Lavabit shuts down due to NSA

redrumloa said:
Problem is, the EU (and Canada, wink wink) are almost in lockstep. Is there a "land of the free" left anywhere in the world??
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Doesn't look like it.
When people are having to run to Russia to protect their rights, you know the gemme's a bogey (as we say in Scotland).
 
Robert said:
Doesn't look like it.
When people are having to run to Russia to protect their rights, you know the gemme's a bogey (as we say in Scotland).
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With Fidel Castro stepping down and Raul Castro looking like (surprisingly) only a watered down version of Fidel, I have to wonder if the number of people fleeing Cuba to the USA will halt or even reverse soon. As of today I have no doubt Cuba is still worse, but the separation between the two when it comes to human rights is getting smaller by the day.
 
redrumloa said:
With Fidel Castro stepping down and Raul Castro looking like (surprisingly) only a watered down version of Fidel, I have to wonder if the number of people fleeing Cuba to the USA will halt or even reverse soon. As of today I have no doubt Cuba is still worse, but the separation between the two when it comes to human rights is getting smaller by the day.
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The real problem with Cuba is the US blockade. Considering that they have had to live pretty much self sufficiently on an island (at least until South America became more independent), they're doing alright.
Compare the USA to Cuba. Cuba has 99% literacy and so does the US. The US has a life expectancy of 78 years and so does Cuba. Cuba has lower infant mortality than the US. Cuba is a Democratic Republic while the USA is a Constitutional Republic.The Cuban national motto is something I think the American government could adopt - Homeland or death.
 
redrumloa said:
What an embarrassment the USA has become. To the outside world it must look like the US is morphing into a 1950's Soviet Union very quickly. I can't say I would disagree:mad:
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The word that's been coming up a lot is STASI.

Is there a "land of the free" left anywhere in the world??
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No, because there is no "land of the brave".

Actually, there are brave people around the world trying to take back power. In South America they've been having success to the point that the oligarchs have been calling on the US government to restore the "natural order" in those places, with the wealthy elite on top.
 
redrumloa said:
What an embarrassment the USA has become. To the outside world it must look like the US is morphing into a 1950's Soviet Union very quickly. I can't say I would disagree:mad:
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I understand the Stasi type of items. However, I think 50s Soviet doesn't quite apply. Because the State really isn't trying to own the businesses. The US Gov gave the private banks money, but they really put any legislation in place preventing the problems from recurring. The US Gov is changing Healthcare, but it's not State owned but State encouraged buying from private companies. And recently Obama talked about getting rid of Freddy/Fannie, who 50% of loans are through, and again privatizing. The pro nationalistic military continually sold is a good to be promoted. Also, I see a xenophobic blame, especially Mexican, at work in our system. These aren't Communistic plays. They are Fascist plays. If we're talking 50's then Mussolini's Italy is a better comparison point than Stalin's Russia.
 
faethor said:
Because the State really isn't trying to own the businesses.
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In one case the owners of the state are the owners of the businesses and in the other, the owners of the businesses are the owners of the state. That's a pretty fine distinction - and in both cases the guys on top will do whatever it takes to ensure that no rivals can arise.
 
Speelgoedmannetje said:
I thought they were able to decrypt ssl?
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yep, they can
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That link isn't the same thing as breaking SSL - that's just a proxy and the proxy still has to convince your machine to accept the proxy certificate. It also requires on the fly encrypt-decrypt rather than just duplicating packets. I'm sure the NSA can decrypt SSL once they have picked a target of interest and invest the time, but why not just steal the keys (or coerce the keys out of the key holder). Here it looks like they were using the FBI to front the scheme and doing so under the excuse that they were investigating a single person of interest. The FBI was not satisfied to have just the information they were legally entitled to (the person that presented sufficient reasons for suspicion that a warrant could be issued for) and wanted instead the ability to decrypt the connections of all customers.

Here's Lavabits founder's take on it.
 
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