John Young on Thu, 18 Feb 2010 13:24:42 +0100 (CET)


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Re: <nettime> Iceland's fight for press freedom


Already working below the surface of this noble initiative are those
who will use it to set up honey pots and stings.

The more trust is engendered the more subterfuge to abuse it.

What is needed is not a single, centralized, highly-vaunted,
easily targeted, information protection regime, instead a welter
of widespread, little-known outlets for secret and confidential
information, a tissue of sources, ever-changing in location, operation
and duration.

A static Maginot Line defense, an impenetrable fortress, will be
forever breached, like the spin on unbreakable encryption. By faulty
contruction, by vainglorious touting of certainty, by betrayal of
insiders, by unexpected attacks, by complacency bred by seeming
initial success, by suspicion of an orchestrated ploy like Crypto-AG.

Iceland, on its knees, is a perfect place to set up a classic bait
and switch deception operation. Switzerland's and other off-shores'
collapse as secret banking hideouts is instructive.

Still, the initiative will divert attention from more diverse, hard to
identify, alternatives operating out of the limelit -- deeply policed
and subterraneanly spied -- portions of the Internet.

One site for one leak, then vanish; unending leakage to undermine the
secrecy dam foundation.

It is possible that the Iceland initiative is deliberately deceptive
to serve the purpose of diversion from superior means and methods not
publicized as a singular bullseye to invite destruction.

More power to it as a ruse.





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