Saving the Internet from the NSA

[Blind groper]

Seth, that may be true, but remember....

1. It has been revealed very publicly that this kind of behaviour is wrong, wrong, wrong. So the employees of the NSA are going to be aware that they are being asked to something that is wrong. This is how change within the organisation begins. Not to mention the fact that American leaders and politicians are on notice that if they support the NSA's nefarious activities, and they are found out, it will rebound on them badly.

2. The general public, including people in power, now know what the NSA is prone to doing. They will be far more alert. This includes the Angela Merkels of this world. The NSA is going to find it a lot harder to get away with their shit in future.

[Seth]

The more I hear about Snowdon's revelations, the more I think he is a hero. He has shown that the NSA and much of the USA military and intelligence bodies are simply evil bastards with no concern for the rights of anyone else, and it is past time they were given a right royal kicking in the fundamentum.

And the US has recently announced moves to restrict the extent of the information the NSA can gather. There is no way that would have happened without Snowden's revelations, so it would be hypocritical indeed for the US to prosecute him. Or should the Emperor sentence the little boy who pointed out he was naked to death?

Kabuki theater. Nothing, and I mean absolutely NOTHING is going to change inside the NSA. This is Obama playing to the press so the dems don't take the hit in 2016. The promises made mean absolutely nothing and everybody behind the scenes is chuckling at the gullible unwashed masses and as soon as the furor dies down it'll all be forgotten...and the NSA will continue doing what it's been doing all along, both overt and covert, and the data will flow into their new data center in Utah, and they will continue to find new ways to spy on anyone and everyone, including Merkle and everybody else.

That's how government works. If they have the capacity to do something you can bet your ass that they are going to do it, whether they tell anyone about it or not.

You may simply assume that the NSA has the capability of listening to you, looking at you (through your phone/computer camera), following you, and reading absolutely anything that you create digitally from now until the end of time or the zombie apocalypse, whichever comes first.

Get used to it and adapt your activities accordingly.

I think you over-dramatise it a bit, but you are probably right that the proposed "reforms" are just fiddling around on the surface...

My views on Snowden still stand, however...

He should have done it a different way. As it stands people have and will die as a result of his revelations, just as people have and will continue to die from Bradley Manning's traitorous acts.

[Seth]

Seth, that may be true, but remember....

1. It has been revealed very publicly that this kind of behaviour is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Ya think? So how come Obama didn't say that, but instead said that he wasn't going to mess with the NSA because there is "no evidence" that they are doing anything wrong?

Kabuki theater.

So the employees of the NSA are going to be aware that they are being asked to something that is wrong.

You think they are incapable of reading and understanding the 4th Amendment? Don't make me laugh. They know what they are doing is unconstitutional, they just don't give a fuck because nobody can stop them.

This is how change within the organisation begins.

I'll bet you think the FBI quit looking for queers and Communists after J. Edgar left office too.

Not to mention the fact that American leaders and politicians are on notice that if they support the NSA's nefarious activities, and they are found out, it will rebound on them badly.

Did you see the answer that Congress got when it asked if the NSA was spying on congresspersons? It amounted to "Why no, we would never, ever even THINK of spying on anyone illegally! (nudge, nudge, wink, wink)"

2. The general public, including people in power, now know what the NSA is prone to doing. They will be far more alert. This includes the Angela Merkels of this world. The NSA is going to find it a lot harder to get away with their shit in future.

No they aren't. The Merkels of the world have known for a very, very long time that the US engages in espionage activities all over the globe and keeps an ear to the ground with every form of communication it can possibly monitor. They know this because THEY DO THE SAME THING TO US...and everybody else.

If you think the Germans don't have a sophisticated intelligence apparatus that spies on the US you're an idiot. If you think that every nation on earth isn't trying to pry into the affairs of every other nation on earth, you're even more of an idiot.

That's how things work in the spy trade.

What will happen is that the NSA, and every other intel agency on earth, will try to take better care not to let their own people siphon off millions of documents. And hopefully if they catch anyone trying it, they will "disappear" them right away.

What I don't get is how the NSA was stupid enough not to have file download limits and audits built into their system. How could either Manning or Snowden have even ACCESSED millions upon millions of documents without flashing lights and sirens going off, much less downloaded them onto DVDs and walking out of the building with them?

My take is that there are idiots in charge of data security at the NSA...probably the same ones who designed the security for the Obamacare system.

They should be taken to the center of the Pentagon and shot in full view of everyone, then left there for the crows to pick at for a month or two just to get the point across.

[Blind groper]

There are idiots everywhere, Seth. Including a few on this forum.

If you think shooting idiots is the answer, better build a few more bullet factories.

Education is a much more effective solution, and Snowden was a good teacher.

[Seth]

There are idiots everywhere, Seth. Including a few on this forum.

Takes one to know one.

If you think shooting idiots is the answer, better build a few more bullet factories.

Just selected idiots.

[quoteEducation is a much more effective solution, and Snowden was a good teacher.[/quote]

Idiots in government who are tasked with keeping our secrets safe and do not do so threaten the lives of everyone in the country, if not on earth. We can do without them.

Bodies hanging from gibbets at the Pentagon is quite educational...for everyone else.