I'm well into the parallel between leaked documents and mp3sthe internet is famously a distruptive technology - it makes copying things really easy, whether it's songs, movies or government secrets.
The music industry has dealt with it in a number of ways
* DRM - basically increased security, which has failed
* LEGALS - hunting down filesharers just makes people hate the band / industry
* INCREASING USABILITY - iTunes for example, is for some, easier to buy something than pirate it (not us techy people who hang out on b3ta of course, but your mum maybe)
* CHANGING BUSINESS MODEL - basically going live. Lots of big musicans earn more money than ever by fuck off tours.
So assuming secrets will always be leaked - what can governments do?
* DRM - presume they are attemping to increase security at the moment. This will fail as it only takes 1 person to leak.
* LEGALS - Christ they are doing that at the moment, at the cost of making people hate the government
* INCREASING USABILITY - not sure how to apply this to governments, but I certainly wish their websites were more usable.
* CHANGING BUSINESS MODEL - this is my real hope. Governments doing less bad shit because they know they'll be found out.
(The music industry has dealt with it in a number of ways
* DRM - basically increased security, which has failed
* LEGALS - hunting down filesharers just makes people hate the band / industry
* INCREASING USABILITY - iTunes for example, is for some, easier to buy something than pirate it (not us techy people who hang out on b3ta of course, but your mum maybe)
* CHANGING BUSINESS MODEL - basically going live. Lots of big musicans earn more money than ever by fuck off tours.
So assuming secrets will always be leaked - what can governments do?
* DRM - presume they are attemping to increase security at the moment. This will fail as it only takes 1 person to leak.
* LEGALS - Christ they are doing that at the moment, at the cost of making people hate the government
* INCREASING USABILITY - not sure how to apply this to governments, but I certainly wish their websites were more usable.
* CHANGING BUSINESS MODEL - this is my real hope. Governments doing less bad shit because they know they'll be found out.
rob,
Sat 11 Dec 2010, 23:08,
archived)
It is fascinating to see where things are going.With the internet, the government are basically fighting the geeks on the geek's home ground. I really can't see them winning via the legal route.
(
monkeon schmonkeon,
Sat 11 Dec 2010, 23:33,
archived)