They have lost their minds over this, Kryten. Snowden was a hacker – there is absolutely no way he didn’t arrange an ‘insurance policy’, a data dump triggered if they grab him before he is ready to go. He hasn’t included any truly nasty stuff so far, and has been careful about what was released to avoid endangering anyone. He had access to everything, and he can certainly cause a lot pain to a lot of people if he wants to.

The wisest course would be to leave him alone and let everything die down for a few years. Let whatever he has become history, not current events. The people pushing this are total incompetents. They just can’t see the ‘game’ to its logical conclusion.

From the way Snowden seems to think, I have a gut feeling that a lot of what he has in his ‘insurance policy’ has more to do with politics that intel. People need to get it through their heads that NSA can tap every phone in the country.

Statement by Edward Snowden to human rights groups at Moscow’s Sheremetyevo airport

The grilling seen here, as given to woeful U.S. State Dept. spokesperson Jen Psaki during a daily press briefing earlier this week, came largely from AP’s Matthew Lee and CNN’s Elise Labott. They, and the others who were not identified in the RT (formerly “Russia Today”) YouTube posting description, deserve credit for their persistence…

‘US citizen has no right to free speech?’ State Dept spokesperson grilled over Snowden

About time too! 😀

NYS won’t go along, because there just isn’t cell coverage for large areas of the state, much less Wifi, and while the FCC might go along, the NY Public Utilities Commission won’t. If they want to sell telephone service in NY they have to get approval from the PUC. The Feds may have a problem saying no to large corporations, but New York does it all the time.

The Supreme Court does not want to deal with this, and they will do whatever they can to avoid it. I don’t expect any help from them on this issue.

But the USA is now a Country that believes that nothing it does is anyone else’s business, and that it is immune to any Law, even it’s own! 😆

“The ship of Fools”. 😉

Still, the law suites against the NSA are piling up. 😀 Here’s the latest:

A privacy rights group has filed an emergency petition with the Supreme Court on Monday asking it to stop the National Security Agency’s domestic surveillance program that collects the telephone records of millions of Americans.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) filed a petition with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the justices to vacate an order permitting the National Security Agency access to any domestic phone records. EPIC has gone to the Supreme Court because the order was issued by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, or FISA, which is beyond the jurisdiction of the lower federal courts.

EPIC said in the petition that the order – directed to Verizon – is overreaching. “It is simply not possible that every phone record in the possession of a telecommunications firm could be relevant to an authorized investigation,” said EPIC.

EPIC’s action follows that of the American Civil Liberties Union which in early June announced that it was directly suing the NSA. “According to the ACLU,” said The Hill, “the lawsuit will argue the program violates the group’s First Amendment rights of free speech and association, as well as Fourth Amendment safeguards against unreasonable searches and seizures.”

A statement from the ACLU deputy legal director, Jameel Jaffer, put the NSA action quite succinctly: “It is the equivalent of requiring every American to file a daily report with the government of every location they visited, every person they talked to on the phone, the time of each call, and the length of every conversation.”

While the administration and many in Congress have defended the NSA program on national security grounds, it is also seen by many as excessively intrusive regardless of its intent.

Groups to fight NSA spying in court

I wouldn’t hold my breath… but who knows. 😉

Oh, and this one made me laugh! 😀 Regarding Verizon trying to get rid of copper and use only WiFi for comm’s, which indicators are that the FCC is leaning their way (big surprise there… Not!) The DoD and FAA are especially concerned about the idea. The FAA stated that if NY State transitions to all wireless communications, then NY State will have to close the airports. LOL

We like copper wire, DoD tells FCC

Ahhh… It can be truly said “Only in America!” 😉 😀