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I am not generally a fan of heavy handed regulations but the government needs to step in and shut Equifax down right now. Literally pull the plug on everything

by gaius 9y ago

I am not generally a fan of heavy handed regulations but the government needs to step in and shut Equifax down right now. Literally pull the plug on everything they own.

theyregreat 9y ago
Updating James Madison: If everyone were honest, neither greedy nor malicious, did pay attention, were competent, including securing their apps, and didn’t have either fires, floods or roads, no regulation or government would be necessary.
- eradicatethots 9y ago
  I think we should still strive to move towards being that way. Greed and maliciousness breed greed and maliciousness and it’s be good to root them out wherever we can.
  - ngold 9y ago
    In the absence of civil institutions regulated by the people, regulation does not disappear. The mantle is picked up by corporations. It's our choice.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
emmab 9y ago
If they have this much trouble with security imagine what else they might be failing at unbeknownst to us.
- bryanrasmussen 9y ago
  drinking water without it dribbling out the corners of their mouths?
dcow 9y ago
I'm not sure what's worse: the fact that Equifax just got $7.25M for identity services from the IRS or the realization that the IRS just spent $7.25M on data they can get for free...
- porfirium 9y ago
  That's like saying "I just spent $100 on this piece of software I could have torrented"
  - icebraining 9y ago
    Except data (mere facts) isn't copyrightable.
    - gubby 9y ago
      Yes they are, you can assert rights on a collection of facts that you have collected. A database containing the location of every tree in the UK would be a piece of protectable intellectual property.
      - pjc50 9y ago
        This is jurisdiction-specific; the UK has a right in databases (as part of EU law) but the US has an "originality" requirement.
      - redcalx 9y ago
        Or indeed, houses. E.g. postcode database.
        justinclift 9y ago
        As a reference data point, the official UK Postcode database: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/national-statistics-postcode-lookup-uk https://data.gov.uk/dataset/national-statistics-postcode-loo... :)
      - 9y ago

by gaius 9y ago

I am not generally a fan of heavy handed regulations but the government needs to step in and shut Equifax down right now. Literally pull the plug on everything they own.

theyregreat 9y ago

Updating James Madison: If everyone were honest, neither greedy nor malicious, did pay attention, were competent, including securing their apps, and didn’t have either fires, floods or roads, no regulation or government would be necessary.

eradicatethots 9y ago
I think we should still strive to move towards being that way. Greed and maliciousness breed greed and maliciousness and it’s be good to root them out wherever we can.
- ngold 9y ago
  In the absence of civil institutions regulated by the people, regulation does not disappear. The mantle is picked up by corporations. It's our choice.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

emmab 9y ago

If they have this much trouble with security imagine what else they might be failing at unbeknownst to us.

bryanrasmussen 9y ago
drinking water without it dribbling out the corners of their mouths?

dcow 9y ago

I'm not sure what's worse: the fact that Equifax just got $7.25M for identity services from the IRS or the realization that the IRS just spent $7.25M on data they can get for free...

porfirium 9y ago
That's like saying "I just spent $100 on this piece of software I could have torrented"
- icebraining 9y ago
  Except data (mere facts) isn't copyrightable.
  - gubby 9y ago
    Yes they are, you can assert rights on a collection of facts that you have collected. A database containing the location of every tree in the UK would be a piece of protectable intellectual property.
    - pjc50 9y ago
      This is jurisdiction-specific; the UK has a right in databases (as part of EU law) but the US has an "originality" requirement.
    - redcalx 9y ago
      Or indeed, houses. E.g. postcode database.
      - justinclift 9y ago
        As a reference data point, the official UK Postcode database: https://data.gov.uk/dataset/national-statistics-postcode-lookup-uk https://data.gov.uk/dataset/national-statistics-postcode-loo... :)
    - 9y ago