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Stop the E-Parasite Act

wwws.whitehouse.gov

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Re: Stop the E-Parasite Act

#61

Post by SoftwareMaven »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #13
slowpoke wrote: post #8

While I definitely support the notion of this petition, it's time that people realize that things like these won't do shit, to put it bluntly. To stop this madness, we have to attack and bring down the people who cause this retardation - the content industries. They won't somehow come to their senses and stop pushing for insane laws and regulations. It's a very dangerous illusion that petty petitions will change anyt…

To stop this madness, we have to attack and bring down the people who cause this retardation - the content industries. The content industries don't cause this. They go to politicians and say "pretty please take away people's freedom to protect our profits". That's the only thing they have the power to do. Politicians are not helpless babies who have no choice but to give big content what it wants. They are intelligen…

While I appreciate you calling out the lovely senator from my state (and I completely agree), with such a poorly informed public and with issues that exceed the capacity of many to understand even if they did try yo become informed, I don't think there is a solution that doesn't require a massive overhaul.

Personally, I've like many aspects of the Starship Troopers model: if you don't care enough to serve your country (military or humanitarian), you may still live there, but you are disenfranchised. I suspect there is the real potential for tyranny of the voters, but, in theory, the service is supposed to limit that.

Re: Stop the E-Parasite Act

#62

Post by anigbrowl »

T-hawk wrote: post #36
ugh wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because … the White House is interested in phishing? What?

The grandparent has a point, but didn't state it very well. The NSA and CIA and other three-letter federal agencies do have a reputation for grabbing any telecommunications data they can get. One could think that they might be monitoring and capturing activity on the White House site, to correlate with persons of interest, or even just collecting everything for future use. (And it's not necessarily evil either; we'd…

No matter what system they use, someone will find it fundamentally objectionable. It,s too simple. It's too complex. There's too much security. There isn't enough security. Give people a window on the administration, and the first thing they'll do is whine about the curtains.

Re: Stop the E-Parasite Act

#63

Post by Cushman »

dhimes wrote: post #2

Do these petitions do any good? That is, is it even worthwhile to sign it? Or is our time better spent elsewhere.

In terms of effort:outcome ratio, it probably ranks somewhere under "voting" and somewhere over "arguing on the Internet". Your call.

Re: Stop the E-Parasite Act

#64

Post by tmvphil »

SkyMarshal wrote: post #56

>This bill is a direct assault on a free internet and a shameful attempt by copyright lobbyists to destroy net neutrality. Shouldn't have used that term here. This petition just lost any Republican/Tea Party support it might have had. And though there may be some overlap, this isn't really about Net Neutrality vs. the telecoms anyway.

I think you can be for net neutrality (the concept), while being against net neutrality (as proposed FCC regulation).

Re: Stop the E-Parasite Act

#65

Post by nate_meurer »

DanielBMarkham wrote: post #57
InclinedPlane wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In reality it's more like this: Step 1: Use bucket of cash to gain access to and develop a rapport with a politician, increase the rapport and dependency with campaign contributions Step 2: Convince said politician of your perspective, namely that the works of art your company has struggled to create are threatened by people who want to "steal" them without paying. Step 3: Convince said politician that it's necessary…

Agreed. It amazes me when people see a bad result and insist that there must be a bad person behind it all somewhere. Do people not realize that more evil will come from a bad system full of good people than will ever come from a few bad people in a good system? Germany wasn't bad in WWII because of Hitler -- there are a million little Hitlers running around the world at any given moment. Germany went bad because the…

Absolutely, I agree. That diffusion of culpability is what makes social ills like this so damned difficult to change.

I would say, though, that identifying a villain is immensely helpful in mobilizing opposition, even if the villain is more caricature than reality. Hitler is a great example; no one cared that the reality of the Nazi state was a diffuse and dreary bureaucracy of Eichmanns and Speers. It was Hitler's face that went on war posters.

Re: Stop the E-Parasite Act

#66

Post by jiggy2011 »

Alex3917 wrote: post #44
slowpoke wrote: post #8

While I definitely support the notion of this petition, it's time that people realize that things like these won't do shit, to put it bluntly. To stop this madness, we have to attack and bring down the people who cause this retardation - the content industries. They won't somehow come to their senses and stop pushing for insane laws and regulations. It's a very dangerous illusion that petty petitions will change anyt…

"It's time that people realize that things like these won't do shit, to put it bluntly." That's simply false. They raise public awareness and support of any given issue. People say that the petitions to legalize marijuana have done nothing, but if that's true then why has public support for legalization gone from 36% to 50% in just five years? It's not magic, it's because every time there is a petition that the white…

People support marijuana legalisation primarily because they want to get high rather than because of an e-petition.

Decriminilisation in places like california and modern research into medicanal uses has probably helped too.

Re: Stop the E-Parasite Act

#67

Post by cabalamat »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #13
slowpoke wrote: post #8

While I definitely support the notion of this petition, it's time that people realize that things like these won't do shit, to put it bluntly. To stop this madness, we have to attack and bring down the people who cause this retardation - the content industries. They won't somehow come to their senses and stop pushing for insane laws and regulations. It's a very dangerous illusion that petty petitions will change anyt…

To stop this madness, we have to attack and bring down the people who cause this retardation - the content industries. The content industries don't cause this. They go to politicians and say "pretty please take away people's freedom to protect our profits". That's the only thing they have the power to do. Politicians are not helpless babies who have no choice but to give big content what it wants. They are intelligen…

> The content industries don't cause this. They go to politicians and say "pretty please take away people's freedom to protect our profits".

It's not the fault of corporations. It's not the fault of politicians. It's the fault of corporations and politicians working together. When that happens, it is usually not in the public interest.

Re: Stop the E-Parasite Act

#68

Post by lukejduncan »

T-hawk wrote: post #36
ugh wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because … the White House is interested in phishing? What?

The grandparent has a point, but didn't state it very well. The NSA and CIA and other three-letter federal agencies do have a reputation for grabbing any telecommunications data they can get. One could think that they might be monitoring and capturing activity on the White House site, to correlate with persons of interest, or even just collecting everything for future use. (And it's not necessarily evil either; we'd…

This is what I meant, I don't think it's that far fetched. Certainly not worth being down voted. Whether the white house intended to or not, it's essentially a database of citizens passwords that WILL be used by some three letter agency somewhere.

Re: Stop the E-Parasite Act

#69

Post by lukejduncan »

anigbrowl wrote: post #62
T-hawk wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The grandparent has a point, but didn't state it very well. The NSA and CIA and other three-letter federal agencies do have a reputation for grabbing any telecommunications data they can get. One could think that they might be monitoring and capturing activity on the White House site, to correlate with persons of interest, or even just collecting everything for future use. (And it's not necessarily evil either; we'd…

No matter what system they use, someone will find it fundamentally objectionable. It,s too simple. It's too complex. There's too much security. There isn't enough security. Give people a window on the administration, and the first thing they'll do is whine about the curtains.

I wasn't whining. I was asking if the conversation is being had. It's a question of fostering trust. So I'll ask again: Is anyone talking about the potential concerns here? Has this been asked and answered? Is there a technical solution that alleviates the concerns? I don't think this is whining, just starting a conversation. If the goal of the forum is to open a dialogue is there a way of doing so that ensures the security of citizens?

Re: Stop the E-Parasite Act

#70

Post by scythe »

I had an account on whitehouse.gov the last time they did this petition thing and now I can't log in.

Not that it won't let me, but if I hit "sign in" there's no fields in which to enter a username and password. Like there's no sign in option there at all. What the fuck?

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