Broadly-defined "hostile acts" in UK national security law
Reasoning:
* Original report behind the article: "State Threats Legislation in 2024" [0], i.e., UK national security law
* Article focuses on an example from section 6.17 where developing an encrypted messenger app is given to show how broad the definition of "hostile act" is
* Snippets from the article:
> In his independent review of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act and the newly implemented National Security Act, Hall KC highlights the incredibly broad scope of powers granted to authorities.
>
> He warns that developers of apps like Signal and WhatsApp could technically fall within the legal definition of "hostile activity" simply because their technology "make[s] it more difficult for UK security and intelligence agencies to monitor communications."
I am wearing one right now - it has been my daily driver for literally decades
(While it has VCR controls built-in, it can "learn" infrared frequencies for "new" inventions like DVD players - copying from an existing IR remote control. Surprisingly, still compatible with modern TVs - at least for basic functions like volume control.)
It was once "futuristic"; collectors now sell them as "retro" and "vintage"
Designed to run in a container, but should equally well work on a single host. However, no option for "high availability" running, where multiple hosts coordinate.
There are other possibilities, for example, the person may have thought that they were complying with the MIT licence by releasing the new project under the MIT licence too + including a mention of the original project in the README.
This, of course, is incorrect, and a cursory read of the very short licence text would show it to be incorrect.
Hanlon's razor can indicate an absence of malice, but that doesn't mean what they did wasn't wrong, nor should Microsoft skimp on taking steps so it never happens again.
I agree on both points, and with the earlier comment:
> I would love to know what processes MS is considering to prevent this in the future as well as what kind of auditing might be done to look at other projects that started as forks.
In response to:
> ... going to make sure we improve our processes to help us be better stewards in the open-source community.
That's funny, thanks for sharing. I was watching his video where he's saying "you can see it right there, look how much calmer it is, it looks like ice" and was thinking "I don't know what he's talking about I don't see ... oh, that ice patch is water"
Reasoning:
* Original report behind the article: "State Threats Legislation in 2024" [0], i.e., UK national security law
* Article focuses on an example from section 6.17 where developing an encrypted messenger app is given to show how broad the definition of "hostile act" is
* Snippets from the article:
> In his independent review of the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act and the newly implemented National Security Act, Hall KC highlights the incredibly broad scope of powers granted to authorities. > > He warns that developers of apps like Signal and WhatsApp could technically fall within the legal definition of "hostile activity" simply because their technology "make[s] it more difficult for UK security and intelligence agencies to monitor communications."
[0] Original report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69411a3eadb57...