4910971
submission
SpicyBrownMustard writes:
There's been a great deal written about Representative Rick Boucher's efforts to impose an overt opt-in standard on all websites before showing third-party advertising (AdSense, ValueClick, etc.) to visitors. Boucher's stated claim is that, as the chairman of the House Subcommittee on telecommunications technology and the Internet he's very concerned about our privacy. However, the conspiracy theorists see a slightly different and much more nefarious motive, pulling the "financial rug" out form under independent websites, shifting the power and control back to big media, which just happens to be Boucher's campaign donors. The article by a "mister old school" proposes, "To the average person, this may seem like a drastic but reasonable action to ensure online privacy, in reality, it's a systematic plan of genocide that will destroy independent thought on the Internet." We may not particularly like much of the online ads we see, but the fact is, for sites like Slashdot, it pays the bills. What do Slashdotters think of this? Conspiracy or pandering?
4884191
submission
SpicyBrownMustard writes:
US Rep. Rick Boucher (D-Va.) is contemplating the introduction of legislation that would essentially put an end to online advertising as we know it today, requiring advertisers to allow website users to "opt-in" before seeing any ads that use or create cookies for optimization or targeting purposes. "If Congress is leaning in that direction, it would mark a big shift in sentiment from last year, when some leading policymakers said that ISP-based targeting should require opt-in consent, but that cookie-based targeting requires only opt-out consent." This would result in a catastrophic shift in the only currently viable online economic model, destroying the ability of millions of small independent websites to survive.
3967719
submission
SpicyBrownMustard writes:
The person who broke the story on counterfeit routers installed on secure networks is speculating that GhostNet is a "weapons test" for cyber warfare. He writes, again on abovetopsecret : "GhostNet is cataloging potential networks and refining the cyber weapons for the next round of attacks. The activity seen thus far has been proof-of-concept tests of computer take-over software in preparation for larger-scale attacks." This is a startling reminder of the concerns we had over the Chinese counterfeit routers, now coupled with the high probability that GhostNet may have the backing of elements of the Chinese government.
3896115
submission
SpicyBrownMustard writes:
Above Top Secret finished a rather extensive poll to determine the top-ten conspiracy theories discussed online. After a surprise 159,620 votes in six days, the finished top-10 list has some familiar faces, as well as some new surprises... such as this commentary on the "controlled demolition" of the economy: "Now that the collective wealth (retirement savings and real estate equity) of the average person had been transitioned to easily manipulated equity markets, the stage was set. Those few who devised this decades-long plan reaped the financial rewards as the "bombs" were detonated and the economy collapsed inward, resulting in the hard-earned savings of millions of people very-nearly vanishing in mere months, and the values of their homes crashing so hard it created millions of people with negative equity. The populace was successfully stripped of their wealth."
3075127
submission
SpicyBrownMustard writes:
An online discussion board user going by the pseudonym of "LeaderOfProgress," reports that someone has turned him in to the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation for his so-called radical postings detailing his opinions of the US Government. In his summary he details how agents came to his place of business to question him. He writes, "So I guess my views are now subject to investigation. I find humor in it knowing that even as I write this and post it they will be reading it. Guess its a good thing that I don't do anything illegal knowing now that that they have been watching everything I have done for the last couple of months." Several other users of the ATS discussion board report similar curiosity from law enforcement for their online opinions, as well as dozens of others offering opinions on how to deal with it.
2146821
submission
SpicyBrownMustard writes:
AboveTopSecret.com has a podcast interview with Peter Schiff, economic advisor to Ron Paul, a common face on all major TV/cable news, and they guy who foresaw the economic meltdown back in 2005. And as things get worse, he's got some frightening things to say about the economy and the government: "Not only is our economy in trouble, but our individual liberties and private property rights are under attack. And the more power we succeed to the government, under the hope that the government will use that power benevolently to help us... that's not what's going to happen. They're going to use the power against us, and not only are we going to loose our financial wealth, we're going to loose our freedoms. And if we don't have our freedoms, we're never going to get our economy back." More quotes and full interview HERE .
842539
submission
SpicyBrownMustard writes:
Above Top Secret has an interesting analysis that compares significant spikes in online news coverage to the advertising budgets of the major candidates: "The U.S. media (broadcast, print, and major online news) has evolved into a sophisticated system that shapes the nature of which topics are important in the culture at large. The system works so well, that it has successfully killed the chances of a political candidate with phenomenal cultural buzz, in favor of candidates who will apparently result in an election race with the highest potential for optimum ratings and revenue." As a lucky-strike-extra, the analysis shows how the media has successfully countered the cultural buzz of candidate phenom, Ron Paul.
645718
submission
SpicyBrownMustard writes:
A member at abovetopsecret.com has new information on bandwidth throttling by Pioneer Telephone Cooperative in Oklahoma. After a forced switch of all customers to digital cable TV service, bandwidth utilization is being throttled to favor the DTV service during prime-time hours. According to the author: "This is a monopoly and I have to say A VERY CLEAR EXAMPLE OF INTERNET RATIONING...get ready. All it takes is a little bit too much demand in your area and you'll get a taste of not having any control over your IT flow...some one else will decide what is most important and (when you're in a situation like I'm in where there isn't another game in town) you'll have to live with their decision." How many other rural users are paying for high speed access, only to see the only provider of such services severely throttle the bandwidth?
636428
submission
SpicyBrownMustard writes:
An FBI Powerpoint presentation provides details about a criminal investigation into counterfeit CISCO hardware originating from China, and sold by Gold/Silver partners to numerous US government, military, and intelligence agencies. The concern of the article's author and the FBI is that the counterfeit equipment may be state-sponsored to aid in accessing otherwise secure systems (slides 46+47). Says the article author: "The threat is real. Compromised hardware of potentially hostile foreign origin sits within secure networks of the US government, military, and intelligence services. And as you now see, the FBI has been concerned about it."
