Social media users could be charged for sharing Wikileaks story

Posted on July 30, 2014 by admin

Julian Assange, Wikileaks publisher, described the Victorian Supreme Court suppression order as 'unprecedented'.

Social media users could land themselves in legal hot water if they share Wikileaks' reporting of a secret suppression order made by the Victorian Supreme Court.

The wide-ranging suppression order was published on the group's website on Wednesday and was quickly shared on websites including Twitter and Google+.

Fairfax Media's report of Wikileaks' action created a strong response on social media, and was shared thousands of times within minutes of the exclusive report's publication.

It is against the law for Australian media organisations to publish the contents of the suppression order.

Media lawyer Peter Bartlett, from Minter Ellison, said anyone who tweets a link to the Wikileaks report, posts it on Facebook, or shares it in any way online could also face charges.

Using a hashtag such as "Wikileaks" is not in breach of the order but any mention on social media of the information detailed in it, such as people's names, is banned.

Mr Bartlett said it would be difficult to prosecute Wikileaks and its publisher, Julian Assange, given they are outside Victoria. Mr Assange remains at the Ecuador embassy in London where he has been given political asylum to avoid being extradited to the United States in relation to the leaking of secret US documents.

However, any Victorian social media users, or the person who gave the documents to Wikileaks, may be easier to find and prosecute.

WikiLeaks reveals (not so) superinjunction

Posted on July 30, 2014 by admin

WikiLeaks revelation of a Victorian Court gag order recalls that the overuse of such orders can be defeated by the threat of online exposure.

The penchant of Victorian courts for throwing suppression orders around like confetti came unstuck overnight with WikiLeaks publishing an injunction by the Victorian Supreme Court. Victorian courts have a history of being willing to issue gag orders.

The revelation is reminiscent of the running battle between sites like WikiLeaks, social media, British MPs and UK courts up until 2011. Superinjunctions developed as a legal manoeuvre exploiting the British Human Right Act 1998, which established a right to privacy binding on government bodies, and were frequently used by celebrities anxious to prevent the feral UK tabloids from revealing private information. However, large companies began using them as well, as a superinjunction prevented even the reporting of the existence of an injunction. WikiLeaks was one of the organisations to out the multinational company Trafigura, which had used a superinjunction to prevent mainstream revelations of its dumping of toxic waste in Africa. London law firm Carter-Ruck became notorious for its use of superinjunctions, but badly overplayed its hand on Trafigura when it tried to use them to ban reporting of parliamentary questions about Trafigura, leading to a social media backlash.

Carter-Ruck was also humiliated when its efforts to sue Twitter on behalf of Premier League philanderer Ryan Giggs for breach of a superinjunction led to a Twitter frenzy about Giggs and former lover Imogen Thomas. Liberal Democrat MP John Hemming, who had campaigned against superinjunctions, then named him in Parliament. At one point, a British court issued what was dubbed a hyperinjunction which prevented a person from revealing any information about a legal case to anyone at all, privately or publicly.

However, the use of superinjunctions in the UK has now fallen dramaticallyin fact, virtually to zeroand in the view of one UK lawyer, directly as a result of the likelihood of online exposure. The Victorian order isnt quite a superinjunction, but it is sweeping nonetheless, and identifying the individuals it refers to is prohibited. And the same Streisand Effect is at work, particularly given the casual invocation of national security as the basis for the injunction.

The success of WikiLeaks, online activists and social media in making UK superinjunctions so dangerous that potential users have shied away from using them suggests that, if Victorian courts wont stop infantilising the population by insisting on determining it can and cant know, potential users of gag orders might work out that injunctions can be more trouble than theyre worth.

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WikiLeaks reveals (not so) superinjunction

USA: One year after her conviction Chelsea Manning must be released

Posted on July 30, 2014 by admin

Exactly one year after Chelsea Manning was convicted of leaking classified government material, Amnesty International is renewing its call on the US authorities to grant her clemency, release her immediately, and to urgently investigate the potential human rights violations exposed by the leaks.

Chelsea Manning has spent the last year as a convicted criminal after exposing information which included evidence of potential human rights violations and breaches of international law. By disseminating classified information via Wikileaks she revealed to the world abuses perpetrated by the US army, military contractors and Iraqi and Afghan troops operating alongside US forces.

It is an absolute outrage that Chelsea Manning is currently languishing behind bars whilst those she helped to expose, who are potentially guilty of human rights violations, enjoy impunity, said Erika Guevara Rosas, Americas Director Amnesty International.

The US government must grant Chelsea Manning clemency, order her immediate release, and implement a thorough and impartial investigation into the crimes she uncovered.

After being convicted of 20 separate charges Chelsea Manning was sentenced to 35 years in prison, much longer than other members of the military convicted of charges such as murder, rape and war crimes.

Before her conviction, Chelsea Manning had already been held for three years in pre-trial detention, including 11 months in conditions which the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture described as cruel and inhumane.

Chelsea Manning has always maintained that her motivation for releasing the documents to Wikileaks was out of concern for the public and to foster a meaningful debate on the costs of war and the conduct of the US military in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Notable amongst the information revealed by Private Manning was previously unseen footage of journalists and other civilians being killed in US helicopter attacks.

Chelsea Manning is now actively engaged with her lawyers in fighting her conviction.

The US government appears to have its priorities warped. It is sending a worrying message through its harsh punishment of Chelsea Manning that whistleblowers will not be tolerated. On the other hand, its failure to investigate allegations that arose from Chelsea Mannings disclosures means that those potentially responsible for crimes under international law, including torture and enforced disappearances, may get away scot-free, said Erika Guevara.

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USA: One year after her conviction Chelsea Manning must be released

Snowden should cut deal and return to U.S., German minister says

Posted on July 30, 2014 by admin

NSA whistle-blower Edward Snowden is too young to spend his life dodging extradition in remote foreign locales, Germany's justice minister said Tuesday in advising the fugitive to return to the United States and face the charges against him.

Snowden's grant of political asylum in Russia expires Thursday, and although Moscow authorities may approve the extension he requested this month, the 31-year-old "surely doesn't want to spend the rest of his life being hunted," Justice Minister Heiko Maas said in an interview with the DPA news agency [link in German].

Snowden, who is wanted on U.S. espionage and theft charges, has been living in obscurity in Russia since being granted a one-year term of temporary asylum on Aug. 1, 2013. The former National Security Agency contractor absconded with millions of classified documents on his laptops when he fled his job in Hawaii last year.

The data analyst first turned up in Hong Kong, where he revealed what he considered excessive intrusion on private communications in the NSA's counter-terrorism surveillance. He then flew to Moscow with the intent to travel on to Latin America and claim political asylum, but was thwarted when the U.S. government canceled his passport during the flight from Hong Kong.

Snowden was holed up at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport for more than a month last summer before Russian President Vladimir Putin granted him asylum on condition he not use his Russian refuge to further expose U.S. intelligence secrets.

German opposition politicians have been campaigning for months to bring Snowden from Russia to Berlin to testify before a parliamentary committee investigating U.S. surveillance practices involving Germans' private communications.

The governing coalition headed by Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected the notion of Snowden going to Berlin to testify, citing concern that Germany would be obliged to honor a U.S. extradition request. And granting political asylum to the fugitive wanted by Washington on felony charges could damage relations between the Western allies.

Snowden is regarded in many left-wing and libertarian circles as a hero for exposing the breadth of NSA intrusion on private communications around the world, including reports of wiretaps on the private phones of Merkel and Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff.

"It's a disgrace for the Western democracies for Germany but also for the U.S. that someone like Snowden needs to be taken in by a despotic ruler like Vladimir Putin, because he can't get refuge in Germany or in the U.S.," Greens Party lawmakerKonstantin von Notz told Deutsche Welle on Tuesday.

Snowden has expressed interest in appearing before the German NSA inquiry committee, of which Von Notz is a member. But he has refused to testify by remote video linkup, insisting that he needs to provide his evidence of excessive U.S. surveillance in person.

Edward Snowden should cut deal and go home to US, German minister says

Posted on July 30, 2014 by admin

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden. Photo: Getty

Los Angeles Times: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is too young to spend his life dodging extradition in remote foreign locales, Germany's justice minister said on Tuesday in advising the fugitive to return to the United States and face the charges against him.

Mr Snowden's grant of political asylum in Russia expires on Thursday, and although Moscow authorities may approve the extension he requested this month, the 31-year-old "surely doesn't want to spend the rest of his life being hunted," Justice Minister Heiko Maas said in an interview with the news agency dpa.

Mr Snowden, who is wanted on US espionage and theft charges, has been living in obscurity in Russia since being granted a one-year term of temporary asylum on August 1, 2013. The former National Security Agency contractor absconded with millions of classified documents on his laptops when he fled his job in Hawaii last year.

German justice minister Heiko Maas believes ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden should cut a deal with the US government and return to US. Photo: AP

The data analyst first turned up in Hong Kong, where he revealed what he considered excessive intrusion on private communications in the NSA's counterterrorism surveillance. He then flew to Moscow with the intent to travel on to Latin America and claim political asylum, but was thwarted when the US government canceled his passport during the flight from Hong Kong.

Mr Snowden was holed up at Moscow's Sheremetyevo International Airport for more than a month last summer before Russian President Vladimir Putin granted him asylum on condition he not use his Russian refuge to further expose US intelligence secrets.

German opposition politicians have been campaigning for months to bring Mr Snowden from Russia to Berlin to testify before a parliamentary committee investigating US surveillance practices involving Germans' private communications.

The governing coalition headed by Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected the notion of Mr Snowden going to Berlin to testify, citing concern that Germany would be obliged to honour a US extradition request. And granting political asylum to the fugitive wanted by Washington on felony charges could damage relations between the Western allies.

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Edward Snowden should cut deal and go home to US, German minister says

German opposition slams Maas’ Snowden comments

Posted on July 30, 2014 by admin

In an interview with the dpa news agency, German Justice Minister Heiko Maas said that Edward Snowden's best bet at life after the National Security Agency (NSA) revelations was to go back to the US and face trial: "He is only in his early thirties and would definitely not want to spend the rest of his life being chased around the world or applying for one asylum after another."

Maas said that Snowden's lawyers were talking to American officials and looking into the possibility of Snowden returning to the US. "If both sides agree, it would serve Snowden's purpose," he said.

A 'disgrace'

However, various German opposition politicians have criticized Maas's statements. Konstantin von Notz, a Greens parliamentarian and member of the German NSA inquiry committee, said that the German government was "behaving very cynically."

Von Notz finds Germany's stance unaccceptable

"It's a disgrace for the western democracies - for Germany but also for the US - that someone like Snowden needs to be taken in by a despotic ruler like Vladimir Putin, because he can't get refuge in Germany or in the US," explained Von Notz.

For months now, the German opposition has been proposing that Snowden be questioned by Germany's NSA inquiry committee in order to shed light on the scale of US intelligence spying in Germany. Von Notz said that Maas should arrange for Snowden to face the committee but "unfortunately he isn't doing that."

No asylum in Germany

Snowden previously expressed his interest in coming to Germany, but the US has sent a formal "arrest request" to the German government, which has complicated matters. It is unclear whether the German authorities would arrest him or deport him to the US once he landed in Berlin.

"We have asked the US government some questions regarding this, but we haven't got any answers," said Maas. "We are being cautious and want to know exactly how Snowden would be treated if he appears for a trial in the USA."

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German justice minister: best solution for NSA leaker Edward Snowden would be to return to US

Posted on July 30, 2014 by admin

BERLIN Germany's justice minister says the best outcome for National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden would be a deal with U.S. authorities to return home.

Justice Minister Heiko Maas said in an interview with news agency dpa published Tuesday that Snowden "surely doesn't want to spend the rest of his life being hunted ... or wandering from one asylum to the next." Maas argues that a deal to return would serve Snowden best.

Opposition parties have demanded Germany allow Snowden to come to Berlin to testify to a parliamentary inquiry into the extent of U.S. surveillance. The government rejected the idea despite tensions over alleged spying, saying it would hurt relations.

Asked whether Snowden might still come, Maas says he doesn't "really see it at the moment."

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German justice minister: best solution for NSA leaker Edward Snowden would be to return to US

Tech Companies Reel as NSA’s Spying Tarnishes Reputations …

Posted on July 30, 2014 by admin

U.S. technology companies may lose as much as $35 billion in the next three years from foreign customers choosing not to buy their products over concern they cooperate with spy programs.

U.S. technology companies are in danger of losing more business to foreign competitors if the National Security Agencys power to spy on customers isnt curbed, researchers with the New America Foundation said in a report today.

The report, by the foundations Open Technology Institute, called for prohibiting the NSA from collecting data in bulk, while letting companies report more details about what information they give the government. Senate legislation introduced today would fulfill some recommendations by the institute, a Washington-based advocacy group that has been critical of NSA programs.

Citing concerns from top executives of Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) and other companies, the report made a case that NSA spying could damage the $150 billion industry for cloud computing services. Those services are expanding rapidly as businesses move software and data to remote servers.

The immediate pain point is lost sales and business challenges, said Chris Hopfensperger, policy director for BSA/The Software Alliance, a Washington-based trade association that represents companies including Apple Inc. and Oracle Corp.

Microsoft is hearing from customers that they care more than ever about where their content is stored and how it is used and secured, said John Frank, deputy general counsel for the Redmond, Washington-based software maker.

A protester wearing a Guy Fawkes mask holds up a placard during a demonstration to mark the global "The Day We Fight Back" protest against mass surveillance outside the Supreme Court in Manila, Philippines. Close

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Tech Companies Reel as NSA's Spying Tarnishes Reputations ...

NSA Spying Activities Have Costly Impact on Private Sector …

Posted on July 30, 2014 by admin

Every action has a consequence, and so does the NSAs mass surveillance efforts that dont seem to care about peoples innocence or need for privacy. In fact, a new study shows that there are large financial consequences to this type of activities.

Our findings indicate that the NSAs actions have already begun to, and will continue to, cause significant damage to the interests of the United States and the global Internet community, the study reads.

The Open Technology Institute has chosen to look into the effects the scandal has had in several areas. For instance, the NSA disclosures are affecting American companies by damaging their sales overseas and diminishing their business opportunities. This happens especially as foreign companies turn products that can protect users from the NSAs ever-seeing eye into advantages against competitors.

The cloud computing industry is particularly vulnerable and could lose billions of dollars in the next three to five years as a result of NSA surveillance, the study shows.

There are also potential costs to US businesses and to the openness of the Internet from the rise of data localization and data protection proposals from governments looking to fortify themselves against the NSA. Basically, the proposal to create local networks instead of relying on the worldwide Internet network is worrying because they can threaten free expression and privacy if they are implemented.

There are also some rather big costs to the United States foreign policy because the country has lost some of its credibility, especially for the Internet Freedom agenda set down by the government. Damages are also caused to broader bilateral and multilateral relations due to the fact that the NSA spies on all countries in the world, regardless if these are the United States strategic partners or not.

For instance, theres been an obvious strain between the United States and countries such as Germany and Brazil in the past year.

Perhaps the heaviest cost, however, is the one the scandal has had on cybersecurity. The NSA has done serious damage to Internet security through its weakening of key encryption standards, insertion of surveillance backdoors into widely-used hardware and software products, stockpiling rather than responsibly disclosing information about software security vulnerabilities, and a variety of offensive hacking operations undermining the overall security of the global Internet, the studys authors wrote.

While the United States government has started to take some steps to mitigate the damage and start rebuilding the trust in the countrys ability to be a responsible steward of the Internet, things are going slow because the reforms promised last year are yet to be delivered and the changes that were actually announced would have minimal impact on the NSAs powers.

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US tech companies reel as NSA spying tarnishes reputations

Posted on July 30, 2014 by admin

US technology companies are in danger of losing more business to foreign competitors if the National Security Agency's power to spy on customers isn't curbed, the New America Foundation said in a report on Tuesday.

The foundation called for prohibiting the NSA from collecting data in bulk, while letting companies report more details about what information they provide the government. Legislation scheduled to be introduced on Tuesday in the Senate would fulfill some recommendations by the foundation, a Washington-based advocacy group that has been critical of NSA programmes.

Citing concerns from top executives of Microsoft Corp, Cisco Systems Inc. and other companies, the report made a case that NSA spying could damage the $150-billion industry for cloud computing services. Those services are expanding rapidly as businesses move software and data to remote servers.

"The immediate pain point is lost sales and business challenges," said Chris Hopfensperger, policy director for BSA/The Software Alliance, a Washington-based trade association that represents companies including Apple Inc and Oracle Corp.

Microsoft is hearing from customers "that they care more than ever about where their content is stored and how it is used and secured," said John Frank, deputy general counsel for the Redmond, Washington-based software maker.

The company hasn't seen a significant business impact yet, Jack Evans, a Microsoft spokesman, said in an e-mail.

ServInt Corp, a Reston, Virginia-based company that provides website hosting services, has seen a 30 per cent decline in foreign customers since the NSA leaks began in June 2013, said Christian Dawson, its chief operating officer.

"It ends up being death by a thousand paper cuts," Dawson said in a phone interview.

Confidence in technology companies began to be tested a year ago when former NSA contractor Edward Snowden leaked documents that revealed a programme called Prism, under which the US compels companies through court orders to turn over data about their users. The documents also uncovered NSA hacking of fibre optic cables abroad to steal data, and the physical interception of routers, servers and other network equipment to install surveillance tools before they were shipped to users.

International cloud providers are now using the NSA revelations as a marketing tool, said Dawson, who also serves as chairman of the Internet Infrastructure Coalition, which represents Dell Inc, Rackspace Hosting Inc and other companies.

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US tech companies reel as NSA spying tarnishes reputations