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>That's illegal in the US WAS illegal in the US.* Legalized with the enactment of the Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012. The reform effectively nullifies

• tptacek 11y ago
  The bill you're referring to is extraordinarily short. Its major section opens: (a) IN GENERAL.—No funds authorized to be appropriated to the Department of State or the Broadcasting Board of Governors shall be used to influence public opinion in the United States. Did you know that BBG, to which this act primarily pertains, is also one of the world's primary funding sources for security audits of open-source cryptography? That program is managed under the aegis of Radio Free Asia, and has put top-caliber researchers on virtually every open source cryptosystem you've ever heard of, and of course many you haven't. Something tells me that NSA and BBG aren't closely coordinating. Meanwhile, in Russia, which is what this article actually talks about, the country's largest social network was siezed and nationalized by the government. Personally, and I know everyone won't agree with me on this, but I think we should all stop pretending that what the Russian government is doing is comparable to what the US and UK governments are doing. In the industrialized world, Russia and China are one kind of state controlled media, and everyone else is another. We should stop pretending that Russia and China are OK, or casting a pox on everyone else's houses. You'd rather have German media, or even US media, than Russian. Full stop.
  • marksc 11y ago
    I did not know that about the BBG. That is quite interesting. I would have to agree that the level of media manipulation done by Russia and China is far beyond that done by the US. I think that's pretty clear. Frankly, I don't think any of it is "OK." But third-world propaganda doesn't excuse first-world media manipulation either. Or maybe it does. I think it's fair to say that we're squarely in the realm of opinion here.
    • tptacek 11y ago
      That RfA does this work quietly makes it all the more impressive to me. We did work for the program in my last couple years at Matasano (I imagine Tom Ritter's NCC Cryptography Practice is continuing it). They paid real money --- specialist cryptography practice money --- and their only terms were "find good bugs". The projects were coordinated with the open source project managers, who got full reports. Some of those open source projects even publicized the results!
    • fit2rule 11y ago
      I don't think the level of manipulation is any different between Russia and the US. The only difference is the type of manipulation - US spooks need to found a company and use their connections to make influence - e.g. CNN - meaning they're more covert. Russian examples are more overt, because Russian culture simply allows for the embarrassment. Americans would rather not be confronted with the degree to which their government is oppressing them - so they hide it behind corporate entities designed to hide the true influence in the shadows.
      • tptacek 11y ago
        What would be a convincing argument for people who don't believe that CNN is literally a front for the US Government? Edited for clarity.