Great news!<p>Let's put it in context. In a nation of over 300,000,000 people, in which we <i>know</i> several departments of the executive branch are spending billions to spy on the world in gross violation of the Constitution, it seems only one or two people (Snowden and Manning with help from the press), and one or two organizations (EFF and ACLU), are able to make <i>any</i> meaningful progress.<p>The legislative branch has done almost nothing and is largely complicit. The judicial branch has been largely complicit except when motivated by the EFF and ACLU and didn't help with Manning. Same with the press. What's left? What other successes can we build on? What historical models can we learn from?<p>Probably everyone reading this wants to help. Surely we can come up with some way to do something. We can contribute resources to the EFF and ACLU. Frankly, I don't see marching in the streets helpful, but I'd love to be proved wrong. What else?<p>WE'RE TECHNOLOGY ENTREPRENEURS! We claim to understand the issues and know how to create and lead teams and marshal resources to meet demand. If any progress is to happen, IT HAS TO START HERE WITH US.<p>What else can we -- you and I -- do?<p>- Can we motivate and support more whistleblowers so future ones don't have to fear jail and persecution?<p>- Can we contribute more time, money, and other resources to the EFF and ACLU?<p>- Can we create new organizations to augment their work?<p>I have to believe we have more ideas in us. What else can we do? Can YOU add to this list?
Congress should be following Bruce Schneier's advice, and appoint a special independent prosecutor with full powers to see everything that's happening within NSA, and to be able to take confessions from NSA employees, without them fearing repercussions. The NSA needs to be reined it, and it needs a full audit.<p><a href="http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/09/the-only-way-to-restore-trust-in-the-nsa/279314/" rel="nofollow">http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/09/the-only...</a>
Organizations like EFF and ACLU are extremely impressive—they are one of the very few effective actors that actually seem to be able to strike blows at the current wave of authoritarian madness. I wish their German and European counterparts managed similar feats.
The released information will be legal opinions:<p>"[O]rders and opinions of the FISC issued from January 1, 2004, to June 6, 2011, that contain a significant legal interpretation of the government’s authority or use of its authority under Section 215; and responsive “significant documents, procedures, or legal analyses incorporated into FISC opinions or orders and treated as binding by the Department of Justice or the National Security Agency."<p>This is actually a huge win, because it will show the legal theories underlying the NSA surveillance. This will help us figure out whether the surveillance is Constitutional, and also give insight into what sorts of surveillance is being conducted.
The EFF is a great thing, but let's look at what they won:<p>> [O]rders and opinions of the FISC issued from January 1, 2004, to June 6, 2011, that contain a significant legal interpretation of the government’s authority or use of its authority under Section 215; and responsive “significant documents, procedures, or legal analyses incorporated into FISC opinions or orders and treated as binding by the Department of Justice or the National Security Agency.”<p>My interpretation of that is that the results could just include a lot about: "As stated in (some law or regulation) case # (redacted) with regard to (redacted), (redacted) is fully (or not fully) within the rights of the government to do so."<p>So, I'm sure there will be some information there, but it will be about the laws and regulations surrounding what is possible, not about the actions being discussed. And, frankly I've known for years (who hasn't) that our government wants an excessive amount of information about us with the intent to keep us safe and/or dominate the world, so I don't need the EFF or our government to spend much time on this. The EFF should be figuring out what can be patented and what can be free, and our government should be doing what it can to boost our economy in a long-term fashion while ensuring our freedom and safety. If that involves an overreaching security group, so be it.
So many people have accused Ed Snowden of treason, but it seems a lot less likely that this would have happened had he not had the balls to allude to the kinds of spying the federal government has been doing on the world.<p>Thanks Ed, and to all the awesome people at the EFF.
In related, but largely unimportant news, the federal government has created a tumblr account to post its surveillance-related propaganda:<p><a href="http://icontherecord.tumblr.com/" rel="nofollow">http://icontherecord.tumblr.com/</a><p>and it's as ugly as anything you've ever seen come out of the federal government. I still can't believe that someone makes those graphics for a living, and still makes them look that bad.
I hope that what they release is actually something can be read in its entirety and not redacted so much you can't read it.<p><a href="http://abcnews.go.com/m/blogEntry?id=19153896&ref=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F" rel="nofollow">http://abcnews.go.com/m/blogEntry?id=19153896&ref=https%3A%2...</a>
Supposing the Justice Department has committed a crime:<p>- What laws have been broken?<p>- What individuals broke those laws?<p>- What punishments are appropriate?<p>- Who decides who is guilty?<p>- Who gives out those sentences?<p>- Where will the criminals be held?<p>Additionally, is the President at liberty to override them?<p>If all else fails, would it be possible for the people to set up their own courts outside of the Justice Department for this purpose?