I agree in principal, but look at it from this angle...

Assume that information wants to be free. Furthermore, that it wants to be organized and easily searchable by anyone in the world. Or at the least, that there are sufficient forces at work to make that happen. This can be seen as a irreversible trend manifested by the very advances in technology that we love.

Now, if you start with that assumption, you can also assume that Bad People will have this wonderfully organized data and will do Bad Things with it.

If you make that leap, then you can, as a government, see why you would want All The Data on the Bad People so that when they inevitably do the Bad Things, you can catch them.

Now, assume all the above and figure out your place in this world that will manifest for our next generation.

For example, I generally assume that by the time my kids are my age, genetic sequencing will be common and cheap and probably also done without permission (think Gataca). It will be done by Bad People and will also be done on everyone by our government in the name of catching the Bad People. It isn't what I want, its just what I expect to happen...

New slogan: "Only OS-X gives you the finger!"

A judge is demanding a United States company to play by the rules of the United States? And you have a problem with that? US law is and should be the only law the judge needs to consider. If US laws are incompatible with other nation's laws, then don't blame it on the judge, complain to your legislators.

Another great reason for an inversion besides taxes.

+1 to parent.

This is true. The only plus here was that you do know exactly which users did it. LAUSD stated that in the article too. They know exactly which devices had their MDM profiles deleted. The user is in control, but the MDM can notify what the user did.

At that point, it should be a disciplinary issue. Unfortunately, in this country, it becomes a legal/lawsuit/CIPA issue.

Your response is incredibly naive...

LAUSD is taking on one of the largest deployments of iPads ever. They are working directly with Apple and Airwatch (after a competitive MDM process). The fact is, iOS has a lot of flaws and MDM on iOS sucks because Apple is unwilling to fix it.

The issue was more what the kids were able to access off-campus, not on the school network. LAUSD sent the iPads home. Per LAUSD Law's interpretation of CIPA compliance requirements, they are required to filter internet access to a school-owned device even when off campus. So they have to provide adequate filtering of the connection on the student's home network as well as Starbucks, McDonald's, etc. The iPad offers very very weak protection and every MDM provider out there knows that it is easily circumvented.

There is something ironic about needing to have a registered account at whitehouse.gov and using it to publicly sign a petition claiming the whitehouse should pardon a guy who disclosed tracking / spying ability for anyone the gov't doesn't like. It seems like you'd end up on that "list" right after signing, right?

"looking for 'counter-insurgency activity'" - what insurgency?

You can have counter insurgency activity without an insurgency. Perception is reality. All you need is a group of people who believe there is an insurgency in order to start a counter-insurgency movement. Groups like the anti-border crossing patrol volunteers, or even anti-muslim hate groups come to mind as people who may believe there is an insurgency already going on here.

Why are they looking at counter-insurgent activity? Shouldn't they be looking at insurgent activity?

A local / state militia could be considered a "counter-insurgent" group. The vigilante guys who wanted to patrol the US border could be a "counter-insurgent" group. It doesn't really matter whether they are insurgent or counter-insurgent. It is a group of people organizing and developing a capability to act in a planned, cohesive fashion when they feel threatened. Opinions change, sometimes dramatically. But that organization/training stays.

As such, I am not surprised they want as much info as possible on any organized and even loosely cohesive group of actors... you know, just in case...

What entity which is not part of the government should be involved in this and why?

That's been going on for a long time...

"We need a smaller government" -> "outsourcing to private consultants" -> "more power to those private consultants so they can function as an extension of the government" -> "more capable and effective private consultants" -> "more outsourcing to private consultants" -> "smaller government"...

For some, that would be a virtuous cycle... sigh...

Skills don't enter that equation at all. Introducing the concept of 'skills' divorced from a degree introduces thought into the equation. Thinking is hard. And, since HR is usually staffed by morons, or so overworked that they aren't physically able to evaluate each resume they receive, they use the lack of degree as a filter to narrow things down.

Maybe this movement ought to start by convincing CEO's at major corporations to staff HR with people that don't even have a bachelor's degree. Only then will HR consider the lack of a BA/BS to be "acceptable". Good luck with that.

Plenty of highly respected individuals and groups have been talking about this for years, but suddenly it's news because Assange is saying it?

Yes, sorry, that is exactly the case. Assange is a persona now, a celeb of odd sorts. He will be able to draw attention to issues for better or worse. I'm sure you can think of many instances where highly educated and reputable people, non-profits, think-tanks, etc. all support an idea but it doesn't catch on mainstream until a celeb makes it "news".

Assange isn't a big enough celeb to make it much news though, it just so happens his particular brand of star-power has greater reach within a certain ideological subculture. Now you just need Brad Pitt or Bono to go take up the cause. LoL...

As soon as I saw the topic, protecting NYC from "real" storms, I thought that all of NYC should be replicated virtually on massive servers in a subterranean environment and then all of the people could be dispersed or located elsewhere and play out their parts in NYC as if it were real.

Then I realized that was The Matrix.

Darn!!!

We knew Kurgen/Gothic on the Moral Decay MUD where he and his wife both played and became wizards. As I understand it, his activity has been much greater on Eve, but we feel like a member of our family was lost as well... RIP Kurgen.