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1 posted on 04/20/2016 10:14:22 AM PDT by Swordmaker
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To: Swordmaker
Senators Richard Burr (R-NC) and Dianne Feinstein (D-CA)

If Fineswine is for it, it has to be bad.

2 posted on 04/20/2016 10:18:52 AM PDT by NorthMountain (A plague o' both your houses.)
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To: dayglored; ShadowAce; ThunderSleeps; ~Kim4VRWC's~; 1234; 5thGenTexan; Abundy; Action-America; ...
Four coalitions representing Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and other major tech companies have published an open letter expressing their concerns over a controversial US bill that would require smartphone makers to decrypt data on demand. — PING!

Pinging dayglored, Shadow Ace, and ThunderSleeps for their ping lists referencing government over reaching legislation.


Computer and Mobile Device Security
Ping!

The latest Apple/Mac/iOS Pings can be found by searching Keyword "ApplePingList" on FreeRepublic's Search.

If you want on or off the Mac Ping List, Freepmail me

3 posted on 04/20/2016 10:22:41 AM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue..)
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Full text of the open letter:

Letter to Chairman Burr and Vice-Chairman Feinstein Regarding Encryption

April 19, 2016

The Honorable Richard Burr
Chairman
Select Committee on Intelligence
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20515

The Honorable Dianne Feinstein
Vice-Chairman
Select Committee on Intelligence
United States Senate
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Chairman Burr and Vice-Chairman Feinstein:

We write to express our deep concerns about well-intentioned but ultimately unworkable policies around encryption that would weaken the very defenses we need to protect us from people who want to cause economic and physical harm. We believe it is critical to the safety of the nation’s, and the world’s, information technology infrastructure for us all to avoid actions that will create government-mandated security vulnerabilities in our encryption systems.

As member companies whose innovations help to drive the success and growth of the digital economy, we understand the need to protect our users’ physical safety and the safety of their most private information. To serve both these interests, we adhere to two basic principles. First, we respond expeditiously to legal process and emergency requests for data from government agencies. Second, we design our systems and devices to include a variety of network- and device-based features, including but not limited to strong encryption. We do these things to protect users’ digital security in the face of threats from both criminals and governments.

Any mandatory decryption requirement, such as that included in the discussion draft of the bill that you authored, will to lead to unintended consequences. The effect of such a requirement will force companies to prioritize government access over other considerations, including digital security. As a result, when designing products or services, technology companies could be forced to make decisions that would create opportunities for exploitation by bad actors seeking to harm our customers and whom we all want to stop. The bill would force those providing digital communication and storage to ensure that digital data can be obtained in “intelligible” form by the government, pursuant to a court order. This mandate would mean that when a company or user has decided to use some encryption technologies, those technologies will have to be built to allow some third party to potentially have access. This access could, in turn, be exploited by bad actors.

It is also important to remember that such a technological mandate fails to account for the global nature of today’s technology. For example, no accessibility requirement can be limited to U.S. law enforcement; once it is required by the U.S., other governments will surely follow. In addition, the U.S. has no monopoly on these security measures. A law passed by Congress trying to restrict the use of data security measures will not prevent their use. It will only serve to push users to non-U.S. companies, in turn undermining the global competitiveness of the technology industry in the U.S. and resulting in more and more data being stored in other countries.

We support making sure that law enforcement has the legal authorities, resources, and training it needs to solve crime, prevent terrorism, and protect the public. However, those things must be carefully balanced to preserve our customers’ security and digital information. We are ready and willing to engage in dialogue about how to strike that balance, but remain concerned about efforts to prioritize one type of security over all others in a way that leads to unintended, negative consequences for the safety of our networks and our customers

Signed,
Reform Government Surveillance
Computer & Communications Industry Association
Internet Infrastructure Coalition (I2C)
The Entertainment Software Association


4 posted on 04/20/2016 10:27:10 AM PDT by Swordmaker (This tag line is a Microsoft insult free zone... but if the insults to Mac users continue..)
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To: Swordmaker

Yes, the beautiful people should be exempt from lawful warrants. Only the hoi polloi should be subject to the law.


6 posted on 04/20/2016 10:56:18 AM PDT by jwalsh07
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To: Swordmaker

I’d like to pass a law requiring members of Congress to clean my toilet. Then maybe they’ll understand why slavery is wrong.


8 posted on 04/20/2016 11:30:36 AM PDT by Wolfie
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To: Swordmaker

Thank you Tim Cook!

We must consider the possibility of these attacks becoming more frequent in the future, as Bill Gates mentioned in his statement on this.

It is trivial to make encryption virtually uncrackable. So the time is coming that in order to find where the LA nuke is, a dead terrorists phone will need to be examined.

So somewhere along the way it will be illegal for encryption to be sold where the vendor doesn’t have the key which is also a trivial matter.

During much of the 90’s uncrackable encryption was considered a weapon of mass destruction. It can happen again. A couple of weeks ago legislation was introduced in France to do this. This is another example of this.

The FBI has already kept SilentCircle, Lavabit and others from selling secure email services EVEN WITHOUT LEGAL STANDING.

By going high profile Apple WAS BEGGING for this legislation to be introduced.

I think Tim Cook looked polls which show the US federal government to be the least popular government since Louis the 16th. He thought he’d come out looking like a rose if he took them on. Unfortunately this was hit for both the FBI and Apple.

Every US company including Apple must reasonably co-operate with a legal search warrant. Apple went public with the fact that they considered what the FBI was asking was UNREASONABLE. They should have worked behind the scenes to cooperate.

Think if someone was marketing uncrackable physical storage. A dead terrorist who had brought down 14 commercial jets with surface to air missiles was found to own such a storage. Do you think the owner of this storage facility would refuse to cooperate and go public and make a stink about it? This is exactly what an encrypted phone is and what Apple did in this case.


9 posted on 04/20/2016 11:38:16 AM PDT by ChinaGotTheGoodsOnClinton (Go Egypt on 0bama)
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To: Swordmaker

Hmm. Funny. I don’t hear any concern with how those companies influence politics and votes. It’s OK when they interfere with politics but not when politics interfere with them. Well guys, embrace the suck. You’re feeding and enabling these dogs and you got their fleas.


10 posted on 04/20/2016 12:10:59 PM PDT by Organic Panic
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To: Swordmaker

Perhaps Apple could decrypt 7 or 8 Senator’s girlfriends iPhones...


12 posted on 04/20/2016 4:32:05 PM PDT by tubebender (en)
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To: Swordmaker

The encryption cat is out of the bag. Apple can’t unlock encrypted messages in WhatsApp, Viber, Telegram, etc.

Whack one encrypted mole and another one pops up.

Give it up already. Let’s just be secure in our persons, houses, papers, and effects.


14 posted on 04/20/2016 5:03:30 PM PDT by freedomcrusader (Proudly wearing the politically incorrect label "crusader" since 1/29/2001)
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