only did the beastie boys let their message get stifled by record company copy protection (thus the record companies do their little part to keep progressive/anti-bush messages from disseminating, how nice of them) but they also lose the trust of those people who dislike the system and like the b-boys.
what a huge mistake. it's like, wouldn't it be stupid if michael moore agreed to some new fangled dvd copy protection scheme for when farenheit 9/11 comes out? wouldn't you think, "that makes less than no sense". same with the b-boys. of all people they should have fought this tooth and nail (maybe they did, i want to hear the apology and details of the battle of failure).
yo, adam, adam and mike: what the f*ck? what about those kids out there who won't get to hear your album because their friend tried to copy it for them but they couldn't, and they aren't middle class enough to afford to buy it? and maybe this album would have been a huge turning point in their life. i want an answer. i'm going to get one. (i notice for now the beastieboys.com forum is down for registering, they couldn't handle or didn't like the result of the
so, yeah. anyways, i plan to make it a personal mission to share this album with as many people as i can. it's been on the bittorent sites since almost the first day. it still doesn't change the fact that they messed up big time.
i still love the b-boys. i feel like i grew up and matured with them. i'd like them to take the right step here and fight the label bullshit (someone told me they are on Capitol (capital?) who are among the most fanatic of the copy protectors).
vote Bill Kush in 2004.