US-Australia Agreements Create Opportunities for Privacy Violation, Extradition

TheGift73 writes with a link to (and this excerpt from the beginning of) a brief description at TorrentFreak of recently signed agreements between the U.S. and Australia: "Figures.... File-sharing was firmly on the agenda when the head of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security touched down in the Australian capital last week. The four new agreements – promptly signed before Secretary Janet Napolitano flew back out of Canberra – were less about sharing season two of Game of Thrones and more about sharing the private, government held information of Australian citizens with U.S. authorities."

Comments

Terrorism

[girlintraining]

Having caught every terrorist in the world, Department of Homeland Security has now moved to the next threat to America: People downloading crappy TV series.

The Department of Homeland Security is a joke. Director, you sir, are a joke. And sooner or later, public support is going to evaporate, and then you'll be wasting billions of dollars classifying every detail about every employee in your organization. Every camera you point at the public will mean ten more pointed back at you. You're going to spend more time spinning and protecting your image as the "good guys" than you will finding and hunting down the bad guys. And the only people who are going to want to work for your organization are pathetic paper pushers with no sense of ambition, loyalty, or patriotism. And why will that be? Because that's the kind of person your organization will be doing its bidding for. You won't be saving the world... you'll be pool boys for the wealthy entertainment industry.

Re:Terrorism

[Anonymous Coward]

One, they'd just replace him with someone else just as bad. Two, you'd be doing the exact same thing they do: Carry out extrajudicial executions without a full review of the facts, which are presented in front of a judge and jury, and the results made public. We can't regain democracy in this country by stooping to their level -- if we're going to dismantle this corrupt super-organization, it's going to start with exposure and doing an end runaround the media.

A pretty ideal but naive. Talking someone into giving up power only works when a) they are willing to listen to reason [pig-headed delusion about being right by default prevents this]; and b) has a sense of shame. If your opponent fails on either of these counts then they will not go quietly into the night no matter how much you insist they should, they will cling to that Titanic claiming that it is unsinkable even when the water is up to their neck.

The important thing to remember about the justice system is that it is a mechanism for preserving the status quo of civilization. When the status quo slides away from fairness and actual justice then you aren't going to find those within the system. There's a reason the American Revolution against the British was a war. If you can find people in influential positions who will actually listen and force the collective to behave then maybe you can accomplish your Velvet Revolution but don't expect the institutions of state to give a damn.

I should also point out that someone being compelled to leave office due to a scandal is itself a form of extrajudicial punishment, they were not found guilty under the law but a metaphorical lynching occurred anyway, do you have problem with this as well? I think it's important to remember that Judges really are not all that special, we hope they are fair, wise and knowledgeable but the reality is that you could pick 12 of your neighbors randomly, name yourself judge and run a trial if you wanted; the only difference between you and a "real trial" is the fancy courthouse, robes and the power to command the sword of the state (police) to uphold your/the juror's decision.

What is the Department of Homeland Security for ?

[Taco Cowboy]

I mean, what that word "Homeland" really means ?

Why the hell the department of HOMELAND SECURITY is interfering with file sharing ?

What " SECURITY RISKS " do torrent / file sharing pose for the HOMELAND that department supposed to protect ?

From an Aussie to all Americans

[Scoldog]

To my eyes, this is just another sign about how desperate America is in preventing it's inevitable slide as a world power. I honestly can't remember any other US pact that was so blatant in its goals. Anyone can look at this pact and tell it's not about terrorism and national threats (both Aus and US), it's mostly about file sharing and America trying to spread it's onerous copyright laws to protect its exports. The bit about the US monitoring Aussie citizens is very worrying at the very least when we consider the MPAA/RIAA lawsuits I've seen in America.

I don't really know what America exports these days apart from war, patents and entertainment. It would look too bad if American invaded Australia at this point in time (although some people have taken the sign of US Marines being based in Darwin as the sign this has started) so I suppose the only other thing for America to spread it's tentacles is by dodgy pacts like this. Anything to try and stay on top (apart from fixing the underlying issues with the government and legal system in the USA and stop bullying the world, turning everyone on the face of the planet against you).

Americans, please stand up and do something about this. I'll do what I can from this side, but I'll stop there. Really, I should have no power as to how Americans rule and legislate in your own country, and that is the way it should be.

Quite frankly, after everything I have seen, I'm starting to think that there will be an armed uprising in America within the next 10 years against the US government. Guaranteed. Maybe the US government foresaw the same thing. It would explain why so much leeway the US government has given to internal security forces like the FBI and possibly the creation of the Dept of Homeland Security, and how the shift in America has gone from looking for external threats to internal threats.