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PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

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Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#281

Post by pera »

rasengan wrote: post #278
NeedMoreTea wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trust and ethics are important. A company that is identified as using questionable ethics in business, for an extended period, is not automatically "reset to neutral" by airdropping in a new management team and a rebrand. Honestly? That sounds more like a move to bury the bad news, which has a long and effective history, just as the day a story goes public does - The Friday News Dump, Thanksgiving News Dump, etc. So,…

Nice comments. When Trump became president, was it still Obama’s administration? Given my knowledge on corporate governance and publicly held companies, I disagree with your first statement. The CEO and management team are absolutely the ones who define the ethics of a company and are legally responsible as well. As for Teddy, I’m not sure how knowing his background and being able to public verify his moves would cau…

> I recognize that PIA can do more to provide more comfort to people.

You could start by looking for a new CTO maybe? I mean, Mark Karpeles was such an obvious bad choice.

Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#282

Post by rasengan »

codezero wrote: post #276
rasengan wrote: post #270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We actually did reach out to many groups including some of those you mentioned. You would be surprised to find that “non profit” doesn’t always mean “for the public good.” As for others that were willing to partner with us, they wouldn’t sign a no log pact so I had no interest to work with them. It’s shocking how many private VPNs are shadily logging and/or selling your data.

Why don’t you out them? You haven’t had much trouble slinging mud on HN in the past, and to be clear, it has been appreciated.

I think if you do some “negative” google searches on many of the most loved organizations, you’ll see they toyed with their users and their data countless times in the name of “experimentation” among other things.

Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#284

Post by rasengan »

nickpsecurity wrote: post #252
rasengan wrote: post #4

This article and articles like this miscast Kape in an incorrect light. To be clear, in the past the company was known as CrossRider and provided a developer SDK that could be used to integrate with browsers. Unfortunately, CrossRider didn't do enough to prevent malware (like platforms these days and their fake news) and the platform was used by some bad people for bad purposes. When the new management team of CrossR…

"The merger between Kape and PIA affords PIA the resources needed" I'm one of those people who understand the importance of reputation and integrity. One bad deal might ruin mine forever. You needed resources to expand your privacy business. Did you try and fail to partner with reputable businesses such as Mozilla, get funding from governments/foundations, etc? Did you try to get with amoral companies whose backgroun…

You don’t know a person until you see them in the toughest of situations.

Mark is a good man and a great developer who fought on the front lines and I’ve known for a long time.

I’m not comfortable blindly trusting a random person I meet at a conference with our users’ privacy. You really don’t know who is a current spook, or spy, or worse.

Lastly, to put this to bed in a way that only developers and those that understand could appreciate (like you), we severely limit the people who have infrastructure access as we practice defense in depth, and Mark isn’t one of them.

Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#285

Post by JumpCrisscross »

rasengan wrote: post #4

This article and articles like this miscast Kape in an incorrect light. To be clear, in the past the company was known as CrossRider and provided a developer SDK that could be used to integrate with browsers. Unfortunately, CrossRider didn't do enough to prevent malware (like platforms these days and their fake news) and the platform was used by some bad people for bad purposes. When the new management team of CrossR…

> I stand behind the move to bring more transparency to privacy

How do management's economic incentives change through this deal? How much are you cashing out now versus riding into the combined entity?

Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#286

Post by rasengan »

DCKing wrote: post #279
NeedMoreTea wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trust and ethics are important. A company that is identified as using questionable ethics in business, for an extended period, is not automatically "reset to neutral" by airdropping in a new management team and a rebrand. Honestly? That sounds more like a move to bury the bad news, which has a long and effective history, just as the day a story goes public does - The Friday News Dump, Thanksgiving News Dump, etc. So,…

This is exactly my rationale. The fact that you have to explain that the company that bought you is not shady is writing on the wall, even if you have a good explanation. For the record, I think the explanation is pretty decent. But PIA is a commodity product from a technical perspective. It's the trust and reputation that's not the commodity, and being bought by a shady company ( even if it's "formerly shady") you d…

Trust is a fleeting concept. If you used PIA only for the trust and not for the verifiable transparency, then we have failed you.

You can't trust some random VPN on internet. Anyone could have set it up.

You can only verify. Don't trust. PIA will continue on its mission to increase transparency and set a new standard and expectation in the industry.

With PIA, we will make sure you know what you're getting. Some may choose not to go with PIA, and that is beautiful freedom. For the rest, I'm confident people will choose verifiable transparency over blind trust.

Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#287

Post by Tenoke »

rasengan wrote: post #274
sumedh wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So what exactly is the gameplan, how are you going to change the world by selling your stake?

The company is now no longer controlled by one man alone, but instead many. I’m still a major shareholder. We are changing the world by fighting in the front lines with our PR as we always did [1], donating to organizations without pause or hesitation [2], and sticking to our decisions even when the world may not understand as they aren’t deep in the battle like us. Time will prove everything, and we will help the pe…

>We are changing the world by fighting in the front lines with our PR as we always did [1]

You are telling me you did it for PR reasons?? That's not even remotely believable - look at the 'PR' you are getting. This was the goal??

>donating to organizations without pause or hesitation [2]

Surely, you have even less of a voice where donations go than before.

>and sticking to our decisions even when the world may not understand as they aren’t deep in the battle like us.

How are they helping you stick to your decisions? You are making entirely new decisions now, and corroding your previous. Are you saying they are 'deep in the battle' like you? What?

Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#288

Post by ta999999171 »

matt4077 wrote: post #266
Razengan wrote: post #221

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When the concern is our privacy and secrecy, isn’t it better to err on the side of caution than trust naively? What if it were a matter of health? Should we trust before verifying? Would it still be a “loaded” question?

By that logic everyone and everything is corrupt, monitored, etc. Including the hardware you might install your own VPN node on, all messenger apps, all phone lines, the mail, and so on. Your best friends are all spies. Your bedroom is bugged. That would mean there is absolutely no way to improve your privacy and you might as well do nothing.

I was with you until your second paragraph.

Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#289

Post by elbrian »

rasengan wrote: post #278
NeedMoreTea wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trust and ethics are important. A company that is identified as using questionable ethics in business, for an extended period, is not automatically "reset to neutral" by airdropping in a new management team and a rebrand. Honestly? That sounds more like a move to bury the bad news, which has a long and effective history, just as the day a story goes public does - The Friday News Dump, Thanksgiving News Dump, etc. So,…

Nice comments. When Trump became president, was it still Obama’s administration? Given my knowledge on corporate governance and publicly held companies, I disagree with your first statement. The CEO and management team are absolutely the ones who define the ethics of a company and are legally responsible as well. As for Teddy, I’m not sure how knowing his background and being able to public verify his moves would cau…

> When Trump became president, was it still Obama’s administration?

The current president picks up where the previous one left off -- they don't start with a clean slate and no historical baggage.

Re: PIA VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy

#290

Post by ta999999171 »

Tenoke wrote: post #287
rasengan wrote: post #274

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The company is now no longer controlled by one man alone, but instead many. I’m still a major shareholder. We are changing the world by fighting in the front lines with our PR as we always did [1], donating to organizations without pause or hesitation [2], and sticking to our decisions even when the world may not understand as they aren’t deep in the battle like us. Time will prove everything, and we will help the pe…

>We are changing the world by fighting in the front lines with our PR as we always did [1] You are telling me you did it for PR reasons?? That's not even remotely believable - look at the 'PR' you are getting. This was the goal?? >donating to organizations without pause or hesitation [2] Surely, you have even less of a voice where donations go than before. >and sticking to our decisions even when the world may not un…

Even as a user that for now will not be trusting PIA, I do applaud the advertising I've seen in many corners of the mainstream net trying to educate users about issues they otherwise would have no exposure at all to, unlike us.
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