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from the and-then-we'll-welcome-you-to-obfuscated-code-contests dept.
Secret code is everywhere—in elevators, airplanes, medical devices. By refusing to publish the source code for software, companies make it impossible for third parties to inspect, even when that code has enormous effects on society and policy. Secret code risks security flaws that leave us vulnerable to hacks and data leaks. It can threaten privacy by gathering information about us without our knowledge. It may interfere with equal treatment under law if the government relies on it to determine our eligibility for benefits or whether to put us on a no-fly list. And secret code enables cheaters and hides mistakes, as with Volkswagen: The company admitted recently that it used covert software to cheat emissions tests for 11 million diesel cars spewing smog at 40 times the legal limit.
But as shocking as Volkswagen's fraud may be, it only heralds more of its kind. It's time to address one of the most urgent if overlooked tech transparency issues—secret code in the criminal justice system. Today, closed, proprietary software can put you in prison or even on death row. And in most U.S. jurisdictions you still wouldn't have the right to inspect it. In short, prosecutors have a Volkswagen problem.
Interesting article with implications for Open Source.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 18 2015, @02:47AM
The problem is a system that permits the programmers/publishers to hide behind EULA's and TOS'es so that they share absolutely no responsibility - let alone accountability - for the code.
Wrong. The problem is that non-free proprietary software is being used in places where it is especially unacceptable (must not be allowed) to deny users their freedoms. It has no place in government or in education, for instance.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday October 18 2015, @06:26AM
It has no place in government or in education, for instance.
And why does the word processor used to write a letter or a term paper have to be free (beer) and non proprietary? Seriously, what possible justification do you have to make such a demand? Who gives you standing?
What about the proprietary ball point pen? Is that also forbidden in your whacko world.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 18 2015, @01:57PM
why should tax money be used to rent software that the renter can't have inspected? that's just stupid.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 18 2015, @02:55PM
I said nothing about zero cost. That's not a requirement in my eyes.
Why should the government--which is supposed to be of the people, by the people, and for the people--use taxpayer dollars to fund software that denies the users their freedoms? The government should be encouraging education and freedom, and should not be supporting things that destroy freedom, and with proprietary software, no freedom or education is allowed.
Since no education is allowed with proprietary software (can't run the code for any purpose, can't study the code, can't modify it, and/or can't share your changes to benefit the community), it's especially unsuitable for the education system. Schools should encourage people to be good, educated citizens, and they can't do that by encouraging or forcing people to use software that violates their freedoms and doesn't allow for education. Also, it gets them hooked on software that violates their freedoms, which does lasting damage.
If someone makes the personal decision to use proprietary software to write a term paper on their own computer, that is sad but they should be allowed to do it. But they had better make sure the format is compatible with the Free Software the school uses. Which is often another problem with proprietary software: It tries to lock people in.
Seriously, what possible justification do you have to make such a demand? Who gives you standing?
Freedom of speech, and the ability to try to influence my government to do the right thing.
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday October 18 2015, @07:08PM
with proprietary software, no freedom or education is allowed.
See, when you make asinine statements like that, people just stop reading.
You, sir, are an idiot.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 19 2015, @01:18AM
Proprietary software denies you your software freedoms. Do you disagree with this? You can't inspect proprietary software code, modify it, and then distribute your changes to benefit the community. Do you disagree with this?
You're the idiot here. An unprincipled idiot, to boot.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday October 18 2015, @05:43PM
And why does the word processor used to write a letter or a term paper have to be free
Because without you inspecting it (or having the ability to), you don't know whether that piece of software is *just* a word processor. For all you know, it could be ferrying your sensitive data to someone outside of your organization, say your competition.
Without you having the ability to inspect or modify it, you also don't have the ability to make it do what you want it to do. You can only allow it to do what its manufacturer wants it to do. You need it to do X because of your specific business process Y...? Well, tough luck, sucker!
(Score: 2) by frojack on Sunday October 18 2015, @07:23PM
Because without you inspecting it (or having the ability to), you don't know whether that piece of software is *just* a word processor. For all you know, it could be ferrying your sensitive data to someone outside of your organization, say your competition.
Without you having the ability to inspect or modify it, you also don't have the ability to make it do what you want it to do. You can only allow it to do what its manufacturer wants it to do. You need it to do X because of your specific business process Y...? Well, tough luck, sucker!
Explain how your un-connected computer is going to ferry your term paper to someone else. Or your letter to mom.
Explain just what sensitive data is likely to be found in your school term paper that would be ferried to somewhere else? Who would read that "sensitive" data?
The printed page is the proof your word processor worked.
No inspection necessary. Certainly no Modification of the word processor code necessary.
Yow write your paper, print it out, proof read it, rinse repeat, and turn it in.
And even if you used a completely open source word processor, for which you have personally read every single line of code, (thereby delaying your term paper by two years) you still have not even scratched the surface of the code encountered from concept to finished paper. Code in the library's catalog system, Wikipedia, routers, chips in your keyboard, chips in your printer, the code in the radio running your alarm clock telling you to get up, eat your corn flakes, harvested by computer controlled farm equipment, dried by computer controled silos, milled by computer controlled grist mills, mixed by computer controlled industrial continuous flow mixers, baked in computer controlled ovens, boxed and shipped by computer controlled packaging plants, stocked by computer controlled warehouses and grocery stores, purchased by computer controlled cash registeres, and finely, not 30 YEARS LATE after inspecting all that code along the way, modifying it to your liking (breaking most of it in the process), you take the computer enhanced bus to school, to hand in your paper, too late to graduate because you thought you had to read all that code.
You sir, are an idiot.
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday October 19 2015, @01:36AM
Explain how your un-connected computer is going to ferry your term paper to someone else. Or your letter to mom.
Will your computer always be un-connected? That is certainly not the case with most people. Furthermore, even if you make it completely impossible for them to spy on you somehow, you are still denied your freedoms.
Explain just what sensitive data is likely to be found in your school term paper that would be ferried to somewhere else?
Who says that school term papers can't hold sensitive information? Who decides what information is sensitive? What is sensitive is subjective.
Then there is your name, your writing patterns (which they can analyze to identify you elsewhere), and whatever is in the term paper, depending on what the subject is. They could use this information to more easily identify you elsewhere or discover your interests. Maybe the software is also spying on you in other ways, and not just on the information in the term paper. There are probably other things that very clever and malicious people could analyze to violate your privacy. Just because you find some information innocuous doesn't mean it can't be used against you.
The printed page is the proof your word processor worked.
It might be broken in a number of ways that made it much more difficult to do the job. You're completely dependent on your masters to fix these issues. The only option available to you if you don't like that is to not use the software, which I highly suggest.
And even if you used a completely open source word processor, for which you have personally read every single line of code
Why do you personally have to read every single line of code? Non sequitur.
Who says you can't have someone else do an audit? Or do you think that free software advocates make the claim that everything must be inspected by the individual, and that they do not trust anyone? The good thing about free software is that you have *choices*. You can choose who you trust. Hire someone you trust to audit the code, or modify the software. You can also do it yourself, but no one has time to do that for every bit of software. Maybe someone else hired someone you trust to modify or audit the code. Other people are also looking at the code. There are many possibilities, and you have none of these with non-free proprietary software.
I hope this isn't going to end up being another variation of the Nirvana fallacy. Just because something isn't perfect (i.e. just because free software can't absolutely guarantee privacy and security) doesn't mean it's not better.
You sir, are an idiot.
You, sir, are repeating corporate propaganda.