

Web’s Reach Binds N.S.A. and Silicon Valley Leaders - tippytop
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/20/technology/silicon-valley-and-spy-agency-bound-by-strengthening-web.html?pagewanted=all

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jpdoctor
This is now beginning to damage the entire silicon valley brand.

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jmtame
This article makes me feel ashamed of Silicon Valley.

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Helianthus
Why would you only be ashamed now? The Silicon Valley's always been more greed
than idealism; if anything, the idealism just makes the greed ever more
rotten.

"Do no evil" ended up giving Google the power to do _more_ evil than it
otherwise might've managed.

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_delirium
I do think there have been some internal struggles in the Valley, though I
agree that the idealists have never really been in charge of the companies.

A simplified factional map might involve the "techies", the "suits", and the
"apolitical pragmatists", with various shifting alliances between them. The
early internet, for example, seems to have been largely dominated by
ideologically pro-openness techies, working in a period where their bosses
didn't interfere much. It's interesting to read Jon Postel's public emails,
for example, and imagine if anyone in a similar position could fulfill his
role with the same integrity today.

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hispeedencrypt
The thought that your tax dollars are going to pay for some bloated overpriced
inefficient software solution is unpleasant. For example, according to Binney
and co. ThinThread was small, fast, efficient and cost-effective, but some
outside contractors with connections inside the agency had other ideas. Where
the NSA decision-makers are personally invested in these contractors, similar
to how Carlyle Group with its politician clients owns most of Booz Allen, it's
tempting to speculate on the motivations of the agency to go for the less
efficient, less robust, more expensive solutions (more maintenance and support
contracts... cha ching). But, who knows... it's all top secret.

It's like when people pointed out the financial ties between certain
politicians and companies that produced expensive airport body scanners, which
the government promptly purchased after the t`ism scare tactics had cast a
spell over people making them accept that anything and everything was
"necessary".

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wavefunction
Of course, defense contracting is for rich white "welfare queens," by-and-
large.

Think about how much cash has been funneled to the sorts of folks like those
at HBGary. I wouldn't mind paying for my own oppression as much if the
oppressors were at least competent.

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mehmehshoe
"The only difference is that the N.S.A. does it for intelligence, and Silicon
Valley does it to make money."

Nobody at the NSA would make any decision that would financially benefit them?

I really can't read that statement without being cynical. I will just leave it
there..

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drawkbox
Every competitive company is salivating at the idea of getting access to
business plans, ideas, investments, etc from someone in the NSA about their
competitors (corporate espionage - not directly mind you). How many people
would it take to pay off to get access to some of this information? This is
bad bad business and dangerous keeping this much info with no oversight really
(well Congress and a couple people at the NSA if that is considered oversight
-- a Congress that doesn't even have time to read bills anymore and apparently
haven't read the 4th).

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Vivtek
_The only difference is that the N.S.A. does it for intelligence, and Silicon
Valley does it to make money._

Boy, I wish it were that simple.

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joshuaellinger
I'd love to see Google say that they will only respond to the N.S.A. in hard
copy / paper.

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throwaway10001
I'd love to see Google say that they not have the data requested, because they
simply do not collect it from users. If Google has it, NSA will get it. One
way or another. Denials and "lawsuits" against the NSA written like press
releases are useless.

That's why Google and Facebook are extremely dangerous, they hold unto every
piece of info to try to squeeze a few more pennies from each user. Nice and
ready for NSA to get it legally: _“There is no indication that this order to
Verizon was unique or novel. It is very likely that business records orders
like this exist for every major American telecommunication company, meaning
that, if you make calls in the United States, the NSA has those records. And
this has been going on for at least 7 years, and probably
longer,”[http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/06/verizon-
responds/](http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/06/verizon-responds/) _

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joshuaellinger
It's not realistic to think they will do that. But then, it might not be
realistic to say that they can just send paper...

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Zigurd
I'm puzzled why you think so. Google could offer customers the choice of
paying for private communication and storage. It would be cheap enough to be
practical. It would also be a direct way to solve the problem of trust.

