A double issue today, as we were either out or otherwise occupied Wednesday. . .
We begin with a plea we suspect will be heeded, via EUobserver:
US urges EU not to halt trade talks over spy affair
US secretary of state John Kerry has urged European leaders not to let the NSA snooping scandal derail EU-US trade talks.
And from the London Telegraph inanity approaches insanity.
Edward Snowden leaks could help paedophiles escape police, says government
Paedophiles and other criminals could benefit from the Guardian newspaper’s stories based on leaks by Edward Snowden, the High Court hears
More of the blame game game, or just sheer opportunism? Or perhaps a way for spooks shops to become self-sustaining [who knows better what your b uttons are and how to push ‘em, eh, mate?] From RIA Novosti:
Russian Hackers Pose as NSA Amid Snowden Firestorm – US Expert
Hackers using a Russian server are scamming victims out of cash by posing as the US National Security Agency (NSA), which has been at the center of a global political maelstrom over its covert surveillance programs disclosed by fugitive leaker Edward Snowden, a US computer security expert said this week.
More inanity/insanity via Techdirt:
UK Gov’t: David Miranda Might Be A Terrorist Because Journalism Can Be Terrorism; Also: We Had No Idea He Was A Journalist
from the huh? dept
Deutsche Welle covers a new exile:
Sarah Harrison, ally of ex-NSA contractor Snowden, in Germany
US Foreign Secretary John Kerry is seeking to mend fences with Germany. Meanwhile whistleblower Edward Snowden’s closest ally, WikiLeaks activist Sarah Harrison, is in Germany for fear of prosecution in the UK.
From Deutsche Welle again, the first of our headlines on today’s hottest circus act in London:
UK intelligence chiefs face public questioning by lawmakers
The heads of Britain’s intelligence agencies have, for the first time, given public testimony to UK lawmakers over intelligence tactics. The hearing follows allegations of mass spying on other governments.
More from BBC News:
UK intelligence work defends freedom, say spy chiefs
Britain’s security services defend – rather than undermine – freedom and democracy, the head of MI5 has said.
And still more from The Independent:
Intelligence chiefs break cover, with all guns blazing
The heads of Britain’s security services left MPs in no doubt whom they blame for aiding terrorism
There were repeated references to the front line from Britain’s intelligence chiefs when they appeared in the Commons. It soon became clear that they had emerged from the shadows with guns blazing against those they hold responsible for undermining their fight against terrorism.
And inanity jumps the shark, via The Guardian:
NSA leaks: UK’s enemies are ‘rubbing their hands with glee’, says MI6 chief
Sir John Sawers makes claim in first ever joint public hearing by heads of UK’s three intelligence agencies
From Deutsche Welle, cancellation of another forum:
No interrogation of Snowden in Germany for now, parliamentary panel says
A parliamentary committee has announced that bringing NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden to Germany for questioning is not yet on the cards. But the option of interrogating him in Moscow is still open.
More from Reuters:
Germany wants Snowden to give evidence in Moscow, not Berlin
German lawmakers looking into secret U.S. monitoring of Angela Merkel’s mobile phone said on Wednesday they would try to take evidence from former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden in Moscow without compromising his status there.
While Deutsche Welle diverts:
Snowden’s lawyer is Putin fan
The Moscow lawyer Anatoly Kucherena is Edward Snowden’s public representative. But is it a coincidence that Snowden’s spokesman is hardly a stranger to Putin’s power structures?
And The Guardian Gores the spooks:
Al Gore: Snowden ‘revealed evidence’ of crimes against US constitution
Speaking at McGill University in Montreal, Gore said the NSA’s efforts to monitor communications had gone to ‘absurd’ lengths
From Deutsche Welle, Madeleine does Rodney King:
Albright: ‘Good friends can work this out’
When former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright speaks, people listen. In a DW interview Albright says she’s optimistic that Europe and the US can rebuild trust “without hypocrisy,” despite the NSA spying scandal.
From Techdirt, Oh, the horror!:
Inspector General For Intelligence Community Rejects Congress’ Request To Investigate The NSA
from the oversight! dept
The Independent covers more ornamental rage:
Germany calls in Britain’s ambassador to demand explanation over ‘secret Berlin listening post’
Foreign minister summons ambassador to provide explanation after report in The Independent
From El País, before. . .:
Spain’s spy agency under NSA spotlight
CNI chief due to report to Congress after claims of massive message monitoring
. . .and after, also from El País:
CNI intelligence chief answers to Congress over NSA spying operations
General Sanz Roldán says he is “99.9-percent sure” Rajoy was not wiretapped by US espionage agency
And thinkSPAIN conjures up the inevitable evocation:
Spanish Secret Service tells Parliament how their spying has stopped terrorist
HEAD of Spain’s National Intelligence Centre (CNI) Félix Sanz Roldán gave a presentation in Parliament today on how international spying has managed to thwart several terrorist attacks.
The Associated Press reports on litigious blowback:
Dutch government taken to court over NSA links
An alliance of privacy advocates, lawyers and journalists is taking the Dutch government to court over its links to overseas intelligence agencies. The alliance said Wednesday it is asking the Hague District Court to ban the government from using intelligence data gathered by foreign agencies using surveillance techniques that breach Dutch privacy laws.
And The Guardian takes note:
NSA and GCHQ mass surveillance is violation of European law, report finds
Authors of study warn of ‘systematic breach of people’s fundamental rights’ and call for EU parliament to take action
From New Europe, another non-suprise from thre Department of Ornamental Rage:
Mass Surveillance of EU Citizens – Inconclusive debate in the EU Parliament
After the jump, bugs in Brazil, Chinese claims, Google giggles, drones, ckoaks, daggers, , sex dolls, and tattoo mics. . .
From MercoPress, it was just business as usual:
Brazil marks distance from US spying: ‘we did not violate anyone’s privacy rights’
Justice minister Cardozo: Brazilian intelligence was only practicing counterespionage “norms”
Brazil’s Minster of Justice Jose Eduardo Cardozo said on Tuesday that the spying performed by his country’s intelligence agency did not violate anyone’s privacy rights – unlike the spying committed by the United States.
From Global Times, and not about the NSA:
China dismisses US claims of spying by military: FM
China on Thursday rebutted an accusation made by the US of cyber attacks carried out by the Chinese military, urging the US to deal with its own spying scandal.
People’s Daily lightens up:
China, US have seen positive results from cyber security cooperation
Cai Mingzhao, minister of the State Council Information Office of China said at the 4th World Cyberspace Cooperation Summit on November 5 that China and the United States are Internet giants sharing many common interests and there is enormous scope for cooperation.
Perhaps because China has good reason to want to cool things with the U.S. — such as a terrorist attack on a regional Communist Party headquarters, reported by South China Morning Post:
Symbols of Chinese government bombed for second time
Up to seven shrapnel bombs, apparently home-made, go off in Shanxi; one killed
And in Japan, lawmakers take another move in the steady course of emulating the U.S. national security state. NHK WORLD reports:
Japan’s lower house to discuss state secret bill
Japan’s lower house is set to debate a bill to strengthen the protection of classified national-security information.
Meanwhile, commerce finds an opportunity, in this case a Russian software firm. Via Ars Technica:
Kaspersky: “We detect and remediate any malware attack,” even by NSA
Firm responds to EFF question about AV cooperation with government surveillance.
From The Guardian, ornamental rage, escalated:
Google engineer accuses NSA and GCHQ of subverting ‘judicial process’
Anti-hacking expert claims British spy agency is ‘even worse’ than NSA for tapping private networks between Google’s centres
More from The Independent:
Google engineer compares US hacking of Google and Yahoo to Lord of the Rings
Members of Google’s security team blast the NSA in personal blog posts, saying “F*** these guys”
Bloomberg adds context:
Google’s 8th Ranked Lobbying Machine Takes on Spy Debate
Google Inc. (GOOG) is moving its Washington office closer to Capitol Hill after spending $18.2 million on lobbying, more than Northrop Grumman Corp. (NOC) and enough to rank the technology company as the eighth-biggest advocacy spender.
But wait. Consider this from The Register:
How Google paved the way for NSA’s intercepts – just as The Register predicted 9 YEARS AGO
Gmail redefined searching and reading… just like we said it would
A helping hand, via The Guardian:
US government tops Apple’s list of global user data requests
US sought information about more than 2,000 accounts, followed by Britain with 141, Spain with 104 and Germany with 93
From The Guardian yet again, unwarranted snoopage:
FBI monitored anti-war website in error for six years, documents show
Monitoring began after antiwar.com editor passed along to the bureau a threat he received against his own website
The Times of India covers a bolt from the blue for India’s FBI counterpart:
Gauhati high court declares CBI ‘unconstitutional’
In a curious judgement, the Gauhati high court has struck down the resolution through which the Central Bureau of Investigation was set up and held all its actions as “unconstitutional”.
A failure to communicate, via The Verge:
Homeland Security must unify fragmented cybersecurity system, says inspector
An October 24th memo from the Office of Inspector General — which investigates and makes recommendations for specific agency problems — found that although the DHS can keep track of threats and provide updates on ongoing issues, “federal cyber operations centers do not have a common incident management system tool that tracks, updates, shares, and coordinates cyber information with each other.”
And from CNBC, the business side of spying:
C.I.A. Is Said to Pay AT&T for Call Data
The C.I.A. is paying AT&T more than $10 million a year to assist with overseas counterterrorism investigations by exploiting the company’s vast database of phone records, which includes Americans’ international calls, according to government officials.
Deutsche Welle raises a question:
Does the EU need its own spies?
The EU justice commissioner thinks Europe needs its own central intelligence office, as a “counterweight” to the NSA. But the legal and political obstacles are significant, say experts, and would it even be worth it?
While The Guardian raises a dissent:
Tim Berners-Lee: encryption cracking by spy agencies ‘appalling and foolish’
Inventor of world wide web calls for debate about ‘dysfunctional and unaccountable’ oversight of NSA and GCHQ
From BBC News, drone-spawned blowback:
Hakimullah Mehsud: Imran Khan seeks Nato blockade over killing
Pakistani politician Imran Khan is threatening to blockade supply lines to Nato forces in Afghanistan if the US does not end drone strikes this month.
The Guardian again, with a conflict:
US ordered to hand over Red Cross files on conditions at Guantánamo Bay
Military judge in trial of 9/11 suspects says correspondence must be disclosed, but ICRC insists its assessments are confidential
The Moscow Times covers Nixonian nonsense:
City Hall Accused of Spying on Opposition Deputies
Moscow’s City Hall was accused Thursday of collecting compromising material on independent municipal deputies, triggering a scandal that some have called a “municipal Watergate” for supposed similarities to the White House spying on the Democratic Party in 1972.
And The Hindu tackles a hot topic:
‘High levels of polonium on Arafat’s remains’
The first forensic tests on remains from the exhumed corpse of Yasser Arafat have shown unexpectedly high levels of radioactive polonium-210, suggesting the Palestinian leader could have been poisoned with the rare and lethal substance.
From Spiegel, questionable recycling:
Nuclear Arsenal: US To Turn Old Bombs Into All-Purpose Weapons
The US wants to modernize nuclear bombs stationed in Europe in a way many experts call the equivalent of creating a new weapon. Critics believe the move violates pledges by President Obama he would not develop new nukes.
And the Times of India looks at loaners:
Saudi Arabia banks on Pakistan for nuclear weapons, BBC report says
Saudi Arabia has invested in Pakistani nuclear weapons projects and believes it could acquire atomic bombs “at will,” the BBC reported on Thursday.
An idea we like, via RT:
MafiaLeaks challenges organized crime in Italy
Italian organized crime activists have launched a new anonymous website where informants can report Mafia activity. MafiaLeaks is designed to encourage people to share information on organized crime without fear of reprisal.
Crime afloat, from the South China Morning Post:
Third officer charged in US navy corruption case
Officer accepted prostitutes and bribes in scam centred on manoeuvring US warships around Asia to maximise profits, prosecutors claim
Censorship afloat, from RIA Novosti:
Siberian Authorities Ban Inflatable Sex Doll Swimming Race
Siberian Authorities Ban Inflatable Sex Doll Swimming RaceThe administration of a Siberian city has banned a traditional swimming race featuring blow-up sex dolls following a complaint from Orthodox Church activists, Gazeta.ru reported Wednesday.
While Engadget covers the truly disturbing. [“Is that a frog in your throat? Nah, just a bug.”]:
Motorola wants you to tattoo a smartphone microphone onto your throat
Motorola has applied for a patent of a microphone with a tranceiver and power supply that is designed to be tattooed onto your throat. The idea is to capture vibrations directly from your larynx in order to cut out background noise — while eliminating something else you could lose, we imagine.
And our final items comes from the Atlantic Wire, a kinder, gentler censorship:
BuzzFeed Decides Criticizing Awful Books Is Too Mean
Put away the hatchets, BuzzFeed book reviewers. The Internet’s foremost listicle-maker will now be taking its ‘No Haters’ policy over to its rising books section, as BuzzFeed’s new books editor said today that he will only accept warm and cuddly book reviews. It’s a sad day for train wreck-loving, Twitter-fight sparring, #spatwatch-following people across the web.
