The Last Gasp of American Democracy. Prosecution of Anonymous activists highlights war for Internet control. Wikileaks. New press freedom group is launched to block US government attacks. Several weeks ago, I wrote about the steps taken by the US government to pressure large corporations to choke off the finances and other means of support for WikiLeaks in retaliation for the group's exposure of substantial government deceit, wrongdoing and illegality.
Because WikiLeaks has never been charged with, let alone convicted of, any crime, I wrote: "that the US government largely succeeded in using extra-legal and extra-judicial means to cripple an adverse journalistic outlet is a truly consequential episode. " At the end of that column, I disclosed that I had been involved in discussions "regarding the formation of a new organization designed to support independent journalists and groups such as WikiLeaks under attack by the US and other governments. " That group has now been formed and, this morning, was formally launched. What is TYLER? Anonymous reveals details of its own 'WikiLeaks' project. Iceland: Strives to Be Info Freedom Haven. Heather Brooke: My battle to expose government corruption.
National Whistleblowers Center - Home. SOX whistleblower protection covers mutual fund industry Washington, D.C.
March 4, 2014. The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today in Lawson v. Collaboration on Government Secrecy (CGS) Mission Statement The Collaboration on Government Secrecy ("CGS") is a non-partisan educational project devoted to openness in government, freedom of information, government transparency, and the study of "government secrecy" in the United States and internationally.
Its mission is to, among other things: foster both academic and public understanding of these subjects by serving as a center of superior expertise, detailed scholarly research, and comprehensive information resources; promote the accurate delineation and development of legal and policy issues arising in this subject area; conduct leading-edge educational programs and related activities for interested members of the academic and openness-in-government communities; and become the premier clearinghouse for this area of law both in the United States and worldwide.
About Staff. Watch FRONTLINE Online. Top Secret America - Washington Post Reveals Massive Outsourced US Intelligence System. Exclusive: National Security Agency Whistleblower William Binney on Growing State Surveillance. This is a rush transcript.
Copy may not be in its final form. JUAN GONZALEZ: Today we bring you a Democracy Now! Special on the growing domestic surveillance state and the Department of Homeland Security’s efforts to spy on dissident journalists and activists. In a national broadcast exclusive, we’re joined by National Security Agency whistleblower William Binney. He was a key source for James Bamford’s recent [exposé] in Wired Magazine about the NSA—how the NSA is quietly building the largest spy center in the country in Bluffdale, Utah. More Secrets on State Surveillance: Exclusive Part 2 With NSA Whistleblower, Targeted Hacker. Doubling down on 9/11. A Pernicious Drive Toward Secrecy.
Drafted in secret without public hearings, the provisions are part of the intelligence authorization bill for fiscal 2013.
If enacted, the bill would undermine democracy by denying Americans access to information essential to national debate on critical issues like the extent of government spying powers and the use of torture. Under the measure, only the director, deputy director and designated public affairs officials of intelligence agencies would be permitted to “provide background or off-the-record information regarding intelligence activities to the media.” Briefings on sensitive topics by lower-level or career officials, who are not quoted by name, would be prohibited, shutting off routine news-gathering and exchanges that provide insight into government policies. None of these traditional press activities compromise the nation’s safety. The Dangerous Logic of the Bradley Manning Case. After 1,000 days in pretrial detention, Private Bradley Manning yesterday offered a modified guilty plea for passing classified materials to WikiLeaks.
Whistle Blower Threatened with 35 Years in Prison, Warns of Developing Tyranny. Ex-CIA Agent, Whistleblower John Kiriakou Sentenced to Prison While Torturers He Exposed Walk Free. They 'Will Lie, Trick, and Deceive': Jailed CIA Whistleblower's Advice to Snowden. John Kiriakou (Photo: Jacquelyn Martin / AP)Former CIA officer John Kiriakou—currently serving a 30-month sentence for blowing the whistle on the systemic use of torture within the agency—penned a public letter of support and advice for Edward Snowden from his Loretto, Pennsylvania prison cell.
In the handwritten note—published by FiredogLake Tuesday—Kiriakou declares his admiration for Snowden's leaking of documents detailing NSA spying programs. "Thank you for your revelations of government wrong-doing over the past week. What gets declassified? Next year will be a half-century since the death of JFK.
And the Obama Administration thinks we need to keep secret the records on the matter … a little longer yet. Believe it or not, more than 50,000 pages of JFK assassination–related documents are being withheld in full. And an untold number of documents have been partially withheld or released with everything interesting blacked out. Bipartisan Congressional Bill Would Authorize the Use of Propaganda On Americans Living Inside America. Obama confidant’s spine-chilling proposal. Cass Sunstein has long been one of Barack Obama’s closest confidants. Often mentioned as a likely Obama nominee to the Supreme Court, Sunstein is currently Obama’s head of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs where, among other things, he is responsible for “overseeing policies relating to privacy, information quality, and statistical programs.”
In 2008, while at Harvard Law School, Sunstein co-wrote a truly pernicious paper proposing that the U.S. Senate bill rewrite lets feds read your e-mail without warrants. See also the follow-up story: Leahy scuttles his warrantless e-mail surveillance bill A Senate proposal touted as protecting Americans' e-mail privacy has been quietly rewritten, giving government agencies more surveillance power than they possess under current law, CNET has learned.
Patrick Leahy, the influential Democratic chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, has dramatically reshaped his legislation in response to law enforcement concerns, according to three individuals who have been negotiating with Leahy's staff over the changes. Congress, the State Department, and "communistic, fascistic, and other alien influences" New Government “Propaganda” Bill a Positive Step for First Amendment. Revealed: US spy operation that manipulates social media.
The US military is developing software that will let it secretly manipulate social media sites by using fake online personas to influence internet conversations and spread pro-American propaganda.
A Californian corporation has been awarded a contract with United States Central Command (Centcom), which oversees US armed operations in the Middle East and Central Asia, to develop what is described as an "online persona management service" that will allow one US serviceman or woman to control up to 10 separate identities based all over the world. 14 Incredibly Creepy Surveillance Technologies That Big Brother Will Be Using To Spy On You. SWAT Cop Says American Neighborhoods Are 'Battlefields,' Claims Cops Face Same Dangers As Soldiers In Afghanistan.
Hidden Government Scanners Will Instantly Know Everything About You From 164 Feet Away. FinSpy Software Is Tracking Political Dissidents. Protecting Civil Liberties In The Digital Age. A constant stream of revolutionary new technologies erode existing protections, and greatly expanded powers for our security agencies allow the government to peer into our lives without due process or meaningful oversight.
Our rights and liberties have undergone constant erosion since 9/11. Net Privacy and Anonymity. Assange EXCLUSIVE: Entire nations intercepted in total web surveillance.