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Feb 22 16 9:15 AM
Former NSA contractor tells supporters he would present public interest defence if he appeared before American jury Edward Snowden has told supporters he would be willing to return to the US if the government could guarantee a fair trial. The former National Security Agency contractor, who has been living in Russia since June 2013, said he would present a public interest defence of his decision to leak thousands of classified intelligence documents if he appeared before a US jury. “I’ve told the government I would return if they would guarantee a fair trial where I can make a public interest defence of why this was done and allow a jury to decide,” Snowden told a libertarian conference, the New Hampshire Liberty Forum.
Former NSA contractor tells supporters he would present public interest defence if he appeared before American jury
Edward Snowden has told supporters he would be willing to return to the US if the government could guarantee a fair trial.
The former National Security Agency contractor, who has been living in Russia since June 2013, said he would present a public interest defence of his decision to leak thousands of classified intelligence documents if he appeared before a US jury. “I’ve told the government I would return if they would guarantee a fair trial where I can make a public interest defence of why this was done and allow a jury to decide,” Snowden told a libertarian conference, the New Hampshire Liberty Forum.
Read more @ http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/feb/21/edward-snowden-willing-to-return-to-us-fair-trial
No Edward…. Although you have done much to help people worldwide on this, do not forget what was said at the beginning when you first came out and disclosed the information…. And is still being said by politicians in the US. Remember there were those that wanted to kill you, and those that wanted you behind bars for life. Unfortunately for you, even though you have literally thousands and thousands of followers, they are not the ones in the courts making the decisions. The power brokers have a strangle hold and they are angry that you are thwarting them, and I must add that they are the ones, from all appearances, that run the justice system. You will NOT get a fair trial…… end of story. Maybe in 10-20 years from now...... when the current power brokers are pushing up daisies.
The Espionage Act, a law from the World War I era, essentially prohibits defendants from arguing that their actions were made in the public interest. Speaking to a New Hampshire audience on Saturday by Skype, Edward Snowden said he would come back to the United States to stand trial if the federal government guaranteed that it would be a fair one. "I've told the government I would return if they would guarantee a fair trial where I can make a public interest defense of why this was done and allow a jury to decide," Mr. Snowden, a US National Security Agency whistleblower, told an audience at the New Hampshire Liberty Forum, an event organized by the Free State Project, a libertarian organization. Viewed as a traitor by some and a patriot by others after his 2013 revelations of mass surveillance by the US government, Snowden was charged with three felonies, including two under the Espionage Act. The law, dating back to World War I, has been used against federal whistleblowers such as Daniel Ellsberg, a former US military analyst who in 1971 leaked the Pentagon Papers, revealing to the US public that the government had misled it about the Vietnam war, and Chelsea Manning, a US Army intelligence analyst who handed over 700,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks in 2010, revealing details about military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
Speaking to a New Hampshire audience on Saturday by Skype, Edward Snowden said he would come back to the United States to stand trial if the federal government guaranteed that it would be a fair one.
"I've told the government I would return if they would guarantee a fair trial where I can make a public interest defense of why this was done and allow a jury to decide," Mr. Snowden, a US National Security Agency whistleblower, told an audience at the New Hampshire Liberty Forum, an event organized by the Free State Project, a libertarian organization.
Viewed as a traitor by some and a patriot by others after his 2013 revelations of mass surveillance by the US government, Snowden was charged with three felonies, including two under the Espionage Act. The law, dating back to World War I, has been used against federal whistleblowers such as Daniel Ellsberg, a former US military analyst who in 1971 leaked the Pentagon Papers, revealing to the US public that the government had misled it about the Vietnam war, and Chelsea Manning, a US Army intelligence analyst who handed over 700,000 classified documents to WikiLeaks in 2010, revealing details about military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Guantanamo Bay detention camp.
Read more @ http://news.yahoo.com/could-edward-snowden-fair-trial-returned-us-193715441.html
Read more @ https://www.rawstory.com/2016/02/edward-snowden-i-would-return-to-the-us-in-exchange-for-a-fair-trial/
NSA whistleblower, now in exile in Russia, visits Johns Hopkins virtually as part of Foreign Affairs Symposium A capacity crowd gathered at JHU's Shriver Hall on Wednesday night to hear NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden speak via live video conference from Russia as part of the student-run Foreign Affairs Symposium. Photos of the video broadcast were not permitted. Edward Snowden told a capacity crowd at Johns Hopkins on Wednesday night "it doesn't really matter what I think" about the covert surveillance data he exposed in June 2013. But Snowden's thoughts on intelligence gathering, data privacy, and other issues were precisely what everyone came to Shriver Hall to hear. "The focus on personalities really misses the point," Snowden said of the attention that has swirled around him over the past two and half years. "It's about us—it's about the world we want to live in." Exiled in Moscow, Snowden spoke live via video broadcast about both the international and personal ramifications of his role in one of the largest intelligence leaks in U.S. history, and more philosophically about the significance of privacy. The polarizing whistleblower, both glorified as a human rights activist and vilified as a national traitor, drew a crowd that fanned out across the Wyman Quad well before the venue's doors opened. The student-run Foreign Affairs Symposium arranged Snowden's talk to headline this year's speaker series.
A capacity crowd gathered at JHU's Shriver Hall on Wednesday night to hear NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden speak via live video conference from Russia as part of the student-run Foreign Affairs Symposium. Photos of the video broadcast were not permitted.
Edward Snowden told a capacity crowd at Johns Hopkins on Wednesday night "it doesn't really matter what I think" about the covert surveillance data he exposed in June 2013. But Snowden's thoughts on intelligence gathering, data privacy, and other issues were precisely what everyone came to Shriver Hall to hear.
"The focus on personalities really misses the point," Snowden said of the attention that has swirled around him over the past two and half years. "It's about us—it's about the world we want to live in."
Exiled in Moscow, Snowden spoke live via video broadcast about both the international and personal ramifications of his role in one of the largest intelligence leaks in U.S. history, and more philosophically about the significance of privacy.
The polarizing whistleblower, both glorified as a human rights activist and vilified as a national traitor, drew a crowd that fanned out across the Wyman Quad well before the venue's doors opened. The student-run Foreign Affairs Symposium arranged Snowden's talk to headline this year's speaker series.
Read more @ http://hub.jhu.edu/2016/02/18/edward-snowden-privacy-hopkins-fas
College senior Dan Swann stepped on stage, approached the laptop, and spoke to Russia. "Hello, Mr. Snowden. It's an honor." Behind him, the Johns Hopkins University auditorium was packed, some 1,300 who came to hear the former government contractor speak live from across the world. "What can future engineers do," asked Swann, a computer-science major from Annapolis, "to be sure the products they work on cannot be used to violate civil liberties?" Edward Snowden paused. "That's a good one." Hopkins students spent months arranging the live video conference Wednesday night with Snowden. In 2013, he leaked documents revealing the National Security Agency's massive telephone- and Internet-surveillance program. At Hopkins, he was greeted with applause. "He's a controversial figure," said Mona Jia, a junior who helped organize the video conference. "This was an important and timely topic." The conference came hours after the debate between privacy and security again made national news. Apple's chief executive said Wednesday his company would challenge a court order demanding the company's help in the San Bernardino attack investigation. Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook said the FBI requested the company develop software to hack into an iPhone used by the gunman.
College senior Dan Swann stepped on stage, approached the laptop, and spoke to Russia. "Hello, Mr. Snowden. It's an honor."
Behind him, the Johns Hopkins University auditorium was packed, some 1,300 who came to hear the former government contractor speak live from across the world.
"What can future engineers do," asked Swann, a computer-science major from Annapolis, "to be sure the products they work on cannot be used to violate civil liberties?"
Edward Snowden paused. "That's a good one."
In 2013, he leaked documents revealing the National Security Agency's massive telephone- and Internet-surveillance program. At Hopkins, he was greeted with applause.
"He's a controversial figure," said Mona Jia, a junior who helped organize the video conference. "This was an important and timely topic."
The conference came hours after the debate between privacy and security again made national news. Apple's chief executive said Wednesday his company would challenge a court order demanding the company's help in the San Bernardino attack investigation. Apple Inc. CEO Tim Cook said the FBI requested the company develop software to hack into an iPhone used by the gunman.
Read more @ http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/bs-md-snowden-hopkins-20160217-story.html
Whistleblower’s speech is part of Simon Fraser University program examining the opportunities and dangers of online data gathering. VANCOUVER—Edward Snowden, considered everything from a heroic whistleblower to a traitor, is making a cyber visit to British Columbia. Snowden will make the keynote presentation, via web link, as part of a Simon Fraser University program examining the opportunities and dangers of online data gathering. The presentation, at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Apr. 5, will be followed by a moderated discussion with expert panellists from SFU and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association. Snowden is a former employee of the National Security Agency in the United States.
VANCOUVER—Edward Snowden, considered everything from a heroic whistleblower to a traitor, is making a cyber visit to British Columbia.
Snowden will make the keynote presentation, via web link, as part of a Simon Fraser University program examining the opportunities and dangers of online data gathering.
The presentation, at Vancouver’s Queen Elizabeth Theatre on Apr. 5, will be followed by a moderated discussion with expert panellists from SFU and the B.C. Civil Liberties Association.
Snowden is a former employee of the National Security Agency in the United States.
Read more @ http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/02/19/nsa-whistleblower-edward-snowden-to-give-bc-keynote-on-online-data-gathering-via-web-link.html
Privacy is a fundamental human right essential for living in dignity and security. This is why it is necessary that European countries pause and get back on the right track. European countries have made remarkable progress in the last decades to ensure individual freedoms and shield people from undue state interference. The European system of human rights protection is today among the most advanced in the world. However, there is little room for complacency: a number of cracks have appeared in this system and are widening. One of the biggest comes from counter-terrorism measures considered or enacted across Europe, in particular those which increase mass surveillance. Many of these measures grant more intrusive powers to security services to snoop on our lives and centralise powers in the hands of the executive, thus circumventing judicial safeguards necessary in any democracy rooted in the rule of law. A number of countries are very active on this front. For example, France is discussing a criminal law reform which would enable the police to use very intrusive surveillance tools in criminal cases. This occurs a few months after it adopted two other highly controversial laws which permit major intrusions, without prior judicial authorisation, into the private lives not only of suspects but also of persons who communicate with them, live or work in the same place or even just happen to be near them. The Austrian Parliament has adopted a law which allows a new security agency to operate with reduced external control and to collect and store communication data for up to six years.
Privacy is a fundamental human right essential for living in dignity and security. This is why it is necessary that European countries pause and get back on the right track.
European countries have made remarkable progress in the last decades to ensure individual freedoms and shield people from undue state interference. The European system of human rights protection is today among the most advanced in the world. However, there is little room for complacency: a number of cracks have appeared in this system and are widening.
One of the biggest comes from counter-terrorism measures considered or enacted across Europe, in particular those which increase mass surveillance. Many of these measures grant more intrusive powers to security services to snoop on our lives and centralise powers in the hands of the executive, thus circumventing judicial safeguards necessary in any democracy rooted in the rule of law.
A number of countries are very active on this front. For example, France is discussing a criminal law reform which would enable the police to use very intrusive surveillance tools in criminal cases. This occurs a few months after it adopted two other highly controversial laws which permit major intrusions, without prior judicial authorisation, into the private lives not only of suspects but also of persons who communicate with them, live or work in the same place or even just happen to be near them.
The Austrian Parliament has adopted a law which allows a new security agency to operate with reduced external control and to collect and store communication data for up to six years.
Read more @ https://www.opendemocracy.net/digitaliberties/nils-mui-nieks/human-rights-in-europe-should-not-buckle-under-mass-surveillance
Apple has been directed by a federal court judge in the US to provide “reasonable technical assistance” to bypass the security features of an iPhone that is part of the evidence in the trial of Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the terrorists alleged to have been involved in an attack in San Bernardino, California last December. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, penned a public letter saying this creates a dangerous precedent that will compromise the security of every iPhone user on the planet. More broadly, if Apple is forced to comply with this curative then Google is likely to find itself in the same position in future as it uses similar means to protect Android devices. The issue is the iPhone’s encryption keys are not held by Apple in any way. The only way for Apple to access the data on your device is for it to create a hacked version of iOS with a backdoor, which is what US Attorney Patricia A Donahue is asking Apple to do. The US Government has taken some extraordinary steps to access the data of individuals and organisations. It has been reported that the NSA intercepts networking equipment en route to customers, installs hardware so it can spy on network traffic, and then reseals the equipment before delivering it to the actual customer. And there’s no doubt we are under more surveillance than ever before with metadata retention in Australia already undergoing scope creep.
Apple has been directed by a federal court judge in the US to provide “reasonable technical assistance” to bypass the security features of an iPhone that is part of the evidence in the trial of Syed Rizwan Farook, one of the terrorists alleged to have been involved in an attack in San Bernardino, California last December.
Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, penned a public letter saying this creates a dangerous precedent that will compromise the security of every iPhone user on the planet. More broadly, if Apple is forced to comply with this curative then Google is likely to find itself in the same position in future as it uses similar means to protect Android devices.
The issue is the iPhone’s encryption keys are not held by Apple in any way. The only way for Apple to access the data on your device is for it to create a hacked version of iOS with a backdoor, which is what US Attorney Patricia A Donahue is asking Apple to do.
The US Government has taken some extraordinary steps to access the data of individuals and organisations.
It has been reported that the NSA intercepts networking equipment en route to customers, installs hardware so it can spy on network traffic, and then reseals the equipment before delivering it to the actual customer. And there’s no doubt we are under more surveillance than ever before with metadata retention in Australia already undergoing scope creep.
Read more @ http://www.macworld.com.au/news/apples-letter-to-customer-and-a-bigger-picture-141844/
The UK Joint Committee has revealed its long-awaited report into the feasibility of the surveillance proposals in the controversial draft Investigatory Powers Bill – also known as the Snoopers' Charter. The report is roughly 200-pages long and contains 86 recommendations in total to the government on issues such as bulk snooping, targeted surveillance and encryption. First unveiled in November last year by Home Secretary Theresa May, the bill aims to bolster the spying powers available to the UK government, police and intelligence agencies. The text includes proposals that would force service providers to store data for 12 months, allow cyber spooks to legally hack into targeted computers and expand the use of bulk spying capabilities. In many cases, it seeks to legitimise many of the powers exposed by former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden back in 2013.
The UK Joint Committee has revealed its long-awaited report into the feasibility of the surveillance proposals in the controversial draft Investigatory Powers Bill – also known as the Snoopers' Charter. The report is roughly 200-pages long and contains 86 recommendations in total to the government on issues such as bulk snooping, targeted surveillance and encryption.
First unveiled in November last year by Home Secretary Theresa May, the bill aims to bolster the spying powers available to the UK government, police and intelligence agencies. The text includes proposals that would force service providers to store data for 12 months, allow cyber spooks to legally hack into targeted computers and expand the use of bulk spying capabilities. In many cases, it seeks to legitimise many of the powers exposed by former NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden back in 2013.
Read more @ http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/encryption-bulk-spying-highlights-joint-committee-report-snoopers-charter-1543283
Edward Snowden is going to stay in hiding for four months longer than expected. Or the movie version of him, that is, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Oliver Stone’s biopic Snowden. Open Road Films, the indie distributor which scored its first best picture Oscar nomination last month with Spotlight, confirmed today that Snowden will open in theaters on Sept. 16 instead of its previously reserved date of May 13.
Read more @ http://www.ew.com/article/2016/02/19/snowden-movie-delayed
A bronze coloured bust by the artists Jeff Greenspan and Andrew Tider of the whistleblower Edward Snowden, has been unveiled at the Brooklyn Museum. The four-foot, 100-pound bespectacled statue was previously removed by police from a plinth on the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene Park. Originally it was placed anonymously but the artists revealed themselves when they tried to claim back the sculpture. “It would be a dishonour to those memorialised here to not laud those who protect the ideals they fought for, as Snowden has by bringing the National Security Administration’s 4th amendment violating surveillance programmes to light,” the artists said in a statement. The statue was shown at the Postmasters gallery in New York last summer, and is now part of Agitprop!, an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum (until 7 August).
A bronze coloured bust by the artists Jeff Greenspan and Andrew Tider of the whistleblower Edward Snowden, has been unveiled at the Brooklyn Museum. The four-foot, 100-pound bespectacled statue was previously removed by police from a plinth on the Prison Ship Martyrs’ Monument in Brooklyn’s Fort Greene Park. Originally it was placed anonymously but the artists revealed themselves when they tried to claim back the sculpture.
“It would be a dishonour to those memorialised here to not laud those who protect the ideals they fought for, as Snowden has by bringing the National Security Administration’s 4th amendment violating surveillance programmes to light,” the artists said in a statement. The statue was shown at the Postmasters gallery in New York last summer, and is now part of Agitprop!, an exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum (until 7 August).
Read more @ http://www.artlyst.com/articles/edward-snowden-bronze-bust-exhibited-at-brooklyn-museum-agitprop-exhibition
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