Politech mailing list archives
FC: SpyTV, interactive television, and lessons about free software
From: Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>
Date: Mon, 19 Mar 2001 15:41:50 -0500
--- Date: Fri, 16 Mar 2001 22:42:35 -0700 (MST) From: Richard Stallman <rms () gnu org> To: politech () politechbot com Subject: Interactive TV and its lessons about free and non-free software Please take a look at www.spyinteractive.com. It explains how interactive TV can be turned to unsavory ends by the developers of the system. This problem creates a paradox for personal-data-protection laws, because Interactive TV can be used to manipulate you even if the information it gathers about you is never sent out of your house. A lesson can be drawn from this which I think the site itself does not draw: that any non-free program that you allow into your life, if it is in a position to receive complex instructions from the Internet, is a potential agent to manipulate or interfere with you, and cannot be trusted. Hence free software is not just important for programmers. It is the only way non-programmers can have software they can trust. See http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/ for more about the philosophy of the Free Software Movement. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if it remains intact. To subscribe, visit http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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- FC: SpyTV, interactive television, and lessons about free software Declan McCullagh (Mar 19)