While I agree with what you've said, the problem is that the sheer majority of people are using defective-by-design webcrapps. In fact, this is what has reopened this "debate" - TLAs got used to firehose access that companies no longer want to provide because it hurts their image.
So we, as a society, are in a situation where say 95% of people's software choices are being decided politically! If they're nudged into [continuing] using backdoored software, then criminalizing the remaining few is pretty easy to do, even if it's only through lazily-enforced laws like RIPA.
But as I said I do agree with you ideologically and have to hope that as people get a clue the pendulum will swing back to secure decentralized solutions. Because even if our holy leaders dismantled the NSA (et al) tomorrow, it's only a matter of time until the same electronic panopticon catches up with us via the private sector through eg insurance policies and aggressive price discrimination.
> But as I said I do agree with you ideologically and have to hope that as people get a clue the pendulum will swing back to secure decentralized solutions.
As technology progresses, eventually at some point those in power of that panopticon can actually grab the pendulum before it swings back. That's what you really have to be afraid of: if the surveillance programs get enough of a head start on the people recognizing their own government is watching their every move, they can cause enough havoc behind the scenes that whatever the people end up getting mad amount they can give up for PR, and just continue as usual with any and all of the other programs they didn't figure out.
It's debatable where that point is. I don't think we are quite there yet, but I expect we'll get there in our median lifetimes unless the American people do more than privacy slacktivism.
I was referring to the pendulum of centralized-decentralized computing, not a general pendulum of people wanting totalitarianism/freedom.
FWIW I'm more worried about what becomes societally normal than what the government prescribes. In that sense, we need freedom-preserving software more to show people what is possible and give them alternatives, rather than to simply hide ourselves from abusive brother.
So we, as a society, are in a situation where say 95% of people's software choices are being decided politically! If they're nudged into [continuing] using backdoored software, then criminalizing the remaining few is pretty easy to do, even if it's only through lazily-enforced laws like RIPA.
But as I said I do agree with you ideologically and have to hope that as people get a clue the pendulum will swing back to secure decentralized solutions. Because even if our holy leaders dismantled the NSA (et al) tomorrow, it's only a matter of time until the same electronic panopticon catches up with us via the private sector through eg insurance policies and aggressive price discrimination.