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'We've all done this': Trump admin group chat scandal is its most relatable fail (usatoday.com)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by manucode@infosec.pub to c/nottheonion@lemmy.world

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[–] TheTechnician27@lemmy.world -1 points 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago)

You looked all that up and neglected the definition of commercial and commerce.

No I didn't, but I knew someone with no idea what they're talking about would insist otherwise without a shred of evidence. Commerce is the voluntary exchange of products and services. If I give you a pig for a goat, we've engaged in commerce. If I give you a toothpick for two dollars, we've engaged in commerce. If I give you some data for money, we've engaged in commerce. If I paint your house so that you redo my shower, we've engaged in commerce.

this one however is actually involved in commerce

Cool story. How?

The Signal app is free. It's free to be compiled on its own. It's free to be downloaded from the Play Store or the App Store. It's free to be downloaded from their website. It's free to be reused and redistributed and modified by anybody for any purpose at any time. At no point is Signal ever given anything of any tangible value by anybody for a download.
The Signal app is free to use. No feature of the Signal app is gatekept in a way that would allow you to pay Signal anything of any value to use it.
Signal's servers are free to use, and it can be self-hosted.
Signal does not collect any metadata on you in a way that could be worth anything to any commercial interest.
Signal does not contain advertisements within its application or on its website.
As the Signal Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, we can look at its form 990. Part VIII (page 9) breaks down income. 10.12 million was made in licensing fees, 0.14 million made in service revenue (keeping in mind that this can be any service, and it's transparently obvious that Signal doesn't make service revenue; past press releases have indicated that the Signal Foundation helps companies like MS incorporate the Signal Protocol into their messengers, which is likely where this comes from), and 8.4 million gross on selling securities. (I imagine the licensing fees are giving big corps like MS, Facebook, and Google the rights to say they use the Signal Protocol, which while an open standard is likely trademarked by the Signal Foundation. That doesn't make Signal a "commercial app".)

Please enlighten me how this constitutes commerce, because you haven't actually said anything other than "yuh huh". The Signal Foundation engages in commerce, but to say that the protocol or app or service is a commercial product is nonsense that not only has zero evidence but is disprovable.