Seminar on Edward Snowden and European Politics, April 3, 2014
What do the European governments think of the Snowden files? What have they done? Where does the Norwegian government stand? Anthony Dworkin, Senior Researcher at the European Council on Foreign...

By: Fritt Ord

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Seminar on Edward Snowden and European Politics, April 3, 2014 - Video

The Snowden files decoded
Journalists from The Washington Post shed light on how and why they reported on Edward Snowden blowing the whistle on massive NSA surveillance programs.

By: Washington Post

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The Snowden files decoded - Video

Ralph Nader: Snowden ceremony ignored by mainstream media
The Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling was awarded to National Security Agency whistleblower Edward Snowden and filmmaker/journalist Laura Poitras Wednesday. Speaking via video call to a packed...

By: RT America

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Ralph Nader: Snowden ceremony ignored by mainstream media - Video

Edward Snowden appeared by teleconference at SXSW on Monday. Daniel Terdiman/CNET

Edward Snowden appeared by teleconference at SXSW on Monday. Daniel Terdiman/CNET

AUSTIN, Texas -- And on Monday, Edward Snowden showed up.

It was perhaps the most-anticipated South by Southwest Interactive talk since Mark Zuckerberg gave a keynote speech in 2008: Snowden appearing live, by teleconference, from Russia.

And though today's talk lacked the fireworks that erupted during Zuckerberg's onstage interview with Sarah Lacy, there's little doubt that the 5,000 people in the room -- plus thousands more in two nearby overflow rooms and those watching a livestream online -- were hanging on Snowden's every word. Indeed, despite reports that Dunham's talk was more popular (as measured by lines to get in the room), Snowden drew a very full house of people eager to hear his wisdom on the NSA scandal he unleashed last year.

Unlike most SXSW talks, Snowden's appearance was only announced last week. And in a bit of unfortunate timing familiar to any SXSW veteran, the talk -- with the American Civil Liberties Union's Ben Wizner and Chris Soghoian -- was scheduled directly against a keynote event from "Girls" creator Lena Dunham. That forced many people, myself included, to make an uncomfortable choice. But though I am a big Dunham fan, in the end, I couldn't justify not being part of one of Snowden's most public talks since he went into exile.

Before anyone showed up onstage, I noticed that a number of people were shooting photographs at the front of the stage, despite no one standing there. Then I saw that there was a standard SXSW name card -- the kind every speaker gets -- for Snowden. Was this the most photographed name card in SXSW history? Hard to say, but almost certainly for someone who wasn't even in the building.Was this the most photographed name card in SXSW history? At least for someone who was not actually in the building, it probably was. Daniel Terdiman/CNET

Was this the most photographed name card in SXSW history? At least for someone who was not actually in the building, it probably was. Daniel Terdiman/CNET

Oddly, though, given how much of a seismic shift in public perception -- and awareness -- of government surveillance and issues surrounding encryption and what can be done to restore public faith in our privacy and security -- the energy in the room was subdued.

That continued, even when Wizner and Soghoian arrived. "There wasn't a lot of applause when we came onstage," Wizner joked. "I guess you're here to see someone else."

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In most-anticipated SXSW talk in years, Edward Snowden fires up Austin

NSA leaks View all

Edward Snowden, the former NSA contractor turned leaker and whistleblower,won't be able to travel to Germany to testify about NSA surveillance, according to a report from The Guardian.

Snowden asked for asylum in Germany last summer, but his application was rejected because hedidn't file it from German soil. Theoretically, a trip to Germany could have been a second chance to file an application.Butplans for the trip broke down, with sharpdisagreement among German political parties about the propriety of allowingSnowden into the country.

Unnamed government officials wrote a letter to theparliamentary committee that invited Snowden, sayingthatthe invitation would "run counter to the political interests of the Federal Republic" and "put a grave and permanent strain" on relations between the US and Germany.The letter was obtained and published by Sddeutsche Zeitung, Germany's largest newspaper.

In Internet chat, Snowden opined on travel, short-sellingand national security.

Green Party leader Simone Peter said her party will continue to fight over the issue."Merkel is displaying cowardice towards our ally America," said Peter. "We owe the Americans nothing in this respect. The government must at least make a serious effort to safely bring Snowden to Germany and let him give evidence here."

Snowden has been living in Russia since he gave top-secret documents to journalists last year. His one-year visa will run out this summer, but his lawyerJesselyn Radack said she expects the visa to be renewed.

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Snowden blocked from traveling to Germany, testifying to Parliament

Washington: Former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden, who fled to Moscow last year after revealing details of massive U.S. intelligence-gathering programs, expects his asylum status in Russia to be renewed before it expires this summer, his lawyer said on Wednesday.

Snowden and documentary filmmaker Laura Poitras, who worked with Snowden to reveal NSA documents he took from his job, were given the Ridenhour Prize for Truth-Telling, an award to promote transparency and whistle-blowing, at a ceremony in Washington on Wednesday. Snowden appeared on a video link-up from Russia and Poitras appeared from Berlin.

Jesselyn Radack, an attorney for Snowden, said his temporary asylum in Russia will expire at the end of June but that "prospects are good" for it to be renewed.

"Obviously, he misses America and would like to be able to come home," she said. "We just don't see that happening in the near future."

Snowden was believed to have taken 1.7 million computerized documents. The leaked documents revealed massive programs run by the NSA that gathered information on emails, phone calls and Internet use by hundreds of millions of Americans. The U.S. surveillance programs also had international reach, including monitoring German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cellphone.

He was charged last year in the United States with theft of government property, unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified intelligence to an unauthorized person. Radack said the Justice Department has not wavered on the charges.

"If the Justice Department would like to talk, we'd be glad to," she said. "He's not going to come here to be prosecuted for espionage."

Snowden, who has appeared around the world in similar video link-ups this year, told a crowd at the National Press Club that more laws are needed to protect potential whistle-blowers in the United States.

Asked what advice he had for them, he said, "Ideally, work with Congress in advance to try to make sure that we have reformed laws, better protection (for whistle-blowers) ... so next time we have an American whistle-blower who has something the public needs to know, they can go to their lawyer's office instead of the airport.

"Right now I'm not sure that they have a real alternative. But if they're going to do something, they better use encryption and they better do it from an IP address that's not at their home."

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Former NSA Contractor Edward Snowden Expects to Remain in Russia