Assange Watch

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 04 Jul 2013, 12:26

Reporters Without Borders weighs in for Snowden with an article in Le Monde.

Hillary Clinton gave a historic speech in which she defined freedom of expression as a cornerstone of American diplomacy. She reiterated that position in February, 2011, in another speech in which she said that “on the spectrum of internet freedom, we place ourselves on the side of openness.”

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 04 Jul 2013, 14:48

http://www.flexispy.com/

JohnB · Post by **JohnB** » 04 Jul 2013, 16:43

emordnilap wrote:http://www.flexispy.com/

OK. I give in. Is it a genuine site, or a spoof?

emordnilap · Post by **emordnilap** » 04 Jul 2013, 16:53

JohnB wrote:
emordnilap wrote:http://www.flexispy.com/
OK. I give in. Is it a genuine site, or a spoof?

$279 for Flexispy Extreme for a year. Listen in via someone else's iPhone. Go on, you know you wanna.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 05 Jul 2013, 00:26

Seems the Americans have been making a bit of thing about the day. Apparently the 4th of July and the 4th Amendment have some kind of connection.

RenewableCandy · Post by **RenewableCandy** » 05 Jul 2013, 17:28

Yeah, with the 4th Estate...

vtsnowedin · Post by **vtsnowedin** » 05 Jul 2013, 19:24

Well the fourth of July "Independence day" is a good time for people in the USA to think about such things.
http://www.bing.com/news/search?q=fourt ... &FORM=EWRE

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 06 Jul 2013, 09:10

A tweet:

'As head of state of Bolivarian Republic of #Venezuela, I have decided to offer asylum to Edward #Snowden' http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/9812 #freedom

UndercoverElephant · Post by **UndercoverElephant** » 06 Jul 2013, 09:59

Yeah, it's looking like he has a few options in South America now. The only question is about how he actually gets there. If I was him, I think I'd find myself an obscure fishing boat.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 11 Jul 2013, 22:53

More revelations in the Guardian:

Microsoft has collaborated closely with US intelligence services to allow users' communications to be intercepted, including helping the National Security Agency to circumvent the company's own encryption, according to top-secret documents obtained by the Guardian.

The files provided by Edward Snowden illustrate the scale of co-operation between Silicon Valley and the intelligence agencies over the last three years. They also shed new light on the workings of the top-secret Prism program, which was disclosed by the Guardian and the Washington Post last month.

The documents show that:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/ju ... -user-data

Little John · Post by **Little John** » 11 Jul 2013, 23:59

biffvernon wrote:More revelations in the Guardian:
Microsoft has collaborated closely with US intelligence services to allow users' communications to be intercepted, including helping the National Security Agency to circumvent the company's own encryption, according to top-secret documents obtained by the Guardian.

The files provided by Edward Snowden illustrate the scale of co-operation between Silicon Valley and the intelligence agencies over the last three years. They also shed new light on the workings of the top-secret Prism program, which was disclosed by the Guardian and the Washington Post last month.

The documents show that:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/ju ... -user-data

That's why I use Linux. I haven't had used Microsoft OS or associated software for over a year now. I'm buggered if I know why the hell I didn't do it sooner.

Laziness I guess.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 12 Jul 2013, 08:11

And the spooks don't know how to intercept data from Linux users? Being more on the open-source side wouldn't it be like writing your stuff on a picture postcard and actually posting it through GCHQ's front door?

Little John · Post by **Little John** » 12 Jul 2013, 09:02

biffvernon wrote:And the spooks don't know how to intercept data from Linux users? Being more on the open-source side wouldn't it be like writing your stuff on a picture postcard and actually posting it through GCHQ's front door?

Oh yes, they know how to get stuff off Linux, I'm sure. But Linux, being open source, can be easily attached to other pieces of software specifically designed to evade identification. Another thing about Linux is that is uses a massive encryption system that really is all but impossible to crack without the necessary codes. I know this from having read up about the authorities sending people off to jail for not handing over those encryption codes because the authorities were simply unable to crack them themselves. Furthermore, there are even versions of Linux specifically designed by the hacktivist community to evade the authorities' detection. Though, personally, I would not use them since it seems to me that those are the very ones most likely to be targeted for surveillance and/or attack by the authorities.

Then, there are other versions of Linux used to evade detection by being specifiably designed to be run off a pen drive so that any machine, anywhere in the world, can be quickly turned to temporary, personal and anonymous use.

On a less spooky front, there are yet other flavours of Linux designed to get old machines to keep on trucking long after the likes of Microsoft would have us to throw them out. "Puppy Linux", for example, will make a 10 year old laptop work like it just came out of the box.

And, best of all, it's all free. You can contribute to it, of course, and I have done so via the forums. It seems only fair given how wonderful it is.

biffvernon · Post by **biffvernon** » 12 Jul 2013, 22:33

Quite a bit of tangentially related stuff in this e-mail from the Pirate Party:

<http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/blog/2013 ... ened-june/>

Hello all,

The last month nearly killed our most active volunteers..

We have been working flat out on lots of our core issues including surveillance - with Prism, Tempora, Snowden - local government transparency, filtering and regulation as well as the usual stream of local issues. Its been hard, but it has also been a lot of fun and, I know we managed to have an impact. People have been writing to their MPs using our template <http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/blog/2013 ... e-your-mp/> and we have had many positive responses there too, its a start, people noticed, but there is more to do.

It has been great that our core issues have been so prominent in the press, fantastic that there has been a wider discussion about whistle-blowing and mass surveillance, but we need to keep working to show that there is a better way.

The campaigns team has also been working internationally, both on AntiPrism.eu <www.antiprism.eu> and with the German Pirate Party for their Bundestag election launch <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rKyu53whyg>. We will continue to build on this in the run up to the European Elections next year.

In the coming month we will continue to emphasise that mass surveillance is unacceptable, will continue highlighting the problems we see with the EU/US trade agreement and make the case that if we want quality IT education in schools, we must fund training for teachers. No doubt other issues will come up too and we will do all we can to respond.

You can make that easier, and help us be more effective by getting involved - If you want to help, or write an article for our blog or external agencies, get in touch with the campaigns team <campaigns@pirateparty.org.uk> and we will help you to do that.

* Local Organisation *

In our last member mail we said that we would work towards building more local branches, we have been doing that and I'd like to welcome Yorks new Branch Chair, Sephy Hallow, to the world of local Pirate politics.

We are starting to get local activities organised properly and, as we do so it seems more and more people are getting in touch to set up their own branches. We will try to do what we can to help you get started, but a great starting point would be to contact either York <york@pirateparty.org.uk> or Manchester <manchester@pirateparty.org.uk> to get an idea of how they did it.

The campaigns and treasury team have allocated some 'seed' funding to get things started too, so now is a great time to make the party more visible locally!.

* Candidates *

I will be contacting all of you that have offered to stand as candidates in the coming week, but there is still time for anyone who still wants to stand, whether now or in the future to get in touch <campaigns@pirateparty.org.uk>. You will have as much support as we can offer and an open line to people who have stood for the party before, or helped run elections if you do, you certainly won't be on your own.

* Vote Today (The polls close soon!)..*

The vote on whether we remain part of PPI closes on Sunday, so if you haven't read the background and voted, please take a moment to do so. <https://www.pirateparty.org.uk/vote/80/>.

I realise we've run rather a lot of votes so far this year (Yay for democracy) and they may all slightly be blurring into one, but this one is important. We are working on making sure we run elections concurrently to reduce the repeated demands for you to tick a box too.

I have also been asked whether we could include a method for spoiling a ballot in votes and I've passed that on to nominations - in the interim you could simply send any comments, questions, rants, poems or similar to the nominations team <nominations@pirateparty.org.uk>..

* Finance *

Our new Finance Officer (and deliverer of rural broadband) Sam Clarke is also now in post <http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/blog/2013 ... e-officer/> and setting up a mechanism for us to take bitcoin donations, as well as dealing with our financial administration. Our 2012 accounts are also now available from the electoral commission (you have to search PeF online), or from our site <https://www.pirateparty.org.uk/media/up ... c_2012.pdf>.

* Further Reading *

EU must offer whistle-blower 'protection' to likes of Snowden <http://www.publicserviceeurope.com/arti ... of-snowden>

The Internet Blame Game - Watching the Watchers <http://www.publicserviceeurope.com/arti ... e-watchers>

Who Owns Knowledge <http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/blog/2013 ... knowledge/>

Snowden and Asylum #EuropeFail <http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/blog/2013 ... uropefail/>

Leader's Update: The Pirate Party and PRISM <http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/blog/2013 ... and-prism/>

Why Is the UK the Most Censored Nation in Europe? -
<http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/blog/2013 ... on-europe/>

A Reddit discussion about our Manifesto <http://www.reddit.com/r/ukpolitics/comm ... manifesto/>

There is much more on the party blog too <http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/blog> and of course in local and national reporting.

* Diary Dates *

* Party Conference
Saturday and Sunday the 12th and 12th of October 2013
Manchester - (Tickets will go on sale and the event will be formally announced shortly)

* Support Us *

We need your support to keep doing what we are doing. We are all volunteers, membership fees keep us going and your donations help us to run campaigns and elections. Anything at all helps:

* Update or renew your membership - <https://www.pirateparty.org.uk/party/membership/>
* Donate to the Pirate Party - <http://www.pirateparty.org.uk/party/donate/>

Thank you -

--
Campaigns Team
Pirate Party UK

For more information on the Pirate Party UK, please visit our website at http://www.pirateparty.org.uk. If you wish to receive regular press statements from the Party (or no longer wish to receive them) please email the Press Office at press@pirateparty.org.uk. The Pirate Party UK is a political party registered at 26 Cleveland Street, Upperthorpe, Sheffield, United Kingdom.
_____________________________________________________________

JavaScriptDonkey · Post by **JavaScriptDonkey** » 12 Jul 2013, 23:10

stevecook172001 wrote:Oh yes, they know how to get stuff off Linux, I'm sure. But Linux, being open source, can be easily attached to other pieces of software specifically designed to evade identification. Another thing about Linux is that is uses a massive encryption system that really is all but impossible to crack without the necessary codes. I know this from having read up about the authorities sending people off to jail for not handing over those encryption codes because the authorities were simply unable to crack them themselves. Furthermore, there are even versions of Linux specifically designed by the hacktivist community to evade the authorities' detection. Though, personally, I would not use them since it seems to me that those are the very ones most likely to be targeted for surveillance and/or attack by the authorities.

Then, there are other versions of Linux used to evade detection by being specifiably designed to be run off a pen drive so that any machine, anywhere in the world, can be quickly turned to temporary, personal and anonymous use.

On a less spooky front, there are yet other flavours of Linux designed to get old machines to keep on trucking long after the likes of Microsoft would have us to throw them out. "Puppy Linux", for example, will make a 10 year old laptop work like it just came out of the box.

And, best of all, it's all free. You can contribute to it, of course, and I have done so via the forums. It seems only fair given how wonderful it is.

Didn't you used to teach IT?

Would explain a lot about the deplorable state of computer skills in the country.

Linux is an OS and as such is not usefully encrypted and cannot be attached in any meaningful way.

Linux is a Unix clone; no more no less.

Open source software will run on MS as well as Linux. It is just software and will run where ever it is written and compiled for.

Many servers boot from USB drives that contain either VMware or Windows server OS flavours. The technology relies more on the drive than the programming.

Encryption of communications is universal to MS, Apple & *nixes in that you can apply the same standards to all of them.

From a standpoint of out-of-the-box vanilla security I'd go as far to suggest that Windows8 out paces any Linux variant you can install. BitLocker for instance (a W7 technology) using TPM makes recovery impossible without the original private key.

But that isn't really the point. The point is about communications. if you fail to encrypt your emails of obfuscate your browsing habits then they are passing in the clear for anyone to catch. As a lot of servers are in the US that means the USG can and will catch those packets 'just to be safe'.

Worse even than that, we know that eventually all encryption schemes become vulnerable (PPTP based VPNs) so we can expect current schemes to also contain vulnerabilities. We also know that unlike private researchers, Government funded agencies do not advertise their cracking abilities.

Lastly, you have no idea at all who has contributed code to OS projects and many are so large that no one person can fully understand the program. If I was a large Asian super power with limitless resources I'd be all over that.