US intelligence mining data from 9 US Internet companies in broad secret program

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jun 07, 2013, 8:48 PM UTC

kps wrote: post #277

stfu wrote: post #36

What really saddens me is that this confirms all the conspiracy rumors. Wasn't it always just a rumor going around that the U.S. Government "made" Microsoft buy Skype for spying purposes? Well: "10 May 2011, Microsoft Corporation acquired Skype Communications" and on 2/6/11 Skype was added to the US spy program [1] They were so eager to spy on Skype users that they implemented that "feature" even before the deal was…

Not to detract from the concerns surrounding this program, or to defend Microsoft, but from the dates for Google, YouTube, and AOL one can see that Skype joined on February 6, not June 2.

Post by akiselev » Fri, Jun 07, 2013, 9:05 PM UTC

irishloop wrote: post #396

adventured wrote: post #328

Earlier quoted context omitted.

By the time they're using these extreme powers to smother dissent, you're fucked. It's game over and your ability to speak out using the first amendment is non-existent. The very reason why these things should never be allowed, is because the absolute protection of freedom of speech is ultimately the last safeguard against tyranny (before you get to violence anyway). Why let the guy into my house with a gun and roll…

>By the time they're using these extreme powers to smother dissent, you're fucked. It's game over and your ability to speak out using the first amendment is non-existent. This is how revolutions are started. There's no "game over." A population always has the option to rise up against their brutal regime. Especially in a place like the United States, where individual freedoms are highly prized and there is a rather l…

Post by pvdm » Sat, Jun 08, 2013, 1:49 PM UTC

kevinalexbrown wrote: post #143

I've lived under surveillance before, so I feel my perspective might be somewhat appropriate. I won't comment on the specifics (uninteresting and irrelevant, had to do with where I was living). I won't even make a statement about whether it's justified in my case or in general. I'd just ask everyone here to do one thing: Watch this, then ask yourself how you feel (if it doesn't go directly to 6:40, fastforward to it,…

Post by gnaritas » Sat, Jun 08, 2013, 2:37 PM UTC

nitrogen wrote: post #407

gnaritas wrote: post #405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The law doesn't care what the average person thinks nor does reality. It's the persons responsibility to maintain his own privacy by not posting private information on a public website. If you post something on the Internet, it's going to get out there; people should know this by now and if they don't it's their own damn fault.

According to this comment by a self-proclaimed lawyer (in training?), the law does care what the average person thinks: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5833747 If people don't know something by now it's equally the fault of the services they use for not educating them about the real implications of what they do online.

Post by bsaul » Sun, Jun 09, 2013, 8:25 PM UTC

hga wrote: post #388

bsaul wrote: post #371

It's funny how people in the US hate government so much that they seem more outraged by a national agency collecting meta-data for antiterrorism purpose, than private company collecting content for ad targeting.

In the previous century governments killed upwards of a quarter billion of their own people; I'm unaware of any even vaguely comparable mass murders by corporations.