To empathize with Barr, I can see how he doesn’t draw much distinction between his experience at Verizon and the question of encryption. He experienced the pai

To empathize with Barr, I can see how he doesn’t draw much distinction between his experience at Verizon and the question of encryption. He experienced the pain and consternation of regulation, and now feels erudite calling BS on “his old industry” as the defender of All Things Right. But of course, when Hacker News is called upon to “nerd harder” we always rise to the challenge. Except when the difference is, in fact, fundamental. Back doors have a way of becoming front doors for the wrong people. And absolute power corrupts absolutely. All of that was true before. It’s just that now getting the wrong set of keys could now open a billion locks at once.