This is a self-serving opportunity for Mark Pincus to look like the good guy, after years of acting like a tyrant when he was in charge of Zynga. I'm not just talking about pushing games designed to exploit users in various ways. Remember the incident where Pincus "demanded certain employees surrender some shares or be fired"? (1) He also laid off more than 500 people earlier this year,(2) managed problems by "address(ing) the symptoms rather than the root causes"(3) and padded his own nest while loyal investors who stuck with Zynga stock got roasted.(4)<p>Appearing in a photo opp with Obama and saying "free Snowden" is a low risk way for him to improve his image among his peers (rich Silicon Valley people) and the public.<p>1. <a href="http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970204621904577018373223480802" rel="nofollow">http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405297020462190...</a><p>2. <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2013/06/03/zynga-layoffs-mark-pincus/2385291/" rel="nofollow">http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2013/06/03/zynga-l...</a><p>3. <a href="http://www.fastcompany.com/3007544/where-are-they-now/mark-pincuss-clowns-are-still-haunting-zynga" rel="nofollow">http://www.fastcompany.com/3007544/where-are-they-now/mark-p...</a><p>4. <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2013/07/01/the-fall-of-mark-pincus-from-billionaire-to-zyngas-former-ceo/" rel="nofollow">http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2013/07/01/the-fall-of-m...</a>
"The Obama administration has stated that if Snowden were to return to the United States, he would receive protection under due process laws."<p>That sure is nice of them.<p>How did it get to a point where this is actually up for debate? It sure sounds to me like that's a statement from somebody who thinks that they have options in how Snowden should be treated by the government.
With all that's being said about the NSA, and how we should add self-restraint, with all that the government is admitting about the current state of the NSA being bad, why not?<p>If it's that clear that Snowden did the right thing, why not pardon him? I feel that not pardoning Snowden is roughly equivalent to making a statement that people should be in the dark about the government's spying programs, and that the government should be free to spy on its people, unchecked.
Here is the list of people who Obama <i>has</i> pardoned:<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_pardoned_by_Barack_Obama" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_pardoned_by_Bara...</a><p>It looks like many of them were just erasing the record of those who committed minor crimes a long time ago. I wonder how you get to be so lucky.
Pardoning Snowden has practical upsides for the President and NSA apart from morals, ethics, or scoring popularity points with tech execs. Namely, by pardoning Snowden, there's a good chance they can get him back on U.S. soil and possibly prevent more leaks that are damaging in other ways.<p>It strikes me that much of Snowden's original leaking was protecting civil liberties for U.S. citizens--let's call that patriotism. And it seems that reasonable people and federal judges agree that knowing about and fixing these abuses is a Good Thing.<p>As it stands now, the heavy handed government rhetoric / smear campaign, combined with the threat of legal (or worse, extra-legal) penalties at home, might make anyone skittish. And a skittish guy with a whole lot of government secrets seems like a Bad Thing.<p>So, let's bring this guy home and throw him some parades before Russia, China, Iran, and everyone else knows everything about our cyber warfare capacity--i.e. "legitimate" spy stuff that all nations take part in.
Kind of strange that in a discussion that is ostensibly related to the disastrous Healthcare.gov, that you'd invite the CEO of a gaming company that thrives off of manipulating users through gamification. I know Zynga has been successful in many ways that most could only hope to emulate...but really, there weren't more relevant CEOs to bring to the table?<p>But good for Pincus for asking the question. How embarrassing it is for Obama to equivocate on morality and principles with a CEO whose gaming company is often criticized for having neither.
My first reaction was, "Cool!"<p>Then I got to thinking about it a little more, and I can't figure out why this is the <i>least</i> bit interesting.<p>"Pardon Snowden" is a pretty common sentiment among the tech crowd. And tech execs <i>generally</i> follow the same sort of opinions as the rest of us. I'm sure there are substantial differences, but there's no surprise that there would be tech execs who think Snowden should be pardoned.<p>So then what <i>is</i> the supposed surprise? That the guy was brave enough to actually voice his opinion to the President? This is not the USSR and you don't get thrown in the gulag for expressing an opinion that the President disagrees with.
The last thing Ed Snowden needs is a shady character like Pinicus vouching for him what next will Donald Trump get in the act or gorgeous George Galloway MP.<p>He needs some higher quality supporters if he does want to negotiate a way out of his predicament
Edward Snowden is the Martin Luther King Jr. of my generation. History will vindicate this man and hail him as a hero. It's great to see at least <i>one</i> tech exec with the courage to speak up for him.