OT, ACTA, Secrecy and free software

[Lisa Kachold]

On Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 9:02 PM, Technomage <technomage.hawke at gmail.com>wrote:

> Lisa,
> My response was originally to Ryan regarding his initial response per my
> posting.
>
> However, I can take your word for it that the FOIA response since sept
> 2001 has been less than stellar.
> Still, on an issue that affects even "free and open software" for
> governments to take something thats supposed to
> be publically debated and accessible and make it "a metter of national
> security" makes me wonder what they
> are really up to.
>
> Clearly, the current administration is showing an aptitude for these
> kinds of secrecy games not seen since the
> height of the cold war. There is something very wrong in the halls of
> power and it directly affects us all
> in one form or another.
>

....but it is a matter of layers of required security.  Since you can't
understand it, (just like with technical troubleshooting) obviously you
either have an incorrect premise, or less than sufficient information about
the threats.

In psychology, black and white (good bad) and ideological defenses (putting
things not understood into political categories), are things people do when
they are being defensive or failing to understand all the issues.

Do you seriously think that so many people, including Obama, Clinton, all
the presidents since Roosevelt, who, once briefed on current information,
would so radically change their stance, if it was not completely necessary?


Have you ever been a hostage, terror, or violent situation?  Have you ever
been attacked aggressively?  Have you ever been under siege while working as
an IT professional, from packet traffic originating elsewhere in the world?
Have you had the opportunity to interact with German hackers and understand
their mentality toward the USA?

Well, I have, and I have to consider that the threat warrants a change in
mentality (like the cold war - which never ended only continued in many
ways).

Do you realize that your name was entered in databases related to "possible
sedition" since the 1980s related to the six degrees of separation from the
people you interact with in the patriot movement in the USA?   Do you
realize that the Chinese have sent lead laced toys to the USA on more than
one ocassion that was not immediately caught?  Do you realize that since
1985, you could buy pirated Micro$soft software from Tiwan that included
bios virus?

Clearly the cold war is upon us.

I advocate regulation of information use, not "freedom" because, just like
anarchy, it does not work as either an economic system or a political one.

>
> Lisa Kachold wrote:
> > Right, I believe I got the typical response sometime after 2001.  I have
> the
> > form letter, if you would like to have me scan it in.
> >
> > After many years working in IT for the U.S. Army, Veterans
> Administration,
> > U.S.Bank/KeyBank, Telecoms, Nike, ISP's and many ECommerce firms and
> > start-ups, I don't disagree with the process of keeping information
> private,
> > just the vague wording of the letter, but that subject is not exactly
> > on-topic.
> >
> > A long political discussion need not begin:
> >
> > #end
> >
> >
>
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