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Microsoft Sues Justice Department Over Secret Customer Data Searches

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Re: Microsoft Sues Justice Department Over Secret Customer Data Searches

#51

Post by argonaut »

djsumdog wrote: post #37
bpodgursky wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of those who are against Citizens United do not understand how chilling to free speech the alternative would be. Hint: there's a reason the ACLU believes Citizens United was the right decision.

Citizens United was about a small outfit making a Clinton doco, yes. But the trouble was the decision didn't have to be as broad as it was. They could have limited the scope and achieved a similar effect. Political parties are very interesting in the sense that they are not public; not really at all. (but they should be). That's an argument for stricter laws when specifically dealing with speech and campaigns. Keep i…

How do you think the court could have limited the scope while also staying within the confines of not making things up (the court does not legislate).

Re: Microsoft Sues Justice Department Over Secret Customer Data Searches

#52

Post by function_seven »

comex wrote: post #48
function_seven wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always thought those two terms were equivalent, and that "semiannual" was the every-six-months one. Turns out I as wrong.[1] [1] http://writersrelief.com/blog/2011/05/biannual-biennial-or-s...

Many (most?) sources define "biannual" only as "twice a year". Yet Merriam-Webster says: "Some people prefer to use semiannual to refer to something that occurs twice a year, reserving biannual for things that occur once every two years."

It's a good lesson for contract writers and anyone else that wants to be clear. Never use any of those terms. Instead, write, "Inspections will be done every 24 months", or, "The toner needs to be ordered every six months".

If something is supposed to occur every other Friday? Write it just like that, or "every 14 days". Don't say, "Paychecks are distributed bi-weekly"

Re: Microsoft Sues Justice Department Over Secret Customer Data Searches

#53

Post by wildmusings »

djsumdog wrote: post #37
bpodgursky wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most of those who are against Citizens United do not understand how chilling to free speech the alternative would be. Hint: there's a reason the ACLU believes Citizens United was the right decision.

Citizens United was about a small outfit making a Clinton doco, yes. But the trouble was the decision didn't have to be as broad as it was. They could have limited the scope and achieved a similar effect. Political parties are very interesting in the sense that they are not public; not really at all. (but they should be). That's an argument for stricter laws when specifically dealing with speech and campaigns. Keep i…

>Political parties are very interesting in the sense that they are not public; not really at all. (but they should be).

Please no. At its core, a political party is a group of people with common goals banding together to contest elections. Congress and the elections are the public institutions. How people choose to form alliances and contest those elections is a private matter. The only way to make political parties public is to ban private political parties, which should throw up all sorts of red flags in your head.

As for Citizens United, people forget that it's not just about big for-profit companies spending money. Any non-profit group is a corporation. If you and I share a set of political ideas and want to advocate for them, we'd form a non-profit, print pamphlets, run ads, court donors, rinse and repeat. That's freedom at work. It's totally impractical to run such an operation as a single human being. It's totally irresponsible to set up such a group and then legally run it as a single human being. Incorporation is the legal means for people to embark on common projects.

Re: Microsoft Sues Justice Department Over Secret Customer Data Searches

#54

Post by sandstrom »

icloudsearch wrote: post #30

Throwaway because I am currently under investigation. Apple inadvertently notified me that had subpoena'd my iCloud backups. I suspect that they violated the gag order in error. As a result they expedited their physical warrant and raided me 2 days later. As someone targeted by a federal investigation, it is clear that the government will vacuum up as much information as possible without my knowledge. Hopefully Micro…

Do you know why you are being investigated?

Re: Microsoft Sues Justice Department Over Secret Customer Data Searches

#56

Post by wfunction »

function_seven wrote: post #52
comex wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Many (most?) sources define "biannual" only as "twice a year". Yet Merriam-Webster says: "Some people prefer to use semiannual to refer to something that occurs twice a year, reserving biannual for things that occur once every two years."

It's a good lesson for contract writers and anyone else that wants to be clear. Never use any of those terms. Instead, write, "Inspections will be done every 24 months", or, "The toner needs to be ordered every six months". If something is supposed to occur every other Friday? Write it just like that, or "every 14 days". Don't say, "Paychecks are distributed bi-weekly"

Is it common to give out paychecks twice a week though? I feel like common sense could rule out one of those cases...

Re: Microsoft Sues Justice Department Over Secret Customer Data Searches

#57

Post by chopin »

KirinDave wrote: post #13
daveguy wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh I expect telemetry would be of great use to them. What you have installed, what your using and when. Log information would be extremely useful toward matching a person up with a crime. I doubt it is just OneDrive data they are providing.

> Log information would be extremely useful toward matching a person up with a crime. As opposed to the information that the ISPs are already offering? Sorry, but your underlying networks are already in collusion with the feds. Were they not, the telemetry might provide signals that wouldn't be more easily obtained elsewhere. But it's also worth noting that the telemetry for 'apps installed' is just your license list…

>As opposed to the information that the ISPs are already offering?

Log information can be much more revealing if you are communicating only via encrypted protocols or Tor. We don't know for sure what exactly MS is transmitting in their logs but we do know quite well what traces we leave (or leave not) behind via our ISP. And that's definitely much less than what our machine can reveal via (encrypted) telemetry.

Re: Microsoft Sues Justice Department Over Secret Customer Data Searches

#58

Post by richmarr »

wfunction wrote: post #56
function_seven wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's a good lesson for contract writers and anyone else that wants to be clear. Never use any of those terms. Instead, write, "Inspections will be done every 24 months", or, "The toner needs to be ordered every six months". If something is supposed to occur every other Friday? Write it just like that, or "every 14 days". Don't say, "Paychecks are distributed bi-weekly"

Is it common to give out paychecks twice a week though? I feel like common sense could rule out one of those cases...

Say you've got a 10 new joiners per week at your high-turnover packing factory, and a sign outside the admin office that says "Paychecks are distributed bi-weekly".

Maybe typically 5 of them have had a job before in the area, 3 have had a job elsewhere and 2 have never had a job. Not all of them have the same level of education.

How many will misunderstand your sign? Might any of those misunderstandings about money cause problems for people?

Considering the comparitive cost of writing the sign as "every two weeks", and the reduction in potential confusion, it seems like a no-brainer to write it that way.

Re: Microsoft Sues Justice Department Over Secret Customer Data Searches

#59

Post by wfunction »

richmarr wrote: post #58
wfunction wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it common to give out paychecks twice a week though? I feel like common sense could rule out one of those cases...

Say you've got a 10 new joiners per week at your high-turnover packing factory, and a sign outside the admin office that says "Paychecks are distributed bi-weekly". Maybe typically 5 of them have had a job before in the area, 3 have had a job elsewhere and 2 have never had a job. Not all of them have the same level of education. How many will misunderstand your sign? Might any of those misunderstandings about money c…

I mean are you talking about jobs meant for those with some kind of college education, or are you talking about jobs aimed at (say) middle-school drop-outs? For the latter, I can see it, but for the former it's almost insulting to try to simplify things too much just in case the employee doesn't have common sense that they will need on the job anyway...

Re: Microsoft Sues Justice Department Over Secret Customer Data Searches

#60

Post by s_q_b »

gardano wrote: post #34
vox_mollis wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

concerned about the fact the Amazon didn't attempt one of these lawsuit earlier. I have no idea why you're bringing up Amazon since the article is about Microsoft. That said, assuming you're asking the question about MSFT: Microsoft has always been a lapdog of the Feds, as evidenced by handing over hotmail data simply from a pleasant LEA request, to centralizing and backdooring skype, to removal of the elephant diffu…

While I disagree with the tone of your comment, I would have to agree that Apple has made it a good and responsible action to oppose such open-ended Federal requests.

It was always morally good for the consumer.

Apple's stance may have tweaked the business incentives back in line with the moral good.

Apple has always been big on the idea that best way to alter behavior is to alter incentives.

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