History of the Electronic Frontier Foundation 92
Well, no one submitted it (guess no one reads the LA Times), but from the Red Rock Eater list we have a link to Freedom Fighters of the Digital World, a laudatory history of the EFF. Read it, live it, remember it when you think "I can't make a difference".
Opportunists (Score:4, Interesting)
The attacks themselves had limited effects on the economy and infrastructure of the U.S., but they empowered several monsters to wreak havoc. The consumer confidence boogey man came and went. And after the smoke cleared, Americans felt safer from physical danger because they thought they knew the score.
"If I don't get on an airplane or work in a skyscraper, I'll be OK," they tell themselves. "If I don't open suspicious envelopes and if I don't question the Patriot act, I'll be OK."
But the opportunists still run amok.
It is unfortunate that there are opportunists in Congress who present a greater "threat to freedom" than Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden presented them with the opportunity to seize power, and they grabbed it.
The ACLU [aclu.org] and EFF [eff.org] are the police and FBI that protect us from opportunists. Please familiarize yourself with their activities and support them.
Access denied (Score:4, Interesting)
http://www.eff.org/ [eff.org]
My company's proxy blocks access to the EFF web site. They also block access to the ACLU's [aclu.org] site. I'm sure this says something. (Most likely that our IT department never bothered to change the default filter list from the vendor.)
Matching contributions (Score:3, Interesting)
Go ahead! Put your fortune 500 in a tight spot!
Read it, lived it, and I did make a difference! (Score:4, Interesting)
(even if my former colleague Michael Sims did later publicly proclaim he regretted nominating me, and my award probably didn't get any Slashdot coverage because of What Happened To The Censorware Project (censorware.org) [sethf.com])
It's possible to make a difference. Though it's a lot of work, sometimes a lot of risk, and it isn't easy. EFF has made a difference in my life, and in many other people's lives.
My Congressman Sucks (Score:3, Interesting)
So, whadda I do? I've thought about writing him, but wouldn't this be a wasted effort? In contrast, the Congressman in the next district over is Rick Boucher who is extremely clued in. I could probably give boucher time or money, but what do I do about my own Representative?
Re:Access denied (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:Access denied (Score:2, Interesting)
See, for example: http://www.websense.com/products/about/datasheets
How about addresing the cause, not the symptoms? (Score:3, Interesting)
access the links you find here [matrixcommunity.org] And the links you find at those links.
What you will find is that there was alot of reason for 9/11 to have happen and even the education and seeding needed for it to happen.
A great deal of everything from motive to do, to education on how to do it was supplied by the US.
These are FACTS, not my opinion, follow the links and see how deep that rabbit hole really goes.
I seem to preceive the EFF as having become a political legal manipulation machine that can easily become out of touch with the individual human party of us all that they are claiming to represent.
The ACLU ignores any case that doesn't present them with some self promotion mechanism. In fact they dismiss even simple request for simple legal referal with their mass produced post card stating they are not currently interested in the case. (which has nothing to do with responding to a simple legal referal request)
I suspect the EFF is following such a direction.
Sorry, I really wish I was wrong about this but I don't think I am.
Concider "To high-tech pros and policy wonks, the EFF is well-known for its opposition to the regulation of encryption. Hollywood and the publishing industry know it as the loyal opposition in battles over digital copy law, which the EFF believes is so restrictive that it frustrates innovation."
LOYAL OPPOSITION??? does this mean the EFF would fumble the ball intentionally under the right conditions?
A flag with stars of company logos? Like Time Warner?
What's real on the Electronic Frontier?
How about the fact that computer are all about automaion. The automaion of complexity that is made up of simpler things, so as to make reuse or use again easier for the party use it?
The software industry can automate anything, includng human ability to balance and move (the Segway), but what's the deal with it' apparent inability to automate programing even in fundamental ways that the user can apply?
If the Electronic Frontier Fondation is really about our freedoms in the electronic frontier, then where is the hardware and software components, the modularity and ease of use and creation (putting things together, automating) for the users, the consumer to apply as they see fit or need?
Instead you have a flag with company logos for stars.
Need to see more? try my journal here on slashdot as well as my recent posts here, or my web pages..
Don't be fooled as to what freedom is in this electronic frontier, by those who present themselves as representing you. Instead make them represent you correctly.
Get to the causes, stop treating the symptoms that will never go away untill to get to the cause.
Re:Opportunists (Score:2, Interesting)
It is unfortunate that there are opportunists in Congress who present a greater "threat to freedom" than Osama Bin Laden. Bin Laden presented them with the opportunity to seize power, and they grabbed it.
If I didn't know any better I'd say you're talking about either Tom DeLay. Or maybe that's just me.
The biggest power grab has come from the Administration though, not from Congress. What with Ridge, Ashcroft, and the other right-wing crazies doing their best to toss out every Amendment that isn't the 2nd, it seems that they are trying to raise Bush up to the level of a Napoleon (without the brilliant military mind, of course.).
Probably just me, though. Anyone who has that much money is trustworthy. Free market, HOOOO!
John Barlow's Own Account (Score:3, Interesting)
In it you can read Barlow's firsthand account of his interview with that FBI agent which helped spark the creation of the EFF: He had been sent to find out if I might be a member of the NuPromtheus League, a dread band of info-terrorists (or maybe just a disaffected former Apple employee) who had stolen and wantonly distributed source code normally used in the Macintosh ROMs. Agent Baxter's errand was complicated by a fairly complete unfamiliarity with computer technology. I realized right away that before I could demonstrate my innocence, I would first have to explain to him what guilt might be.
The last two sentences still ring true for technologists today!
Ditto: Re:My Congressman Sucks (Score:3, Interesting)
Could be worse, my sister and mother live in Mary Bono's (formerly Sonny's widow) district.
the process isn't working and hasn't been for a long time