CryptoSeal Shuts Down Consumer VPN Service To Avoid Fighting NSA 361
sl4shd0rk writes "CryptoSeal Privacy, a VPN provider, has closed down its consumer VPN service. The company says it has zeroed its crypto keys, adding, 'Essentially, the service was created and operated under a certain understanding of current U.S. law, and that understanding may not currently be valid. As we are a US company and comply fully with U.S. law, but wish to protect the privacy of our users, it is impossible for us to continue offering the CryptoSeal Privacy consumer VPN product.' The announcement ends with a warning: 'For anyone operating a VPN, mail, or other communications provider in the U.S., we believe it would be prudent to evaluate whether a pen register order could be used to compel you to divulge SSL keys protecting message contents, and if so, to take appropriate action.' Sounds like another victim of FISA-endorsed NSA activity."
Sorry... (Score:4, Insightful)
You are not going to have much advanced IT business left over there soon if this goes on.
SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid (Score:4, Insightful)
Isn't this how politics work in the US, the country that legalized bribery?
Sad (Score:5, Insightful)
We've got technology businesses shutting down their services because they are now afraid of (i.e.: terrorized by) their own government?
Did the terrorists actually win this war on terror?
Re:DoS? (Score:5, Insightful)
The effect of this is to remove secure competitors from the market and force users onto overseas services.
Fixed that for you.
anyone anywhere (Score:5, Insightful)
For anyone operating a VPN mail or other communications in any country you should consider that your government can compel you to produce information.
This intellectual exercise has been done a long time ago by those who looked a little deeper than you. It's why there were crazy ideas such as offshore data havens.
In the end, you can't really do anything about it. The government your company is under (at the very least, maybe other entities too) can compel you. So now it's just a matter of which government you're least worried about.
Re:Time to start (Score:1, Insightful)
You ain't going to do anything. Just shut the fuck up and go back to dreaming about doing something in the face of tyranny.
Re:Sad (Score:5, Insightful)
The terrorists won as soon as we had to take off our shoes and throw away our nail files in order to get on an airplane, starting around 12 years ago.
It's been an easy slide down the slippery slope since then.
Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid (Score:5, Insightful)
Some European companies really don't care. But some do. That's why there was always a healthy mistrust in competetive European companies concerning their crucial data out of house, and why cloud computing has a slower uptake here than in the US. (Their unimportant data, they could care less about, even if it's personal data and against the EU privacy laws. That's life.)
Re:Sorry... (Score:5, Insightful)
Nothing to see here, move along.
Plenty to see here. Mainly, that businesses now have yet another reason to offshore.
Re:This NSA crap is much too much, and ungentleman (Score:5, Insightful)
The end result seems to be in line with general terrorism. Cause enough fear and confusion in your enemy until they change or give up.
Re:Sad (Score:5, Insightful)
It doesn't matter if I still fly or not.
One used to be able to board an airplane without a pat down, porno-scan, or a strip-search. One cannot do that now, because we've been terrorized into requiring these procedures.
That's a win.
Re:A different objective? (Score:5, Insightful)
As a side to this.. at least it tells us something...
they can't break the crypto.
Re:Time to start (Score:5, Insightful)
This, though maybe not in SeaLand.
The first country that offers verifiably secure email and VPN services to the world will enjoy an economic boom and the love of billions. And if it's a country like Iceland, it could go a long way toward making them wealthy. And if the US decides to invade Iceland, then at least the gloves can come off and the world can declare the United States a rogue state. But I don't see that happening, because at some point, if the rest of the world really starts to turn sour on the US, you'll start to see things change over here. But as long as we have to cover of the EU and Asia as our allies, the US spymasters can pretend that all is well. But with every week there's a new revelation about a president of a free country having their email hacked by the NSA, maybe we're closer to a worldwide shunning than we think.
I'd gladly pay for secure email that I knew was beyond the reach of the upskirting creeps in the NSA. And I would love to be able to pay a place like Iceland, Finland, etc for that privilege.
No one who values freedom, economic, social or just the freedom to not be watched, should be quiet about this. Me, I've become a one-issue voter thanks to the revelations about what the NSA is up to. Any legislator who voted against reining in those bastards is now on my list to support any opponent who will vote to put a stop to ubiquitous surveillance in the US.
Re:Sad (Score:5, Insightful)
It looks like they didn't shut down because of "terror" but because they didn't want to comply with court orders and didn't have the money to fight a losing battle.
It doesn't matter what Congress or the courts say; if the law violates the US Constitution, it is illegal and invalid. Which makes the agents enforcing it part of an organized criminal enterprise. An organized criminal enterprise which has just caused numerous US businesses to close their doors by using tactics intended to produce a state of fear in those businesses. Sounds like the freakin' definition of terrorism to me.
Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid (Score:5, Insightful)
So you are going to believe the former director of a spy agency?
Re:This NSA crap is much too much, and ungentleman (Score:5, Insightful)
Old spies were Sean Connery. New spies are Daniel Craig.
Re:Sad (Score:5, Insightful)
"Did the terrorists actually win this war on terror?"
Yes, but there were multiple winners.
AQ inflicted trivial numbers of casualties compared to conventional wars, did that with minimal assets and personnel, and triggered/excused the US elites doing what they'd been working at anyway. The team damaged the US + world.
The terrorists won by getting their adversary to make toxic structural changes, and the elites won by obtaining the excuse to make those changes! The American public and other Star Trek Red Shirts of the world lost. AQ and the Elites can both claim victory BUT also claim the battle is not over. Obvious to see where this will go...
Re:Sad (Score:2, Insightful)
So if the courts, the executive branch, and the legislature all agree with an interpretation of the Constitution that is different than what you think it is, how do you think that is going to get resolved in your favor? And beyond that, what is it about your ideas on the Constitution that should override the views of the three branches of government, not to mention that of legal scholars in the law schools that are likely to agree? Is something tyranny just because you say so even if almost everyone else disagrees?
So far it appears that only a couple of businesses have closed. One because it apparently made promises that it really couldn't keep legally (and toyed with the court along the way which really upped their problem) and this one that appears to have shut down because it had tiny profit margins and wanted to act in a way that would result in a big and expensive legal battle.
If you are thinking a revolution is going to occur based on situations like this, I think you're wrong. You might be able to get the law changed, but you will have a lot of work to do.
Re:Sad (Score:5, Insightful)
The terrorists won as soon as we had to take off our shoes and throw away our nail files in order to get on an airplane, starting around 12 years ago.
Did that prevent you from getting on the plane? If not, then no.
Your measure for loss-of-freedom is pretty high. I mean, let's say we got to a state where there is mandatory papers checks for every citizen on their daily commute. Does that stop them from going to work... probably not. Is it a loss, obviously yes.
Re:Time to start (Score:5, Insightful)
What the hell? Why would I trust ANY country, or for that matter ANY third party with my encryption codes? I generate them myself, keep them to myself and never disclose them to the government or to any business.
Re:Time to start (Score:2, Insightful)
The first country that offers verifiably secure email and VPN services to the world will enjoy an economic boom and the love of hundreds, maybe thousands.
FTFY, because billions of people just don't really care that much to do anything about it.
Re:SubjectsInCommentsAreStupid (Score:5, Insightful)
I can't speak of the bribery, I haven't done the leg-work to find out, but as for the rest...
The general tone of the whole piece is that of someone who thinks the American way is superior and infallible and no other way can have merit, which makes me instantly suspicious of his bias. That he sits there and declares there is nothing worth stealing is a bit unlikely, unless you believe in US-superiority in all things.
I question his judgement because he talks about Europe as if it's one entity. He talks about Europe like it has a single communist government, when its member states have a large range of political leanings.
I suppose if your job is constantly looking outward at the threatening foreign lands then you're going to get a bit... tainted.
Re:Sorry... (Score:5, Insightful)
As an outsider, I really don't freakin' understand how Americans are willing to ignore the most outrageous problems to defend their chosen party. Republican, Democrat, it doesn't make any sense. You can have someone who is a Democrat defending a baby slaughtering program(merely an example) for the sole reason that it isn't what the Republicans support. You guys are sooooooo weird! It's like your identity as a person revolves around which party you voted for.
If one started the program and the other continues it - they're both at fault and both just as wrong.
Re:Sorry... (Score:5, Insightful)
It's a secret warrant issued by a secret court, binding the recipient to secrecy under pain of imprisonment, and with no way to contest the warrant. And since it's the NSA, you can't even see evidence used against you because it's obviously in regards to national security...even if it isn't.
Next thing to come will be the Secret Police . . .
Re:Time to start (Score:5, Insightful)
If you're going to move yourself and your contacts to a system incompatible with plain old email, why not just start using GPG (or even S/MIME)? Why choose a "solution" where you have no choice but to trust a third party (who you've never even met, in a foreign country, with opaque practices and facilities)?
With GPG, nobody but you and your contact can decrypt the messages. If you add in a third party, they can now decrypt the messages too. You're adding points of failure this way, not making fewer of them! Why on earth would you even trust the provider? Why would you choose a system where you have to?
Re:This NSA crap is much too much, and ungentleman (Score:4, Insightful)
http://xkcd.com/538/ [xkcd.com]
Only works if you actually know the password.
Don't remember the password, use a token like a USB flash key. If they take the laptop without the key then it's useless, if you smash the key then it's also useless.
No, this won't stop them from torturing you anyway, but on the other hand, they might pick up the wrong person who didn't actually own the laptop and torture them instead. This is the great thing about torture: it's only useful to confirm what you already know, not to extract anything new; there's no way to tell if someone is lying because you haven't broken them yet or lying because they don't know anything but really want the pain to stop.
Re:This NSA crap is much too much, and ungentleman (Score:5, Insightful)
"This is just cheating, pure and simple."
It is illegal, pure and simple.
Since several crypto companies have in fact closed down, affecting thousands (at least) of people, we can come to some basic conclusions.
First, we have proof that the NSA spying has had the effect of chilling otherwise legal, free speech.
Second: we now have thousands of people who have provable legal standing to sue the government over it.
Re:Sad (Score:5, Insightful)
its FEAR. that's what is at the heart of terrorism.
and you are put in a state of fear and kept there by the TSA. if you make a joke, they can fuck with you, in a bad way. that's fear. if you have a name collision with someone who is on a no-fly, you are also put thru a world of hurt. that's fear.
you don't dare question the air flight attendants. that's fear.
you follow orders and don't fight back. that's fear.
its all terrorism and its state sponsored. US states, that is.
Too late. (Score:4, Insightful)
#1 prison population in the world; and with a moderate population density too!
#1 military, #1 spy system (by size) and both are actively used.
Secret tapping of citizens phones,etc with a massive cover up (seriously, does anybody believe them after all that they did when they say "it's only meta data?") Almost more surveillance than a classic police state (it's just missing your neighbors turning against you.)
Uncivilized prison system (many but not all; but the society is taught to believe and accept the known conditions. The system keeps the public from knowing about the horrible things... such as 12 year olds in adult prison with their rapist's name carved into their skin, for example.)
Self exempted from most international laws. Pre-emptive wars, bribing, blackmailing corrupting foreign governments...(wikileaks put that stuff on paper) Killing or arresting or persecuting anybody on earth without respect for laws / jurisdictions (doesn't matter what you do, if you go to a safe nation the idea was you were safe when sovereignty was respected... not that it was all that highly regarded; but it's just openly dismissed today.)
Police in most schools; more coming. Children arrested and processed as criminals for being children --in school; handcuffs on 8 year olds. Teens executed as adults. Adults executed... just like in China and Iran do. Teens tweeting being prosecuted for bullying outside of school...
People generally afraid to express a wide range of "controversial" opinions not on the unofficial acceptability list. Obama a Muslim? that is ok. Telling on the bankers? nothing, if you harm them, jail time (but perhaps a big IRS reward...for afterwards...)
Every police state has two systems-- one to go soft on the elite and one for everybody else. We have that situation too.
Right to Peaceable Assemble? Result? Beat downs, false incrimination and nobody really cares; you'd think nobody ever reads past "free press" and that the other one "bear arms"... whatever, pass me a beer.
Free speech and free press? Allowed but rendered nearly ineffectual which is why those are allowed.
Re:DoS? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:This NSA crap is much too much, and ungentleman (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:This NSA crap is much too much, and ungentleman (Score:5, Insightful)
To me it is more patriotic than killing people in some other country.
If more people around the world did that sort of thing there would be much less need to kill people of other countries.
That said I'm not a big fan of patriotism. Seems to cause more harm than good.
Re:Sorry... (Score:5, Insightful)
most americans seem to be patriotic beyond reason. this might be caused by being taught from early on that they are morally, military and in any other way superior to any other country. later they keep those views and will defend _anything_ being done. it might be by weird reasoning, "they do it too" or other methods.
it might help in some cases, but looks like long term it leads to an inability to criticise real problems and a decline.