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For any person who is familiar with the soviet mentality this shouldn't be surprising at all. I guess LJ has introduced these changes because otherwise the of

For any person who is familiar with the soviet mentality this shouldn't be surprising at all. I guess LJ has introduced these changes because otherwise the officials would shut down the whole thing, seize all the servers and arrest the management, possibly for unrelated charges - just to make a point. It was an offer they couldn't refuse... These people will ban the Internet before giving up power and that will probably be met with relative apathy by the population - "well, if we have to suffer for our motherland, we will...". Of course 'motherland' has nothing to do with it - everyone knows that they are pawns in a game played by a handful who have all the power and that's a game that's been going on for centuries. Interestingly, we, the software community, are also unknowingly giving a huge helping hand to these guys, not just in Russia, but pretty much everywhere else. The idealistic desire for 'freedom', the main motivation behind 'free software' is actually backfiring hard right now. We've open sourced so much technology that any student can put together powerful country-wide surveillance and control systems, offering incredible powers to whoever is the alpha male around there, for free... Technological superiority was the reason why the USSR lost the cold war, but now we've handed those people all this tech for free and are actively maintaining it - from operating systems to databases, encryptions systems, etc. Of course we only had good intentions, who would have thought...

bitJericho 9y ago
You act as if the US isn't an equal player in that game.
- frozenport 9y ago
  You act as if life in the USA is comparable to Russia.
  - bitJericho 9y ago
    It is for a lot of people.
    - woodandsteel 9y ago
      There are lots of things wrong with the US. That said, on the whole Russia is vastly worse.
      - bitJericho 9y ago
        Citation needed. America sucks, and has done the most, except china, to counter the ideals of the internet. That aside, in all areas of life, Russia may be more obvious, but the US policies and practices are insidious and equally twisted.
        frozenport 9y ago
        I didn't like the overflowing criminality, despair, and poverty of Russian society. In Moscow, the color gray dominates.
    - PerfectDlite 9y ago
      Really? So if life in North Korea is comparable to US "for some people", you will happily draw an equal sign?
      - bitJericho 9y ago
        I think your patriotism is getting in the way of your perception of reality.
  - creadee 9y ago
    It's certainly getting there for some... http://thelancet.com/cms/attachment/2089909101/2075521280/gr1.jpg http://thelancet.com/cms/attachment/2089909101/2075521280/gr...
ComodoHacker 9y ago
>We've open sourced so much technology that any student can put together powerful country-wide surveillance and control systems Don't forget all these technologies equally help fighting surveillance and control. The benefits here greatly outweigh the costs. >we've handed those people all this tech for free and are actively maintaining it Don't mix Russian people with their government. Many of Russian people are actively developing and maintaining all this tech.
quirkafleeg 9y ago
> These people will ban the Internet before giving up power and that will probably be met with relative apathy by the population - "well, if we have to suffer for our motherland, we will...". After the UK laptop ban on flights some people (who were British, not Russian) trotted out the old, 'well if it keeps us safe' mantra. I don't think you can, or should, generalise about tens of millions of people as if "they" are fundamentally different to "us" somehow, or more willing to tolerate a reduction in their freedoms. > Interestingly, we, the software community, are also unknowingly giving a huge helping hand to "these guys" Free speech, encryption, privacy rights help bad guys too. Your argument here is pretty much how (would-be) totalitarian states put it. > We've open sourced so much technology that any student can put together powerful country-wide surveillance and control systems, offering incredible powers to whoever is the alpha male around there, for free... If any student can access, use, understand and modify the technology, it actually takes power away from the alpha males and puts it into the hands of less powerful people (anyone/everyone).
creadee 9y ago
> Technological superiority was the reason why the USSR lost the cold war I doubt that. More that the Russian population was fed up with the way their country was being run. And unlike then, internet access now is way more like crack than rock & roll and jeans ever was for their youth in the USSR days. The Kremlin takes it away at their peril.

bitJericho 9y ago

You act as if the US isn't an equal player in that game.

frozenport 9y ago
You act as if life in the USA is comparable to Russia.
- bitJericho 9y ago
  It is for a lot of people.
  - woodandsteel 9y ago
    There are lots of things wrong with the US. That said, on the whole Russia is vastly worse.
    - bitJericho 9y ago
      Citation needed. America sucks, and has done the most, except china, to counter the ideals of the internet. That aside, in all areas of life, Russia may be more obvious, but the US policies and practices are insidious and equally twisted.
      - frozenport 9y ago
        I didn't like the overflowing criminality, despair, and poverty of Russian society. In Moscow, the color gray dominates.
  - PerfectDlite 9y ago
    Really? So if life in North Korea is comparable to US "for some people", you will happily draw an equal sign?
    - bitJericho 9y ago
      I think your patriotism is getting in the way of your perception of reality.
- creadee 9y ago
  It's certainly getting there for some... http://thelancet.com/cms/attachment/2089909101/2075521280/gr1.jpg http://thelancet.com/cms/attachment/2089909101/2075521280/gr...

ComodoHacker 9y ago

>We've open sourced so much technology that any student can put together powerful country-wide surveillance and control systems Don't forget all these technologies equally help fighting surveillance and control. The benefits here greatly outweigh the costs. >we've handed those people all this tech for free and are actively maintaining it Don't mix Russian people with their government. Many of Russian people are actively developing and maintaining all this tech.

quirkafleeg 9y ago

> These people will ban the Internet before giving up power and that will probably be met with relative apathy by the population - "well, if we have to suffer for our motherland, we will...". After the UK laptop ban on flights some people (who were British, not Russian) trotted out the old, 'well if it keeps us safe' mantra. I don't think you can, or should, generalise about tens of millions of people as if "they" are fundamentally different to "us" somehow, or more willing to tolerate a reduction in their freedoms. > Interestingly, we, the software community, are also unknowingly giving a huge helping hand to "these guys" Free speech, encryption, privacy rights help bad guys too. Your argument here is pretty much how (would-be) totalitarian states put it. > We've open sourced so much technology that any student can put together powerful country-wide surveillance and control systems, offering incredible powers to whoever is the alpha male around there, for free... If any student can access, use, understand and modify the technology, it actually takes power away from the alpha males and puts it into the hands of less powerful people (anyone/everyone).

creadee 9y ago

> Technological superiority was the reason why the USSR lost the cold war I doubt that. More that the Russian population was fed up with the way their country was being run. And unlike then, internet access now is way more like crack than rock & roll and jeans ever was for their youth in the USSR days. The Kremlin takes it away at their peril.