BibleBoy's Blog

Monday, July 28, 2008

Get FISA Right

www.getFISAright.net

Labels: fisa, obama, politics, privacy

Posted @ 11:40 PM // 0 comments // View Links // Create a Link //

Friday, July 11, 2008

Obama's Last Chance?

I'm not usually a fan of political pundits but there are some good points in this video. Maybe Obama still has a shot to win me back....

Labels: fisa, isp, obama, politics, privacy, telco

Posted @ 6:34 PM // 0 comments // View Links // Create a Link //

Monday, June 30, 2008

Dear Obama

Dear Barack Obama,

I really want to express a VERY large concern of mine. I have stood behind Obama very strongly and have raised many debates between myself and family and friends. I have been a republican my entire life but this year I have really been encouraging people to vote for Obama because of various reasons but one of these biggest reasons is that I have seen the entire Republican party strip our rights away in the technology fields as well as other areas. I have watched the Republican FCC give more and more rights to cable companies and phone companies allowing a much stronger stronghold on the American public and adding to the fact that the nation that invented the internet is entirely too far behind many other nations when it comes to consumer access to the internet. I have watched our rights be stripped away by laws such as the PATRIOT act. I could continue to go on but I dont feel I need to. The point is that one of the major reasons I support you as a canidate is because I have believed that you are defending our rights in the areas that the majority of the American public isn't paying attention to. I have seen you embrace new technologies and reach the people via Twitter and Facebook. These things mean a lot to me.

It has saddened me, however, that you have voted for immunity for the telecom companies that have been instrumental in stripping us of our rights. The same companies that convinced President Bush to sign an executive order protecting AT&T have now received your vote for them to be granted immunity. To me, this is absolutely appauling and really has me in a debate with myself as to if you are really the best person for the job.

I can certainly understand that there may be benefits to your vote for this immunity but the bottom line is that you have stood against lobbyists in your campaign and you have been really putting your money where your mouth is with regards to not allowing this insanity continue but your vote for this bill has completely ruined my view that you are strong enough to stand for that which is unpopular. This is a huge concern when you have believe you voted for someone who is really interested in defending the rights of Americans and opposing "politics as usual." You have now stood next to McCain and other senators in saying that AT&T and other phone companies should have the right to spy on us if they are directed by a government agency.

I can not express the disappointment I am feeling right now. You have taken away that hope that I had that maybe we had a chance to make things better and that we might actually end up with a president who cares. I can not endorse McCain either because I still believe he is "the lesser of two evils" but I am starting to wonder if I should exercise my right to write-in my vote for president.

Sincerely,
Robert K Mertz

Labels: att, government, obama, politics, privacy

Posted @ 5:49 PM // 1 comments // View Links // Create a Link //

Thursday, March 20, 2008

Followup: Spokeo Spam

Last night I made a post about Spokeo skimming your information and using it to spam you.

Today after Googling "spokeo spam" I am finding that the majority of the internet is with me in my feeling that this is an absolutely horrible way to start a company. Additionally I am finding one single guy spamming message boards apologizing for him being responsible for spamming a lot of his contacts. I don't understand what's going on here but I think any way you look at it, we need to seriously avoid using the Spokeo service.

I don't understand how a company thinks that spamming random users thinks its a good way to break into an area of the web that is a sector that is under constant attack for unwanted spam and information harvesting. Instead of working on a way to combat this problem, this new start up has embraced the process.

While I will admit that the company certainly is creating a buzz about themselves, is this the buzz that they want? The Facebook application invites was the start of this backlash and that was messages sent only within the facebook system but now this company is taking that annoyance and delivering it directly to your email addresses.

If anyone has an account with Spokeo, I urge you to cancel it now. Firstly because companies who resort to these practices should not be supported but secondly because you may find yourself apologizing to many of your friends for being the reason they received spam from this company.

See also: http://blog.evanweaver.com/articles/2008/03/06/spokeo-spam/
This guy's girlfriend got spammed to her cell phone and it woke her up because her cell phone address was in his address book.

Labels: privacy, social networking, spam, spokeo

Posted @ 11:49 AM // 1 comments // View Links // Create a Link //

Spokeo skimming your information

I just received this spam and it is definately upsetting. I don't care if it says its one time only or not - they still skimmed my contact information. I did not request this email nor have I done anything with this company.

Sure, there are options on some of my social network accounts to filter more information but that's not the point. I know this type of thing was bound to happen but its frustrating just the same. Social networks are trying to tell us that only your friends can see your information but at the same time they are pollinating your friends for them to carry your information with them.