Tech Firms Call for International Ban on Dragnet Surveillance

From the Guardian:

The world's leading technology companies have united to demand sweeping
changes to US surveillance laws, urging an international ban on bulk collection of data to help preserve the public's “trust in the internet”.

In their most concerted response yet to disclosures by the National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden, Apple, Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Yahoo, LinkedIn, Twitter and AOL have published an open letter to Barack Obama and Congress on Monday, throwing their weight behind radical reforms already proposed by Washington politicians.

“The balance in many countries has tipped too far in favour of the state and away from the rights of the individual – rights that are enshrined in our constitution,” urges the letter signed by the eight US-based internet giants. “This undermines the freedoms we all cherish. It’s time for change.”

"Don't Go Fishing While Your House is on Fire" and Other Go Proverbs for Bitcoiners

It would be interesting to find out if there are many Go players in the Bitcoin community.  As a casual Go (i.e. Baduk) player, I often find that traditional proverbs on the game's strategy and tactics are applicable to other aspects of life, the world and everything. And that includes Bitcoin.  So I thought I'd share some Go proverbs that may be helpful to other Bitcoiners out there.  Here are nine Go proverbs and some thoughts on their application to Bitcoin.  You can find more Go proverbs over at Sensei's Library.

"If it has a name, know it."

In Go, this of course does not mean that we should just pick up some fancy jargon and start throwing it around. Rather, the idea is that if something is important or common enough to have a name, you should know what that thing is, and study it – whether it is an opening move, a pattern, a trade-off, or a protocol.  One of the more interesting aspects of Bitcoin is that it requires a non-trivial amount of inquiry to gain a basic understanding of what Bitcoin is, how it works and how to use it, let alone how to improve it.  For the average person, there are a lot of new things to learn or understand before you can comfortably and competently navigate the conceptual and practical aspects of Bitcoin, same as on the Go board.  Simply put, this means: do your research and your due diligence!

"Lose your first 50 games as quickly as possible."

There is a significant learning curve to Go, but you can learn all the rules in a few minutes.  You are going to make beginner mistakes (sometimes even the pros make them!).  It is better to make those mistakes quickly, in a low stakes environment, and learn from them.  With respect to Bitcoin, just think of how many people have gotten tripped up by the way in which the original client handles the change from one address when you make a fractional transfer to another!  If only they had tested the waters early on with a small transaction, they wouldn't have been caught off guard when there was more on the line. 

"Play urgent moves before big moves."

In Go, it is a grave error to attack a strong position from a weak base, or to expand to new territory before consolidating your current position.  Build your defenses before you go on the attack.  Planning on buying a bunch of bitcoin? or moving a bunch of currency around? or investing a ton of money in hardware?  Make sure you've got a strong and secure base from which to make your move.  Secure your wallet. 

"Don't go fishing while your house is on fire."

This is a more colorful version of the previous proverb, but the redundancy emphasizes the importance of the lesson.  Make sure your base is covered before taking off on flights of fancy!  Consider also that the study and research advised in the first proverb above are themselves necessary to properly secure your base in practice.

"A rich man should not pick quarrels." 

On the Go board, this means if you find yourself in a strong position with a big lead, don't take needless risks at your opponent's expense or your own.  Others will react violently when their survival is threatened, and you may inadvertently risk your own survival by opening yourself up to attack.

"The greedy do not get success."

This proverb is closely related to the previous one, and again re-enforces the lesson.  The notion of greed is a central concept in the psychology of Go.  Greed can cloud one's judgment and cause an otherwise rational person to make rash decisions or take excessive and needless risk with little forethought.  Don't invest more than you can afford to lose.

"Sacrifice plums for peaches."

In Go, it is not wise to be greedy, but you still have to take profit if you want to come out ahead.  And oftentimes you have to sacrifice something – big or small – to get something more in return, or to get anything at all. 

"Use go to meet friends."

Visit your local go club, meet new people and learn from them, and teach people in your circle of friends.  Check out your local Bitcoin meetup group or start one yourself.

"Don't follow proverbs blindly."

This meta-proverb is one of my favorites.  Don't be rigid in your thinking or in your play.  Always be skeptical and think for yourself!

Any other Go playing Bitcoiners or Bitcoining Go players out there?  What are your favorite Go proverbs?

The Threat of Government

The longer a government views people in general and its citizens in particular as a threat, the more people will come to understand that government is a threat to them.  From ZDNET:

While Microsoft's recent move to encrypt user data made the most headlines, the reasoning underlying its new data protection strategies classify the US government in the same category as a cyber-criminal group.

Brad Smith, Microsoft's EVP of Legal and Corporate Affairs, labeled the American government as an "advanced persistent threat" in a December 4 post on The Official Microsoft Blog.

The term advanced persistent threat (APT) refers to an attacker, usually an organized group of malicious attackers, that should be considered harmful and dangerous — and an overall method of attack that plays a "long game."

Two Major Internet Data Breaches

Someone's been rerouting traffic from the internet information fire hose.  From Wired:

In 2008, two security researchers at the DefCon hacker conference demonstrated a massive security vulnerability in the worldwide internet traffic-routing system — a vulnerability so severe that it could allow intelligence agencies, corporate spies or criminals to intercept massive amounts of data, or even tamper with it on the fly.

The traffic hijack, they showed, could be done in such a way that no one would notice because the attackers could simply re-route the traffic to a router they controlled, then forward it to its intended destination once they were done with it, leaving no one the wiser about what had occurred.

Now, five years later, this is exactly what has occurred. Earlier this year, researchers say, someone mysteriously hijacked internet traffic headed to government agencies, corporate offices and other recipients in the U.S. and elsewhere and redirected it to Belarus and Iceland, before sending it on its way to its legitimate destinations. They did so repeatedly over several months. But luckily someone did notice.

What the surveillance state security hysterics fail to understand is that any breach of informational security in the name of security makes everyone less secure on the internet. In related news, 2 million passwords have been compromised from some of the biggest names in the tech industry:

Hackers have stolen usernames and passwords for nearly two million accounts at Facebook, Google, Twitter, Yahoo and others, according to a report released this week.

The massive data breach was a result of keylogging software maliciously installed on an untold number of computers around the world, researchers at cybersecurity firm Trustwave said. The virus was capturing log-in credentials for key websites over the past month and sending those usernames and passwords to a server controlled by the hackers.

FCC Chair Open to Class-Based Internet Access

From Public Knowledge:

Yesterday, new FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler delivered his first formal public address.  After a prepared speech that explained his regulatory approach, he moved to a Q&A session.  In that session, he appeared to endorse the opposite of net neutrality: allowing ISPs to charge websites and services in order to reach that ISP’s subscribers.   In other words, giving ISPs the power to pick winners and losers online.

French Government Seeks Powers for Live Dragnet Internet Surveillance

From CIO:

A wide variety of government officials could gain access to live data concerning users of ISPs and online services including content-hosting sites, without the approval of a judge, under a draft law approved by members of the French National Assembly on Friday.

The measure, a rider on the 2014-2019 defense appropriation bill, would require ISPs and content hosting companies to provide government officials with access to details of their users' activity without judicial oversight. Law enforcement officials can already ask a judge for an order to access such data.
If the bill becomes law, it will no longer be necessary to go via the courts to obtain such access, and the number of government officials who could access the data would be much broader, potentially including those responsible for collecting taxes.

Tech Firms Work to Counter Appearance of Impropriety in Dragnet Surveillance

From USA Today:

Google, Facebook, Microsoft and Twitter are engaged in a costly tech arms race, with their businesses and cultures at stake. Not against one another, mind you, but a common foe: the National Security Agency.

The tech juggernauts are investing in security technology, lobbying efforts and good old-fashioned PR to thwart U.S. government snooping of their data systems, often without their cooperation or knowledge.

For months, the narrative has focused on data breaches and spying as tech's biggest players quietly stewed over a sense of government betrayal, while assessing threats to their brands because of consumer outrage over invasion of their privacy.