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As the person behind the Open Letter to Skype, I have also written copiously about how dangerous Silent Circle is to cryptography software development. Silent

As the person behind the Open Letter to Skype, I have also written copiously about how dangerous Silent Circle is to cryptography software development. Silent Circle has repeatedly told untruths in the media regarding the open source nature of their software. Their software remains largely closed and not open for public review (except for Silent Text, which has only released incomplete source code.) All the same, Silent Circle has been consciously targeting activists in life-or-death situations. They have repeatedly told activist and the media that their tools are open source and transparently and publicly reviewed. Silent Circle has been lying to those in life and death situations for four months. Their software, except for portions of Silent Text, is not publicly reviewed and closed source software. Furthermore, they claim to have servers based in Canada whereas most of their network is in the U.S., subject to U.S. surveillance laws. I have written about this here: http://log.nadim.cc/?p=89 http://log.nadim.cc/?p=89 http://log.nadim.cc/?p=102 http://log.nadim.cc/?p=102

StavrosK 14y ago
I couldn't comment on that, as I hadn't heard about these concerns before. My personal opinion is the opposite from yours, I think you're reading too much of a bad intention into a startup having its hands full with development. I guess the issue will be put to rest when the code is released, so there's no point in arguing about it too much.
- magikarp 14y ago
  I would appreciate it if Silent Circle did not repeatedly claim to the media that the code has already been openly released and reviewed when it hasn't been.
  - StavrosK 14y ago
    I'm not aware of that. The Silent Text repo is here: https://github.com/SilentCircle/silent-text https://github.com/SilentCircle/silent-text Do you have any references of anyone saying the code of the other clients has been released? I'm curious.
    - magikarp 14y ago
      Silent Text is only one (and the smallest) component of the Silent Circle suite; this source code release is an incomplete excuse. Here's one article out of many where Silent Circle makes claims of complete open source. http://www.lemonde.fr/sciences/article/2012/12/13/le-cryptage-a-la-portee-de-tous_1806219_1650684.html http://www.lemonde.fr/sciences/article/2012/12/13/le-cryptag...
- sandstrom 14y ago
  Perhaps this is a good time and place to do so (just because you hear something for the first time doesn't mean that you can't comment). (I think both Silent Circle and the Skype open letter initiative are great and I'm not affiliated with any of them. Just wanted to point out that not being able to comment on something because it's the first time one hears it sounds weird.)
  - StavrosK 14y ago
    I meant I can't comment with prior knowledge, because I haven't discussed these issues, not having heard them before. I did comment with my personal opinion in the next sentence.

StavrosK 14y ago

I couldn't comment on that, as I hadn't heard about these concerns before. My personal opinion is the opposite from yours, I think you're reading too much of a bad intention into a startup having its hands full with development. I guess the issue will be put to rest when the code is released, so there's no point in arguing about it too much.

magikarp 14y ago
I would appreciate it if Silent Circle did not repeatedly claim to the media that the code has already been openly released and reviewed when it hasn't been.
- StavrosK 14y ago
  I'm not aware of that. The Silent Text repo is here: https://github.com/SilentCircle/silent-text https://github.com/SilentCircle/silent-text Do you have any references of anyone saying the code of the other clients has been released? I'm curious.
  - magikarp 14y ago
    Silent Text is only one (and the smallest) component of the Silent Circle suite; this source code release is an incomplete excuse. Here's one article out of many where Silent Circle makes claims of complete open source. http://www.lemonde.fr/sciences/article/2012/12/13/le-cryptage-a-la-portee-de-tous_1806219_1650684.html http://www.lemonde.fr/sciences/article/2012/12/13/le-cryptag...
sandstrom 14y ago
Perhaps this is a good time and place to do so (just because you hear something for the first time doesn't mean that you can't comment). (I think both Silent Circle and the Skype open letter initiative are great and I'm not affiliated with any of them. Just wanted to point out that not being able to comment on something because it's the first time one hears it sounds weird.)
- StavrosK 14y ago
  I meant I can't comment with prior knowledge, because I haven't discussed these issues, not having heard them before. I did comment with my personal opinion in the next sentence.