Infiltration / Exfiltration

John Young jya at pipeline.com
Mon Jan 20 07:31:03 PST 2014


Dan White wrote:

>The ACLU is unlikely to get into the Wikileaks business.

No org headed by a lawyer will break the law, on the contrary will
enforce it stringently, above and below the table. Nor will a journalist
working for a commercial outlet. The perks of privilege for both
industries are just too beneficial. (WikiLeaks was taken over by
lawyers and journalists precursing Snowden's takeover.)

Oh, and they shop clients and sources through confabs in chambers
and consultation with officials, and, really nasty, by access to
classified and secret information. Does that sound like dual-use
comsec, yes, that is what it is.

>>I understand how distasteful working in the belly of the beast might be
>>but isn't it one of the most needed things cyperpunks can do right now?
>
>It's time to win the public brain trust war. Leaks, in the last year, have
>done much to shift public opinion, and will likely continue to help
>tremendously.  That will only get us so far (in the US). We (the larger
>tech community) need to cash in that momentum and turn that into political
>change, particularly at the legislative level. However, that path needs
>charismatic leaders, i.e. Lawrence Lessig, to actually run for office.

Far too many lawyers are in government. Push some techs. Go
crazy, push a bunch of cryptographer. Not those under control of
in thrall to lawyers. Any of those charismatics untethered?

Coda: IANAL is never to be flashed as a sign of cowardice, brain-washing,
intimidation, ignorance. It's other side of the king's coin of Godwin's Law.






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