TorrentFreak reports on the Swedish ISP Bahnhof and the 5:th of July foundation fighting data retention in Sweden–with free VPN for customers. Link »
More information will follow here and elsewhere at the rollout, next Monday.
Archive | November, 2014
How to fight the dark forces of Government
There is this article in The Boston Globe that has been nagging my mind for a few days now: Vote all you want. The secret government won’t change. »
Despite the dramatic headline, this is not about conspiracy theories. It’s about Tufts University political scientist (and former legal counsel to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and a consultant to various congressional committees, as well as to the State Department) Michael J. Glennon and his book National Security and Double Government.
The core issue is the Obama u-turn on national security.
“But six years into his administration, the Obama version of national security looks almost indistinguishable from the one he inherited. Guantanamo Bay remains open. The NSA has, if anything, become more aggressive in monitoring Americans. Drone strikes have escalated. Most recently it was reported that the same president who won a Nobel Prize in part for promoting nuclear disarmament is spending up to $1 trillion modernizing and revitalizing America’s nuclear weapons.”
The thing, according to Glennon, is that politicians are generalists–in the hands of their own administration and its experts. And these experts have many reasons to exaggerate threats.
That sounds like a plausible and reasonable analysis. Even though the word “generalists” might be overly polite.
Now, looking at Europe and the EU we have the same set of experts as in the US–in the Commission, in the Council and to some extent in the European Parliament.
And we have the issue of lobbyism. (Even though public attention is directed towards lobbyists in the Parliament, the real issue ought to be lobbyism directed towards the Commission and its staff.)
Then we have something that few people know about: The European Commission has some 250 different committees with around 7,000 “contributors”. And at least 1,000 (maybe up to 3,000) specialist groups with more than 40,000 “experts”. All of these with an agenda. And this is where EU policy is crafted out.
This is why it is almost impossible to get something done when it comes to e.g. data protection, mass surveillance or copyright reform in the Parliament. The power doesn’t lie with the elected politicians.
So, are we screwed? Is democracy just an illusion? In many cases, the answer seems to be yes. But Glennon gives us a glimmer of hope…
“The ultimate problem is the pervasive political ignorance on the part of the American people. And indifference to the threat that is emerging from these concealed institutions. That is where the energy for reform has to come from: the American people. Not from government. Government is very much the problem here. The people have to take the bull by the horns. And that’s a very difficult thing to do, because the ignorance is in many ways rational. There is very little profit to be had in learning about, and being active about, problems that you can’t affect, policies that you can’t change.”
From an European perspective we know that public opinion did put an end to the ACTA agreement (restricting the openness and freedom of the Internet). We also know that such occurrences are very rare. And that they depend on huge efforts from activists, civil society and the media. But–it can be done.
This is the first lesson in fighting the political apparatus: Know thy enemy.
/ HAX
“Decentralized Internet Will Save Humanity!”
https://youtu.be/UEe3d0U-aeE
Big Government and Big Business do not want information to be free
1989 was a year of disruptive change. The Berlin Wall came down, promising hundreds of millions of people an end to oppression, mass surveillance and restrained markets. The same year the World Wide Web (the http protocol) was born, bringing us all new ways of communication, cooperation and creativity.
The irony of it all is that Big Government and Big Business don’t approve of a free and open internet. So they try to regulate, to hinder free flows of information, to spy on people and to suppress the free market.
— o —
When scientists at Cern launched the WWW (http) they decided not to patent it–but to hand it over to all of mankind. This is the reason we have one common, global network today–instead of a compartmented Internet run by different companies.
Suddenly everyone could share information on a global scale. And information is power. This is where trouble begins. Those in power are not interested in letting go.
Big Government gets panic-stricken by the prospect of losing control. And Big Business (especially in the information monopoly industry) dislike change and fear a truly free market.
When these interests meet, it is a perfect marriage. Governments want control (and covert access to information). Big Copyright wants laws to protect them from technical progress, an ever changing market, new competition and–ultimately–from their own customers.
Big Government and Big Business do not want information to be free. The circle is closing.
So we get mass surveillance. We get laws restricting flows of information and free speech. We get governments going after people exposing the truth. We get limitations of competition and free enterprise. We get special interests manoeuvrering around the democratic process. We get regulations replacing free markets and spontaneous order. Back to the future.
This is the crossroad where we stand today. Should we allow Big Government and Big Business to build new walls? Or should we use technology, encryption, disruptive tools like Blockchain, openness and political activism to defend a free and open society?
Because this fight is not just about the Internet.
/ HAX
Berlin’s digital exiles
The Guardian runs this interesting piece…
Berlin’s digital exiles: where tech activists go to escape the NSA »
About Poitras, Appelbaum et al–and the Berlin hacktivist scene.
Conspiracy?
I have seen Big Brother. I hate him. And it’s personal.
Twenty-five years ago this weekend, the Berlin Wall and the Iron Curtain came down. This also lead to the end of the East German state, DDR.
The DDR was a communist dictatorship, an authoritarian state that did not hesitate to imprison or kill dissidents and those trying to flee. The very symbol of this brutal state was the secret police, the Stasi.
Stasi was known for a widespread system of informants, extensive record-keeping and surveillance. Its’ very existence lead to a silent society. Knowing that everything you said could be recorded and turned against you, people held their opinions private.
Several times I saw this system too close for comfort. And it filled me with rage. So I did what little I could to help the peoples of Eastern Europe in their struggle for freedom.
Fast forward to today…
With NSA mass surveillance, data retention and projects like Indect we are building something that goes far beyond what the DDR leadership could ever imagine: A toolbox for almost total surveillance.
While the DDR could wiretap only a small number of telephones at a time, modern mass surveillance grabs data about all our electronic communications. All the time.
While the DDR kept their huge registers in manual filing systems–our authorities can get most information about us on screen with a few simple commands. And they can just as easily cross reference information about us from an ever growing number of databases.
While the DDR was depending on informants and secret agents–the EU is funding projects like Indect. Tracking camera surveillance, drone monitoring, automated face recognition, automated behavioural analysis, supervision of our web-habits, searching databases… you name it. All in one package, sent to one screen, instantly.
Et cetera, et cetera… It might be that our government is elected by the people, that it has no sinister intentions and that it truly respects our human and civil rights. (OK, I’m stretching it.) But that will not last for ever.
And even if it does, the very awareness of total surveillance will lead to a silent society. Knowing that everything you say is being recorded and can be used against you, people will tend to hold their opinions private. Back to the mindset of the DDR.
This is cause for serious concern.
Then, we have the thing that really pisses me off: The good guys turning bad.
I didn’t spend some twenty years of my youth to fight Big Brotherism in the east–just to find our western democracies of today going down that very same road.
We shouldn’t go there. Because we respect the individual, her dignity and her fundamental rights. Because we know better. Because we have seen where that road will lead.
I have seen Big Brother up close. And I hate him. It’s personal.
Frankly, that might be what really makes me keep on fighting.
/ HAX
Bitcoin–the global banking revolution
At Virgin.com Dominic Frisby has this noteworthy post: Why Bitcoin will do to banking what the cell phone did to communication »
Only two billion people are ‘banked’ and participate in ecommerce. Yet about 5.5 billion have at least some access to the internet. That’s a potential 3.5 billion people who could participate in ecommerce but don’t, because they don’t have access to the necessary financial infrastructure.
Thanks to Bitcoin and other forms of mobile money, this lack of basic financial services is no longer a barrier to entry. You don’t need a bank account or any of that stuff. That’s history. All you need to participate in ecommerce is some internet access. Most of the world’s population will have that long before they have proper sanitation, education or healthcare.
Spontaneous order, free markets, decentralization and “democratization” at work.
Crypto-currency will rule in a decentralized world
Via Decentralize, I have just discovered the Ledra Capital blog. This might very well be one of those places where future is being shaped.
One LC post puts words on something I have tried to make understandable (for myself as well as for others) for a long time is: Bitcoin Series 26: the Polemitis Impossible Trinity »
This explains why crypto-currencies such as Bitcoin are just as good as the dollar or the euro. Or rather, it’s not worse than fiat currencies. It’s just a dog with different fleas. Kind of like… gold.
Then, let’s move on to the post: Bitcoin Series 27: Bitcoin – a 6-sided Market and Network Effect »
It’s about Bitcoins “superb setup of market incentives for the first currency to hit escape velocity”. It’s smart. It’s intuitive. It’s plausible. And it’s arousing, kind of.
What first lead me to the Ledra Capital blog was the Decentralize blog post about all the stuff LC has listed as possible to decentralize with Blockchain technology: Anything you can do I can Decentralize! »
Birth certificates, gun permits, wills, contracts, accounting records, car keys, betting records, coupons, trademarks, licenses, vehicle registries, spam control, nuclear launch codes… You name it.
I guess this is what happens when spontaneous order and a truly free market (politicians don’t know about it yet, and they will never understand it) meets with new and disruptive technology. I like it. I like it very much.
/ HAX