> Dang it, guys. Encryption is now illegal for us to use, everyone uninstall PGP.
Said no terrorist or criminal. Once the cat has been let out of the bag there is no getting it in again.
Times Pulls Article Blaming Encryption in Paris Terror Attack
61–70 of 312 posts
Re: Times Pulls Article Blaming Encryption in Paris Terror Attack
#62You could plan terrorist activity using postcards. Should we ban the Post Office? You could use phone calls from pay phones (where they still exist) and people used to do that all the time to plan crimes. You could go on vacation together and plan something. You could use voice or text chat in an online game to plan stuff. The people in charge of these organizations are not the suicide bombers; the head folks know fu…
Your post seems to miss the fact that the mail, phone calls and popular chat services are already logged, and asking for encryption back-doors is just wanting that process to continue.
Mail may be logged, but they're certainly not opening most envelopes to read their contents.
Re: Times Pulls Article Blaming Encryption in Paris Terror Attack
#63Earlier quoted context omitted.
We have to get rid of this narrative of bad versus good people while we're at it. It removes every bit of nuance from the discussion.
That's the point. What the Paris attackers did makes them bad people. It's not up for debate.
Surely you can see that they think the exact opposite. In order to do something like that, they have to convince themselves that they the good guys, and it has to be done to "purify the evil in the world" or something. The truth is that people are not inherently bad. Evil feeds on itself; if you insist on calling them bad, then you are falling into the same trap that they did. Hopefully you wouldn't act in such a heinous manner, but Western societies kill thousands of innocents all the time, and it is masked with the same rationalizations; if a drone strike kills someone, we define them as a bad guy.
Re: Times Pulls Article Blaming Encryption in Paris Terror Attack
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
You seem to be overlooking the obvious argument that if a small group of people use encryption, then you greatly reduce the number of messages that you need to flag. Furthermore, if someone on a Watch List starts using encryption then perhaps you have an imminent problem. I'm not on the side of reading messages but you missed the real argument being made. Typical HN. How about someone answering the argument that will…
> You can downvote me but you don't get a downvote in governments around the world when they outlaw real encryption. I'm pretty sure you can downvote them by voting for representatives that do not support such laws. At least if you're in some kind of democracy.
Unfortunately that process isn't as easy as clicking the little triangle, and hence only 4 out of 10 eligible "moderators" participate[1]...
[1]: https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Census/library/publicatio...
Re: Times Pulls Article Blaming Encryption in Paris Terror Attack
#65Increasingly we're seeing 'encryption' discussed in mainstream media as a tool that can only be used for nefarious ends. Kind of like how they talked about "cookies" in the late 90s and early 00s. It's unfortunate that there's no way [without a lot of money] to launch a campaign that highlights the fact that most sensitive online transactions rely on encryption - banking, purchasing, etc - to protect you from The Bad…
Unfortunately, it's without a hint of irony, as the same media companies deploy SSL/TLS on their websites for - at least - login and signup, taking payments, and more. I'm not sure if it's simply that no one has explained that SSL/TLS is encryption, and the nefarious things that could be done (stealing identity, credit cards) if certain communications aren't encrypted.
In the end, it's more education, isn't it? Most things are. But in some cases, like this, it's a race between general education and political (and spy agency) advantage-taking.
That's Snowden's greatest legacy - a few more people became educated, and the public frustration and pouting spy agencies are doing regarding encrypted communications are a bit more transparent than once they were.
Re: Times Pulls Article Blaming Encryption in Paris Terror Attack
#66Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sure, if you think unproven hearsay in NYT that we all ought to take for granted is "reasonable". If the authorities believe it was the encryption to blame, then they should come out and say it outright - with details, of course. They shouldn't hide under the "anonymous officials" tag which "believe" it was encryption the culprit that stopped them from learning about the attacks, and nothing else. It could've been ju…
What's wrong with newspaper reporting hearsay, while describing it as hearsay? NYT didn't seem to pass it as anything else than it is. What's your logic here? Should all anonymous sources be banned? Or only the sources with opinions that you don't like?
Actually, most reputable newspapers have very strict rules about anonymous sources, including some who ban them altogether.
Here is the NY Times Standard and Ethics Statement, which describes the newspaper's "distaste" for anonymous sources:
http://www.nytco.com/who-we-are/culture/standards-and-ethics...
In fact, that's probably the reason it was pulled: a complaint was made to the NYT Public Editor about the piece's sources.
Re: Times Pulls Article Blaming Encryption in Paris Terror Attack
#67Increasingly we're seeing 'encryption' discussed in mainstream media as a tool that can only be used for nefarious ends. Kind of like how they talked about "cookies" in the late 90s and early 00s. It's unfortunate that there's no way [without a lot of money] to launch a campaign that highlights the fact that most sensitive online transactions rely on encryption - banking, purchasing, etc - to protect you from The Bad…
Funny how politicians twist reason to suit their own ends. Bad guys use guns, but apparently were not allowed to ban them because they'll somehow find a way to get them no matter what. So the solution is to legalise them.
However when it comes to encryption, bad guys use it so it needs to be banned!
It's like they have it completely backwards.
Re: Times Pulls Article Blaming Encryption in Paris Terror Attack
#68Increasingly we're seeing 'encryption' discussed in mainstream media as a tool that can only be used for nefarious ends. Kind of like how they talked about "cookies" in the late 90s and early 00s. It's unfortunate that there's no way [without a lot of money] to launch a campaign that highlights the fact that most sensitive online transactions rely on encryption - banking, purchasing, etc - to protect you from The Bad…
Funny how these guys twist reason to suit their own ends. Bad guys use guns, but apparently were not allowed to ban them because they'll somehow find a way to get them. So the best way is to legalise them.
However when it comes to encryption, bad guys use it so it needs to be banned!
It's like they have it completely backwards.
Re: Times Pulls Article Blaming Encryption in Paris Terror Attack
#69> writing messages via in-game functions, like spelling words with dropped items or shooting walls I'm kinda ashamed I haven't thought of that.
Oh man. Writing banned words with object drops (or corpses) was classic humor back in the EQ days. Even better if your writing made the zone laggy.
Re: Times Pulls Article Blaming Encryption in Paris Terror Attack
#70Earlier quoted context omitted.
We have to get rid of this narrative of bad versus good people while we're at it. It removes every bit of nuance from the discussion.
That's the point. What the Paris attackers did makes them bad people. It's not up for debate.
Actually, that's an entirely subjective statement. While I think they're monsters, many people feel that western culture is immoral and downright evil. To people who have seen nothing but the West waging war in their region, these people may appear to be freedom fighters dying for a noble cause. Good and Evil are entirely a matter of perspective.