Iraq: 24 million people, 437,000 square kilometers (twice the size of Idaho). 41% of the population is under age 15. 87% of men, and 45% of women are literate.

Vietnam: 81 million people, 329,000 square kilometers (about the size of New Mexico). 31% of the population is under 15. 96% of men, and 91% of women are literate.

Just curious... wondered if there was a certain size or country profile that drives hawkish, right-wing politicians nuts...

Comments 3:16:32 PM    

Here is one example of the far-reaching harmful effects of these bills. Both bills would flatly ban the possession, sale, or use of technologies that "conceal from a communication service provider ... the existence or place of origin or destination of any communication". Your ISP is a communcation service provider, so anything that concealed the origin or destination of any communication from your ISP would be illegal -- with no exceptions.

If you encrypt your email, you're in violation, because the "To" line of the email is concealed from your ISP by encryption. If you use a secure connection to pick up your email, you're in violation, because the "From" lines of the incoming emails are concealed from your ISP by the encrypted connection.

Worse yet, Network Address Translation (NAT), a technology widely used for enterprise security, operates by translating the "from" and "to" fields of Internet packets, thereby concealing the source or destination of each packet, and hence violating these bills. Most security "firewalls" use NAT, so if you use a firewall, you're in violation.

Brilliant legislation.. will other bills prevent me from hiding, say, myself while, say, showering, from whatever bodies my legislature deems appropriate?
Comments 1:36:15 PM    

"...there are good, practical reasons for even might and right together to defer sometimes to procedure, law, and the judgment of others. Uncertainty is one. If we knew which babies would turn out to be murderous dictators, we could smother them in their cribs. If we knew which babies would turn out to be wise and judicious leaders, we could crown them dictator. In terms of the power he now claims, without significant challenge, George W. Bush is now the closest thing in a long time to dictator of the world. He claims to see the future as clearly as the past. Let's hope he's right."

Comments 9:14:10 AM    

Chris Gulker's view from Silicon Valley - in words and pictures