Siiiiggghhhhhh.
Hi guys, welcome to the Internet. Seeing that a lot of you are new to the Internet, let me mentor you on some of the workings of this wild digital frontier.
Let's take a step back and stop specifically focusing on Sony getting the courts to subpeona Google or whoever. Let's take a look at the the big picture, if you will. If I were that piece of shit GeoHot, this is exactly the type of news I would want everybody to focus on to garner sympathy. Its a good gameplan really, and while I'm not suggesting the author of this article is under GeoHot's thumb, let's dissect this sensationalist crap.
The very fact that Sony can subpeona Google, Twitter, etc. for information about visitors collected years ago tells us a few important things:
Number one: This information exists.
Number two: Google, Twitter, etc. have been collecting this information. In fact, they've been collecting this information for years. And years. And years. And that they haven't deleted this information, and furthermore, probably have never even considered deleting this information. Regardless of how sensitive this information is or that it could be possibly out of date.
"You're full of shit and a liar" you might be thinking. "Cite your sources you liar!" "You just made that all up!"
Pay attention. I don't need to cite sources. I have taken a statement, disassembled it, and reassembled it in a way that does not abridge its implications. I have only drawn logical conclusions regarding the implications made. This is automatically proof positive.
A lot of you "protect personal freedom at all costs" types getting ready to take your righteousness out of your pants are really chumps if you haven't realized this all. That's right. Every single search query you put through google including that one for "naughty teacher extracurricular lessons" has been saved on a Google hard disk somewhere in this world, locked away, possibly to used for further reference at an undisclosed time in the future.
You might argue that "Google is my friend." "They wouldn't do anything with all that personal information they've collected about me that I wouldn't want them to do." Well, you're wrong. Your tiny, petty, insignificant feelings are worth peanuts compared to the multi-billion revenue this industry generates every single year. And even if Google won't do it, Twitter will. So will Amazon. And FaceTube ( Top Gear reference ). Pretty much everybody really.
Furthermore, do you think Google cares about these physical lines you've drawn in the sand when you're on the Internet? Not really they don't.
It was only a matter of time before somebody wizened up and decided to use the court system to get at all this information. And in fact, Sony isn't the first.
So if you really are a privacy advocate, Sony is hardly your enemy. Google is. The Internet is. They were the ones who made this court case possible, GeoHot was only the catalyst and Sony the actor. Even if you're like me and block all Google analytics scripts and so on and so forth, every week, a new book about who you are and what you are doing is being written, and published, without your consent, from information gathered about your online habits.
Sorry if I've shocked you ( and sorry for the long post ). Welcome to the Internet kiddos.
Oh, and by the way, Sony isn't going to use this information to pursue individuals like you, unless you too are part of the TRADE SECRET REVEALING, BACKWARDS ENGINEERING scene. Then, well, being part of the TRADE SECRET REVEALING, BACKWARDS ENGINEERING scene is technically illegal, and they had a valid case against you anyway, no matter how many times you play your stupid game of "your court has neither authority or jurisdiction in this matter." This is all strictly business, and unless you aren't Joe Blow, in the scope of this action, Sony doesn't care about you.
