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Key senators have voted for the anti-encryption EARN IT act

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281–290 of 348 posts

Re: Key senators have voted for the anti-encryption EARN IT act

#281
post #271

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> We don't want ....[x, y, z] Then why are those US tech companies so successful in the EU with no viable local competitors, if nobody wants them?

Why are competitors not viable? Because the USA is a large protectionist market that doesn't like EU companies doing business there? Because USA outspends EU to become dominant? Because even with the EU wide laws, it's still more expensive to follow every local law compared to USA vs USA states?

> Because the USA is a large protectionist market that doesn't like EU companies doing business there?

Could you explain this one a little more?

Re: Key senators have voted for the anti-encryption EARN IT act

#282
post #193

I guess this is the end of "sending customer data to the us". Quite impressive how fast the US-politics can burn billions in $, endanger the technological lead and build a massive opportunity for Europe! I, as a European could not be happier about this, from a economic standpoint. Hope you guys over there are not drifting to a surveillance dystopian.

Get off your high horse. This is a long term international effort where irrelevant Western countries in the peripheries (that’s the EU) have nibbled away at encryption protections to make it easier for the US to do the same. It’s part of a two decades long effort by Western elites to correct their mistakes from the nineties - namely loosening the noose on information and privacy. Australia, France, UK all have dracon…

> Australia, France, UK all have draconian laws that would cause outrage (or are outright unconstitutional) in the US

at least in those countries you don't have to resign for what you do in your bedroom, consensually, behind closed doors...

> The only data protection the EU has is because fussy Eurocrats are annoyed that the US (and not them) get to syphon all of European’s data.

[Citation needed]

this comes up every single time, but it's false nonetheless.

The term "eurocrats" in Europe is used in a negative way only by people who don't understand how EU works, usually from far right.

Nowadays the term Eurocrat has come to encompass staff from all EU Institutions and not only staff from the European Commission.

Although the term Eurocrat might convey negative connotations for some, specialists of European Union and its institutions Didier Georgagakakis and Jay Rowell use the concept of Eurocracy as a way to describe and analyse EU actors and professionals interactions [1]

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eurocrat

Re: Key senators have voted for the anti-encryption EARN IT act

#283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I'm disappointed that Jacky Rosen (D - Nevada) is a co-sponsor. She's a former software developer and should know better. I don't know why you feel this way - IME software devs are the least likely to care about privacy. Maybe they've been so acclimatized to being online all the time, or maybe it's because they feel that they aren't at risk. In any event, the first people to throw away their privacy has always been…

But software developers know . Surely, surely , there can't be anybody who knows , understands and still supports this stuff‽

Oh come on, I said I was "disappointed", not "outraged" or something more extreme.

But yes, I think that understanding helps, and Judge Alsup, whose programming background informed a sane ruling on copyright and APIs in Oracle vs. Google, is exhibit A.

Re: Key senators have voted for the anti-encryption EARN IT act

#284
post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on your definition of left I guess? Dems held a majority in both houses + presidency 2009-11, and also 1993-95, and 1979-81...

Yeah, but because of obscure technicalities around the filibuster, the Dems need 60 votes to pass their agenda, but the Republicans pass theirs with 50.

The filibuster is just a rule that the Senate made for itself. If you have 50 Senate votes to actually get stuff done you can get it done by changing that rule.

What the Democrats had was 50 votes to wring their hands and say it's impossible. Maybe they have 48 votes to get it done, maybe fewer. But they don't have 50 votes to actually get it done, so it doesn't get done.

It suits several Democrats (famously two, but the real number is likely more) in the senate to say they can't do anything, but that isn't the case, it's a lie. You've probably told lies just like it. Oh, I can't come to the your party, so sorry, we have to er, see my wife's parents yeah. You don't want to go to their party, but you say you can't even though it isn't true.

Re: Key senators have voted for the anti-encryption EARN IT act

#285

US folks who are interested in writing their Senators can find information at https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm?OrderBy... FWIW, I sent the email below (largely cribbed from the EFF). Dear : I am a constituent. I urge you to oppose the EARN IT act, S.3538. It does not strike a reasonable balance between fighting crimes and the rights of users to privacy and encryption. The bill empowers every state…

Not only urge them to oppose it, but make it clear that it's a dealbreaker.

I will vote you out if you support this bill. End of story.

Re: Key senators have voted for the anti-encryption EARN IT act

#286
post #83
post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What you're suggesting is exactly what those corrupt senators want. The reason why popular E2EE messengers are such a problem for authoritarian governments/regimes is the fact that it's transparent and enabled by default. This means that millions (or sometimes billions) of people have strong privacy without having to know anything about it. Once E2EE is removed from these messengers, those authoritarians can focus on…

The next step is of course to vilify those who seek privacy, now that it's not the default, switching the rhetoric to suggest that anyone using encryption is surely doing so to hide illicit activities. Privacy becomes illegal at that point.

Maybe next, but surely already current step. Many people are already on that rhetoric.

Re: Key senators have voted for the anti-encryption EARN IT act

#287
There's so much "dem boomers and normies don't understand technology" in this thread, not to mention hyperbolic statements about the end of all privacy, and I feel fairly confident that the vast majority of commenters have, like myself, not read the bill. Not that most of us are likely to understand precisely what it means without a legal background anyway.

Is there a competent analysis of the bill I can read? I think this is the bill: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/senate-bill/353... which to my untrained-in-law eyes seems to do nothing more than establish a commission that makes recommendations to service providers.

Like, don't get me wrong, I'm sure there's good reason to oppose this, I'd just like those arguments in a form that isn't a bunch of nerd-oriented rage-porn.

Re: Key senators have voted for the anti-encryption EARN IT act

#288

I contacted my representatives. It took 1 minute. Please do it too.

Like our opinions matter. I learned from net neutrality that my representatives will do whatever they want to do, without regard for the peoples wishes.

This same bill was shelved once before due to outcry about it. They just keep putting it back out there (very similar to Net Neutrality). The key is, to continue the pressure each time it's re-introduced (which is hard, yes). But there is some precedent that vocal outcry and campaigns to write representatives does have some impact.

Re: Key senators have voted for the anti-encryption EARN IT act

#289

Let me translate this into practical arguments depicting where this leads (how both dangerous and stupid it is). If this bill passes, imagine a world where: - all cloud files, activity, messages, regular over internet activity (provided by any legal company registered in US or wanting to operate in the US) etc shall be readable by the government - this would apply to ALL countries in the world - all companies will no…

The "misguidedness" (is that a word?) of it all reminds me so much of Cory Doctorow's "The Coming War on General Purpose Computation"[0][1]. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUEvRyemKSg [1] https://github.com/jwise/28c3-doctorow/blob/master/transcrip...

Iconic and extremely relevant.

Re: Key senators have voted for the anti-encryption EARN IT act

#290
post #193

I guess this is the end of "sending customer data to the us". Quite impressive how fast the US-politics can burn billions in $, endanger the technological lead and build a massive opportunity for Europe! I, as a European could not be happier about this, from a economic standpoint. Hope you guys over there are not drifting to a surveillance dystopian.

Drifting? We have been there for a long while. The FBI implemented Carnivore in 1997. It is foolish to think surveillance has done anything but grow since then.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carnivore_%28software%29?wprov...

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