Monthly Archives: March 2014

Wikileaks candidate out of WA Senate poll

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Wikileaks candidate out of WA Senate poll

The Wikileaks Party candidate endorsed for WA's re-run Senate election has pulled out of the race, citing "unforeseen personal reasons".

Gerry Georgatos, who ran in the September poll, was announced as the lead candidate in the April 5 poll after party leader Julian Assange was not allowed to run because he had not spent enough time in WA in the past six years.

But one hour before the close of nominations on Thursday, Mr Georgatos withdrew from the race.

"There arrive events in people's lives that require their commitment, and it is my duty to honour such a commitment," he said.

"However, I will remain with the WikiLeaks Party, and I will campaign for them, for their imperatives, and I support these imperatives through the presence of the WA senate candidates."

The new lead candidate is now Tibor Meszaros, the general manager and producer of community television station West TV.

Journalist Lucy Nicol is running in second place.

Mr Georgatos, a social justice campaigner, caused controversy during the last poll when he directed preferences to The Nationals rather than the Greens, despite Senator Scott Ludlam's support for Wikileaks and Julian Assange.

Mr Georgatos said Wikileaks came close to being elected in the last poll.

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Wikileaks candidate out of WA Senate poll

WA Wikileaks candidate pulls out of Senate race

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ABC Gerry Georgatos has withdrawn from the Senate election days after replacing Julian Assange.

There has been another change to the Wikileaks Party team for the WA Senate election after Julian Assange was ruled out and the endorsed candidate pulled out.

This week, Gerry Georgatos was announced as the lead candidate after Mr Assange was not allowed to run.

But following a media story which detailed Mr Georgatos' belief convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby was innocent of trying to take cannabis into Bali in 2004, he withdrew from the race.

He says he decided to pull out for "personal reasons" and denies it has anything to do with the fact he believes Corby is innocent.

Mr Georgatos also says the party has backed his stance.

Everyone on the Wikileaks national council has been supportive of me on that [support of Schapelle Corby's innocence], Mr Georgatos said.

He said he would have preferred that Julian Assange, the original choice, be the lead candidate but the party was recently told by the AEC that he was ineligible to run.

Mr Georgatos, a long time social justice campaigner, courted controversy when he ran for the Senate last year and decided the WA Wikileaks branch would go it alone on preferences.

He directed preferences to the Nationals rather than the Greens despite Senator Scott Ludlams strong support for Wikileaks and Julian Assange.

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WA Wikileaks candidate pulls out of Senate race

Schapelle Corby conspiracy theorist withdraws as WikiLeaks candidate in WA Senate election

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Gerry Georgatos has withdrawn as the WikiLeaks candidate for the WA Senate.

A Schapelle Corby conspiracy theorist has withdrawn his candidacy for the WikiLeaks Party at the West Australian Senate election.

In a statement released on Monday morning, Gerry Georgatos said he had contacted the Australian Electoral Commission to remove himself from the nominations, citing ''unforseen personal reasons''.

He said he would remain with the WikiLeaks Party and campaign in the lead-up to the Senate election.

Mr Georgatos was WikiLeaks' WA candidate at the botched Senate election in September drawing just less than 10,000 or 0.75 per cent of the vote but he had announced he would step aside for Mr Assange, who he said would need just 3000 more primary votes to get elected.

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Mr Georgatos was endorsed by the WikiLeaks national council on Tuesday night after the party was notified by the Australian Electoral Commission that Mr Assange was not eligible to contest in WA as he had not spent enough time in the state in past six years.

Mr Assange remains in diplomatic asylum inside the Ecuadorian embassy in London.

Mr Georgatos, a university researcher and journalist, wrote a series of articles in January for independent news website, The Stringer, claiming Australian officials ''know without doubt'' that Schapelle Corby is innocent.

The article went on to claim that she was used as a drug mule by corrupt officials and the Australian government considered brokering a ''tit-for-tat'' deal in which Indonesian children in Australian prisons would be ''swapped'' for Ms Corby.

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Schapelle Corby conspiracy theorist withdraws as WikiLeaks candidate in WA Senate election

Zuckerberg Complains to Obama About NSA Spying

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In speaking with Obama, Zuckerberg said he shared "my frustration over the damage the government is creating."

Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg today said he called President Obama to express his frustration over government spying, but does not believe the feds will make any meaningful changes in the near future.

"The U.S. government should be the champion for the Internet, not a threat," Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post. "They need to be much more transparent about what they're doing, or otherwise people will believe the worst."

In speaking with Obama, Zuckerberg said he shared "my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future. Unfortunately, it seems like it will take a very long time for true full reform."

Obama has pledged to make changes to U.S. surveillance programs, particularly as it relates to the collection of phone metadata, but like most things in Washington, it's slow-going.

"At Facebook we spend a lot of our energy making our services and the whole Internet safer and more secure," Zuckerberg said today. But "when our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine we're protecting you against criminals, not our own government."

Zuckerberg's post comes shortly after former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, who leaked details of NSA surveillance programs to the press last year, appeared remotely at the SXSW conference in Austin. There, he encouraged the tech community to develop secure tools that would make such spying more difficult, since developers would likely have more luck thwarting spies than Congress.

Zuckerberg had a similar message today. "Together, we can build a space that is greater and a more important part of the world than anything we have today, but is also safe and secure," he wrote. "I'm committed to seeing this happen, and you can count on Facebook to do our part."

The Facebook chief was similarly critical of the NSA back in September, when he said that the government "blew it" when it came to communicating with the public about its spy programs.

The latest revelation from leaked NSA documents, meanwhile, is that the agency has been hijacking botnets for spying purposes, according to Reuters.

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Zuckerberg Complains to Obama About NSA Spying

Zuckerberg Phones Obama for Answers About NSA Spying

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When youre Mark Zuckerberg, you can do things a little differently from everyone else. Worried about a pesky construction project next door? Drop $30 million and buy up a four-pack of your neighbors homes. Worried that the NSAs widespread surveillance may undermine everyones trust in the internet and torpedo your social networking business? Give the President a call.

Apparently, thats what Zuck did last night, shortly after the website First Look Media reported that the NSA had been masquerading as a Facebook server in order to infect target computers. Ive called President Obama to express my frustration over the damage the government is creating for all of our future, Zuckerberg wrote in a note he posted to Facebook today.

When our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine were protecting you against criminals, not our own government. Mark Zuckerberg

A White House spokeswoman confirmed that Zuckerberg and Obama spoke last night, discussing recent reports in the press about alleged activities by the U.S. intelligence community, but she declined to tell us what exactly was said. It seems, however, that Facebooks CEO and founder did not get what he wanted. Unfortunately, it seems like it will take a very long time for true full reform, Zuckerberg wrote.

Zuckerberg is just one of the many people across Silicon Valley who are concerned about the future of the internet now that ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden has revealed the extent of the agencys surveillance programs. Although companies such as Facebook may participate in many of the agencys efforts, the scope of the NSAs spying has taken even savvy Silicon Valley insiders by surprise. Widespread spying undermines everyones trust in the internet. To keep the internet strong, we need to keep it secure, Zuckerberg wrote. This is why Ive been so confused and frustrated by the repeated reports of the behavior of the US government. When our engineers work tirelessly to improve security, we imagine were protecting you against criminals, not our own government.

Things were once better between Zuckerberg and Obama. Just over two years ago, Facebook hosted a town hall meeting where the friendly discussion revolved around the economy. Back then, the U.S. Federal Trade Commissions scrutiny of Facebooks privacy policies was the topic most likely to come up in a private conversation. Since then, the tables have turned, and Zuckerberg is now the guy worried about privacy.

Today, Zuckerberg called on the feds to be much more transparent about what theyre doing, or otherwise people will believe the worst. But that isnt going to happen any time soon. Though the NSA has said that parts of yesterdays reports are incorrect, there remains much that is still unclear.

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Zuckerberg Phones Obama for Answers About NSA Spying