So, privacy is like guns?
Nice to have, but something we need to give up in order to live in a safer society?
John McCain wants to outlaw encryption that the US government can't crack
81–90 of 196 posts
Re: John McCain wants to outlaw encryption that the US government can't crack
#82Earlier quoted context omitted.
I upvoted you because I agree about the cognitive dissonance between having a lower limit but not having a higher one (as the old adage goes, don't tell me what's too little if you can't tell me what's considered too much), but I respectfully disagree. If one person is an idiot at 79, that does not mean that another cannot be well-informed and in-touch at the age of 85. Then there's the premise of your argument: that…
> If one person is an idiot at 79, that does not mean that another cannot be well-informed and in-touch at the age of 85. If one person is an idiot at 35, that does not mean that another cannot be well-informed and in-touch at the age of 30
Well informed and in touch does not replace years of life experience.
Re: John McCain wants to outlaw encryption that the US government can't crack
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
Or maybe try and find non-establishment candidates to run (who are not out of their gourd) and vote for them :)
Do you humorously pretend in your comment that you don't know about Bernie Sanders?
No, just a general comment. My only regret about Bernie is there aren't more people like him running for office. It takes a lot to have a majority in Congress and so IMO we're not close to having enough non-establishment candidates like him to have faith our government will debate civilly and act reasonably.
Re: John McCain wants to outlaw encryption that the US government can't crack
#84Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think Congress needs their own dedicated ELI5 hotline :)
r/ELIaEO - Explain like I'm an elected official
"if you do this then I'll give you this campaign donation", is that the kind of explanation it would provide? Otherwise I don't see it getting very far.
Re: John McCain wants to outlaw encryption that the US government can't crack
#85We really need to set an age limit on how old people can get while staying in office before being forced to retire. We already prevent people younger than 40 from running for President. Why should we let people older than 65 do it? What's the difference?
No. This makes little sense, is arbitrary and absurd. We need people to be qualified by measurable factors like degrees, years working in a particular field, ability or intelligence and/or other relevant facts. John McCain is a good man, I think he has good intentions, and is very qualified for certain positions. This is just not one of them, and it isn't because I disagree with him (I do), it is because he isn't qua…
>> We need people to be qualified by measurable factors like degrees,
A degree certifies that you can learn to learn what you are aware you don't know. That is all it does.
Re: John McCain wants to outlaw encryption that the US government can't crack
#86Earth to Republicans, if you want to alienate people under 30, please listen to John McCain.
Re: John McCain wants to outlaw encryption that the US government can't crack
#87Is it really worth leaving a thoughtful comment about such an ignorant statement? It's clear to me that these people have no idea what encryption actually is and only have a cursory understanding of what it does. They're aware that criminals and terrorists can use encryption to communicate covertly. That's why they want to ban it. Are they also aware that the exact same technology is used to protect their online bank…
I think Congress needs their own dedicated ELI5 hotline :)
They have one - their favorite lobbyist. Who is probably paid to explain things in a way that suits the agenda of someone with money.
Re: John McCain wants to outlaw encryption that the US government can't crack
#88Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I would say that getting a Gun in the US or even in Europe (especially since the eastern European and Balkan states have joined (officially or unofficially Schengen) is by far easier than setting up your own secure crypto from scratch. No, it is far easier to download an openbsd cd image from canada than it is to physically carry a gun.
OpenBSD cd image would give you absolutely nothing when it comes to defending against state level actors sorry. And you are assuming that in their proposed reality that would be as easily achievable as it is today, you'll be surprised how effective can a crackdown be once a government sets its mind to it.
I've yet to hear anything about state level actors surreptitiously accessing an OpenBSD system.
Re: John McCain wants to outlaw encryption that the US government can't crack
#89Is it really worth leaving a thoughtful comment about such an ignorant statement? It's clear to me that these people have no idea what encryption actually is and only have a cursory understanding of what it does. They're aware that criminals and terrorists can use encryption to communicate covertly. That's why they want to ban it. Are they also aware that the exact same technology is used to protect their online bank…
> Are they also aware that the exact same technology is used to protect their online banking? To protect against attacks like the Sony hack? Do they know that there is a huge segment of the economy that relies on strong encryption to do business? I'm sure they are. The problem is, I suspect, more the delusion that if there are backdoors, only MURICA will be able to exploit them because GODDAMN GREATEST COUNTRY IN THE…
Your statement is bleak, but probably so true that it's scary.
Re: John McCain wants to outlaw encryption that the US government can't crack
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
McCain isn't a nice guy. He's always been opposed to every kind of civil rights and in favor of total central government power and total war. He introduced the campaign finance bill that forced the government to argue before the Supreme Court that it had the power to ban books with political opinions it didn't agree with, the same argument that led to the Citizens United decision. He made up a song about bombing Iran…
To be pedantic, that Beach Boys parody dates back to the late 70s during the hostage taking of the U. S. Embassy. (Which causes me to wonder: did his campaign properly secure the rights from the song writer, or did they do like other candidates and "steal" it?)
There were quite a few different parodies of that song with the "Bomb Iran" theme from different groups, and all McCain did was the "Bomb, bomb, bomb" part, which made the message clear, but didn't really specifically invoke any of the particular parodies.