No reference to Freedom Box ir Free Network Foundation? Jon Lebkowsky (Sent from my iPhone)
On Aug 3, 2012, at 1:49 PM, Yosem Companys <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Stewart Brand <[email protected]> > > Doctorow framed the question this way: “Computers are everywhere. They are > now something we put our whole bodies into---airplanes, cars---and something > we put into our bodies---pacemakers, cochlear implants. They HAVE to be > trustworthy.“ > > Sometimes humans are not so trustworthy, and programs may override you: “I > can’t let you do that, Dave.” (Reference to the self-protective insane > computer Hal in Kubrick’s film “2001.” That time the human was more > trustworthy than the computer.) Who decides who can override whom? > > The core issues for Doctorow come down to Human Rights versus Property > Rights, Lockdown versus Certainty, and Owners versus mere Users. > > Apple computers such as the iPhone are locked down---it lets you run only > what Apple trusts. Android phones let you run only what you trust. Doctorow > has changed his mind in favor of a foundational computer device call the > “Trusted Platform Module” (TPM) which provides secure crypto, remote > attestation, and sealed storage. He sees it as a crucial “nub of secure > certainty” in your machine. > > If it’s your machine, you rule it. It‘s a Human Right: your computer should > not be overridable. And a Property Right: “you own what you buy, even if it > what you do with it pisses off the vendor.” That’s clear when the Owner and > the User are the same person. What about when they’re not? > > There are systems where we really want the authorities to rule---airplanes, > nuclear reactors, probably self-driving cars (“as a species we are terrible > drivers.”) The firmware in those machines should be inviolable by users and > outside attackers. But the power of Owners over Users can be deeply > troubling, such as in matters of surveillance. There are powers that want > full data on what Users are up to---governments, companies, schools, parents. > Behind your company computer is the IT department and the people they report > to. They want to know all about your email and your web activities, and > there is reason for that. But we need to contemplate the “total and > terrifying power of Owners over Users.” > > Recognizing that we are necessarily transitory Users of many systems, such as > everything involving Cloud computing or storage, Doctorow favors keeping your > own box with its own processors and storage. He strongly favors the > democratization and wide distribution of expertise. As a Fellow of the > Electronic Frontier Foundation (who co-sponsored the talk) he supports public > defense of freedom in every sort of digital rights issue. > > “The potential for abuse in the computer world is large,” Doctorow concluded. > “It will keep getting larger.” > > > --Stewart Brand > > > ______________________ > > Stewart Brand -- [email protected] > The Long Now Foundation - http://www.longnow.org > Seminars & downloads: http://www.longnow.org/seminars/ > _______________________________________________ > liberationtech mailing list > [email protected] > > Should you need to change your subscription options, please go to: > > https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech > > If you would like to receive a daily digest, click "yes" (once you click > above) next to "would you like to receive list mail batched in a daily > digest?" > > You will need the user name and password you receive from the list moderator > in monthly reminders. You may ask for a reminder here: > https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/liberationtech > > Should you need immediate assistance, please contact the list moderator. > > Please don't forget to follow us on http://twitter.com/#!/Liberationtech
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