Bill C13

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Bill C13

Postby PMC » Wed Nov 27, 2013 6:07 pm

Its time to speak up on this, or draconian measures will exist in the future

I quote Michael Geist http://www.michaelgeist.ca

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The bill also creates several new warrants with big privacy implications. One new warrant targets metadata, the information generated by email and phone communications such as location, time, device, and the person being contacted. Ironically, the warrant would establish a lower standard for metadata just as the Supreme Court of Canada recently warned that "it is difficult to imagine a more intrusive invasion of privacy than the search of a personal or home computer", pointing to metadata as one of the reasons why.

Another new warrant covers location information, including the ability to install tracking devices on individuals. The bill grants a judge the power to prohibit the disclosure of the existence or content of these warrants, meaning that subscribers may be kept in the dark when being tracked or having their information disclosed.

In addition to the new warrants, the bill criminalizes software that can be used to access services such cable television, Internet access, and telephone services without payment. The law previously targeted devices that could be used to obtain access, but the bill would expand the provision to cover software programmers that create code with these capabilities as well as users that download such programs.
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Politicians should consult technical people before making laws. All McKay and Nicholson have proven is, they don't have clue on who they were elected to serve.
PMC
 

Re: Bill C13

Postby former tv guy » Wed Nov 27, 2013 8:59 pm

Someone please tell me what the big deal is.

if you're not trying to hide something or steal something the vast majority of others have to pay for - what is there to be worried about?

I know Geist is well respected and has served on many committees and boards, but he seems to be against any kind of judicially-approved monitoring. If you're stealing something, you need to be caught.
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Re: Bill C13

Postby PMC » Wed Nov 27, 2013 10:03 pm

former tv guy wrote:if you're not trying to hide something or steal something the vast majority of others have to pay for - what is there to be worried about?


[MG] The bill grants a judge the power to prohibit the disclosure of the existence or content of these warrants, meaning that subscribers may be kept in the dark when being tracked or having their information disclosed.[MG]

Why is this power being given to a judge ? Why is there any need to hide any request, from law enforcement or otherwise. I personally believe that any request from any one should require a fee payment to the ISP, and that fee should be applied to that user's account... you want my info, then pay for it and I decide the fee. It is my information.... think out of the box etc.

The software provisions are absolutely absurd. What gives government the right to dictate who and what software can be created. I don't recall anyone giving government as an entity, an engineering degree :lol:

I could go on about many apects of this topic, and perhaps I will, from a tech software perspective. The government disguise of this is to stop bullying on the net... an emotional response rather than a logical perspective, on how the system works.

If someone is being bullied on a website, file a complaint with the webmaster of the site. If there are threats, stop using the site... it is only a website... if there is an instant message issue, contact the service provider. There are existing telephone laws that easily cover what occurs on the net today... and for those that don't know, the internet works completely on the telephone system. If someone wants the details, I will be happy to explain in simple terms how it works in getting a phone number for any website. It works using DNS, or the domain naming system.
PMC
 

Re: Bill C13

Postby PMC » Thu Dec 05, 2013 12:50 pm

In the interest of knowledge and how the internet works, I will add some material to this topic that covers the subject.

Some of the details will be technical and I will attempt to translate this to a common sense average user perspective so that the innerds of the net are understood. The link is tech detailed with the names of those that directed the development. The various info on `protocols' may confuse some, but this will get explained later. I will try and add to this everyday etc.

http://www.internetsociety.org/internet ... y-internet
PMC
 

Re: Bill C13

Postby PMC » Wed Dec 11, 2013 1:22 am

DNS is the Domain Name System. Every domain uses the system design. Most people that have a domain name, only see the paperwork side of it, and perhaps don't understand how it actually works. I hope this fills in the details in a non technical description.

The `system' consists of several different items in paperwork form, and in the mapping of the hardware that is involved.

Every piece of hardware that accesses the internet network requires a MAC address.

This ID number is issued by the IEEE http://www.ieee.org/index.html

Appreciate this fact, because the network card within your computer has a MAC address... a unique ID number which is written in hexidecimal number notation, rather than decimal.

If you have forgotten your math, hexidecimal has numbers from zero to 15, it is 0 to 9, then A=10, B=11, to F=15 in decimal. This number can be read in any computer that shows the IP address and usually tagged as `networking'.

An IP address is used to map the internet. To get an IP address, you need to have a MAC address ID number. No MAC ID number, no IP address from your ISP. Thus when you have a network card in your computer that has a MAC ID number, and your ISP gives you an IP address, you are ready to be mapped to the internet.

The mapping is extensive, and much of it, exists in static or fixed ways. Your ISP has connection equipment which is connected to others in the global network. When you connect your internet device to your ISP's modem, your ISP extends to mapping from his equipment to yours.

This is how the phone system has worked in the past and continues today in internet design/use. There is a big difference from a standard phone line to broadband, which multiplies the number of phone lines you can have.

I make this point so that all can appreciate, when you request a web page, your browser calls the website to get the page, and then keeps calling back for any images the page may need, for display.

Your browser is basicly a robot, carrying out your command to view a web site page.

How does this happen ? It starts with DNS or the Domain Name System.

Your browser calls the DNS server, and gives the domain name as input, and in return your browser gets a very long phone number, which it then calls, to get the web page.

Now to cover the paperwork side. If you go to a website and want to learn more about the website, you can use software to `lookup' that information. It is usually called `whois' software and available on the web as page requests.

This http://www.cira.ca is the Canadian Internet Registration Authority. Visit the page. In the upper right corner it says Whois search. Type in `radiowest.ca' without the quotes, and it returns a sheet that details the administrative person and the technical person to contact about the website. In the U.S. this information is often hidden, however most other countries have it available for public viewing. It is similar to white/yellow page listings but more detailed since it is a domain name on a public network.

If you have or decide to have your own domain name, then you can run domain name server software from your home/office. Doing this has its benefits if you have several computers, and want to make the DNS work for you.

Appreciate that the DNS form sits on your computer or your ISP. If you have a website, then someone would use http://www.mydomain.ca to get to that website address.

The `www' is a prefix to the domain name. The prefix can be given an IP address in the DNS listing. The `www' prefix points to a web server. There are other standard prefixes like ftp or mail which point to these types of servers.

When you run your own DNS, you can add prefixes for your own benefit. Your ISP may not do this for you. These prefixes can point to other IP addresses on your home/office network, or to other devices on the internet, in the described mapping method.

The domain name system is a mapping system for devices that have MAC addresses and IP addresses. Both of which are found within your computer's network device. Your IP address can change often, however, your MAC address remains the same because you keep using the same device. You can be traced/tracked on the network by your IP and MAC addresses.
PMC
 

Re: Bill C13

Postby PMC » Tue Dec 17, 2013 10:55 pm

A rule of domain names is, everything to the left of the domain name is a server of some kind, and everything to the right of the domain name is a reference to a file or program on that server.

If you currently have a domain name, and run a web server that sells something, and run your own DNS, then you can join the many that are now using the prefix name of `shop'. Ask the geek that handles your DNS listing file, to add a CNAME (pronounced as sea name) labeled as `shop' and then point it to your web server. After this is done, you can access the site using shop dot domain name.

There are many other examples of using CNAME's to connect to devices that can serve specific purposes, or simply give access. The DNS is how it cross references the names/ device addresses. In a home/office, CNAME's could be used for computers, cameras, routers, printers, or a server that runs your christmas decorations outside.
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The big stink of the `metadata' spies is what concerns the many that read/hear/see of the NSA and CSEC activities. Let us have a look at some details of this...

Imagine a picture frame, and inside it, is a picture. That picture has details that make up some of the picture, but not clearly.

Voice and data traffic on the internet/network travels in `frames' of data. It is done using `protocols' which is another word for `format'. The frames/packets of data have a `from' address, and a `to' address. If big brother wants to track you, they monitor the `from' address, to see your `to' addresses. How do they do this.

The connection you use, is similar to a telephone line that can be split/multiplexed into sub telephone lines. Your television feed gives you many channels. On the network, they are called `ports'. Your network device can support upto 65535 ports in theory, in practice it is less because of other needs for ports within the device.

Voice/data traffic flows on these different port numbers. If the spies want to read all the mail you send, they listen in on port 25 which is used by your mail software to send mail. If they want to read your mail before you do, they listen to port 110, and when you download your mail, they get a copy of it... how do they do that you ask.

Many years ago when digital networks came to be, there was a need to test the data flow on the network. It is difficult to see corrupted data when it is within copper wire etc.... and this is when sniffer software came to exist.

What is sniffer software ? This software sets itself up to listen/read all the data that flows. It then writes it to a hard disk as a file, which can be read later, or it can be acted upon immediately, depending on how the sniffer is set to function. When the spies are reading your mail, the sniffer software is being specificly set to listen/read on those two port numbers mentioned above.

The spies are not alone is using this type of software. Everyday millions of pieces of useless spam e-mail gets dumped from ISP's servers because the ISP will be running sniffer software that will look for e-mail header information, and if it matches a spammer, the mail never gets delivered. The spammers of course never tell their customers this small detail etc.

There is a need for network security, however there is a greater need for network intelligence first. The internet network is a golden egg of communications. The greedy and stupid should not be allowed to destroy it.

Greg Weston of CBC wrote a piece on the CSEC that every Canadian should read.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/csec-wa ... -1.2462279

Appreciate the depth of what he says... I can say it in a few words. The fox is in charge of the hen house. How did this bit of fascism come to be in a democracy, as ours ?
PMC
 


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