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[Coyo <coyo AT darkdna.net>]

On 07/28/2013 02:20 PM, Pavel Volkov wrote:
> On Sunday 28 July 2013 07:09:19 Alex M wrote:
>> They are ALL our enemy, it's just a matter of degree.
>> Though, to be fair, Verisign is EVERYONE's enemy.
> Please excuse a n00b's question, why is VeriSign a bad guy?

I'm glad you asked.

The only ignorant question is the one that never got asked.

Verisign is a very influential company. They operate many of the root
DNS servers for the entirety of the Internet, they are one of the most
critical of the Certificate Authorities.

People trust their Internet privacy and security to this company every
second of every day.

This company has abused that trust innumerable times.

They have betrayed their most valuable clients and customers to
tyrannical dictators, both domestic and abroad, to any agency who pays
them enough, without warrant, subpoena, or any kind of judicial oversight.

It's a privacy and policy nightmare, for anyone who cares about such things.

I'm an activist. I believe that it's important, that it is a moral
obligation, to protect those you care about, and to protect who THEY
care about.

The cut of a man, the measure of a person, is determined by how far one
casts your concern horizon. If you can only spare concern for your
immediate nuclear family, you are ok, but not great. Many men and women
do not even care about themselves. That's unacceptable.

You should concern yourself with the welfare of as many people as you
can handle. Keep them warm, keep them safe.

A good neighbor gets involved with his neighbors, gets involved with
their affairs, and always leaves every place he passes through better
than he found it.

How this relates to Verisign is that Verisign's lack of concern and lack
of responsibility to their clients and customers, who rely upon them,
who trust them, is unacceptable.

As someone who believes that you should only protect people that ask for
protection. If a family member or close friend asks you to protect
someone you are already protecting, you should go ahead and assume they
will appreciate it.

Verisign's lack of fudges given is shameful and a demonstrable example
of the cancer that is killing the Internet.

As a bastion of the infrastructure, when Verisign displays a lack of
concern, it affects a lot more than their immediate clients. It affects
everyone. It affects countless people, not just domestically, but globally.

This criticism also goes for AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, Comcast, Time
Warner, Microsoft, Sony, Apple... the list is disturbingly long.

A quick google should get you specific examples of what Verisign has done.

I won't spoil the joy of discovery for you.