Thats news to me, an IT in the US Navy. Apparently the Senator decided not to do his homework, DOD does NOT have its own Internet. We *do* have an intranet called NIPRNet that gives service members Internet access.
What a bonehead.
The line of thinking is great, because IE is constantly targeted, and beligerantly exploited, but there is a big factor that has been left out of the above article. The people that are reading that article are probably at least semi-decent with computers, and understand the inherent flaws with the software. Compare the amount of people that have a good working knowledge of computers, to the ones that DONT have a good working knowledge, and just want to click on the icon that is already thoughtfully shipped by Windows in their product to use and proclaimed on the desktop. Well.. Suffice it to say the boycott will flop. Hard. Its too easy for the non-tech types to just click on what is already on their desktop and use it instead. The larger crowd of non-techs couldnt give half a shit less about spyware, security or anything like that. (If they even know anything about it) They just want to click the magic web browser button that has been pre-packaged.
I see. Who cares that im an IT in the military, been to Iraq multiple times, and have said in more then one thread in this discussion that I fully support all activities that are being pursued to shut down al-Qaeda, and extremist activities, huh? Not only am I active in the fight against al-Qaeda, but I am quite possibly going back to Baghdad next month to teach computing 101 to Iraqi civilians. So just because I say that the absoloute power that the government is gaining is worrisome doesnt automatically make me a "mindless sympathizer of al-Qaeda and its objectives" Its called "asking questions" , something people should continue doing instead of accepting the "mindless thought" that it is always for your own good, so who cares? Grow up.
Good points all around!
For some reason a lot of the more omnious biblical things more of came to mind then Orwellian, such as the persecution of entire religious groups. (Right now, Islamic Extremists) Right now it is definiately a far off notion, but time and again a major event has shown to shake the world to another unexected path, with everyone accepting the changes as necessary. Im surprised many people whom considers themselves of a Christian denomination (Catholic, Protestant, etc) arent truly frightened by the fact that many members of the Islamic commuinty (Just recently, I beleive there has been more distinction between the moderate and extremist types) are being sought after and imprisioned.
I noticed a lot of replies regarding different parts of the website, and terrorism in general, but I was hoping to provoke someone to ask about the possible repercussions that could happen in the future. So far we have seen the following used to fight terrorisim (All of which I agree with, but right now because of a legitimate cause)
1. Freezing of bank accounts
2. Expulsion of people
3. Webpage shutdown(s)
4. Patriot Act
And the list goes on.
I do agree with the previous, because terrorisim does need to end. But what if say the "war on terrorisim" ends? Then what? Will the government just willingly put aside all these powers to do just about anything they want? I some dont believe it will be that easy. "Power corrupts... "
I dont think people are as worried about the "free speech" possibilities, but as to the possibilities of a future nothing like what the frames of the Constitution imagined. The people that started this great country were intent on keeping the government as much away from things as possible, and with the advent of more and more control over what people should say makes for a very scary enviorment. Sure, it is legitimate now, (Shutting down manicial clerics, preventing terrorist logistics) But what after that? Is all those added powers just going to "go away?" Doubtful.
Its amusing to say, but if you associate activities such as that happening in Britan, couple it with the Patriot Act, and you have a frightening mix of government doom and gloom. Say your in a religious group of any variety, and are branded a "terrorist organization" Well guess what. You have just had the right to be searched without a judges writ, have your website shut down, your name smeared, all your financial accounts put on hold, and your life basically ruined under the guise of terrorisim. Dont get me wrong, I am all for shutting down with extreme prejudice maniacs and terrorists, but there is a very fine line you have to walk.
I believe the problem they had with the websites taken down wasnt because they were afraid of them spreading a hateful message, but more of them becoming virtual control centers, where they could spread out messages to operatives throughout the world with ease, chat boards to discuss upcoming operations, plans freely available for them to use, etc. Of course, it may not have made a huge dent, but you have to start somewhere.
The part about recruitment is moot, because I dont know many people that speak Arabic out of the Middle East, and the ones that do live there cant typically afford the Internet;)
More then likely, it was done by MI-5 in my opinion. A good corelation is MI-5 being the FBI, and MI-6 being the CIA. The CIA is not "supposed" to be allowed to operate in the US, thus, they do not have to be burdened with some of the legalities that we do. And of course there is the reasonable deniability, because lots of stuff happen in the background that no public typically wants to see their government doing. Its not surprising that they shut down the sites either, because people are frightened, and at all levels of government and the military they are demanding a response *now* They have to be decisive if the government desires to show the people it can protect them. I wouldnt be surprised to see more things like this in the future. Heck, even France is supposed to be trying to(Or already has) expel 12 militant clerics from their country, so websites going down should hardly raise an eyebrow from a country that was actually hit.
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Thats news to me, an IT in the US Navy. Apparently the Senator decided not to do his homework, DOD does NOT have its own Internet. We *do* have an intranet called NIPRNet that gives service members Internet access. What a bonehead.
The line of thinking is great, because IE is constantly targeted, and beligerantly exploited, but there is a big factor that has been left out of the above article. The people that are reading that article are probably at least semi-decent with computers, and understand the inherent flaws with the software. Compare the amount of people that have a good working knowledge of computers, to the ones that DONT have a good working knowledge, and just want to click on the icon that is already thoughtfully shipped by Windows in their product to use and proclaimed on the desktop. Well.. Suffice it to say the boycott will flop. Hard. Its too easy for the non-tech types to just click on what is already on their desktop and use it instead. The larger crowd of non-techs couldnt give half a shit less about spyware, security or anything like that. (If they even know anything about it) They just want to click the magic web browser button that has been pre-packaged.
I see. Who cares that im an IT in the military, been to Iraq multiple times, and have said in more then one thread in this discussion that I fully support all activities that are being pursued to shut down al-Qaeda, and extremist activities, huh? Not only am I active in the fight against al-Qaeda, but I am quite possibly going back to Baghdad next month to teach computing 101 to Iraqi civilians. So just because I say that the absoloute power that the government is gaining is worrisome doesnt automatically make me a "mindless sympathizer of al-Qaeda and its objectives" Its called "asking questions" , something people should continue doing instead of accepting the "mindless thought" that it is always for your own good, so who cares? Grow up.
Good points all around! For some reason a lot of the more omnious biblical things more of came to mind then Orwellian, such as the persecution of entire religious groups. (Right now, Islamic Extremists) Right now it is definiately a far off notion, but time and again a major event has shown to shake the world to another unexected path, with everyone accepting the changes as necessary. Im surprised many people whom considers themselves of a Christian denomination (Catholic, Protestant, etc) arent truly frightened by the fact that many members of the Islamic commuinty (Just recently, I beleive there has been more distinction between the moderate and extremist types) are being sought after and imprisioned.
Perhaps, ive been in the military over 5 years, and have been to Iraq 3 times. ;)
I noticed a lot of replies regarding different parts of the website, and terrorism in general, but I was hoping to provoke someone to ask about the possible repercussions that could happen in the future. So far we have seen the following used to fight terrorisim (All of which I agree with, but right now because of a legitimate cause) 1. Freezing of bank accounts 2. Expulsion of people 3. Webpage shutdown(s) 4. Patriot Act And the list goes on. I do agree with the previous, because terrorisim does need to end. But what if say the "war on terrorisim" ends? Then what? Will the government just willingly put aside all these powers to do just about anything they want? I some dont believe it will be that easy. "Power corrupts... "
I dont think people are as worried about the "free speech" possibilities, but as to the possibilities of a future nothing like what the frames of the Constitution imagined. The people that started this great country were intent on keeping the government as much away from things as possible, and with the advent of more and more control over what people should say makes for a very scary enviorment. Sure, it is legitimate now, (Shutting down manicial clerics, preventing terrorist logistics) But what after that? Is all those added powers just going to "go away?" Doubtful.
Its amusing to say, but if you associate activities such as that happening in Britan, couple it with the Patriot Act, and you have a frightening mix of government doom and gloom. Say your in a religious group of any variety, and are branded a "terrorist organization" Well guess what. You have just had the right to be searched without a judges writ, have your website shut down, your name smeared, all your financial accounts put on hold, and your life basically ruined under the guise of terrorisim. Dont get me wrong, I am all for shutting down with extreme prejudice maniacs and terrorists, but there is a very fine line you have to walk.
I believe the problem they had with the websites taken down wasnt because they were afraid of them spreading a hateful message, but more of them becoming virtual control centers, where they could spread out messages to operatives throughout the world with ease, chat boards to discuss upcoming operations, plans freely available for them to use, etc. Of course, it may not have made a huge dent, but you have to start somewhere. The part about recruitment is moot, because I dont know many people that speak Arabic out of the Middle East, and the ones that do live there cant typically afford the Internet ;)
More then likely, it was done by MI-5 in my opinion. A good corelation is MI-5 being the FBI, and MI-6 being the CIA. The CIA is not "supposed" to be allowed to operate in the US, thus, they do not have to be burdened with some of the legalities that we do. And of course there is the reasonable deniability, because lots of stuff happen in the background that no public typically wants to see their government doing. Its not surprising that they shut down the sites either, because people are frightened, and at all levels of government and the military they are demanding a response *now* They have to be decisive if the government desires to show the people it can protect them. I wouldnt be surprised to see more things like this in the future. Heck, even France is supposed to be trying to(Or already has) expel 12 militant clerics from their country, so websites going down should hardly raise an eyebrow from a country that was actually hit.