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Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

feinstein.senate.gov

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Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#131
post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Her positions on defense and privacy are actually pretty representative of the establishment wing of her party. The Democratic party has some pretty severe divisions in it, and has for years.

That's a fair point. Obama is in the anti-encryption camp too, after all.

Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to love this, especially as it comes from the same people who think that government interfering with their firearms is the end of society. Meanwhile, losing their ability to keep a secret from the government they think they're getting ready to revolt against doesn't faze them. grips forehead and moans

> especially as it comes from the same people who think that government interfering with their firearms is the end of society. Senator Feinstein, who co-released this draft bill, is also the senator who introduced the assault weapons ban which was law from 1994 to 2004. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianne_Feinstein#Political_pos... On the opposite side of things, Senator Paul opposes gun control but supports strong…

Slight digression, but does that mean owning assault weapons is a ok again in the US? Just curious.

Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#133

Just a reminder that trying to discuss these matters on HN is a bad idea as the moderators routinely bury any anti government sentiments and articles, ban accounts and IPs which are critical of the government and allow government sock puppets to control the conversation. Then mods only defense is to say trust them and none of this is true, but ample evidence exists to the contrary. American government is corrupt and…

I have yet to see a pro-government take on this issue in HN.

Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#134
As far as I can tell, this is a win for encryption. It says that device manufacturers need to help law enforcement break into a device, but they do not need to create any backdoors. If Apple/Google/etc make it impossible for them to break into their own devices, then there is nothing that they can do. As long as they are not required to include backdoors then encryption wins.

Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#135
post #55

What Silicon Valley needs to make it's voice heard here and to do that they need to pull back donations not just to Feinstein but to the Democratic Party until this disaster is withdrawn

Good idea, here are her most recent top contributors [1] [1] http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/contrib.php?cid=n0000...

Wow, the University of California is a top donor, and her husband is the chairman of the UC regents? I smell conflict of interest.

Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#137

Instead of complaining into the echo chamber of comments, here are some things you can do to fight back: Donate to the EFF: https://supporters.eff.org/donate/button Call your Reps: http://TryVoices.com Petition the President: https://savecrypto.org/

I am gobsmacked by the tenor of comments here. At what point will HN posters finally realize that participation in the democratic process does precisely nothing against naked power?

In 2014 Americans made over a million public comments to the FCC in support of net neutrality. The FCC sided in favor of net neutrality. [1]

In 2011 Americans made over 8 million phone calls to their representatives in opposition to SOPA/PIPA. The bills were defeated. [2]

[1] http://techcrunch.com/2014/08/05/inside-the-fccs-1-1-million...

[2] http://www.sopastrike.com/numbers

Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

yet? She was singing this tune 20 years ago.

I don't know about her voting record to know if that's true or not, but again, I'm talking about her reputation, which is partially shaped by fact but also shaped by public perception. And she's not really perceived as anti-tech.

Wow. Us geezers need to bring you whippersnappers up to speed about how this went 20 years ago, because it's your turn to fight this battle again.

Fetch my geritol before you gear up, sonny.

Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#139
post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. Comment all you want on HN or whatever forums you like, but they're basically echo chambers, and nothing really matters unless you make yourself heard to the politicians. [edit: I just called. It'll take you like two minutes] [edit: I made the phone calls in front of my 11-year-old son, who was eating breakfast, explaining who I was calling and why. He totally gets it. I'm not sure why a certain set of senators…

And tell 5 friends and family to do the same. Figure out what's important to them. Do they have children? Tell them without encryption it will be possible for bad people to know their whereabouts and general day to day movements for the purpose of exploitation and abduction. Tell them to call or write the politicians to protect their children. Maybe your friends think they have nothing to hide, but when they consider…

You know, I think this is the first opportunity for "think of the children!" to be a rally in cry for something meaningful, that actually can affect a large swath of our children.

An excellent point.

However, its power is limited by all the times "think of the children!" has been used as the rallying cry for anti-citizen legislation. So it has to be strengthened. You're on the right track. The cliche turns into a platform when you have concrete examples that are identifiable to the Android/iPhone toting parents. I am willing to guarantee that the "most frequently visited locations" available on both platforms would illuminate a parent's employer, home, maybe the favorite lunch place, and the school(s) of their young children. Possibly even that their kids have medical issues (pediatrician is a frequent stop) or are on the autism spectrum or have some other developmental delays (speech pathologist or occupational therapist or developmental pediatrician is a frequent stop). Or that they're new homeowners (lots of trips to Home Depot and "big box" stores) Possibly (gasp) where they take their lover when they're supposed to be with their spouse.

Re: Intelligence Committee Leaders Release Discussion Draft of Encryption Bill

#140

I'm getting pretty deep into bets on Twitter AGAINST this bill having a chance of passing. My logic is simple: this bill outlaws all sorts of things huge corporations use to protect their networks. No big company I've ever done security work for has ever been OK with crypto keys being escrowed by vendors; in fact, we were often instructed to look for exactly those kinds of features as disqualifiers for products. I do…

Hopefully companies will actually use their lobbying/bribery power for good this time, since it happens to benefit everyone, including them.
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