* Posts by Laura Kerr

260 publicly visible posts • joined 21 Apr 2015

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White House 'deeply disappointed' by Europe outlawing Silicon Valley

Laura Kerr
Mushroom

@Mystic Meg

America will go back to the ECJ and tell them in no uncertain terms that if they don't reinstate the safe harbour agreement they will fuck them over like they did to Russia with the cost of Oil. We own the dollar bitches.

"Oh, jolly good. It's very nice money, isn't it? Even have all the notes the same size; must cut the old printing costs quite a bit, what what? How do your partially-sighted people cope? They don't? Oh, that's very interesting."

"Yo betcha ass, mofo. Gimme that data or we'll bust a financial cap in yo sorry little ass. You's screwed wivvout da oil, douchebag."

"Actually old boy, I'm not sure that's quite right. You see, there's this very nice man called Ayatollah Khamenei - runs Iran, don't y'know - and he's agreed to sell us all the oil we'd like to buy."

"Ah don' care 'boud that, asshole. You pays in dollars for da oil, innit."

"Well, he's said he'd be happy to take euros, sterling or even a basket of currency. Quite likes the rouble and zloty, too. Afraid he's not too keen on the dollar though, for some reason. I think some of your politicians have upset him."

"You don' buy oil in dollars? You untrustworthy motherfuckers! You'll pay for this. You saw what happened to Iraq? You gon' get the same, boy. We gon' whoop yo' ass big time! An' we got WDMs! An' nooks! You wan' some mushroom soup, beeatch?"

"Oh dear. Well, we have nukes, too."

"Mais oui. Et nous aussi."

"You know what this gon' do to the God-fearing folks in the USA? We rescued you in two world wars and this is how you repay us? You gon' destroy millions of American jobs. You protectionist douchebags! You sacks of shit! You motherfucking motherfuckers! This is WAR!"

"Um... what is it you people say? Ah, yes: fuck you, asshole."

Lies from VW: 'Our staff acted criminally but board didn't know'

Laura Kerr
Thumb Up

Re: Dieselgate

Me too. And me three.

El Reg - please cut this 'gate' crap. Just because the BBC and gutter press haven't moved on from Watergate, doesn't mean you have to join the herd and trot out the clichés. Nixon's been dead for a wee while now.

Unless you're taking the piss, of course :-)

NASA announcement of MAJOR MARS DISCOVERY imminent: WHAT can it be?

Laura Kerr

You're all wrong...

... they've found the BFG9000! Oh, yes.

WIN a 6TB Western Digital Black hard drive with El Reg

Laura Kerr

"Just take the bloody thing away, Cook."

PETA monkey selfie lawsuit threatens wildlife photography, warns snapper at heart of row

Laura Kerr
Thumb Up

Re: Aha!

"PETA will be going around to anyone in the USA using this photo and demanding money on the monkey's behalf"

I think you meant 'extorting' money there :-)

Indeed they will, and if the judge is so East Ham that this case is upheld, the next logical step for anyone creating copyrighted works will have to be a very careful consideration as to whether they should let them into the USA at all.

Now admittedly, that is difficult to enforce. Anything posted on tinterwebz can be stolen, and refusing to allow it into print media would mean lost sales. But that has to be balanced against the risk incurred, in that this legal precedent could allow anyone to appropriate your work and cite this judgement as justification.

There are two sides to this. Inside the USA, a ruling in PETA's favour would be nothing more than legalising theft and extortion. Could that happen? Yes, I think it could; I lost all trust in the American justice system a very long time ago.

Outside the USA, saner rules apply. A worst-case scenario might see an organisation with bases inside and outside the US thinking they'd paid the copyright owner in America and then finding themselves in legal hot water when the real owner turns up in the other jurisdiction(s).

If that happened often enough, such organisations might be forced to decide whether it was worth operating in two such contradictory environments, and either pull out of the USA or move there lock, stock and barrel. The end result, of course, would be a return to isolationism in all but name.

I'm not sure I'd be sorry to see that happen, if I'm quite honest.

Laura Kerr
Mushroom

Re: Utter Stupidity. Utterly Pissing Me Off.

I could be missing something here - not had my first caffeine shot yet - but if he's British and PETA have brought this case in America, why can't he just tell them to fuck off?

Granted, that could prevent him travelling to The Land Of The Free (TM) in future, and could make it difficult to sell his work in the US, but there are large expanding markets in Asia and he seems to be protected by UK and European law. I know American publications pay pretty well, but I doubt if he'll ever earn enough from them to defend himself in court.

This is unpleasantly reminiscent of the way the Church of Scientology (ab)used legal systems worldwide - ISTR that even L Ron Hubbard said that the objective of the lawsuits were to 'harass and discourage, not to win'.

Dislike: Facebook scammers latch onto anti-Like button calls

Laura Kerr

I suspect you're in the minority there. A few of my friends on Facebook have gone through some tough times, and it's not at all unusual to see few, if any likes and a lot of sympathetic and supportive comments in response to their posts.

When I see yet another report from American meeja about the bigotry of some retarded Bible-bashing redneck, I don't feel in the least bit tempted to hit 'Like'. 'FFS', 'Dislike' or a thumbs-down expresses my reaction better. In fact, I think el Reg has it right with the icons - a facepalm button would be a good idea (and then of course, el Reg could sue Zuckerworld for copyright infringement :-) )

WIN a 6TB Western Digital Black hard drive with El Reg

Laura Kerr

"You need to upgrade to a paid subscription before I can undo the clasp."

Laura Kerr

"No, ladies and gentlemen, they're audible alerts, not 'hooters'."

All in all, it's just another hit in the stalls: Roger Waters The Wall

Laura Kerr

Re: I still remember the

Ohhhh, yes. Artfully recorded so quiet so that when you turned the volume up to hear, the first chord of In The Flesh was so loud it made you jump!

Happy days.

Brown kid with Arab name arrested for bringing home-made clock to school

Laura Kerr
Thumb Up

Re: "A paranoid world addicted to security theatre"

"there was no where near the paranoia or stupidity that there is today."

That's because America hadn't got directly involved back then - before 11/9, to the American Establishment, trrrism was either something that happened to funny-looking brown people who didn't speak English, or in the case of the IRA, something you paid to support. Yes, Teddy Kennedy, I'm taking a dump on YOUR grave.

American paranoia didn't end with the fall of McCarthy - it festered and grew within the American psyche, and was only kept under control by the realisation that the Kremlin had a huge fuckoff nuclear arsenal that could wipe out the US if war did break out, and consequently it was better to put a real effort into finding diplomatic solutions to crises.

After 1991 and the collapse of the USSR, American over-confidence burst forth in all its inglorious and gaudy brashness until somebody who wasn't brought up on a diet of Hollywood crap and Coke arranged to knock down some office blocks. The pent-up paranoia promptly reappeared; and it managed to carry so many other countries along with it merely because the governments of those countries had prostituted themselves to the ideal of America Uber Alles for so long that they failed to see just how selfish, introspective and detached from reality the US government had become.

We may be seeing a dawning realisation of that now in some places, but within the US, this appalling incident is just another manifestation of a chronic paranoia that could easily tear the country apart.

Cuffed Texan woman holsters loaded gun IN VAGINA

Laura Kerr

Re: Could that really have gone off?

True, but the firing pin would then be resting against the cartridge. Which makes her even more brainless.

Why Nobody Should Ever Search The Ashley Madison Data

Laura Kerr

Re: That picture

That was my first thought, too.

Spotify now officially even worse than the NSA

Laura Kerr
Happy

Re: As good a reason as any to keep on ripping CDs

"Second, will you marry me?"

You'll have to buy me dinner first ;-)

Laura Kerr
Mushroom

As good a reason as any to keep on ripping CDs

END USER AGREEMENT

What you may collect

This section is intentionally left blank.

Interaction Management

By using or interacting with the Service, I am aware that you will attempt, without notice either in advance or at the time of attempt, to harvest every bit of data you can about me, including, but without limitation to, my location, contacts, email addresses, Facebook account details and friends lists, LinkedIn account details and friends list, plus any documents that have passwords set on them, with the express intention of selling such data for the purposes of flooding my inbox with spam, watching where I go on the Web and shoving unwanted ads at me without caring at all that you're using up my monthly allowance.

Given such awareness, you agree to my employing such measures that I in my absolute discretion see fit to counteract this activity, including, but without being limited to, the provision of false credentials, blocking advertisements, re-routing your traffic through servers located in countries that will interest the CIA and NSA, and taking any and all steps that I may deem necessary to poison your data collection to the extend of rendering it worthless. Furthermore, I reserve the right to publicise both the extent of such poisoning and the methods employed to achieve it, so that your customers may be deterred from making further data purchases and other interested parties may have the ability to poison further data collection attempts. Such method release(s) will be in accordance with the GNU Public License.

In addition to the foregoing, I reserve absolutely the right to levy distress for any and all unsolicited traffic originating from yourselves that may pass through my device(s), and will either invoice you at the rate applicable at the time of traffic reception (currently £350 + VAT per kilobyte) or may retain such intellectual property of yourselves that I in my absolute discretion consider adequate compensation for the unlawful abstraction of computing resources from my device(s).

TL;DR

I don't use Spotify and won't ever do so now. But I decide what leaves my system and will do whatever's necessary to block unwanted traffic. If these arrogant data hoovers can't take the hint, I'll liberate their music and video content as compensation for their theft of my computing resources. Seems a fair exchange to me.

Enjoy vaping while you still can, warns Public Health England

Laura Kerr
Mushroom

"the efforts of a Labour MEP"

A Labour politician. Oh, there IS a surprise.

Just what is it about these miserable little bogies that they have to poke their noses into things that don't concern them? Not that the Tories are exactly paragons of virtue, but the last Labour government showed that the party has far more than its fair share of control freaks and jackbooted petty dictators.

Get lost, McAven. Just get back under your stone and stay there.

Exploding Power Bars: EE couldn't even get the CE safety mark right

Laura Kerr

Re: Totally ....

Or don't do what I managed to do once - drop a spanner across the terminals of a fully-charged lead-acid battery.

The battery casing warped and the spanner melted.

Microsoft co-founder recovers ship's bell of 'The Mighty Hood'

Laura Kerr

Re: LDS

"A ship's bell has a special meaning for sailors."

Yes, I do understand that, and appreciate the reasons for recovering it. But not everyone who has the ability to reach the wreck may appreciate the difference between the bell and other parts of the ship. Look at how the Titanic's been plundered, for instance. OK, she isn't a war grave, but she's still the last resting place of 1,500 people.

Laura Kerr

@Ledswinger

I'm in two minds about this. I agree that plundering war graves is a despicable thing to do, but in this case, those most affected by the loss of the Hood appear to have given their blessing. By the same token, if the relatives of the Bismarck or Bretagne's crew were OK with it, I would feel that their wishes should be respected, provided the respective governments agreed.

What does bother me is the risk of this setting a precedent. They've got the bell and no-one's complained too loudly, so hey, why don't we get the wheel? Or some of the guns? After all, there'll still be plenty of twisted metal left down there to 'memorialize' the ship.

Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 claimed lives of HIV/AIDS cure scientists

Laura Kerr
Pint

Ow, my ears!

You, sir, are completely and utterly bonkers.

But have a pint, 'cos it's Friday.

Cheers!

Reg top tip: Don't have the same name as someone else if you use Facebook's Instagram

Laura Kerr

Re: Good parting advice

"responding personally, to every single request for help, would cost an absolute fortune"

Well, tough. Instagram need a bloody good slap for that.

Not because they eventually sorted it out, but because they ignored the guy until their hands were effectively forced. If that hadn't happened, he'd still be wondering if Instagram would pull their fingers out before the sun burnt out.

Europe a step closer to keeping records on all passengers flying in and out of the Continent

Laura Kerr

It's a safety feature

If a trrrist does manage to take out the pilots, the cabin crew will need to know if there's anyone on board who didn't have fish for dinner.

IBM to offer breast milk elivery-as-a-service for staff

Laura Kerr
Thumb Up

Re: Shirley the title should have been...

Ah, but would they provide one corporate pump model, offer a number of options or just support BYOD?

Dormant ALIEN SLIME LIFE frozen in SPEEDING comet will AWAKEN - boffins

Laura Kerr
Pint

@Loyal Commenter

"I'm struggling to understand the downvotes; this is a perfectly reasonable hypothesis"

I suspect the downvoters are struggling to understand simple logic. I agree with you - it doesn't sound unreasonable, but it does assume that viable lifeforms can survive for a very long time - and that they could tolerate or quickly adapt to the environment they found themselves in following the impact. I'm not saying they can't, BTW.

Or maybe it was pot luck - we can easily extend your hypothesis to posit that multiple impacts took place, and eventually one of them got lucky.

Thanks for a very interesting post. Have a pint and an upvote.

Mastercard facial recog-ware will unlock your money using SELFIES

Laura Kerr
Thumb Up

Re: Pandering to youth

"Young people are basically stupid, lacking the perspective to make fully informed choices."

And that is exactly why marketeers pander to yoof. It's easier to flog them overpriced shiny crap, because they're more gullible and don't have the life experience to understand the consequences of what they're getting into. And once you've got them young, you've got them for ever.

God, I sound like my dad. But OTOH, I'm beginning to see that he did have a point occasionally.

Laura Kerr

Re: Yet another clueless "security" spokes-head.

I kinda wish you hadn't said that; I'm old enough to remember that sort of babble when it didn't sound stupid.

Raising a stink in court: Innocent poo banditry warehousers win $2.2m

Laura Kerr
Thumb Up

Re: More common than you think

@Dan 10 - indeed it did. I don't think anyone ended up being paid everything they were owed. The scenes in the office on the last day put the looting of Baghdad to shame.

But yep, the social side was good!. That last Christmas party was deffo one to remember, if only for its sheer extravagance. I've still got the ticket to wave at people who don't believe that ANY company would be that flash with the cash. Good times while they lasted :-)

Laura Kerr

Re: More common than you think

Was that in Manchester about twelve years ago, by any chance?

Laura Kerr
Thumb Up

Re: In the old days...

"Bloody DNA testing put paid to that jape."

And the reduction in dog fouling (at least round here) has put the kybosh on the fallback of finding a canine cable and dropping that in instead.

Or if you didn't fancy carrying the thing into the building, popping the bonnet of the boss's car and smearing the stuff all over the exhaust manifold worked well too, until electronic locks replaced Bowden cables and that nosy CCTV stuff started appearing.

Bloody technology, spoiling all the fun.

Do svidaniya to public record as Russia passes NEED to be forgotten bill

Laura Kerr
Pint

Re: Where we are heading

"For myself I buy books and paper"

Spot on. So do I. And whenever I find something useful on tinterwebz, I make damn sure I save it and keep multiple offline copies. Remember, who controls the past controls the future.

Have a pint and an upvote.

Why is it that women are consistently paid less than men?

Laura Kerr

Re: The real stink

"Trolling, or really that ignorant?"

Both, I think.

Are ALIENS hiding on Jupiter's Europa? Let's find out, cry NASA bods

Laura Kerr
Thumb Up

Re: The black monolith detector is already finished

Excellent! Have an upvote for the Lost Worlds reference.

Hating on 'Like Farms': boffins trawl for Facebook fakes

Laura Kerr
Thumb Up

Re: Like!

And OMFG, You Will Not Believe What Happens Next! 7 Videos Retailers Don't Want You To Know About. Click Here Before They're Banned!

Google – you DO control your search results, thunders Canadian court

Laura Kerr

No sovereignty here

“Your legal concepts of property, expression, identity, movement, and context do not apply to us. They are all based on matter, and there is no matter here.”

Yep, that's how it was, and TBH it worked pretty well - at least until Marketing, Commerce and World+Dog all came piling in. But for a few early years, before the Internet became mainstream, 'cyberspace' was quite a cool, albeit elitist, place to be.

From someone old enough to remember.

Using leather in 'leccy cars is 'unTesla', rages vegan shareholder

Laura Kerr

@Charles 9

"At the extreme, they DO have the power to condemn places they deem uninhabitable due to filth or pestilence"

Thanks - I was hoping it would be something like that.

Laura Kerr

Re: Beware the entitled vegan!

I've met one or two numpties like that. I'm surprised she got away with allowing a rat infestation though - on this side of the pond, that would earn you a visit from Environmental Health, who will ask order you to get rid of them pronto and forget your whine about non-lethal methods. Unless, of course, you want your shopping centre shut down immediately and public access barred.

How does it work in the US - is there something similar, or are property rights stronger? Just asking, because I'm genuinely interested.

Laura Kerr

Jackboots

Vegans don't wear jackboots, as they're made of leather. They wear rope jacksandals with wooden soles, man.

Anyway, isn't the faux leather she's espousing made from plastic? Which comes from, err, oil.

Don't believe the hype: When that DATA seems just too good

Laura Kerr

Re: Arse about face

"The payment ... usually comes from the grant(s) that funded the research. You shouldn't be paying this money personally."

Ah, fairy nuff, that's the bit I was missing. I read it as authors stumping up out of their own pockets.

I do understand the scientific mindset, though - that was why I was suggesting people should accept free publication rather than demand money every time.

Laura Kerr

Re: Arse about face

"Laura's wrong because she doesn't understand the incentives."

Nope - Laura understands the incentives very well indeed, and is pointing out that this "new model" is an open invitation to rip-off merchants preying on people's burning desires to see themselves in print. Which is pretty much what the article says, and you've pointed out below:

"Finally 'ask for payment'? You're clearly not in medicine; this isn't why people write papers. Fame yes, fortune no."

No, I'm not in medicine and yes, ask for payment. Or if your chosen journal doesn't pay, agree to their publishing it free if you need to get the information out there. Having authors pay is just vanity publishing. Even if that's not the intent, it's still far too easy and tempting to abuse it.

As for paying the journal's running costs, there are other fleece-free options - use a flat or a graded subscription model, carry advertising, use a pay-as-you-read system, look for corporate sponsorship (although that could of course call the journal's impartiality into question) or ask for voluntary donations. Or even ask for volunteers to keep the thing going by giving up some time to do proofing, fact-checking and so on.

I'm not saying you should demand payment for everything you write. But you should never expect to pay for publication unless you yourself have a stake in the business. It's far too easy to take advantage of people's altruism - and if the problem spreads wide enough, the whole model will be compromised. Where's the value in having stuff published if there's no guarantee it isn't full of crap?

Laura Kerr
WTF?

Arse about face

"Legitimate peer-reviewed journals, including the increasing number of online open access journals, charge authors an article processing fee."

Really? That sounds like a perfect definition of vanity publishing. Reputable publishers and journals don't demand payment from their contributors - they pay them. Granted, some journals don't pay at all, but they normally make that clear up front. That's fine - you know what you're getting into.

More importantly, distributors and retailers keep tabs on vanity publishers and won't carry or stock their stuff.

The lesson's simple - ask for payment. If the journal doesn't normally pay - 'voluntary contributions only' - they should publish if you and they are willing, but NEVER ask you to cough up, no matter what euphemism they call it by.

Silk Road boss Ross Ulbricht to spend LIFE in PRISON without parole

Laura Kerr

Re: @GH1618, @Mark 85

I'm very well aware of what does and doesn't constitute evidence, and what aggravating and mitigating circumstances are. My original comment was a reply to Sorry that handle is already taken, who asserted that "(he wasn't tried for this [the murders] but it was submitted for use at the sentencing hearing)"

I did read the judge's remarks - or at least, those that I could find reported on the web. I don't have a problem with Ulbricht being thrown in the slammer for the rest of his natural. Not at all. The US justice system is harsh, spiteful and vindictive, but he lived in America and ought to have known the risk he was taking.

What I do have is a problem with is a so-called justice system that allows unproven allegations to be presented for use during sentencing. Judge Forrest should have told the attorney who tried that to STFU and concentrate on the facts of the present case.

Instead, as stated in the Wall Street Journal:

The government also accused Mr. Ulbricht of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars for the murders of at least five people who threatened his criminal enterprise. Although there is no evidence the murders were actually carried out, Judge Forrest said she took them into consideration for the sentencing.

So either my point still stands or the WSJ's got it wrong.

Laura Kerr

@GH1618, @Mark 85

"The evidence that he was willing to resort to murder to protect his criminal enterprise was a strong aggravating factor."

Hardly. He hasn't been convicted of murder, so how can that be evidence?. He may be guilty of murder, he may not, but that trial has not yet taken place. Unless the US court system has abandoned the principle of innocent unless proven guilty - something that genuinely would not surprise me - allowing outstanding charges to be presented for sentencing is nothing more than willingly accepting the influence of a smear campaign and pandering to mob rule.

"If you don't believe the judge should weigh aggravating and mitigating factors"

Oh come on, of course they should. That's the whole point of having a judge in the first place.

"The trial for the murders is coming up. Those would be state charges, not federal. Here in the states there crimes at various judicial levels and thus, as in this gentleman's case, multiple trials within the appropriate jurisdiction"

Indeed. But he hasn't been tried for the murders yet, so why on earth are unproven allegations allowed to be submitted for sentencing? The state/federal thing doesn't come into it - if there is indeed a loophole or procedure that allows such things to be done, the US justice system is fundamentally flawed.

Let's take a hypothetical scenario. Imagine, for a moment, you are competing for a promotion at work with a pretty ruthless individual. The promotion will make a huge difference to you - more money, more responsibility, a better future for your family. There's a lot riding on it.

The job goes to the other guy, but you discover he's cheated his way in. But you don't think there's anything you can do about it. Raging inside at the injustice of it all, you go out and get drunk. You drive home pissed, attract the attention of the plod and lose it. You lead them on the mother of all car chases - even Mad Max has to pull over and hide - and eventually you're brought to a halt after causing mucho fear and damage. Fortunately, no-one's been injured or killed.

You go to trial. Because of your previous good character, you plead guilty, you show genuine remorse and make it clear to the court that you know you screwed up big time. You understand you deserve what's coming. For that, you might get a 24-month ban and six months inside. You might even be lucky and get that suspended.

Clear so far? Good. Because here's the nasty bit.

Your oppo, who beat you for the promotion, discovers that you know he cheated, and he'll be out on his ear if you do expose him. So he fabricates some evidence to support more serious charges. Before your trial, he informs the police, who in turn get the OK from the DPP to prosecute.

Yes, it does sound like a bad movie script. But here's the punchline:

Your original charges were driving with excess alcohol, speeding, dangerous driving, failing to stop and criminal damage. That's bad enough, but you've been tried and convicted for those, and you expect to be punished appropriately.

So how would you react when your oppo's list of allegations, which might include embezzlement, attempted murder, rape, terrorism, drug dealing, slave trafficking or whatnot were read out in court, and the judge then handed out a whole-life tariff? Do you think that's acceptable? Because I bloody don't.

Laura Kerr
FAIL

Re: "Mr. Anderson... you disappoint me..."

"also paid for six murders (he wasn't tried for this but it was submitted for use at the sentencing hearing)"

If that's true, the first post in this thread has hit the nail right on the thumb. Unproven accusations submitted for use during sentencing? Really? What sort of mob rule system allows that to happen?

Sieg bloody heil.

BRAIN STORM: Nine mislaid cerebra found near railway line in New York

Laura Kerr
Coat

Obviously the work of a trainee consultant

Who misunderstood the meaning of the term 'brain dump'.

High-flying LOHAN fan raises ale-filled tankard

Laura Kerr
WTF?

Beer from a straight glass? Heresy!

Oh, the follies of callow youth... real beer IS drunk from a tankard, preferably a dimpled one. It's that gassy piss with an inch of foam on top that's served in a straight glass.

Eee, when I were a girl...

Sex disease surge in US state partly blamed on hook-up apps

Laura Kerr
FAIL

"Having sex without a condom" is the primary culprit

Quite right, but it must say a bit about the intelligence of the people using hook-up apps, if they think they don't need to skin up properly when banging a random stranger they've only just met. Or they overlook the fact that statistically, someone using such an app is much more likely to have the clap in the first place.

Airplane HACK PANIC! Hold on, it's surely a STORM in a TEACUP

Laura Kerr
Thumb Up

@Simon Watson

"I read the whole comments section looking for a good Airplane gag."

You read the entire comments section? Surely you can't be serious.

Laura Kerr
Thumb Up

Re: Hrumph

Yes, but this is an entirely different kind of flying.

Mozilla flings teddy out of pram over France's 'Patriot Act'

Laura Kerr
Flame

It's that wretched competitive market causing all this!

OK, that's a flippant comment, but let's look at it like this. What would happen if all telecoms infrastructure, including the Internet backbone links, were under the direct control of governments, like most of it used to be?

Let's suppose, for the sake of argument, that high-speed Internet was available throughout the UK, but we were still stuck in the old days when you could pick any ISP you liked as long as it was Post Office Telephones. That was wholly owned and controlled by the government, and its employees were de facto civil servants.

Do not for one moment think that surveillance didn't go on back then. A shufti at Peter Wright's book Spycatcher reveals how things were done before that pesky competitive market thingummybob came along. Casual references to how 'the Post Office faulted the phone system' to allow MI5 to pop monitoring devices into phones can be found throughout the book. Towards the end, he even mentions the advent of computers in monitoring threats. It was all done on a wink and a nod - the Security Service operated (and for all I know still does) on the principle of the Eleventh Commandment - 'thou shalt not get caught.'

If the telecoms and Internet provider markets were still like that, you can bet the farm that surveillance and data retention would still be going on, but we just wouldn't hear about it. There'd be nothing written down, no memos to leak, no Cabinet papers to be released after thirty years, just verbal requests made and approved over afternoon tea.

That's fine if you're a government, and you're directing a government department. But it's not so easy in a competitive market, which is why legislatures are trying to introduce a legal framework for data retention - it allows them to force private companies to comply with the law. If they succeed, we're screwed, as we know full well.

But if they fail, we might see a move to nationalise telcos and ISPs. Then we'd still be screwed, but we just wouldn't know about it until Mr Plod kicked our doors down at 3 AM.

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