All your tweets are belong to us – or rather, the USA government
January 9, 2011 74
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Most everyone has heard about the Wikileaks, erm, leak drama regarding United States diplomatic cables. Since the leak, the US government has started an investigation to try to bring Wikileaks “to justice”. I put “to justice” in quotes not because I am taking the side of Wikileaks (I am neither pro or anti Wikileaks), but rather because not everyone agrees on this matter. Anyway, apparently as part of this investigation, the US Attorney’s office has convinced a District Court judge data held by Twitter is “relevant and material to [the] ongoing criminal investigation”; Twitter has been subpoenaed to hand over data related to various different Twitter accounts but the two big names in the list are Julian Assange, the founder/CEO/whatever of Wikileaks, and Birgitta Jonsdottir, an Icelandic MP.
Originally the subpoena came with a gag order, but Twitter fought back and the gag order was lifted; Twitter is now legally allowed to let the public – and the respective account holders – know about the US Attorney’s Office’s demand to hand over data.
According to the BBC, the data demanded from Twitter by the US Attorney’s office includes “mailing addresses and billing information, connection records and session times, IP addresses used to access Twitter, email accounts, as well as the ‘means and source of payment’”.
While I am not pro/anti Wikileaks, USA government, or Iranian government, the following response by Julian Assange (to this Twitter subpoena) really struck home with me:
If the Iranian government was to attempt to coercively obtain this information from journalists and activists of foreign nations, human rights groups around the world would speak out.
As I said, I am not pro/anti any of the parties involved; however, I can’t help but agree with Assange. There definitely are double-standards when it comes to politics, especially on a global scale.
Furthermore, personally speaking, while I understand why the US Attorney’s Office is looking into all things Assange (they really want to take this guy down, badly), I feel the investigation into an foreign dignitary (i.e. Birgitta Jonsdottir) may turn out to be a big mistake. Of course, Iceland may just brush off the investigation and not pursue any diplomatic repercussions, but they may also react strongly to one of their MPs being investigated by the USA government. I am sure the United States government would react if an American congressperson was being invested abroad.
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. Feel free to discuss in the comments below (consider this an open politics discussion thread), but keep it civil.
[via BBC News]
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Candidate Obama promised that things would be different. Evidently, he forgot to tell that to President Obama who is trying his best to emulate The Village Idiot on this (and just about every other) issue.
Sad, it is.
My head hurts. Everybody is somehow right and somehow wrong. Or not ? Or what ?
Any time a government or government agency issues a gag order a HUGE red flag should pop up. The US government, now in power, believes it is above the law and has pushed many things on us that are contradictory to what the Constitution allows. Freedom of press was written very broadly so as to include all forms of documents, paper or electronic, and the government holds no power to squelch anything that falls under that protection. We, the People need to stand up and take control back from the thieves and collaborators who repeatedly violate our rights.
The government needs to operate in the open, where their actions can be monitored and judged by the people they represent. This includes ALL actions by anyone at all levels of government. Then, whenever the people find a government official violating the law, the person needs to be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Too many dirty deals are made that the people are unaware of.
Asange is in the same position as anyone running a newspaper and the documents he publishes are protected under the constitution. If the government is allowed to prosecute him, that will open the door where they will then be able to prosecute any reporter or publisher who publishes anything they don’t agree with. Publishers like Asange need the public to back their actions up, otherwise the government will feel they have the right to do anything they like, legal or not.
Now is the time to contact your representatives and voice how you feel on this matter, or plan to have the Constitution re-written and have the most important phrase it holds, “We the People” removed. Then all the sheeple in the US will be able to follow everything the leaders choose or be prosecuted for no-longer having any rights.
Does anyone remember Watergate/Deep Throat?
My question is, how much difference is there from today?
@a simple happy man: and @Jerry H.:
Please elaborate why. I don’t see why it is so wrong to post and discuss a current event, especially since it is related to tech. I would understand if people flamed me for taking sides on the issue, but I clearly am not; instead I am being a neutral moderator allowing dotTechies to express their minds and share their thoughts on the idea. Would you say the BBC “failed” for posting this? Or would you be surprised CNN posted about it? Probably not. So what’s the issue with posting about it here? I understand disagreeing with my opinions on the matter (not everyone has to agree with me); but what I don’t understand is disagreement regarding if this topic should be posted about or not. We aren’t under a gag order. :-P
That said, anyone curious about my personal viewpoint on the matter: While I won’t go into specific details, I am one of those people that believes all parties involved, Wikileaks/Assange and the USA government, are at fault. Neither one’s actions are 100% wrong or right and I feel both could have handled the situation better.
@nene:
Why is it that [bleep] who watch faux news have no clue about what is right and wrong????
Julian is a TRUE HERO! I’ve found that one’s remarks re him say volumes about a person….
/Hugging the flag when it’s become soiled with hypocrisy and deceit is the act of an idiot
/What the fark happened to obama??? So much promise…..and yet he’s turned out to be a turncoat
for all his supporters. Thank gawd Pelosi still cares…..
/The chamber of commerce in the US is PURE EVIL!!!
@Robert: No name calling, please. Remember, keep it civil.
I think there three elements to this:
#1 Anybody posting anything on line, be it Twitter, Facebook or (dare I sat it) dotTech, has as much privacy as if you put your message on a neighborhood wall with a paint spray.
#2 Ayone who upsets their own or someone else’s Government is going to get swatted big time.
#3 The US Government is very pink-faced (embarrassed) that a foot soldier of lowly rank was able to access, download, retain and eventually transfer to a third party (Wikileaks) what was very sensitive (secret) information.
This last the reason for the high-handed action of the US Attorney’s Office. It distracts the public from such carelessness and appeases the red-neck politicians who want somebody hung or shot or both.
I don’t know the rights or wrongs about the leaking of this information, but I do know that somebody leaked that a British Government appointed committee looking into British Members of Parliament expenses were “editing” them until somebody blew the whistle and got a major Newspaper involved. Three days ago one of these elected “representatives got 18 months jail for falsifying his expenses. Three more MP’s and 3 members of the House of Lords (equiv. to US Senate) are on trial. So some whistle blowing is worthwhile.
jayesstee.
@jayesstee: As a side note, I love how the British has a “House of Lords”. The name just tickles me: “We politicians are your lords”, hehe.
@Ashraf, the aint real lords anymore, just political appointees, not so much the “great and the good”, more the “wealthy and willing to contribute to the political parties”!
Power to the people (and dotTech).
jayesstee.
I can’t see how the US government can accuse a non-US citizen or resident of committing a crime against US law for behaviour that did not occur within the USA.
It’s a bit like Iran wanting to convict and stone to death a US woman for adultery committed in the USA, and trying to extradite her to Iran for that purpose.
Really, I know the USA is generally a good global citizen, but this is pretty scary stuff.
@jayesstee: LOL I think I understand what part of the political divide you are on =P Yeah, I know they aren’t “real lords” – and I believe the name is because of prior British political system where you literally had to be a noblemen to sit in the House of Lords – but that doesn’t mean I can’t laugh at the name. xD
@annie: You know everything else said in this thread by other dotTechies I have pretty much discussed in my head (with myself :-P) already. However, the point you just brought up, the fact that the US government is trying to hold a non- US citizen/resident accountable , is a very good point and I didn’t even think about that. Makes the whole situation a bit more complex, huh?
The Democrats want socialism, the Republicans want Fascism. The “Patriot Act” gives them the power to accomplish this.
The US is on a very slippery slope that it is going to be almost impossible to stop the slide.
If the Attorney General decides to declare a state secrets clause to get the tweets, then that’s that. However, since they are allowed to monitor all communications anyway, this suit is just a formality.
wow! I was going to make a comment but after reading those above…..all I can say is glad to live in Canada.
pretty much free range here.
Free health care and the Government really does not care what you write or say as long as you pay your tax’s on time.
@Ashraf:
I wasn’t going to do this but you asked me to elaborate so I will.
Your banner is “dotTech – Professional Technologians”.
When i started joining in here it was a breath of fresh air to find a site where the owner was not only witty, but knew a whole lot more than me about tech (which isn’t hard) and had quite clear and positive uplifting ethics that he wouldn’t stick his fingers in pies that didn’t involve him (ie no re-hosting of freebies from magazine cover disks and stuff like that) and was quite likely to show me lots of new stuff that i could learn great things from, as well as having quite clear beliefs of his own that he would not discuss certain aspects of “TECH” online that were to do with contravening his own personal spirituality etcetera and for all of these things he deserved and received my respect and he still does.
However with this article dotTech its self just became A.N.OTHER bargain basement online gossip column akin to a newspaper tabloid equivalent called “The National Enquirer”
If it is reasonable to discuss these matters on dotTech because in your thoughts it has to do with “Tech”, or more appropriately, other peoples use of the tech resources available to them as well as yet others reactions to that use of those resources then surely it wouild be just as equally relevant to discuss matters pertaining to the way “Tech” is used in making porn movies and other dubious subjects.
It is your web site and of course you may do with it what you will, but I am assuming the subject I have touched on is taboo here on dotTech for family orientated and spiritual reasons that I am positive we have no need to discuss at all even with regards to the “Tech” side of those subjects (and I am really not interested in it either as I am just using it as a “for example”).
As I have hinted at we are not actually discussing the “Tech” side of the “WikiLeaks affair” here on dotTech.
What we are actually discussing is the moral, ethical, political and international minefield of an individual human being’s rights to free speech and liberty outside of the established territorial borders of a sovereign nation; a sovereign nation to which the individual has no established loyalty and is not a citizen of that nation and has (quite probably and more than likely) never sworn allegiance in any way shape or form to that nation.
And more importantly, it is that sovereign nation’s attempts to undermine every established one of that individual’s human rights to the well known international freedoms of free speech, and the liberties of an individual human being who is not one of their citizens or subjects that is called into question here.
And this subject is far more complex and involved than has already been elaborated upon because it has also to do with our God given freedoms too and as we all well know our individual core beliefs, spiritualities and religions have no place in open discussion on dotTech for really obvious reasons.
If a motoring magazine I was subscribed to suddenly started discussing the pros and cons of using vehicles in drive by gang shootings and requested their subscribers to contribute their own personal views as to their personal positives and negatives for any vehicles being used in this manner or not and whether the police had the right to interfere in a localised gang event or not, purely and simply because it had to do with “motoring”, I would seriously question not only whether the subject was one that the magazine should discuss at all but also the editorial staff’s motives about this and whether I wanted to continue to be linked with such a periodical, no matter what other benefits I might receive in other ways by continuing my subscription!
@Ashraf, even I don’t know which side of the political divide I am on! They all promise that they are on the side of the “man (person) in the street”, then once in power they screw him/her.
Anyway, all sides put their puppets into the House of Lords. This particular self-proclaimed front runner of democracy doesn’t have an elected upper house!
@Annie, I guess that’s what’s called the “global community”.
@Rob, you still got to buy your own snow blower.
jayesstee.
@Ashraf: But they are Lords in the House of Lords, Asraf! It’s the members of the House of Commons that are ‘commoners’. You can be a Lord by inheriting the title from your ancestor or by your ecclesiastical merit. I’m doubly stuffed for a seat in the House of Lords, what being the daughter of a commoner and a Humanist!
@a simple happy man
Beautiful sophisticated comment. Still, in my opinion one does not exclude the other one. It’s a matter of opinion and the matter will not be solved to everybodies satisfaction. Why don’t we end this discussion in a pleasant and orderly manner. Neither Assange or government ought to divide this forum. United we install software and enjoy, divided we just ruin our machines. Bushy and tacky. I know. :)
@Robert: I’d say that Assange is more a misguided hero than anything else. Yeah, politics is fraught with corruption, it always has been and always will be. Nobody can do anything about it.
I worry about what Assange has done. Every country needs to have ‘secrets’ from other countries. We are not living in a friendly world. Would you leave your house and walk for ten minutes before knocking on a random door and telling the occupant of the house your life story, your secrets, your bank details – anything and everything they could possibly ever ask about you? Would you let your friend do it, but to tell all your secrets instead of his own?
No? Why would any country choose to undermine it’s own stability or security for the sake of transparency towards people who don’t need to know some of these secrets?
Transparency is good, but it has it’s place. How many times have you seen or heard something (either good or bad) that doesn’t concern you or that you’d rather not know about?
Assange believes he was doing the right thing and I applaud him for that. He’s far from being a hero though, I just hope that everything can be smoothed out with no damage done. Some things I’d rather not know about if it means it’s going to keep our countries and lives as safe as possible.
@Sobalrio:
Thanks to Ashraf’s guidance and help here on dotTech I didn’t ruin my pc more than once last month and not once yet since mmm?…. well since last year!
And you are right our common unity is our common interest in all things good about software (and hardware) whatever our individual opinions and thoughts about world events might be and without Ashraf’s unstinting help my pc would be a lonely unserviceable pile of junk by now
Thanks Ashraf.
It’s baffling why any pro-USA wouldn’t be anti-Wikileaks as they have taken illegally obtained documents and made them public which put our (United States) troops in danger and since the data is hand picked to make us look bad added to the sleazy tactics of al jazeera, it just breeds more Islamic extremists ready to strap a bomb to themselves and blow themselves up along with as many as possible.
The mentally ill Julian Assange should be classified as an enemy combatant and hunted down.
As for the oddness of this article being posted st dottech, I think it’s better to shy away from such topics and vent politic thoughts at libertynewsforum.com which has a good balance of liberal and conservative members.
@a simple happy man: When I posted this article I honestly didn’t anticipate posting about this topic was so complicated. It is just something I read about on BBC and thought I should share. Similarly, I don’t see the relation between this topic and porn. Two whole different categories in my opinion.
However, at the same time, I can understand where some people may consider politics to be as taboo as porn on dotTech. Maybe this type of post would have been better made on the forums.
Thank you for the feedback; I appreciate it, especially you taking the time to explain why you consider this post inappropriate for dotTech. Let’s chalk this one up as a learning experience. I was going to make another political-tech post about how Americans may be getting a single online identity, but guess who has two thumbs and will layoff the topic? Yeah, that’s right: Me.
Nice to see Uncle Sam has been drinking his own koolaide! If they prosecute a non citizen for treason I don’t know how they in turn won’t try and do the same to everyone else in the world who speaks out against the wrongs of the American Govt. Talk about your Imperial attitude! And Ashraf Don’t even get me started on the whole internet i.d. thing. Bill Gates has been pushing that for a while well that and population reduction…..
Thanks for all you do for all of us here at your site Ashraf.
@jayesstee:
Actually they DO BECOME genuine Lords
Every hear of Lord Black? And look at all the trouble he got in with the govt….