O Really wrote: ↑Fri May 19, 2023 3:46 pm
It would seem that artificial intelligence would be a great and improved replacement for whatever passes for intelligence in Montana. (sorry Vrede, no offense). They've decided to ban TikTok to keep nefarious Chinese from watching their cow videos or whatever, but have not presented any evidence that any Chinese has ever watched their cows or has any interest in doing so. Sure, technologically the Chinese probably could, but there are a lot more ways than TikTok. I wonder if the Montana geniuses know how high a percentage of Montanans use Chinese phones. With cameras! and data transmission ability! Arrrrrghhh! Or maybe go to Chinese restaurants!
https://previews.123rf.com/images/anton ... find-a.jpg
I left and the place went to hell.
I just shunned clicking on a related article in banni's scroll b/c I guessed the issue is irrelevant. Now you made me look.
Here's how Montana's TikTok ban works, according to experts
... TikTok serves hundreds of thousands of users in Montana and more than 5,000 businesses, TikTok spokesperson Brooke Oberwetter told ABC News.
In a statement, Oberwetter denounced the ban and reminded users in Montana that they remain allowed to use the app.
"Governor Gianforte has signed a bill that infringes on the First Amendment rights of the people of Montana by unlawfully banning TikTok," she said. "We want to reassure Montanans that they can continue using TikTok to express themselves, earn a living, and find community as we continue working to defend the rights of our users inside and outside of Montana."
Here's what to know about the TikTok ban in Montana, according to experts:
How can Montana ban TikTok?
The Montana ban, which takes effect in January 2024, does not prevent current users from accessing the app or penalize them for doing so.
Instead, the ban targets the availability of the app by threatening entities such as TikTok, Google and Apple with a $10,000 fine for each day that the platform remains accessible in app stores for users in Montana.
"This is not doing anything with respect to existing users," Sarah Kreps, director of Cornell University's Tech Policy Institute, told ABC News, noting however that the law will hinder current users eventually as they fail to download new updates to the app.
"Users need updates to have TikTok run smoothly and efficiently," Kreps said. "Over time, it will have a siphoning off effect on these existing users."
The law will be nullified if TikTok is no longer headquartered in "any country designated as a foreign adversary" by the U.S. government.
That sounds like an admission within the law that Montana is trying to conduct foreign policy.
... users in Montana will likely be able to elude the restrictions by using technology that falsifies their location and allows them to download the app, they added.
... users could likely circumvent the ban through the use of a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, which allows one to pose as a user logging on from a different location, thereby circumventing the state-specific ban, experts said.
Proxies, Tor or the VPNs that many already use - Opps.
... Can the TikTok ban in Montana withstand a legal challenge?
The TikTok ban in Montana will likely face a formidable challenge on First Amendment grounds that could ultimately knock down part or all of the measure, experts said.
Free speech advocacy groups such as the ACLU have sharply criticized the measure. "We will never trade our First Amendment rights for cheap political points," Keegan Medrano, policy director at the ACLU of Montana, said in a statement on Wednesday.
When considering a limit on speech, courts typically weigh the extent of a national security or privacy concern against the restriction placed on expression, (computer science professor at Brown University Timothy) Edgar said.
"The court will say this clearly has an impact on the expression rights of TikTok users and creators, so what's the government's compelling justification?" Edgar said.
"That's the big challenge," he added.
Opps.
How You, or Anyone, Can Dodge Montana’s TikTok Ban
Montana’s TikTok ban will be impossible to enforce. But it could encourage copycat crackdowns against the social media app.
Montana’s TikTok ban is a technological nightmare. Experts warn it will be incredibly difficult for officials to enforce and incredibly easy for almost anyone to get around. But more than that, it’s a move that undermines America’s history of fostering an open, democratic internet.
The law, which comes into effect at the start of 2024, will both block TikTok from mobile app stores in Montana while also banning TikTok from operating in the state. It’s a move that brings with it a host of First Amendment concerns, and may never be enacted if legal challenges block it. But, if it does go ahead, experts warn it is likely to be a mess.
“From a technical perspective, even if this was a national law, there would be challenges to try to make this work,” says John Morris, principal, US internet policy and advocacy at the Internet Society, a nonprofit that promotes an open internet. But because people can use VPNs to change their browsing location, it’s even harder to ensure a local ban will work. “State boundaries are not something that’s built into the internet.”
... The US has historically advocated for an open internet and criticized countries that censor online access. China is successful in its mass censorship because of its Great Firewall—a system unlike anything in the US, and one that Montana could not build for itself. Other countries, including Indonesia and Pakistan, have banned TikTok and then rescinded the blocks. India’s TikTok ban, introduced in June 2020, is still in place. Montana, along with other states, and the US federal government have blocked TikTok from government devices, but geoblocking from specific regions within the US would prove much harder.
... there’s no way for TikTok to know whether people are using VPNs within Montana to access the social network, which makes this law “very complicated,” and “very difficult to enforce” if TikTok is the liable party rather than the service provider, says Kevin Du, a professor of electrical engineering and computer science at Syracuse University.
Opps.
Plenty of time for user to figure out workarounds and for app stores to post workaround guides. Ironically, there will be TikToks on how to dodge the TikTok ban. Opps.
... Even enforcing the ban could prove problematic for Montana. If the state chooses to determine residents’ locations based on their internet protocol addresses, they could accidentally block citizens of bordering states from downloading TikTok, as well....
Opps, grounds for different lawsuits.
... Regardless, we won’t have to wait long to find out how Montana’s ban will fare in the courts. According to Reuters, a group of five Montana TikTok users are already suing the state to block the ban.
The clock is ticking.
Opps.
Sounds like academia will be changed forever.
Where have I heard that before?
Then, they have to train them not to kill the operator??? 
. Can humans devise fail-safes that AIs can't overcome?
Clever boy.
, you could have just posted, "John Smith wants to know ..."
