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Snowden Rallies Privacy Advocates In New York City

Posted by samzenpus on from the fight-the-power dept.

An anonymous reader writes 'Mass global surveillance "isn't just an American problem, this is a global problem," Edward Snowden told the Personal Democracy Forum (PDF) conference in New York on Thursday. Appearing via video call from Moscow, Snowden spoke with John Perry Barlow, cofounder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, in front of a crowd of hundreds gathered in downtown Manhattan. Barlow announced the launch of the Courage Foundation, an organization dedicated to financially supporting Snowden's considerable legal battles. "I'm afraid we've descended to this point," Barlow said, "But why do animals lick their genitals? Because they can. Why do governments do this? Because they can't lick their own." "They're licking ours," Snowden quipped, "and taking pictures."'

6 of 72 comments (clear)

  1. We're supposed to take this seriously? by Powercntrl · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Southpark has already done plenty of political satire peppered with dick and fart jokes. If Snowden doesn't want to come across as a tinfoil hat loonie, he should probably tone down the juvenile humor a notch. It's frequently said that those who resort to insults do so because they can't hold an intelligent debate.

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    DRM is like antifreeze, to the MPAA/RIAA it's sweet, to the consumers it's poison.
    1. Re:We're supposed to take this seriously? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      because they can't hold an intelligent debate.

      There's no intelligent debate to be had, or a debate at all. It's just the government violating the highest law of the land, and people who give a shit trying to stop them. They had no moral high ground since the beginning.

    2. Re:We're supposed to take this seriously? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Oh, come on. Next thing would be "Not Safe For Work" or what.

      I actually had a chuckle of that. And BTW:

      > If Snowden doesn't want to come across as a tinfoil hat loonie [...]

      1. It was John Perry Barlow's joke (and it wasn't that bad, but YMMV).

      2. I'd take Sowden seriously independently of what jokes he might tell. I use my judgemeng for that.

  2. Re:Snowden For President by bayankaran · · Score: 3, Insightful

    May not be President, but he deserves the Nobel (way more than most, including your current guy holding one for who knows what!)

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    Tat Tvam Asi
  3. Thank you Snowden by MildlyTangy · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Thank you Mr Snowden for everything you have done.

    We always suspected, but never really knew how bad things really are until now.

    Again, I thank you.

  4. Re:Snowden For President by Opportunist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Nobel Prize has gone the way of the Guinness World Record. It used to be for some real accomplishment, now it's mostly a wanking- and popularity contest.

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    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.