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The ongoing series of leaks from the NSA and its cyberspying programs have got many wondering how to stay safe. It’s been joked that the only guarantee is to be offline, but now even that extreme approach doesn’t guarantee an escape from the US agency’s eyes, according to a New York Times report.

Citing leaked documents, the paper claims that the NSA has developed “a secret technology” which taps into radio waves to access computers and hardware, even those that are offline. The setup relies on a radio-transmitting device — such as a USB or other kinds of hardware/peripherals — being connected to the device in question, either by an agent, a manufacturer or users themselves.

There’s no evidence that the technology has ever been used, but it is a particularly troubling development considering that the agency is already reported to have all manner of tools to gain backdoor access to popular consumer and business electronic devices.

➤ N.S.A. Devises Radio Pathway Into Computers [New York Times]
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/nsa-effort-pries-open-computers-not-connected-to-internet.html




http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/01/15/nsa-reportedly-able-access-offline-computers-thanks-radio-wave-technology/?fromcat=all#!seaPr

It is scary that the NSA will go to such lengths to spy on our own citizens.  Gotta love how the USA allocating all of our hard workers tax dollars.

So sticking radio transmiter in computers allows you to communicate with it... So anything new?

I guess we need to keep our offline computers enclosed within a copper wire mesh.

Make sure the whole room is a Faraday cage.

I think sound proofing and no windows(physical ones that is) is also in order...

Before you fly off into a panic everybody read more carefully, the NSA and other crime agencies love scaring the crap out of you and making you think they're more clever than they actually are, this would have been all over the other news networks if it was true and when you consider the laws of physics I find this even more unbelievable but you'd need someone who's an actual expert in this kind of thing to confirm it if it's true anyway.

Fortune Cookie says,

"The only secure computer is one that's unplugged, locked in a safe,
and buried 20 feet under the ground in a secret location... and I'm
not even too sure about that one"
-- Dennis Huges, FBI.

How about this?

It's not believable.  The USB / whatever radio device could REPORT AND RECEIVE INSTRUCtioNS when the computer was off, but not "tap into the computer", unless the firmware of the computer was set to turn on with USB activity.

Yup, sounds like utter bullshit to me.

It depends on how integrated it is.  The technology has been openly available for quite a while.  I've had the misfortune of being subjected to it via an ex-employer.  Some Acer Aspire notebooks have integrated GSM modems, which can be used (even when the device is off) to update or alter the system's software.  When they say "by a manufacturer," they mean it.

Offline doesn't always mean turned off...

I stand corrected on that.

I guess also the hack would be to get the USB/whatever device in place, then use it in conjunction with a virus/worm, proceeding to mod the bios as required.

Even computers need a tinfoil hat!  :D

If this is indeed possible, I don't think it would work on a massive scale, and I also don't think it would work for every possible environmental case. Sure, somewhere without much metal and without much background EM waves would be ideal, but you're not going to get that for anything but a small number of situations IRL. It defies common sense that a busy city environment would be an easy place to target a computer in this way, and if there was another agent trying to do the same to another target a couple doors down, you'd probably have to work in shifts. NSA can't bend the laws of physics in the same way they bend the law of the land. Unless we're actually in The Matrix.

I heard this same story on boston public radio 89.7 wgbh an hour or so ago, seems legit, even if you're not doing anything wrong, THEY'RE STILL WATCHING YOU, LOL

of course most people don't even know that all computer wireless runs on 'radio waves'.

So the interesting thing about this story is that ....

A) the NSA can attach a wireless modem to a computer, like by USB
B) MICROSOFT OPERATING SYSTEMS DO NOT REPORT THAT THE COMPUTER IS ONLINE

Bit of shouting now over.

If it is just using a radio implanted into the PC then this is not a big deal. The computer would have to be specifically built to have this ability.
A spookier technology, that has been around a while, monitors the radiated signal from each keystroke. In this system an antenna is aimed at the computer. It may or may not be connected to a network. Each time the user hits a key, a tiny bit of EM energy is broadcast. Using software on a computer attached to the antenna. The signal is turned back into characters and the keystrokes are revealed.   8)

All it takes is a software defined radio integrated with a multi-core processor.  The same hardware that powers your wi-fi connection can be used to access your PC, even while it's powered off.  Even while you're using it.  You would never know.  It's been in the works for a decade now.  Soon it will be standard, in every computer.  I'm telling you, this is not science fiction.  It's very real.  And it's being implemented at the lowest possible level.

http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240163228/Intel-makes-breakthrough-on-digital-radio-chips

rasberry pi does not have any wifi, bluetooth or other radio outputs, thats why its great for an offline wallet

When in doubt, do what the Russians do (don't, most of the time).

Buy typewriters.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/11/kremlin-typewriters_n_3579184.html

What if they typewriters are bugged?

In the good old days when MTV actually played music and people were using these huge computer monitors with these ray tubes ( dont know how to translate this propperly ) one of the coolest ways to spy on someone was to receive the radio waves produced by those tubes and then use this information to duplicate the image on another monitor in a room next to the actual monitor, so you can see what someone was doing on his computer without ever touching it, installing software, or in some other way gain access to the machine.

If you knew a little bit about electronics this was actually not so hard to do.

I guess what is described in this article is simillar to this, it reminds me of a paper i read where researches listened to the sound that a CPU makes while de/encrypting data and from that sound  calculating the key ( = passphrase) that was used. This even worked if they recorded the sound with a cellphone. This sounds crazy but this totally works, in fact this audio stuff is becoming a huge problem in IT Security.

I am a Programmer and i know a quite a bit about this IT Security stuff, if the NSA could/would do this it wouldn't suprise me.

EDIT: I just found the paper where i first read this, if you really want to get into this ( highly recommended ) read it:
http://www.tau.ac.il/~tromer/papers/acoustic-20131218.pdf

In theory having a set of microphones in an array in the room you want to spy on should pickup every keystroke individually and recreate any messages. Something between the audioscope and a gunfire locator. with the NSA budget they can make those very very small I am guessing.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gunfire_locator


Two physicists developed a new technology called AudioScope that apparently enables you to zoom in on sounds in huge, loud places like sports arenas or lecture halls. Physicists Morgan Kjølerbakken and Vibeke Jahr, formerly of the University of Oslo, were were experimenting with sonar when they hit upon the idea for the AudioScope, which is based on a circular array of 300 microphones and a video camera. They've now launched a company, Squarehead, to commercialize the system. From New Scientist:
The AudioScope software then calculates the time it would take for sound emanating from that point to reach each microphone in the circular array, and digitally corrects each audio feed to synchronise them with that spot. "If we correct the audio arriving at three microphones then we have a signal that is three times as strong," says Kjølerbakken. Doing the same thing with 300 microphones can make a single conversation audible even in a stadium full of sports fans.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn19541-audio-zoom-picks-out-lone-voice-in-the-crowd.html

Christ, the whole world is going to be smothered in tinfoil before this NSA garbage ends.

That is actually fairly old tech (known as van Ecke phreaking.) But it cannot be done from any real distance; it requires a physical antenna and radio quite close by. A researcher also demonstrated that, given the right viewing angle and window placement, it is possible to reproduce and read the screen at which you are looking via the reflection off tour eyeball (think high-powered telescope in a neighboring building.) But this also requires dedicated boots on the ground at close range, (as do the old laser-off-a-windowpane mike trick or the track-you-in-your-home-by-wifi-signal trick) and would be unlikely to be used against you unless you are already a 'high-value target.' In the real world, hidden malware, Bios rootkits, keyloggers, and the like are far more of a concern, as they present issues even when no adversaries are physically present.

I think the claim about remotely accessing computers through unknown radio channels is mostly FUD, although there may be a few machines out there that could enable something like this in theory if the machine is on. Claims about this being possible with the machine off are total FUD.

Interesting the amount of FUD-like claims emanating from the Snowden files. I thought he was supposed to be a technical expert?

What reason could there be for someone who should know his stuff to lend his credibility to claims of surveillance techniques which are technically dubious? And why allow them to be released in this dripping tap style, instead of just dumping them all?

Snowden seems all too keen to play along with the format of a media circus. And about a serious topic that he took a moral stand over, at great risk to his own life and liberty?

You people are seriously retarded if you think any of this is somehow technically impossible.


http://www.infowars.com/91497/

Seeing as we're referencing the InfoWars website, can you tell me how the development of the Chinese Death Star is coming along? Been chewing my fingers down to the knuckles about that revelation.

Not technically impossible, just completely irrelevant.  This is not news, the title of this thread should be "NSA can access your computer if they insert a wireless device into it".  Really?

Do any of you actually read anything before posting?

Yes I read the Infowars article on Intel's 3G enabled chips, but this is not the place to discuss that issue.
This forum is called Bitcointalk.  It is a forum for discussing Bitcoin related topics.  Bashing the NSA for your own political propaganda campaign is completely off topic with respect to Bitcoin.  Go away and create your own forum for anti NSA discussion.
Thanks.

I tend to think that wireless spy chips becoming standard in PCs is somewhat relevant to Bitcoin.

It is very relevant. Out-of-band access can bypass all security precautions, even an offline machine with a wallet running Tails OS.

Out-of-band access has been available to anyone who is interested since the mid 80's.  Off the shelf equipment like the DataScan 2 from Codex allows anyone to observe your activities from a mile away.  Governments have protocols to prevent such emanations, to prevent remote observation and collection of sensitive data by unauthorized individuals (I assume you are concerned about someone obtaining your private keys?).  Tempest shielding was popular in the 90's to protect against spying.  Red/Black separation with optical network connections are used to prevent electromagnetic inductance from secure computers leaking sensitive information.  This is very standard in most military installations the world over.  What you need to understand is the attack surface is massive, you make no attempt to filter the signals leaving your computer through the power lines entering your home, you make no attempt to shield the data being processed by the CPU, what do you think happens when you switch at millions and billions of cycles per second.  Everything the CPU processes is transmitted, simple laws of physics, everything.  If you are serious about protecting your privacy on your computer, you had better learn about Van Eck Phreaking and Tempest monitoring at the very least.
To be clear, I would much prefer discussion about ways to grow the Bitcoin network, new services, and new ways to use Bitcoin.  Fun Stuff.

Securing Bitcoin against centralized control is a prerequisite for growth.  Bitcoin isn't "fun" if the same criminals who have destroyed the fiat economy can just steal your Bitcoins at any time.

I really don't see why you are posting in this thread if you would rather be discussing something else.  Go discuss something else, then.

If you are concerned with those, use a laptop on battery and "Spread Spectrum" on your PC bios. Don't use it to try to distract from the discussion of NSA and the 3G radio inside Intel processors

Furthermore, as an Software Defined Radio entry level enthusiast, I don't really need to "learn" that. I know it.

why would the nsa put so much focus into its own citizens shouldn't they be putting more energy into spying on America s enemies? almost no one is safe from being spied on nowadays even most cell phones nowadays have special devices in them that allow agencies to hear everything around the phone even if its not in use
scary stuff

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5N1C3WB8c0o <- sorta relevant

American citizens are their government's enemies. No other logical explanation for our civil rights constantly being violated with impunity, and the worst possible evil "winning" every election that counts.

Well it's not like they are doing this just to annoy us, the NSA needs to do this for the safety of us. I know this is a big invasion of privacy but would you rather be private and more illegal crime going on?

A victimless "crime", aka exercising liberty, cannot legitimately be called a crime.

So "Politics & Society" sub should be... banned?

dude should not use his NSA cubicle terminal to post on bitcointalk forum... Come on now!  ;D

Well, i need money, that doesn't mean i should be stealing.




And this isn't about safety, it's about control.

There is an attempt being made to make a connection between "Intel vPro Technology" and the NSA.  The NSA did not create vPro, there is no evidence to suggest "Intelligence Agencies" from any country had anything to do with Intel's decision to implement vPro.  This thread belongs in "Speculation".  If you are here at Bitcointalk to create an enemy out of the NSA, please don't, go away and create your own forum for anti NSA discussion.  Satoshi Nakamoto had to leave this forum for the same reason, people didn't STFU when asked to.  Remember the post about WikiLeaks bringing heat.  Please Stop!

So, just to re-cap, Coin_Master thinks we should all be quiet and this thread should just go away, because, well, at first, intelligence agencies could only "access your computer if they insert a wireless device into it."

And, then, when it's admitted right on the Intel website that these devices are, in fact, in a lot of computers already, and set to become standard on all Intel PCs, we just need to all shut up about it because "this is not the place to discuss that issue."

This thread, called "The NSA is reportedly able to access offline computers thanks to radio wave tech," is not the place to discuss wireless, offline access being made standard on CPUs, apparently.  Because, apparently, someone having wireless access directly to your PC, even when it's turned off, is not a "Bitcoin related topic."

Like I said already, I've been personally targeted by this bullshit.  I know exactly who implemented it, and why.  It was not a fun experience for me.  It's something I think everyone should be aware of.  And it is directly relevant to Bitcoin.

And if you don't like Infowars as a source, even though their article is well-researched and you can click through and watch the video about this technology right on the Intel website, you can read about similar plans of the CIA for how their investment arm, In-Q-Tel, works with manufacturers to put spy technology into everything they can, from Wired:

CIA Chief: We’ll Spy on You Through Your Dishwasher (http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2012/03/petraeus-tv-remote/)

You are clearly confused about what I said, and why.

This remark was made because the OP never mentioned Intel vPro in the first post of this thread.  There are only 2 links given
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/15/us/nsa-effort-pries-open-computers-not-connected-to-internet.html
and
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2014/01/15/nsa-reportedly-able-access-offline-computers-thanks-radio-wave-technology/?fromcat=all#
Neither link mentions Intel or Intel vPro.  Both articles have pictures of USB transmitters, hence my remark about an alternate name for the thread.
What you have done is try and introduce secondary information in an attempt to link Intel vPro Technology with the NSA.  Nice try, but no proof!
In-Q-Tel publish a list of all the companies they provide funding to, and nowhere on the list does Intel feature.  You need to live in the real world, base your assertions on provable facts.  Otherwise it is just libel.

Dude. You believe seriously all the companies involved with In Q Tel will be openly listed on their website? Maybe we should all stop or you will ask for our IP address and sue us for libel...  ;D

Our little thread is a menace to NSA's society...

This is exactly the kind of conspiracy fiction I was referring to when I stated this thread "has absolutely nothing to do with Bitcoin".
Speculative statements based on pure fantasy, backed by nothing more than "It could happen Dude, why you so stupid?".
No proof, no facts, just a bunch of dreamers.  It would be funny if it weren't so sad.

First, I don't believe you are stupid, but you have the right to call me/us dreamers. Second, everything you said about this thread could be applied to your logic and is sadly funny  :)

Regarding bitcoin it matters and third of all you are replying to a thread in "Bitcoin Forum > Other > Politics & Society >"
Did you miss the part that says "Other"? :)

No you missed the part where if you cannot provide proof for the claims you make, it's all hot air.  Be prepared to be challenged.  You are a fool.

Yes I am  ;D
Have fun playing Don Quixote in front of your screen while you challenge me with your proofs...

http://core0.staticworld.net/images/article/2014/01/spying-birds-rovio-hack-100228014-large.png

All I am saying is it would be nice if the members of this forum spent more time building services for Bitcoin, making it bigger and stronger, rather than spending time on things they have little or no control over, that's all.

I understand your point. But this section is to cool off and talk about stuff we don't control, stuff we wish were different, stuff that scares us, stuff that's amazing and want to share, stuff we don't agree with, stuff we don't care about.

Here you can call me names as long as you feel like, prove me wrong, tell me I am wasting my time talking about stuff I can't understand, etc, etc... it's all cool dude. Seriously.

As Phil Coulson says "Tahiti - Its a magical place..." ;)

Well in that case, yes anyone can access Intel vPro CPUs with Active Management Technology remotely, provided the motherboard also supports these features of the CPU.  Then it is rather trivial to remotely access the CPU at Ring level -2, which is below Ring level -1 (the Hypervisor level) and also below Ring 0 (kernel mode level).  This area of the CPU known as SMM (System Management Mode) is more privileged than a hypervisor and has complete access to all system memory including the kernel and hypervisor memory.  Code running in SMM also has access to I/O devices (IN/OUT, MMIO).  This code running in SMM is not subject to Intel TXT (Trusted Execution Technology) meaning at no point is code running in SMM checked or verified.  This code is outside the reach of the operating system or any other software installed.  There are many exploits available online, however it would not be wise of me to link directly to them.  If one were interested in learning more they could start here:
http://www.symantec.com/connect/blogs/attacks-against-system-management-mode-smm
Hope this helps.

I am sure this should help anyone wanting to hack into someone's offline computer...

You asked :)

(or someone did)

Now we know it is definitely possible to hack offline computers with radio wave tech...

that means that they can watch you wacking off to the porn on your computer even when the wifi is turned off...lol

Yeah, but so far inflatable dolls are safe from the NSA...

http://www.dupont.com/products-and-services/electronic-electrical-materials/flexible-rigidflex-circuit-materials/brands/pyralux-flexible-circuit.html

more to worry
with this technology they could access even that

Intel CEO tells Reddit to "Ask Me Anything," fails to answer two top-voted questions about hardware backdoors in CPUs:

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/1ycs5l/hi_reddit_im_brian_krzanich_ceo_of_intel_ask_me/

If you think you are safe. You are not.
If you think you can hide something on your computer. You can not.
If you think you are anonymous on the internet. You are not.
If you think that they are ways to keep your privacy. They are not any.
Bear that in your mind. This is the world we are live in.

Backdoor in Samsung Galaxy Devices Allows Remote Access to Storage

http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/14/03/12/2143225/replicant-os-developers-find-backdoor-in-samsung-galaxy-devices

Meaning basically anyone with some fairly simple hardware can read and write data on your phone remotely.  And this is not a bug.  It was built-in deliberately.

Oh, and a timely interview with RMS (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2z6UdUug2c) for the InfoWars haters.

If you're too paranoid to have a window in the room you use your computer in, you're way too paranoid to have MS Windows on your computer. Hell, you're probably too paranoid for Linux. OpenBSD with disk, swap, and RAM encryption, all networking disabled at compile time, no sudo, root password set to randomness.

If they cant access through radio wave tech, they always have the power lines to work with. Internet over power lines has been used for some time now, even becoming available to the average consumer cheap as fuck, no telling how far the government's spy arm has taken that tech, especially now with the direct outgoing data coming off PG&E recent smartmeter's.

 


Don't think they can monitor you with radio waves? Look at the "TEMPEST" project. Not new technology, can be done from miles away. Now with new smart grid technology every inch of your home, media and internet habits can be tracked with a hardwired system built into every bit of electronic equipment you own. Additionally these systems are EXTREMELY vulnerable to exploit meaning 3rd parties other than 3 letter organizations, such as criminals may be able to access this data. Your crazy uncle who thinks his refrigerator is spying on him might not be so crazy after all.

What about OpenBSD isn't that a safe system?

This is nothing new, this used to be called Tempest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tempest_%28codename%29

TEMPEST is a National Security Agency codename referring to spying on information systems through leaking emanations, including unintentional radio or electrical signals, sounds, and vibrations.[1] TEMPEST covers both methods to spy upon others and also how to shield equipment against such spying. The protection efforts are also known as emission security (EMSEC), which is a subset of communications security (COMSEC).


Clearly they have too much funding and power...

Year-old General Dynamics press release confirms that the Samsung Galaxy S3 can be remotely rooted and, furthermore, that the backdoor can be remotely patched:


http://www.v3.co.uk/v3-uk/news/2250071/general-dynamics-secures-samsung-and-lg-android-smartphones-to-take-on-blackberry


"Security researcher" Dan Rosenberg makes an ass of himself.  Ars Technica helps:

http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/03/virtually-no-evidence-for-claim-of-remote-backdoor-in-samsung-galaxy-phones/


What an idiot.

Just cover your computer in tin foil!

block radio waves  :)

Soon we will have hackers stealing bitcoins from offline wallets. The advancement in technology is not always a good news.

    If you think you are safe. You are not.
    If you think you can hide something on your computer. You can not.
    If you think you are anonymous on the internet. You are not.
    If you think that they are ways to keep your privacy. They are not any.
    Bear that in your mind. This is the world we are live in.

If the NSA can do it, then so can others.. less safe world for all of us

If hackers figure out the spreading codes for everybody's nanotech implants we could be in for a zombie apocalypse.

Lol... that will be interesting. BTW... how many people in this world are actually having nano-tech implants? Enough to create a zombie army?

Some of the web sites that follow the transhumanist movement push numbers as high as 99% of the global population.

That "you" is a bit of a stretch. Yes, the adversaries are very competent at cracking and spying, but there are ways to improve one's privacy and anonymity to the point of being able to do most of one wants, electronically and comunication wise. We just compromise this due to lazyness and for the sake of touchy touchy screens, virtual friends and "apps".

So that would include you too. Where is your reset button by the way?

Do you think that the police with their new see-inside-homes radar can access computers that are offline? Maybe they can even trace the circuitry on a powered down computer enough so that they can mimic a turning hard drive, and read what's on the hard drive... you know, by spinning the radar like a tornado.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=930124.0

:)

It's clear now that we need open-source hardware as much as we need open-source software. In the future we'll use something like Maidsafe as internet, with open-source routers independent from ISP, with open-source CPU's motherboards and GPUs, potentially even 3d printed at home.

Then maybe, maybe we can talk about privacy.

We will need multiple, simultaneous access to all the data, right at our fingertips. As we hit the keys on the keyboard, we will not only need multiple outputs for each key so that they can't tell which key we are hitting electronically, but we will need some way to blur their vision, as though they were standing right behind us, looking over our shoulder.

This is getting way too complicated.

Time to use the Karl Lentz method - the common law built right into the constitution, and used even by the lawyers - to sue the pants off them for for stealing out privacy, which is our property.

http://www.broadmind.org/

:)

https://i.imgur.com/QKUBJP0.jpg


Don't let a valet from LA read this or it will end up in the next Mission: Impossible  :)

Some people are trying hard to do just that.

http://2014.oshwa.org/


List of open-source hardware projects

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_open-source_hardware_projects

Yes, but. Edgar Edward (Doc) Smith wrote science fiction in the first half of the 1900s that described many kinds of fantastic electronics, in reasonable detail. If he could write like that back then, just think of what government researchers, with their almost unlimited funding, might have been able to do for real by now.

:)

It's kinda slow today. Otherwise I would have expected someone to have corrected me by now.

Doc Smith's name was Edward Elmer Smith, Ph.D.

Doc Smith's sci-fi Lensman series (pre-1950) and Skylark series explain a whole lot of things about the way radio might work. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Children_of_the_Lens_%28novel%29 for info about his Children of the Lens novel.

Spacehounds of IPC is a single novel that holds a lot of electromagnetic info in simple layman's terms. Some of the info is outdated. But much of it is right on. Some of it is still in the theory stage.

How much of this kind of "stuff" have the many technologically minded people, companies and governments secretly developed?

:)

No one would have dared correcting you. Your word is the gospel on bitcointalk...  ;)

You are talking about the Gospel of Jesus, right? Just trying to save all those NSA agents.

:)

It seems like we (as a society) haven't taken any steps to defund the NSA... maybe that's just a utopian fantasy anyways.

That's because we don't generally realize how easy it is. Government probably won't defund the NSA. If they do, it will only happen because of some gigantic outcry. It will take a long time.

The thing we need to do is defund government.

We can do it on a personal basis. Look at how Karl Lentz helped a lady run CPS (Child Protective Services) off her property - http://recordings.talkshoe.com/TC-127469/TS-937314.mp3 (http://recordings.talkshoe.com/rss127469.xml).

Karl has the answer how to stop taxes and the IRS. You'll have to dig for it. Dig here https://www.youtube.com/user/765736/videos?view=0&live_view=500&flow=grid&sort=da. Watch Karl here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HOkAHRzuiOA&list=PLHrkQxgz0mg6kUBciD-HIvTXByqjcIZ-D.

Youtube and DuckDuckGo search on "Karl Lentz common law."

The more of us who learn and use Karl's stuff, the closer we come to defunding government.

:)

Republicans would never let that happen!

Democrap GOP lawmakers demand FCC make proposed Internet regs public


Leaders in Congress want the public to see new net neutrality regulations before they become law.

Currently, people aren't expected to see the Federal Communications Commission's new regulations for Internet service providers such as Comcast until the agency's five commissioners vote on them on Feb. 26.

That’s concerning for Republicans leaders of the House and Senate Commerce committees, especially since the regulations are expected to exert bold authority over the Web by reclassifying Internet service to treat it like a utility.
“Given the significance of the matter and the strong public participation in the commission’s proceeding to date, we believe the public and industry stakeholders alike should have the opportunity to review the text of any proposed order or rules prior to commission action,” Senate committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.), House committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-Mich.) and Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) — the head of the House Communications Subcommittee — said in a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler on Thursday.

“Limited access to information is beneficial to no one — not to the consumers directly affected by commission action, not to the industries regulated by the rules and not to the commissioners seeking to make information decisions taking public feedback into consideration," they added.

The FCC almost never releases the text of its regulations before the agency’s five commissioners vote on them during open meetings. Wheeler does have the power to release them ahead of time, however, which the lawmakers point out.

They told Wheeler that releasing the text of the new rules would make sense now, given the nearly 4 million public comments on the FCC’s rule-making process — far and away an agency record. 

An FCC spokeswoman, Kim Hart, said that the commission had received the letter and was reviewing it.


http://thehill.com/policy/technology/230507-lawmakers-demand-feds-release-web-rules-before-vote


---------------------------------------------------------
 :)

They get exposed for all they do and instead of focusing on them the media focuses on snowden calling him a traitor.

Thank god someone is trying to be more transparent to the public.

Lol, no side is transparent unless it's an attempt to make the other side look bad. The argument that revolves around "the democrats are better" "no, the republicans are better" rah rah rah bs is why this country is so screwed up. Two parties means neither side has to try terribly hard, because lack of options is each party's biggest attribute. Yay democracy!

Not all democracies are like that in fact in  the 2012 presidential election a libertarian almost got the threshold number needed to gain media attention

Gary Johnson got less than 1% of the vote. That's no where near what he needs to be treated as a viable alternative, but don't expect democrats and republicans to open up the presidential debates to anyone who can challenge their duopoly on this country. The last time the presidential debates were opened up to a third party, Ross Perot earned something like 18% of the popular vote. Both parties learned their lesson, and no third party has been invited back since. The Commission on Presidential Debates is made up entirely by democrats and republican insiders, so the exclusion is not accidental. The candidates also sign an exclusivity memorandum of understanding with the Commission agreeing that neither candidate will participate any debates not run by the Commission, so they can control the entire debate process and have an excuse never to debate any candidate from another party. The whole thing is a sham, and both parties know it because they've arranged it to be that way. The dems and repubs are more similar than they are different: big government, domestic spying, foreign engagements, deficit spending, etc. All the pageantry on everything else is to keep the public convinced it really matters which party you vote for. "Oh no, gays!" Or "oh no, class warfare!" Pfft.

Though out the years both parties have become more and more similar. especially after 9/11

Do not thank him too fast yet. Remember when 0bama was against the NSA, against war, against booosh and the way he was bypassing congress? Remember how booosh used to love capitalism until he needed to print out money to save it?

I love to poke liberals here but no politician is a savior, D or R...

We'll always be able to see as big or little or detailed as our technology allows.  People think they found the smallest particle when they discovered the quark and now they are sure they have it with higgs boson but they will again measure something even smaller.  The only true singularity will be when we can solve all problems with the technology we have and that will be known as the technological singularity.  But even that will just be the beginning of a huge frontier of technological advancement.  There is no singularity.  Life, death, light, dark, and everything here there everywhere and inbetween is infinite.

A full computer in the cloud, based on a maidsafe, ethereum like system maybe the future. Adobe is already pushing for a full photoshop app in the browser. I understand we have to wait a while for this to happen of course.

Life, consciousness, always finds a way...


http://www.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/2gjkje/we_are_forking_ethereum_ibm/

Completely open source, high-end laptop gets closer to reality


f you've wanted a laptop where all the software is free and open source (FOSS), you've usually had to settle for mediocre hardware. Even FOSS champion Richard Stallman is making do with a ThinkPad that's several years old. At last, though, it looks like you won't have to compromise your ideology for the sake of keeping up with the Joneses. Purism has successfully crowdfunded the Librem 15, a portable PC that combines modern parts (such as a 3.4GHz Core i7 and an optional 4K display) with software that's accessible from head to toe. The operating system (a variant of Trisquel GNU/Linux), hardware drivers and included apps are all free and open -- Purism is even trying to loosen up the BIOS and firmware.

There's still some time (as I write this) to make a pledge and set aside a Librem 15 for yourself ahead of the planned April 2015 launch, although it's here that you'll find out that software freedom can be very expensive. Get in on the "earlier bird" special tier and you'll pay $1,649 for a system with just 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive, a read-only DVD drive and a 1080p screen -- it's easy to get a closed source Mac or Windows PC with better memory and storage at a similar price. And while a release is theoretically close at hand, it's often an uphill battle to get completely open computers to market. Even the Novena project, which got its hardware funding last spring, is trickling out just a few of its finished PCs. If you absolutely refuse to run proprietary software, though, you'll at least want to give the Librem a look.


http://www.engadget.com/2015/01/25/purism-librem-15-funded/

that's what the third position for. Go fascism.

Democrats had 2 years to put a bill though against the NSA.

That is true. How come liberals always forget that little details. I even forgot myself :)

Yes, but between the two parties, the democrats are the party that will fail to change anything, and the republicans are the party that will outright block reform.

Feinstein (D) is one of the biggest NSA apologists in Congress, but as a rule, republicans are the party that gets most ornery and pulls out the 'soft on terrorism' bs whenever anyone talks about curtailing the excessive reaches of the NSA or CIA. There are plenty of democrats who defend the NSA as well, but of the two parties, republicans are the ones who will obstruct reform. Dick Cheney, who isn't even a member of the government anymore, recently made the rounds on the talk shows trumping up the case for how much we need the NSA and CIA to know everything about everybody, and how public oversight is a national security threat. Hell, the republican party had a tantrum when the (bipartisan) Senate torture report was released!

Yeah. That torture report. It was pretty funny when pelosi said she knew nothing about it (the water boarding part)

Pelosi is the face of evil.

That is why I like this forum. No matter what 'we' can always agree on something  :)