20081026
timestampandvote
Just another little thing I want published and timestamped here before it's uploaded to a forum controlled by someone else:
It is especially imperative in a free society that the election process be totally open. The basic balloting process where everyone writes their choice down, the votes are counted and the totals announced is very open. Anyone can understand how it works, and think of any possible places where it might run into problems, and suggest ways to deal with those problems.
Closed-source voting machines are inimical to a free society. Their inner workings are secrets known only to their "owners." Any accidental or deliberate problems in their operation are concealed from the people.
All democratic processes should be open, therefore if electronic voting machines are used, every aspect of their design and programming must be open. The law should require that only voting machines based on public domain hardware and software may be used (or at the very least they must be under an open license such as CC or GPL).
And this law should be retroactive. All hardware specs and software code associated with any machine ever used in a legal election should be ordered to be released into the public domain or at least an open license.
And if the government instead colludes with these corporations to keep the voting machines secret, then any citizen in a position to do so is morally justified and perhaps even morally obligated to "pirate" the hardware designs and software code and release them to the public.
It is especially imperative in a free society that the election process be totally open. The basic balloting process where everyone writes their choice down, the votes are counted and the totals announced is very open. Anyone can understand how it works, and think of any possible places where it might run into problems, and suggest ways to deal with those problems.
Closed-source voting machines are inimical to a free society. Their inner workings are secrets known only to their "owners." Any accidental or deliberate problems in their operation are concealed from the people.
All democratic processes should be open, therefore if electronic voting machines are used, every aspect of their design and programming must be open. The law should require that only voting machines based on public domain hardware and software may be used (or at the very least they must be under an open license such as CC or GPL).
And this law should be retroactive. All hardware specs and software code associated with any machine ever used in a legal election should be ordered to be released into the public domain or at least an open license.
And if the government instead colludes with these corporations to keep the voting machines secret, then any citizen in a position to do so is morally justified and perhaps even morally obligated to "pirate" the hardware designs and software code and release them to the public.
20081006
The Limits of Power
Excellent Bill Moyers interview on PBS. Link is to part one. Part two is another link on the page.
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09262008/watch.html
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/09262008/watch.html
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