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Richard Stallman: Online Publishers Should Let Readers Pay Anonymously

theguardian.com

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Re: Richard Stallman: Online Publishers Should Let Readers Pay Anonymously

#31

Post by jtrip »

blfr wrote: post #24
jtrip wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I personally block adds, not because of annoyance, but because of tracking. I find private collection of information a bigger threat than I do government tracking. I like neither, but given the option, I would rather be tracked by the government. I am not accusing the OP of any bias or failing in ideals, just pointing out an interesting perspective on things that I got from reading [0]. 'Mistrust of government is pre…

> I find private collection of information a bigger threat than I do government tracking Why?

Because the inherent idea is control of power. One would trust a small company over the government because the small company can't do much damage with only that much data, whereas the government can, combined with all the other data. The small company can earn more money, what we can rely on given that they are in it for the money, with helping us with the data than they can by selling the data.

How ever, as the company grows, or uses a system developed and controlled by a larger entity, the data being collected can be combined with other larger data sets and can become much more powerful and potentially hurtful for us. In the same scenario, the power of the government has still remained the same, and given the history of Power, we the common people have some measure of control over them. More control than one would have over the large corporation.

Re: Richard Stallman: Online Publishers Should Let Readers Pay Anonymously

#32

Post by jasonkostempski »

RVuRnvbM2e wrote: post #27
lumberjack wrote: post #11

I mean he's right but as a business model it doesn't work. Also for people who haven't realised this is a plug for GNU Taler. Anyway. I think the reason it doesn't work as a business model is that really, honestly, reading the paper provides very little in terms of value to the average person. It's a very mild source of entertainment and nothing more. It used to be that the newspapers where the only media to get impo…

I strongly disagree. I order a physical (weekly) newspaper for two reasons: a) It provides a broad range of interesting articles on topics which are otherwise outside my filter bubble. This is incredibly important in an era where many people get all their news through their facebook feed. b) It's perfect to flick through over breakfast :)

What is the name of the newspaper?

Re: Richard Stallman: Online Publishers Should Let Readers Pay Anonymously

#33

Post by andwur »

blfr wrote: post #14

Is this really the reason people block ads? I don't actually mind tracking as part of a useful service (like Google Maps). I block ads because they're 1) annoying 2) funding mass media. Depriving Bezos' WaPo or Slim's NYT of revenue is definitely a feature. If billionaires want to push propaganda, the least they can do is foot the bill. Tracking is a distant third. If an outlet I cared about ran ads, I'd white-list t…

1) security 2) annoyance 3) disagree with tracking 4) speed (rural internet yay!)

I find it particularly annoying when clients demand adverts on paid-product sites, i.e. they have a site which is fully funded by their sales but they want that tiny bit extra at a huge cost to site appearance and load times.

Re: Richard Stallman: Online Publishers Should Let Readers Pay Anonymously

#35

Post by mirimir »

p4bl0 wrote: post #25
mirimir wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So the title of his article is a lie, then. > Publishers must let online readers pay for news anonymously It's not anonymous if GNU Taler knows user identity.

GNU Taler is a technology, not a company, so it doesn't "know" things in the sense that would be bothersome here. From GNU Taler's website: “When you pay with Taler, your identity does not have to be revealed to the merchant. The bank, government and exchange will also never learn how you spent your electronic money. However, you can prove that you paid in court if necessary.”

OK, the exchange will know your identity. That's not anonymous.

Edit: Anonymity is a strong claim. Even Tor daemon warns "This is experimental software. Do not rely on it for strong anonymity."

Re: Richard Stallman: Online Publishers Should Let Readers Pay Anonymously

#36

Post by madeofpalk »

rolfvandekrol wrote: post #10

I find it interesting that this article is published on a platform that makes uBlock block 27 requests and most certainly does contain non-free javascript. Richard Stallman talks a lot about how these thing inhibit freedom and that we should not support those companies. But when he publishes an article on ad blocking he does this on a platform that absolutely does not meet his standard on freedom.

I'm guessing he's going for the lessor of (n) evils?

Re: Richard Stallman: Online Publishers Should Let Readers Pay Anonymously

#37

Post by Retric »

mirimir wrote: post #35
p4bl0 wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

GNU Taler is a technology, not a company, so it doesn't "know" things in the sense that would be bothersome here. From GNU Taler's website: “When you pay with Taler, your identity does not have to be revealed to the merchant. The bank, government and exchange will also never learn how you spent your electronic money. However, you can prove that you paid in court if necessary.”

OK, the exchange will know your identity. That's not anonymous. Edit: Anonymity is a strong claim. Even Tor daemon warns "This is experimental software. Do not rely on it for strong anonymity."

Crypto signatures let you prove things without disclosing anything to a third party. Payment X was (singed by XYZ). Yo IRS I paid for it (signed by XYZ).

Re: Richard Stallman: Online Publishers Should Let Readers Pay Anonymously

#38

Post by bo1024 »

mirimir wrote: post #23
lumberjack wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He's plugging GNU Taler which was specifically designed to be government friendly (allows collection of taxes and AML compliance and not easy to implement black markets). He's not talking about other kind cryptocurrencies. Stallman isn't a "down with the government" type of person despite being sceptical of surveillance.

So the title of his article is a lie, then. > Publishers must let online readers pay for news anonymously It's not anonymous if GNU Taler knows user identity.

It seems like you are assuming a lot about how GNU Taler works. I don't know that you're wrong, but I'd be pretty confident that Stallman knows what he's doing and is not one to take the word "anonymous" lightly.

I don't much about Taler, but here is the site so you can see for yourself if you believe it: https://taler.net/

Re: Richard Stallman: Online Publishers Should Let Readers Pay Anonymously

#39

Post by RVuRnvbM2e »

jasonkostempski wrote: post #32
RVuRnvbM2e wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I strongly disagree. I order a physical (weekly) newspaper for two reasons: a) It provides a broad range of interesting articles on topics which are otherwise outside my filter bubble. This is incredibly important in an era where many people get all their news through their facebook feed. b) It's perfect to flick through over breakfast :)

What is the name of the newspaper?

Coincidentally enough, given TFA:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Guardian_Weekly

Re: Richard Stallman: Online Publishers Should Let Readers Pay Anonymously

#40

Post by mirimir »

Retric wrote: post #37
mirimir wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK, the exchange will know your identity. That's not anonymous. Edit: Anonymity is a strong claim. Even Tor daemon warns "This is experimental software. Do not rely on it for strong anonymity."

Crypto signatures let you prove things without disclosing anything to a third party. Payment X was (singed by XYZ). Yo IRS I paid for it (signed by XYZ).

Looking at https://taler.net/citizens I see that Taler exchange accounts are funded by bank transfers. I see no indication that wallets are anonymized from deposit accounts. So do you argue that payments are fully anonymous?

Edit: IRS? Where does IRS come in for something anonymous?

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