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Richard Stallman's Political Notes

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AI video surveillance

jeudi 16 novembre 2017 à 01:00

AI security systems pipe video from cameras to servers which use machine learning programs to try to recognize threats. People worry that these secret, nonfree AI programs are biased.

A company that sends such data to someone else's server to be analyzed is making itself the victim of SaaSS (Service as a Software Substitute).This is equivalent, in denying that company the control of its own computing, to running a nonfree program.

The article doesn't mention the worst threat of these systems: videos transmitted to a server can be recorded by the NSA, which makes this a very dangerous massive surveillance system.

Of course, we know better than to trust the NSA to be "good guys". Don't be a sucker!

Operating a video camera that is connected to a network, or that can make the video available other than locally, should be forbidden by law except when authorized by a specific court order.

On the other hand, if the camera is locally connected to a computer that runs a free machine learning to analyze the video, and which doesn't send the video anywhere else, that seems basically legitimate as long as the program's behavior is not biased. Given that the program is free, it will be possible to check for bias and correct it.

Northern Peru global heating

jeudi 16 novembre 2017 à 01:00

A Peruvian farmer, whose farm faces the threat of flooding due to a melting glacier, has sued a fossil fuel company in Germany for contributing to that danger.

It is possible nowadays to estimate the fraction of present or likely damages due to global heating in any place that are the responsibility of any particular emitter.

Sessions Clinton Foundation

jeudi 16 novembre 2017 à 01:00

Sessions is considering appointing a special prosecutor to investigate wrongdoing by the Clinton Foundation.

I don't find the idea inherently outrageous; the Clintons or their foundation could well have done something illegal or wrong. However, I don't trust Republicans to do this honestly. I expect they will twist the law to make mountains out of molehills -- as they did with the Clinton emails.

India retired judge corruption

jeudi 16 novembre 2017 à 01:00

A bribery scandal has hit the Indian Supreme Court.

Iran prisoner pawn

jeudi 16 novembre 2017 à 01:00

Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, prisoner of Iran, has become a diplomatic pawn.

I am concerned that elevating her importance to the UK might convince Iran that she is a valuable hostage for concessions.

I can't assume that she is innocent of the charges against her; but if Iran won't give her a fair and speedy trial, she might as well be innocent as far as justice is concerned.