The headline doesn't at all sum up this article. It's not about Stallman's opinion about phones in particular.
Richard Stallman: Cell phones are 'Stalin's dream'
81–86 of 86 posts
Re: Richard Stallman: Cell phones are 'Stalin's dream'
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
He says his problem with cell phones is that they can be used for surveillance. Later in the article he talks about how free software in the phone could protect you from eavesdropping (not surveillance). He is correct. If everything was encrypted, eavesdropping would be impossible. But they could still track your position. So, unless I'm misreading things, he never says that the issue with surveillance is about "whet…
Stallman wants to see a world built entirely with free and open software - in this world cell phones would be safe, since any and all surveillance-related code and functionality would be out in the open for anyone to see. There is no getting broadsided by sneaky surveillance code you didn't know was built into your phone.
Doesn't matter how open the source code is, the phone network still needs to know which cell you're in to direct your call. Knowing where you are is a fundamental part of the cellphone system.
Re: Richard Stallman: Cell phones are 'Stalin's dream'
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is the joke that even a broken watch is correct twice a day. I do think his communication style, his use of hyperbole, and his unwillingness to bring the listener 'along' work against him in most situations. However, he does have a self consistent line of reasoning as far as I've been able to discern for all of his positions. But lets step back from the messenger for a moment and look at the message. Richard's…
Well, if all software was free, you could run your own base station, not just a phone. Likely other people would do the same thing. With a free and open cell network, tracking an individual cell phone would become much harder. Another option might be for your phone to check into a different tower, or only check in at intermittent intervals, but I'm not sure that that would be enough - signal strength would probably g…
Well, if all software was free, you could run your own base station, not just a phone. Likely other people would do the same thing.
I look forward to this influx of wealthy and altruistic individuals.
Re: Richard Stallman: Cell phones are 'Stalin's dream'
#84In some U.S. states, cars cannot legally operate on the road unless they've been "validated" by the government. This worries me greatly; I should be able to drive whatever car I want, free from unwanted control. And this is why, instead of getting my emissions checked every year, I choose not to use cars, or even public busses.
So you should be able to drive a car that has heavy tracks that chews up and destroys public roads, loudspeakers blaring 110db pink noise, emits a safe but heavily odourous powder that coats the buildings it passes by, and has random rotating high power searchlights guaranteed to throw blinding rays into other drivers' eyes, should you so feel like it? All so you can escape the 'burden of control'?
When you do drive, do you bother to follow traffic lights? I mean, they're just another form of the government telling you what you can and can't do. You should just be able to drive when you like, where you like, right? Similarly license plates should be discarded, as they're just another way for the government to track your activities, which we should be free from.
To be clear, what I'm trying to illustrate is the pointlessness of absolutist statements. Being human is an exercise in compromises, and libertarian talking points fail to take this into account.
Re: Richard Stallman: Cell phones are 'Stalin's dream'
#85In some U.S. states, cars cannot legally operate on the road unless they've been "validated" by the government. This worries me greatly; I should be able to drive whatever car I want, free from unwanted control. And this is why, instead of getting my emissions checked every year, I choose not to use cars, or even public busses.
Forgive me, this post is intended to be facetious.
My personal view is that the societal desire for and against privacy and human rights always trumps any technological barriers. Hitler and Stalin, for example, were able to do pretty bad things despite having relatively primitive technology. Examples date back to the dawn of recorded history. Even today, I can be tracked using my license plate number, fingerprints, DNA, etc. pretty handily. Where there is a will, there is a way. Fortunately, our society does not have the political will to do it--and, in fact, would likely find inappropriate tracking to be revolting.
In this respect I think Stallman is way off base. Fighting to make sure your phone runs OSS does little to ensure that the culture we live in values the right things and has an ideal political structure (representative democracy). I'd argue it's a dangerous distraction, in fact, because it promulgates the incorrect notion that if only we had open technology, we'd be free from criminals, dictators, and other bad things, and we'd live in a world of ponies and rainbows. Because this is not true, I fear this effort diverts attention from where it deserves to be. That said, RMS's scare tactics to help to some degree, by reminding people that our societal values will always need to be projected into the latest wave of technology. I think this tends to happen naturally and organically, but whatever.
Fortunately, the flipside is pretty good: given the right political environment, privacy and technological regulation can coexist peacefully. This is good because some amount of regulation of the commons is necessary and good, and this extends to new technologies (like the car, or the cell phone).
Re: Richard Stallman: Cell phones are 'Stalin's dream'
#86Earlier quoted context omitted.
Well, if all software was free, you could run your own base station, not just a phone. Likely other people would do the same thing. With a free and open cell network, tracking an individual cell phone would become much harder. Another option might be for your phone to check into a different tower, or only check in at intermittent intervals, but I'm not sure that that would be enough - signal strength would probably g…
Well, if all software was free, you could run your own base station, not just a phone. Likely other people would do the same thing. I look forward to this influx of wealthy and altruistic individuals.
OpenBTS is already here:
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/083010-open-source-voi...