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The WCIT "Freedom of expression storm troopers" should note, "“More
communications are being intercepted in America about Americans than
there are in Russia about Russians, Mr. Snowden said."
<p class="body">Guru<br>
</p>
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<h1 class="detail-title">More revelations to come, says Snowden</h1>
March 20, 2014<br>
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<p class="body">The former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden
emerged from his Russian exile Tuesday in the form of a
remotely-controlled robot to promise more sensational
revelations about U.S. spying programmes.</p>
<p class="body">Mr. Snowden’s face appeared on a screen as he
manoeuvred the wheeled android around a stage at the TED
gathering, addressing an audience in Vancouver without ever
leaving his secret hideaway.</p>
<p class="body">“There are absolutely more revelations to come,”
he said. “Some of the most important reporting to be done is yet
to come.”</p>
<p class="body">Mr. Snowden, a former National Security Agency
contractor who has been charged in the United States with
espionage, dismissed the public debate about whether he is a
heroic whistleblower or traitor. Instead, he used the conference
organised by educational non-profit organisation TED
(“Technology Entertainment Design”), to call for people
worldwide to fight for privacy and Internet freedom.</p>
<p class="body">Internet creator Tim Berners-Lee briefly joined
Mr. Snowden’s interview with TED curator Chris Anderson, and
came down in the hero camp. When Mr. Anderson posed the question
to the TED audience — known for famous, innovative, and
influential attendees — the idea that Mr. Snowden was a force
for good met with applause. “Hero patriot or traitor; I would
say I am an American citizen just like anyone else,” Mr. Snowden
said. “What really matters here is the kind of government we
want; the kind of Internet we want.” He said he was inspired to
pass a huge trove of NSA files to reporters when he saw U.S.
spying tactics going too far and intruding into the private data
of millions of Internet and telephone customers.</p>
<p class="body">Mr. Snowden argued that if he had gone to the U.S.
Congress with his concerns he would have risked being “buried
along with the information.” He instead urged the “adversarial
press” to challenge government and ignite public debate “without
putting national security at risk.” He argued that the dangers
critics have played up regarding disclosure of information have
not materialised, and insisted that he remains comfortable with
his decisions. He depicted the NSA’s Prism programme for getting
user information from Internet firms as a way for the U.S.
government to “deputise corporate America to do its dirty work.”
And he blasted a U.S. secret court for seldom rejecting National
Security Agency requests to compel Internet titans to turn over
user data and U.S. legislators for showing little oversight.</p>
<p class="body">Mr. Snowden urged Internet companies to stand up
against online snooping by encrypting online activity by default
so spies could easily note anything from book browsing at
Amazon.com to visiting websites.</p>
<p class="body">People should be able to book air travel, order
books, make phone calls and send text messages without worrying
about how it will look to an agent of the government, he
declared.</p>
<p class="body">“More communications are being intercepted in
America about Americans than there are in Russia about
Russians,” Mr. Snowden said. He argued that the NSA was making
the U.S., and the world, less safe by lobbying for weak
standards that could open back doors into online venues or
services such as online commerce or banking. “Our basic freedoms
are not a partisan issue,” he said. “It is up to us to protect
them; it is up to us to preserve the open Internet.” Mr. Snowden
endorsed the campaign by Berners-Lee for a global Magna Carta
laying out values and rights on the Internet. “A Magna Carta for
the Internet is exactly what we need,” Mr. Snowden said.</p>
<p class="body">Mr. Anderson said that the NSA had been invited to
take part in the TED chat with Mr. Snowden but it did not work
out “for logistical reasons.” — AFP</p>
SOURCE - <a moz-do-not-send="true" class="moz-txt-link-freetext"
href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/more-revelations-to-come-says-snowden/article5807667.ece">http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-international/more-revelations-to-come-says-snowden/article5807667.ece</a><br>
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