Politicians Are Stupid

If encryption were to be banned, wouldn't that kill e-commerce dead in its tracks? Would anyone be willing transmit their credit card information of a public network in the clear? Well, I suppose a few uninformed folks might do it once. I doubt they would do it a second time, after their information has been abused by some nefarious types.

And yet Pakistani government seems intent on banning encryption so that they can more easily snoop Internet traffic. What they apparently fail to realize is that this allows everyone to snoop the Internet traffic. Politicians are really stupid aren't they?

The New Dictators

The new totalitarian regimes (or wannabes) do not use jack boots to step on their citizens. That's so last century. The modern dictators (or wannabes) pass laws which require the corporations to do the dirty work for the government. The U.S. government is definitely a wannabe (totalitarians in training, if you like). They have just passed such a law which uses the old child pornography bogey man again. The Canadian government is also a wannabe and is desperate to catch up with our neighbours. Our version of this law is expected in the fall. All hail to the new dictators!

Herd Instinct

Google's new policy of requiring real names in profiles clearly shows what direction Google is headed. While it is still possible to use a fake name (it's not like Google is demanding to see your ID. Yet.), the new policy is a problem for people who have legitimate reasons to use an obviously invalid name.

So, will this new policy slow down the migration to Google+? Of course not. The success of Facebook has already proven that people are willing to give up their privacy to be where everyone else is hanging out. Call it herd instinct.

For those that do not follow the herd, I provide a list of all distributed social network systems currently under development. For future reference.

Data Collector

A blog stats page appeared on Blogger a few days ago. It shows this blog is in a completely nondescript little back alley of the Web, which of course I already knew. If I were more paranoid, I'd think Google is trying to rub my nose in it. On the other hand, Google being the great data collector that it is, even my most pointless posts provides a data point. Now that's really paranoid. But remember folks, just because you are paranoid does not mean that somebody is not out to get you. ^_^

Now the guys who made this video are on a whole different level of paranoia. And guess what they want? Yes, they want... legislation! It's a way too late for that, considering how much data Google, Facebook, etc, have already collected, and are actively using as part of their everyday business activities. It's so ironic that the only place they had to posted the video was... YouTube!

"The avalanche has begun. It's too late for the pebbles to vote." - Kosh, Babylon 5

The Internet Age

In the Internet age, why is the most successful Internet business model, one that was created over 200 hundred years ago? Google, Facebook, MySpace, and soon Twitter, all depend on advertising. The Internet age does add a few bonuses, though. It's much easier to keep track people who view your adds. Advertisers can even get the names of the people who view the ads.

Er, wait, that's doesn't sound right. Unfortunately, it has already happened. Sharing subscriber information with advertisers is nothing new (e.g., Airmiles), but there was a line which nobody dared to cross. The Internet age is an advertisers' wet dream and some have decided that anything goes. Unless you get caught.