Internet Zen Master 's Techdirt Comments

Latest Comments (461) comment rss

  • On the post: Keith Alexander Still Playing Bogus Fear Card: 'People Will Die' Because Of Snowden Leaks

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 14 Oct, 2013 @ 09:55am

    Re: Define 'job'

    To be fair, I wouldn't be surprised if a few CIA assets ended up on the wrong end of a gun/sword held by their fellow Taliban/al Qaida/enemy of the day because of the Manning leaks, especially considering that Wikileaks didn't lift a finger to try and to protect the identities of anyone named in the cables they dumped on the net for everyone to read at their own leisure.

    'course, the US couldn't acknowledge that the people who died as a result of the Manning 'cablegate' leaks were actually assets of the CIA/-insert alphabet soup agency here-, because that would mean we'd have to admit that CIA was operating in hostile countries such as Iran or North Korea.

    But the NSA leaks, which are being released in a responsible fashion and not dumped onto the web in an unredacted form like a huge game of 52-card pickup (thanks wikileaks), resulting in people dying because of those leaks? Possible, but extremely unlikely.

  • On the post: Lawyer Who Gave President Bush Legal Cover For Warrantless Wiretapping Now Claims We'll Come To Love An Intrusive NSA

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 14 Oct, 2013 @ 10:09am

    So basically what Goldsmith is trying to say is

    "Keep Calm and Love the NSA"


    Yeah... How about no.

  • On the post: Snowden: DOJ Won't Prosecute Official For Lying, But Will Stop At Nothing To Persecute Someone For Telling The Truth

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 14 Oct, 2013 @ 09:08am

    Edward Snowden > Julian Assange

    Why? Because Snowden's agenda doesn't revolve around "Can I make myself famous because of this?" Snowden is actually invested in his cause (exposing the NSA) because he wants things to change and believes he's doing it for the American public's benefit (which is still up for debate, depending on who you talk to). Whether his actions will result in the US government changing their tune for better or worse (if at all) remains to be seen.

    Assange, on the other hand, has been basking in the limelight ever since wikileaks released the cables Manning gave them. Julian only seems interested in his own notoriety/fame, instead of considering that his actions might get people killed (As far as I know, there haven't been any American deaths because of the cables, but I'd be willing to bet that at least a few US assets found themselves on the wrong end of a gun because of the info dump from wikileaks).

    I almost want Hollywood to make a movie about Snowden instead of Assange (which will almost certainly overdramatize the impact of what wikileaks did, making people less sympathetic toward whistleblowers like Snowden as a result), but that'd be taking the focus away from the importance of the documents he sent to the Greenwald/Gellman/Poitras.

  • On the post: MPAA Evidence In IsoHunt Case Doesn't Show What It Claims

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 11 Oct, 2013 @ 03:46pm

    Re:

    You forgetting one thing Rikuo: the judge's knowledge of how the computers and the Internet works.

    You're comment about the studios under the MPAA umbrella owning the copyright generated an interesting thought: what if the studios don't want to sue Isohunt into oblivion over their copyright? Is the MPAA getting sue-happy without first letting owner know "hey, we found this website where people might be infringing on the copyright you own, so we're gonna sue them into bankruptcy over it. kthnxbai!"

    Makes you wonder how much of the money the studios who own the copyrights in question get out of these lawsuits, or do they just get the shaft while all that cash gets re-invested into the MPAA?

  • On the post: Congress' Members-Only Gym Deemed Essential, So It Remains Open During Government Shutdown

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 09 Oct, 2013 @ 09:16pm

    But of course

    They have to be in shape so they can outrun the angry torch/pitchfork mobs when the shit hits the fan.

  • On the post: NSA's Massive Utah Datacenter Having Serious Electrical Problems: Has Already Had 10 Fiery Explosions

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 08 Oct, 2013 @ 12:38pm

    Would never happen... I think...

    Anyone want to bet that the NSA might conduct an "investigation" and then claim that all these problems and failures were the result of sabotage by none other than... wait for it... EDWARD SNOWDEN. And if anyone asks questions about their investigative methods, they will respond with: "Trust us. We're the NSA. Now stop asking questions."

  • On the post: Canadian Scientists Call Countrywide Protests Against Government Censorship, Found Advocacy Group

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2013 @ 09:19pm

    Re:

    Obviously the US government is not following that solution, considering they're still trying to lock down communications (i.e. the Internets), and are catching all nine kinds of hell for it.

  • On the post: Lavabit Tried Giving The Feds Its SSL Key In 11 Pages Of 4-Point Type; Feds Complained That It Was Illegible

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 03 Oct, 2013 @ 08:22am

    Re: Re: Judge is right

    Please don't give Congress any ideas John. They'll probably pass a law allowing that (and odds are it'll be championed by none other than Sen. Feinstein in the name of "national security").

  • On the post: Yes, The NSA Tracked Mobile Phone Locations, Despite Previous Semi-Denials

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 02 Oct, 2013 @ 01:33pm

    Re: So, WHY ELSE would you think location capability (plus GPS) is in those gadgets?

    I dunno, maybe so that emergency services (like search & rescue or EMTs) can locate a person when they're in trouble?

    That said, GPS is a technological double-edged sword and able to be (and as we all know, has been) abused by the government.

    Does that mean we should all stop using GPS, entirely? This is just my personal opinion, but I don't think we should stop using a tool just because some people use it to cause harm to their fellow man.

  • On the post: FBI's Case Against Silk Road Boss Is A Fascinating Read

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 02 Oct, 2013 @ 01:23pm

    Re:

    Same here. In fact, I'd lay odds that a several sites will pop up to try and fill the vacuum left by Silk Road.

    The old saying about internet piracy sites being like a hydra (Pirate Bay being one).

    From my extremely limited knowledge of the Deep Web, I'd say that it's like a hydra on steroids. You can't kill it, because not only do more heads grow in place of the one you just killed, they're extremely hard to find.

    But as the Zen Master says, "We'll see."

  • On the post: The Limits Of Intelligence Gathering: Kenyan Govt. Warned A Year Before Attack That Terrorists Were Targeting Westgate Mall

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 02 Oct, 2013 @ 01:07pm

    Ya know

    Perhaps our government agencies (FBI, NSA) should ACT on intelligence WHEN they get it instead of waiting around and letting it gather dust until the shit hits the fan.

    Maybe we might actually get some of that so-called "security" they keep telling us we have now.

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

  • On the post: No Surprise: NSA Stores All Metadata It Collects For At Least A Year, Even If It Has Nothing To Do With Anything

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 30 Sep, 2013 @ 02:50pm

    Re:

    Given this is the NSA we're talking about, I'd say Plutonian years.

  • On the post: Car Thief Tries To Blame GTA For His Actions

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 27 Sep, 2013 @ 01:16pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    The people you see at raves nomming on ecstasy pills must be real fans of Pac-Man then.

  • On the post: LA School Gives iPads To Students; Students Hack Protection; School Freaks Out And Halts iPad Program

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 27 Sep, 2013 @ 01:00pm

    Re: Two things

    Back when I was in high school I learned through a friend of mine that all the middle school students in his younger brother's year (7th graders at the time), were getting laptops (Dell, for anyone who's curious) for the duration of school year so the teachers could communicate better with the students[or something like that].

    My friend's younger brother had cracked the district firewall within a week of getting that laptop.

    True story.

    (though it should be noted that the district had improved its firewall by the following year.)

  • On the post: LA School Gives iPads To Students; Students Hack Protection; School Freaks Out And Halts iPad Program

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 27 Sep, 2013 @ 12:54pm

    Re:

    I didn't do it myself, but I know for a fact that someone had put a emulator/rom for Starcraft on at least half the computers in my high school library.

    I also know that in the computer science room, most of the computers that we weren't busy disassembling/experimenting with had Starcraft as well as Raiden II and Raiden III on them as well.

  • On the post: Redefining English: Senator Feinstein Says The Press Needs To Stop Calling Patriot Act Surveillance Program A 'Surveillance Program'

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 26 Sep, 2013 @ 02:20pm

    Re: Re: Hey California!

    Well damn. My condolences to the tech companies in California (Google, for one) for being stuck with a senator who should be raising hell over the stuff that the agency which has forced them to violate the trust of the consumer, but is defending that same agency with what feels like every fiber of her old, brittle being.

    It's times like these that I feel like there should be a maximum age limit for politicians.

  • On the post: Redefining English: Senator Feinstein Says The Press Needs To Stop Calling Patriot Act Surveillance Program A 'Surveillance Program'

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 26 Sep, 2013 @ 12:58pm

    Hey California!

    Could you PLEASE vote this old lady out of office the next time she's up for re-election (Preferably replacing her with a candidate who's actually competent when it comes to the Internet/digital world)?

    If she really wants us to stop calling it a surveillance program, then would she mind if we started calling it a domestic spy program instead?

    I'm starting to think the Baby Boomer generation (and Feinstein's generation) are screwing over Gen Y/Millenials, the generation of "digital natives", on purpose...

  • On the post: Yes, It's Fair Use To Mashup Charlie Brown And The Smiths

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2013 @ 04:05pm

    Re:

    Honestly, sometimes I'm kinda surprised dA hasn't come under attack already (and this is coming from someone who's relatively active on there).

  • On the post: Canada Forcing Wounded Vets To Sign Agreement Not To Criticize The Military On Social Media

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2013 @ 12:30pm

    Re: Unbelievable

    That was my first thought. I kinda expected this to be from the US military, not our friends up north.

  • On the post: All It Takes Is Two Words To Wipe Away One Of The Pillars Of Free Speech Online

    Internet Zen Master ( profile ), 24 Sep, 2013 @ 12:24pm

    Re: Re: Re:

    [tinfoil hat on]

    I've got it!! Cable TV/Hollywood is in bed with the NSA because the NSA's tactics are slowly wiping out all that pesky Internet innovation, in order to restore Hollywood to its rightful place as the be-all, end-all of entertainment gatekeepers once again!

    [/tinfoil off]

    In other words, the secret world of the Deep Web/darknets will get a lot more crowded if the NSA is allowed to continue their privacy-invading shenanigans unopposed.

    Sigh.

    Maybe if the Gen. Trekkie in charge of the NSA wasn't so obsessed with sucking up Big Data, he might stop long enough to realize that perhaps the NSA's current methods are only making things worse for everyone.

    These state AGs aren't just trying to play catch up with the constantly chaotic evolution of the Internet. They're blatantly trying to smother what has become the very soul of the modern Worldwide Web.

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