On Wed, 31 Jul 2013, Christopher Howard wrote:
> Now, tell us how you really feel. ;)
>
> For my part, Amen to most of the above. I'm certainly not going to trust
> Google, don't use their e-mail, apps, whatever; except for what my boss
> forces me to use at work.
>
> Nevertheless, it is a little hard to see curmudgeon's "hyprocrisy". The
> source code for Android is out there, so you can know for yourself what
> it does and doesn't do. Of course, your typical Android will be filled
> with Google spyware and DRM junk... but curm's point was that, if you
> can unlock the phone, at least you can install Cyanogen Mod and get a
> phone that is pretty much completely under your control. So I'd be a
> little ticked off as well if I found out that the "active" version of my
> old phone completely locked me out.
I understand his frustration regarding the hardware, I think the hypocrisy
lies in AT&T (or any carrier) pinging his paranoia RADAR, but the Google
platform doesn't. Particularly when, as I stated, Google's privacy invasion
is much more pervasive across all access devices, and you're legally giving
permission to do much more hideous things than a carrier would, or can, do.
In short: if you're going to claim paranoia but are going to deliberately
ignore, or be incapable of evaluating, greater threats, then you're really
*not* paranoid. Nor are you that worried about personal liberty. I *am*
that paranoid, and I won't carry a smart phone. Hell, I barely carry my
dumb phone.
That said, I personally like Lee, I just disagree emphatically with screeds
like this. I am not likely to sway his opinion, but I definitely want a
differing view out there. Don't be a trusting fool who actually believes
this "do no evil" bull crap. They've already broken that trust a hundred
times, and they have a financial incentive to do it again. Trust no one.
I don't blindly trust my employer, either.
> (In my particular case, I'm too poor to own a smart phone. And I've
> decided I'm never going to use a TracPhone so long as they have a
> sticker on the outside of the box which states, "By opening this box,
> you are agreeing to be bound by all of the terms inside of this box,
> including an agreement never to tamper with your phone, unlock your
> phone, or figure out how it works." Just saying.)
Those types of agreements have been proven to be legally unenforceable in
many states. I have no idea, though, where Alaska falls on that spectrum.
--Arthur Corliss
Live Free or Die
---------
To unsubscribe, send email to <aklug-request@aklug.org>
with 'unsubscribe' in the message body.
Received on Wed Jul 31 21:52:56 2013
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.8 : Wed Jul 31 2013 - 21:52:56 AKDT