DoJ to Snowden: Hope your 15 minutes were worth it, pal

[Tamas]

Not to mention the UK following a large share of any and all internet traffic, and basically telling the NSA, "If you need anything, give us a shout!"

Well that really is the thing isn't it?  Even if the US government rolls this stuff back there will be plenty of other people doing it for them, both in the private sector and other governments.  Ah hello to the brave new world.

People are acting like this is some sort of new development, simply because of the technology.

as I wrote it here much earlier: level of technology is not an excuse. There is technology to ban you from leaving your hometown without permit on anything but foot, yet society would not accept that. It would be just security control enhanced by today's technology

[Valmy]

People are acting like this is some sort of new development, simply because of the technology.

It is pretty new.  Before they actually had to bug your house or something.  What is definitely new is that now the public has an opportunity to be aware of it and can discuss it.  This is pretty important.  What is not important is this Snowden guy.

[Berkut]

I am kind of amazed at the level of naivete displayed by those who are SHOCKED! I SAY SHOCKED! that some government agency is trolling internet traffic.

I mean...duh. It is technically possible, legal, and incredibly useful. Of course they are grabbing up all the data they can.

None of this is news to me, even before I ever saw a single article about it. I simply operated under the assumption it was happening. If is is technically feasible and not directly illegal, of course the NSA is doing it. That is what they do, and everything I've heard about the NSA is that they are rather astonishingly good at what they do when it comes to telecommunications snooping.

[Valmy]

None of this is news to me, even before I ever saw a single article about it. I simply operated under the assumption it was happening. If is is technically feasible and not directly illegal, of course the NSA is doing it. That is what they do, and everything I've heard about the NSA is that they are rather astonishingly good at what they do when it comes to telecommunications snooping.

Yeah nothing Snowden reported was not known to anybody who was paying attention.  The reason it was significant was because suddenly it had to be talked about....or so I thought.  And I had seen many articles about it before this incident, it is always a mystery to me what has to happen to get something big enough to be noticed.

[CountDeMoney]

People are acting like this is some sort of new development, simply because of the technology.

It is pretty new.  Before they actually had to bug your house or something.

Not really;  the moment the first cellular tower was constructed 30 years ago or whenever, so was the ability to track communications data.

Hell, I remember when the HS Threat Level was raised for "credible, non-specific" threats, and we were later informed at my agency that it was due to "increased cellular chatter" among certain targets.
It wasn't until a month later we were told it was likely because it was the end of the month, and they were just using up their free minutes.

[Valmy]

Not really;  the moment the first cellular tower was constructed 30 years ago, so was the ability to track communications data.

30 years strikes me as pretty new, especially as cellular phones were not used by the general public until more like 15 years ago in large numbers.  But the real point is this is, or at least was, not general knowledge.

[CountDeMoney]

Not really;  the moment the first cellular tower was constructed 30 years ago, so was the ability to track communications data.

30 years strikes me as pretty new, especially as cellular phones were not used by the general public until more like 15 years ago in large numbers.  But the real point is this is, or at least was, not general knowledge.

That's why I redited it with whenever, it's been a while so I don't remember.  Stop being a fucking grumbler.

[Valmy]

Not really;  the moment the first cellular tower was constructed 30 years ago, so was the ability to track communications data.

30 years strikes me as pretty new, especially as cellular phones were not used by the general public until more like 15 years ago in large numbers.  But the real point is this is, or at least was, not general knowledge.

That's why I redited it with whenever, it's been a while so I don't remember.  Stop being a fucking grumbler.

I am not arguing over semantics here my point is that it is new enough that the common joe in the street does not understand how things have changed...yet.

[Bluebook]

I find it very strange that a great advocate of freedom is choosing to use a string of quasi-democratic thug states or outright totalitarian states to make his bid for freedom (China-->Russia-->Cuba-->Venezuela (maybe)-->Ecuador. All of those States have history of suppressing free speech to a degree vastly worse than the United States, in fact a place like Russia where the rule of law means nothing is a pretty dangerous stopover for Snowden.

And all of those states are places where the US cannot easily get him extratided. Not too hard to understand why he went there, and that has got nothing to do with advocating freedom, and everything to do with realpolitik.

[Valmy]

And all of those states are places where the US cannot easily get him extratided. Not too hard to understand why he went there, and that has got nothing to do with advocating freedom, and everything to do with realpolitik.

Yeah it has to do with fleeing for his life, those are not political statements.

[CountDeMoney]

I am not arguing over semantics here my point is that it is new enough that the common joe in the street does not understand how things have changed...yet.

Then that's the Common Joe's fault for not being politically aware.

[Valmy]

I am not arguing over semantics here my point is that it is new enough that the common joe in the street does not understand how things have changed...yet.

Then that's the Common Joe's fault for not being politically aware.

I fail to get your point here.  Sometimes the general public is a slow learner.  They are sort of busy trying to keep their jobs and feed their families and follow the NFL offseason and stuff.  Remembering to be paranoid big brother is watching was not something they ever had to be concerned about until recently.

[OttoVonBismarck]

And all of those states are places where the US cannot easily get him extratided. Not too hard to understand why he went there, and that has got nothing to do with advocating freedom, and everything to do with realpolitik.

Yeah but I don't see Iceland or several other democratic countries being willing to extradite him. When you put your safety in the hand of tinpot thug rulers like Putin or the leaders of Venezuela and Ecuador you're only protected as much as they want to spite the United States. Maybe right now, that's enough. But in countries like that with weak rule of law and weak legal protections literally the leadership's whim could be all it takes for your asylum to be revoked and you to be in a helicopter on your way to an interrogation center.

A country like Iceland on the other hand, whatever happens it'll be what their courts say. Given they protected Bobby Fischer I doubt Snowden would have much to worry about.

[Valmy]

When did Ecuador become a rogue state dictatorship btw?  Shows how informed I am with events in Quito.

[Bluebook]

In what way?

In the way Syt just did: comparing it to tapping a phone or opening mail.

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2012/03/ff_nsadatacenter/all/