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Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

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Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#141
post #20

In long term, it seems democracies transform to autocracies. Well, china is the future indeed.

Some relevant wisdom from the founding fathers of the United States: When asked about when kind of government the founding fathers had created, Ben Franklin replied "A Republic, if you can keep it." On democracy, John Adams wrote: "Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide." Thomas Jefferson further wrote that "The t…

John Adams wrote that as a reason why the United States is not a democracy. It's a Constitutional Republic. It's a consistent theme throughout the Federalist Papers.

Individual States and localities have elements of democracy, but the US—built upon knowledge of Rome—is not.

The United States of America is the second iteration of American government, after the one that failed in 1787. The arguments leading up to the 1789 Constitution are quite explicit around why democracies don't work. America is a nation of nations, which is why "these United States" as a plural term was used frequently until after the Civil War, when having it be a singular concept once-and-for-all was of paramount importance.

That said, this is ban is clearly a restriction on freedom of expression, and highly un-American.

Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Those "protections" are in place for the protection of the government, not the citizens. That's also why the US tried to classify encryption as arms and why they passed the gun control act (people nowadays might think modern gun control was passed to help school kids, no lmao, it was passed in response to the killing of JFK).

I don't have the citations to back this up anymore than you did, but it was also passed because of the rise in Black Power movements walking around with guns. I used to be an obnoxious gun control advocate until I learned that California's gun control legislation was brought about in response to the Black Panther's patrolling predominantly black neighborhoods while armed to protect the people of the neighborhood from…

Most nations with gun control apply gun control to the street police also.

Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#143
post #128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And it's also cute when people imply the internet is unregulateable. There are plenty of tools that countries use to regulate internet traffic. They can require ISPs to DPI the traffic and block it. They can MITM traffic. They can shut off the internet entirely. They can throw people in jail. etc. This stuff happens in many places, including in India.

There are workarounds for all of those things up until the point of you suffering violence for just using any encryption. But if you are at that point, then your country is completely fucked.

It is trivial for a law to simply ban workarounds. The vast majority of countries can and do censor the internet in some ways, and they all use violence to compel compliance with it. The only thing that varies is the extent to which it is censored.

Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Starlink can be jammed.

Jamming can be defeated quite funnily, by digging a pit and putting the antenna at the bottom of it.

Why do you think China is putting lots of satellites into space.... All those tons into orbit isn't for the lolz.

Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#146
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

Are there any instances of the US sending a tourist to jail in another country?

Ages ago there was a Russian citizen they wanted who was flying to the Caribbean. His flight had a surprise landing in Florida with the FBI waiting on the tarmac.

Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#148

> the app enables communication even during network restrictions and creates a substantial risk of misuse by anti-national elements, terrorist organisations, organised criminal groups and cyber criminals seeking to evade lawful detection and continue communication despite legally imposed restrictions. This mouthful boils down to exactly this: a form of communication not controlled by the government creates a risk for…

you are being too charitable in your evaluation.

Re: Government orders GitHub to remove Bluetooth-based chat app Bitchat: Jack Dorsey

#149
post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't have the citations to back this up anymore than you did, but it was also passed because of the rise in Black Power movements walking around with guns. I used to be an obnoxious gun control advocate until I learned that California's gun control legislation was brought about in response to the Black Panther's patrolling predominantly black neighborhoods while armed to protect the people of the neighborhood from…

Most nations with gun control apply gun control to the street police also.

that doesnt apply to the U.S.
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