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UT-Austin blocks access to TikTok on campus Wi-Fi networks

texastribune.org

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Re: UT-Austin blocks access to TikTok on campus Wi-Fi networks

#191

Post by randombits0 »

rcme wrote: post #140
randombits0 wrote: post #129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Dang, do you know how bad you sound? TikTok may be crack cocaine but it’s just media, protected expression, and beyond consideration for censorship. You let these bastards turn off this app and they will come back and do it again and again. Mind cancer! For the good of national security! Save the children! What a bunch of rubbish. Go back to school! Wait, you’re screwed there too!

Is your claim that all media is perfectly fungible so you don’t need to care about its content or origin and that media has no impact on your beliefs and psyche? That doesn’t sound reasonable to me.

No, I’m saying folks can choose what media they want. Are you suggesting that some media is so evil its availability shouldn’t be tolerated?

Yeah, no.

Re: UT-Austin blocks access to TikTok on campus Wi-Fi networks

#192

Post by rcme »

randombits0 wrote: post #191
rcme wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is your claim that all media is perfectly fungible so you don’t need to care about its content or origin and that media has no impact on your beliefs and psyche? That doesn’t sound reasonable to me.

No, I’m saying folks can choose what media they want. Are you suggesting that some media is so evil its availability shouldn’t be tolerated? Yeah, no.

No, I'm not claiming that media is so evil it can't be tolerated. I'm claiming that there is a national security risk to letting an adversary control the information flow to the population. This has nothing to do with the contents of the media itself.

Re: UT-Austin blocks access to TikTok on campus Wi-Fi networks

#193

Post by vkou »

flappyeagle wrote: post #163
vkou wrote: post #160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure you were the one who took the argument into this direction, by equating banning a chat app to launching missiles - waging war. I'm not asking us to hold ourselves to China's standards - that's the lowest bar in the universe. I'm asking us to hold ourselves to our own standards.

War is not repression. It is unfortunate but often the only sensible approach when the other party is aggressor. It’s not oppression to respond in kind. It is common sense.

> It is unfortunate but often the only sensible approach when the other party is aggressor.

How exactly is China banning an app in its domestic market aggression?

You have a very strange definition of aggression.

Re: UT-Austin blocks access to TikTok on campus Wi-Fi networks

#194

Post by positr0n »

wombat_trouble wrote: post #89
Quillbert182 wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It seems to me like it might be a good idea to require citizenship to create an LLC.

What would that accomplish? Most LLCs are created (incorporated) by a lawyer who then cedes control to the intended owners. Even if you had a requirement for a US person, you'd just have figureheads collecting some nominal salary. Plenty of low-income folks would be eager to get an extra $500 a month for doing nothing. For what it's worth, the formation of an LLC is a state affair, and every state has its own rules a…

> Plenty of low-income folks would be eager to get an extra $500 a month for doing nothing.

If this hypothetical low income person owned the LLC so that others could operate it, nothing is stopping them from cleaning out the LLC's bank account whenever they want since they own it!

Re: UT-Austin blocks access to TikTok on campus Wi-Fi networks

#195

Post by SilasX »

onlyrealcuzzo wrote: post #134
pessimizer wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's pretty easy to do; to characterize nationalist censorship in terms of trivialities. I could literally use being "built for advertisers to push products and services through ads and influencers" to ban television, newspapers, and every social network.

Why isn't UT Austin allowed to block something on the grounds of cyber security? Why does it have to be nationalist censorship?

Coincidentally, in 2005, the same university blocked all emails from a dating site (LonghornSingles) on grounds of spam.

The site filed a lawsuit against the block saying they couldn’t block the site entirely since it complied with CAN SPAM.

A slashdotter compared the argument to “I have a driver’s license and car insurance, therefore I have the right to park on your lawn”.

https://slashdot.org/story/59677

Re: UT-Austin blocks access to TikTok on campus Wi-Fi networks

#196

Post by throw48274853 »

tomComb wrote: post #143
jrexilius wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The revenue from TikTok is minscule compared to losing access the Chinese market. That is the bigger risk they face.

Google has zero revenue from China. They pulled out of China when told they would have to censor search results years ago. Android phones in China don’t use Google’s android.

In 2018, Google made $3 billion in China from Chinese companies buying ads.

Re: UT-Austin blocks access to TikTok on campus Wi-Fi networks

#197

Post by kube-system »

gnicholas wrote: post #136
kube-system wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Jokes aside, the walls are probably thick because Simon Property Group gets better insurance rates.

The thick walls did precede smartphones, but when I found out that Macy's tracks customers via in-store wifi, [1] I wondered if they might keep using thick walls in the future, to ensure that customers have to use the wifi. 1: https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/retailers-tracking-shopper...

As I understand, bluetooth beacons are really the go-to for this.

https://www.shopify.com/retail/the-ultimate-guide-to-using-b...

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/06/14/opinion/bluet...

I don't really think their marketing team is getting involved in determining the electromagnetic characteristics of the construction materials used in their locations, if much at all. And while Macy's does own a notable amount of property, much of their real estate is leased. And yet more of the property they own, they did not build. The reason that commercial construction from the 1980s interacts with your phone's signal is the same coincidental reason it will likely do the same in 2040: steel and masonry are good for large commercial buildings.

Re: UT-Austin blocks access to TikTok on campus Wi-Fi networks

#198

Post by tomComb »

throw48274853 wrote: post #196
tomComb wrote: post #143

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Google has zero revenue from China. They pulled out of China when told they would have to censor search results years ago. Android phones in China don’t use Google’s android.

In 2018, Google made $3 billion in China from Chinese companies buying ads.

I guess then I should say they made nothing in China - those Chinese companies buying ads would have been for ads outside of China.

Either way, it's about as big a contrast as is possible with Apple who are all in on China in every way.

Re: UT-Austin blocks access to TikTok on campus Wi-Fi networks

#199

Post by randombits0 »

rcme wrote: post #192
randombits0 wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, I’m saying folks can choose what media they want. Are you suggesting that some media is so evil its availability shouldn’t be tolerated? Yeah, no.

No, I'm not claiming that media is so evil it can't be tolerated. I'm claiming that there is a national security risk to letting an adversary control the information flow to the population. This has nothing to do with the contents of the media itself.

So run back to Facebook. Or Instagram. Or YouTube. Or Telegram. Or Discord. Or Reddit. Or …

Re: UT-Austin blocks access to TikTok on campus Wi-Fi networks

#200

Post by kerpotgh »

908B64B197 wrote: post #122
remarkEon wrote: post #2

>"We're disappointed that so many states are jumping on the political bandwagon to enact policies that will do nothing to advance cybersecurity in their states and are based on unfounded falsehoods about TikTok," spokesperson Jamal Brown wrote. "We're especially sorry to see the unintended consequences of these rushed policies beginning to impact universities' ability to share information, recruit students, and build…

Makes me wonder how and why he got the job https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2020/06/02/tiktok-apolog...

Seems pretty cut and dry reasoning. He has an impressive resume.
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