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Americans' Access to Strong Encryption Is at Risk, an Open Letter to Congress

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Re: Americans' Access to Strong Encryption Is at Risk, an Open Letter to Congress

#41

Post by shrimp_emoji »

notliketherest wrote: post #9

This is not a battle they can win. Most American's DGAF if their shit is encrypted, until the PSA campaign fighting against laws like these tells them the government is taking away their rights and able to snoop on their lives. Just like SOPA and others this will be defeated.

Are you sure? Yet again, privacy is being challenged, and it'll continue to be challenged. It seems like a battle with entropy, lost whenever a bill squeaks by under the public's consciousness.

Regardless, I derive emotional sustenance from your optimism.

Re: Americans' Access to Strong Encryption Is at Risk, an Open Letter to Congress

#42

Post by natch »

For congressional consumption, I suspect arguments like this need to be dumbed way, way, down.

Tim Cook's "software equivalent of cancer" is an example of an effective dumbed down take on it, but it need not be the last one. The more ways the point can be re-worded concisely so that lay people will understand it, the better.

Re: Americans' Access to Strong Encryption Is at Risk, an Open Letter to Congress

#43

Post by shrimp_emoji »

zekevermillion wrote: post #18
notliketherest wrote: post #9

This is not a battle they can win. Most American's DGAF if their shit is encrypted, until the PSA campaign fighting against laws like these tells them the government is taking away their rights and able to snoop on their lives. Just like SOPA and others this will be defeated.

It is worthwhile to fight the battles. But ultimately, there is no assurance that privacy will remain a legal right. I think that we need to be prepared for civil disobedience in some circumstances.

Already, many of us are disenfranchised cybercriminals who torrent music in bold defiance of the highest courts in Washington!

Re: Americans' Access to Strong Encryption Is at Risk, an Open Letter to Congress

#44

Post by bo1024 »

xupybd wrote: post #21

Just think of the outrage if the government required master keys to everyone's homes? I know there is a difference, but it's not a huge leap to compare the two. We don't want the government to have such easy access to our homes because we can't trust every government employee not to abuse it. I think the same goes here. No mater what safe guards you put in place it's a scary thought that you simply can't keep the gov…

Not to mention the chance that a buearocrat loses their copy of the master key, or has it stolen or secretly copied, and before you know it thousands of criminals have access to every home in the country. After the damage is done, we go through a large expense to re-key every house with new locks and the process continues.

I think it's a good analogy.

Re: Americans' Access to Strong Encryption Is at Risk, an Open Letter to Congress

#45

Post by fjert »

azinman2 wrote: post #13

Wait does he have a Masters in Information Security from the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology???! Joking aside, unfortunately it takes deep problems to motivate people/the US to change. It'll swing this way, and there will be dramatic consequences. Only then will things swing back the other way. It's too bad there isn't any balance here -- it does make sense in many situations that the poli…

What is the significance of his masters being from Georgia Tech?

Re: Americans' Access to Strong Encryption Is at Risk, an Open Letter to Congress

#46

Post by sitkack »

1001101 wrote: post #36

Does anyone here remember the clipper chip? If you don't, I'd recommend boning up on this chapter of the crypto wars. The 'because terrorism' excuse falls a bit flat with me. Thought experiment: how hard would it be for a terrorist organization with access to 100's of millions of dollars (eg. ISIS) to come up with a secure communications scheme? One time pad. A reasonable cipher that hasn't had any 'help' during deve…

The Clintons and Al Gore have their paws all over the Clipper Chip.

Re: Americans' Access to Strong Encryption Is at Risk, an Open Letter to Congress

#47

Post by azinman2 »

fiatpandas wrote: post #20
azinman2 wrote: post #13

Wait does he have a Masters in Information Security from the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology???! Joking aside, unfortunately it takes deep problems to motivate people/the US to change. It'll swing this way, and there will be dramatic consequences. Only then will things swing back the other way. It's too bad there isn't any balance here -- it does make sense in many situations that the poli…

You make fun of someone for stating their credentials but you do the same in your profile. I guess your joke is that his credentials are laughable compared to the credentials of other people (e.g. MIT grads). Or is the joke that he stated it so clearly so early in the letter? I'm not sure.

It's mentioned in the first few sentences and 2 more times in the same page.

My HN "bio" isn't a blog post. I dont start my communication that way.

Re: Americans' Access to Strong Encryption Is at Risk, an Open Letter to Congress

#48

Post by azinman2 »

mirimir wrote: post #30
azinman2 wrote: post #13

Wait does he have a Masters in Information Security from the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology???! Joking aside, unfortunately it takes deep problems to motivate people/the US to change. It'll swing this way, and there will be dramatic consequences. Only then will things swing back the other way. It's too bad there isn't any balance here -- it does make sense in many situations that the poli…

Hey, so you could write an even more credible letter :) Also, data does have "weight". The more data that you move, the more obvious the movement is. And the more you obfuscate the connection, the less bandwidth you have. But yes, Pelosi is clueless.

It's that it's mentioned 3 times within like 2 screenfuls that I'm poking fun at.

Re: Americans' Access to Strong Encryption Is at Risk, an Open Letter to Congress

#49

Post by azinman2 »

xapata wrote: post #35
azinman2 wrote: post #13

Wait does he have a Masters in Information Security from the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology???! Joking aside, unfortunately it takes deep problems to motivate people/the US to change. It'll swing this way, and there will be dramatic consequences. Only then will things swing back the other way. It's too bad there isn't any balance here -- it does make sense in many situations that the poli…

It looks like you forgot to pay your Squarespace bill: "This account has expired. ( http://empiric.al )" Joking aside, I guess you're saying that leading with credentials in an article is unnecessary if that article is relatively short and you've got a bio blurb at the bottom of the page?

It's not just the bio blurb, but the credentials beneath the conclusion, and the beginning of the article as well.

Empirical is no more, we're at ginger.io now. Haven't bothered updating various bits.

Re: Americans' Access to Strong Encryption Is at Risk, an Open Letter to Congress

#50

Post by azinman2 »

fjert wrote: post #45
azinman2 wrote: post #13

Wait does he have a Masters in Information Security from the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology???! Joking aside, unfortunately it takes deep problems to motivate people/the US to change. It'll swing this way, and there will be dramatic consequences. Only then will things swing back the other way. It's too bad there isn't any balance here -- it does make sense in many situations that the poli…

What is the significance of his masters being from Georgia Tech?

You tell me? It's mentioned 3 times on that page.
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