Daily Archives: April 11, 2015

Last week, FBI Director James Comey once again campaigned for backdoors into the encryption programs of tech companies, writes Sunday Yokubaitis at the Daily Dot.

Tech execs say privacy should be the paramount virtue, he told the House of Representatives Appropriations Committee. When I hear that, I close my eyes and try to imagine what the world looks like where pedophiles cant be seen, kidnappers cant be seen, [and] drug dealers cant be seen.

The United States government is playing to fear, uncertainty, and doubt. The reality is the government already collects a tremendous amount of personal data about its citizens through the location data our phones give away, National Security Agency metadata programs and online shopping habits without our consent.

Encryption is how privacy-conscious Internet users fight back against the unblinking eye of government mass surveillance and protect themselves online. Even if the NSA can break some encryption technologies, were at least making it harder and more expensive for them to track law-abiding citizens en masse. When Comey asks for backdoors, he is really just asking to make his job easierwith dubious benefits and very serious risks.

We must protect encryption because backdoors are inherently insecure.

Todays Question: Is encryption the Second Amendment for the Internet?

Original post:
Is encryption the Second Amendment for the Internet?

Anita Wadhwani, USA TODAY 8:23 p.m. EDT April 10, 2015

The audience applauds while Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speaks during the NRA convention at Music City Center in Nashville on April 10, 2015.(Photo: Shelley Mays, The Tennessean)

NASHVILLE Filing out of a ballroom after four hours of speeches by a dozen GOP hopefuls, National Rifle Association member Terry Brown said she was impressed by many of the speakers but was far from making up her mind about which potential candidate she might back in the next presidential election.

"I liked (Florida Sen. Marco) Rubio, but then again I've got to read up a lot more on how they stand on all the issues," said Brown, a 64-year-old office manager from Stafford, Va. "It's the first time I've ever heard some of them talk. I've got to hear more than the Second Amendment, because the next president is going to have to deal with so much more."

More than 3,000 NRA members on Friday heard from a slate of the Republican Party's most likely candidates at the NRA's annual meeting at Music City Center in Nashville.

USA TODAY

Rubio calls for stronger U.S. leadership in NRA speech

USA TODAY

6 things to know about the NRA national convention

At 10-minutes a speech, attendees heard abbreviated stump speeches from former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Dr. Ben Carson, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry, U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum, R-Pa., and billionaire businessman Donald Trump, among others.

Originally posted here:
NRA wants more than 'Second Amendment'

A Nevada Senate committee has passed a bill authorizing special license plates showing support for the Second Amendment.

The Senate Transportation Committee voted unanimously Thursday to pass Senate Bill 229, which is sponsored by Republican Sen. Don Gustavson. It now heads for a vote on the Senate floor.

The proposed license plate design features a frontiersman with a gun and the words "Battle Born" and "Protect the Second Amendment." It would cost more than the standard Nevada license plate design.

Proceeds from sales of the plate would benefit the Nevada Firearms Commission. The committee added an amendment specifying that the money must be used for gun training or gun safety education.

Republican Committee Chair Scott Hammond said he didn't want the funds to be funneled to political activities

To read more about bills in this session, click here.

See the rest here:
Nevada Panel OKs Bill to Create Pro-Second Amendment License Plates

The National Rifle Association says the only reason Sen. Rand Paul didnt get an invitation to its annual convention in Nashville this weekend was its inability to accommodate all the 2016 GOP presidential hopefuls.

But Republican insiders know that Paul is persona non grata with the countrys largest Second Amendment advocacy group because of his affiliation with another, more militant gun rights organization, its brash executive director, and his vast direct-mail network focused on hard-core conservative issues.

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Nine Republican presidential contenders are set to address the NRAs annual convention, which is seen as a signature event for the GOPs base.

While Paul didnt make the cut, the NRA is not writing him off for good. He maintains an A rating with the group, which acknowledges Paul is good on Second Amendment issues. According to the NRA, he might have been offered a speaking slot, too, had he reached out. The explanation from Pauls camp is that hes busy with events on the trail following the official launch of his campaign on Tuesday in Kentucky.

But make no mistake: the NRAs snub of Paul is but the latest flashpoint in a long power struggle between the group and its rival, the National Association for Gun Rights.

Its also a reminder of the candidates deep anti-establishment roots, which some supporters fear could harm his presidential campaign, especially when they are tied to entities that could compromise the message of inclusion that Paul is shaping.

Dudley Brown, a pugnacious Coloradan, started the NAGR 15 years ago as a national companion organization to Rocky Mountain Gun Owners. He brands both organizations as the no compromises gun lobby, a less-than-subtle knock on the NRA for being too Washington-focused and less absolutist on Second Amendment issues.

The disdain is mutual the NRA once dismissed Brown as the Al Sharpton of the gun movement.

But Browns organizations are about far more than gun rights. Theyre closely connected to libertarian direct mail operations rooted in the National Right to Work movement and aimed at advancing a number of conservative causes, including sharp opposition to gay marriage and abortion rights.

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The truth about the NRA's snub of Rand Paul

U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), a 2016 Republican White House hopeful, gestures with his cell phone as he speaks at a campaign event in Milford, New Hampshire April 8, 2015. REUTERS/Joel Page

Republican presidential candidate Rand Paul told Bloomberg News he believed it was petty that the National Rifle Association did not invite him to address attendees at their annual conference in Nashville this weekend.

Other potential Republican White House contenders will speak at the NRA gathering on Thursday, but both the Kentucky Senator and New Jersey Governor Chris Christie were given the snub by the gun rights organization.

The interesting thing is that theres probably no greater advocate for the Second Amendment in Congress than myself, Paul told Bloomberg. To not be invited, probably, will serve more to cast aspersions on their group than it would on me. Because my records pretty clear. It probably looks a little bit petty for them not to invite a major candidate because I raised money for other Second Amendment groups.

Paul claims that the NRA is punishing him for working with other firearm organizations like the National Association for Gun Rights and Gun Owners of America.

See the article here:
Rand Paul calls NRA snub 'petty'