This is astoundingly rich. At a recent forum in re: the proposed resurrected broadcast flag, Mike Godwin of Public Knowledge pointed out the main objections to the scheme (quote from Prof. Ed Felton’s Freedom to Tinker, which in turn is quoting a story from National Journal Tech Daily by Sara Lai Stirland):

Godwin said any regulations concerning digital television copy-protection schemes would necessarily have to affect any devices that hook up to digital television receivers. That technical fact could have far-reaching implications, such as making gadgets incompatible with each other and crimping technology companies’ ability to innovate, he said. “I don’t want to be the legislator or the legislative staff person in charge of shutting off connectivity and compatibility for consumers, and I don’t think you want to do that either,” he told a roomful of technology policy lobbyists and congressional staffers. “It’s going to make consumers’ lives hell.” Godwin’s talk drew a sharp protest from audience member Rick Lane, vice president of government affairs at News Corp. “Compatibility is not a goal [emph. added],” he said, pointing out that there are currently a plethora of consumer electronics and entertainment products that are not interoperable. Lane was seconded by NBC Universal’s Senior Counsel for Government Relations Alec French, who also was in the audience.

Felton continues:

To consumers, compatibility is a goal. When devices don’t work together, that is a problem to be solved, not [a] mandate [for] even more incompatibility. [Slightly edited to fix what appear to be typos in Felton’s text.] The FCC and Congress had better be careful in handling the digital TV issue, or they’ll be blamed for breaking the U.S. television system. Mandating incompatibility, via the Broadcast Flag, will not be a popular policy, especially at a time when Congress is talking about shutting off analog TV broadcasts. The most dangerous place in Washington is between Americans and their televisions.

More coverage at TechDirt and Engadget.

Update: Mr. Godwin has posted his own entry as well.

An appeals court in Minnesota has ruled that simply having encryption software installed on one’s computer can be viewed as evidence of criminal intent.

In making his decision, Judge R. A. Randall:

[…]favorably cited testimony given by retired police officer Brooke Schaub, who prepared a computer forensics report–called an EnCase Report–for the prosecution. Schaub testified that PGP “can basically encrypt any file” and “other than the National Security Agency,” nobody could break it.

Actually, that’s a bit of an understatement. Properly implemented public-key cryptography (with sufficiently large keys) is essentially unbreakable, even by the NSA. But it’s also a cornerstone of Internet commerce, and — since it’s so effective — is now commonly used to secure sensitive documents and emails in everyday life, even for users who are unaware of its role.

Extending this logic, we may presume that sealed envelopes suggest conspiracy, since people with nothing to hide would just use postcards, right? Leaving aside the utterly boneheaded implications along those lines, this also makes just about every computer out there evidence of criminal intent — Windows, if we’re not mistaken, can make encrypted ZIP files, and OS X includes a FileVault drive-encrypting feature. Both, presumably, include methods for initiating public-key secured network connections — otherwise, every credit card you type on the net would be sent in plaintext. Go Minnesota!

Pay attention. Newsweek is now retracting a story that was apparently true (even the former Army chaplain said so in 2002 — and he was quoting the camp’s head honcho), and they’ve done it not because of riots in Afghanistan, but because the White House asked them to, which is so astoundingly inappropriate as to boggle the mind. As Josh points out, this means the Administation has effectively domesticated both Newsweek and CBS at this point. With Fox already firmly in their pocket and PBS in their sights, they’re well on their way to neutering the press.

As Bill Moyers said, a democracy can die of too many lies. Or, as Rude Pundit puts it: “This is a blood game, and, motherfuckers, if you’re not doing the cutting, you’re the ones bleeding to death.”

Atrios pointed out this editorial from Molly Bingham, who spent much of last year trying to figure out exactly who the resistance is in Iraq. Where are they from? What do they want? Why do they fight? Looking into that issue forces examination of more than just the resistance, and it’s those realizations that create the insights in the editorial. Just read it.

Down on your recruiting numbers? Just tell your recruiting target that they have to enlist or you’ll have them arrested!

David Sirota on the growing failure of American journalism.

Fred explains the whole East Waynesville thing, and in so doing reveals why, if pressed, we still cop to being “Baptist.” (Hint: the SBC isn’t really Baptist anymore.)

Editors say they forbid undercover operations:

“It is important that sources be aware that they are dealing with journalists,” said Tim Franklin, editor of The Sun in Baltimore. “It is not something that I feel comfortable with. This is a form of undercover journalism that, thankfully, went out of vogue in the early 1980’s.”

Presumably, the “early 1980s” represent some sort of ancient period in journalism wherein it didn’t almost universally suck.

The famed security expert explains why REAL ID is a complete waste of time. Of course, it’s also almost certain to become law.

There is a story about this — Google stumbled — but mostly we just wanted to use the headline.

JWZ points out this little gem of a headline: Chlamydia Outbreak Kills a Dozen Penguins.

There’s a joke here about retired, pedophile priests finding work in animal husbandry, but we’re not touching it.

So to speak.

Some high school teachers are still assholes.