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Possible Government threat to HV research?

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Chris Russell

Thu Jun 11 2009, 01:08PM

... not Russel!
Registered Member #1 Joined: Thu Jan 26 2006, 12:18AM
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Posts: 1052

Harry wrote ...

I would imagine that in Britain, at least, where everything is scanned and surveyed, the secret police have long been aware of 4HV.org.

As I've mentioned in the past, there is no doubt that we are being watched. Even a cursory glance at 4hv.org's monthly logs shows hits from all sorts of interesting government entities, such as the DoJ, DEA, FBI, DoE, and DoD. I've also seen IP addresses belonging to Interpol, and the UK's MoD. Doubtless, a lot of these folks are just surfing around on their coffee breaks, but some spider portions of the site regularly.

The good news is that we're not bad people, so in theory, we have nothing to fear from this attention, so long as the public doesn't get the wrong idea. The best thing we can do is show that we're open about our hobby, and take every opportunity to explain what we do, why we do it, and how we do it. We can demonstrate to the general public that we take safety very seriously -- both our own personal safety and the safety of others. A graph of the number of people killed in the HV hobby over the past 10 years, compared to the number of people killed while street racing, mountain biking, or even golfing, should be pretty revealing.

Proud Mary

Thu Jun 11 2009, 04:03PM

Registered Member #543 Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992

Chris Russell wrote ...

Doubtless, a lot of these folks are just surfing around on their coffee breaks, but some spider portions of the site regularly.

What is 'spidering' please, Chris? Some kind of automated searching?

rp181

Thu Jun 11 2009, 04:05PM

Registered Member #1062 Joined: Tue Oct 16 2007, 02:01AM
Location:
Posts: 1529

I think teslathons are good to show what chris said.

@ harry:
Im pretty sure spidering is a bot that index's websites, you can have them only search some sites. Google does this to keep up to date on there website index.

Proud Mary

Thu Jun 11 2009, 04:42PM

Registered Member #543 Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992

Chris Russell wrote ...

The good news is that we're not bad people, so in theory, we have nothing to fear from this attention, so long as the public doesn't get the wrong idea. The best thing we can do is show that we're open about our hobby, and take every opportunity to explain what we do, why we do it, and how we do it.

Openness and honesty are surely our best approach,, as Chris says. We have nothing to hide, and are proud of what we do. Few other forums can be so steadfastly dedicated to learning as ours, which should mark it down as of being of moral value, rather than the subject of suspicion.

Many youngsters who come into our forum are the electrical engineers, scientists and academics of the future, on whom the whole of future of society will depend.

So long as we maintain our policy of promoting the peaceable and lawful uses of HV experiment, inquiry, and research, and actively disallow threads discussing ways and means of harming other people with our technology, I think we will be left alone for the forseeable future.

Chris Russell

Fri Jun 12 2009, 02:25AM

... not Russel!
Registered Member #1 Joined: Thu Jan 26 2006, 12:18AM
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Posts: 1052

Harry wrote ...

What is 'spidering' please, Chris? Some kind of automated searching?

Yes. On occasion I see addresses request a lot of pages in a short amount of time, along the lines of 5-10 pages per second. It can be innocent enough; I know some people like to just grab the latest threads off 4hv in a hurry, especially if they're going to be offline for some reason for a while. However, when you see xx.doj.gov grab a large number of pages, it does make one wonder just what the intent is. A little offline reading, or some less savory kind of scrutiny?

rp181 wrote ...

I think teslathons are good to show what chris said.

I agree. Teslathons, I think, are one of the best ways to show what we're all about. Maybe going forward it would be wise to be more aggressive, and see if we can't engage the local media. A thon isn't exactly front page news, but I'd think the the arcs and sparks could make a good story for a local newspaper or TV station. It's a good chance to get ourselves out there, maybe stir up some more interest, and show that we're nothing to be afraid of.

Dr. Drone

Fri Jun 12 2009, 04:05AM

Registered Member #290 Joined: Mon Mar 06 2006, 08:24PM
Location:
Posts: 1673

Proud Mary

Fri Jun 12 2009, 12:13PM

Registered Member #543 Joined: Tue Feb 20 2007, 04:26PM
Location: UK
Posts: 4992

And TDU seems to be quite a media star in Australia - which his amazing displays certainly deserve - though I remember a year or so ago he had a visit from some officials wanting to know what he was doing.

Frankly, I would prefer it if government agents were open and honest and just rang up and said that they would like to come round and see what I was doing - which would cost them a few pounds in expenses - rather than these bizarre snooping scenarios where they would rather squander a fortune in public cash listening and watching in what they think is secret.

I'm sure there's a lot of undiagnosed paranoid illness amongst their employees, or perhaps it's even thought to be an asset

Anyway, enough of all this! It would spoil my hobby worrying about it all.

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