Live data from Hacker News

Leakers, privacy activists find new home in Berlin

washingtonpost.com

1–10 of 12 posts

Re: Leakers, privacy activists find new home in Berlin

#2
I can't decide if this is happy or sad. On the one hand, it's great that a country that was once dominated by a totalitarian regime is a hub of new ideas about freedom of information and what government responsibility really means. On the other hand, it's really sad that one of the countries who fought so hard against that totalitarianism is no longer considered safe for these people.

If we weren't fighting for a world where citizens can speak up about the crimes of their governments, what were we fighting for?

Re: Leakers, privacy activists find new home in Berlin

#3
post #2

I can't decide if this is happy or sad. On the one hand, it's great that a country that was once dominated by a totalitarian regime is a hub of new ideas about freedom of information and what government responsibility really means. On the other hand, it's really sad that one of the countries who fought so hard against that totalitarianism is no longer considered safe for these people. If we weren't fighting for a wor…

I guess people disagree on which acts they consider criminal.

Re: Leakers, privacy activists find new home in Berlin

#4
post #2

I can't decide if this is happy or sad. On the one hand, it's great that a country that was once dominated by a totalitarian regime is a hub of new ideas about freedom of information and what government responsibility really means. On the other hand, it's really sad that one of the countries who fought so hard against that totalitarianism is no longer considered safe for these people. If we weren't fighting for a wor…

I guess people disagree on which acts they consider criminal.

Or the definition of a criminal (and "threat") becomes consistently more expansive and vague. Out of paranoia and a strong financial incentive to do so, even while most empirical statistics say otherwise.

Re: Leakers, privacy activists find new home in Berlin

#5
post #2

I can't decide if this is happy or sad. On the one hand, it's great that a country that was once dominated by a totalitarian regime is a hub of new ideas about freedom of information and what government responsibility really means. On the other hand, it's really sad that one of the countries who fought so hard against that totalitarianism is no longer considered safe for these people. If we weren't fighting for a wor…

If we weren't fighting for a world where citizens can speak up about the crimes of their governments, what were we fighting for?

The destruction of our enemies, the annihilation of their ideology, the power of our ruling class. Ideals are overwhelmingly window dressing or there would be a hell of a lot more Edward Snowden's. Surely at least one per cent of the people the NSA recruit each year are as close to being raging hippies as you can get while joining the military industrial complex. And Snowden was the second NSA whistle blower, what, ever?

Ideals are window dressing. The Democrats were anti-war, then Obama was elected and the movement evaporated. This is how humans roll. Ideologues mostly get beaten, shot, ignored. A prophet is never hailed in his own land. Look at the vitriol RMS gets when he has been right again and again and again.

Re: Leakers, privacy activists find new home in Berlin

#7
post #2

I can't decide if this is happy or sad. On the one hand, it's great that a country that was once dominated by a totalitarian regime is a hub of new ideas about freedom of information and what government responsibility really means. On the other hand, it's really sad that one of the countries who fought so hard against that totalitarianism is no longer considered safe for these people. If we weren't fighting for a wor…

"I can't decide if this is happy or sad."

I'd go for happy. Concentrating people with ideas like this in a supportive area is a classic incubator for change. London in late 19th Century had all kinds of European trouble makers concentrating (and being spied on by bowler hatted detectives[1]). The ideas they had certainly had impact!

[1] http://www.history.ac.uk/reviews/review/1409

Re: Leakers, privacy activists find new home in Berlin

#8
post #2

I can't decide if this is happy or sad. On the one hand, it's great that a country that was once dominated by a totalitarian regime is a hub of new ideas about freedom of information and what government responsibility really means. On the other hand, it's really sad that one of the countries who fought so hard against that totalitarianism is no longer considered safe for these people. If we weren't fighting for a wor…

If we weren't fighting for a world where citizens can speak up about the crimes of their governments, what were we fighting for? The destruction of our enemies, the annihilation of their ideology, the power of our ruling class. Ideals are overwhelmingly window dressing or there would be a hell of a lot more Edward Snowden's. Surely at least one per cent of the people the NSA recruit each year are as close to being ra…

Who is "RMS"?

Edit: Ah never mind, searched for "who is RMS", got Richard Stallman.

Re: Leakers, privacy activists find new home in Berlin

#9
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we weren't fighting for a world where citizens can speak up about the crimes of their governments, what were we fighting for? The destruction of our enemies, the annihilation of their ideology, the power of our ruling class. Ideals are overwhelmingly window dressing or there would be a hell of a lot more Edward Snowden's. Surely at least one per cent of the people the NSA recruit each year are as close to being ra…

Who is "RMS"? Edit: Ah never mind, searched for "who is RMS", got Richard Stallman.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stallman

Re: Leakers, privacy activists find new home in Berlin

#10
post #2

I can't decide if this is happy or sad. On the one hand, it's great that a country that was once dominated by a totalitarian regime is a hub of new ideas about freedom of information and what government responsibility really means. On the other hand, it's really sad that one of the countries who fought so hard against that totalitarianism is no longer considered safe for these people. If we weren't fighting for a wor…

Oh so their against ID cards and stop and search for German citizens who have darker skins eh :-)
Post reply on HN