5% seems more like certain people being more cautious because they don't want to draw any more attention to themselves at that key moment.
In a legal context, a chilling effect is the inhibition or discouragement of the legitimate exercise of natural and legal rights by the threat of legal sanction.
So, unless you're saying that performing said searches on Wikipedia should be illegal, then that is the exact definition of a chilling effect.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: "almost certainly has put millions of people at risk "
This is called the Parmenides Fallacy, or the cost of inaction.
Assumption 1: This exploit is known to various black hat hackers and is in use. Assumption 2: Active exploitation of this vulnerability puts citizens at risk. Assumption 3: The FBI is aware of this vulnerability. Assumption 4: Given knowledge of this vulnerability, Apple could work to mitigate the damage.
With the given assumptions, there are two options.
Option A: FBI does not releasd information about the exploit, and it continues to be exploited, harming some number of individuals. Call this number X. Option B: FBI releases information about the exploit, reducing the number of harmed individuals. Call this number X - Y.
The choice between these options is made by the FBI. Therefore, they can choose to harm a larger number of individuals, or a fewer number of individuals.
The cost of each option, in harmed individuals:
Option A: Y Option B: 0
By not disclosing the vulnerability their inaction has put some number of individuals at risk of harm.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: "almost certainly has put millions of people at risk "
So that somehow makes it ok to buy up vulnerabilities and hoard them?
Did you even read that link you trotted out? It makes it abundantly clear that the FBI has a very poor track record when it comes to disclosing vulnerabilities. They barely pay lip service to the idea. (And the fact that there's a procedure in place for it would indicate that releasing information about exploits they are aware of is very much part of their job).
There is no scenario where it is acceptable for a law enforcement agency to sit on an exploit like that. That's like a cop going into a shop that's being robbed and saying "Not my problem. I haven't been dispatched here, and the paperwork would be a pain."
Re: Re: Re: "almost certainly has put millions of people at risk "
I don't know where you're getting the adjective "significant" from. Hell, the word Mike used was "potentially", which is about as far from "significant" as you can get while still being a positive signifier of risk.
The fact of the matter here is that the FBI could help prevent crime by releasing details of this vulnerability. That they are not, purely out of spite, is appalling. Why is the FBI not doing their fucking job?
Sometimes I wonder what the point of all this anti-encryption rhetoric is. Even if we take at face value the claimed motivation of preventing, or at least better investigating, criminal activity, how does this get us there?
To start with, take backdoored encryption. How does this help? Say you could implement a perfect backdoor with a golden key that is physically and inextricably tied to a warrant. We've waved our magic wand and made all the problems and side effects vanish. What would that actually do?
Scenario A., criminals communicate over the backdoored channel, and their communications are available to law-enforcement. At first blush, that sounds great, but then you realize that any criminal who communicates over an effectively open channel knows shit about OpSec, and their communications would likely have been able to be intercepted even without the backdoor. So, what does this really gain for us?
Scenario B., criminals use a different, non-backdoored, encryption scheme to communicate. This will always be a possibility; you can't legislate the math from working. But, say you went a step further and flagged, or even outlawed, non-backdoored encryption. Then the bad guys will have to either communicate in the clear or risk being identified as bad guys, right? Of course not. Let's ignore for the moment simple codes (code phrases, book codes, etc.) which can be used to communicate securely over a compromised channel. You can implement full blown public key cryptography using steganograpgic encoding. The message would look like any other message in the channel, blending in with the noise, but could contain any amount of concealed information. So, what was the point, again?
Weakening encryption will only hurt normal citizens. The "bad guys" either can be caught already without weakening encryption, or weakening encryption won't seriously impact them.
Maybe I'm falling victim to Poe's Law here, but you do realize that's not even close to the same thing, right?
Terrorism related deaths spiked in 2001, but have severely dropped since then. Automobile related deaths have been more or less stable since then.
As such, it is possible that terrorism deaths equaled automobile deaths in September 2001, and that automobile related deaths far outpaced terrorism related deaths since 9/11/2001.
Terrorism has actually been less of an issue in recent years, the IRA just isn't that active these days. Yet it's still the go-to boogeyman, even though it's a minor threat in the grand scheme of things. Not to mention that reacting to terrorism like it was an existential threat is exactly what said terrorists want people to do, it gives them validation.
Re: Re: Re: Governments should NOT be in the business of regulating!
Yes, yes, gross oversimplification, I know. There are a lot of cases where regulations are in place to try to bring back an external cost (such as health care) back into an actor's cost/benefit analysis. It's a goodly portion of the civil suits. However, privacy isn't one of those things that has a sizable economic impact. I can't really see a purely economic argument for privacy protections.
Re: Re: Re: Governments should NOT be in the business of regulating!
Sorry for stumbling into your hot-button issue, but if you'll note the parenthetical, I explicitly mentioned that in some cases regulations can provide better economic growth long-term by curbing dangerous behavior. Glass Steagall is an excellent example of such a case, and definitely needs reinstating.
Still, kinda proves my point that this shit is complicated and actions or inactions can have ripple effects that are felt decades down the line. We often legislate reactively, usually when something goes wrong, and we have a tendency to over-legislate in those responses. I'm in favor of incremental regulation, small steady changes until the problem is under control.
All I'm really saying, though, is think before you legislate.
Re: Governments should NOT be in the business of regulating!
It's not quite that black and white. Regulation, by definition, is a burden on businesses. As such, the optimal amount of regulation is the minimum "required". Unfortunately, there's a world of complications in that one word.
Regulations generally hurt overall economic growth, (though in certain cases, regulations can protect long-term growth by mitigating profitable but dangerous short-term practices, i.e., preventing bubbles) but the reason they exist is that the public values certain things over economic growth. Such as the health and safety of its citizens. No one wants to live in an anarcho-capitalist society.
So, when certain public values, such as the right to privacy, conflict with the bottom line in a market with little reactivity (e.g., monopolies), the public exercises its will through external controls, such as regulatory agencies.
The fact remains, however, that regulation has a cost, often a substantial one. Often that cost is necessary, or worth paying. Sometimes it's not. That's why serious consideration is necessary before implementing any regulation.
And, after serious consideration, the FCC, myself, and just about every consumer in the country have determined that ISPs require additional regulation in order to maintain fair and ethical behavior in their gatekeeper positions.
The proceeds from Naruto’s photo should be used to help endangered monkeys.
That statement alone shows a huge amount of bias. Just for a second, let's assume that "Naruto" has all the rights and duties of a natural person. So, yes, the copyright would fall to the monkey. Not PETA, the monkey.
Now, first off, what proceeds are you talking about? If the copyright was assigned to the monkey what would happen is simply that nobody could use the photo in question. Or do you really, truly, actually think that Naruto would then go on to personally license the photo to a rights management organization?
Secondly, why the flying frak are you assuming that he would want his earnings going to help endangered monkeys? Maybe he just wants to buy some shit.
Back to reality.
On the one hand, you're trying push this narrative that the monkey is sentient and is capable of independent action. At the same time you're shoving your own biases and wants down its throat, treating it as though it cannot make rational decisions.
I'll concede the monkey has the rights to the photo just as soon as it directly claims those rights. PETA is not trying to get the rights to be assigned to the monkey, they're trying to get the rights assigned to PETA, "on behalf of" the monkey. If that's true, they should have a contract with the monkey's signature, since we're all trying real hard to pretend that the monkey has magically become sentient.
Has PETA even been in contact with the monkey? Are there communication records? Has it expressed interest in this case to the press?
On the post: The Chilling Effect Of Mass Surveillance Quantified
Re: Re: The "Chilling Effect..."
So, unless you're saying that performing said searches on Wikipedia should be illegal, then that is the exact definition of a chilling effect.
On the post: Apparently Hacking Syed Farook's iPhone Accomplished Nothing (Other Than Making Everyone Less Safe)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: "almost certainly has put millions of people at risk "
Assumption 1: This exploit is known to various black hat hackers and is in use.
Assumption 2: Active exploitation of this vulnerability puts citizens at risk.
Assumption 3: The FBI is aware of this vulnerability.
Assumption 4: Given knowledge of this vulnerability, Apple could work to mitigate the damage.
With the given assumptions, there are two options.
Option A: FBI does not releasd information about the exploit, and it continues to be exploited, harming some number of individuals. Call this number X.
Option B: FBI releases information about the exploit, reducing the number of harmed individuals. Call this number X - Y.
The choice between these options is made by the FBI. Therefore, they can choose to harm a larger number of individuals, or a fewer number of individuals.
The cost of each option, in harmed individuals:
Option A: Y
Option B: 0
By not disclosing the vulnerability their inaction has put some number of individuals at risk of harm.
On the post: Apparently Hacking Syed Farook's iPhone Accomplished Nothing (Other Than Making Everyone Less Safe)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: "almost certainly has put millions of people at risk "
Did you even read that link you trotted out? It makes it abundantly clear that the FBI has a very poor track record when it comes to disclosing vulnerabilities. They barely pay lip service to the idea. (And the fact that there's a procedure in place for it would indicate that releasing information about exploits they are aware of is very much part of their job).
There is no scenario where it is acceptable for a law enforcement agency to sit on an exploit like that. That's like a cop going into a shop that's being robbed and saying "Not my problem. I haven't been dispatched here, and the paperwork would be a pain."
On the post: Apparently Hacking Syed Farook's iPhone Accomplished Nothing (Other Than Making Everyone Less Safe)
Re: Re: Re: "almost certainly has put millions of people at risk "
The fact of the matter here is that the FBI could help prevent crime by releasing details of this vulnerability. That they are not, purely out of spite, is appalling. Why is the FBI not doing their fucking job?
On the post: Apparently Hacking Syed Farook's iPhone Accomplished Nothing (Other Than Making Everyone Less Safe)
Re: Re: Surprised they acknowledged finding nothing
On the post: MIT Tech Review Tries To Blame Apple Encryption For Wrongful Arrest
Re: Re: Re:yup
On the post: Obama: The Word 'Classified' Means Whatever We Need It To Mean
Not surprised.
On the post: New Reports On Terror Attacks Underline Why Crypto Isn't A Serious Problem: It's Hard To Use And Easy To Get Wrong
What's the endgame?
To start with, take backdoored encryption. How does this help? Say you could implement a perfect backdoor with a golden key that is physically and inextricably tied to a warrant. We've waved our magic wand and made all the problems and side effects vanish. What would that actually do?
Scenario A., criminals communicate over the backdoored channel, and their communications are available to law-enforcement. At first blush, that sounds great, but then you realize that any criminal who communicates over an effectively open channel knows shit about OpSec, and their communications would likely have been able to be intercepted even without the backdoor. So, what does this really gain for us?
Scenario B., criminals use a different, non-backdoored, encryption scheme to communicate. This will always be a possibility; you can't legislate the math from working. But, say you went a step further and flagged, or even outlawed, non-backdoored encryption. Then the bad guys will have to either communicate in the clear or risk being identified as bad guys, right? Of course not. Let's ignore for the moment simple codes (code phrases, book codes, etc.) which can be used to communicate securely over a compromised channel. You can implement full blown public key cryptography using steganograpgic encoding. The message would look like any other message in the channel, blending in with the noise, but could contain any amount of concealed information. So, what was the point, again?
Weakening encryption will only hurt normal citizens. The "bad guys" either can be caught already without weakening encryption, or weakening encryption won't seriously impact them.
On the post: Funniest/Most Insightful Comments Of The Week At Techdirt
Re:
On the post: Tennessee Man Builds His Own Gigabit Network Thanks To State's Protectionist Broadband Law
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: big question
Apart from the offering on their website, of course.
1 G/bps Fiber to the Home sounds pretty straightforward to me.
On the post: California Lawmakers Manage To Turn Encrypted Phone Ban Legislation Into Encryption Backdoor Legislation
Re: Re: The War On Terror
Terrorism related deaths spiked in 2001, but have severely dropped since then. Automobile related deaths have been more or less stable since then.
As such, it is possible that terrorism deaths equaled automobile deaths in September 2001, and that automobile related deaths far outpaced terrorism related deaths since 9/11/2001.
Terrorism has actually been less of an issue in recent years, the IRA just isn't that active these days. Yet it's still the go-to boogeyman, even though it's a minor threat in the grand scheme of things. Not to mention that reacting to terrorism like it was an existential threat is exactly what said terrorists want people to do, it gives them validation.
On the post: You Don't Actually Own What You Buy Volume 2,203: Google Bricking Revolv Smart Home Hardware
Re: Re:
On the post: Comcast Thinks Having Basic Broadband Privacy Protections 'Irrational'
Re: Re: Re: Governments should NOT be in the business of regulating!
On the post: Comcast Thinks Having Basic Broadband Privacy Protections 'Irrational'
Re: Re: Re: Governments should NOT be in the business of regulating!
Still, kinda proves my point that this shit is complicated and actions or inactions can have ripple effects that are felt decades down the line. We often legislate reactively, usually when something goes wrong, and we have a tendency to over-legislate in those responses. I'm in favor of incremental regulation, small steady changes until the problem is under control.
All I'm really saying, though, is think before you legislate.
On the post: Comcast Thinks Having Basic Broadband Privacy Protections 'Irrational'
Re: Governments should NOT be in the business of regulating!
Regulations generally hurt overall economic growth, (though in certain cases, regulations can protect long-term growth by mitigating profitable but dangerous short-term practices, i.e., preventing bubbles) but the reason they exist is that the public values certain things over economic growth. Such as the health and safety of its citizens. No one wants to live in an anarcho-capitalist society.
So, when certain public values, such as the right to privacy, conflict with the bottom line in a market with little reactivity (e.g., monopolies), the public exercises its will through external controls, such as regulatory agencies.
The fact remains, however, that regulation has a cost, often a substantial one. Often that cost is necessary, or worth paying. Sometimes it's not. That's why serious consideration is necessary before implementing any regulation.
And, after serious consideration, the FCC, myself, and just about every consumer in the country have determined that ISPs require additional regulation in order to maintain fair and ethical behavior in their gatekeeper positions.
On the post: Before We Even Know The Details, Politicians Rush To Blame Encryption For Brussels Attacks
Re:
On the post: PETA, Pretending It Can Represent A Photogenic, Selfie-Snapping Monkey In Indonesia, Has Appealed Its Copyright Loss
Re: Re:
On the post: PETA, Pretending It Can Represent A Photogenic, Selfie-Snapping Monkey In Indonesia, Has Appealed Its Copyright Loss
Re:
On the post: PETA, Pretending It Can Represent A Photogenic, Selfie-Snapping Monkey In Indonesia, Has Appealed Its Copyright Loss
Re:
Has PETA even been in contact with the monkey? Are there communication records? Has it expressed interest in this case to the press?
No? Oh, right, it's a monkey.
On the post: New Mexico Attorney General Would Rather See Sexting Teens Treated As Sex Offenders Than See His Funding 'Jeopardized'
Re: Dangerous Territory
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