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United States Files Civil Lawsuit Against Edward Snowden

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Re: United States Files Civil Lawsuit Against Edward Snowden

#371
post #343

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think that he should have dumped everything. Or at least, everything that didn't put individuals at risk. I get where he was coming from. But the people in charge of releasing stuff seem too clueless and/or deferential.

Dumping all of it online would have been like wikileaks, which I think would've been a mistake in that Wikileaks have been very open about aiming to use there releases to influence politics rather than merely releasing for the sake of knowledge e.g. "Maximum political impact" which does make them less credible (Aside from the dubious links to and decision not to criticise russia)

>decision not to criticise russia

Do you have any evidence such a decision has been made by WL?

Does that decision apply to China too? I don’t see any wikileaks from China. What makes Russia special?

Perhaps these countries just aren’t that interesting to mostly English language WL?

Re: United States Files Civil Lawsuit Against Edward Snowden

#372

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He could probably help with these accusations by releasing his tax returns. :)

I don't follow US politics. How would that help? Legitimate question.

Their demand for his tax returns is because they've not been able to use anything else to remove him from office. They're hoping they can find a little bit of dirt with which to hang him. Good thing he's squeaky clean.

Re: United States Files Civil Lawsuit Against Edward Snowden

#373

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you want to know why Snowden did it, and the way he did it, you have to know the stories of two other men. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/may/22/how-pentagon... "The sad reality of today’s policies is that going to the inspector general with evidence of truly serious wrongdoing is often a mistake. Going to the press involves serious risks, but at least you’ve got a chance."

The point being made by the press...

I don't get this response. It's not even an American press organization making the point for heaven's sake. Whom else would you logically expect to make this point who hasn't already? Obama? Trump? Me?

Re: United States Files Civil Lawsuit Against Edward Snowden

#374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with Snowden is that: A. He did not try to whistleblow through any officials channels in the NSA, intelligence community, or Congress B. He stole somewhere around 1.5 million documents, of which the vast majority had nothing to do with the programs he thought were illegal The house intelligence committee report on Snowden actually concedes that he could have enjoyed whistleblower protection under the law…

You're making the same old arguments that gets debunked over and over again. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/sep/19/washin... https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/941723524175187969

That Navy sailor that took pictures inside the sub and got court martialed should get to go free too. And, those FBI memos that Comey took home and then kept after he was fired shouldn't result in his prosecution, either. /s

You steal US Federal Government property, you're going to eventually go down.

Re: United States Files Civil Lawsuit Against Edward Snowden

#375
I will give some information of what other countries have done in similar situations:

- German Constitution: Article 10 [Privacy of correspondence, posts and telecommunications] https://www.bundesregierung.de/breg-en/chancellor/basic-law-...

If you wanted to extend it into modern terminology, it would probably clearly specify communication over wire/radio, digital fingerprints, records, storage, including remote / cloud storage.

- Switzerland: 2016 Swiss Popular Initiative on federal intelligence law, that passed (65.5%): https://www.admin.ch/gov/en/start/documentation/votes/201609..., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZJCCpp--oM (Hit CC for closed captions, and the cog to translate to your language)

Based on this thread, it seems many have a subjective right to privacy they'd expect represented at the constitutional level, like Germany. They'd also like more transparency explaining who/what/where/why/how in regards to the authorizations regarding national security, like Switzerland.

One more thing: while this is generally consumer-related, you may be generally interested in GDPR: https://eugdpr.org/

But these are just part of the nice things. When people mention US constitution and rights, Europeans have vastly more rights and protections, in many respects.

- China, Xinjiang, elsewhere: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQ5LnY21Hgc, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lH2gMNrUuEY

This is a place where culturally there's less concern about surveillance.

Re: United States Files Civil Lawsuit Against Edward Snowden

#376
post #300

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Trust between US tech and the @DeptofDefense is what got burned down. Trust is key. There has been a concerted effort to break that trust to weaken the US position. The US is more resilient than that, and tech is smart enough to see through it. DoD will restore trust. It's time.

Although the DoD (or War Department, as it was originally called) is part of the Executive Branch, it (for the most part) operates only outside the country. And military intelligence (for the most part) operates outside normal government constraints. That's how it's always been, throughout recorded history. If you constrain military intelligence too much, as happened in the US between WWI and WWII, and during the 90s…

The DoD hires tech talent, partners with tech orgs on R&D, and contracts with tech companies for expertise. When trust is broken, those relationships are strained.

Re: United States Files Civil Lawsuit Against Edward Snowden

#377
This is such a pathetic move it just has me belly laughing. NDA violation. No kidding? :D

This is up there with Al Capone being taken down for tax evasion instead of racketeering.

Snowden just so totally out manoeuvred the CIA they'll be butt hurt for decades.

Re: United States Files Civil Lawsuit Against Edward Snowden

#378
post #362

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Clearly the NSA is out of control - but these aren't conflating issues. For the record, I don't particularly spend time worrying about either Snowden or the NSA.

You made a valid point about the difficulty of judging how sensitive information should be released and the dangers of letting small groups of people make those judgements. I apologise for my somewhat tangential post. I've consumed a good quantity of whiskey and made a reflexive post.

LOL. You don't need to apologize, that's what's wonderful about this forum is almost everyone is open to learning more regardless of the tangenialness.

Besides, my 15 yr knob creek barrel pick empathizes.

Re: United States Files Civil Lawsuit Against Edward Snowden

#379

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are getting downvoted because your contributions to hacker news are low quality. Consider contributing something else other than conspiracy theories. The CIA and NSA are two organizations under the Dept of Homeland Security. They are only opposed to one another in the sense that they are both competing for funding. The divisions among government that you imagine just aren't real. The "deep state" is mostly a bunc…

Just want to clear up one thing - neither the CIA or the NSA are under DHS. Those are 3 separate agencies.

Thank you I think I was confused on that point.

Re: United States Files Civil Lawsuit Against Edward Snowden

#380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't follow US politics. How would that help? Legitimate question.

Their demand for his tax returns is because they've not been able to use anything else to remove him from office. They're hoping they can find a little bit of dirt with which to hang him. Good thing he's squeaky clean.

If he's squeaky clean, why is he scared shitless of people seeing his finance records
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