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> Initially, the NSO sought to block all discovery in the lawsuit, "due to various US and Israeli restrictions," but that blanket request was denied. Interesti
by rdtsc 3y ago
> Initially, the NSO sought to block all discovery in the lawsuit, "due to various US and Israeli restrictions," but that blanket request was denied.
Interesting approach. The court could probably care less about Israeli restrictions as it's a different country.
Officially US govt blacklisted Pegasus https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/11/us-blacklists-maker-of-pegasus-spyware-that-helps-governments-spy-on-activists https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/11/us-blacklists-ma.... However, I wouldn't be surprised if some US spy agencies are still using it. If that's the case, Pegasus might try asking US intel agencies to block the case on the basis of disclose of classified info or harming national interests.
It would be interesting to see if all of the sudden "something happens" and the case is mysteriously dropped.
- ethbr1 3y agoI doubt US spy agencies still use it in any official capacity. Far easier to just request and obtain the resulting intelligence from partner intelligence organizations who are using it. Arms-length collection is less legally perilous. But which does bode poorly for any assertion of national security in US courts! "Are you using this software?" "Officially, no." "Then on what basis do you claim national security?"
- cheeze 3y agoI don't know much in this space, but if I'm the US Gov I'm happy that all of the attention is on Pegasus and not other (presumably) tens (hundreds) of similar programs out there.
- AniseAbyss 3y ago[dead]
- gsk22 3y agoThanks to the FISA "court" system, I doubt US spy agencies fear any legal reprecussions. No need to follow the law if you have a secret court where no one has standing to challenge your actions.
- ethbr1 3y agoOmnipotent and yet completely legally-neutered FISA is a lazy excuse to avoid thinking about things. There are no illuminati. There are powerful institutions, who nonetheless fear other powerful institutions. In this case, intelligence preferring to remain out of the courts and newspapers.
- staplers 3y agoThere are no illuminati. Interesting psyops to conflate corruption with "illuminati"..
- mardifoufs 3y agoWho said anything about illuminatis? Does FISA effectively allow intelligence agencies to hide stuff or not? And can you show me a concrete example of IA actually getting punished from other powerful institutions in any meaningful way?
- ethbr1 3y agoFISA allows them to conduct it legally. It doesn't have anything to do with hiding. Before FISA, they generally just did it, without asking anyone. And press reports on intelligence operations led directly to the Church/Pike Committees, which led to EO 11905/12036.
- mardifoufs 3y agoWho exactly was punished by that EO? You are proving my point, even the most "push back" IAs have seen in terms of concrete actions against them led to... a directive that forbid them from murdering people in foreign countries. No actual consequences for anyone involved, no one got even a slap on the wrist in terms of actual consequences. And that's after the church committee, which revealed some super damning stuff. Oh, and they went back to doing it after a few decades.
- ethbr1 3y ago
- rvba 3y ago> Far easier to just request and obtain the resulting intelligence from partner intelligence organizations who are using it. Couldnt they ask to spy on a phone owned by them to try to learn how the phones are infected?
- dkjaudyeqooe 3y agoWhat's "interesting" is that they claim protection available to governments, as if they speak and act on behalf of those governments.
- rdtsc 3y agoExactly, that's pretty odd. They could be delusional, just bluffing, or they really expect someone from the US government to put their finger on the scales for them, or make the scale disappear altogether.
- pvo50555 3y agocouldn't* care less
- libraryofbabel 3y agoMuch as it may pain you, “could care less” is an established idiom in American English that’s been in use for 70 years, and Webster’s dictionary has a whole page about it: https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/could-couldnt-care-less https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/could-couldnt-care-l..., in which they say: > people who go through life expecting informal variant idioms in English to behave logically are setting themselves up for a lifetime of hurt.
- SturgeonsLaw 3y agoI couldn't care less if there's a group of people misusing the phrase, logically "I could care less" means the exact opposite of "I couldn't care less". The majority of the world is not American, and presumably the majority of Americans don't use the incorrect phrase, so why should the rest of the world cater for a minority within a minority by putting their butchered phrase on equal footing with the correct phrase?
- skyyler 3y agoBecause you knew what they meant and trying to correct them only serves to make you feel good about your own knowledge. You aren't helping anyone when you correct them on this.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- saagarjha 3y agoI would be very surprised if they were. Sanctions are no joke and there are plenty of Five Eye-aligned shops with similar capabilities.
- ignoramous 3y agoYep, here's TAG's (Threat Analysis Group) recent report on Commercial Surveillance Vendors (CSVs) making millions with SaaS-like business models: https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-uniblog-publish-prod/documents/Buying_Spying_-_Insights_into_Commercial_Surveillance_Vendors_-_TAG_report.pdf https://storage.googleapis.com/gweb-uniblog-publish-prod/doc... Apparently, the social & political elites worldwide are tripping themselves over to purchase licenses from these CSVs that cost millions.
- bradleyjg 3y agoIt would be interesting to see if all of the sudden "something happens" and the case is mysteriously dropped. Conspiracy theories notwithstanding you’d see a sealed court filing and not “something happens.”
- qingcharles 3y agoRight. I don't know that I've ever just seen a case vanish from a docketing system like that...!