US Politics Mega-thread - Page 1647

On February 17 2015 07:01 IgnE wrote:
In 50 years we are going to look back and say "wow we actually let people drive themselves around??? and tens of thousands of people died every year doing it?? that's crazy."

On February 13 2015 04:42 BallinWitStalin wrote:


Oh god it's you again.....



Honestly, are you that naïve?
Based on your previous postings I already know the answer to this, but I'll beat my head against the wall a little more...


I don't understand how the fuck people like you keep confusing net neutrality legislation with the NSA wiretapping.

They are completely different issues.

The only thing they have in common is that they both involve the internet.

It's like the government regulating highway rules for driving vs. mandating GPS trackers be placed in every car so that they know exactly where every car is all the time.

Different. Issues. Entirely.

On February 17 2015 11:16 Simberto wrote:
Depending on your contract, you can already pay for how much bandwidth you use. In that case, why does it matter where that bandwidth comes from? You pay for what you use. Why should the cable company also get to extort additional money from content providers when you are already paying for the bandwidth to start with?

I personally like an internet where i can just go to places and do things, without having to pay 5 cents to access TL, 3 dollars for twitch, 50 cents for x, etc...I pay for the bandwidth i use. What i do with that bandwidth shouldn't matter to anyone but me. Twitch isn't using bandwidth. I am using bandwidth when watching twitch. Twitch gets money from me watching their adds, which apparently is enough for them to pay for servers etc..., since they are still in business. Why should the bandwidth be payed for doubly, just because the cable company really likes to extract money wherever it can?

On February 17 2015 11:29 Millitron wrote:

You cannot decide what bandwidth you want, you're stuck with picking one package from a few limited choices.

Please don't confuse datacaps with paying for however much bandwidth you want.

But I agree, ISP's are scum.

On February 17 2015 10:59 hannahbelle wrote:


Can't believe I missed this the first time through.

I am sure though, once your rage subsided, you realized that I wasn't equating net neutrality with the NSA. NSA does what it wants when it wants. It's show in the past that it doesn't need anyone's permission to snoop.

Net Neutrality is yet another misnomer in the attempt to bring the Fairness Doctrine to the internet. From there it is a very small step to regulating internet sites because of "objectionable" content.

And as to the uninformed poster referencing his signature vis-à-vis net neutrality, Twitch, like any other streaming service (Netflix, Hulu) takes bandwidth. When the bandwidth is full, someone has to take the financial burden to pay for more bandwidth. At the end of the day, it will be the consumer. Net Neutrality ensures that, true to its socialist roots, everyone pays for it whether they use it or not. I would prefer the streaming companies pay for it. That way, unlike my cable package, if I do not want to pay for Twitch streaming, I won't subscribe. Same thing with Netflix and Hulu. I prefer to pay more for the services I like and not pay for the services I don't, than todays modern form of cable, in which I pay for a large package filled with crap channels I don't care about, just so I can get the 1-2 that I do.

Charge Twitch for the streaming and Twitch can charge me. I'll pay because I like the service.

SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. National Security Agency has figured out how to hide spying software deep within hard drives made by Western Digital, Seagate, Toshiba and other top manufacturers, giving the agency the means to eavesdrop on the majority of the world's computers, according to cyber researchers and former operatives.

That long-sought and closely guarded ability was part of a cluster of spying programs discovered by Kaspersky Lab, the Moscow-based security software maker that has exposed a series of Western cyberespionage operations.

Kaspersky said it found personal computers in 30 countries infected with one or more of the spying programs, with the most infections seen in Iran, followed by Russia, Pakistan, Afghanistan, China, Mali, Syria, Yemen and Algeria. The targets included government and military institutions, telecommunication companies, banks, energy companies, nuclear researchers, media, and Islamic activists, Kaspersky said.

The firm declined to publicly name the country behind the spying campaign, but said it was closely linked to Stuxnet, the NSA-led cyberweapon that was used to attack Iran's uranium enrichment facility. The NSA is the agency responsible for gathering electronic intelligence on behalf of the United States.

A former NSA employee told Reuters that Kaspersky's analysis was correct, and that people still in the intelligence agency valued these spying programs as highly as Stuxnet. Another former intelligence operative confirmed that the NSA had developed the prized technique of concealing spyware in hard drives, but said he did not know which spy efforts relied on it.

NSA spokeswoman Vanee Vines declined to comment.

On February 17 2015 11:41 Mohdoo wrote:


It's just a matter of an industry not being regulated yet. Remember the auto industry? Oh wait, let's make sure these things are actually safe. Cigarettes? All sorts of industries that have been put in line used to be horribly unethical. It's just a natural progression.

On February 17 2015 11:29 Millitron wrote:

You cannot decide what bandwidth you want, you're stuck with picking one package from a few limited choices.

Please don't confuse datacaps with paying for however much bandwidth you want.

But I agree, ISP's are scum.

On February 17 2015 23:30 xDaunt wrote:
I'm cruising through the federal court opinion that guts Obama's executive amnesty program. What a shellacking.

EDIT: Here it is.

EDIT 2: Here's the whole opinion..

Just as it did when launching its "GigaPower" service in Austin, Texas in late 2013, AT&T offers different prices based on how jealously users guard their privacy. AT&T's $70 per-month pricing for gigabit service is the same price as Google Fiber, but AT&T charges an additional $29 a month to customers who opt out of AT&T's "Internet Preferences" program.

"Using the IP address assigned to each GigaPower account, AT&T scans for your AT&T Internet Preferences election," the company says. "AT&T will treat your Internet browsing activity in accordance with your election. If you chose to participate in the AT&T Internet Preferences program, your Internet traffic is routed to AT&T's Internet Preferences web browsing and analytics platform. If you chose not to participate in the AT&T Internet Preferences program, your Internet traffic is not routed to the Internet Preferences analytics platform. AT&T may collect and use web browsing information for other purposes, as described in our Privacy Policy, even if you do not participate in the Internet Preferences program."

On February 18 2015 01:03 oneofthem wrote:
standard of proof for legal arguments is wanting.

On February 18 2015 01:24 oneofthem wrote:
the policy consequence and impact are basically not argued for at all. draining state resources and immigrants = crimes.

On February 18 2015 01:44 oneofthem wrote:
looking at the standing section the states have to prove some sort of harm and this is a policy evaluation. not much substance besides the immigrants = crime argument presented in one anecdotal case, and the policy in question explicitly excludes immigrants with criminal records from benefits anyway.