Tag: Wall Street Journal

FBI Calls End-to-End Encryption ‘Deeply Concerning’ as Privacy Groups Hail Apple’s Advanced Data Protection as a Victory for Users

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

FBI Calls End-to-End Encryption ‘Deeply Concerning’ as Privacy Groups Hail Apple’s Advanced Data Protection as a Victory for Users

While privacy groups and apps applaud Apple for the expansion of end-to-end encryption in ‌iCloud‌, governments have reacted differently. In a statement to The Washington Post, the FBI, the largest intelligence agency in the world, said it’s “deeply concerned with the threat end-to-end and user-only-access encryption pose.” Speaking generally about end-to-end encryption like Apple’s Advanced Data Protection feature, the bureau said that it makes it harder for the agency to do its work and that it requests “lawful access by design.”

“This hinders our ability to protect the American people from criminal acts ranging from cyber-attacks and violence against children to drug trafficking, organized crime, and terrorism,” the bureau said in an emailed statement. “In this age of cybersecurity and demands for ‘security by design,’ the FBI and law enforcement partners need ‘lawful access by design.'”

Former FBI official Sasha O’Connell also weighed in, telling The New York Times “it’s great to see companies prioritizing security, but we have to keep in mind that there are trade-offs, and one that is often not considered is the impact it has on decreasing law enforcement access to digital evidence.”

Related:

Apple says it will allow iCloud backups to be fully encrypted

Apple Details Plans to Beef Up Encryption of Data in Its iCloud

Tax Flight Is a Myth

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Tax Flight Is a Myth

Related:

Dispelling the Myth of Tax-Induced Capital Flight

A study by the American Sociological Association in 2016 found that while massive top rate tax hikes might cause some millionaires to move from their high-tax state to a low-tax state, the amount of them doing so for this reason was negligible. Millionaires moved for tax purposes around 2.2% of the time. Indeed, in any event the rate of inter-state migration generally was lower for millionaires, at 2.4%, than it was for the general population, at 2.9%.

Debunking the Myth of the Fleeing Millionaire

Congress’ Best Idea to Save Local Journalism Would Actually Hurt It + Some Temporary Good News

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Congress’ Best Idea to Save Local Journalism Would Actually Hurt It

Meta reported $114.93 million in ad revenue in 2021, whereas Google reported $209 billion. But determining how much of that publishers should get is difficult—and the JCPA doesn’t even try. One version of the JCPA proposed platforms and publishers negotiate an agreed-to payment, and if they couldn’t come to a consensus, they’d enter forced-arbitration with no formula for what is fair. But whether the money would end up being vast or a modest bump to the bottom line, not every publication stands to benefit if the JCPA becomes law. While the JCPA’s alliances allow for partnerships, exclusionary elements of the JCPA would encourage big brands to unite selectively at the expense of smaller ones and shut out niche independent journalistic outlets altogether.

Related:

JCPA Update: The Dangerous Link Tax That Still Won’t Save Local Journalism

The original text of the JCPA already authorized print media companies to form one or several cartels and collectively bargain with the largest online platforms—defined in terms that single out Facebook and Google. Although the bill hinted at these news cartels being able to demand payment for merely linking to their content, or hosting snippets like the results you get from Google News, the mechanism by which they would be paid was left vague. However, the fact that the bill allowed news companies to withhold content strongly suggested a claim to some sort of property right, or ancillary copyright, that the targeted platforms would owe for hosting links and snippets.

Some Temporary Good News: None Of The Really Bad Internet Bills Seem To Have Made It Into The NDAA

This would also hurt independent media and bloggers (you would have to pay a ‘link tax’ to corporate media for linking to their articles—see below image)! So far, it hasn’t passed (it was attached to the NDAA) but there’s still the omnibus spending bill and the next session of Congress!

Source.

Biden Can’t Denounce Russia’s Annexations and Ignore Israel’s

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

The United States has repeatedly stated that it will not recognize Russia’s annexation of Ukrainian territory. U.S. President Joe Biden vowed that “[t]he United States, I want to be very clear about this, will never, never, never recognize Russia’s claims on Ukraine sovereign territory.” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged that the “United States does not, and will never, recognize the legitimacy or outcome of these sham referenda or Russia’s purported annexation of Ukrainian territory.”

Biden Can’t Denounce Russia’s Annexations and Ignore Israel’s

War Industry Looking Forward to “Multiyear Authority” in Ukraine

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

Gen. Mark Milley, chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, recently offered some matter-of-fact observations about the immense human suffering and death caused by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and placed the responsibility for ending the war squarely on Moscow’s shoulders. “There’s one guy that can stop it — and his name is Vladimir Putin,” Milley said. “He needs to stop it.”

But then Milley crossed what he most certainly never imagined to be a tripwire when he said, “And they need to get to the negotiating table.”

War Industry Looking Forward to “Multiyear Authority” in Ukraine

Why Is AP Still Protecting the Source Behind its False Russia-Bombed-Poland Story?

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)1 Comment

AP’s source claimed Russian missiles hit Poland. This seemed calculated to set off a frenzy and trigger NATO articles to create a wider war. Why won’t the AP tell us who the falsifying source is?

Why Is AP Still Protecting the Source Behind its False Russia-Bombed-Poland Story?

No coincidence that Burns had been in Kiev the day that the missiles hit Poland. /s

The story hasn’t been corrected in the Apple News app nor on Reuters’ website, yet it was ‘corrected’ by AP.

A tiny company with a UPS Store address could help the government get around browser security

Tina Marie (Ms. Cat)

A report from The Washington Post has raised doubts about a root certificate authority used by Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and other tech companies with ties to US intelligence. The company in question, called TrustCor, works as a root certificate authority to validate the trustworthiness of websites — and while the report found no concrete evidence of wrongdoing, it raised significant questions about the company’s trustworthiness.

A tiny company with a UPS Store address could help the government get around browser security

Related:

[04-27-2021] Shadowy DARPA-Linked Company Took Over ‘Chunk’ Of Pentagon’s Internet