News This Isn’t What Democracy Looks Like
posted by on October 22 at 16:44 PM
The Electronic Frontier Foundation explains.
And in other creepy corporate power news, Comcast’s conference call to explain why it’s tinkering with content doesn’t go over well, even with it’s Libertarian apologists:
…the Comcast guy seemed to implicitly concede that the basic allegations are true…He also made a couple of points that I found a little patronizing. For example, he emphasized that most users wouldn’t even be able to detect the traffic-shaping activities they use without special equipment and training. Which is true, I guess, but rather beside the point.
To paraphrase: "I mean, why is everyone all worried they're being spied on, when they don't even notice when we're doing it?"
I am so glad I use an independent ISP. At least it's one back alley removed from Fascism Avenue.
I'm super glad that Amy Kate can secretly tell any staffer which email we're using.
Creepy. I am at a Telecom trade show in San Francisco right now, and watched that Frontline video clip from my hotel room. As I look out my window, across the street is the AT&T office on 2nd & Folsom where the "secret room" is probably recording the fact that I'm watching that video right now.
And, FYI to laterite @2, there's no such thing as an "independent" ISP in the United States. Your local Internet Service Provider has to buy THEIR access to the internet from a company which owns and operates a network that is part of the fabric of the "big Internet". There are only a handful of those. I'm sure the NSA has covered their bases thoroughly, although it does seem that Joe Nacchio, the former CEO of Qwest (one of the handful), did try to resist the NSA request a few years ago. He's now claiming that because he did so, on the grounds that the request was illegal, that the US Government withheld lucrative business from Qwest subsequent to that, resulting in the meltdown of Qwest financial performance and stock price.
Big Brother is Watching. Always.
I know, it still relies on Verizon's backbone, but my ISP isn't actively fiddling with my packets and I don't need to install any crap 3rd-party software on my boxes to facilitate "navigating the 'Net".
As I clutched my heart in terror, I also guffawed that they used the example of ...a switching station on FOLSOM STREET of San Fran. Is Big Brother watching us, wearing a harness and chaps?
Seriously, this is insanely unconstitutional bullshit, and should not be tolerated. I always thought we were NOT a country of Guilty Until Proven Innocent and constantly watched to prove so. Or is that "pre-9/11 thinking"?
Why do they hate our Freedoms so much in the NSA?
And why do they hate Liberty so much in the Pretzeldent's house?
Thank God that Hillary has promised without reservation to to put an end this sort of thing when she's in the Pretzeldent's house.
yeah, but once shes in the actual White House she ain't gonna do shit.
Too pessimistic? Sorry.
Wow, without that informative diagram, it would be almost impossible to understand what they are talking about.
Regarding Comcast, if they get there way on nixing net neutrality then everyone would indeed notice the net shaping, because they'd throttle everyone at predetermined bandwidth limits except for users access sites that have payed to be exempt. So your experience would be a very slow connection except when you are connecting to the few content providers that have payd for exemptions.
In fact the reason they shape traffic now is because the simplest option, simply throttling back everyone at set limits, isn't viable because it would harm all content providers evenly, and Comcast doesn't want to do that, because of vested interests in some of those high volume content providers. So instead it goes at it the other way: identifying high-bandwith services that it can throttle on a service by service basis.
Andy #6: It's hardly about you being assumed "guilty", they are sucking and sorting all that info in order to determine patterns of interaction: Who knows who, what groups are organizing, what sorts of things are likely to happen, and when.
They're more interested in tracking drug cartels, diplomatic communications, military intel, and corporate & bank transactions. That's where the power is.
Will @8: Why do they "hate" our freedoms? Clearly they are simply protecting the president's power in the most logical and effective ways possible.
The NSA's ESCHELON program to inhale and process all the world's data/fax/tel flows has been in place since the mid-90's. So you can assume that every email you ever sent has been sniffed by THEM already. Oh noes!
Gogerty, Stark and Marriot are the real threat on the corner of 3rd and Pike.
hire an editor to keep those apostrophes under control.
@13: Don't you mean apostrophe's? :D
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