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As technologists, we think this issue is so straightforward that you must either be evil or a complete idiot if you support this law I don't think it is either

As technologists, we think this issue is so straightforward that you must either be evil or a complete idiot if you support this law I don't think it is either. More likely it is the "something must be done, this is something" kind of thinking. You don't need to be absolutely evil or absolutely idiotic to subscribe to this philosophy. The problem is that we end debating the right side of that claim (because that's what the uniformed masses and legislators focus on), what the something should be, rather than trying to convince people that the left side, the premise, is unfounded.

EdHominem 11y ago
> "something must be done, this is something" kind of thinking. You don't need to be absolutely evil or absolutely idiotic to subscribe to this philosophy. To fall into it without warning, no. Like all fallacies, it's a local maxima. But to stick with it after it's pointed out... At best that's stupidity, at worst it's deceit and treachery.
- studentrob 11y ago
  There are not many people with technical knowledge in respected positions of government. The US CTO, Megan Smith, is probably the most respected. She claims Obama supports strong encryption [1]. She omits the fact that Obama is looking for ways to keep strong encryption out of the hands of criminals, which as we know is as impossible as keeping knives out of the hands of criminals. The Press Secretary recently stated this about the President, > he believes that strong encryption should be robustly deployed. At the same time, we should not set up a situation where bad actors -- terrorists -- can essentially establish a safe haven in cyberspace. [2] There's also a commission that was formed yesterday to handle this question. It is called the President’s Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity [3] and they are due to give a report by the beginning of December (7.5 months). [1] http://www.cnet.com/news/megan-smith-highlights-heritage-of-women-in-tech/ http://www.cnet.com/news/megan-smith-highlights-heritage-of-... [2] https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/04/12/press-briefing-press-secretary-josh-earnest-4122016 https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/04/12/press... [3] https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/04/13/announcing-presidents-commission-enhancing-national-cybersecurity https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/04/13/announcing-presid...

EdHominem 11y ago

> "something must be done, this is something" kind of thinking. You don't need to be absolutely evil or absolutely idiotic to subscribe to this philosophy. To fall into it without warning, no. Like all fallacies, it's a local maxima. But to stick with it after it's pointed out... At best that's stupidity, at worst it's deceit and treachery.

studentrob 11y ago
There are not many people with technical knowledge in respected positions of government. The US CTO, Megan Smith, is probably the most respected. She claims Obama supports strong encryption [1]. She omits the fact that Obama is looking for ways to keep strong encryption out of the hands of criminals, which as we know is as impossible as keeping knives out of the hands of criminals. The Press Secretary recently stated this about the President, > he believes that strong encryption should be robustly deployed. At the same time, we should not set up a situation where bad actors -- terrorists -- can essentially establish a safe haven in cyberspace. [2] There's also a commission that was formed yesterday to handle this question. It is called the President’s Commission on Enhancing National Cybersecurity [3] and they are due to give a report by the beginning of December (7.5 months). [1] http://www.cnet.com/news/megan-smith-highlights-heritage-of-women-in-tech/ http://www.cnet.com/news/megan-smith-highlights-heritage-of-... [2] https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/04/12/press-briefing-press-secretary-josh-earnest-4122016 https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2016/04/12/press... [3] https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/04/13/announcing-presidents-commission-enhancing-national-cybersecurity https://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2016/04/13/announcing-presid...