I’ll start this post with an aside: some may even consider Robin Hood to be a terrorist. Have there been any retellings of Robin Hood from that perspective? Please point me to any such efforts.
Alexis Madrigal (@alexismadrigal) asks in The Atlantic. “Who Do You Trust Less: The NSA or Anonymous?” prompted by the vague accusation by the director of the NSA that Anonymous would soon have the capability “to bring about a limited power outage through a cyberattack.”
He didn’t say that they had the intent, just that they’d soon have the knowledge. This is to accuse the general public of having the knowledge of how to make a fertilizer bomb, rent a truck, and park it next to a federal building. If they soon have this ability, it’s a failure on our security systems, not of them for obtaining knowledge.
To not be subtle about it, I am against any part of our government demonizing Anonymous (@YourAnonNews) as a terrorist group. I personally think what they (mostly) do is somewhere between digital graffiti and non-violent protest, sometimes venturing into whistle-blowing crusader territory. Their biggest fault I would describe as political or social altruism.
I agree with alexis that labeling them as stateless is an attempt to paint them with the broad brush the NSA and other US governmental bodies use to demonize al Qaeda.
To clarify, i don’t mind the government keeping tabs on them (legally), tracking their activity or membership (if/where possible), or prosecuting them for breaking the law (civil disobedience should expect prosecution – if we need to change the law, that’s another issue).
Farming fear is a good way to steer policy in the direction you want (and how we got into the Iraq War). I want those officials who are my direct employees, those whose ballot I will touch, to please use several grains of salt when weighing opinions from our “intelligence” community. Don’t be bullied to their opinion because you’re not computer technology savvy, or “Cyber” is a scary word, or “stateless” slowly taints your view on a group.
Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, Sen. John Cornyn, Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison, and Pres. Barack Obama, I’m talking to you. We have much bigger fish to fry. Sowing peace and diplomacy takes more effort than demonizing and warmongering. (As your constituent, and a Computer Scientist, i want you to now my opinion.)
I will end there and briefly echo Alexis conclusion: “One doesn’t have to support Anonymous’ methods, goals, or aesthetics to worry about the US response to them in the intelligence community.”
[Note: sent to each of the elected officials mentioned above – find yours (in Texas) with Who Represents Me?]
I found it interesting that Jackson Lee’s “contact” link was at the top of her page, while the Senators’ links were at the bottom. She also includes her voting record on all the pages with links to the related pieces of legislation.
I received this from the Cornyn office. Seems to be their boilerplate on the topic:
Thank you for contacting me regarding cybersecurity. I appreciate having the benefit of your comments on this matter.
As you may know, the connection that delivers the world to our computers can also serve as a gateway to our personal information. Unfortunately, those that seek to do us harm have the potential to disrupt service to millions of Americans and inflict serious harm to U.S. businesses. Both federal and state statutes impose criminal liability on hackers who commit such computer crimes as well as civil liability on statute violators. But these hackers are often difficult to find. Our economy has entered a new stage, and Congress must ensure that our laws are keeping pace with increasingly sophisticated threats. The effort to address cybersecurity—from service disruptions to identity theft—must be a joint effort among the federal government, state and local officials, and the private sector.
I appreciate the opportunity to represent the interests of Texans in the United States Senate and you may be certain that I will continue to support policies that will secure our nation against emerging threats. Thank you for taking the time to contact me.
Sincerely,
JOHN CORNYN
United States Senator
I received the same email from John Cornyn; however, I did not ask him a question concerning cyber security or hackers:
My concern was specially posted in Before it is news “How to rid your state of 99% of potential terrorists with the stroke of a pin”.
My specific concern is this: “Legislative Linguistic Determinism”
We all praise rationality but seldom do we apply the same criteria in the quiet of our own minds. In my own case, I have been trained to protect myself from true ‘Terrorist’ attacks as early as the 1970’s. Very few people understand that the threat of Terrorism has been around for ages, Terrorism is not a new age phenomena. The only thing that has change is a culture of false belief’s fueling mass hysteria, a profitable political machine.
The Salem witch hunt phenomena only lasted for a little over a year; however, the American “Terrorism’ phenomena has lasted over a decade, because our legislative branches deleted the lesser charge of a common ’threat’ when in consideration of domestic terrorism by a United States citizen!
Rightly so, and justly, legislators should take serious consideration of adding the common term ‘Threat’ back to criminal and misdemeanor charges for cases of common threats that have no relationship to Terrorism or witchcraft for that matter. Angry Protester’s exercising their right to freedom of speech are often branded as a ‘Terrorist’ which adds fuel to our nations’ Terrorism mass hysteria phenomena.
Language—any language—has a tendency to migrate to the complex, away from truth. The truth, you can rid your State of 99% of potential terrorists with the stroke of a legislative pin, just as they did in Salem Massachusetts May, 1693 and release innocent political prisoners from our jails, prisons, and mental institutions.
Dear Mr. and Mrs. O’Dell:
Thank you for contacting me regarding cybersecurity. I appreciate having the benefit of your comments on this matter.
As you may know, the connection that delivers the world to our computers can also serve as a gateway to our personal information. Unfortunately, those that seek to do us harm have the potential to disrupt service to millions of Americans and inflict serious harm to U.S. businesses. Both federal and state statutes impose criminal liability on hackers who commit such computer crimes as well as civil liability on statute violators. But these hackers are often difficult to find. Our economy has entered a new stage, and Congress must ensure that our laws are keeping pace with increasingly sophisticated threats. The effort to address cybersecurity—from service disruptions to identity theft—must be a joint effort among the federal government, state and local officials, and the private sector.
I appreciate the opportunity to represent the interests of Texans in the United States Senate and you may be certain that I will continue to support policies that will secure our nation against emerging threats. Thank you for taking the time to contact me.
Sincerely,
JOHN CORNYN
United States Senator