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Snowden should be put on trial for committing treason. No matter how bad it is what he exposed. He broke the law[0]. What he exposed are policies of the United

Snowden should be put on trial for committing treason. No matter how bad it is what he exposed. He broke the law[0]. What he exposed are policies of the United States by people put in power in a democracy and free country. If you don't want that shit happening in your country, let the people in power know. Go on the streets. Millions of poeple are not happy with what is going on, but literally nothing changed. Sadly, American citizens and the West in general have been trained from a young age to be apathetic and those that have the audacity to fight back have been systematically beaten down. They rather create parallax websites with fancy countdowns than actually trying to change something. When's the last time they've had to mobilize the National Guard because there was a protest? The entire American economy could collapse because of a giant banking scandal and people wouldn't even raise a fist in anger. [0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Criminal_charges https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Snowden#Criminal_charge...

dnautics 10y ago
Treason has a specific two point definition in the US Constitution and it is hard to see how his actions rise to the criteria enumerated therein. Personally, I think he should be criminally pardoned but left open to civil proceedings for breach of contract should his former employer seek to bring forward a suit.
aikah 10y ago
> Snowden committed treason The only people that behaved in a treacherous fashion are the one that are spying on you because for them you're just a criminal by default. Furthermore he didn't commit treason, he didn't spy for a 3rd party country. He revealed to the world the scope of NSA spying and did everybody a big favor. There is nothing democratic with secret laws and spying. Today you cannot say you don't know and deny reality. But you can choose to ignore it... until the system turns against you. Today if you accept PRISM you become a willing participent and a slave to that system. What you don't understand is one day, an irresponsible administration will come to power and use all this system for its own personal gain. There is nothing stopping that right now. It's funny how people get all worked up by Facebook censoring some insignificant content when they directly collude with the government to hand over data. So does Google, Yahoo and all big tech companies in US.
- pearjuice 10y ago
  I completely understand what is going wrong and I assume you do too by your vivid explanation. Yet, you spend all your energy explaining it to people on the internet. What I don't get is, why don't you funnel that energy into making change? Everybody understands what is wrong about being permanently spied on, yet nobody does something. Whether Snowded committed treason cannot be stated in one sentence or even a paragraph - I made a minor edit. He should be put to trial because he evidently broke laws and employee contracts with government institutions.
  - CalRobert 10y ago
    "yet nobody does something." I contribute to Mailvelope now and then. I encourage my friends to use encryption. I'm honestly not entirely sure what practical things people are supposed to do? This isn't something where you round up a bunch of volunteers to go do a beach cleanup.
    - hollander 10y ago
      You can use Mailvelope! Or GPG/PGP. Use it to sign your mail. And do so using PGP/MIME, not text. PGP/Mime uses an attachment for the signature, and doesn't mess up the text with ugly code. Then put a small signature at the end of your mail explaining what PGP is, linking to Wikipedia, and link to your public key. As you use HTML, do this in a small font, 50% grey, and it won't get in the way. I do this since two years.
      - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
        I tried implementing PGP on Thunderbird about 5 years ago, it was difficult. I've set up a mail server, web servers, etc.. Setting up PGP was complicated. I'm surprised that message signing isn't built in yet, why isn't it? It didn't seem so hard to implement as a default.
        hollander 10y ago
quirkafleeg 10y ago
>What he exposed are policies of the United States by people put in power in a democracy and free country. Voting politicians into office does not legitimize any and all potentially illegal and/or un-Constitutional activities they or Government agencies carry out. > If you don't want that shit happening in your country, let the people in power know. Isn't that the point of this petition? > Sadly, American citizens and the West in general have been trained from a young age to be apathetic and those that have the audacity to fight back have been systematically beaten down. They rather create parallax websites with fancy countdowns than actually trying to change something. Whereas you find it more productive to post brave internet messages about how other people should face off with the National Guard, while simultaneously arguing that "no matter how bad" a state behaves, someone who exposes that badness/illegality should be tried for treason.
blowski 10y ago
I agree with you that he should stand trial. That's what we do in law-based democracies, however justified we consider the individual's actions. The best, but unlikely, outcome is that he is given a fair trial, and a fair sentence if he's found guilty. But there's the rub - there's no way he'll get either a fair trial or sentence (or indeed a pardon). Whistleblowers everywhere would be encouraged if they believed they'd get fair treatment after leaking state secrets. So we'll continue with what we have. Some people saying he's completely innocent, others saying he's completely guilty, and he himself will probably spend the foreseeable future right where he is.
ionised 10y ago
Kind of difficult to let your elected sycophants know you don't want it happening when nobody knows it's happening.

dnautics 10y ago

Treason has a specific two point definition in the US Constitution and it is hard to see how his actions rise to the criteria enumerated therein. Personally, I think he should be criminally pardoned but left open to civil proceedings for breach of contract should his former employer seek to bring forward a suit.

aikah 10y ago

> Snowden committed treason The only people that behaved in a treacherous fashion are the one that are spying on you because for them you're just a criminal by default. Furthermore he didn't commit treason, he didn't spy for a 3rd party country. He revealed to the world the scope of NSA spying and did everybody a big favor. There is nothing democratic with secret laws and spying. Today you cannot say you don't know and deny reality. But you can choose to ignore it... until the system turns against you. Today if you accept PRISM you become a willing participent and a slave to that system. What you don't understand is one day, an irresponsible administration will come to power and use all this system for its own personal gain. There is nothing stopping that right now. It's funny how people get all worked up by Facebook censoring some insignificant content when they directly collude with the government to hand over data. So does Google, Yahoo and all big tech companies in US.

pearjuice 10y ago
I completely understand what is going wrong and I assume you do too by your vivid explanation. Yet, you spend all your energy explaining it to people on the internet. What I don't get is, why don't you funnel that energy into making change? Everybody understands what is wrong about being permanently spied on, yet nobody does something. Whether Snowded committed treason cannot be stated in one sentence or even a paragraph - I made a minor edit. He should be put to trial because he evidently broke laws and employee contracts with government institutions.
- CalRobert 10y ago
  "yet nobody does something." I contribute to Mailvelope now and then. I encourage my friends to use encryption. I'm honestly not entirely sure what practical things people are supposed to do? This isn't something where you round up a bunch of volunteers to go do a beach cleanup.
  - hollander 10y ago
    You can use Mailvelope! Or GPG/PGP. Use it to sign your mail. And do so using PGP/MIME, not text. PGP/Mime uses an attachment for the signature, and doesn't mess up the text with ugly code. Then put a small signature at the end of your mail explaining what PGP is, linking to Wikipedia, and link to your public key. As you use HTML, do this in a small font, 50% grey, and it won't get in the way. I do this since two years.
    - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
      I tried implementing PGP on Thunderbird about 5 years ago, it was difficult. I've set up a mail server, web servers, etc.. Setting up PGP was complicated. I'm surprised that message signing isn't built in yet, why isn't it? It didn't seem so hard to implement as a default.
      - hollander 10y ago

quirkafleeg 10y ago

>What he exposed are policies of the United States by people put in power in a democracy and free country. Voting politicians into office does not legitimize any and all potentially illegal and/or un-Constitutional activities they or Government agencies carry out. > If you don't want that shit happening in your country, let the people in power know. Isn't that the point of this petition? > Sadly, American citizens and the West in general have been trained from a young age to be apathetic and those that have the audacity to fight back have been systematically beaten down. They rather create parallax websites with fancy countdowns than actually trying to change something. Whereas you find it more productive to post brave internet messages about how other people should face off with the National Guard, while simultaneously arguing that "no matter how bad" a state behaves, someone who exposes that badness/illegality should be tried for treason.

blowski 10y ago

I agree with you that he should stand trial. That's what we do in law-based democracies, however justified we consider the individual's actions. The best, but unlikely, outcome is that he is given a fair trial, and a fair sentence if he's found guilty. But there's the rub - there's no way he'll get either a fair trial or sentence (or indeed a pardon). Whistleblowers everywhere would be encouraged if they believed they'd get fair treatment after leaking state secrets. So we'll continue with what we have. Some people saying he's completely innocent, others saying he's completely guilty, and he himself will probably spend the foreseeable future right where he is.

ionised 10y ago

Kind of difficult to let your elected sycophants know you don't want it happening when nobody knows it's happening.