[mayneack]

Just because everyone "knew" doesn't make this less useful to be released. Last month if you went on CNN and claimed that the NSA had free reign to access whatever they wanted, you'd be considered a conspiracy theorist. Now you are at least just considered to be aiding the terrorists. This type of thing is also useful for groups like the ACLU filing lawsuits because they need more proof than "everyone knows already"

[waqf]

"free rein". It's a metaphor about horses, not kingdoms (though I have heard that the one can be exchanged for the other).

[rafcavallaro]

I've heard that the offer has been made, but there's no record of the transaction ever having been completed.

[drivebyacct2]

You're right. I don't know why I was being such a pessimist about it. More ammo, more attention, it's probably good unless or until we reach the max attention span of people who need to become more informed. Or if we encounter the 'disaster porn/fatigue' effect of this stuff.

I guess that's pretty much exactly what I'm experiencing. "Why bother trying if no one is listening". Not exactly the concept of 'disaster porn' but it's a close enough allusion.

[steveklabnik]

> I don't know why I was being such a pessimist about it.

Almost everyone I know that's involved in some kind of activism has this happen to them; I know that I feel it almost all the time. I'm not saying you're actually _doing_ any activism, but I think it's a side effect of paying so much attention to the letter of the law: law is a messy, sloppy thing, or at least it appears that way to this non-lawyer. It doesn't mesh well with my 'computers are deterministic' general mindset.

And really, _especially_ on this privacy front, it's terribly hard to see that these things are going to happen, get called 'crazy' and 'paranoid,' see them happen, and then sigh: "I told you so."

[drivebyacct2]

>I'm not saying you're actually _doing_ any activism

You mightn't have meant it but that was a polite way of provoking a bit of self evaluating. I don't really know what more to do outside of donate to the EFF, write my Congresspersons, etc. But I haven't made nearly an exhaustive effort of investigating what I could be doing.

>It doesn't mesh well with my 'computers are deterministic' general mindset. And really, _especially_ on this privacy front, it's terribly hard to see that these things are going to happen, get called 'crazy' and 'paranoid,' see them happen, and then sigh: "I told you so."

Are both very insightful statements.

[steveklabnik]

:) I think something that's sorely needed is easy-to-use crypto for 'normal' people, and by 'normal,' of course, I mean most of us. I recently set up PGP for all of my email, but it wasn't exactly something that I'd recommend to a non-technical person.

If you're looking for something you could do.

[drivebyacct2]

koush is kind of kicking ass on this front: https://plus.google.com/110558071969009568835/posts/gVt8SWRR...

From his comments it sounds like he's working with other app makers who are making independent apps so this could target everyone, effectively.

I do have a side project that would, at least personally, greatly decrease my dependence/reliance/usage of GMail...