Senator to Supreme Court justice: Federal court hacks threaten US security

Don't always agree 100% with Ron Wyden (though I do most of the time), but he always has my respect that he tries his damnedest to fully understand the tech world, and then builds his policy positions from a place of that understanding.

I also knew this was him even before I got into the article, which is sad since that shows how few senators/congresspeople actually even attempt to understand any of this.
 
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I also knew this was him even before I got into the article, which is sad since that shows how few senators/congresspeople actually even attempt to understand any of this.
I expect that my state's senators will respond to news of the latest hack by sponsoring legislation that eliminates Politico.
 
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Missing Minute

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Well, I can say for sure that they didn't vote for the "Big Beautiful Bill" nor have they been supporting the fascism taking over America...can you say the same?
The Democratic party senators have almost entirely abdicated their responsibility to enact the will of their constituents. I blame this failure largely on the failure of interested parties to vote for good candidates in the primaries and instead either focusing on
"electability" or not participating at all.
 
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That’s MY Senator.

Ask yourself what yours has done lately.
castigate voters in his home state at his first and only public appearance since being elected. idk what people expected when they voted for a sleezy car salesman, they get a sleezy car salesman lying to them and getting mad when people point it out.
 
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PhilipStorry

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Subscriptor++
Nobody in the US Congress understands technology besides like 5 people. Even a lot of the younger congressfolk have no idea how stuff works, which is obvious from their signal chats.

That's partly on us. We can't assume that they'd know.

In the US those standing for higher office need money. Lots of it. So most of their time is spent fundraising and managing their "doner relationships". In other countries we'd probably call this corruption, but this is the USA where spending money is now free speech, and the fact that leaves some with a lot more free speech than others is not an issue as far as the courts are concerned.

In order to get change we have to make the change understandable to two groups. One is the lawmakers - whose main concerns are fundraising and public relations - and the other is voters, whose main concerns remain a hotly debated topic.

We have to make it something that they care about. And that's difficult.

We have case studies we can learn from. "Unsafe at any speed" with Ralph Nader in the 1960s, civil rights and equality in the 60s and 70s, the fight against big tobacco in the 1980s and 90s. These worked because they got constituents to care, which applied pressure to politicians.

We tend to assume that everyone else is as rational as ourselves, but that's not the case. We have to sell the change. Just like in the workplace where that upgrade or new feature needs an advocate, good technology policy needs good advocates.

And we should also assume that there will be those briefing against good tech policy. What's worse, it will often be people high up in tech companies, often companies that we may admire and trust. Tim Apple didn't have a gaudy gold bauble made up for Trump because he was bored, he did so because Apple needed more political influence.

We should expect tech executives to be present at the million dollar dinners and the briefing breakfasts. Don't be surprised if they're saying something that suits their bottom line rather than good policy. We can't rely on the companies in our industry to be our saviours.

The EFF and people like Cory Doctorow are a big part of the solution, but it won't be easy.

And we will probably all have to up our own personal skills, as we will likely need to play our own small part in this with our friends and family, to raise awareness.

As an aside, who the hell used the monkey's paw to wish for these interesting times we're living in? I much preferred the dullness...
 
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BrewerBob

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Good Luck Senator trying to get the third branch to do what you want.
He and the rest of the legislature has the authority to both fund, enact rules and enable such things, up to and including impeachment of members of the supreme Court. He is an elected official. None of these judges are. So far, democracy still exists if suppressed by fanatics in the Republican Party.
 
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daddyboomalati

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We aren't even watching Russia in the cybersecurity realm anymore. I assume that was Trump's payment for all of the election meddling they did in his favor.

It is amazing to me that just a year ago they were the biggest (verified) threat to the US and now they aren't. It's a slap in the face to real patriots that have served to protect the country against Russia just to be told to "never mind".
 
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Steve austin

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They've been writing very strong worded letters, thank you very much.
Given the current makeup of Congress, and the Republicans’ willingness to ignore norms and be purely partisan suck ups to Trump, there isn’t a whole lot substantive they can do. It’s sort of up to us, especially in red states (and mine has become red) to do what we can to get the idiots out. Unfortunately, too many voters are ignorant, apathetic, or actually approve of what is happening, and gerrymandering makes it worse. So I don’t have great hope.
 
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US Senator Ron Wyden accused the federal judiciary of “negligence and incompetence” following a recent hack, reportedly by hackers with ties to the Russian government, that exposed confidential court documents.
This is what happens when a branch of government has lifetime appointments that take near an act of god to either hold them accountable or have them removed. Or a parallel branch of government (Congress) sitting on their fat asses pandering to a Cheeto TACO instead of doing their fucking jobs.
 
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The Democratic party senators have almost entirely abdicated their responsibility to enact the will of their constituents. I blame this failure largely on the failure of interested parties to vote for good candidates in the primaries and instead either focusing on
"electability" or not participating at all.
In contrast to what > The stupendous efforts of the Republican Party who is doing everything they can in favor of citizen best interests??

What fucking rock are you hiding under??
 
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That’s MY Senator.

Ask yourself what yours has done lately.
I live in KY. so nothing decent. One's trying to not break in half when they stub their toe and the other like to introduce a lot of bills about accountability but none I guess for their own party.

I swear the state supports it's own bourbon distilleries from our government choices.
For now we have a Democratic governor because the last one was so shit even the other republican's hated him. When he's done, we're f'd.
 
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Steve austin

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Subscriptor
The Democratic party senators have almost entirely abdicated their responsibility to enact the will of their constituents. I blame this failure largely on the failure of interested parties to vote for good candidates in the primaries and instead either focusing on
"electability" or not participating at all.
Given that the Democrats have effectively zero power in the current Congress, I’m wondering exactly how you expect them to enact anything. Perhaps you don’t understand how this works. (And if you can’t get elected, you obviously can’t do anything.)
 
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We aren't even watching Russia in the cybersecurity realm anymore. I assume that was Trump's payment for all of the election meddling they did in his favor.

It is amazing to me that just a year ago they were the biggest (verified) threat to the US and now they aren't. It's a slap in the face to real patriots that have served to protect the country against Russia just to be told to "never mind".
I have zero sympathy for the patriots that are currently serving as they are enabling the Cheeto TACO to do exactly what you are complaining about.

If US MIlitary personnel are holding weapons ready to aim at US citizens on US soil - they have a choice to rail against illegal orders or not. And if they choose to follow blindly they are as guilty as the Cheeto TACO and should be held just as accountable.

I didn't understand for a long time (long before Trump showed up on the scene) as to why Germany 80 years on still tracked down and put NAZI participants on trial in their 60s and 70s and 80s and 90s (age); but now that we're at the potential beginnings of what Germany went through 100 years ago - Politicians and Police and MIlitary personnel and Judges and anyone else bending over for the asshole in Office are as guilty for carrying out his illegal actions as he is for ordering illegal actions.

And while Constitutionally to some extent the standard is high to bring Trump to account - NOBODY else is immune from prosecution for the illegal conduct they are carrying out on his behalf.
 
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Missing Minute

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The Democratic party senators have almost entirely abdicated their responsibility to enact the will of their constituents. I blame this failure largely on the failure of interested parties to vote for good candidates in the primaries and instead either focusing on
"electability" or not participating at all.

In contrast to what > The stupendous efforts of the Republican Party who is doing everything they can in favor of citizen best interests??

What fucking rock are you hiding under??
It's right there in the quote. In contrast to the primary candidates that lost due to insufficient perceived "electability".
 
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RZetopan

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The biggest security vulnerability is the FSB asset sitting his fat ass in the Oval Office!
They obviously failed to ask Felon45 if the Russians were involved so he could then ask Putin. He has considered Putin to be much more reliable than about a dozen US intelligence agencies.*

*Since the MAGA takeover, those dozen intelligence agencies now fully match his "expectations".
 
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