b.cognosco
Where leaping to conclusions is my primary form of forward motion.
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Book Reviews
Recently
DMCA Thwarts Author of X-Box Book
Civics Lesson
Powerline Distribution Laws
Looting with Iraq
Loon-fest in Augusta
The Ultimate Blogger
Correction and Clarification
Atlanta Hax0r's Conference Hit by DMCA
First Audio Blog Entry
Tuesday, April 15, 2003
The Danger of the Surveillance State
Bruce Schneier, one of America's foremost authorities on secure systems and digital safeguards, examines both the danger and the ludicrous nature of recent changes in the US Dept. of (In)Justice policy toward accurate data. Following Schneier's examples below, it's easy to see how systems without strong accuracy requirements can run amok. Yet the DoJ has done away with requirements that the FBI ensure its data is timely and accurate. But it gets worse. According to Schneier:
[...] This kind of thing is already happening. There are 13 million people on the FBI's terrorist watch list. That's ridiculous, it's simply inconceivable that a number of people equal to 4.5% of the population of the United States are terrorists. There are far more innocents on that list than there are guilty people not on that list. And these innocents are regularly harassed by police trying to do their job. And in any case, any watch list with 13 million people is basically useless. How many resources can anyone afford to spend watching about one-twentieth of the population, anyway? [...]
The very notion that there are 13 million terrorists is absurd. It's highly suspect that even 10%, or 1.3 million, of the listed people are terrorists by any rational definition. No, what we have here is something entirely different -- a group of powerful, paranoid, infomaniacal officials covering their ass without regard to the consequences or impact of their actions on American citizens or their constitutional rights.
According to Schneier, over 80,000 law enforcement agencies have access to this database. On average, there are 2.8 million transactions processed each day. Just think about your local deputy, or court clerk, or minimum wage secretarial assistant entering your data into one of these systems and hitting the wrong key. Think it matters? Think you can get it fixed? Just ask Mike Hawash.
Terrorism databases and the fallacy of the false positive. Schneier runs down the statistical problems of keeping terrorist-suspect databases:
To see this, let's walk through an example. Assume a simple database -- name and a single code indicating "innocent" or "guilty." When a policeman encounters someone, he looks that person up in the database, and then arrests him if the database says "guilty."[Boing Boing Blog]Example 1: Assume the database is 100% accurate. If that is the case, there won't be any false arrests because of bad data. It works perfectly.
Example 2: Assume a 0.0001% error rate: one error in a million. (An error is defined as a person having an "innocent" code when he is guilty, or a "guilty" code when he is innocent.) Furthermore, assume that one in 10,000 people are guilty. In this case, for every 100 guilty people the database correctly identifies it will mistakenly identify one innocent person as guilty (because of an error). And the number of guilty people erroneously listed as innocent is tiny: one in a million.
Example 3: Assume a 1% error rate -- one in a hundred -- and the same one in 10,000 ratio of guilty people. The results are very different. For every 100 guilty people the database correctly identifies, it will mistakenly identify 10,000 innocent people as guilty. The number of guilty people erroneously listed as innocent is larger, but still very small: one in 100.
DMCA Thwarts Author of X-Box Book
This C/Net news article on Andrew Huang's attempts to publish a book on Microsoft's X-Box is a chilling example of the economic sledgehammer effect the DMCA has on small business. By writing on a controversial subject -- not an illegal subject, mind you, but a controversial one -- Huang has lost both a publishing contract with Wiley and been refused service by an e-Commerce company.Here again we have companies bolting from projects on the simple fear that they will be accused under the DMCA, because the law is so badly written, and the costs of defending against it so high, that the economic incentive to pursue even mildly questionable projects is gone.
[...] I get a lot of e-mail from a lot of people, and sometimes you see the subject line and freeze for a moment, thinking, "This is it, they're coming to get me." And then it just turns out to be an innocent question. But the fact that Americart felt it had to reject my book shows how jittery people are. [...]
The DMCA may well be the most economically damaging piece of legislation of the last century, and only now are we beginning to see the unintended consequences of letting media conglomerates write laws for their own benefit. But the public outcry is having some effect. As the article points out highly public DMCA attacks, such as the Wal-Mart case, have raised substantial negative publicity for the plaintiffs. What we are seeing now are more subtle effects of having a legal bludgeon wielded against individuals and small businesses, in discrete efforts that try to insulate major players from public stigma.
In short, the DMCA is rapidly turning into a tool to oppress and monopolize markets at the expense of small business and individuals. The law was never intended to "protect the artists and creators", it was intended to establish legal monopolies. Of course, had any of our Congressmen been doing their jobs in 1997 and 1998 they would have held some modicum of debate on the issue, and maybe even discovered just how badly they were being snookered. But they didn't. They took the money from lobbyists and signed the bill without a comment. Now we are left to clean up their mess.
Xbox hacking book aborted by the DMCA. Bunnie Huang, the MIT grad student who hacked the Xbox, has had his publishing deal with Hungry Minds for a book on hacking the Xbox killed because the publisher is scared that MSFT will come after them with the DMCA. So he decided to self-publish the book, but the shopping-cart service he used also got scared off by the DMCA.
"The thing I have to emphasize is that the book itself is not criminal," Huang said. "It'd be like saying that breaking and entering is illegal, so you can't write a book on how locks work."[Boing Boing Blog]
Monday, April 14, 2003
Civics Lesson
A recent Columbia Law School survey found that only 31% of adult Americans were sure that Karl Marx didn't help write the U.S. Constitution. I wonder how this happened?
[...] This lack of proficiency [in civics] leads to some serious misconceptions, as a recent Columbia Law School survey showed. Although the Founding Fathers wrote the U.S. Constitution to protect individual rights and property, one-third of adult Americans think the document contains the Karl Marx maxim that negates all rights to property: "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs." Only 31 percent of respondents were sure Marxs words werent in the Constitution, while the remaining third didnt know. [...] [The Heartland Institute]
Powerline Distribution Laws
C/Net News is reporting that FCC Chairman Michael Powell is showing some enthusiasm for powerline-based Internet services. As Jeremy points out, powerline distribution combined with wireless gives us four legitimate connectivity options -- two of which have almost nothing to do with Telcos. One upside to the powerline model -- power utilities are highly unlikely to get into the content business and therefore have little incentive to restrict access or connectivity to pre-determined "consumer" uses.Personally, I would love to get a hi-speed Net connection from my local electrical coop. It's a member-owned organization that provides a perfect model for how bandwidth should be distributed. Hope this little experiment gets rolled out to other areas.
Powell on Powerline."This is within striking distance of being the third major broadband pipe into the home," Powell said. "I'm a little bummed it's not (available) in my area."
I think he means the forth major broadband pipe, as fixed and unlicensed wireless will be right in there too. But, it's great to see Powell pushing Powerline.
[Jeremy Allaire's Radio]
Looting with Iraq
It's tax time, that time of year when we all celebrate the privilege of American citizenship by opening our wallets and giving deeply. But this year we have a war to distract us from the annual rite. (Any of you conspiracy theorists out there claiming the timing of the Iraqi incursion was fixed to keep our minds off Tax Day?) At any rate, here's a little Iraqi conflict list of looters -- a list of "riders" attached by patriotic congressmen to the $80 billion war finance bill -- courtesy of your friendly Libertarian watchdogs:
[...] According to an estimate by Rep. Ron Paul, R-TX, the bill contains $20 billion in "wartime pork," or spending that has no connection with the war in Iraq or the battle against terrorism.[...] One especially egregious example: Republican Sen. Thad Cochran inserted language that would funnel $250 million to Southern catfish farmers, many of them in his home state of Mississippi, under the guise of providing drought relief for livestock producers.
Other "war-time pork" includes:
- $69 million to fund a "Bill Emerson Humanitarian Trust," named after the former Missouri Congressman.
- A measure intended to prevent a German company, DHL Worldwide Express, from competing with Federal Express and United Parcel Service in the delivery of military cargo. During the 2002 election cycle, UPS gave $1.5 million to Democratic and Republican candidates and $300,000 to the Republican National Committee, Neale noted.
- $98 million for an agricultural research lab in Iowa, and $250 million in other Agriculture Department grants.
- $3.2 billion to extend unemployment benefits for airline employees.
- $11 million for Congressional salaries and expenses.
- A total of $12.4 million for the Library of Congress, the Congressional Research Service, the General Accounting Office and the U.S. Court of International Trade.
- $8 billion in foreign aid for nations that are supposedly helping the fight against terrorism, including Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia and Djibouti. [...] [Libertarian Party Announcements]
Loon-fest in Augusta
Here are just some of the wackos represented at the off-site protest over the Augusta National Golf Club. The protest, started by professional fem-wack Martha Burk, turned into a non-event but still drew a cast of characters:- The Rev. Jesse Jackson's Rainbow/PUSH Coalition (Jackson said he'd be a no-show)
- Todd Manzi of Tampa, Fla., Burk's self-appointed nemesis
- Joseph J. Harper of Cordele, Ga., the leader of a Ku Klux Klan splinter group
- Dave Walker of Atlanta, a one-man pro-war rally whose baseball cap says "Give War a Chance"
- An anti-Jackson group called Brotherhood of a New Destiny
- A few locals calling themselves People Against Ridiculous Protests, who planned to make their point by protesting in absentia. Leader Deke Wiggins said he intended to plant a banner in the field, then leave.
If you have a cause, and the best you can do is gather 50-100 loons like those above, and you even have to bus those in from somewhere else, shouldn't you, maybe, find a better way to spend your time?
Has anyone ever seen Hootie Johnson? Ever met a woman who would want to hang out with Hootie? Smoke a few stogies, maybe have a shot or two of scotch? Yeah, that's the life. I can see golf babes signing up for that one. A better cause celebre' would be getting more female sales clerks in the power tools section at Lowe's.
Burk Rallies Against Masters. 11 Alive Apr 12 2003 1:02PM ET [Moreover - Atlanta news]
Sunday, April 13, 2003
The Ultimate Blogger
Ernie points to a brief summary of the key success strategies for the world's most economically successful blogger -- Matt Drudge.
Pioneer weblogger makes 800k a year.Tom Mighell has a great post on how Matt Drudge makes $800,000 a year, basically using the weblog model of publishing. Of course, his site isn't a weblog was started before weblogs came in to the fore, but look at Drudge's 4 keys to success on how to make money without breaking a sweat. Only problem is that he got there first.
[Ernie the Attorney]
Correction and Clarification
In a recent post on the TIA I incorrectly credited words by David Reed to Bob Frankston. Reed was the author of the source material at SATN. I discovered my error via The Doc Searls weblog. Thanks, Doc.Atlanta Hax0r's Conference Hit by DMCA
Doc Searls has posted a lengthy excerpt from a Cease and Desist letter sent by BlackBoard, Inc. to the organizers of interz0ne II in Atlanta. I have not looked into this enough to verify the claims made regarding published information on the web site, but I suspect it would be difficult to prove any economic damage to Blackboard as a result of this scenario.Blackboard, Inc. can't really be blamed for responding. I would do the same. But once again the preemptive power of the DMCA, and its severe penalties for previously minor infractions, weights the legal argument so heavily in favor of the copyright or patent holder that even legitimate discussion becomes a completely one-sided game of legal "chicken".
DMCA vs. Free Speech, cont'd.I just heard from folks at the InterZOne conference in Atlanta, where, apparently, conference organizers and two scheduled speakers have been served with cease-and-desist requests. At issue are the "intellectual property rights" of Blackboard Inc. Here's an excerpt from Blackboard's attorney's letter:
It recently has come to Blackboard's attention that Billy Hoffman and Virgil Griffith are intending to speak as co-panelists in your upcoming InterzOne II conference on April 11, 2003. The website located at www.yak.net/acidus, Mr. Hoffman's website, states that, "The signals to and from several Blackboard readers have been captured, as well as how data is stored on the cards. Using this knowledge Virgil and I have created a drop-in compatible reader, that will work with an existing RS-485 network. Computer code to emulate any reader made as well as hardware specs to wire the readers and control circuits will be launched." Explaining, Mr. Hoffman's website states that "This will show not only did we hack the system, but we hacked it so far we could build functional readers from scratch." The website states that he intends at this conference to "release code to make a computer emulate any Blackboard reader, as well as the hardware designs ... to make a drop in replacement for any Blackboard reader." The website also threatens that, because "Blackboard wouldn't make their system more secure, or tell people how to secure it, I'll simply make compatible ones myself and give them away."
Please be advised that the actions described on Mr. Hoffman's website, including the hacking of Blackboard's system, are illegal, and that any effort by either Mr. Hoffman or Mr. Griffith to convey to others at your Conference any information gleaned in whole or in part from such actions, particularly in an effort to cause Blackboard economic harm, would be improper. Please be advised of our view that it would be actionable for you or your conference to facilitate Mr. Hoffman's and Mr. Griffith's announced plans for, among other things, the disclosure of signals captured, the releasing of code, the description of development of functional readers, and the hardware specs to wire the readers and/or control circuits. Please be advised further that the www.yak.net/acidus website's use of the Blackboard name and the Blackboard logo is unauthorized and far exceeds the parameters of any nominative fair use, constituting a false designation of origin in violation of the federal Lanham Act, and we caution that we have not authorized Blackboard's name or logo to be used in any seminar or conference materials or in any presentation. We are also examining whether the actions of Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Griffin may have violated other federal laws, including (among others) the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, the Economic Espionage Act, the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Wiretap Act, and the Consumer Fraud and Abuse Act, as well as Georgia's Computer Systems Protection Act.
My correspondent writes, We're trying to get the word out as fast as possible because this is most definitely not cool.
[The Doc Searls Weblog]
First Audio Blog Entry
I am behind the curve on this -- the typical late adopter. Most of the audio blogging hoopla seems to have passed and it now seems a bit passe'. But no matter, I still wanted to understand how it was done, how I could do it, and how I might use the technology to begin making multi-modal presentations. All in the hopes that I can, at some point, create useful learning object. This goes along with my earlier query about the RadioPoint presentation tool.So here is my first audio blog entry. I just added an MP3 file to an entry I made earlier. I may have to change my item template around a bit to get the audio enclosure icon to be more noticeable. But it's a start.
I want to thank Hugh Madison of American Invisible for patiently guiding me through the process and offering "sound" advice (pun intended). Like everything else in technology, getting sound recorded and into the computer the first time is utterly counter-intuitive. I couldn't have done it without some help.
I'm far from proficient, but it's a start. We'll see how it goes from here.
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This Page was last updated: Wed, 02 Jul 2008 21:06:57 GMT
