*Brilliant: USA vs #NSA <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23NSA&src=hash>Animation http://youtu.be/55D-ybnYQSs <http://t.co/mT3EhoscPO> * * * * * *
worth a read: transcript of Professor Benkler evidence today in #Manning<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Manning&src=hash>case on importance of #WikiLeaks <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23WikiLeaks&src=hash> https:// pressfreedomfoundation.org/sites/default/files/07-10-13-AM-session.pdf <https://t.co/zwFutAjwJU> * * * * https://pressfreedomfoundation.org/sites/default/files/07-10-13-AM-session.pdf * * * * * * * * * *RELEASE: Statement read by Edward #Snowden<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Snowden&src=hash>to human rights groups at Moscow airport today http://wikileaks.org/Statement-by-Edward-Snowden-to.html <http://t.co/HEpWd0QFaG> #snowden <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23snowden&src=hash> #nsa<https://twitter.com/search?q=%23nsa&src=hash> #prism <https://twitter.com/search?q=%23prism&src=hash> * * * Edward Snowden Invokes Nuremberg in Defending His Actions<http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/07/12/edward-snowden-invokes-nuremberg-in-defending-his-actions/> By: emptywheel <http://www.emptywheel.net/author/emptywheel/> Friday July 12, 2013 11:24 am Heres his speech: Hello. My name is Ed Snowden. A little over one month ago, I had family, a home in paradise, and I lived in great comfort. I also had the capability without any warrant to search for, seize, and read your communications. Anyones communications at any time. That is the power to change peoples fates. It is also a serious violation of the law. The 4th and 5th Amendments to the Constitution of my country, Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and numerous statutes and treaties forbid such systems of massive, pervasive surveillance. While the US Constitution marks these programs as illegal, my government argues that secret court rulings, which the world is not permitted to see, somehow legitimize an illegal affair. These rulings simply corrupt the most basic notion of justice that it must be seen to be done. The immoral cannot be made moral through the use of secret law. I believe in the principle declared at Nuremberg in 1945: Individuals have international duties which transcend the national obligations of obedience. Therefore individual citizens have the duty to violate domestic laws to prevent crimes against peace and humanity from occurring. Accordingly, I did what I believed right and began a campaign to correct this wrongdoing. I did not seek to enrich myself. I did not seek to sell US secrets. I did not partner with any foreign government to guarantee my safety. Instead, I took what I knew to the public, so what affects all of us can be discussed by all of us in the light of day, and I asked the world for justice. That moral decision to tell the public about spying that affects all of us has been costly, but it was the right thing to do and I have no regrets. Since that time, the government and intelligence services of the United States of America have attempted to make an example of me, a warning to all others who might speak out as I have. I have been made stateless and hounded for my act of political expression. The United States Government has placed me on no-fly lists. It demanded Hong Kong return me outside of the framework of its laws, in direct violation of the principle of non-refoulement the Law of Nations. It has threatened with sanctions countries who would stand up for my human rights and the UN asylum system. It has even taken the unprecedented step of ordering military allies to ground a Latin American presidents plane in search for a political refugee. These dangerous escalations represent a threat not just to the dignity of Latin America, but to the basic rights shared by every person, every nation, to live free from persecution, and to seek and enjoy asylum. Yet even in the face of this historically disproportionate aggression, countries around the world have offered support and asylum. These nations, including Russia, Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, and Ecuador have my gratitude and respect for being the first to stand against human rights violations carried out by the powerful rather than the powerless. By refusing to compromise their principles in the face of intimidation, they have earned the respect of the world. It is my intention to travel to each of these countries to extend my personal thanks to their people and leaders. I announce today my formal acceptance of all offers of support or asylum I have been extended and all others that may be offered in the future. With, for example, the grant of asylum provided by Venezuelas President Maduro, my asylee status is now formal, and no state has a basis by which to limit or interfere with my right to enjoy that asylum. As we have seen, however, some governments in Western European and North American states have demonstrated a willingness to act outside the law, and this behavior persists today. This unlawful threat makes it impossible for me to travel to Latin America and enjoy the asylum granted there in accordance with our shared rights. This willingness by powerful states to act extra-legally represents a threat to all of us, and must not be allowed to succeed. Accordingly, I ask for your assistance in requesting guarantees of safe passage from the relevant nations in securing my travel to Latin America, as well as requesting asylum in Russia until such time as these states accede to law and my legal travel is permitted. I will be submitting my request to Russia today, and hope it will be accepted favorably. Posted in FISA <http://www.emptywheel.net/category/fisa/>, PATRIOT<http://www.emptywheel.net/category/patriot/> , WikiLeaks <http://www.emptywheel.net/category/wikileaks/> | Tagged Edward Snowden <http://www.emptywheel.net/tag/edward-snowden/> | *7* Replies<http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/07/12/edward-snowden-invokes-nuremberg-in-defending-his-actions/#comments>NSA Undermines Past Leaked Narrative about Edward Snowden with New Ones<http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/07/12/nsa-undermines-past-leaked-narrative-about-edward-snowden-with-new-ones/> By: emptywheel <http://www.emptywheel.net/author/emptywheel/> Friday July 12, 2013 11:17 am The 21st paragraph of this 22 paragraph article<http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/nsas-snowden-case-review-focuses-on-possible-access-to-china-espionage-files-officials-say/2013/07/11/9ba0f004-e9a1-11e2-8f22-de4bd2a2bd39_story.html> on what Edward Snowden may have taken from the NSA reads. But that also made it easier for systems administrators such as Snowden, whose job was to make sure the networks worked properly, to gain access to files. WaPos sources apparently have a different understanding of what NSA/Booz paid Edward Snowden to do than the NYT, which says<http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/07/05/daily-report-snowden-trained-as-hacker-while-with-n-s-a-rsum-says/> he was a hacker, not a systems administrator. Yet in spite of the effort to make Snowden seem like an innocuous systems administrator, WaPo reports that based on a review of what Snowden was able to review within the agencys systems, the NSA is most worried that Snowden will reveal how we hack into other countries networks, especially those of the Chinese. But the release of information on how the NSA has penetrated Chinese networks would be especially damaging. Its not in the interests of the United States for the Chinese to know exactly how we do it, said a former intelligence official. Its sources and methods. U.S. officials also fear that some of the documents Snowden has turned over to journalists disclose NSA methods of hacking into overseas networks, and, if published, will lead targets in other countries in the Middle East, Europe, East Asia and South Asia to take new defensive actions. And the article uses that word, hack, twice to refer to our actions (and once to refer to Chinas). The article notes that Snowden has said, he has no desire to publicize information that describes the technical specifications or blueprints for how the NSA has constructed its eavesdropping network. So it points to the files people like the Guardian (which it also notes refuses to publish everything it has because the materials are sensitive) to create the specter of a threat this will happen. (The story doesnt mention WikiLeaks, perhaps having learned its lesson after Walter Pincus had to make extensive corrections to a story making unsupported allegations about WikiLeaks, but I would bet that is the unspoken worry.) In other words, the story confirms Snowden did not take any collected intelligence, and that he knows what we suspect a paid NSA hacker would know, but has not yet publicly leaked that (aside from very sketchy details to the South China Morning Post), which is what the NSA most fears he might leak. He has instead focused on the surveillance of individuals. But in spite of the fact that that is what the article reports, that is presented as reason to be terrified by Edward Snowden. Spying on Americans: A Team Sport Since 2004<http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/07/11/spying-on-americans-a-team-sport-since-2004/> By: emptywheel <http://www.emptywheel.net/author/emptywheel/> Thursday July 11, 2013 6:39 pm [image: Screen shot 2013-07-11 at 6.25.06 PM]<http://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Screen-shot-2013-07-11-at-6.25.06-PM.png>One of the more colorful revelations in todays Guardian scoop<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data> is the newsletter piece that describes increased sharing of PRISM (Section 702) data with FBI and CIA. The information the NSA collects from Prism is routinely shared with both the FBI and CIA. A 3 August 2012 newsletter describes how the NSA has recently expanded sharing with the other two agencies. The NSA, the entry reveals, has even automated the sharing of aspects of Prism, using software that enables our partners to see which selectors [search terms] the National Security Agency has tasked to Prism. The document continues: The FBI and CIA then can request a copy ofPrism collection of any selector As a result, the author notes: these two activities underscore the point that Prism is a team sport! But thats something that has actually been built into the program for years. While the Joint IG Report <https://www.fas.org/irp/eprint/psp.pdf> on the illegal wiretap program claimed, NSA also was responsible for conducting the actual collection of information under the PSP and disseminating intelligence reports to other agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) for analysis and possible investigation. The Draft NSA IG Report<http://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/090324-Draft-NSA-IG-Report.pdf> explained, *Coordination with FBI and CIA.* By 2004, four FBI integrees and two CIA integrees, operating under SIGINT authorities in accordance with written agreements, were co-located with NSA PSP-cleared analysts. The purpose of co-locating these individuals was to improve collaborative analytic efforts. And the minimization procedures<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2013/jun/20/exhibit-b-nsa-procedures-document> released by the Guardian (which date to 2009), make it clear NSA can provided unminimized content to CIA and FBI on whatever selectors they request. 6(c) (1) NSA may provide to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) unminimized communications acquired pursuant to section 702 of the Act. CIA will identify to NSA targets for which NSA may provide unminimized communications to CIA. CIA will process any such unminimized communications received from NSA in accordance with CIA minimization procedures adopted by the Attorney General, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, pursuant to subsection 702(e) of the Act. (2) NSA may provide to the FBI unminimized communications acquired pursuant to section 702 of the Act. FBI will identify to NSA targets for which NSA may provide unminimized communications to the FBI. FBI will process any such unminimized communications received from NSA in accordance with FBI minimization procedures adopted by the Attorney General, in consultation with the Director of National Intelligence, pursuant to subsection 702(e) of the Act. And none of that should be surprising, given the tasking slide above that was first published by the WaPo<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/special/politics/prism-collection-documents/?hpid=z1>. FBI, at least, is solidly in the midst of this collection, for a program deemed to be foreign intelligence collection. There have been a variety of claims about all this team sport participation. But Im not convinced any of them explain how all this works. And in perhaps related news, the Fifth Circuit today said<http://legaltimes.typepad.com/files/hasan-fisa.pdf> that Nidal Hasan could not have access to the FISA material on him, in spite of the fact that William Webster published<http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/press-releases/final-report-of-the-william-h.-webster-commission> a 150 page report on it last year. Legally, that material should be utterly distinct from PRISM, since a wiretap on Anwar al-Awlaki would require a specific FISA warrant (and the latest Guardian scoop refers to expanded cooperation since 2012). But I suspect the reason Hasan, the FISA evidence against whom has already been extensively discussed, cant see it is because we would see what this actually looks like from the FBI side. DOJ has to protect its team, you know. The Evil Empire <http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/07/11/the-evil-empire/> By: emptywheel <http://www.emptywheel.net/author/emptywheel/> Thursday July 11, 2013 2:38 pm [image: Screen shot 2013-07-11 at 2.39.09 PM]<http://www.emptywheel.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/Screen-shot-2013-07-11-at-2.39.09-PM.png> The Guardian has its latest scoop<http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jul/11/microsoft-nsa-collaboration-user-data> on NSA spying, describing the extent to which Microsoft helps the government spy on its customers. This bullet list is just some of what the article reveals. - Microsoft helped the NSA to circumvent its encryption to address concerns that the agency would be unable to intercept web chats on the new Outlook.com portal; - The agency already had pre-encryption stage access to email on Outlook.com, including Hotmail; - The company worked with the FBI this year to allow the NSA easier access via Prism to its cloud storage service SkyDrive, which now has more than 250 million users worldwide; - Microsoft also worked with the FBIs Data Intercept Unit to understand potential issues with a feature in Outlook.com that allows users to create email aliases; - Skype, which was bought by Microsoft in October 2011, worked with intelligence agencies last year to allow Prism to collect video of conversations as well as audio; - Material collected through Prism is routinely shared with the FBI and CIA, with one NSA document describing the program as a team sport. But Im as interested in some of the details about the cooperation as the impact of that cooperation. For example, the story describes that this cooperation takes place through the Special Source Operations unit. The latest documents come from the NSAs Special Source Operations (SSO) division, described by Snowden as the crown jewel of the agency. It is responsible for all programs aimed at US communications systems through corporate partnerships such as Prism. But we saw<http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/06/29/yahoo-the-law-abiding-free-email-provider/> that when NSA approached (presumably) Microsoft in 2002, it did not approach via SSO; it used a more formal approach through counsel. In addition, note how Skype increased cooperation in the months before Microsoft purchased it for what was then considered a hugely inflated price<http://www.wired.com/business/2011/05/microsoft-buys-skype-2/>, and what is now being called<http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/28/us-cisco-microsoft-court-idUSBRE94R0N520130528> (in other legal jurisdictions) so dominant that it doesnt have to cooperate with others. One document boasts that Prism monitoring of Skype video production has roughly tripled since a new capability was added on 14 July 2012. The audio portions of these sessions have been processed correctly all along, but without the accompanying video. Now, analysts will have the complete picture, it says. Eight months before being bought by Microsoft, Skype joined the Prism program in February 2011. According to the NSA documents, work had begun on smoothly integrating Skype into Prism in November 2010, but it was not until 4 February 2011 that the company was served with a directive to comply signed by the attorney general. The NSA was able to start tasking Skype communications the following day, and collection began on 6 February. Feedback indicated that a collected Skype call was very clear and the metadata looked complete, the document stated, praising the co-operation between NSA teams and the FBI. Collaborative teamwork was the key to the successful addition of another provider to the Prism system. While this isnt as obvious as Verizons MCI purchase which for the first time led that carrier to hand over Internet data it does seem that those companies that cooperate with the NSA end up taking over their rivals. Remember, the Department of Commerce plays some kind of role<http://www.emptywheel.net/2013/06/08/why-is-us-government-intrusiveness-on-network-defense-less-than-on-prism/> in ensuring that companies cooperate in protecting our critical infrastructure. 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