5 ms·
Someday someone will get an NSL, say screw it, publish it on the internet (with mirrors) and tell the government screw you I now have standing.
by coldcode 11y ago
Someday someone will get an NSL, say screw it, publish it on the internet (with mirrors) and tell the government screw you I now have standing.
- hellbanTHIS 11y agoSurprised it hasn't happened yet, not sure what the penalty would be but I'd guess months rather than years.
- cthor 11y agoThe government would very much want to make an example of anyone who did that. The punishment would be as severe as they could get away with.
- billmalarky 11y agoAre you nuts? It doesn't matter if it's reasonable or not, as an issue of national security I would imagine treason would be on the table due to the "aiding enemies" clause in the law. Treason is _minimum_ 5 years, capital punishment at worst.
- pluma 11y agoThat is either incredibly naive or an underhanded joke. This isn't exactly the kind of thing US law treats as a minor offence, especially if it involves computers. Get the right prosecutor involved and this is a national security concern, an act of treason and a cybercrime all at once.
- nyolfen 11y agono one is willing to go to jail over their users' data
- grecy 11y agoI would argue that Snowden was.
- bhickey 11y agoAnd that'll be the day the butterfly is broken upon the wheel. I'm skeptical that NSL gag orders are constitutionally valid, but there's no way I'd breach one while on US soil.
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]
- cmurf 11y agoIANAL, but I think given Lavabit's experience it's best to get a lawyer before saying screw it. The ACLU and EFF are probably at the forefront of expertise and curiosity when it comes to NSLs. https://www.aclu.org/national-security-letters https://www.aclu.org/national-security-letters I mean honestly what's so difficult about "Congress shall make no law"? We're not talking about someone yelling "fire" in a theater. NSLs are facts, the searches they authorize are facts, and the gag is also a fact. And it's also not like this even remotely resembles treason or sedition.
- sbierwagen 11y agoI mean honestly what's so difficult about "Congress shall make no law"? The exceptions are numerous: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_free_speech_exceptions https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_free_speech_exce... Disagree with the restriction on free speech on its actual merits, not by saying "there's very few restrictions on free speech" when in fact this is not the case.
- notthegov 11y agoThe "yelling fire" case was about a Jewish anti-war socialist who distributed pamphlets urging men to resist the WWI draft as a violation of the 13th amendment. The idea that a National Security Letter can serve as a secret warrant against a 21st century Charles Schenck like Edward Snowden is interesting. Neither falsely claimed there's a fire; they are/were men speaking out against war and unconstitutional acts. Anti-war speech should be especially protected. Publishing a NSL is a defensive act against an immoral and oppressive government. The idea that they are using the NSLs to suppress freedom of speech and fight advocates of freedom of speech should only embolden the opposition.
- yk 11y agoApparently the Internet Archive got one ( and can speak about it)[0] and a few years ago there was a talk at the 27c3 [1], about getting one. [0] http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/what-its-like-to-get-a-national-security-letter http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/what-its-like-to-get-... [1] https://events.ccc.de/congress/2010/Fahrplan/speakers/3156.en.html https://events.ccc.de/congress/2010/Fahrplan/speakers/3156.e...
- eli 11y agoAlso: ‘John Doe’ Who Fought FBI Spying Freed From Gag Order After 6 Years http://www.wired.com/2010/08/nsl-gag-order-lifted/ http://www.wired.com/2010/08/nsl-gag-order-lifted/
- ohitsdom 11y agoThis really needs to happen...
- Steko 11y agoEventually I guess we'll have persistent Twitch-like lifecasting services using glass-type wearables and someone will open their correspondence while using the service and open an NSA with people watching. It will probably be the CTO of that company, since always on recordings would be something the anti-terrorism guys would go nuts for.
- ThrustVectoring 11y agoUhh, what? The NSL is going to be given to the legal department of a corporation, which, for obvious reasons, cannot live-stream private legal issues. Then the corporate lawyer talks to the CTO, and tells them that for legal reasons they must shut down their livestreaming stuff.
- Steko 11y agoLavabit had 2 employees in 2013[1], how many of those comprised the legal department? [1] http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/275-42/19860-us-vs-lavabit http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/275-42/19860-us-vs-l...
- deleted 11y ago[deleted]