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LIVE NOW: Glenn Greenwald, Assange, and Kim Dot Com in NZ

271 points by vonklaus 12y ago

vonklaus 12y ago
Link to the article Snowden authored earlier today about the subject : https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/15/snowden-new-zealand-surveillance/ https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/15/snowden-new-ze... EDIT: The segment has ended. You can view the video by skipping to 21:54 at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbps1EwAW-0#t=427 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbps1EwAW-0#t=427
- Indyan 12y ago
  As far as I know, this is the first time Snowden is directly penning an article. He even has a staff page [1] now on The Intercept. This is interesting because to me because "At the NSA I routinely came across the communications of New Zealanders in my work" is much more impactful than "Snowden stated that he routinely came across the communications of New Zealanders in his work as an NSA Analyst". [1]: https://firstlook.org/theintercept/staff/edward-snowden/ https://firstlook.org/theintercept/staff/edward-snowden/
ogijaoijfawje 12y ago
Snowden is a controlled pawn, though even he might not know it. This is all too....Hollywood. Edit: Feel free to downvote as much as you like, the points don't mean anything. If it's determined later on I was right, I hope you remember this post and consider it for future events.
- skidoo 12y ago
  Truth is stranger than fiction.
- Intermernet 12y ago
  I understand what you think you mean (but disagree), but have you considered the larger implications of your statement? If Snowden is a "controlled pawn", then isn't everyone in the entire debate a pawn? If so, where would you suggest we look to for updates on this situation?
- Crito 12y ago
  An account created for the sole purpose of criticizing Snowden/Greenwald/company accuses others of being a controlled pawn. Rich.
  - ogijaoijfawje 12y ago
    I mostly create new accounts anytime I make a set of posts from one of the various computers I control around the world. This one happened to be available still, so I'm using it. You missed my point entirely, though. I'm not on anyone's side. I think it's obvious that the U.S. government has some purpose in allowing/planning these leaks, it's just not evident yet. Basically, there's more to the story than what we're being exposed to through the media.
ericHosick 12y ago
Will any of this really make any difference? I feel that, in the long run, it won't. Edit: And to further clarify my question (since I'm being down-voted for a very legitimate question)... I know a lot of smart people and none of them (as in 0 of them) seem to take any notice to these conversations. There is a lot of apathy towards mass surveillance. Sure, the conversation comes up a lot on HN but HN is not a very good sample of the general public.
- vonklaus 12y ago
  I think a large amount of people don't understand the full extent more than intellectually. They are aware that it is happening but it doesn't have real context. They aren't aware that their position is tracked or logged, their porn habits monitored and that their is a subset of the population that has become wildly powerful and extremely clandestine. However, people are taking note. People like Ladar Levinson and others. They are combatting this with technology. This is also happening live in NZ right before an election, people will have more information to make that decision. So things are changing at their usual pace: slowly. Hopefully for the better.
  - prawn 12y ago
    I think base instincts and interests override any interest in acting. It's easier to pull up your favourite porn and hope no one cares or pays your actions any attention than it is to speak up and be seen as that guy walking against the crowd. I also think "I've got nothing to hide" is overwhelmingly more popular than people understanding the slippery slopes involved.
- nodata 12y ago
  It won't if you push an attitude like that.
  - ericHosick 12y ago
    An attitude? This stuff seems to happen again and again throughout history. Me asking this may bring root cause problems to the conversation too. You would think the world view of a large number of people would have changed considering things like the cold war with the U.S.S.R, Iran-Contra, Bay-of-Tonkin, etc. If it had, mass surveillance would be a lot more prevalent in every day communication.
drinchev 12y ago
Ironically it's not available in Germany, because of "right issues"[1]. [1] screenshot : http://imgur.com/JFTYK5u http://imgur.com/JFTYK5u
- sschueller 12y ago
  Alternate: http://new.livestream.com/accounts/1473236/events/3389825/player?width=640&height=360&autoPlay=true&mute=false http://new.livestream.com/accounts/1473236/events/3389825/pl...
  - aw3c2 12y ago
    thanks, this works well with https://github.com/chrippa/livestreamer https://github.com/chrippa/livestreamer
- throwaway876876 12y ago
  This is a Youtube/GEMA issue, however: [1] https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2853834?hl=en https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2853834?hl=en ("YouTube Live streams cannot be viewed from Germany.")
davidw 12y ago
One of these three things is not like the others.
- skidoo 12y ago
  Politics make strange bedfellows. That said, I think that ideologically, all of these men are absolutely on the same page... of persons who will never in their lifetimes be invited to any White House gala. And good for them.
  - jacquesm 12y ago
    > That said, I think that ideologically, all of these men are absolutely on the same page... I don't think even they would agree to that. KDC is a serial criminal/fraudster with a ton of convictions to his name that will pursue a buck no matter what he has to do for it. Glenn Greenwald is a journalist who will not be pushed or pressured into behaving as governments believe he should, who has taught a superb lesson in ethics to a large swath of the journalistic profession. He's this generations Woodward or Bernstein, take your pick. Julian Assange is a person that I respect on a professional level for what he's done with WikiLeaks but who quite probably has some flaws and possibly something to answer for in his private life. They couldn't be more different.
    - thaumaturgy 12y ago
      I think that's a little unfair to KDC; at the very least, it is no more a complete picture of the man than "John Doe is a felon" is of anyone else. There are a lot of other people who see Assange as nothing more than "rapist on the run". Dotcom hasn't stopped fighting his imprisonment and the seizure and loss of his equipment, business, and customers' data, even though he's already won far more than maybe anyone else in his position could have hoped to win in this age. He easily could have gone back home, moved to another country, and faded into obscurity; instead, he relaunched the service that got him into so much trouble in the first place, and has seemingly made it his mission to embarrass the governments involved as much as possible. Whether his motives are entirely selfish, for his own aggrandizement -- as I suspect they probably are -- or more altruistic, I'm still glad he's pouring so much of his resources into this.
idlewords 12y ago
We have got to get a halfway respectable public face for this movement. These are Bond villains.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  Glenn Greenwald a Bond Villain? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Greenwald http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Greenwald I see no preference for white furry felines and plenty of journalistic awards. He's not planning to take over a military base in the pacific (or one in outer space), doesn't have a private submarine. He probably does have some 'nation state' enemies but that's mostly their problem (that's something all three have in common). Greenwald is as respectable as they come. Not that that stopped some from trying to use the fact that he is gay to smear him. For instance: https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/368144189411704832 https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/368144189411704832 The real 'Bond Villains' are on the other side of the line and unlike the Bond movies they are not in camera but off to the side somewhere or behind a curtain.
- adamnemecek 12y ago
  Bond villains according to whom?
  - sschueller 12y ago
    I guess MI6 would make that declaration.
- MrJagil 12y ago
  There is an argument though, that this issue is so deeply ingrained that we need a rather rebellious approach to actually change anything... What's more appropriate for a rebellious movement than rebellious leaders? Just a thought...
  - idlewords 12y ago
    Maybe with less rape? I'd settle for that at this point.
lucb1e 12y ago
Will it be available elsewhere later? I can't watch right now.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
knotty66 12y ago
That non-stop banging and drilling under the embassy during the Julian Assange talk is pretty annoying.
aw3c2 12y ago
This feels like the typical Kimble self-advertising event. Disgusting.
- Nanzikambe 12y ago
  Regardless of my distate for KDC, I have to say: I disagree. Given the allegations * regarding the illegal involvement of state security apparatus in his case, I can totally see that this event represented an ideal platform for everyone participating. Though KDC did use the event to plug products & services, that wasn't the focus of the event. In his shoes, I think you'd have to concede that he'd have been an idiot not to do so. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Dotcom#Political_fallout_from_Dotcom.27s_arrest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Dotcom#Political_fallout_f...
- sschueller 12y ago
  He is actually at this very moment advertising his Mega service :)
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
    - mrmondo 12y ago
      NZer here: Can't stand KDC, that however was the only moment in the whole stream he talked that I saw.
- progx 12y ago
  Nooo, really ? ;-)
  - Fuxy 12y ago
    Hey sleazy or not this gets a lot of attention to a important issue which we desperately need.
    - 12y ago
mrmondo 12y ago
As a New Zealander, I have not felt more disgusted by a Prime Minister since Muldoon. This isn't news to those of us in the tech sector with experience in NZ - but it's amazing for international hero's such as Glenn Greenwald, Edward Snowden and Assange speak out so publicly about the grease-bag that is John Key and his party. Apologies for the loaded wording, I feel very passionately about the freedom of New Zealand.
- bitserf 12y ago
  Fellow NZ citizen. Could not agree more. I hope we will have more engagement of the citizenry this election.
  - mrmondo 12y ago
    As will I - I'm not for or against any party other than knowing that National has always failed NZ due to corruption and dirty politics, here's the link for international voting information: http://www.elections.org.nz/events/2014-general-election/voting-2014-all-you-need-know/voting-overseas-2014-general-election http://www.elections.org.nz/events/2014-general-election/vot...
  - vorg 12y ago
    It would also be good to have more engagement of non-citizen New Zealanders this election also! For non-Kiwis... New Zealand is one of the very few countries in the world where non-citizens are allowed to vote in national elections. Permanent residents who have lived in NZ for only 1 year can register to vote, though they don't have to. They're not allowed to become citizens until they've lived in NZ for 5 years however. This is in stark contrast to nearby Australia where only citizens vote, just like in most other countries, but their unusual electoral situation is that its citizens must vote (or be fined).
    - tankenmate 12y ago
      Actually Australians don't have to vote, they are required by law however to attend a polling station on polling day or have registered for a postal vote and returned the postal vote envelope. The actual vote papers can be blank, or indeed you can write in if you want; even for people who aren't on the official ticket (i.e. you can legally vote for Mickey Mouse). If a write in gets enough votes they are free to accept the position. In Australia you are also required by law to be on the electoral roll if you are eligible. In short in Australia suffrage is universal (for citizens who are of majority age; currently 18) and mandatory.
mrmondo 12y ago
Another link to a live stream that's very reliable: http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Decision14/Video/LIVESTREAMKimDotcomsMomentOfTruthevent.aspx http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Decision14/Video/LIVESTREAMKimDot...
majani 12y ago
That fake Obama just below the video is a real blow for credibility
- IkmoIkmo 12y ago
  Hah I was wondering about that
etiam 12y ago
Did anyone else have the issue of the flash plugin reloading once?
- tsileo 12y ago
  Me too, a few seconds after playing, it reloaded itself.
  - etiam 12y ago
    Thanks for the information. This is uncomfortably close to the way I imagine a glitch from something like a FOXACID exploit might look, and youtube is a known exploitable service. Maybe I need to get someone more skilled than myself have a close look at this machine. Knowledgeable people here, would you please comment if there's reason to rule out concerns about this.
    - roel_v 12y ago
      No "knowledgeable people" can rule out anything. You must consider any machine that is connected to any network compromised, if you have anything "sensitive" on there. You have to define for yourself what "sensitive" means. (not even being facetious here)
      - etiam 12y ago
        This is a fair point, but I find that in practice I usually need something more like a probability assessment to act on, or better information about mechanisms. Disambiguating information such as 'the flash component reloading normally occurs under condition X and Y, you guys may have been compromised but you'll have to decide if that's more plausible than X or Y' or technical constraints like 'to pull off exploit delivery that way an attacker would have to P, Q and R. If they did it should leave traces in S which you could try to check by doing T' would be a real help. I'm certainly not disagreeing in theory with taking a pessimistic view on the security of any networked machine, but unfortunately that's way too restrictive as basis for action in most situations.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
mrmondo 12y ago
Here's the full stream recorded and uploaded to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbps1EwAW-0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbps1EwAW-0
- q_no 12y ago
  Too bad, the Youtube video does not play in Germany due to copyright issues. This is a farce
junto 12y ago
While I find Dotcom to be a epitome of a shill, I doubt Greenwald or Snowden would back this particular claim if they truly believed it was false. Both Snowden and Greenwald have choosen to honour the truth above their own safety and security. Both of them are also acutely aware of the fact that standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Dotcom reflects poorly on their own integrity. Maybe the USG leaked this email as a 'false flag' in order to make Greenwald look a fool when it gets proved as false, or it is true, and Greenwald and Snowden are right to back Dotcom in this particular argument, whether or not he is a crook or not. A US movie company doing back-room deals (on behalf of the USG) with NZ politicians, in order to get someone extradited for alleged copyright infringement is just downright dirty and a waste of public money. It is corrupt corporatism at it's finest. If it is true, I hope the shit hits the fan. However, as many others have pointed out. The fact that a politician is dirty is not an automatic guarantee that the voting public won't vote for him.
- caractacus 12y ago
  A main question for me is how dotcom got hold of his email. There is no mention that it came from Snowden's leaks or similar, though it appears that this is what Dotcom is wanted everyone to believe: host an event highlighting mass surveilliance of NZ citizens, publicise an email hours beforehand, hope everyone conflates the issues and thinks that the legitimacy that Greenwald and Snowden lend to the surveillance event is passed onto the email. Personally, I doubt the CEO of a major company like WB would send an email outlining this kind of agreement, especially when he says that Key told him 'in private' that such and such would happen. I'm not saying it didn't happen but would the CEO of a major movie studio be careless enough to put this in the clear in an email? Half the employees of a place like WB are lawyers...
  - junto 12y ago
    While that is true, do you imagine that Greewald and Snowden are stupid enough not to validate their sources? They own integrity is on the line here, and Greenwald in particular is trading on that integrity, and the entire Firstlook.org integrity is riding with him. Either the USD has sold him a complete dummy and Firstlook is dead in the water, or the claim is true.
Keyframe 12y ago
Is this a way to discredit Assange?
mrmondo 12y ago
How did Snowden not make the title of this post?!
- codeulike 12y ago
  Surprise guest.
- 4mnt 12y ago
  Snowden was not introduced until after OP posted this link
makaveli8 12y ago
I didn't realise I had so many right wing friends on facebook (Read: Not real friends). All they can come up with in response is "omg Kim Dotcom is fat lol"
mrmondo 12y ago
Post from Glenn Grennwald and Ryan Gallagher on FirstLook: https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/15/new-zealand-gcsb-speargun-mass-surveillance/ https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/15/new-zealand-gc...
nickdotmulder 12y ago
It doesn't seem like New Zealanders are taking this very seriously, even mocking: http://tvnz.co.nz/seven-sharp/kim-dotcom-s-bombshell-revelations-video-6081681 http://tvnz.co.nz/seven-sharp/kim-dotcom-s-bombshell-revelat...
- Intermernet 12y ago
  I hope they take it a bit more seriously once they've watched a bit longer. I've found that the New Zealander response to many things is one of apparent mocking, and this is sometimes a good thing. The NZ public don't treat much as sacred, and this sometimes looks like dismissal. I'd take comfort in the fact that the current political leaders in NZ are commonly treated to as much, or more, derision than is being shown here towards Dotcom, Assange, Snowden, Greenwald etc. The NZ populous are generally pretty smart. Let's hope that they take these revelations and act intelligently on them.
- EdwardDiego 12y ago
  Bear in mind that Mike Hosking, one of the hosts of Seven Sharp, is a major backer of current Prime Minister John Key.
deleted 12y ago
[deleted]
ak39 12y ago
Were all the slides blacked out while GG presented? Or is this done at YouTube level? (cf. > 51 minutes in)
- Arcantium 12y ago
  they were blacked out. He only showed the stuff relevant to what he was presenting.
  - deleted 12y ago
    [deleted]
raldi 12y ago
Please don't use all-caps in your submission titles.
tete 12y ago
It's interesting despite being a Kim Dotcom event, despite his comments and ads. The others don't seem too happy about that either.
balabaster 12y ago
It's interesting how many people have grown so desensitized to the content being presented that they're back to slinging mud about the credibility of the persons delivering the content. I'd say regardless of what you may think of Assange, Dot Com and Snowden personally, the presentation was excellent and raised an extremely valid critique of the state of Western surveillance. Perhaps we all need to stay on point.
beedogs 12y ago
It's weird how this story seems to have disappeared from the front page of HN, despite sitting at 265 points currently and being only 10 hours old. It was there a few hours ago. Makes one wonder...
- singularity2001 12y ago
  Yep, seems like Playboy interviews are more important today ( less points, less comments, more hours ... how does the HN algorithm work?) ... Reopened for our timezone, with better link: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8320292 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8320292 (is that ok?)
igl 12y ago
8 hours and 262 points later this moved past page 2 on HN already? Behind the stupid motorcycle helmet? eh?
- beedogs 12y ago
  I'm guessing it was moved by the admins. For some reason.

271 points by vonklaus 12y ago

Link to the article Snowden authored earlier today about the subject : https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/15/snowden-new-zealand-surveillance/ https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/15/snowden-new-ze... EDIT: The segment has ended. You can view the video by skipping to 21:54 at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbps1EwAW-0#t=427 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbps1EwAW-0#t=427

Indyan 12y ago
As far as I know, this is the first time Snowden is directly penning an article. He even has a staff page [1] now on The Intercept. This is interesting because to me because "At the NSA I routinely came across the communications of New Zealanders in my work" is much more impactful than "Snowden stated that he routinely came across the communications of New Zealanders in his work as an NSA Analyst". [1]: https://firstlook.org/theintercept/staff/edward-snowden/ https://firstlook.org/theintercept/staff/edward-snowden/

ogijaoijfawje 12y ago

Snowden is a controlled pawn, though even he might not know it. This is all too....Hollywood. Edit: Feel free to downvote as much as you like, the points don't mean anything. If it's determined later on I was right, I hope you remember this post and consider it for future events.

skidoo 12y ago
Truth is stranger than fiction.
Intermernet 12y ago
I understand what you think you mean (but disagree), but have you considered the larger implications of your statement? If Snowden is a "controlled pawn", then isn't everyone in the entire debate a pawn? If so, where would you suggest we look to for updates on this situation?
Crito 12y ago
An account created for the sole purpose of criticizing Snowden/Greenwald/company accuses others of being a controlled pawn. Rich.
- ogijaoijfawje 12y ago
  I mostly create new accounts anytime I make a set of posts from one of the various computers I control around the world. This one happened to be available still, so I'm using it. You missed my point entirely, though. I'm not on anyone's side. I think it's obvious that the U.S. government has some purpose in allowing/planning these leaks, it's just not evident yet. Basically, there's more to the story than what we're being exposed to through the media.

ericHosick 12y ago

Will any of this really make any difference? I feel that, in the long run, it won't. Edit: And to further clarify my question (since I'm being down-voted for a very legitimate question)... I know a lot of smart people and none of them (as in 0 of them) seem to take any notice to these conversations. There is a lot of apathy towards mass surveillance. Sure, the conversation comes up a lot on HN but HN is not a very good sample of the general public.

vonklaus 12y ago
I think a large amount of people don't understand the full extent more than intellectually. They are aware that it is happening but it doesn't have real context. They aren't aware that their position is tracked or logged, their porn habits monitored and that their is a subset of the population that has become wildly powerful and extremely clandestine. However, people are taking note. People like Ladar Levinson and others. They are combatting this with technology. This is also happening live in NZ right before an election, people will have more information to make that decision. So things are changing at their usual pace: slowly. Hopefully for the better.
- prawn 12y ago
  I think base instincts and interests override any interest in acting. It's easier to pull up your favourite porn and hope no one cares or pays your actions any attention than it is to speak up and be seen as that guy walking against the crowd. I also think "I've got nothing to hide" is overwhelmingly more popular than people understanding the slippery slopes involved.
nodata 12y ago
It won't if you push an attitude like that.
- ericHosick 12y ago
  An attitude? This stuff seems to happen again and again throughout history. Me asking this may bring root cause problems to the conversation too. You would think the world view of a large number of people would have changed considering things like the cold war with the U.S.S.R, Iran-Contra, Bay-of-Tonkin, etc. If it had, mass surveillance would be a lot more prevalent in every day communication.

drinchev 12y ago

Ironically it's not available in Germany, because of "right issues"[1]. [1] screenshot : http://imgur.com/JFTYK5u http://imgur.com/JFTYK5u

sschueller 12y ago
Alternate: http://new.livestream.com/accounts/1473236/events/3389825/player?width=640&height=360&autoPlay=true&mute=false http://new.livestream.com/accounts/1473236/events/3389825/pl...
- aw3c2 12y ago
  thanks, this works well with https://github.com/chrippa/livestreamer https://github.com/chrippa/livestreamer
throwaway876876 12y ago
This is a Youtube/GEMA issue, however: [1] https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2853834?hl=en https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/2853834?hl=en ("YouTube Live streams cannot be viewed from Germany.")

davidw 12y ago

One of these three things is not like the others.

skidoo 12y ago
Politics make strange bedfellows. That said, I think that ideologically, all of these men are absolutely on the same page... of persons who will never in their lifetimes be invited to any White House gala. And good for them.
- jacquesm 12y ago
  > That said, I think that ideologically, all of these men are absolutely on the same page... I don't think even they would agree to that. KDC is a serial criminal/fraudster with a ton of convictions to his name that will pursue a buck no matter what he has to do for it. Glenn Greenwald is a journalist who will not be pushed or pressured into behaving as governments believe he should, who has taught a superb lesson in ethics to a large swath of the journalistic profession. He's this generations Woodward or Bernstein, take your pick. Julian Assange is a person that I respect on a professional level for what he's done with WikiLeaks but who quite probably has some flaws and possibly something to answer for in his private life. They couldn't be more different.
  - thaumaturgy 12y ago
    I think that's a little unfair to KDC; at the very least, it is no more a complete picture of the man than "John Doe is a felon" is of anyone else. There are a lot of other people who see Assange as nothing more than "rapist on the run". Dotcom hasn't stopped fighting his imprisonment and the seizure and loss of his equipment, business, and customers' data, even though he's already won far more than maybe anyone else in his position could have hoped to win in this age. He easily could have gone back home, moved to another country, and faded into obscurity; instead, he relaunched the service that got him into so much trouble in the first place, and has seemingly made it his mission to embarrass the governments involved as much as possible. Whether his motives are entirely selfish, for his own aggrandizement -- as I suspect they probably are -- or more altruistic, I'm still glad he's pouring so much of his resources into this.

idlewords 12y ago

We have got to get a halfway respectable public face for this movement. These are Bond villains.

jacquesm 12y ago
Glenn Greenwald a Bond Villain? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Greenwald http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_Greenwald I see no preference for white furry felines and plenty of journalistic awards. He's not planning to take over a military base in the pacific (or one in outer space), doesn't have a private submarine. He probably does have some 'nation state' enemies but that's mostly their problem (that's something all three have in common). Greenwald is as respectable as they come. Not that that stopped some from trying to use the fact that he is gay to smear him. For instance: https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/368144189411704832 https://twitter.com/ggreenwald/status/368144189411704832 The real 'Bond Villains' are on the other side of the line and unlike the Bond movies they are not in camera but off to the side somewhere or behind a curtain.
adamnemecek 12y ago
Bond villains according to whom?
- sschueller 12y ago
  I guess MI6 would make that declaration.
MrJagil 12y ago
There is an argument though, that this issue is so deeply ingrained that we need a rather rebellious approach to actually change anything... What's more appropriate for a rebellious movement than rebellious leaders? Just a thought...
- idlewords 12y ago
  Maybe with less rape? I'd settle for that at this point.

lucb1e 12y ago

Will it be available elsewhere later? I can't watch right now.

deleted 12y ago
[deleted]

knotty66 12y ago

That non-stop banging and drilling under the embassy during the Julian Assange talk is pretty annoying.

aw3c2 12y ago

This feels like the typical Kimble self-advertising event. Disgusting.

Nanzikambe 12y ago
Regardless of my distate for KDC, I have to say: I disagree. Given the allegations * regarding the illegal involvement of state security apparatus in his case, I can totally see that this event represented an ideal platform for everyone participating. Though KDC did use the event to plug products & services, that wasn't the focus of the event. In his shoes, I think you'd have to concede that he'd have been an idiot not to do so. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Dotcom#Political_fallout_from_Dotcom.27s_arrest https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Dotcom#Political_fallout_f...
sschueller 12y ago
He is actually at this very moment advertising his Mega service :)
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]
  - mrmondo 12y ago
    NZer here: Can't stand KDC, that however was the only moment in the whole stream he talked that I saw.
progx 12y ago
Nooo, really ? ;-)
- Fuxy 12y ago
  Hey sleazy or not this gets a lot of attention to a important issue which we desperately need.
  - 12y ago

mrmondo 12y ago

As a New Zealander, I have not felt more disgusted by a Prime Minister since Muldoon. This isn't news to those of us in the tech sector with experience in NZ - but it's amazing for international hero's such as Glenn Greenwald, Edward Snowden and Assange speak out so publicly about the grease-bag that is John Key and his party. Apologies for the loaded wording, I feel very passionately about the freedom of New Zealand.

bitserf 12y ago
Fellow NZ citizen. Could not agree more. I hope we will have more engagement of the citizenry this election.
- mrmondo 12y ago
  As will I - I'm not for or against any party other than knowing that National has always failed NZ due to corruption and dirty politics, here's the link for international voting information: http://www.elections.org.nz/events/2014-general-election/voting-2014-all-you-need-know/voting-overseas-2014-general-election http://www.elections.org.nz/events/2014-general-election/vot...
- vorg 12y ago
  It would also be good to have more engagement of non-citizen New Zealanders this election also! For non-Kiwis... New Zealand is one of the very few countries in the world where non-citizens are allowed to vote in national elections. Permanent residents who have lived in NZ for only 1 year can register to vote, though they don't have to. They're not allowed to become citizens until they've lived in NZ for 5 years however. This is in stark contrast to nearby Australia where only citizens vote, just like in most other countries, but their unusual electoral situation is that its citizens must vote (or be fined).
  - tankenmate 12y ago
    Actually Australians don't have to vote, they are required by law however to attend a polling station on polling day or have registered for a postal vote and returned the postal vote envelope. The actual vote papers can be blank, or indeed you can write in if you want; even for people who aren't on the official ticket (i.e. you can legally vote for Mickey Mouse). If a write in gets enough votes they are free to accept the position. In Australia you are also required by law to be on the electoral roll if you are eligible. In short in Australia suffrage is universal (for citizens who are of majority age; currently 18) and mandatory.

mrmondo 12y ago

Another link to a live stream that's very reliable: http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Decision14/Video/LIVESTREAMKimDotcomsMomentOfTruthevent.aspx http://www.radiolive.co.nz/Decision14/Video/LIVESTREAMKimDot...

majani 12y ago

That fake Obama just below the video is a real blow for credibility

IkmoIkmo 12y ago
Hah I was wondering about that

etiam 12y ago

Did anyone else have the issue of the flash plugin reloading once?

tsileo 12y ago
Me too, a few seconds after playing, it reloaded itself.
- etiam 12y ago
  Thanks for the information. This is uncomfortably close to the way I imagine a glitch from something like a FOXACID exploit might look, and youtube is a known exploitable service. Maybe I need to get someone more skilled than myself have a close look at this machine. Knowledgeable people here, would you please comment if there's reason to rule out concerns about this.
  - roel_v 12y ago
    No "knowledgeable people" can rule out anything. You must consider any machine that is connected to any network compromised, if you have anything "sensitive" on there. You have to define for yourself what "sensitive" means. (not even being facetious here)
    - etiam 12y ago
      This is a fair point, but I find that in practice I usually need something more like a probability assessment to act on, or better information about mechanisms. Disambiguating information such as 'the flash component reloading normally occurs under condition X and Y, you guys may have been compromised but you'll have to decide if that's more plausible than X or Y' or technical constraints like 'to pull off exploit delivery that way an attacker would have to P, Q and R. If they did it should leave traces in S which you could try to check by doing T' would be a real help. I'm certainly not disagreeing in theory with taking a pessimistic view on the security of any networked machine, but unfortunately that's way too restrictive as basis for action in most situations.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

mrmondo 12y ago

Here's the full stream recorded and uploaded to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbps1EwAW-0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbps1EwAW-0

q_no 12y ago
Too bad, the Youtube video does not play in Germany due to copyright issues. This is a farce

junto 12y ago

While I find Dotcom to be a epitome of a shill, I doubt Greenwald or Snowden would back this particular claim if they truly believed it was false. Both Snowden and Greenwald have choosen to honour the truth above their own safety and security. Both of them are also acutely aware of the fact that standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Dotcom reflects poorly on their own integrity. Maybe the USG leaked this email as a 'false flag' in order to make Greenwald look a fool when it gets proved as false, or it is true, and Greenwald and Snowden are right to back Dotcom in this particular argument, whether or not he is a crook or not. A US movie company doing back-room deals (on behalf of the USG) with NZ politicians, in order to get someone extradited for alleged copyright infringement is just downright dirty and a waste of public money. It is corrupt corporatism at it's finest. If it is true, I hope the shit hits the fan. However, as many others have pointed out. The fact that a politician is dirty is not an automatic guarantee that the voting public won't vote for him.

caractacus 12y ago
A main question for me is how dotcom got hold of his email. There is no mention that it came from Snowden's leaks or similar, though it appears that this is what Dotcom is wanted everyone to believe: host an event highlighting mass surveilliance of NZ citizens, publicise an email hours beforehand, hope everyone conflates the issues and thinks that the legitimacy that Greenwald and Snowden lend to the surveillance event is passed onto the email. Personally, I doubt the CEO of a major company like WB would send an email outlining this kind of agreement, especially when he says that Key told him 'in private' that such and such would happen. I'm not saying it didn't happen but would the CEO of a major movie studio be careless enough to put this in the clear in an email? Half the employees of a place like WB are lawyers...
- junto 12y ago
  While that is true, do you imagine that Greewald and Snowden are stupid enough not to validate their sources? They own integrity is on the line here, and Greenwald in particular is trading on that integrity, and the entire Firstlook.org integrity is riding with him. Either the USD has sold him a complete dummy and Firstlook is dead in the water, or the claim is true.

Keyframe 12y ago

Is this a way to discredit Assange?

mrmondo 12y ago

How did Snowden not make the title of this post?!

codeulike 12y ago
Surprise guest.
4mnt 12y ago
Snowden was not introduced until after OP posted this link

makaveli8 12y ago

I didn't realise I had so many right wing friends on facebook (Read: Not real friends). All they can come up with in response is "omg Kim Dotcom is fat lol"

mrmondo 12y ago

Post from Glenn Grennwald and Ryan Gallagher on FirstLook: https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/15/new-zealand-gcsb-speargun-mass-surveillance/ https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/15/new-zealand-gc...

nickdotmulder 12y ago

It doesn't seem like New Zealanders are taking this very seriously, even mocking: http://tvnz.co.nz/seven-sharp/kim-dotcom-s-bombshell-revelations-video-6081681 http://tvnz.co.nz/seven-sharp/kim-dotcom-s-bombshell-revelat...

Intermernet 12y ago
I hope they take it a bit more seriously once they've watched a bit longer. I've found that the New Zealander response to many things is one of apparent mocking, and this is sometimes a good thing. The NZ public don't treat much as sacred, and this sometimes looks like dismissal. I'd take comfort in the fact that the current political leaders in NZ are commonly treated to as much, or more, derision than is being shown here towards Dotcom, Assange, Snowden, Greenwald etc. The NZ populous are generally pretty smart. Let's hope that they take these revelations and act intelligently on them.
EdwardDiego 12y ago
Bear in mind that Mike Hosking, one of the hosts of Seven Sharp, is a major backer of current Prime Minister John Key.

deleted 12y ago

[deleted]

ak39 12y ago

Were all the slides blacked out while GG presented? Or is this done at YouTube level? (cf. > 51 minutes in)

Arcantium 12y ago
they were blacked out. He only showed the stuff relevant to what he was presenting.
- deleted 12y ago
  [deleted]

raldi 12y ago

Please don't use all-caps in your submission titles.

tete 12y ago

It's interesting despite being a Kim Dotcom event, despite his comments and ads. The others don't seem too happy about that either.

balabaster 12y ago

It's interesting how many people have grown so desensitized to the content being presented that they're back to slinging mud about the credibility of the persons delivering the content. I'd say regardless of what you may think of Assange, Dot Com and Snowden personally, the presentation was excellent and raised an extremely valid critique of the state of Western surveillance. Perhaps we all need to stay on point.

beedogs 12y ago

It's weird how this story seems to have disappeared from the front page of HN, despite sitting at 265 points currently and being only 10 hours old. It was there a few hours ago. Makes one wonder...

singularity2001 12y ago
Yep, seems like Playboy interviews are more important today ( less points, less comments, more hours ... how does the HN algorithm work?) ... Reopened for our timezone, with better link: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8320292 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8320292 (is that ok?)

igl 12y ago

8 hours and 262 points later this moved past page 2 on HN already? Behind the stupid motorcycle helmet? eh?

beedogs 12y ago
I'm guessing it was moved by the admins. For some reason.