The Ashley Madison Database Was Leaked • Hacker News Board

Re: The Ashley Madison Database Was Leaked

#291

Post by Lawtonfogle » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 2:10 PM UTC

ZoFreX wrote: post #198

daemin wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Was there ever any requirement that one be in a relationship to join the site? I'm sure more than a few would have joined, while pretending to be in one, and subsequently have started a relationship.

According to this poster: https://www.reddit.com/r/lgbt/comments/3ebzzj/i_may_get_ston... there is not a requirement to be in a relationship to use the site. And now he might die, because of the leak.

>And now he might die, because of the leak.

Isn't this akin to blaming Snowden/Manning for diplomatic fallout instead of blaming those who were engaging in the wrongful practices that led to the fallout.

Re: The Ashley Madison Database Was Leaked

#292

Post by akshatpradhan » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 2:10 PM UTC

thedufer wrote: post #288

akshatpradhan wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>The people doing this aren't victimizing Avid Life Media; they're re-victimizing the real victims of what is clearly an actual crime. If it's O.K. to hack into someone else's server and mass-out people for having profiles on a dating site because you suspect most of them might be "guilty" of the crime of "marital infidelity" --- and come on, 98% of the people talking about this on Twitter barely recognize that as et…

> If it's O.K. to hack into someone else's server and mass-out people for having profiles on a dating site because you suspect most of them might be "guilty" of the crime of "marital infidelity" I think you've misunderstood. "you" are the people judging that the hacking was OK and outing the victims, not the people who did the hacking. I'm pretty sure Thomas is making no claim about the intent of the hackers themselv…

Its possible I misunderstood. Pointing out the word "you" does bring out a different context for me.

Thank you for showing me that.

Re: The Ashley Madison Database Was Leaked

#293

Post by anthony_d » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 2:10 PM UTC

zamalek wrote: post #240

camillomiller wrote: post #227

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not? Tout se tient :)

Let me finish off by agreeing with you about eliminating the Bible in court. Not only is it out of place, but a person who doesn't believe in such things could swear on it and proceed to lie simply because they don't believe that they will go to Hell. This means that not only is it completely ineffective, but if an actually Christian person comes along they would be at an unfair disadvantage: being unable to lie like…

I've got to strongly disagree with your stance about not discussing this in text form. Nuance is even more subjective than text. I'll go much further and say that if you can't express your view in text, you need to think about your view more because it isn't well formed. I think the problem is that complex ideas can't always be expressed in soundbite form. HN is better than Twitter but it's just not the forum for rational debate.

Re: The Ashley Madison Database Was Leaked

#294

Post by animefan » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 2:11 PM UTC

dsacco wrote: post #4

tptacek wrote: post #2

The response to this this on Twitter would be beyond fucked- up if it weren't so completely predictable. People are posting direct links to the dump, screenshots of lists of emails, and statistics for classes of domains. The general reaction to the availability of the dump is reasonably characterized as "glee". But no matter what you think about Ashley Madison --- and I think A.M. is so comically scummy that I had tr…

This is a great comment, Thomas. I had an argument with my girlfriend about this. No matter what reasoning I used, no matter what I said, she could not agree that it was wrong that Ashley Madison (A.M.) was hacked. Her position was that marital infidelity is such a pubishable offense that the participants on A.M. deserve to be publicly outed. In her view, it was not even up for debate. She felt so powerfully about in…

I'm think disagreement is not about privacy per se, but rather the absolute moral correctness of our legal principals. E.g. other people in this article have commented that people who have affairs deserve to be punched in the face (which is also illegal).

I think engineers tend to place higher values in legal principals, because (a) we tend to prefer rule based solutions and (b) the tendency to allow exceptions to the law also results in school bullying, which nerds have a greater experience with.

Re: The Ashley Madison Database Was Leaked

#295

Post by tbirdz » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 2:12 PM UTC

A_COMPUTER wrote: post #13

tptacek wrote: post #2

The response to this this on Twitter would be beyond fucked- up if it weren't so completely predictable. People are posting direct links to the dump, screenshots of lists of emails, and statistics for classes of domains. The general reaction to the availability of the dump is reasonably characterized as "glee". But no matter what you think about Ashley Madison --- and I think A.M. is so comically scummy that I had tr…

This is pretty close to the same as Donald Sterling's opinion on black people, and outed gay Republicans who voted against gay equality. Even if the outing was unethical, you can't un-pull the trigger on this being public knowledge, and people become responsible for their own shitty behavior that previously was concealed. Sucks to be them. And marital infidelity is unethical even if it isn't illegal. It's pretty FUCK…

>marital infidelity is unethical even if it isn't illegal

Marital infidelity is illegal in 21 states in the US, and many other countries as well. For many individuals this is not just an ethical concern, but a legal one as well.

Re: The Ashley Madison Database Was Leaked

#296

Post by dsacco » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 2:12 PM UTC

dmd wrote: post #264

bdavisx wrote: post #258

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how she would feel if she was addicted to narcotics, went to NarcAnon and then had her name published when someone leaked/hacked their database because "those people shouldn't have done drugs in the first place". Or replace NA with AA.

I can tell you exactly what a person like that's response would be: "I would never do drugs."

"I don't mind if the government can read my emails, I have nothing to hide."

Re: The Ashley Madison Database Was Leaked

#297

Post by icanhackit » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 2:12 PM UTC

akshatpradhan wrote: post #280

icanhackit wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The true intent: "In a long manifesto posted alongside the stolen ALM data, The Impact Team said it decided to publish the information in response to alleged lies ALM told its customers about a service that allows members to completely erase their profile information for a $19 fee." So to show the people who use ALM's services that ALM lies about their policies, the users need to be exposed? Well it's an effective st…

>But I can't shake the feeling there's a hidden fuck-you in there somewhere to the people they're outing. That's not what Thomas is saying. He's literally saying that the main intent of why Impact Team released the 10GB database is because they felt users are guilty of the crime of marriage infidelity. His statement is counter to what Impact Team specifically said, "publish the information in response to alleged lies…

Impact Team are being disingenuous - if you want to punish a liar you don't attack those who were fooled by the lie. More importantly, we don't know why a particular user was registered with the site - there are legitimate reasons why they may have used it including checking whether their partner was active on the site or using it at a time they were single for hook-ups. This leak will potentially destroy or taint innocent peoples relationships.

Re: The Ashley Madison Database Was Leaked

#298

Post by SonicSoul » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 2:13 PM UTC

aaron695 wrote: post #255

tptacek wrote: post #2

The response to this this on Twitter would be beyond fucked- up if it weren't so completely predictable. People are posting direct links to the dump, screenshots of lists of emails, and statistics for classes of domains. The general reaction to the availability of the dump is reasonably characterized as "glee". But no matter what you think about Ashley Madison --- and I think A.M. is so comically scummy that I had tr…

> and I think A.M. is so comically scummy that I had trouble believing it was a real thing Reddit AMA - https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3dy732/i_worked_at_as... "We had one guy I'll always remember. His wife was in an accident and stuck in a wheelchair, unable to do anything. She forced him to join the site and encouraged him to find a woman he could have sex with. He ended up finding partners that would last…

since she gave consent I don't believe this is cheating. In fact he could go on any dating site and check off "married" or "open marriage" status wherever available.

Re: The Ashley Madison Database Was Leaked

#299

Post by Hhefferman1989 » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 2:13 PM UTC

yellowstuff wrote: post #257

Hhefferman1989 wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This isn't a valid example. "Expat" is a very specifically defined term in the vernacular of people that live outside of their home countries: it means a person that moved to another country for a specific job (usually because they were recruited into that job). Expat is a sub-class of immigrant; not all immigrants are expats, but all expats are immigrants. Also, despite what people that make this argument try to cla…

Wikipedia somewhat agrees with you, saying: > In common usage, [expatriate] is often used in the context of professionals or skilled workers sent abroad by their companies. A Guardian writer disagrees, saying "expat" means "white immigrant": http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-... Personally, I think "expat" is used more in the sense of an (usually white) immigrant from a richer country to a p…

I lived in Berlin and knew many Indian and African software professionals who moved to Berlin for a specific job and very much considered themselves (and were considered by others) to be expats. I understand what you're saying, but in practice the usage of these terms doesn't break down in the way that the Guardian article would lead you to believe.

Re: The Ashley Madison Database Was Leaked

#300

Post by Lawtonfogle » Wed, Aug 19, 2015, 2:14 PM UTC

kalms wrote: post #174

TeMPOraL wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Marriages are not just moral issues, they're also contracts between people themselves and between the couples and the government. They come with privileges and tax breaks and social status, and all of it is built upon assumption that marriages are mostly permanent. AM is explicitly attempting to attack that.

Who are you to judge how people live and should their lifes? How dull. There are so many different family structures — incl. open relationships. A family's structure and agreements is not public, nor should they be. Unless said family choose to disclose that fact by their own volition.

>Who are you to judge how people live and should their lifes?

S/he is just like all the other people who engage in electing law makers that create laws that control how we live. Part of being in a democracy like government is that everyone gets a little say in how we all live our lives with a majority rule. Things like constitutions might mean a super majority is needed for some things instead of a simple majority, but the right to have a say is still there.