Yahoo installed a backdoor for the NSA behind the back of the security team

Post by pjc50 » Thu, Dec 15, 2016, 11:54 AM UTC

CapacitorSet wrote: post #143

nnq wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not an american, but the idea is that passive aggressiveness / mild-sabotage from citizens is just another way of expression, just like voting. And it works for the purpose and/or towards democracy! This is imho the untold truth about why most communist / socialist regimes failed: people at all levels of society started doing their work gradually worse and worse, pissed off and stressed out by the lack of freedom and…

That's an extremely rose-tinted narrative.

Post by mtgx » Thu, Dec 15, 2016, 12:02 PM UTC

wildmusings wrote: post #26

walrus01 wrote: post #22

I seriously think that to get a CS or EE degree (or similar) B.Sci degree, you should be required to take at least one full term length ethics course. Same idea as the ethics courses taught to junior law students. The internet is already fucked up enough with governments and rogue corporations messing with its AS-adjacency topology in non-free ways at OSI layers 1-3 , before you even get into stuff like writing backd…

When you get a legally-binding order from the government of the United States of America, and exhaust your legal appeals, you either comply or go to prison. An ethics course won't do you any good.

Post by yarou » Thu, Dec 15, 2016, 12:04 PM UTC

hbt wrote: post #62

bbarn wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wow. This is probably the worst comment I've ever seen on HN. You're suggesting that people who follow the law, which you disagree with, get blacklisted, following the model of criminals killing other criminals who follow the law. If you want to change the government, there are far better ways than retaliating against citizens unwilling to risk life and limb for your ideology. I think you need to learn to direct your…

So now, quitting your job (because you're asked to do something unethical) is the equivalent of losing your life and limbs? Let me guess, you believe all government actions are lawful. All lawful actions are righteous and justified. The only permissible way to change the system is through the system. Did I get the gist of your morality? In which case, keep voting and I'm sure you will see the changes you want reflect…

Post by meddlepal » Thu, Dec 15, 2016, 12:12 PM UTC

chrismcb wrote: post #77

walrus01 wrote: post #22

I seriously think that to get a CS or EE degree (or similar) B.Sci degree, you should be required to take at least one full term length ethics course. Same idea as the ethics courses taught to junior law students. The internet is already fucked up enough with governments and rogue corporations messing with its AS-adjacency topology in non-free ways at OSI layers 1-3 , before you even get into stuff like writing backd…

How would an ethics course solve this? There are people who think that this is the ethical thing to do. That it is OK for the government to see what the "criminals" are doing. The "I don't have anything to hide crowd."

Post by mindcrime » Thu, Dec 15, 2016, 12:20 PM UTC

dagw wrote: post #151

mindcrime wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not everyone is in so privileged of a position to be taking your specific moral high ground over their own well being. "Privilege" doesn't enter into it. Everybody has the option to do the right thing, if they're willing to accept the consequences. Not everybody will of course, but there's nothing truly preventing one from doing so.

The difference is that for some people the "consequence" for doing the right thing is that they'll have to get a new, but similar, job while for other people it's watching their family being tortured to death. Saying that these two people are facing the same or even similar options is disingenuous to say the least.