Internet Zen Master 's Techdirt Comments

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  • On the post: Court Says WiFi Isn't Radio Because It's Not Audio; Therefore WiFi Sniffing Can Be Wiretapping

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 10 Sep, 2013 @ 01:29pm

    Re: Re:

    Posts like this are why we need a "sad but true" button.

  • On the post: CA School District Announces It's Doing Round-The-Clock Monitoring Of Its 13,000 Students' Social Media Activities

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 10 Sep, 2013 @ 11:58am

    Re: How long...

    Honestly, it wouldn't surprise me if that very idea isn't currently getting kicked around amongst the trolls in /b/ and/or the fragmented hive mind of Anonymous as I type this very post.

    No threat of the FBI party van showing up at your house, no threat of ending up in a cell next to Bubba (well, hopefully). Just safe, 'innocent' trolling against a control-freak school board who want to rule every aspect of the students' lives.

    Seems like something that would be right in the wheelhouse of the net's most prolific trolling communities.

    As the Zen Master says, "We'll see."

  • On the post: Despite Growing Evidence of NSA's Omnipresence, State Dept. Hands Off 'Anti-Surveillance' Tech To Syrian Rebels

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 10 Sep, 2013 @ 12:49pm

    A few things you have to realize about the Syrian rebels

    They are not one big homogeneous group. There are several different factions involved here, but there are two major groups that have the most weight in decisions.

    >On the one side we have the Free Syrian Army aka the original rebels and the ones who started this whole thing. They're (according to reports) a relatively secular, tolerant bunch. AFAIK, the FSA is the group that the US government deals with directly, and they're the ones who are interacting with the outside world.

    >The other faction (collectively speaking) are the radical Islamist groups, the two most ones prominent being the al-Qaeda affiliated Jabhat al-Nusra and the Islamist Qalamon Liberation Front. These are the gents going around chopping off the heads of Christian priests and terrorizing the Syrian Christian community in typical terrorist fashion/ Look up Maaloula, a Christian-majority village that was captured by Jabhat and the QLF two days ago and is currently being fought over between them and Assad's forces.

    PURE SPECULATION ON MY PART:
    I'm pretty sure that the FSA didn't want to turn to guys like Jabhat al-Nusra and the QLF for help in the beginning (being secular and tolerant and whatnot). But when the civil war started dragging on longer than they thought it would take (maybe they figured it be like what happened in Libya all over again. I don't know) they turned to the outside for help. After all, they couldn't just give up and surrender because they'll probably (read: most likely) be slaughtered like what happened to the Kurds in the '91 uprisings against Saddam Hussein. But the West dragged it's feet, and with Assad's forces starting to shift the balance back in it's favor, the FSA turned to extremists like Jabhat and the QLF for assistance out of desperation.
    [/Speculation]

    Point is, if we had actually backed the FSA back when it wasn't slowly losing control of the very revolution it started, we wouldn't have the issue of the Islamists/al-Qaeda affiliates possibly overthrowing Assad's government and transforming a once mostly stable (albeit oppressive and autocratic) linchpin of a country in the Middle East into a volatile powder-keg of a Taliban-style Islamic Republic, or worse, dissolving another lawless 'country' like Somalia. That is the last thing that the Middle East needs.

    As for the state department handing off anti-surveillance tech to the FSA that's almost certainly covertly back-doored for NSA usage, I'm not exactly sure that I mind that too much. Then NSA would actually spy on foreign groups that are confirmed to be hostile toward the United States of America (and everyone else in the Five Eyes group).

    Then we can have Gen. Alexander sit back in his Enterprise captain's chair inside his Ops Center and have the NSA do its job for once instead of sifting around finding nonexistent threats in that giant Big Data haystack...

  • On the post: Profile Of NSA Boss General Keith Alexander Reveals: He Wants All The Data, And He Doesn't Care About The Law

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 09 Sep, 2013 @ 01:10pm

    Re:

    More importantly:

    Does his Op-center have the wooshing doors which open automatically, or does Alexander occasionally bump face-first into them because the doors haven't recognized their cue yet (like they did in the original Star Trek)?

  • On the post: Johns Hopkins Tells Security Researcher To Remove Blog Post About NSA Encryption Attacks From University Server

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 09 Sep, 2013 @ 12:31pm

    Re: All hail the "conspiracy kooks" who turned out to be RIGHT.

    Until the Guardian posts an article explicitly stating that Facebook and Google are actually part of the NSA (i.e. part of the government itself) and not just corporations that have been forced (to a certain extent, depending on the company involved.) to reluctantly cooperate with an intrusive government which can make their existence a living nightmare if they wanted, you are still making baseless claims.

    Seriously blue, stop and think for a moment. How many people would have to know about this single giant conspiracy you keep saying exists? Thousands? Hundreds of thousands? The odds of everyone involved being able to keep their mouths shut, or no information leaking out onto the web, are very, very low.

  • On the post: Profile Of NSA Boss General Keith Alexander Reveals: He Wants All The Data, And He Doesn't Care About The Law

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 09 Sep, 2013 @ 12:19pm

    Re: Re: Re: Too busy to read the article? Here's a summary:

    Good point.

    But seriously though. Someone needs to tell the dear General to take that red bucket off his head.

    He is not the law, nor is he Judge Dredd, no matter how much he thinks to the contrary.

  • On the post: Profile Of NSA Boss General Keith Alexander Reveals: He Wants All The Data, And He Doesn't Care About The Law

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 09 Sep, 2013 @ 11:43am

    Re: Too busy to read the article? Here's a summary:

    Gen. Alexander: "COLLECT ALL THE DATA!"

    When the head of a military organization has the mentality of the first half of a two-panel Internet comic, you're gonna have a bad time.

  • On the post: Johns Hopkins Tells Security Researcher To Remove Blog Post About NSA Encryption Attacks From University Server

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 09 Sep, 2013 @ 12:01pm

    Hmm...

    At a glance, it looks like John Hopkins has NSA-sponsored programs that are pretty much training for future cyber-security employees (read: future NSA n00bs). I guess the NSA probably politely asked Hopkins to have their prof take down a blog post that would make hiring new recruits even more difficult. I doubt the NSA wants a repeat of what happened the last time they went out recruiting at a college on a campus that is a hell of a lot closer to home.

    Of course, that's just me making a harmless speculative guess. It would be interesting to find out the real reason though, if it's ever revealed.

    As the Zen Master says, "We'll see."

  • On the post: Latest Leak Shows NSA Engaging In Economic Espionage — Not Fighting Terrorism

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 09 Sep, 2013 @ 11:36am

    A grain of healthy skepticism

    Like the rest of you, this Internet Zen Master has been rather outraged by the NSA's blatant disregard for the right to privacy of the everyday American, I think we should all step back, take a deep breath, and look at the bigger picture of the US Government before we start accusing the NSA of actually providing US-based companies with information they got from their surveillance of Petrobras.

    Unless we have actual proof of this, all that's happening is rampant speculation, which gives the NSA's defenders the ability to say: "See! The people attacking the NSA are nothing more than a bunch of conspiracy theorists making baseless accusations!"

    ... At least until the next leak comes out.

    So I'd hold off on saying that the NSA shares information with/drops hints to American companies until there's some evidence to (at least partially) support those claims.

    But that's just me. And until Guardian/Spiegel/NYT/WaPo stops publishing stories based on information from the Snowden Documents, we won't know if there's any actual proof about that or not.

    As the Zen Master says, "We'll see.'

  • On the post: Feds Beg NY Times, Pro Publica Not To Reveal That They've Inserted Backdoors Into Internet Encryption

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 05 Sep, 2013 @ 03:33pm

    Re: Re: Feds

    Perhaps, but I'm sticking with stupid here because of one thing:

    The NYT has access to the Snowden Documents, which are looking more and more like they're going to be the biggest scandal since Watergate/Pentagon Papers. The paper knows that they're literally sitting on a goldmine here, and so do the Feds, who are rightly terrified about it. A "fourth estate" that doesn't answer to the government's beck and call is a dangerous opponent. Especially when the paper is immune to the government's threats (thanks to New York Times Co. v. the United States [1971]).

    Best part: smaller, local papers tend to run the stories published by the NYT, so there's a good chance we might see this popping up in the physical paper come Friday morning.

    As the Zen Master says, "We'll see."

  • On the post: NSA & GCHQ Covertly Took Over Security Standards, Recruited Telco Employees To Insert Backdoors

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 05 Sep, 2013 @ 01:54pm

    Re: Puts _NSAKEY to shame

    Since all the cool kids are walking around with their iPhones/iPads/and other assorted iShit, I suspect they'd be more focused on breaking Apple's encryption than getting Microsoft to play ball these days.

    It should be noted that Microsoft's already been saying they'd explain themselves (probably in their usual "craptastic PR fiasco" fashion) but they can't because the NSA's got them gagged with the whole "you must cooperate with us because national security, and you can't tell anyone about under penalty of, well, whatever the harshest thing we can think of if you try and speak out" thing.

    Will it negatively affect Microsoft in the short-run? Depends on how much the average American thinks beyond "holy shit the NSA's breaking the Internet!1!" and what happens after that.

    I highly doubt this spells doom for Microsoft though.

    As the Zen Master says, "We'll see."

  • On the post: The NSA Needs To Get In Front Of The Leaks: Stop Lying And Open Up

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 05 Sep, 2013 @ 12:52pm

    Re: The leaks have mostly stopped

    Of course, the problem with the whole "silencing coverage of the Snowden leaks/documents/whatever we're calling today" is that the Guardian/WaPo/New York Times/Der Speigel have the actual documents in their position (or at least the Guardian does anyway).

    They can cover both the Syria debacle and continue releasing new info from the leaks during the same time frame.

    Depending upon how pushy the US/UK governments get, I foresee the possibility for the Guardian to unleash an earth-shaking bombshell of a story in collaboration with maybe the New York Times and the Washington Post for a front page headliner that could tear attention back to the antics of Western governments and push Syria back to page 8 (or off the paper's home page if you read them via the interweb).

    But if you're worried about the local politicians forgetting about things, I wouldn't worry too much. They might not be the brightest lot of people in the world, but they are capable of multitasking. Well, at least half of them are... I hope.

    As the Zen Master says, "We'll see."

  • On the post: Likely Winner Of Australia's Imminent General Election Sneaks In Last-Minute Plan To Impose UK-Style Opt-Out Censorship — Then Denies It

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 05 Sep, 2013 @ 12:35pm

    Re:

    But you're forgetting that parents don't seem to want to deal with their kids anymore. They want the TV/computer/State to do it for them.

    Exhibit A: all the outrage over underage kids getting their hands on M rated video games with all sorts of adult content even though the parents are the ones who bought the game and the rating is posted on the front of the fucking case!

    [mini-rant there, sorry]

    But yeah, education about the issue is a much better solution than censorship of the issue, especially because it deals with the problem instead of trying to push it out of sight.

  • On the post: Insanity: PayPal Freezes Mailpile's Account, Demands Excessive Info To Get Access

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 05 Sep, 2013 @ 12:20pm

    Re:

    It is time to regulate paypal like a bank.


    This. This. A thousand times this.

    I've always been wary of using that thing, and try to avoid using it if at all possible for obvious reasons.

    PayPal is a bank in everything but name. They know it, we (the internet) knows it, so why the hell haven't the regulators realized it and done something about this bull yet? [oh wait, they're regulators. Inefficiency tends to be their M.O. these days.]

    Will PayPal ever have to pay the piper for its outrageous shenanigans?

    As the Zen Master says, "We'll see."

  • On the post: Feds Beg NY Times, Pro Publica Not To Reveal That They've Inserted Backdoors Into Internet Encryption

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 05 Sep, 2013 @ 02:05pm

    Feds

    You do realize you're trying to convince the paper who broke the fucking PENTAGON PAPERS not to run with a big, juicy, earth-shaking revelation like the fact that the NSA's directly tapped into the fucking Internet and is breaking encryption codes with programs like Project BullRun?

    Seriously, how STUPID are you people?

  • On the post: NSA & GCHQ Covertly Took Over Security Standards, Recruited Telco Employees To Insert Backdoors

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 05 Sep, 2013 @ 01:15pm

    I did say "earth-shaking" revelation in an earlier thread

    I just didn't expect it to be this soon!

    That said, this news is just... Wow. I'm kinda at a loss for words here.

    Though program names like Bullrun and Edgehill are much easier to remember and correctly identify than something as bland as PRISM.

    So...... how much outrage in America will this generate?

    The Zen Master says, "We'll see (but I hope there's a lot of it)."

  • On the post: UK Record Companies Want To Bring In 'Three Strikes' Using A 'Voluntary Code' For Punishing Alleged Illegal File Sharers

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 03 Sep, 2013 @ 12:38pm

    Talk about short-term memory

    I seem to recall a French program named Hadopi which was government enforced equivalent of a 3-strikes rule, and it failed miserably.

    Speaking of six-strikes over in the US, there hasn't been any news in terms of ISPs sending out strikes to people (infringers or not) as far as I've heard since it officially rolled out. Seems like the ISPs are doing the same thing Google's been doing with angry copyright holders: pay them a little lip-service, and then go back to business as usual. Of course, the other reason is that the file-sharing world adapted to Six-Strikes long before it actually went live, rendering it moot altogether.

    Thankfully, it looks like some of the UK's ISPs have the brains to tell the BPI and BVA to stuff it (at least for now).

    As the Zen Master says, "We'll see."

  • On the post: UK Asked New York Times To Destroy Edward Snowden Documents; NY Times Ignored Request

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 31 Aug, 2013 @ 12:00pm

    The UK goverment does realize

    That the NYT is the paper that broke the whole story on the Pentagon Papers, right?

    I'm wondering if the New York Times' reaction to the UK government's request by their paper's legal team was a combination of "you're kidding right?" and struggling not to burst out laughing in the UK official's face.

  • On the post: Finnish Court OKs Censorship Of Anti-Censorship Site

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 30 Aug, 2013 @ 09:40am

    Re: Interests of Children

    From what I understand, a lot of the child porn is created in the seedier places in the world where they don't tend to give a damn about the children.

    So you could go to the UN and demand that they to do something about it. Of course, the best the UN can probably do is write a strongly worded letter of condemnation toward the host country, and that's on a good day.

  • On the post: Finnish Court OKs Censorship Of Anti-Censorship Site

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 30 Aug, 2013 @ 09:35am

    The stupid! It burns!

    It also stated that if it were to rule Nikki's site legal on the grounds that it hosts legal material, other child porn sites could also circumvent the legislation by adding non-child porn material to their sites.


    The court seems to be forgetting the fact that, uh, Nikki's site doesn't host child porn in the first place, so I really, really find it hard to follow the leap in logic this Finnish Court is making.

    Even better is that this site is STILL available to everyone who lives outside of Finland (or knows how to use a basic proxy). Seriously. If you're going to censor a site that's located within your borders, at least do it properly.

    Don't just censor the site, shut the thing down completely! [sarcasm]It's endangering the children all over the world![/sarcasm]

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