▲ 197 ▼ FastCompany: E-books are fast becoming tools of corporate surveillance (www.fastcompany.com) submitted 2 years ago by dominiquec@lemmy.world to c/technology@lemmy.world 32 comments fedilink hide all child comments
[–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 79 points 2 years ago (3 children) Piracy is becoming the safe option, think about that. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 6 child comments replies: [–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 33 points 2 years ago Yeah, in some cases piracy feels more straightforward and honest than having to sign away all my rights and data so I can do something as simple as reading a book. permalink fedilink source parent [–] Uranium3006@kbin.social 30 points 2 years ago (1 child) It used to be you worried about getting a virus from pirated books, now the corpo options are provably malware permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] porksoda@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago (2 children) Not just probably, they've literally done it. Look up the Sony rootkit scandal. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 4 child comments replies: [–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 15 points 2 years ago (1 child) They said "provably", not "probably", so the good news is we all already agree :) permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] AFLYINTOASTER@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago Well politic'd, friend permalink fedilink source parent [–] TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago (1 child) You don't even need to go back to the early 2000s Bertelsman-Sony copy protection scandal. Millions of people install rootkits on their PCs today in the form of anti-cheat software that has a greater level of system access than Bertelsman/Sony ever had. Ring 0 level kernel access. Code that can be executed with above admin level privileges and do anything it wants to with your system. Shit, it could reflash firmware on your PC if it wanted to, allowing malicious code to survive OS reinstalls. And not only that - it's not even effective as an anti-cheat solution, leading to the question of why they bother with it anyway? Data harvesting? Security theatre? permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] piecat@lemmy.world 1 point 2 years ago Yeah that's spooky. Could we even tell if data is being harvested? I know there's also secret op codes and hardware. Real spooky shit. We really need open source hardware. permalink fedilink source parent [–] muse@kbin.social 12 points 2 years ago (1 child) 👨🚀🏴☠️🔫👩🚀🏴☠️ permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 7 points 2 years ago (1 child) Oh no... I've believed the propaganda uncritically for most of my life and am just now realising how absurd it was to ever trust the establishment's narrative. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] LWD@lemm.ee 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child) deleted permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 4 points 2 years ago (1 child) Idk, I think it's normal to believe proaganda. We all do, and sometimes it's even true. I'm just commenting on it because I'm so used to automatically criticising the mainstream message, so I'm usually on the other side of this discussion. But for a long time I worried about viruses from piracy, but it only just dawned on me that I am now far less afraid of that than of corporate proprietary spyware. It never occurred to me before that of course the pirates are more trustworthy, they always have been. The mainstream propaganda is so pervasive that it's going to leave little bits stuck in your mind for a long time. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] systemglitch@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago I'm still wary of some pirated content, but when using the right trackers, that fear basically disappears. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 33 points 2 years ago Yeah, in some cases piracy feels more straightforward and honest than having to sign away all my rights and data so I can do something as simple as reading a book. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Uranium3006@kbin.social 30 points 2 years ago (1 child) It used to be you worried about getting a virus from pirated books, now the corpo options are provably malware permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] porksoda@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago (2 children) Not just probably, they've literally done it. Look up the Sony rootkit scandal. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 4 child comments replies: [–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 15 points 2 years ago (1 child) They said "provably", not "probably", so the good news is we all already agree :) permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] AFLYINTOASTER@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago Well politic'd, friend permalink fedilink source parent [–] TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago (1 child) You don't even need to go back to the early 2000s Bertelsman-Sony copy protection scandal. Millions of people install rootkits on their PCs today in the form of anti-cheat software that has a greater level of system access than Bertelsman/Sony ever had. Ring 0 level kernel access. Code that can be executed with above admin level privileges and do anything it wants to with your system. Shit, it could reflash firmware on your PC if it wanted to, allowing malicious code to survive OS reinstalls. And not only that - it's not even effective as an anti-cheat solution, leading to the question of why they bother with it anyway? Data harvesting? Security theatre? permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] piecat@lemmy.world 1 point 2 years ago Yeah that's spooky. Could we even tell if data is being harvested? I know there's also secret op codes and hardware. Real spooky shit. We really need open source hardware. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] porksoda@lemmy.world 13 points 2 years ago (2 children) Not just probably, they've literally done it. Look up the Sony rootkit scandal. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 4 child comments replies: [–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 15 points 2 years ago (1 child) They said "provably", not "probably", so the good news is we all already agree :) permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] AFLYINTOASTER@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago Well politic'd, friend permalink fedilink source parent [–] TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago (1 child) You don't even need to go back to the early 2000s Bertelsman-Sony copy protection scandal. Millions of people install rootkits on their PCs today in the form of anti-cheat software that has a greater level of system access than Bertelsman/Sony ever had. Ring 0 level kernel access. Code that can be executed with above admin level privileges and do anything it wants to with your system. Shit, it could reflash firmware on your PC if it wanted to, allowing malicious code to survive OS reinstalls. And not only that - it's not even effective as an anti-cheat solution, leading to the question of why they bother with it anyway? Data harvesting? Security theatre? permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] piecat@lemmy.world 1 point 2 years ago Yeah that's spooky. Could we even tell if data is being harvested? I know there's also secret op codes and hardware. Real spooky shit. We really need open source hardware. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 15 points 2 years ago (1 child) They said "provably", not "probably", so the good news is we all already agree :) permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] AFLYINTOASTER@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago Well politic'd, friend permalink fedilink source parent
[–] AFLYINTOASTER@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago Well politic'd, friend permalink fedilink source parent
[–] TheGrandNagus@lemmy.world 4 points 2 years ago (1 child) You don't even need to go back to the early 2000s Bertelsman-Sony copy protection scandal. Millions of people install rootkits on their PCs today in the form of anti-cheat software that has a greater level of system access than Bertelsman/Sony ever had. Ring 0 level kernel access. Code that can be executed with above admin level privileges and do anything it wants to with your system. Shit, it could reflash firmware on your PC if it wanted to, allowing malicious code to survive OS reinstalls. And not only that - it's not even effective as an anti-cheat solution, leading to the question of why they bother with it anyway? Data harvesting? Security theatre? permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] piecat@lemmy.world 1 point 2 years ago Yeah that's spooky. Could we even tell if data is being harvested? I know there's also secret op codes and hardware. Real spooky shit. We really need open source hardware. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] piecat@lemmy.world 1 point 2 years ago Yeah that's spooky. Could we even tell if data is being harvested? I know there's also secret op codes and hardware. Real spooky shit. We really need open source hardware. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] muse@kbin.social 12 points 2 years ago (1 child) 👨🚀🏴☠️🔫👩🚀🏴☠️ permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 7 points 2 years ago (1 child) Oh no... I've believed the propaganda uncritically for most of my life and am just now realising how absurd it was to ever trust the establishment's narrative. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] LWD@lemm.ee 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child) deleted permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 4 points 2 years ago (1 child) Idk, I think it's normal to believe proaganda. We all do, and sometimes it's even true. I'm just commenting on it because I'm so used to automatically criticising the mainstream message, so I'm usually on the other side of this discussion. But for a long time I worried about viruses from piracy, but it only just dawned on me that I am now far less afraid of that than of corporate proprietary spyware. It never occurred to me before that of course the pirates are more trustworthy, they always have been. The mainstream propaganda is so pervasive that it's going to leave little bits stuck in your mind for a long time. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] systemglitch@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago I'm still wary of some pirated content, but when using the right trackers, that fear basically disappears. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 7 points 2 years ago (1 child) Oh no... I've believed the propaganda uncritically for most of my life and am just now realising how absurd it was to ever trust the establishment's narrative. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] LWD@lemm.ee 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child) deleted permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 4 points 2 years ago (1 child) Idk, I think it's normal to believe proaganda. We all do, and sometimes it's even true. I'm just commenting on it because I'm so used to automatically criticising the mainstream message, so I'm usually on the other side of this discussion. But for a long time I worried about viruses from piracy, but it only just dawned on me that I am now far less afraid of that than of corporate proprietary spyware. It never occurred to me before that of course the pirates are more trustworthy, they always have been. The mainstream propaganda is so pervasive that it's going to leave little bits stuck in your mind for a long time. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] systemglitch@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago I'm still wary of some pirated content, but when using the right trackers, that fear basically disappears. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] LWD@lemm.ee 3 points 2 years ago* (last edited 2 years ago) (1 child) deleted permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 4 points 2 years ago (1 child) Idk, I think it's normal to believe proaganda. We all do, and sometimes it's even true. I'm just commenting on it because I'm so used to automatically criticising the mainstream message, so I'm usually on the other side of this discussion. But for a long time I worried about viruses from piracy, but it only just dawned on me that I am now far less afraid of that than of corporate proprietary spyware. It never occurred to me before that of course the pirates are more trustworthy, they always have been. The mainstream propaganda is so pervasive that it's going to leave little bits stuck in your mind for a long time. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] systemglitch@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago I'm still wary of some pirated content, but when using the right trackers, that fear basically disappears. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] Excrubulent@slrpnk.net 4 points 2 years ago (1 child) Idk, I think it's normal to believe proaganda. We all do, and sometimes it's even true. I'm just commenting on it because I'm so used to automatically criticising the mainstream message, so I'm usually on the other side of this discussion. But for a long time I worried about viruses from piracy, but it only just dawned on me that I am now far less afraid of that than of corporate proprietary spyware. It never occurred to me before that of course the pirates are more trustworthy, they always have been. The mainstream propaganda is so pervasive that it's going to leave little bits stuck in your mind for a long time. permalink fedilink source parent hideshow 2 child comments replies: [–] systemglitch@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago I'm still wary of some pirated content, but when using the right trackers, that fear basically disappears. permalink fedilink source parent
[–] systemglitch@lemmy.world 2 points 2 years ago I'm still wary of some pirated content, but when using the right trackers, that fear basically disappears. permalink fedilink source parent