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Barrett Brown back in custody

By on April 28, 2017 in Barret Brown, Civil rights, Deep State, Democracy, Free Information, Freedom of the Press, Hacktivism, US

Journalist and writer Barrett Brown, who was imprisoned after exposing private sector surveillance – has been detained again. The Intercept:

Brown quickly became a symbol of the attack on press freedom after he was arrested in 2012 for reporting he did on the hacked emails of intelligence-contracting firms. Brown wrote about hacked emails that showed the firm Stratfor spying on activists on behalf of corporations. Brown also helped uncover a proposal by intelligence contractors to hack and smear WikiLeaks defenders and progressive activists. (…)

According to his mother, who spoke with Brown by phone after his arrest, Brown believes the reason for his re-arrest was a failure to obtain “permission” to give interviews to media organizations. Several weeks ago, Brown was told by his check-in officer that he needed to fill out permission forms before giving interviews.

The Intercept: Formerly imprisoned journalist Barrett Brown taken back into custody before PBS interview »

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Wikileaks is about freedom of the press

By on April 22, 2017 in Assange, Big Government, Deep State, Democracy, Free Information, Freedom of the Press, US, Wikileaks

But if the US Department of Justice prosecutes Assange, as it reportedly may soon, he could become something else: the first journalist in modern history to be criminally charged by American courts for publishing classified information. WikiLeaks may not look like a traditional journalism outlet, but it shares the same ends—publishing true information from its sources. And that means legal action against Assange could threaten the freedom of the press as a whole.

Wired: The US Charging Julian Assange Could Put Press Freedom on Trial »

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Wikileaks – Truth is not a crime

By on April 21, 2017 in Assange, Big Government, Deep State, Democracy, Free Information, Freedom of the Press, Transparency, US, Wikileaks

The U.S. administration is raising its voice when it comes to Wikileaks and its editor in charge, Julian Assange.

According to CNN Attorney General Jeff Sessions said at a news conference Thursday that Assange’s arrest is a “priority.” (Link»)

We’ve already begun to step up our efforts and whenever a case can be made, we will seek to put some people in jail. (…)

“Julian Assange has no First Amendment freedoms. He’s sitting in an Embassy in London. He’s not a US citizen,” Pompeo said.

But there is opposition…

Ben Wizner, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Speech, Privacy and Technology Project, argued that US prosecution of Assange sets a dangerous precedent.

“Never in the history of this country has a publisher been prosecuted for presenting truthful information to the public,” Wizner told CNN. “Any prosecution of WikiLeaks for publishing government secrets would set a dangerous precedent that the Trump administration would surely use to target other news organizations.”

So, what is it that Wikileaks have done to stir the wrath of Washington?

Wikileaks has published »war diaries« from U.S. wars in Irak and Afghanistan: Exposing what has been done in the name of the American people, paid for by American taxpayers – to the American public.

This is how it should be in a democratic society. Without transparency, it will become impossible to hold those in power accountable. And it will make democratic elections pointless, as voters cannot make informed choices without the relevant information.

Wikileaks also has published U.S. Embassy cables, exposing the U.S. administration having double standards and lying to other countries (many of them allies) as well as to the American public.

Once again, exposing this is a democratic undertaking. In a democratic society, it is a significant problem if the government holds one set of policies in public and a different one behind the scenes. Power should be carried out in public, not in secret.

Wikileaks and Julian Assange have provided a remarkable service to society, to the American people, and to the world.

Going after Assange is going to war against transparency, the truth, the people – and democracy itself.

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CNN: US to charge Assange?

By on April 20, 2017 in Assange, Free Information, US, Wikileaks

US authorities have prepared charges to seek the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, US officials familiar with the matter tell CNN.

The Justice Department investigation of Assange and WikiLeaks dates to at least 2010, when the site first gained wide attention for posting thousands of files stolen by the former US Army intelligence analyst now known as Chelsea Manning.

Prosecutors have struggled with whether the First Amendment precluded the prosecution of Assange, but now believe they have found a way to move forward.

CNN » Sources: US prepares charges to seek arrest of WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange »

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Wikileaks a “non-state hostile intelligence service”?

By on April 17, 2017 in Assange, Big Government, Civil liberties, Civil rights, Deep State, Democracy, Free Information, Freedom of Speech, Rule of law, US, Wikileaks

In a speech Thursday at a Washington DC think tank, CIA Director Michael Pompeo called the whistleblower site WikiLeaks a “non-state hostile intelligence service” and said news organizations that reveal the government’s crimes are “enemies” of the United States. (…)

Referring to WikiLeaks’ founder, Pompeo declared that “Julian Assange has no First Amendment freedoms.” (…)

In his remarks, Pompeo said, “We have to recognize that we can no longer allow Assange and his colleagues the latitude to use free speech values against us. To give them the space to crush us with misappropriated secrets is a perversion of what our great Constitution stands for. It ends now.”

WSWS: CIA Director calls WikiLeaks an “enemy,” says Assange has “no First Amendment freedoms” »

Update, also read:

Techcrunch: Hypocritical CIA Director Goes On Rant About Wikileaks, Free Speech »

The Intercept: Trump’s CIA Director Pompeo, Targeting WikiLeaks, Explicitly Threatens Speech and Press Freedoms »

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The NSA SWIFT hack

By on April 17, 2017 in Big Brother, Data Protection, EU, Europol, IT security, NSA, Privacy, Rule of law, surveillance, US

Reuters: Hacker documents show NSA tools for breaching global money transfer system »

Documents and computer files released by hackers provide a blueprint for how the U.S. National Security Agency likely used weaknesses in commercially available software to gain access to the global system for transferring money between banks, a review of the data showed.

On Friday, a group calling itself the Shadow Brokers released documents and files indicating NSA had accessed the SWIFT money-transfer system through service providers in the Middle East and Latin America. That release was the latest in a series of disclosures by the group in recent months.

Told you so.

Below, video from the hearings on NSA and mass surveillance in the European Parliament, 24 September 2013 – where Europol and many others try to steer clear of the SWIFT issue. (Some translation problems during a few minutes in the video, but it soon gets better.)

Youtube »

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CIA vs. Wikileaks

By on April 14, 2017 in Big Brother, Free Information, US, Wikileaks

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies today, CIA Director Mike Pompeo went off on WikiLeaks. Pompeo is pretty mad about that whole Vault 7 hacking tools data dump, it looks like. “WikiLeaks walks like a hostile intelligence service and talks like a hostile intelligence service,” he declared Thursday. I think he means that it’s a hostile intelligence service!

Techcrunch: The CIA is really, really mad at WikiLeaks »

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European Parliament worried about EU-US Privacy Shield

By on April 6, 2017 in Big Brother, Data Protection, EU, EU-US Privacy Shield, NSA, Privacy, US

New rules allowing the US National Security Agency (NSA) to share private data with other US agencies without court oversight, recent revelations about surveillance activities by a US electronic communications service provider and vacancies on US oversight bodies are among the concerns raised by MEPs in a resolution passed on Thursday.

In short, the EU-US Privacy Shield (replacing the »Safe Harbour«-agreement) falls short – especially considering the actions of the new US administration.

Data Privacy Shield: MEPs alarmed at undermining of privacy safeguards in the US »

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In the US, threats to IT security comes from within

By on March 30, 2017 in Big Brother, Civil rights, IT security, NSA, US

That a major U.S. company had to rely on WikiLeaks to learn about security problems well-known to U.S. intelligence agencies underscores concerns expressed by dozens of current and former U.S. intelligence and security officials about the government’s approach to cybersecurity. (…)

Across the federal government, about 90 percent of all spending on cyber programs is dedicated to offensive efforts, including penetrating the computer systems of adversaries, listening to communications and developing the means to disable or degrade infrastructure, senior intelligence officials told Reuters.

Reuters: A scramble at Cisco exposes uncomfortable truths about U.S. cyber defense »

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