5 ms·

Edward Snowden SXSW live stream

255 points by jpmc 13y ago

puppetmaster3 13y ago
Not on first page? lol.
- higherpurpose 13y ago
  Yeah, I feel pretty ashamed of the HN community today, and I'm going to take the day off from it today. There were like 10 submissions and none of them were upvoted too much.
  - Zigurd 13y ago
    Tens of billions in lost sales due to lack of trust in us telecom equipment and PRISM participant services is just a distraction here.
  - exelius 13y ago
    In all honesty, it wasn't a great interview and didn't raise any points that most of us here on HN didn't know already. Snowden didn't speak all that much and what he did say wasn't incredibly insightful if you're a technology professional. His main gripe is that secure tools are too hard to use, and real security will need to come from the Googles and Apples of the world, but it's not in their best interest given their reliance on private surveillance for advertising purposes. So basically it was a plea to the next generation of the "next big thing" to think about doing security in a way that actually secures information.
    - cinquemb 13y ago
      >So basically it was a plea to the next generation of the "next big thing" to think about doing security in a way that actually secures information. So basically, another entity ready to be co-opted by its aligning self interests with the State? It's like we never collectively learned anything from the cyhperpunks: "They think they can always find someone to protect them. No, you can't. You've got to protect yourself." Society doesn't want to hear that… The same society that wants to elect people to solve their problems time and time again… and you know what? Maybe what society gets is what it deserves time and time again… but it doesn't seem to stop individuals that do achieve what they seek, despite it all, and at the end of the day that's what it always seems to come down to, and the steps snowden took to even conduct the interview (that is intolerable to listen to for the echo) is a prime example.
      - exelius 13y ago
        No; his point was that companies like Google and Facebook will never be truly secure because true security is at odds with their business model. They're advertising companies, so they need to look at your communications to serve you ads. On a private level, that's fine, because you implicitly choose to submit to this surveillance in exchange for the service, and if Google oversteps their bounds, there is legal recourse. What he was asking for was for the next Google or Facebook, which will likely not be based on an advertising-centric business model, to take privacy seriously and do things in such a way that it can't be turned over to the government en masse. He didn't seem against surveillance as a concept; there is a place for targeted surveillance and he wants to use the technology to force individual surveillance to be the only viable option.
        cinquemb 13y ago
        Sure, if one thinks the Facebook's and the Google's (and future ones) only misalignment is with their business model. I think it's more fundamental than that.
        exelius 13y ago
        I don't know it gets more fundamental than the business model. Everything about a company supports its business model; not the other way around.
        cinquemb 13y ago
        What about the formation of any corporation? To whom does the potential corporation submit itself to? And what benefits does it receive upon incorporation even well before any business model can be in sight or capital gained?
        exelius 13y ago
        Corporations submit to the shareholders. Those shareholders submit to the government, because let's face it: governments have real power in the form of men with guns. Different governments have different rules about how and when those men with guns do things, and yes, that is a conversation that needs to happen in the US. This was a talk targeted at technologists. All technologists can do is try to make it harder for governments to collect data on the entire population at once by using secure crypto schemes. If they want YOU, they can still get you, because one man vs. a government is never going to end in the man's favor.
- sliverstorm 13y ago
  Impatient much?
IceyEC 13y ago
if, like me, you can't get the stream live (?), afterwards the ACLU will post it here: https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/coming-soon-virtual-conversation-edward-snowden https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/coming-soon-virt...
stevengg 13y ago
video of the event?
- BgSpnnrs 13y ago
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPrDqoaHHSY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPrDqoaHHSY
suprgeek 13y ago
There were a few gems in the interview... "We need public oversight ... some way for trusted public figures to advocate for us. We need a watchdog that watches Congress, because if we're not informed, we can't consent to these (government) policies." A somewhat ok paraphrasing is here: http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/10/tech/web/edward-snowden-sxsw/ http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/10/tech/web/edward-snowden-sxsw/ One remark stuck with me "....the NSA surveillance was setting fire to the future of the Internet". Absolutely!
- deleted 13y ago
  [deleted]
chimeracoder 13y ago
The Streisand effect is in full force here. I only knew about this interview because Congressman Pompeo asked conference organizers to rescind their invitation to him on the grounds that Snowden is a "traitor"[0]. I can't watch this right now, but I'm looking forward to seeing it later tonight. [0] http://www.opb.org/news/article/npr-sxsw-snowden-speech-has-conference-buzzing-congressman-stewing/ http://www.opb.org/news/article/npr-sxsw-snowden-speech-has-...
- if_by_whisky 13y ago
  Using the t word while trying to censor people that disagree with you politically is infuriatingly unpatriotic.
  - fragsworth 13y ago
    I assume you mean "traitor", but the same could probably be said of "terrorist"
    - if_by_whisky 13y ago
      What's the difference these days : p
- backlava 13y ago
  Not exactly the Streisand effect since it's also the only reason many people have ever heard of Pompeo, which was probably the point.
- bostonpete 13y ago
  Do you really think his goal was to get them to rescind their invitation? I don't think I'm typically cynical on such matters but I have little doubt that his goal was to get publicity for asking for this invitation to be rescinded. I suspect he got exactly what he wanted here -- go on record against Snowden and get liberals attacking him. That can only help him fend off potential threats in a primary later this year...
aw3c2 13y ago
If the connection is this bad, why waste your bandwidth on video? I turned it off because I did not find the echoing effects tolerable to listen to.
- cs02rm0 13y ago
  I'm not sure it's bandwidth and not just that they're not muting their microphones while he talks. Either way, the experience is terrible.
  - kzahel 13y ago
    Seriously. Manually mute your mic. This applies to everybody who uses hangouts or conferences with anything, ever.
    - JTon 13y ago
      Most gamers I know do this via talk-keys. Very handy.
    - dublinben 13y ago
      It also makes a big difference to use a headset or headphones so the other person's audio is directed into your ears, not played out loud.
poulson 13y ago
Does anyone have a link to the transcript? The echo is really hard to ignore in the video.
jokoon 13y ago
whats' that awful echo ? can't understand a bit
nsxwolf 13y ago
I'll wait for a transcript. The audio quality is too poor.
untog 13y ago
1. Did he really have the US Constitution as a backdrop? Is he Saul Goodman? 2. It's a shame no-one asked him about his opinions on Russia's recent actions. I know it isn't anything to do with the revelations he exposed, but seeking asylum in Russia makes him part of the broader political game.
- krisdol 13y ago
  There's a right time and right place to publicly criticize a country's actions, and I think it comes after you no longer depend on that country for political asylum
  - untog 13y ago
    Sure, I get his perspective. But every now and then journalists ask difficult questions to interviewees.
  - eplanit 13y ago
    Right, it comes after you flee to Hong Kong with the goods.
  - laureny 13y ago
    So basically he's just an opportunist who lives in a country as long as it suits him and then leaves it when he's being inconvenienced?
    - arg01 13y ago
      Yes because he thought his life would be a lot more convinient by realeasing the NSA documents to the world. Generally whistle blowers are seen as having incredibly cushy lives. I too believe that Edward Snowden did it for the fame and fortune that were sure to follow the leak. I'm sorry if this is overly sarcastic but I do not know what other kind of answer you'd expect. The basis of your question is seems not to be based in reality you might as well ask why the founding fathers didn't believe laws applied to them.
- famo 13y ago
shmerl 13y ago
Is there any transcript? The video (https://youtube.com/watch?v=CPrDqoaHHSY https://youtube.com/watch?v=CPrDqoaHHSY) has a horrible echo. I couldn't understand half he was saying.
- fragmede 13y ago
  https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/coming-soon-virtual-conversation-edward-snowden https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/coming-soon-virt...
sweedy 13y ago
I can hardly understand anything, so here is a transcript - http://blog.inside.com/blog/2014/3/10/edward-snowden-sxsw-full-transcription-and-video http://blog.inside.com/blog/2014/3/10/edward-snowden-sxsw-fu...

255 points by jpmc 13y ago

puppetmaster3 13y ago

Not on first page? lol.

higherpurpose 13y ago
Yeah, I feel pretty ashamed of the HN community today, and I'm going to take the day off from it today. There were like 10 submissions and none of them were upvoted too much.
- Zigurd 13y ago
  Tens of billions in lost sales due to lack of trust in us telecom equipment and PRISM participant services is just a distraction here.
- exelius 13y ago
  In all honesty, it wasn't a great interview and didn't raise any points that most of us here on HN didn't know already. Snowden didn't speak all that much and what he did say wasn't incredibly insightful if you're a technology professional. His main gripe is that secure tools are too hard to use, and real security will need to come from the Googles and Apples of the world, but it's not in their best interest given their reliance on private surveillance for advertising purposes. So basically it was a plea to the next generation of the "next big thing" to think about doing security in a way that actually secures information.
  - cinquemb 13y ago
    >So basically it was a plea to the next generation of the "next big thing" to think about doing security in a way that actually secures information. So basically, another entity ready to be co-opted by its aligning self interests with the State? It's like we never collectively learned anything from the cyhperpunks: "They think they can always find someone to protect them. No, you can't. You've got to protect yourself." Society doesn't want to hear that… The same society that wants to elect people to solve their problems time and time again… and you know what? Maybe what society gets is what it deserves time and time again… but it doesn't seem to stop individuals that do achieve what they seek, despite it all, and at the end of the day that's what it always seems to come down to, and the steps snowden took to even conduct the interview (that is intolerable to listen to for the echo) is a prime example.
    - exelius 13y ago
      No; his point was that companies like Google and Facebook will never be truly secure because true security is at odds with their business model. They're advertising companies, so they need to look at your communications to serve you ads. On a private level, that's fine, because you implicitly choose to submit to this surveillance in exchange for the service, and if Google oversteps their bounds, there is legal recourse. What he was asking for was for the next Google or Facebook, which will likely not be based on an advertising-centric business model, to take privacy seriously and do things in such a way that it can't be turned over to the government en masse. He didn't seem against surveillance as a concept; there is a place for targeted surveillance and he wants to use the technology to force individual surveillance to be the only viable option.
      - cinquemb 13y ago
        Sure, if one thinks the Facebook's and the Google's (and future ones) only misalignment is with their business model. I think it's more fundamental than that.
        exelius 13y ago
        I don't know it gets more fundamental than the business model. Everything about a company supports its business model; not the other way around.
        cinquemb 13y ago
        What about the formation of any corporation? To whom does the potential corporation submit itself to? And what benefits does it receive upon incorporation even well before any business model can be in sight or capital gained?
        exelius 13y ago
        Corporations submit to the shareholders. Those shareholders submit to the government, because let's face it: governments have real power in the form of men with guns. Different governments have different rules about how and when those men with guns do things, and yes, that is a conversation that needs to happen in the US. This was a talk targeted at technologists. All technologists can do is try to make it harder for governments to collect data on the entire population at once by using secure crypto schemes. If they want YOU, they can still get you, because one man vs. a government is never going to end in the man's favor.
sliverstorm 13y ago
Impatient much?

IceyEC 13y ago

if, like me, you can't get the stream live (?), afterwards the ACLU will post it here: https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/coming-soon-virtual-conversation-edward-snowden https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/coming-soon-virt...

stevengg 13y ago

video of the event?

BgSpnnrs 13y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPrDqoaHHSY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CPrDqoaHHSY

suprgeek 13y ago

There were a few gems in the interview... "We need public oversight ... some way for trusted public figures to advocate for us. We need a watchdog that watches Congress, because if we're not informed, we can't consent to these (government) policies." A somewhat ok paraphrasing is here: http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/10/tech/web/edward-snowden-sxsw/ http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/10/tech/web/edward-snowden-sxsw/ One remark stuck with me "....the NSA surveillance was setting fire to the future of the Internet". Absolutely!

deleted 13y ago
[deleted]

chimeracoder 13y ago

The Streisand effect is in full force here. I only knew about this interview because Congressman Pompeo asked conference organizers to rescind their invitation to him on the grounds that Snowden is a "traitor"[0]. I can't watch this right now, but I'm looking forward to seeing it later tonight. [0] http://www.opb.org/news/article/npr-sxsw-snowden-speech-has-conference-buzzing-congressman-stewing/ http://www.opb.org/news/article/npr-sxsw-snowden-speech-has-...

if_by_whisky 13y ago
Using the t word while trying to censor people that disagree with you politically is infuriatingly unpatriotic.
- fragsworth 13y ago
  I assume you mean "traitor", but the same could probably be said of "terrorist"
  - if_by_whisky 13y ago
    What's the difference these days : p
backlava 13y ago
Not exactly the Streisand effect since it's also the only reason many people have ever heard of Pompeo, which was probably the point.
bostonpete 13y ago
Do you really think his goal was to get them to rescind their invitation? I don't think I'm typically cynical on such matters but I have little doubt that his goal was to get publicity for asking for this invitation to be rescinded. I suspect he got exactly what he wanted here -- go on record against Snowden and get liberals attacking him. That can only help him fend off potential threats in a primary later this year...

aw3c2 13y ago

If the connection is this bad, why waste your bandwidth on video? I turned it off because I did not find the echoing effects tolerable to listen to.

cs02rm0 13y ago
I'm not sure it's bandwidth and not just that they're not muting their microphones while he talks. Either way, the experience is terrible.
- kzahel 13y ago
  Seriously. Manually mute your mic. This applies to everybody who uses hangouts or conferences with anything, ever.
  - JTon 13y ago
    Most gamers I know do this via talk-keys. Very handy.
  - dublinben 13y ago
    It also makes a big difference to use a headset or headphones so the other person's audio is directed into your ears, not played out loud.

poulson 13y ago

Does anyone have a link to the transcript? The echo is really hard to ignore in the video.

jokoon 13y ago

whats' that awful echo ? can't understand a bit

nsxwolf 13y ago

I'll wait for a transcript. The audio quality is too poor.

untog 13y ago

1. Did he really have the US Constitution as a backdrop? Is he Saul Goodman? 2. It's a shame no-one asked him about his opinions on Russia's recent actions. I know it isn't anything to do with the revelations he exposed, but seeking asylum in Russia makes him part of the broader political game.

krisdol 13y ago
There's a right time and right place to publicly criticize a country's actions, and I think it comes after you no longer depend on that country for political asylum
- untog 13y ago
  Sure, I get his perspective. But every now and then journalists ask difficult questions to interviewees.
- eplanit 13y ago
  Right, it comes after you flee to Hong Kong with the goods.
- laureny 13y ago
  So basically he's just an opportunist who lives in a country as long as it suits him and then leaves it when he's being inconvenienced?
  - arg01 13y ago
    Yes because he thought his life would be a lot more convinient by realeasing the NSA documents to the world. Generally whistle blowers are seen as having incredibly cushy lives. I too believe that Edward Snowden did it for the fame and fortune that were sure to follow the leak. I'm sorry if this is overly sarcastic but I do not know what other kind of answer you'd expect. The basis of your question is seems not to be based in reality you might as well ask why the founding fathers didn't believe laws applied to them.
famo 13y ago

shmerl 13y ago

Is there any transcript? The video (https://youtube.com/watch?v=CPrDqoaHHSY https://youtube.com/watch?v=CPrDqoaHHSY) has a horrible echo. I couldn't understand half he was saying.

fragmede 13y ago
https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/coming-soon-virtual-conversation-edward-snowden https://www.aclu.org/blog/national-security/coming-soon-virt...

sweedy 13y ago

I can hardly understand anything, so here is a transcript - http://blog.inside.com/blog/2014/3/10/edward-snowden-sxsw-full-transcription-and-video http://blog.inside.com/blog/2014/3/10/edward-snowden-sxsw-fu...