Comment by dsharlet | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dsharlet | Hacker News Reader

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I wouldn't assume that the general public is strongly against this kind of legislation. A subset (our subset) is, but the HN demographic is small compared to the rest of the country.

The basic concept of strong encryption is not something that most people understand. People are projecting their ideas of physical locks and warrants onto digital systems because that's what they understand. It's flawed, but it's hardly the first or even biggest/most important issue where poor understanding by the public leads to bad legislation.

Every now and then I have to drive through bumfuck Oregon, and the only radio stations are AM talk radio. It would be "educational" to spend some time listening to that every now and then. There are real people on the other sides of these issues that seem blindingly one sided to us. I think a lot of Congress probably just thinks that passing this kind of legislation (on encryption) will make most of their voters happy. Just like shutting down the EPA, or ...

> Every now and then I have to drive through bumfuck Oregon, and the only radio stations are AM talk radio.

I downvoted you because of this. When you're on this soapbox, please bear in mind that some of the people listening are actually residents of bumfuck Oregon. Also, not everyone in bumfuck Oregon is on the political tack that you associate with bumfuck Oregon. Also, they have FM. (Mostly country, I'll grant you that, but still.)

I called it that because that's where I'm from...

And I don't really consider it derogatory. It's really an accurate description. I was referring to the literal middle of nowhere, where no one lives, not even small towns. The places you drive to get to the small towns.

edit: I think maybe the confusion here is that I was not intending to make an association between the people of Oregon and the AM radio callers I was referring to. (The shows you get are nationally syndicated, aren't they?) I only said that because that's the only time I listen to talk radio, and unless you drive through places where it's hard to find any radio station, you probably won't have listened to it before. It's very different from e.g. Fox News, where you hear professional pundits talking about these issues. You'll hear real people stating opinions that others in this thread are assuming can only be the result of blackmail. That was the whole point of the post.

I think those waste places you drive through to get to small towns can be starkly beautiful.

> I think a lot of Congress probably just thinks that passing this kind of legislation (on encryption) will make most of their voters happy.

Nope. There's a faction in the natsec establishment that wants this and so they're getting it. Most people don't care or know enough about encryption to apply that kind of pressure on their congressmen.

I upvoted you to counteract the downvote.

If you think it's bumfuck Oregon say so. I've come to the conclusion after travelling that whenever people form groups they become idiots. You can have a reasonable conversation with any single person almost anywhere, however, the more people involved in the conversation the dumber everyone becomes. Eventually culminating in elections and/or the UN.

If you wish to examine a granfalloon, just remove the skin of a toy balloon.

I do not like granfallons or a toy balloons, sam I am.

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