more on Google search and seizure, etc. vs. technologists

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Seth Finkelstein <sethf () sethf com>
Date: December 4, 2005 5:24:53 PM EST
To: David Farber <dave () farber net>
Cc: ip () v2 listbox com, lauren () vortex com, karn () ka9q net
Subject: Re: [IP] Google search and seizure, etc. vs. technologists

        I'd like to point out that there's already a web-based
Google privacy proxy service, from http://www.scroogle.org/

http://www.scroogle.org/cgi-bin/scraper.htm
And source: http://www.scroogle.org/changes.html

        It's even been covered in a widely-read net site:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/01/11/open_source_google_scraper/

        But nobody in this discussion knew it even existed. That
should say it all, with respect to how successful a solution of
"let's get coding" will be.

        Didn't we go through this type of argument a decade ago, during
the cryptography wars? Constant assertions that government-is-BAD, so  
the
*only* solution is for the tech rebels to make the resistance tools that
will defeat the schemes of the dangerous but dumb empire bureaucrats?
(anybody heard of the cypherpunk cryptoanarchy BlackNet lately? No?)

        And there's something very strange about an idea that all
legal rights can vanish, but one will be able to protect oneself by
saying "It wasn't really me! It was the data-poisoning daemon I ran!"

        There's a massive privatizing of surveillance of society.
While I'm similarly not opposed to people constructing technical
defenses, it has to be recognized that such a small percentage of the
population can do it that overall it's no solution at all.

--
Seth Finkelstein  Consulting Programmer  http://sethf.com/
Infothought blog - http://sethf.com/infothought/blog/
Interview: http://sethf.com/essays/major/greplaw-interview.php


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