America's tweaks to weapons trade pact 'will make web less secure' The period for comments on proposed amendments to the Wassenaar Arrangement – which governs the export of guns, lasers and proper weaponry, and computer hardware and software – ends today. So far, the tweaks concerning IT security products have received an overwhelming thumbs-down from the technology community. In May the US …
I seriously doubt it was "loosely written" or accidental in any way. The US gov't right now is back on that "Oh, privacy is so inconvenient, the public doesn't need crypto" kick. They attempted in the 1990s to use export regulations as a club and to force crypto that was uselessly weak on the public. So, they've already forgotten how thoroughly this failed (the Clipper chip crypto was broken before it even shipped, and was a bad joke; and the export restrictions just made it so companies that were interested in crypto moved their offices overseas since it could be *imported* into the US, just not exported.)
So, so far the gov't has "nicely asked" Google etc. to quit using ubiquitous encryption (they've said the feds can go f' themselves), are whining about crypto preventing various spying on the public (well good!). So, some technically inept bureaucrat now thinks that if they can hobble security research via export restrictions, that it'll somehow... well, I don't even know what the logic is, I suppose they are unaware that blackhats even exist.
I seriously doubt it was "loosely written" or accidental in any way.
I feel the need to invoke Hanlon's Razor*. I think it far more likely that things will be screwed up as a result of unintended consequences rather than anyone actually attempting to get something done.
* Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.
Hanlon's Razor does not apply to the US government ...
Trevor, I respectfully disagree based on personal experience; I have seen plenty of times where simple incompetence was sufficient to carry the day. Of course, I do not deal with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which I know you so love to do (for a non-positive value of love), so I can understand why you might feel otherwise.
It's not just DHS. It's that every time someone is pooh-poohed for "tinfoil hatting" about the US governments ignoble intentions - typically using the premise of Hanlon's razor in order to attempt to silence the cynic - the tinfoil hatter is actually proved right.
I submit to you sir that this is can no longer be considered coincidence: it is design.
Well, I'm not trying to brush aside your concerns, but I think we were both talking around the issue (at least as I see it): results matter more than intentions. Regardless of whether the result is due to bad actors or endemic mediocrity, it can still be plenty bad. I happen to believe there is room for both; I know I have experienced the worthlessness that an entrenched bureaucracy can produce. It wasn't a case of spite so much as not being capable of giving a damn.
Whereas I don't believe that front line staff not giving a damn is an accident or a mistake. I believe that those services are designed to be demoralizing and are purposefully staffed with the bottom of the barrel. I believe that most government services - but especially American ones are purposefully sabotaged.
Some times they do it for malicious intent: rooting out political dissidents, putting "the proles" in their place, etc. But just as often such things are led to ruin purposefully because having a given service degenerate suits the political machinations of someone fairly high up the food chain.
This could be because they covet the budget for their own projects/district/etc. It could be out of spite towards an enemy who supported something they didn't like and is not in charge of that department. It could be any of a number of things.
In my experience however - and, increasingly, as we are learning through all sorts of leaks about all sorts of departments - failure in government and the failure of government are not accidents. Nor is incremental (and protracted!) government overreach.
This is all by design. Petty, hateful, spiteful, covetous, vengeful, prideful, megalomaniacal and yes, even terrified, design.
Governmental degeneracy isn't the result of millions upon millions of individual and coincidental acts of apathy and incompetence. It is the result of purposeful sabotage and thwarting by a mere few thousand near the top.
Hanlon's razon just doesn't apply to government. At least as I see it. Not ever.
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