http://dc.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=41571&group=webcast
Marcos: 'North American anarchists hold and espouse colonialist belief
systems'
Marcos: 'North American anarchists hold and espouse colonialist belief
systems'
"...There are domineering and egotistical men in anarchist circles, just as
there are in activist circles. The big difference seems to be is that
anarchists openly talk about this, while other activists prefer denial or
appeals for people to put these concerns aside because of "more pressing
issues."..." Rev.
"...I'm really effective at going after people in power, right-wingers, and
authoritarians on the left..."
http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=224383&group=webcast The War
on Anarchism. (english) profrv@(nospam)fuckmicrosoft.com 12:59pm Sat Dec 21
'02 http://www.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=224430&group=webcast
By David M. Anderson, Attorney at Law
Irresistable forces v.
Immovable Objects
In the next decade or so, we are going to see the dramatic increase in two
apparently contradictory behaviors, networking and anonymity-seeking. These
phenomona will be seen especially among educated and techno-literate
citizens of Western industrialized democracies. They will occur because of
their increasing need to be conneccted and their desire to retain a certain
amount of privacy.
Networking will grow as a concentrated and highly efficient interaction. As
the products accomplishing it become more and more user friendly they will
invade our personal lives as easily as it has our businesses. Many of what
are now face-to-face business, social and political interactions will go
on-line. Increasingly sophisticated Netconferencing, chat rooms, and good
old-fashioned (i.e. 20th Century) email will all contribute to this change.
This anonymity-seeking will be essentially the assertion of the Right to
Privacy. Aright which may well ascend to the rank of importance now given
the right of free speech because of the increasing current and future data
warehousing, analysis, and manipulation. WWW "cookies" the recording of
your computer and IP information on certain Web sites is a prime example of
this.
The right to privacy is not found directly in the Constitution, but has
been "read into" the Constitution by legal scholars. This "right" was
developed in numerous Supreme Court decisions in the last century. The
first major enunciation of the right was stated in an 1890 Harvard Law
Review article by Louis Brandeis and Samuel Warren entitled, appropriately
enough, "The Right to Privacy."
The right has been derived from the 4th and 5th Amendment protections from
unreasonable search and seizure, and due process considerations.
For a more modern view and a fairly scholarly legal analysis of the current
status of the right to privacy, see "The Right to Privacy", by Caroline
Kennedy [ yes, THAT Caroline Kennedy], Knopf, 1995, wherein she writes:
"Even if you do not own a personal computer and never intend to, you are
part of the revolution.
From a privacy point of view, we are in the midst of the most unsettling
period in this revolution. For many the technology itself is unfamiliar and
frightening. Most important, the privacy problems are so different from
those that have come before, there is no framework to deal with them.
Technology is fast. The law � is slow."
There is now vast amounts of information about individuals available
on-line. Information collected legally and illegally by people and
companies trying to collect, warehouse, analyze and manipulate the data for
commercial or political purposes. So much information that a strong, almost
Luddite backlash is almost inevitable. People are unlikely to emulate Ted
Kascinski en masse. However, we are most certainly going to see more
unlisted phone numbers, personal P.O. Box numbers, and anonymous E-mail
addresses.
E-Who ?
Just how easy is it to drop off the radar screen? When asked about the
disclosure policy of Microsoft's free E-mail service, HOTMAIL, [
www.hotmail.com ] Randy Delucci had this to say regarding personal
identifying information:
"Here is Hotmail's disclosure policy: In order to honor our users' privacy,
cooperate fully with law enforcement, and comply with the Electronic
Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), Hotmail enforces the following
information disclosure policy:
Hotmail will confirm to any interested party whether or not an account
exists, and if so, if it has been closed for violating the Hotmail Terms of
Service (HTS).
When served with a search warrant, subpoena, or equivalent document
enforceable in Santa Clara County, CA, Hotmail will disclose certain
registration ID information, and the IP login history. The ECPA governs
when stored email messages will be released. For most requests, a criminal
search warrant will be required to divulge the contents of communications."
In other words, other than if you are being pursued by law enforcement
personnel or involved in some other legal process, you can pretty much be
ensured anonymity with Hotmail. When you fill out the application at
Hotmail, it asks for a number of items of personal information, which it
states will not be given out to anyone without your permission. It is
interesting that no specific identifying information, such as date of
birth, SSN (Social Security Number) or a telephone number is even
requested, let alone required. If you fill out the form with a pseudonym,
or a generic name like mine [David Anderson], you have pretty much
disappeared.
Most people seeking anonymity are more concerned with creditors, merchants
or ex-spouses finding them than the legal system. Everyone should, realize
that the IRS, FBI, and the like will always be able to track you down,
given the right set of legal circumstances. For example, even a cel-phone
number's owner information can be subpoenaed. Also, private PO Box rental
companies such as Mail Boxes Etc. are required to keep identifying
information on file.
If you have a driver's license, own a vehicle in your own name, or vote,
good luck disappearing without changing one or all three of thosse
curcumstances. The same is true of your date of birth or SSN. You would be
amazed at how much retailers can guess about you based on your sex, age and
zip code.
Try this exercise to determine what "they" can learn about you. Log into
www.cdt.org , the Center for Democracy and Technology, and click on the CDT
Privacy Demonstration. There, you'll find out what can be learned about you
when you visit the site once. Now go on with your day and then return. The
page recognizes you. The same information is available to the owner of ANY
website you visit. And you thought you were just casually browsing
anonymously? They know more than you think and they accumulate information
regarding your every visit to the same Website.
Now, many people will find this kind of customer interaction almost "magic"
and welcome. After all, it's a pain in the you-know-what to have to repeat
certain information every time you contact a merchant, and if you're
ordering, say running shoes, its nice that they remember you like light and
cushy shoes instead of firm, strongly supported shoes. Others, however,
will find this extremely troublesome and intrusive. Especially if the
information is shared, sold or manipulated by other merchants or
businesses. It's one thing to tell someone who you are and what you like.
It's another when they tell all their friends. And they tell their friends.
And. . . you get the picture.
The solution? There may not be one. None of wants to make the choice to
stay off-line completely and/or refuse telephone and mail service. But
remember, even Super-Dropout Ted Koscinski committed all of his federal
crimes via mail-bombs, and HE retained the use of a mailbox outside his cabin.
Turn on, Tune in , Drop Out [ but first "Find Yourself"]
Perhaps the best way to determine if you need to DISappear is first to find
out if you actually APPEAR.
Check out the following websites to see if anyone who WANTS to find you,
actually CAN:
www.four11.com
www.bigfoot.com
www.whowhere.com
www.switchboard.com
If you strongly desire privacy, and really want to completely avoid the
hackers, spammers, stalkers, and harassers, you must actively guard your
privacy. The most important information to protect is your actual home
address and phone number, as well as your SSN. Obviously, also make sure
all on-line credit card transactions are securely encrypted, and create a
personal Web page only if you really want to invite a lot of commercial
solicitation.
For more complete and exhaustive discussion of privacy rights issues, go to
www.privacyrights.org , or check out The Privacy Rights Handbook, Beth
Givens,Avon,1997. [It contains an excellent foreword by Ralph Nader.]
iBiz
http://www.ibiz.net/may98/legalx.htm
