By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  April 24th at 09:30 AM  | 

We’re at war online. Iran, North Korea, and Russia are the sources of sustained attacks on our government and our economy. They steal from us, they disrupt our operations, and they’re no better than the pirates of old. On the sea, such attacks would eventually mean war, but on the Internet they get a pass.

Individuals do tend to get nabbed after the fact, as they build massive botnets for credit card fraud and Bitcoin mining, but it’s not enough to sit back passively and wait to get attacked before doing anything.

We need to be proactive, and that means putting together all the information we can about attacks past, present, and future. We need to be able to deal with attacks before the spin up fully. We need to pass along warnings before it’s too late. And that means we need legislation to prevent trial lawyers from making a mess of all of this. So that’s why it’s time to pass CISPA.

By: Repair_Man_Jack (Diary)  |  April 10th at 10:08 PM  | 

People can’t quite figure out Kim Jung Un. They couldn’t quite figure out the last Kim either – or the one before that. The North Koreans have a cyclical pattern or making loud threats against the US and South Korean until they get paid and then they recline until the next time they’ve driven their society into another ditch.

Each new crisis results in two diametrically opposed opinions. One goes that the North Koreans are bluffing once more and suggests we should just ask them how it will cost this time to make them pipe down. Guy Somerset posts an article in Takimag that represents this school of thought. He holds King Jung Un in contempt from his opening paragraph.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  April 7th at 09:30 AM  | 

Ever notice that this administration is only lightning-fast when it comes to shifting blame when things don’t work out perfectly?  They practically left a vapor trail in their zeal to anonymously accuse the US military of being responsible for our tense situation with North Korea: So, it’s the Navy’s fault that the U.S.-North Korea spat has gone so far? That’s the apparent message from senior | Read More »

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  April 5th at 10:15 PM  | 

I have a charity event I’m participating in tomorrow (I’m the one doing The Legend of Zelda and Zelda II), and I’d like to have slept for it, so this may be briefer than usual.

Looks like a push for real patent reform is brewing. After the lawyer- but not innovation-friendly America Invents Act was signed by Barack Obama, we’ve been left with a need to fix the actual problems with the US patent system. the i2Coalition and Google are backing anti-Patent Trolling ideas. There’s got to be a way to continue to reward small-time inventors without allowing the fakes to abuse the system.

Do Americans have a duty to diminish the security of their communications to ease government spying? Some seem to think so, as we’re reminded of in the flap over Apple’s iMessage being more secure in its encryption than government would like. Let me remind you though that any back door that government can exploit, China and Anonymous can, too.

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  April 3rd at 11:15 PM  | 

Here we go again. The Weekend-at-Bernies-ificatoin of Aaron Swartz continues. He made an example of himself to become an anti-copyright martyr, and now we’re supposed to degrade property rights online to give him his way anyway. Pass.

Computer Fraud and Abuse is a problem, but foreign threats are an issue, too. That’s why we also need to pass CISPA which started off as the low-regulatory, small-government alternative to the Democrat power grab, if you recall. Funny how the so-called libertarians only rally agains the GOP proposal, and stayed silent against Lieberman-Collins last time.

By: Breeanne Howe (Diary)  |  February 7th at 01:10 PM  | 

It is no surprise that North Korea isn’t a fan of the United States, however, a recent video has lead Americans to question how the country sees our relations going forward. In response to new sanctions introduced by the UN after their December rocket launch, North Korea has been threatening a third nuclear test sometime in the near future.  In the midst of analyzing when | Read More »

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  January 10th at 01:00 AM  | 

And this is how that tech coalition begins to die: Ron Wyden working with Al Franken on large expansions of government online, a startling reversal from the anti-PROTECT IP Senator from Oregon.

Google caves to the Chinese Communists even as Google’s Eric Schmidt hands a propaganda victory to North Korean Communists. A pattern?

By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary)  |  March 29th at 02:30 PM  | 

Courtesy of The Cold Equations, here is a handy cheat sheet for dictatorial longevity. Country Prior relations with the US Nuclear weapons program US treatment of country Status of leader Egypt Allied Not significant Pressured ally to step down Permanent vacation Libya Moderately warm lately, despite past difficulties Abandoned under US pressure Bombs away Probably on his way out Syria Strained to hostile Not a | Read More »

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  December 20th at 09:00 AM  | 

The United States of America keeps the United Nations afloat. In 2009 we were assessed 22% of the budget of the UN, and paid out slightly under 24% of what was collected, thanks to the Tax Equalization Fund system*. So in practice we paid about a quarter of the UN budget. Without us, the UN has to do some serious belt tightening. So if we’re | Read More »

By: Ben Domenech (Diary)  |  November 30th at 11:11 AM  | 

Download Podcast | iTunes | Podcast Feed On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Joshua Stanton of One Free Korea to discuss the latest developments as tensions remain high in the dispute between South and North Korea. We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you | Read More »

By: Steve Maley (Diary)  |  October 13th at 10:00 AM  | 

What a scary world we live in. Who would have guessed that in the 21st century one of the world’s largest military powers, a nuclear state no less, would contemplate handing the reins of power to an untested neophyte? The exact details of his birth have been kept under wraps. The details of his elite private education are shadowy, too. He’s the ultimate product of | Read More »

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  July 29th at 02:59 AM  | 

A key story from today centers on John Dingell and his criticism of Chairman Julius Genachowski and the Obama FCC. Hillicon Valley reports that Dingell is criticizing the Commission harshly for failing to justify its Title II Reclassification plans to Deem and Pass Net Neutrality regulation of the Internet, and is telling them to stop and let the Congress do its job. Seriously, this is | Read More »

By: Jeff Emanuel (Diary)  |  July 16th at 03:00 PM  | 

The world, always an interesting place, has not disappointed for news in the last few weeks. Below are some thoughts on just a few recent events. President Obama appeared this morning, the 87th day of the Gulf oil spill, to discuss the spill and BP’s relief efforts. According to the Heritage Foundation, today was the first time since June 22 that Obama had publicly acknowledged | Read More »

By: Neil Stevens (Diary)  |  June 28th at 02:00 PM  | 

So, the Cybersecurity bill is back, fully formed as the Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act (PCNAA). When I first highlighted the bill in August of 2009, I summarized it like so: S. 773, a bill by West Virginia Sen. Jay Rockefeller, Democrat, would create new “emergency” powers for the President, a ‘cybersecurity’ Enabling Act of sorts, that would give the President the authority | Read More »