These atrocities and more... (NSA bullspunk)

[Paramultart]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfre ... con-valley

tl;dr: Lavabit was one of the only secure e-mail service that existed. The integrity of this wonderful free service caught the attention of the US Government, who we all know is eagerly determined to completely ruin the Internet for everyone. They provided Lavabit the choice to either whore out to the NSA, granting them back-door access to everyone's private e-mails and potentially abuse users with government-created malware, or shut down their ten year business. Out of sheer nobility, Lavabit chose the latter.

I'm really trying to stay positive, but it would be a grave understatement to say things are getting really, really bad here in the states. Those of you who have been paying attention can hopefully see the big picture at play, here.

[Fleexy]

Nowhere in the Constitution is a right to privacy guaranteed, but yeah, that is shocking.

[Paramultart]

Nowhere in the Constitution is a right to privacy guaranteed, but yeah, that is shocking.

That's why we have our bill of rights. The behavior deliberately violates at least several amendments. The fact they just gagged him into silence about their intrusive bullying is a clear violation of the first amendment. The proposed seizure of data is a violation of the fourth.

[Roobar]

Yet another proof that your country is more communist than the communists themselves! Btw any chance you're still working on something Keen?

[KeenEmpire]

Commander Keen in NSA Nastiness

[Paramultart]

More relevant links:

Apple patents technology that allows police to prevent your iPhone from recording them:
http://rt.com/news/apple-patent-transmission-block-408/

US Senate IP Caught Defacing Snowden's Wiki Entry:
http://www.voicesonthesquare.com/articl ... edia-entry

[KeenEmpire]

No terribly big surprise for apple (both on the restrictive technology itself and the fact that they'd patent something as simple as a remote off switch). In this case, I'm only thankful that they've probably ensured it iOS/WP-exclusive.

Wikipedia defacer: name and shame.

[Paramultart]

I'm only thankful that they've probably ensured it iOS/WP-exclusive.

Haha, GOOD POINT!
Always good to look on the bright side, but it wouldn't surprise me at this point if all non-Apple phones became illegal.

[Scarlet]

Yet another proof that your country is more communist than the communists themselves! Btw any chance you're still working on something Keen?

Don't equate authoritarian with communist. Obama is a bloody capitalist.

[Levellass]

And to think, when I told people on this board mere years ago that shamelessly sharing details and photographs on the internet was dangerous they told me I was paranoid.

Who's paranoid now?

[Paramultart]

Yet another proof that your country is more communist than the communists themselves! Btw any chance you're still working on something Keen?

Don't equate authoritarian with communist. Obama is a bloody capitalist.

I think corporate imperialist is a more accurate term, but authoritarian seems pretty spot on. The "Obama is a commie" comment almost seemed like an attempt to discredit anyone acknowledging his wrongdoings. Furthermore, blaming the "president" at all implies we still live in a republic, which everyone should know by now is simply not true. The president is simply a "fall guy" for the people really running the show...

"OMG CONSPIRITARD!!!"

[Levellass]

Don't worry! They're making themselves nine times easier to hack! http://boingboing.net/2013/08/09/nsa-fi ... admin.html

[Paramultart]

Don't worry! They're making themselves nine times easier to hack! http://boingboing.net/2013/08/09/nsa-fi ... admin.html

Considering the US Government threatened to cut off trade to certain countries who granted Snowden asylum, a rash decision that could have dire implications to our economy and global reputation, I don't find this reckless behavior to be the least bit surprising.

Even the most uncritical, propagandized minds should be thinking "Man, all of this sh** over one guy?"

And to think, when I told people on this board mere years ago that shamelessly sharing details and photographs on the internet was dangerous they told me I was paranoid.

Who's paranoid now?

I wanted to believe it was simply denial, but the sad reality is a sickening sense of apathy and complacency shared among the majority of the global population.
For example, if you try to educate people on the deliberately intrusive nature of Facebook, as clearly indicated in their privacy policy, the best response you will get is "But it's just so easy, and all my friends are here!"
Not the more rational reaction of "Holy sh**, I had no idea these f*ckers were so evil. I'm going to close my account and warn all my friends immediately."

We've all heard tales of a distant future within a dystopian society, the "surveillance state", "big brother", but it almost seems like the years of science fiction have somehow desensitized people to the reality of this hellish world we are living in today.

Look at this Wikipedia page... It looks like something designed and written by a delusional, paranoid windbag like Alex Jones, but this is a real thing:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Informatio ... ess_Office

This new "NSA Scandal" people buzzed about, for approximately a week before everyone diverted their interest to this worthless "Zimmerman trial", and even the revelations of Edward Snowden, have only confirmed and brought to the global consciousness what many of us have already known since the PATRIOT ACT was signed into law.

Now, it seems as though there are more genuine conspiracies than theories, but the sad fact of the matter is that there are still those with their heads stubbornly buried in the sand. I'd like to think we're on the brink of a global awakening, but the sheer ignorance of people never ceases to disappoint me.

Here's a brief article on the history and future of LavaBit:

If the shutdown is a permanent one, Levison would be walking away from $50,000 to $100,000 in annual revenue, his primary source of income. He also walked away from his personal email address, which was shut down along with all the other Lavabit accounts.

“I’m taking a break from email,” said Levison. “If you knew what I know about email, you might not use it either.”

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill ... ot-use-it/

[KeenEmpire]

http://www.coding2learn.org/blog/2013/0 ... ars-a-who/

[Scarlet]

I think corporate imperialist is a more accurate term,

Just call it capitalism. The state aiding the corporate sector is called "making a good business climate". It fits perfectly well into the failed moronic ideas that the free market cures all ills, one of the key tenants of that stupid thing, libertarianism.