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Former NSA chief Keith Alexander has joined Amazon’s board of directors

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Re: Former NSA chief Keith Alexander has joined Amazon’s board of directors

#21

Post by DenisM »

person3 wrote: post #18
aazaa wrote: post #8

> For those keeping score, not only does Amazon own the The Washington Post and oversees the CIA’s Commercial Cloud Enterprise, it now has on its powerful board of directors the most visible figure from the NSA who illegally spied on Americans for the better part of a decade. This sounds tinfoil hat crazy, but here we are. Not so crazy now. Man in a position to have reams of compromising intel on the current presiden…

Except that The Washington Post operates independently, and has strong editorial standards, something that a lot of "news" sites on the Internet today don't even pretend to have. The Post continues to publish articles about surveillance, as well as articles critical of Amazon. For example, here's reporting on an interview with Martin Baron, the paper’s executive editor: Mr. Bezos holds conference calls with The Post’…

That's not how editorial pressure works. Chomsky detailed it quite well, but in a few words:

The advertisers react to "wrong" coverage by withdrawing support, the chief editor is very attuned so he assigns the right people to the right jobs before trouble starts, and the journalists so assigned naturally work quite sincerely. No actual orders to publish or withdraw articles need to happen.

Re: Former NSA chief Keith Alexander has joined Amazon’s board of directors

#22

Post by rapind »

person3 wrote: post #18
aazaa wrote: post #8

> For those keeping score, not only does Amazon own the The Washington Post and oversees the CIA’s Commercial Cloud Enterprise, it now has on its powerful board of directors the most visible figure from the NSA who illegally spied on Americans for the better part of a decade. This sounds tinfoil hat crazy, but here we are. Not so crazy now. Man in a position to have reams of compromising intel on the current presiden…

Except that The Washington Post operates independently, and has strong editorial standards, something that a lot of "news" sites on the Internet today don't even pretend to have. The Post continues to publish articles about surveillance, as well as articles critical of Amazon. For example, here's reporting on an interview with Martin Baron, the paper’s executive editor: Mr. Bezos holds conference calls with The Post’…

They eliminated their Ombudsman position in 2013. Not to pick on them, as most publications, NYT included have as well. I'll read occasionally, but definitely don't trust any of these any more without checking sources.

Just being the owner taints their coverage even with no direct influence (again, we can't just pick on Wapo here either). "So Joe, want to spend our time on researching this piece critical of Amazon or one the other hundred stories?"

Re: Former NSA chief Keith Alexander has joined Amazon’s board of directors

#23

Post by bartleby_ »

person3 wrote: post #18
aazaa wrote: post #8

> For those keeping score, not only does Amazon own the The Washington Post and oversees the CIA’s Commercial Cloud Enterprise, it now has on its powerful board of directors the most visible figure from the NSA who illegally spied on Americans for the better part of a decade. This sounds tinfoil hat crazy, but here we are. Not so crazy now. Man in a position to have reams of compromising intel on the current presiden…

Except that The Washington Post operates independently, and has strong editorial standards, something that a lot of "news" sites on the Internet today don't even pretend to have. The Post continues to publish articles about surveillance, as well as articles critical of Amazon. For example, here's reporting on an interview with Martin Baron, the paper’s executive editor: Mr. Bezos holds conference calls with The Post’…

C'mon man. I have firsthand knowledge of an editor asking a contributor to remove mentioning Amazon in a story because it cast the company in a negative light.

Re: Former NSA chief Keith Alexander has joined Amazon’s board of directors

#24

Post by throwaway0a5e »

How can an ostensibly consumer and business targeted company company allow someone so anti-consumer on the board? Why doesn't anyone have the balls to say "this guy shouldn't be on our board because if we have someone in cahoots with the spooks on our board people will buy less dragon dildos and .223 fuel filters and the sketchy SAAS providers will use less AWS for their crap because their customers will be worried about the spooks exfiltrating their data"

Re: Former NSA chief Keith Alexander has joined Amazon’s board of directors

#25

Post by throwaway0a5e »

m0zg wrote: post #11
aazaa wrote: post #8

> For those keeping score, not only does Amazon own the The Washington Post and oversees the CIA’s Commercial Cloud Enterprise, it now has on its powerful board of directors the most visible figure from the NSA who illegally spied on Americans for the better part of a decade. This sounds tinfoil hat crazy, but here we are. Not so crazy now. Man in a position to have reams of compromising intel on the current presiden…

If he had that "intel" we'd know it by now.

If such material exists the public will likely see it in late January or early February of 2021 or 2025 when the nature of its usefulness changes.

Re: Former NSA chief Keith Alexander has joined Amazon’s board of directors

#26

Post by [deleted] »

harry8 wrote: post #14
netsharc wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think he got hired because AWS likes government and military contracts, and he has personal phone numbers of people who make that sort of decisions. And he doesn't have them through NSA data gathering, but because he can call these people and ask if they'd like to have a steak dinner and talk about why they should choose AWS...

Maybe. And even if he doesn't have the dirt on various people with power, including a bit lower down the food-chain. The idea that he might gives him an edge in those steak dinners. It stinks no matter how you look at it. Actual criminal getting rich post crimes while Snowden who let us all know what a crook he is, is stuck in exile. The rule of law and equality before it needs to be established. "Bezos Taps Criminal…

[deleted]

Re: Former NSA chief Keith Alexander has joined Amazon’s board of directors

#27

Post by tenebrisalietum »

throwaway0a5e wrote: post #24

How can an ostensibly consumer and business targeted company company allow someone so anti-consumer on the board? Why doesn't anyone have the balls to say "this guy shouldn't be on our board because if we have someone in cahoots with the spooks on our board people will buy less dragon dildos and .223 fuel filters and the sketchy SAAS providers will use less AWS for their crap because their customers will be worried a…

Who's buying dragon dildos on Amazon?

Well ... I just searched and it seems they are available there. I did not know that.

The real question is why is an ex-NSA agent working at a place that sells dragon dildos?

In all seriousness though, if Amazon can predict what consumers want, they will make more sales. An ex-NSA should have at least some experience in analyzing behavioral data and predicting what large numbers of people do.

Re: Former NSA chief Keith Alexander has joined Amazon’s board of directors

#28

Post by throwaway0a5e »

vikramkr wrote: post #9
netsharc wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will it matter? The sheep (myself included) will still shop on Amazon.

Its not like they have no competition- if people end up trusting walmart more than amazon we could see a shift happen. And again - HQ2. That was a huge miscalculation that resulted in actual problems for them - they're not able to get everything they want.

Damn near every Amazon retailer who isn't drop shipping also has storefronts on other major eCommerce platforms.

Re: Former NSA chief Keith Alexander has joined Amazon’s board of directors

#29

Post by 1MoreThing »

tasogare wrote: post #5
leptoniscool wrote: post #4

Amazon does have devices listening in every home. Is the concern here that hiring Keith Alexander would make it easier for government to get people's conversation data?

> Amazon does have devices listening in every home. No, they don’t. It’s a choice people make, and most aren’t buying Kindle, Echo or other near useless spying device like that.

This is why I keep one of each in my home. By having an Echo, Google Assistant, and an iPhone, I figure I'm able to give everyone access to my data, making it worth less. ()

Re: Former NSA chief Keith Alexander has joined Amazon’s board of directors

#30

Post by DetroitThrow »

harry8 wrote: post #12
m0zg wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If he had that "intel" we'd know it by now.

That is an assertion with no evidence. Either is possible.

While either is possible, your response reminds me of Russell's teapot because it's just as possible that Bezos eats dirt.

Without being able to falsify the claim, and by deferring to a claim that isn't the simplest possible explanation (he's got nothing), it makes me wonder whether other HN commentators will come to defend my "Bezos is a dirtmonger" conspiracy theory as well.

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