Live data from Hacker News

Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

feinstein.senate.gov

41–50 of 275 posts

Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know enough about California politics, how is it that Feinstein is able to be a proponent of these crazy ideas and somehow get elected in the home state of Silicon Valley and many of the companies who will be ruined by these proposals?

Because Harvey Milk and George Moscone are dead - she wasn't killed by Dan White[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscone%E2%80%93Milk_assassina... (Edit: What I'm trying to say is that she was the person that found Harvey Milk shot and was one of the people that police asked to identify the bodies of both Milk and Moscone. Certainly being that close to the aftermath of violence changes a person.)

Wow, I had no idea Feinstein was so close to the assassinations. That's traumatic. I wonder if those events lead to her positions on defense and privacy which are so uncharacteristic of the rest of her party.

Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#42
Does this actually expand current law? The government already has the ability to subpoena customer data, including encryption keys.

> The government cannot require or prohibit any specific design or operating system for any covered entity to use in complying with a court order.

This seems to specifically exclude one of the main concerns of the whole Apple/FBI thing.

I also don't see anything explicitly requiring back doors or security loopholes.

If a customer's data is encrypted and the service doesn't have the keys, I'm not sure how this bill would help.

Of course, if it really doesn't change anything, I see that as a reason to not pass the bill.

Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#43
post #30

> "Today, terrorists and criminals are increasingly using encryption to foil law enforcement efforts, even in the face of a court order." How can you utter that sentence and simultaneously not understand why your bill is effectively worthless for its stated purpose?

When encryption is outlawed, only outlaws will have encryption.

Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#44
This makes the FBI's requests to Apple look like child's play. I cannot possibly see how our tech economy can survive once all these backdoors are in the hands of criminals (other than the US govt) and enemy states. Feinstein is especially known for her extreme stupidity but killing one of the last prosperous industries in America (tech), this is just simply too much. At least we'll know who to blame when no one wants to buy US tech anymore.

Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#47

Feinstein is just the worst. She is the equivalent of Mitch McConnell for the Democrats. She fully understands exactly what she's proposing and she's the biggest hypocrite for it.

Agreed. Does anyone know which representatives support this bill? If it's just Feinstein and Burr, they can keep dreaming, but I imagine there are a few more.

It's really disheartening to read or hear almost any discussion about this issue. They're chock-full of broken analogies to meatspace that sound perfectly reasonable if you don't understand the nuances. The instant access, wide platform, and cheap copying that the Internet provides is unlike anything our species has dealt with before, and if you're not really informed on these issues, it's easy to lead yourself into what sounds like a reasonable position, but would actually destroy much of the modern economy.

My point being, the anti-encryption side has the support of nearly everyone who isn't informed about encryption and computing, which is a whole lot of people.

Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#48
post #30

> "Today, terrorists and criminals are increasingly using encryption to foil law enforcement efforts, even in the face of a court order." How can you utter that sentence and simultaneously not understand why your bill is effectively worthless for its stated purpose?

Just look at gun control arguments to see why people think outlawing activity will stop criminals.

Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#49

It feels like everyone would be better served if the tech community admitted the legitimacy of the government's (and many, MANY people's) security concerns and stopped pretending that the right to privacy always trumps the right to security of the person. (All occurrences of the string "secur" in that EFF letter[1], for instance, are in reference to data and computer systems. Not one is in [direct] reference to peopl…

Why do you feel that decreasing your IT security will increase your security?

Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know enough about California politics, how is it that Feinstein is able to be a proponent of these crazy ideas and somehow get elected in the home state of Silicon Valley and many of the companies who will be ruined by these proposals?

Because Harvey Milk and George Moscone are dead - she wasn't killed by Dan White[1]. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moscone%E2%80%93Milk_assassina... (Edit: What I'm trying to say is that she was the person that found Harvey Milk shot and was one of the people that police asked to identify the bodies of both Milk and Moscone. Certainly being that close to the aftermath of violence changes a person.)

The good ones always die and the assholes live. It seems like Feinstein has been trying to legislate that day away for decades now. Shame on her. She's obviously not competent to do her job and this is not the first bill to reflect that.
Post reply on HN