4 ms·

I can't think of any single topic more important to the health of the Internet as we know it then this, right now. Sorry to be harsh, but dismissing these discu

I can't think of any single topic more important to the health of the Internet as we know it then this, right now. Sorry to be harsh, but dismissing these discussions as merely "politics" is short-sighted and naive.

devindotcom 13y ago
The "discussion" this comment is part of is one step away from "wake up sheeple." Comparing PRISM, about which we know very little, with the propagandists of the third reich is disingenuous, unoriginal, and unproductive.
- drhayes9 13y ago
  Sounds fine to me, no Nazi comparisons needed here. But I was speaking to the grandparent comment's world-weariness WRT politics being all mixed up in his/her technology.
  - run4yourlives 13y ago
    It's not world-weariness as much as it is US politics weariness. If I wanted to know what the major current events were in a foreign country I'd turn on CNN.
    - unethical_ban 13y ago
      Translated: >If I wanted to know what the major cybersec/surveillence stories were in the country with defacto control of a large portion of the world's internet, a hotbed of technological innovation, and the home country of this website, I'd turn to one of the least reputable news sources in that country.
    - flyinRyan 13y ago
      Which would give you a ridiculous caricature of what's actually going on in the US. As much as I'd like to just ignore the US, they don't seem willing to let us.
run4yourlives 13y ago
If you think this is anything different from what has been happening over the last 30-40 years, (and probably longer than that) you are the one that is naive, not me. There is nothing new coming from this, other than the fact that people seem to have had their bubbles of ignorance burst. The internet is the same today as it was yesterday, because a large majority of people simply don't care. You may find this disturbing, but it is undeniable. The circle jerk of the last few days has more properly resembled a university politics class than it has technology and entrepreneurship. I'm not saying politics isn't important though, I'm saying it is better discussed elsewhere. There is nothing new or insightful being added at this point. It's all just meaningless twaddle. If you care, get off your ass and go join a campaign for a person that will stop this stuff.
- drhayes9 13y ago
  If you knew this was happening and had proof before two weeks ago then you've got a great point. This is different. Now there's proof. Leaked documents implicating the largest consumer Internet companies that are recognizable names for every US citizen. Now these large Internet companies have to stand in front of their customers, their shareholders and say something about this. Now's our chance to demand answers from them and from our government. Now there's money involved; this strikes me as a very nice lever with which to move the world. I agree, standing around saying, "Well, I know there's spying going on but, oh well!" is not productive. My ass has been gotten off of for a very long time. But thinking that nothing is different today is over-the-top cynical.
  - run4yourlives 13y ago
    Now there's proof. So. Fucking. What. Call me cynical, I don't care. I've grown out of my desire to completely change the world. Right now I want a nice safe place for my family to be allowed to go about its business. I have that now, like I had it yesterday, and based on all available data I'll have that tomorrow. Yes, even with someone possibly monitoring that I called Indonesia 10 times over the past 15 years. Most western democracies have had this shit in place for years. Canada has CSEC (http://www.cse-cst.gc.ca/index-eng.html http://www.cse-cst.gc.ca/index-eng.html). ECHELON has been around since the cold war (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON). France has internet monitoring. So does Australia. In case you haven't noticed, none of the nonsense around constitutions, human rights, legal decrees and such really matters. They're just guidelines, and how we interpret the words can and does change every damn day. The same law that upheld segregation is the same law that maintains that it is unconstitutional. It's all just interpretation. Get enough people to agree with your interpretation, and you can justify anything. Good luck fighting against that.

devindotcom 13y ago

The "discussion" this comment is part of is one step away from "wake up sheeple." Comparing PRISM, about which we know very little, with the propagandists of the third reich is disingenuous, unoriginal, and unproductive.

drhayes9 13y ago
Sounds fine to me, no Nazi comparisons needed here. But I was speaking to the grandparent comment's world-weariness WRT politics being all mixed up in his/her technology.
- run4yourlives 13y ago
  It's not world-weariness as much as it is US politics weariness. If I wanted to know what the major current events were in a foreign country I'd turn on CNN.
  - unethical_ban 13y ago
    Translated: >If I wanted to know what the major cybersec/surveillence stories were in the country with defacto control of a large portion of the world's internet, a hotbed of technological innovation, and the home country of this website, I'd turn to one of the least reputable news sources in that country.
  - flyinRyan 13y ago
    Which would give you a ridiculous caricature of what's actually going on in the US. As much as I'd like to just ignore the US, they don't seem willing to let us.

run4yourlives 13y ago

If you think this is anything different from what has been happening over the last 30-40 years, (and probably longer than that) you are the one that is naive, not me. There is nothing new coming from this, other than the fact that people seem to have had their bubbles of ignorance burst. The internet is the same today as it was yesterday, because a large majority of people simply don't care. You may find this disturbing, but it is undeniable. The circle jerk of the last few days has more properly resembled a university politics class than it has technology and entrepreneurship. I'm not saying politics isn't important though, I'm saying it is better discussed elsewhere. There is nothing new or insightful being added at this point. It's all just meaningless twaddle. If you care, get off your ass and go join a campaign for a person that will stop this stuff.

drhayes9 13y ago
If you knew this was happening and had proof before two weeks ago then you've got a great point. This is different. Now there's proof. Leaked documents implicating the largest consumer Internet companies that are recognizable names for every US citizen. Now these large Internet companies have to stand in front of their customers, their shareholders and say something about this. Now's our chance to demand answers from them and from our government. Now there's money involved; this strikes me as a very nice lever with which to move the world. I agree, standing around saying, "Well, I know there's spying going on but, oh well!" is not productive. My ass has been gotten off of for a very long time. But thinking that nothing is different today is over-the-top cynical.
- run4yourlives 13y ago
  Now there's proof. So. Fucking. What. Call me cynical, I don't care. I've grown out of my desire to completely change the world. Right now I want a nice safe place for my family to be allowed to go about its business. I have that now, like I had it yesterday, and based on all available data I'll have that tomorrow. Yes, even with someone possibly monitoring that I called Indonesia 10 times over the past 15 years. Most western democracies have had this shit in place for years. Canada has CSEC (http://www.cse-cst.gc.ca/index-eng.html http://www.cse-cst.gc.ca/index-eng.html). ECHELON has been around since the cold war (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECHELON). France has internet monitoring. So does Australia. In case you haven't noticed, none of the nonsense around constitutions, human rights, legal decrees and such really matters. They're just guidelines, and how we interpret the words can and does change every damn day. The same law that upheld segregation is the same law that maintains that it is unconstitutional. It's all just interpretation. Get enough people to agree with your interpretation, and you can justify anything. Good luck fighting against that.