alethiophile - Slashdot User

New Zealand's Recording Industry CEO Tries to Defend New Draconian Law 269

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Monday March 09, 2009 @02:48PM from the embrace-your-customers-instead dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Campbell Smith, CEO of the RIAA equivalent in New Zealand, has written an opinion piece for one of New Zealand's largest daily papers, in which he tries to justify the new 'presumed guilty' copyright law. This law allows recording industry members to watch file-sharing activity and notify ISPs of users who are downloading material. The copyright holder can then demand that an ISP disconnect that user — without the user ever having a chance to demonstrate their evidence."

Federal Officials and YouTube Nearing a Deal 80

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday February 11, 2009 @10:25PM from the watching-the-watchers dept.

GovTechGuy writes "The federal government is on the verge of reaching an agreement with YouTube that would allow agencies to make official use of the popular video-sharing service. A coalition of federal agencies led by the General Service Administration's Office of Citizen Services has been negotiating with Google, YouTube's parent company, since summer 2008 on new terms that would allow agencies to establish their own channels on the site. Agencies have not been [allowed] to post videos to YouTube (although many already have) because under the current terms of service, people who post content are subject to their state's libel laws. Federal agencies must adhere to federal law. On Tuesday, government officials said the negotiations were 'very close' to being completed."

Grimace Attack 2

Posted by samzenpus on Friday February 06, 2009 @02:14PM from the call-ronald dept.

I still don't know what he is, but at least I know what he eats.

Comment Re:The real rules of paranoia (Score 1) 97

by alethiophile on Wednesday October 29, 2008 @11:42PM (#25564993) Attached to: Tech Giants In Human Rights Deal

If you're of extreme interest to the US government or any of its allies, you must also assume
4) The authorities can read any of your encrypted data, if they find out it is associated with you, even if they do not acquire the keys.

If you assume encryption is useless, then what's the point? I would think that if you generate the key yourself and no one else knows/has it, then encrypted data is safe (assuming you are using a modern cryptosystem).

Schneier on Security 204

Posted by samzenpus on Monday October 20, 2008 @02:42PM from the protect-ya-neck dept.

brothke writes "There is a perception in both the private and government sector, that security, both physical and digital, is something you can buy. Witness the mammoth growth of airport security products following 9/11, and the sheer number of vendors at security conferences. With that, government officials and corporate executives often think you can simply buy products and magically get instant security by flipping on the switch. The reality is that security is not something you can buy; it is something you must get." Keep reading for the rest of Ben's review.

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