"This line just contributed to the ignorance of the VPN discussion."
So much this!
The article's wording is ambiguous. I'm know that Karl wasn't personally arguing that the only reason to use a VPN is to bypass regional blocking, but he was stating that this was the position of Netflix. However, the wording doesn't make that clear.
In any case, a bit of stronger pushback on the assertion would have made that more clear.
"The question is at what point is the lock on the door overkill?"
That's an easy question: the lock on my door is overkill when when it exceeds the amount of security that I am satisfied with.
What is "strong enough" is a call that only I can make. Nobody else has any business telling me what's too strong. Just as I have no business telling anyone else what their maximum security level should be.
I wonder how close they got to setting the record. Probably not very, because the cops were clearly slacking. They didn't even beat the guy up while shouting "stop resisting arrest!" before raping him.
It's actually very easy to keep the phone's location private.
For most phones, powering it down (actually doing the shutdown process, not just pressing the power button) or putting it in airplane mode will work fine.
To be more sure, remove the battery. Or, if you can't take out the battery, simply wrapping it up in aluminum foil is just as effective.
Another alternative, if you want to be able to continue to use it as a computer safely, is to remove the SIM card.
It seems unlikely, but even if that's the case then the way to counter it is to bring it up, point out that it's bullshit, and -- for style points -- ridicule it.
The wrong way to counter it is to abuse the law to suppress it.
I agree 100% that we need viable parties aside from the Rs and Ds. Unfortunately, election laws are set up to make it essentially impossible.
So step 1 has to be to change those laws, but changing those laws is something that both the Rs and Ds would join hands and fight with everything they have.
I totally understand the convenience and utility of link shorteners! But I'm arguing that the benefit is generally not worth the cost.
As to using malware scanners, that would be better than nothing, but malware scanners are not anywhere near good enough to be an adequate solution by themselves.
Adding an attribute that tells you the real URL is a bit pointless because that means that the real URL has to be encoded, so you aren't saving any bytes -- you're actually increasing the number of bytes required because you have to include both the shortened link and the unshortened link. Also, it is a weak move because the URL you'd see would not be the one in use. You are effectively having to take the service's word for it, which means that it's a point of failure that when exploited would make everything even more dangerous by giving you a false sense of comfort.
Also, the problem of unnecessary data leakage remains unaffected by those proposed solutions.
The entire point of link shorteners is one of obfuscation: hide the real URL while presenting you with a shorter encoded one. In my opinion, this is an unacceptably risky proposition.
There is one situation where I'm completely comfortable with them, though: if I were the one running the shortening service, then I'd be much more comfortable with using it, because I retain in control of my data and I can do security audits.
They aren't really in the same position as the others, though. Windows phones don't really count, since nobody really expects security from them anyway. Android phones are made by a variety of manufacturers -- and most of them aren't US companies -- and the US represents a significant, but relatively small, percentage of their sales. They are much better able to take steps to mitigate the damage, either by withdrawing from the US market or (more likely) by producing special US-only phones.
"Apple will have been spanked on this issue, and their encryption will be back doored or will be made in some way hackable by large scale brute force."
If Apple were to do this, and fail to keep it 100% secret, it would be the end of them as a major consumer product company. I'm not sure how much it would reduce US sales, but sales in the rest of the world would plummet.
I suspect that they'd be willing to spend a pretty sizable chunk of that $200+ billion cash reserve they have to fight that eventuality. Or perhaps withdraw from the US market.
On the post: Netflix CEO Says Annoyed VPN Users Are 'Inconsequential'
Re:
So much this!
The article's wording is ambiguous. I'm know that Karl wasn't personally arguing that the only reason to use a VPN is to bypass regional blocking, but he was stating that this was the position of Netflix. However, the wording doesn't make that clear.
In any case, a bit of stronger pushback on the assertion would have made that more clear.
On the post: Court Shoots Down Cops Attempting To Prop Up Two Warrantless Searches With A Stack Of Lies
Re: Re: Re:There is a fine line between hating the actions and hating the actor
Huh? What makes you think I don't recognize the difference? I can detest two things regardless of the fact that they aren't identical.
"When the Free States of North America arises"
Ahhhh, I understand now. Never mind.
On the post: Ignorant Anti-Encryption Law Enforcement Groups Made A Logo And A Hashtag... And It All Backfired
Thank you
On the post: FBI Director James Comey Continues To Be The 'Fringe Candidate' Of The Encryption Debate
Re: Re: Re: sandwich
On the post: Court Shoots Down Cops Attempting To Prop Up Two Warrantless Searches With A Stack Of Lies
Re:
I think there's plenty of room to hate both.
On the post: Ignorant Anti-Encryption Law Enforcement Groups Made A Logo And A Hashtag... And It All Backfired
Re: cough
That's an easy question: the lock on my door is overkill when when it exceeds the amount of security that I am satisfied with.
What is "strong enough" is a call that only I can make. Nobody else has any business telling me what's too strong. Just as I have no business telling anyone else what their maximum security level should be.
On the post: FBI Director James Comey Continues To Be The 'Fringe Candidate' Of The Encryption Debate
Re: encription for programers 101 :: not so hard actually
Coming up with a new, effective encryption scheme is very hard.
People who want to break encryption would be thrilled if everyone invented their own unique algorithms, because 99.99% of them will be breakable.
On the post: Police Officer Attempts To Set Record For Most Constitutional Violations In A Single Traffic Stop
Close, but no cigar
On the post: Police Officer Attempts To Set Record For Most Constitutional Violations In A Single Traffic Stop
Re: Reader Poll
On the post: Nothing About The Story Of An Artist Being Threatened With A Lawsuit Over A Painting Of A Small-Dicked Donald Trump Makes Sense
Re: Re: An comparison of Trump supporters with Terrorists
On the post: Sixth Circuit Says Cell Site Location Data Just A Business Record; No Warrants Required
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: You would think...
For most phones, powering it down (actually doing the shutdown process, not just pressing the power button) or putting it in airplane mode will work fine.
To be more sure, remove the battery. Or, if you can't take out the battery, simply wrapping it up in aluminum foil is just as effective.
Another alternative, if you want to be able to continue to use it as a computer safely, is to remove the SIM card.
On the post: Elizabeth Warren Introduces Bill To Make Tax Season Return-Free
Re: Re:
I've yet to see a concrete flat tax proposal that doesn't shift a substantial portion of the tax burden onto the lower and middle classes.
I'm in favor of the idea of a flat tax. It's the implementation details that leave a bad taste in my mouth.
On the post: Bernie Sanders' Campaign Joins Too Many Other Presidential Campaigns In Abusing Trademark Law
Re: Re:
The wrong way to counter it is to abuse the law to suppress it.
On the post: Apple Responds To DOJ's Attempt To Get Into Drug Dealer's Phone: Why You So Dishonest?
Re:
On the post: Over 7,800 Prosecutions Questioned After NJ Lab Tech Caught Faking Drug Test Results
Re: What happened to "...Beyond reasonable doubt"?
On the post: FBI Director James Comey Continues To Be The 'Fringe Candidate' Of The Encryption Debate
Re: Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Documents Show FBI Deployed Software Exploits To Break Encryption Back In 2003
Re: Re:
So step 1 has to be to change those laws, but changing those laws is something that both the Rs and Ds would join hands and fight with everything they have.
On the post: Report Exposes Flaws In Link Shorteners That Reveal Sensitive Info About Users And Track Their Offline Movements
Re: Re: Link shorteners are a terrible idea
As to using malware scanners, that would be better than nothing, but malware scanners are not anywhere near good enough to be an adequate solution by themselves.
Adding an attribute that tells you the real URL is a bit pointless because that means that the real URL has to be encoded, so you aren't saving any bytes -- you're actually increasing the number of bytes required because you have to include both the shortened link and the unshortened link. Also, it is a weak move because the URL you'd see would not be the one in use. You are effectively having to take the service's word for it, which means that it's a point of failure that when exploited would make everything even more dangerous by giving you a false sense of comfort.
Also, the problem of unnecessary data leakage remains unaffected by those proposed solutions.
The entire point of link shorteners is one of obfuscation: hide the real URL while presenting you with a shorter encoded one. In my opinion, this is an unacceptably risky proposition.
There is one situation where I'm completely comfortable with them, though: if I were the one running the shortening service, then I'd be much more comfortable with using it, because I retain in control of my data and I can do security audits.
On the post: Apple Responds To DOJ's Attempt To Get Into Drug Dealer's Phone: Why You So Dishonest?
Re: Re: Re:
On the post: Apple Responds To DOJ's Attempt To Get Into Drug Dealer's Phone: Why You So Dishonest?
Re:
If Apple were to do this, and fail to keep it 100% secret, it would be the end of them as a major consumer product company. I'm not sure how much it would reduce US sales, but sales in the rest of the world would plummet.
I suspect that they'd be willing to spend a pretty sizable chunk of that $200+ billion cash reserve they have to fight that eventuality. Or perhaps withdraw from the US market.
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