Hacker News Reader

throwaway10001on Google handed over years of e-mails belonging to WikiLeaks chatroom admin

Google has a legal team whose full-time job is pushing back on these requests. At some point, they have to either obey the law, or go to prison themselves. Get off your high horse.

Google has a business model whose entire premise is to push the envelope on privacy and to collect as much as possible and hold it forever--to make a few extra pennies per user. Get off your high horse. Google (and FB) is /are a menace to us all, even if only because they gather so much private data about us.

throwaway10001on Ecuador has received asylum request from NSA leaker Snowden

If Russia bent it's rules. Having been at many international airports, I can't see how a car entered that holding /transfer area. His passport has been cancelled but is there an international db to check valid vs non-valid ones? What if Russia made believe they never got the "Snowden's passport has been cancelled" memo?

throwaway10001on Ecuador has received asylum request from NSA leaker Snowden

I hope he has plan B, or starts planning it. Ecuador is a tiny country and can easily be influenced by USA once this government falls. In smaller countries when USA needs a favor, it "forgets" a few things their leader does when it comes to human rights, elections and so on.

throwaway10001on US whistleblower Edward Snowden believed to have landed in Russia

Not a movie, but I am betting that hundred of spies were elbowing each other over him in Hong Kong. What he had with him is a gold mine.

If they get an order to stop him from doing X, they have many tools at their arsenal

throwaway10001on US whistleblower Edward Snowden believed to have landed in Russia

If he'd stood up for US citizens rather than US enemies he could have remained in the US and fought his corner in the courts and the press.

He would be convicted, he clearly violated the law. An unjust law perhaps, but a law nonetheless. He swore not to give Top Secret to anyone without a security clearance and he obviously did.

It's possible that one of the room service delivery people was a Chinese agent and made Snowden an offer he couldn't refuse: "USA has issued an arrest warrant....we may have to arrest you...but...what do you have for us? "

throwaway10001on US whistleblower Edward Snowden believed to have landed in Russia

Armchair analysis. How about looking at his real alternatives? One was virtually 24 hour /day locked up in a sunless, concrete room the other going to Venezuela or Cuba to have a somewhat normal life. Hasn't he suffered enough, given what he gave up for the leaks? Must he burn alive too to please you?

throwaway10001on US whistleblower Edward Snowden believed to have landed in Russia

Surprised the cab to the airport didn't "break down" (or blow up) or he didn't get mugged on his way to the airport. My guess is that Chinese agents were keeping the CIA and Western ones at bay, since that ultimately is Chinese territory. I never for a minute believe that he was in hidden location, otherwise NSA and CIA should be disbanded.

While not ideal, Cuba is probably his best choice considering that China and Russia would not take /support him openly. The Chinese agents most likely cloned his drives one way or another and the Russians might do the same if there's a layover. It's really simple:

"Wanna go to Cuba? Yes? Fine, then do what Igor says."

throwaway10001on DuckDuckGo privacy: A search engine that doesn’t track its users

You miss the point: DDG offers just search and doesn't log much. Google for example has another 10 (?) or more data points to connect you with that search, logs as much as they can and they hold it for ages. On Google NSA has to just ask for it, not worry about decrypting it.

throwaway10001on U.S. asks Hong Kong to extradite Snowden

Someone, you know who, will call in a bomb and force the plane to land in UK, or Germany or another US satellite state. Or maybe USAF F-16s will greet the plane along the way

throwaway10001on WikiLeaks' Assange urges support for Snowden

No can do. The LatAM will change leadership and he'd be screwed sooner or later. Sadly, USA probably pushed him to commit treason and spill the guts on what USA does to China. He's very valuable to the Chinese; USA should have granted him a pardon, if he stopped talking and secured the materials. Bad precedent but...

throwaway10001on NSA surveillance may be legal – but it’s unconstitutional

It doesn't become unconstitutional when a court says so. From its inception either it is, or it isn't. The issue simply isn't decided until the court says so.

From a practical point of view there's no difference, we can split hairs if you want.

throwaway10001on Petition to pardon Edward Snowden reaches 100,000 signatures

On the other hand: Considering it takes just a minute to sign one, it's not that much of a downside. Unless NSA is adding the signatories to a special database :-)

At worst, it shows that a lot of people are listening and agreeing with Snowden regarding NSA's snooping

throwaway10001on NSA surveillance may be legal – but it’s unconstitutional

You have it wrong. Congress passes law to say, intercept all phone calls and store them. Until a court strikes it down is assumed constitutional and legal. You challenge it and then it becomes illegal and unconstitutional. (The court also changes its mind from time to time so it's not an exact science.)

throwaway10001on Email Sent by Michael Hastings Hours Before His Death Mentions ‘Big Story’

Accidents do happen, even after sending email warning about big stories and Fed investigations. But then it all depends on his "big story." It need not be the Government doing it, maybe some big fish to avoid jail, embarrassment or a fortune loss, called in a favor or paid to have the problem solved. Personally I could see both of them happening.

throwaway10001on U.S. charges Edward Snowden with espionage

So now is the time to identify the federal prosecutors who filed this and petition the government to have them fired.

That's the wrong target, Snowden clearly broke the law, and that's what the prosecutors are alleging. You could argue that the laws are unjust (Call Congress!) and so on but apparently everything NSA did was rubber stamped by judges so they have the seal of approval. Snowden knows it too, he himself said that he will be made to suffer.

Obama will never pardon him, imagine the precedent? He will have to take whatever is coming and let history judge him, espionage or civil disobedience?

throwaway10001on On Confirmed Assumptions or, Not Trusting Google is a Good Idea

Expect that Google wants to read what you wrote on the email and to whom. Of course to help you see more ads, er better ads. Cause you're just dying for another dozen ads.

Imagine a Google Glass wearer and a NSA order to record everything he sees?

throwaway10001on On Confirmed Assumptions or, Not Trusting Google is a Good Idea

Google shouldn't be trusted with everything you have. Between Analytics, Android, Google Search, Documents and E-mail they know what you are thinking and virtually everything you do, online and offline. Even if the current management are saints--I doubt it--the next team will push the envelope to monetize it even more. And then there is the NSA and FBI and the local divorce lawyer. If it's there they will get it.

So try things like blocking analytics at host level, using either gmail or search etc etc. Makes it harder for NSA. Can you imagine yourself in a trial trying to explain why you visited certain sites or searched for certain keywords 3 years ago? Were you really researching what you saw on CSI or were you preparing the perfect murder of your wife?

throwaway10001on Bitcoin In IRS Crosshairs

You're supposed to log in the BTC /USD exchange rate at the end of that day (?) and pay Uncle Sam in crisp USD

throwaway10001on The NSA can store communications of US citizens for up to 5 years, sans warrant

Sometimes all I think we can do by writing to our "tough on terrorists" lawmakers is save some money. Avoid the FISA court entirely, just give the the rubber stamp to the f#^&%($ NSA, it's not like any request is denied anyway.

Look at hosting services and the storage GB and traffic they offer now compared to a few years ago. Storage and bandwidth costs are going lower and lower so NSA can easily store everything "forever." If Google can do it, why can't NSA with a comparatively unlimited budget ? Just the US intel spending is something like $80 Billion a year and that's one area that is not going to be left unfunded or "you Senator will have blood on your hands next time Al Qaeda..."

throwaway10001on Web’s Reach Binds N.S.A. and Silicon Valley Leaders

>> It's not realistic to think they will do that.

I know, that's why I am moving away from Google. At least I'll make a little harder for NSA /FBI to figure out every damn thing I do online and offline (Android) 24/7.

>> But then, it might not be realistic to say that they can just send paper...

Like paying a $1 million fine in pennies? Sure, the first time. Then they have to explain it to a judge who might not think it was cute

throwaway10001on Web’s Reach Binds N.S.A. and Silicon Valley Leaders

I'd love to see Google say that they not have the data requested, because they simply do not collect it from users. If Google has it, NSA will get it. One way or another. Denials and "lawsuits" against the NSA written like press releases are useless.

That's why Google and Facebook are extremely dangerous, they hold unto every piece of info to try to squeeze a few more pennies from each user. Nice and ready for NSA to get it legally: “There is no indication that this order to Verizon was unique or novel. It is very likely that business records orders like this exist for every major American telecommunication company, meaning that, if you make calls in the United States, the NSA has those records. And this has been going on for at least 7 years, and probably longer,” http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/06/verizon-responds/

throwaway10001on DuckDuckGo Sees Record Traffic After NSA PRISM Scandal

Nice, unsupported low blow to a competitor. Keep looking maybe you'll "find" some with your credit card info and home address.

throwaway10001on How to fit 1,000 terabytes on a DVD

Nah if things get tough, Google, Facebook, Yahoo, Microsoft etc store it, and NSA can access the data on demand.

throwaway10001on DuckDuckGo Changes Homepage Logo, Links to StopWatching.Us Call Campaign

Google knows what you searched for and what sites you visited on 06/20/2012. DDG, I doubt it. Guess which one is NSA #1 love?

throwaway10001on Google on NSA: No server access, no back door, no drop box, no free-for-all

Against some kind of pervasive secret program involving many people: The odds of a single Googler on any team being a "whistleblower" are far higher than the odds at NSA, and we've had a lot of espionage leaks over the years, plus actual leakers.

Ya think that random Googlers would spy for NSA or feed them info? They are probably hundreds of Googlers with Top Secret clearance.

throwaway10001on Google on NSA: No server access, no back door, no drop box, no free-for-all

Drumond: "Note that I say “originally” because you’ll see that many of those original sources corrected their articles after it became clear that the PRISM slides were not accurate."

Someone, possibly a Google /Fb /Microsoft /Yahoo PR hack, started this rumor. The Guardian posted the slides and Snowden interviews and are sticking to the original story as far as I can tell. No one has said that the slides were fake and if they aren't, why would NSA mislead its employees on the ways of collecting data?

throwaway10001on LeaseWeb: Statement on former client MegaUpload

>> I don't think datacenter monkeys cost that much... are you including the costs of the drives themselves?

Fine, so you should have bought them 600 new hardrives, maybe they would have done the labor for free. It's not like they cost that much. Or maybe Kim should have done so, instead of starting new companies and living large in NZ.

You lease servers--for as long as you keep paying them. You get a 30 day or so grace period if you do not pay, but Kim got way more than that.

throwaway10001on Julian Assange hints WikiLeaks might publish next Edward Snowden revelations

Why? Indiscriminate leaking, without caring about anything is what will make Snowden radioactive to most people.

throwaway10001on LeaseWeb: Statement on former client MegaUpload

Sucks to be Kim but why should another third, seemly innocent party, have to suffer too?

600 servers that be leased at, say, $100 a month is $60,000 a month or $720K a year. Kim, FedGov...Jesus or whoever should pay if they want to keep the servers idle. Leaseweb had more patience than I would have had.

As for evidence: My guess is that the Feds have enough preserved servers to make their case. You do not need them all unless you want to file 100++ million charges. If they have 10 servers and within them they have enough data about xxx violations of the law, that's good enough. He will be charged with them and that's it.

Low blow from Kim.

throwaway10001on Microsoft Announces Direct Cash Payments For Vulnerabilities

It's all anon, fun and games until the SWAT team shows up :-)

In all seriousness, any package as complex as Windows and Office is bound to have bugs, many, many bugs.