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I think that what they really want is to send a message to some other potential leaker in the future to "think twice before you leak". I think we should be car

by honzzz 13y ago

I think that what they really want is to send a message to some other potential leaker in the future to "think twice before you leak". I think we should be careful with speculating about horrifying consequences of leaking illegal activities of the government to the press - we don't want to help them spread fear (assuming we want to know the truth). Who knows... maybe Snowden's act will really help expose and stop unconstitutional activities of US government and Snowden will overcome the bleak reality that he is living right now and live the rest of his life celebrated as a hero.

sneak 13y ago
I think anyone in the position to leak things truly damaging now already knows sufficient fear. Spreading the word about their inhuman practices against those who would attempt to do the right thing now serves the other goal: illustrating to people why leaking is more important than ever. Remember, there are still hundreds of NSA sysadmins going to work every day, post-Snowden, processing this data collected on innocent people (Americans included). It's not like they didn't know before that leaking stuff would be the end of their life as they know it. We need to show them that it's the end of everyone's life as they know it if they don't; that is, to get them to question the validity of their mission in the first place. It's about showing them the true character of just what they're protecting with their silence.
- TheCapn 13y ago
  At this point I think Snowden was forced to reveal his identity and details of his existence to add credibility to his claims and documents. With these things verified further sysadmins would be capable of leaking documents and data anonymously without it being overlooked as fake. He made a sacrifice to people looking to do leaks and hopefully good will come of it in the long run.
- antocv 13y ago
  Hundreds sysadmins? I think tens of thousands, if not more. Thats whats worrying and horrifying about all this for me at least. There is a whole organization, a structure, a culture of people whos job is illegal and immoral activities, they know and they still continue doing it as Snowden said many of them are authoritarians - perhaps even feeling pleasure from having that power. NSA is a big employer, and it took what 5-6 years for one leaker?
  - cmpxchg8 13y ago
    Surely the NSA has a pretty thorough screening process that you have to go through before you're allowed to work there. Also, when you think of the consequences of leaking ( basically giving up your life in the USA) I'd guess most people would think twice about it and go with the pragmatic option, the same way that most of the population is ok with the NSA's actions as long they protect us from the terrorists.
    - antocv 13y ago
      You are right, and it is demoralizing for any future leaker. Something can be done about the whole mess, its not all lost, but not unless a majority is on board, and it doesnt seem to be, majority seems to be fine with it and seem to be fine with living in fear or threats of fear. Its like, if a few officers or groups of soldiers in Whermacht or SS begin to question and disobey their orders to run the Einsatz-gruppe or concetratipn camps... some few tried, they got killed or their lives destroyed. What we can learn from Snowden is that he is one of the few heroes among us, and that we are already too deep in the shit to do anything about it, as is obvious to the lengths the USA would go just to catch him, a sysadmin who showed a few powerpoints to a a few journalists. Its DDR all over again.
  - sneak 13y ago
    Google has less than a thousand SREs AFAIK, and I would guess that they have at least an order of magnitude more computers than NSA (more probably 3-5 orders of magnitude). As for analysts, several thousand, perhaps up to a dozen, makes sense.
crististm 13y ago
This never worked in real life. I mean, we have examples of similar behavior in the communist block where the Party practically killed thousands with our without bothering with mock processes. In the end some other guys will rise and give a big fuck-you to an oppressive government. Wait, what are we talking about here - will US go so low as to be likened to an oppressive gov, or is it one???
mike-cardwell 13y ago
The message they are sending is not: "think twice before you leak" but: "prepare multiple exit strategies before you leak"

by honzzz 13y ago

sneak 13y ago

I think anyone in the position to leak things truly damaging now already knows sufficient fear. Spreading the word about their inhuman practices against those who would attempt to do the right thing now serves the other goal: illustrating to people why leaking is more important than ever. Remember, there are still hundreds of NSA sysadmins going to work every day, post-Snowden, processing this data collected on innocent people (Americans included). It's not like they didn't know before that leaking stuff would be the end of their life as they know it. We need to show them that it's the end of everyone's life as they know it if they don't; that is, to get them to question the validity of their mission in the first place. It's about showing them the true character of just what they're protecting with their silence.

TheCapn 13y ago
At this point I think Snowden was forced to reveal his identity and details of his existence to add credibility to his claims and documents. With these things verified further sysadmins would be capable of leaking documents and data anonymously without it being overlooked as fake. He made a sacrifice to people looking to do leaks and hopefully good will come of it in the long run.
antocv 13y ago
Hundreds sysadmins? I think tens of thousands, if not more. Thats whats worrying and horrifying about all this for me at least. There is a whole organization, a structure, a culture of people whos job is illegal and immoral activities, they know and they still continue doing it as Snowden said many of them are authoritarians - perhaps even feeling pleasure from having that power. NSA is a big employer, and it took what 5-6 years for one leaker?
- cmpxchg8 13y ago
  Surely the NSA has a pretty thorough screening process that you have to go through before you're allowed to work there. Also, when you think of the consequences of leaking ( basically giving up your life in the USA) I'd guess most people would think twice about it and go with the pragmatic option, the same way that most of the population is ok with the NSA's actions as long they protect us from the terrorists.
  - antocv 13y ago
    You are right, and it is demoralizing for any future leaker. Something can be done about the whole mess, its not all lost, but not unless a majority is on board, and it doesnt seem to be, majority seems to be fine with it and seem to be fine with living in fear or threats of fear. Its like, if a few officers or groups of soldiers in Whermacht or SS begin to question and disobey their orders to run the Einsatz-gruppe or concetratipn camps... some few tried, they got killed or their lives destroyed. What we can learn from Snowden is that he is one of the few heroes among us, and that we are already too deep in the shit to do anything about it, as is obvious to the lengths the USA would go just to catch him, a sysadmin who showed a few powerpoints to a a few journalists. Its DDR all over again.
- sneak 13y ago
  Google has less than a thousand SREs AFAIK, and I would guess that they have at least an order of magnitude more computers than NSA (more probably 3-5 orders of magnitude). As for analysts, several thousand, perhaps up to a dozen, makes sense.

crististm 13y ago

This never worked in real life. I mean, we have examples of similar behavior in the communist block where the Party practically killed thousands with our without bothering with mock processes. In the end some other guys will rise and give a big fuck-you to an oppressive government. Wait, what are we talking about here - will US go so low as to be likened to an oppressive gov, or is it one???

mike-cardwell 13y ago

The message they are sending is not: "think twice before you leak" but: "prepare multiple exit strategies before you leak"