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correct. i'm just having a hard time with the point (or lack there of) in this post.. as far as i can tell it's something like: NSA = PRISM, therefore any compa

correct. i'm just having a hard time with the point (or lack there of) in this post.. as far as i can tell it's something like: NSA = PRISM, therefore any company doing work for NSA = evil.

tootie 13y ago
The NSA is skating on very thin constitutional ice, but honestly they haven't really done anything that even qualifies as evil. The KGB did this kind of spying, but they did for the express purpose of sending dissenters to gulag. I haven't seen so much as a credible accusation that the NSA are doing anything other than their duly authorized mission.
- fetbaffe 13y ago
  This is the same as the British Stamp Act from the American Revolutionary War. If the Stamp Act was an argument for revolution because it was evil, this is too.
  - tootie 13y ago
    The difference is that the colonists had no recourse. "No taxation without representation" and all that. Without sending delegates to parliament, they had no channels to complain through, so rebellion was the only option. We could end the NSA completely by voting for candidates who support that.
    - fetbaffe 13y ago
      I can't vote in the US as a resident in Sweden, so I'm in the exact same positions as the first colonists in America. I guess my only option now is to rebel. But sure for those living in the US they can do that. And they did that with Obama. However that just increased the surveillance.
- giardini 13y ago
  "...honestly they haven't really done anything that even qualifies as evil." Firstly, how can we be certain? Suppose, for a moment, I had the data that the NSA has. To whom could I sell that data? If I could prove to questioners that I had such data, to what ends might they go to get it from me(Ans. there are entities that would take it by force and then kill me and my family to remove the traces)? NSA is sitting on a goldmine. Many, if not most, large corporations, businessmen, academics, organized crime members, politicians, or bureaucrats would sell their home (and possibly their family into slavery) to obtain that information. How can the NSA possibly ensure that it is safe ? How can they ensure that their employees do not pass some of that data to the above? What if a significant chunk of that data is copied and enters the black market? How could it possibly be recaptured? Snowden has, by example, shown that all the above can and indeed did occur. As we speak there are undoubtedly hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals who are attempting to gain access to the NSA's treasure vaults. Some groups are smarter and better organized than the NSA. It's merely a matter of time before huge leaks occur. They may or may not be leaked publicly. Neglect can be criminal too.
- flyinRyan 13y ago
  They're not skating on thin ice, they fell through some time ago. I'd also call the way they claim to bypass checks and balances by "storing" instead of "reading" data (assuming that's even true which seems unlikely). And the NSA might not have sent anyone to the gulag but the Obama administration has gone after whistle-blowers at an unprecedented level. Hard to imagine the NSA wasn't helping them out some.
fetbaffe 13y ago
The point is that Microsoft opened up their services for the NSA, i.e. they was not just doing some contracting work on encryption in general, they were misleading their customers on privacy, something they should go to court for.

correct. i'm just having a hard time with the point (or lack there of) in this post.. as far as i can tell it's something like: NSA = PRISM, therefore any company doing work for NSA = evil.

tootie 13y ago

The NSA is skating on very thin constitutional ice, but honestly they haven't really done anything that even qualifies as evil. The KGB did this kind of spying, but they did for the express purpose of sending dissenters to gulag. I haven't seen so much as a credible accusation that the NSA are doing anything other than their duly authorized mission.

fetbaffe 13y ago
This is the same as the British Stamp Act from the American Revolutionary War. If the Stamp Act was an argument for revolution because it was evil, this is too.
- tootie 13y ago
  The difference is that the colonists had no recourse. "No taxation without representation" and all that. Without sending delegates to parliament, they had no channels to complain through, so rebellion was the only option. We could end the NSA completely by voting for candidates who support that.
  - fetbaffe 13y ago
    I can't vote in the US as a resident in Sweden, so I'm in the exact same positions as the first colonists in America. I guess my only option now is to rebel. But sure for those living in the US they can do that. And they did that with Obama. However that just increased the surveillance.
giardini 13y ago
"...honestly they haven't really done anything that even qualifies as evil." Firstly, how can we be certain? Suppose, for a moment, I had the data that the NSA has. To whom could I sell that data? If I could prove to questioners that I had such data, to what ends might they go to get it from me(Ans. there are entities that would take it by force and then kill me and my family to remove the traces)? NSA is sitting on a goldmine. Many, if not most, large corporations, businessmen, academics, organized crime members, politicians, or bureaucrats would sell their home (and possibly their family into slavery) to obtain that information. How can the NSA possibly ensure that it is safe ? How can they ensure that their employees do not pass some of that data to the above? What if a significant chunk of that data is copied and enters the black market? How could it possibly be recaptured? Snowden has, by example, shown that all the above can and indeed did occur. As we speak there are undoubtedly hundreds, if not thousands, of individuals who are attempting to gain access to the NSA's treasure vaults. Some groups are smarter and better organized than the NSA. It's merely a matter of time before huge leaks occur. They may or may not be leaked publicly. Neglect can be criminal too.
flyinRyan 13y ago
They're not skating on thin ice, they fell through some time ago. I'd also call the way they claim to bypass checks and balances by "storing" instead of "reading" data (assuming that's even true which seems unlikely). And the NSA might not have sent anyone to the gulag but the Obama administration has gone after whistle-blowers at an unprecedented level. Hard to imagine the NSA wasn't helping them out some.

fetbaffe 13y ago

The point is that Microsoft opened up their services for the NSA, i.e. they was not just doing some contracting work on encryption in general, they were misleading their customers on privacy, something they should go to court for.