NNSquad - Network Neutrality Squad
[ NNSquad ] Re: NYTimes: U.S. wants access to *all* encrypted Internet communications
This goes to the heart of a number of policy issues in which we implicitly assume we're in a kingdom in which everything derives from a central authority. In this case it's the assumption that there must be a service provider. I'm acutely aware of this misunderstanding as I try to shift the focus from networking as a services to networking as something we do using any available facilities. Even if we use today's cellular system as a bit path we can do encryption as part of a software applications and indeed the enabling technology is now a standard part of software libraries. I don't know the details of Blackberry's implementation but it can be designed to give a corporate IT department control over encryption without sharing the data with RIM. I'm reminded of George Lakoff's Moral Politics and the presumption of hierarchical authority. We need to articulate and explain how we systems can come to be by compositing individual efforts. This is the real magic of the Internet -- the ability to reinvent our infrastructure by agreeing on a few common protocols. Once we have basic protocols in place we can have smaller communities cooperate without even an awareness of their existence. No wonder "authorities" are troubled by such development. I can understand the discomfort that comes without not knowing what is going on but no matter how much we may wish to feel in control we can't simply erect a wall to reassert control. At least, not without causing great harm in the effort to prevent harm. -----Original Message----- From: nnsquad-bounces+nnsquad=bobf.frankston.com@nnsquad.org [mailto:nnsquad-bounces+nnsquad=bobf.frankston.com@nnsquad.org] On Behalf Of Lauren Weinstein Sent: Monday, September 27, 2010 01:14 To: nnsquad@nnsquad.org Subject: [ NNSquad ] NYTimes: U.S. wants access to *all* encrypted Internet communications NYTimes: U.S. wants access to *all* encrypted Internet communications http://bit.ly/b7iSFC (New York Times) --Lauren-- Lauren Weinstein (lauren@vortex.com) http://www.vortex.com/lauren Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800 Co-Founder, PFIR (People For Internet Responsibility): http://www.pfir.org Co-Founder, NNSquad (Network Neutrality Squad): http://www.nnsquad.org Founder, GCTIP (Global Coalition for Transparent Internet Performance): http://www.gctip.org Founder, PRIVACY Forum: http://www.vortex.com Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein Google Buzz: http://bit.ly/lauren-buzz