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No, I didn't forget that he was one of three people involved in writing stories about the NSA ANT catalog, nor that he worked with Poitras (after she, Greenwald

by rhblake 10y ago

No, I didn't forget that he was one of three people involved in writing stories about the NSA ANT catalog, nor that he worked with Poitras (after she, Greenwald and MacAskill had done the most important part). I also did not forget that while he's been good at marketing Tor -- I've seen him at CCC in Berlin/Hamburg a bunch of times 2009-2015, he's become a good speaker -- he's never been important from a tech/operations point of view, from what I understand. So, yeah, I maintain that there are plenty of juicier targets that Jacob Appelbaum. I'm also sure that he'd like you to think otherwise.

mtgx 10y ago
He was on the short list for having all of Snowden's documents. If that doesn't make him a primary target for the US government, I don't know what would. Remember Greenwald's partner was harassed and detained all the way in UK at the request of the US government because he was close to one of the people on this short list of Snowden documents holders.
- rhblake 10y ago
  What short list? I know he's had access to some of them, along with other journalists, but I've never seen anything about him having all of them.
pdkl95 10y ago
> (after she, Greenwald and MacAskill had done the most important part) They are also targets. I made no claim about the relative importance of Appelbaum's involvement, which is completely off-topic. He gave the talk at 30c3, which makes him a figurehead and thus a target. > he's never been important from a tech/operations point of view So what? That doesn't make him any less of a target from agencies that are pissed off about their documents being leaked to the public. The TLAs would love to make an example out of any of the people involved. > I'm also sure that he'd like you to think otherwise. That's your interpretation. To be clear, I haven't stated my interpretation, as my only point was that Appelbaum is absolutely on the short list of people we know are the target of state agencies so dismissing the possibility of their involvement is foolish.
- rhblake 10y ago
  So a number of high-profile, veteran, respected, typically anti-authoritarian members of the hacking community - including multiple Tor project members - have spoken out against Applebaum in the past week. That it's all being orchestrated by some three-letter agency is theoretically possible, sure, but I think that's extremely unlikely. Applying some Occam I just end up with a tragic case of an abusive asshole. (I don't personally know Appelbaum, nor his accusers, although I've spoken to several of them and seen them at conferences throughout the years. I thought Appelbaum was great at promoting Tor. I also remember my second conversation with him, at 26C3 in 2009: he bragged about how he'd stayed at a squat during his visit in Stockholm the month before and fucked some anarchist girl. Which, at the time, I thought was a bit odd bringing up in casual conversation with someone he didn't know.)
  - xcasex 10y ago
    Veterans who have spoken out about brashness, him being socially clumsy, him being an asshole. There are as of yet unsubstantiated, uncorroborated & unverified stories.
    - rhblake 10y ago
      They have essentially described him as a sociopath. That's very different from merely being brash and clumsy...
      - syngrog66 10y ago
        perhaps. but the set of things which are not illegal include: being brash, clumsy, an asshole or even a sociopath. Rape and sexual assault are illegal. Let's let the courts decide that, based on evidence. Not rumor, innuendo or mob retweets.
      - kbenson 10y ago
        Unless you have some training that makes you qualified to assess that (in which case qualifying yourself as such would help), perhaps you should refrain from throwing around terms like that.

by rhblake 10y ago

mtgx 10y ago

He was on the short list for having all of Snowden's documents. If that doesn't make him a primary target for the US government, I don't know what would. Remember Greenwald's partner was harassed and detained all the way in UK at the request of the US government because he was close to one of the people on this short list of Snowden documents holders.

rhblake 10y ago
What short list? I know he's had access to some of them, along with other journalists, but I've never seen anything about him having all of them.

pdkl95 10y ago

> (after she, Greenwald and MacAskill had done the most important part) They are also targets. I made no claim about the relative importance of Appelbaum's involvement, which is completely off-topic. He gave the talk at 30c3, which makes him a figurehead and thus a target. > he's never been important from a tech/operations point of view So what? That doesn't make him any less of a target from agencies that are pissed off about their documents being leaked to the public. The TLAs would love to make an example out of any of the people involved. > I'm also sure that he'd like you to think otherwise. That's your interpretation. To be clear, I haven't stated my interpretation, as my only point was that Appelbaum is absolutely on the short list of people we know are the target of state agencies so dismissing the possibility of their involvement is foolish.

rhblake 10y ago
So a number of high-profile, veteran, respected, typically anti-authoritarian members of the hacking community - including multiple Tor project members - have spoken out against Applebaum in the past week. That it's all being orchestrated by some three-letter agency is theoretically possible, sure, but I think that's extremely unlikely. Applying some Occam I just end up with a tragic case of an abusive asshole. (I don't personally know Appelbaum, nor his accusers, although I've spoken to several of them and seen them at conferences throughout the years. I thought Appelbaum was great at promoting Tor. I also remember my second conversation with him, at 26C3 in 2009: he bragged about how he'd stayed at a squat during his visit in Stockholm the month before and fucked some anarchist girl. Which, at the time, I thought was a bit odd bringing up in casual conversation with someone he didn't know.)
- xcasex 10y ago
  Veterans who have spoken out about brashness, him being socially clumsy, him being an asshole. There are as of yet unsubstantiated, uncorroborated & unverified stories.
  - rhblake 10y ago
    They have essentially described him as a sociopath. That's very different from merely being brash and clumsy...
    - syngrog66 10y ago
      perhaps. but the set of things which are not illegal include: being brash, clumsy, an asshole or even a sociopath. Rape and sexual assault are illegal. Let's let the courts decide that, based on evidence. Not rumor, innuendo or mob retweets.
    - kbenson 10y ago
      Unless you have some training that makes you qualified to assess that (in which case qualifying yourself as such would help), perhaps you should refrain from throwing around terms like that.