Bruce Schneier to leave BT

[Andy Isaacson]

On Mon, Dec 16, 2013 at 08:29:55AM -0800, coderman wrote:
> retaliation for helping expose intelligence community excesses and
> illegalities?

Unlikely; not impossible, but I doubt it was actual retaliation.  Bruce
denies it:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/12/16/bruce_schneier_leaves_bt/

    Schneier told The Register this evening of his departure: "This has
    nothing to do with the NSA. No, they [BT] weren't happy with me, but
    they knew that I am an independent thinker and they didn't try to
    muzzle me in any way. It's just time. I spent seven years at BT, and
    seven years at Counterpane Internet Security, Inc before BT bought
    us. It's past time for something new.
    
    As to the future: Answer, cloudy; ask again later." 

Circa 2009 Bruce had some amusing off-the-record stories of previous
interactions with the BT hierarchy.  Bruce at BT was never a clean fit,
but BT profited greatly by, as they say in the article's leaked email,
having someone who can challenge their expectations.

Staying at a single gig for 14 years is quite remarkable in the tech
industry.

All that said, there are still things that one Cannot Say when one has
$CORP on one's business card.  Just as a simple example, the doctrine
of "judicial notice" means that if an officer of a corporation makes a
public statement about something and the corporation does not publish a
correction, a court can assume that the statement is true in a later
civil proceeding.  The company can counter the presumption or clarify
the necessary context by presenting evidence, but it's expensive and
means you're burning minutes/pages on refuting nonsense.  So execs need
to be careful not to say, for example, that "$CORP has poor network
security" because that's food for a nuisance lawsuit.

I hope Bruce can use his newfound free time to do additional reporting
on the docs.  Good news!

-andy