It was suprisingly weak for a John Markoff story (he usually gets the details exactly right) but it is an issue that had to be brought up and I see no reason to call it a bad article overall.
*snort* I've been trying to keep my views to myself on this but claiming Markoff usually gets things right is plain misleading. His articles are as about as one sided as you can get and full of factual inaccuracies. The Mitnik series were a farce and his latest work is reactionary fluff and shows his true lack of understanding of his topics.
He's as close as you are going to get to meeting the journalistic ideal. I'm willing to settle for someone who gets the job right nearly all of the time.
God help us all. I am probably biased against the media in general, relying on them to present a balanced and unbiased by the reporter, editor or media ownership is a tall task for them. They are too quick to jump into the sensationalist angle and disregard the overall view and truth. For cypherpunks to get the proper facts and implications (subjective I guess) into print, it's usually the case that any communication with the press has to be very clear, concise, unambiguous and to the point. If you give them any chance to wander off the rails they will take it and distort your words according to their agenda. Once that happens it's usually the case the article is scoffed at for a week or so and then forgotten until it's dragged up later as someones point for whatever they want to support in their discussion. If there are good articles out there then it's usually the case the reporter actually went and took the time to investigate their subject matter and gather all points of view and to verify as many facts as they can. You say Markoff does this, I dont agree he does. Then the editor has to keep their big red pen out of it enought so the message isn't distorted. This doesnt occur often IMHO. You're better off purchasing space in the paper yourself and getting it said your way. It's because of this dilema that a lot of the people I communicate with, and who have the information people should know, choose to avoid and shun any media contact. They dont want to be linked with some lame ass report. Cheers, Mark mark@lochard.com.au The above opinions are rumoured to be mine.