Researcher wins NSA cyber-security prize, says freedom is incompatible with the NSA "in its current form"

[doctorow]

[Permalink]

[retepslluerb]

I’m afraid he’s kidding himself. I have no doubt he gave a presentation in front of people who are genuinely concerned. However they don’t run Fort Meade. Their superiors do.

Also, it’s nice that they are deeply concerned. It must be really heart-breaking to be forced to write and deploy these surveillance systems.

Wait, what? They are not forced labor?

[fuzzyfungus]

There is a pretty damn sharp soft-pedal halfway through:

1. “I don’t think a free society is compatible with an organisation like the NSA in its current form.”

2. It was pretty cool to get to visit, and the people I met seemed really nice, sharp lot, asked good questions, definitely no sneering sadists or demented henchmen, or even a volcano lair, so they couldn’t be Evil.

It’s really very unfortunate; but it isn’t exactly news that you can run some very nasty operations indeed with a workforce composed almost entirely of quite decent, personable, people. (And, since the NSA is, if not the most sophisticated, one of the world’s most sophisticated computer surveillance operations, you don’t even have a choice about running it with a staff heavy on very, very, sharp techies.) It would be handy if the NSA were a blameless pawn of ‘Washington’; but the fact that it’s a very pleasant day trip certainly tells you nothing to that effect.

[noahdjango]

scorching blog post

all I’m seeing is an evenhanded, pedestrian award acceptance with a modest caveat. which is nice to see, but “scorching” it ain’t.

[questionsthree]

Land of the “free”. Home of the naive.

[Cowicide]

Hey, don’t take your "free"dom for granted!