CIA Manual Thought Lost In 1973 Available On Amazon 190
An anonymous reader writes "At the height of the Cold War, the Central Intelligence Agency paid renowned magician John Mulholland $3,000 to write a manual on misdirection, concealment, and stagecraft. All known copies of the document were believed to be destroyed in 1973. Turns out one survived — and is now available on Amazon."
The original article? (Score:5, Informative)
Genius idea: have the Slashdot summary link to the actual story. YES!!!
Re:PDF Torrent? (Score:3, Informative)
Shouldn't one be able to believe the story summary? If not, why even bother having them?
And yes, unless its classified, it is in the American pubic domain on day one since it was paid for by US citizens. However that doesn't mean you cant sell a copy for the cost of 'printing', sort of like the GPL. Even the government often charges a 'reproduction fee' when you order documents directly.
Re:PDF Torrent? (Score:5, Informative)
> One of the questions raised on the Amazon page is: shouldn't this material
> be public domain? It is owned by the US Government...
If the author wrote thing as a US Government employee then the goverment is the author and is not permitted to enforce its copyright. If he was acting as a contractor he is the author in which case he may still own the copyright.
> ...and any copyright would seem to have expired at this point...
Not yet.
> ...it seems like we should be able to get a copy for free under the FOIA.
The FOIA does not work the way you think it does.
Re:PDF Torrent? (Score:5, Informative)
> And yes, unless its classified, it is in the American pubic domain on day
> one since it was paid for by US citizens.
Not true. The government cannot enforce its copyright on "works for hire" where the government is the employer but it can enforce copyrights it acquires. Contractors also often retain copyright is works produced while performing a contract (the government usually acquires a nonexclusive license). The mere fact that a work was paid for by tax money does not put it in the public domain.
hehehehe (Score:3, Informative)
Now, if you are calling them criminal because of Iraq/Afghanistan, then nope. The real problem was not CIA. These were simply foot soldiers doing what they were ordered to by the highest level of the gov.
Re:wow (Score:5, Informative)
Ironic (Score:5, Informative)
Stripped of his position, and having been barred from holding any political office by the de' Medici, after a lifetime of public service, embittered, Machiavelli wrote "The Prince" basically saying: "if you want to grab, hold, and expand your political power," (adding under his breath, "like those de' Medici bastards,") he continued, "this is what you do..." (He could not insult them openly, he had already been imprisoned and tortured by them once, and I guess he wasn't "feeling strong" anymore.)
It was not meant literally! I guess the De Medici had the last laugh though, whether by their actions or not, Machiavelli's name is associated NOT with his own good and noble life's work, but with the behaviours and beliefs of those he most loathed and despised. For a better idea of what this great Renaissance figure really thought, try instead his "Discorsi sulla prima deca di Tito Livio", or "Discourses on the first ten books of Livy", (Titus Livius, Roman historian)
~ Hallux
Re:wow (Score:4, Informative)
Re:wow (Score:3, Informative)
The US doesn't rely on mercenaries to fight the wars. They are used as defense after the "war" was won.
The US military literally rolled over the Iraqi army twice. 1991's Desert Storm crushed the air and tank defenses of iraq. Something Iran spent 8 years trying to do, the armed forces of the USA did in weeks. So if oyu want something crushed, destroyed or captured the USA army is great. If you want a police force the USA is like using a nuclear warhead to take demo a single building. There are hundreds of examples in both wars plus Afghanistan of 12-20 us soldiers fending off 100+ attackers with minimal losses of their own.
In reality what the USA needs to develop is a heavily armed (preferably international) police force. People who are better at keeping the peace, while still strong enough to defend againist such attackers. Leave the military to attack installations, and large groups and the police force to defend the people.
Re:wow (Score:4, Informative)
You don't even know (of course, never having read the book) that Machiavelli, in his book The Prince which we are talking about now, STRONGLY RECOMMENDS AGAINST HIRING MERCENARIES. Machiavelli hated mercenaries, considered them a scourge, and advocated armies of citizens instead. Does "the draft" ring a bell?
Re:wow (Score:5, Informative)
You do know The Prince was meant as satire, right?
That's very much a minority view, and certainly not as obvious as your sarcastic tone implies. Most people do not subscribe to that view at all, and reading the book shows exactly why: it doesn't come across as a satire at all. The satirical interpretation is based largely on extrapolating from biographical details and making a lot of tenuous assumptions.
Previously Published in Genii Magazine (Score:2, Informative)