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Feds, We Need Some Time Apart

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Re: Feds, We Need Some Time Apart

#11

Post by cheez »

ianhawes wrote: post #3

My understanding is that the overwhelming majority of Federal employees on official duty from FBI, DHS, DOD, NSA, etc.. that attend DEFCON (and related conferences) are actually not agents at all, but rather low ranking analysts whose job at the conferences are to assess the material presented and report back. This is opposed to, say, recruiting CIs or surveilling targets. Source: I asked a Fed.

This is more about making a statement than anything else. Will the information still reach the feds? Sure.

But the request is deliberately creating a delineation: the government is no longer for the people or part of the people, it exists for it's own sake.

Will the government understand and ramp itself down?

Whatever you thought about Ron Paul, his politics would have prevented all of this. All of the wars. All the foreign aid. And we would live in paradise ;)

Re: Feds, We Need Some Time Apart

#12

Post by sbierwagen »

ianhawes wrote: post #3

My understanding is that the overwhelming majority of Federal employees on official duty from FBI, DHS, DOD, NSA, etc.. that attend DEFCON (and related conferences) are actually not agents at all, but rather low ranking analysts whose job at the conferences are to assess the material presented and report back. This is opposed to, say, recruiting CIs or surveilling targets. Source: I asked a Fed.

So what? They still work for law enforcement.

Re: Feds, We Need Some Time Apart

#13

Post by typicalrunt »

I applaud Jeff's (DarkTangent) stance on this. I've been to 7 Defcons now and the Feds have always been treated fairly. Even the media has been treated with respect, so long as they are transparent and honest about being media [1]. Honesty and openness have been betrayed this year with the Snowden leaks, and I'm glad people are finally taking a stand.

I'm curious other security conventions will take the same stance.

[1] One year a reporter disguised herself as an attendee instead of admitting she was a reporter, and was attempting to get hackers on record saying that they've hacked into and important system. She was found out and summarily chased (literally) out the convention.

Re: Feds, We Need Some Time Apart

#15

Post by codyb »

danielsiders wrote: post #10

Entry (since the site is down): "Feds, we need some time apart. Posted 7.10.13 For over two decades DEF CON has been an open nexus of hacker culture, a place where seasoned pros, hackers, academics, and feds can meet, share ideas and party on neutral territory. Our community operates in the spirit of openness, verified trust, and mutual respect. When it comes to sharing and socializing with feds, recent revelations h…

Will this actually affect the feds ability to attend or will they just attend in plain clothes? Or will they be able to attend as feds and just be looked down upon?

Re: Feds, We Need Some Time Apart

#16

Post by EthanHeilman »

typicalrunt wrote: post #13

I applaud Jeff's (DarkTangent) stance on this. I've been to 7 Defcons now and the Feds have always been treated fairly. Even the media has been treated with respect, so long as they are transparent and honest about being media [1]. Honesty and openness have been betrayed this year with the Snowden leaks, and I'm glad people are finally taking a stand. I'm curious other security conventions will take the same stance.…

I'm extremely impressed with DarkTangent, this must have been a difficult move for him to make, especially given that the NSA Director(DernZa) was the keynote speaker at the last defcon. He is probably getting a mountain range of shit right now from the feds.

" Over the past two decades, hackers at Defcon and the feds have been circling each other suspiciously. The nation's top "spook" -- National Security Agency Director Gen. Keith Alexander -- giving a keynote at the hacker confab, shows just how much tensions have mellowed." http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-57481689-83/nsa-director-fi...

Things don't look so mellow anymore.

Re: Feds, We Need Some Time Apart

#18

Post by welder »

codyb wrote: post #15
danielsiders wrote: post #10

Entry (since the site is down): "Feds, we need some time apart. Posted 7.10.13 For over two decades DEF CON has been an open nexus of hacker culture, a place where seasoned pros, hackers, academics, and feds can meet, share ideas and party on neutral territory. Our community operates in the spirit of openness, verified trust, and mutual respect. When it comes to sharing and socializing with feds, recent revelations h…

Will this actually affect the feds ability to attend or will they just attend in plain clothes? Or will they be able to attend as feds and just be looked down upon?

Feds always attend in plain clothes so this effectively does nothing. I also wonder if a Fed only means investigative or law enforcement type Feds or also includes federally employed IT peoples.

Re: Feds, We Need Some Time Apart

#20

Post by iamtherockstar »

welder wrote: post #18
codyb wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Will this actually affect the feds ability to attend or will they just attend in plain clothes? Or will they be able to attend as feds and just be looked down upon?

Feds always attend in plain clothes so this effectively does nothing. I also wonder if a Fed only means investigative or law enforcement type Feds or also includes federally employed IT peoples.

Last year they had Gen. Keith Alexander, NSA chief. There are usually a handful of talks by "feds". I wonder if their talk schedule has gotten messed up because of this.
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