Is The US Response To Wikileaks Really About Overhyping Online Threats To Pass New Laws?
from the the-cynical-view dept
Okay, this post is going to take the extreme cynical view, which I don't believe is true, but since it's being suggested, we might as well flesh it out. In my post about how the US government's response to Wikileaks has caused more harm than anything actually in the leaks so far, one of the commenters pointed to a Larry Lessig talk from a few years back, where he mentioned a conversation with Richard Clarke -- the former anti-terrorism government official, who, more recently, has been selling his book on "Cyberwar" -- where he said that the US government has had an "iPatriot Act" sitting in a drawer, ready to go at a moment's notice whenever there was "an i-9/11 event."Except there's been no such event.
Yet, in the last year or so, we keep hearing about folks trying to sell the public on the idea that we're facing a "cyberwar," which is always stated without any proof. In fact, it seems that the only thing that the whole "cyberwar" concept has been good for is to (a) make money for government contractors and (b) to give the government a reason to take away more online privacy.
As we've seen, there have been rumors over the past few months that the feds have been working on new legislation that would require backdoors in all internet communications -- which sounds sort of like a version of that iPatriot Act. But, of course, in order to get people to actually accept that kind of thing, the government would need to convince people that it's really for their own safety... But that's a lot tougher without any evidence of a real cyberwar. So... along comes Wikileaks (and, to a lesser extent, Operation Payback), and voila, suddenly the press is bubbling on and on about how this is a cyberwar.
Now, when this new wiretapping law is put forth, the government can claim that it's designed to stop things like having classified cables leaked to enemies of the US -- even though it would have absolutely no impact on such things. Of course, if Wikileaks is a "cyberwar" then what the hell were the Pentagon Papers? A wood pulp war? Whistleblowing and leaking documents, online or off, is not a "war." While I don't doubt some in the US government will try to use this to their advantage, I still really doubt that this is the main reason for the current reaction. I'd chalk it up to pure incompetence first.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: ipatriot act, laws, overhype, wikileaks
Companies: wikileaks
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
As for plans for Cyberwars, would you rather the govt. wait until it actually is attacked before they begin to build a strategy? China now has the worlds fastest computer (at least known fastest supercomputer, I bet there are computers in VA that are faster) and considering how much our military relies on technology, do we want to be second?
There is no second place in wars, only winners and losers.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: I did
So how does our Govt. reaction to Wikileaks change this? Again, I ask, what harm has this done? Seems like just more business as usual.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: I did
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: I did
Our govt. reaction has been a lot of bluster and talk, but what has actually happened? What has changed? People that didn't trust us still don't, others are careful around us, which they probably always were.
The claim that our govt. is hurting itself with its reaction is as questionable as the govt.s claim that the Wikileaks has hurt America.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
There is a huge difference in war between first and second place, but is it really first place if you lose what your protecting in the process? I know it's a cliche, but I would rather die a free man then live as a slave.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
It could be just me though.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
It could be just me though.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
So? What are they going to do? Calculate really large prime numbers? Crack really strong encryption in less than a million years?
If you were complaining that they had a rather huge number of computer at their disposal (which they could use to drown several networks in packets), then you could have something.
"and considering how much our military relies on technology, do we want to be second?"
Heh, technology. If the shit ever hits the fan, we are going for nuclear annihilation. No technology is ever going to save our planet. But, even if we don't go for the extinction event, an M16 (which is probably older than you are) gets the job done, and doesn't need batteries.
War is fought by the man in the ground. You can have all the fancy technology you want, if you don't have guys with the balls to go in-your-face with someone and kill him, and strong leaders to inspire them with clear and worthy goals, you can shove that big technology up a small orifice.
"There is no second place in wars, only winners and losers."
Wrong. There are no winners in war. Every battle is just the warmup for the next one. So it was and so it shall ever be, as long as humans walk the Earth.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
In a word...
"War" is a racket. Lots of companies see 1000% or more increases in profits due to war, war is good for business and businessmans' salaries.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: In a word...
I have to agree. When one studies the pitches and oscillations of the American economy and how coincidentally we go from one war to the next within those waves, it's a logical conclusion that wars are more functions of economy than philosophical policy.
I also understand that Mike needs to avoid the "tin-foil hat" label. Kind of a shame, really. Vietnam was an instructive lesson in many ways, but perhaps none more so than the true strength and power of Eisenhower's forewarned military industrial complex....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: In a word...
I believe this is true throughout history. Game, good farmland, water and even strategic location (offensive or defensive) are functions of economy. Philosophical battles are fought amidst the people in order to gain support for war.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: In a word...
That's probably true, but the new factor in the last two centuries or so is going to war to profit from the *economy of war* itself, rather than the gain of some economic advantage over your adversary. The nice part about this is that it doesn't matter to the multi-billion dollar defense contractors and the banks that own them, who some suggest facilitate these "wars", WHOM we go to war with. All that matters is that we are in fact producing for a war with someone so that the money keeps rolling.
The most blatant example of this was probably the two World Wars....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: In a word...
I'd challenge that with the invasion of Iraq and the current Afghani war. At least with the two WW's, we had the (granted, overly-inflated) call to stop the repression of 'free peoples' by a tyrannical boogeyman (Hitler). Here though, we have some vague connection to stopping Al Qaeda, who no longer even seems to be doing as much as we were led to believe... all while dragging on and on with no real, clear objective.
If ever you wanted a 'war for the sake of being at war'...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: In a word...
The War on Terror is a good example of this, but WWII is a GREAT one. You have to really dig into some of the specifics of American Industry heads and those in unelected govt. positions (at the time), such as Prescott Bush in industry and the Dulles Bros. in govt., to understand that what happened in Germany in the 1920's and '30's was a very carefully planned thing that got away from them. The point wasn't to go to war with Germany, initially.
It was to create Germany to keep an ongoing war with the feared Russians possible. (Fun side note, there is some weird evidence to suggest that the Red Revolution was in part financed and aided by American bankers....)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: In a word...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Whenever you see someone flogging the concept of "cyberwar"...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The US government (as well as many others) see an issue, where the current laws on the books do not address the issue of cyber attacks, thefts, and snooping properly, certainly not in ways that make negative acts easy enough to bring to court. The wikileaks situation just creates a situation where new laws can be crafted with this sort of undesirable situation in mind.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Wikileaks wasn't attacking the US. Anon was attacking various corporations worldwide as part of operation payback. Wikileaks became their latest cause.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
wait... so there are different groups of cyber-hackers with different cyber-agendas? wikileaks and anonymous are acting independently, even though they both believe in computers?
mind = blown
so does that mean that mean that there are different muslim groups with different muslim agendas? that sadam hussein and al-qaeda acted independently, even though they both believe in islam?
mind = blown++
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
So, where does the whole wikileaks thing address these 'holes in the dam'? Wiki didn't 'steal' the docs or break into high-security servers to grab them... that was the work of someone else.
Instead of perusing the person who did steal the docs and addressing it with the laws already on the books to handle such actions, they are going after the entity that they can see and revealed their dirty little secrets.
If this is not the government taking advantage of an opportunity to increase control, then it's simply a case of thumping your little sister for telling on you for doing something wrong.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
Or is it just a way to make people wake up and look at how much they are placidly accepting
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
Woosh.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Everyone was thinking the new cold war would be with the Koreas... but no one watches as it's being deployed on democracy itself.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
You, as well as any other thinking person, understand what the reaction by OP, and the reaction by gov mean for the future of piracy.
It's all downhill from here.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
"You, as well as any other thinking person, understand what the reaction by OP, and the reaction by gov mean for the future of piracy."
Two, everything the government does turns to an overpriced, bureaucratic, money pit, that is ineffective and slow to adapt and always behind the curve. So them going after infringers-"pirates" will be a huge game of whac-a-mole. Mike has pointed out how poorly industry and government deal with distributed systems. This is, one organization, with one set of rules, being led from the top and side (think regulatory capture), against EVERYONE else. Its no where near over.
I'm on a horse ...
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
It is sort of like all the TSA stories. It has little or nothing to do with tech, copyright, or anything like that, but it smacks of "sticking it to the man" which is the underlying theme here.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
....you're saying that the use of backscatter technology and its innefectiveness is not a tech issue? Weird....
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Re:
I'm not sure what you mean by claiming "ownership" of an issue being reported. Are you perhaps referring to the "glory" newspapers give themselves when they are the first to "break" a story or perhaps the first to reach a large audience with a story?
If so, you must be saying Mike is acting like a "real journalist" even though he just writes opinions and conclusions, not news stories.... oh... wait a minute....
Never mind.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
This has been tried before
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
As to: Wikileaks was much more well known for corporate related leaks (and some govt), it's worth noting that "what they were known for" does not equate well to "what they were doing".
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
The whole narrative and security theater was really sloppy and I just don't think we'll find anything new except that this whole thing will usher in a few new laws and TSA contracts to put TVs in WalMarts with Janet Napatalano reprogramming the lower-class with fear- call the police if the neighbor's dog poops in their yard.
I believe that the FBI after Watergate, lost a great deal of it's power, and also by being pulled multiple directions. If you look carefully, the DHS and TSA is now dipping their toes into IP enforcement, an area that once was overseen by the FBI.
The DHS seems to be morphing into a very influential citizen investigating organization that has a "business-is-the-victim" flavor to it.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
The mind boggles
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote."
It's time we changed our leadership, and by that I don't mean Republican vs. Democrat, but all of those boneheads in office who are clueless as to the damage they are doing not just to the rest of us, but to their own progeny as well!
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
YES
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
When???
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: When???
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: When???
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
It's war we are after
The best thing that we can hope for is a cyber coldwar that the people win. Unfortunately for the government we the people have had sometime and practice with combating the issues of restricting the flow of information and hiding our data transfers. That is all thanks to the *IAA.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Loopholes
The legislation Leiberman has introduced -the SHIELD Act on December 2, 2010, was in no doubt created (and Leiberman admits this) to fix the so-called "loopholes" in the Espionage Act...you know...the constitutional "loopholes" that keep the US from being able to put Assange in jail.
It is a five page bill (so far), amending the Espionage Act to include criminal penalties for well, just the type of stuff Assange happened to have done. They could have written this thing in a day. This bill was carefully designed to make sure next time they can throw people like Assange in jail.
See we are supposed to forget the constitutional questions....Sure, the Government is creating hysteria so they can quietly pass some legislation that would further constrain free speech, and the people will support it because "lives are in danger!!!". Smoke and mirrors.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Just Great
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
OK, so China owns our technology, what does that mean? It means our GPS doesn't work, so our jets don't know where to go. When the daylight savings change happened, there was a fighter out on patrol, its GPS went out and they had to send a tanker out to it because they couldn't get back. So our Preditors don't work, which isn't that bad, except they are good for intel too. Our Sats. don't work so we can't see the battlefield.
So that M16 (which I once carried) isn't all that good because if your enemy knows more of the battlefield than you do, you are toast.
So yeah, technology is a big deal.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
OK, so China owns our technology, what does that mean? It means our GPS doesn't work, so our jets don't know where to go. When the daylight savings change happened, there was a fighter out on patrol, its GPS went out and they had to send a tanker out to it because they couldn't get back. So our Preditors don't work, which isn't that bad, except they are good for intel too. Our Sats. don't work so we can't see the battlefield.
So that M16 (which I once carried) isn't all that good because if your enemy knows more of the battlefield than you do, you are toast.
So yeah, technology is a big deal.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Have their been life-changing information leaked that puts us in immediate danger and/or will put MASSIVE changes into effect immediately for the US? No...I am still waiting on anything.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
again?
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Really, Mike? Really? Plans were already drawn up, the government was looking for an excuse to implement them, Wikileaks comes along and you give them the benefit of the doubt?
Well, good on ya mate, I guess you're more trusting than I am.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]