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Ecuador Spent $5 Million Protecting and Spying On Julian Assange, Says Report (theverge.com)
Citing reports from The Guardian and Focus Ecuador, The Verge reports that Ecuador's intelligence program spent at least $5 million "on an elaborate security and surveillance network around WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange." The intelligence program was known as "Operator Hotel," which began as "Operation Guest" when Assange took refuge in Ecuador's UK embassy in 2012. From the report: Operation Hotel has allegedly covered expenses like installing CCTV cameras and hiring a security team to "secretly film and monitor all activity in the embassy," including Assange's daily activities, moods, and interactions with staff and visitors. The Guardian estimates Ecuadorian intelligence agency Senain has spent at least $5 million on Assange-related operations, based on documents they reviewed. The report details attempts to improve Assange's public image and potentially smuggle him out of the embassy if he was threatened. But it also writes that relations between Assange and Ecuador have badly deteriorated over the past several years. In 2014, Assange allegedly breached the embassy's network security, reading confidential diplomatic material and setting up his own secret communications network.
They are made of pure gold or what lol ???
Hes welcome to stay in my hunting cabin in Canada; indefinitely.
to get a new credit card couriered to a backwater in Brazil because he thought he was helping the world by publishing my personal details and my credit card details on WikiLeaks.
All because I subscribed to a geopolitical newsletter which I used for research to write investment reports, but WikiLeaks thought I was part of an international private spying network. If I was I certainly wouldn't be on /. I would be drinking martinis on a tropical island whilst contemplating my next mission.
The good news is that eventually he will have some sort of medical emergency and will have to be taken to a hospital. Hopefully, I will get my money back then by laying a bet that he will be put in a dark hole somewhere.
... to spy on their own population, wholesale? With facial recognition and all that, bought from the Chinese?
Likely less than the US do.
But it also writes that relations between Assange and Ecuador have badly deteriorated over the past several years. In 2014, Assange allegedly breached the embassy's network security, reading confidential diplomatic material and setting up his own secret communications network.
He annoys people and they are out to get him. It's not paranoia, he just can't help himself.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
Sigh, someone who still believes the myth that the UK has more government CCTV than anybody else?
If you havenâ(TM)t grasped that yet: no, we do not. This whole concept is grounded in a couple of deliberately misrepresented, provocative articles about King's Lynn from about twenty years ago.
havenâ(TM)t
Oi, you 'ave a license for that character set?
Agreed... as someone who's lived all their life in the UK, and travelled quite a bit, I can safely say that the UK is no worse than any other civilised place I've been to.
Plus, I don't get regarded like an idiot that can't cross the road unsupervised.
Plus, literally, I do not feel in fear of government one iota (except from a "what stupid thing are they doing now" viewpoint, but that's universal).
Strange that people complaining they live freer lives than other countries that they've never been to also think they have to sustain a household armoury in order to do so.
(P.S. The last time I was questioned in any official capacity, or had any interaction with official law enforcement bodies, was while entering the United States for a brief holiday... honestly, I've never been asked so many obtuse, unrelated, obscure questions and I hear they're going to start asking for social media details? Oh... unless you count the policeman who came to my daughter's school fair and let the kids press the siren button)
You keep bees, you will get stung.
It's only okay when government does it.
Assange has always been a petulant twat. This is both an endearing and off-putting quality. Bottom line though, he is a guest of the Ecuadorian embassy and has cost them a bundle of money, space and privacy. He has violated thier trust with not so much as even a courtesy reach-around. I think they shoudl invite him to greet his adoring fans at thier balcony again and push him out. Given the Trump / Russia / Wikileaks connections Assange has jumped the shark in terms of legitimacy and utility. Time to boot him out.
Even if you think the gov'ts of the USA and UK are pure evil, that doesn't make Assange some come lately Robin Hood. He is a wicked man with his own wicked agenda. He isn't looking to liberate you, he's looking to be the one in power over you.
But you get to steal their honey and sell it at a nice price.
What is funny to me is that Assange allegedly hacked through a firewall and gained access to the embassy's own personal network. Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.
P.S. The last time I was questioned in any official capacity, or had any interaction with official law enforcement bodies, was while entering the United States for a brief holiday... honestly, I've never been asked so many obtuse, unrelated, obscure questions
If it makes you feel any better, that is exactly the experience I had while entering the UK.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
I had it in Canada of all fucking places.
I think it's really just a symptom of the universal truth that the role of customs officer across the globe is the sort of role that has a high likelihood of attracting the odd dickhead who failed at everything they wanted to do in life (like becoming a police officer) and so had to settle for what little power tripping they could do at a checkpoint on a national border instead.
I've always found US customs officers decent, and UK customs officers nice on my return (albeit a little fucking dense), I've found Canadian customs officers to be universally complete arseholes in Ottawa and Montreal, but usually pretty nice in Toronto and Vancouver. Across the rest of the globe it's always been a mixed bag - nice and laid back in the Caribbean, corrupt and dodgy in Egypt for example.
Personally I wouldn't judge a country by it's customs officers because the high likelihood of down and out power trippers is bound to be at odds with the norm.
The Verge: US media outlet. The Guardian: UK media outlet. Focus Ecuador: nobody ever heard of them before until now, but The Guardian felt it necessary that the story be co-written by people associated with it. That this may be disinformation is at the very least a strong possibility.
They are made of pure gold or what lol ???
Back in the 70's, $6 Million would have bought you a whole Bionic Man.
But I guess Assange is not a former astronaut and test pilot, so Ecuador didn't consider that extra investment.
Although, it would have been definitely cool for them to be able to brag:
"We have a Bionic Man in our London embassy!"
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
The only thing Assange produces is piss & shit but you're welcome to eat/drink that down if you still believe in his holy personage.
So? Harper-Collins will pay more than that for the book rights. Hey, Ecuador, I want a percentage.
Plus, literally, I do not feel in fear of government one iota
Ah, so you've never had a visit from the TV licensing man then.
Across the rest of the globe it's always been a mixed bag - nice and laid back in the Caribbean, corrupt and dodgy in Egypt for example.
Or France. They don't even pretend to care who you are if you are from a western country.
Fucking traitor
Then you most always tow the public line on everything. A police force in England was threatening to imprison people for making fun of a "drug bust" they made on Facebook. Then there was that Scottish guy who was in real risk of being sent to prison for making a nazi joke where the judge said the context which the joke was made was unimportant and could be disregarded when applying the law. If you don't find that terrifying, you're a fool.
Hahahaha - Canadians don't even know how to be assholes properly, though I've seen them try a few times. I live in Minnesota and am a dual citizen and have family in Canada so I cross the border a lot. I sometimes get a few curt questions from the Canadian customs, one sent me to immigration (lol) because I had forgotten my Canadian passport and didn't let me explain I was a citizen. But in perhaps 50 crossings I was treated rudely maybe 3-5 times and it was at best a 3/10. When I filed for my social insurance number the lady behind the desk at service Canada rudely said "and why do you think you need one?" Going off my American accent she probably thought I was a medical refugee. After saying "umm, because I'm a citizen..." she absolutely couldn't stop apologizing and directed me straight to an open agent lmao, here in America they would have called the cops over and doubled down and never, absolutely never apologized.
At the border coming back the customs agents are assholes about 40% of the time, one asked why I was in Canada and part of my answer involved being a citizen at which point he interrupted me "Son, we don't recognize dual citizenship (lol a lie), just what kind of American are you? Son, If we went to war with Canada what side would you fight for??!?" Then he went off the goddamn handle and started to make racially charged comments about my family member names and asked me insane questions for another 5 minutes. Then I got sent to be searched. I felt lucky to have made it across alive and until I see it, Canada just dosent have the culture to put assholes like that in authority and approve of thier treatment of citizens.
I am guessing you are also of Western European Decent as well, with a charming English Accent.
Culture, TV and Radio has made the British White Man seem like the general good guy. So Officials just don't get immediately suspicious of you.
However if you don't quite meet that stereotype, and you look like someone who matches a negative stereotype. Then you will get questioned and hassled much more.
I see a difference when I go to work where I am wearing my work cloths and rather well shaved vs. on the weekend where I am in a tee-shirt and jeans and Have a few days of beard growth. Interaction with officials move from very cordial and polite, when I am in my work cloths. To more demanding and rude when I am looking a bit more scruffy. I didn't change my Sex or my Race, or precede religion and there is a noticeable difference. Imagine if you had one of those traits as well.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Xest observed:
I've always found US customs officers decent, and UK customs officers nice on my return (albeit a little fucking dense), I've found Canadian customs officers to be universally complete arseholes in Ottawa and Montreal, but usually pretty nice in Toronto and Vancouver. Across the rest of the globe it's always been a mixed bag - nice and laid back in the Caribbean, corrupt and dodgy in Egypt for example.
Dude - "corrupt and dodgy" describes pretty much every employee of every Egyptian bureaucracy.
They've had more than 5,000 years to perfect bureaucratic corruption, after all, so it's hardly surprising that they've managed to refine it to such an exquisite degree ...
Check out my novel.
If this were true, there'd be some evidence shown on wikileaks or fox news.
Canada just dosent have the culture to put assholes like that in authority and approve of thier treatment of citizens.
Bwahaha! Oh wait, you're serious? Let me laugh even harder!
Canada is just like the US, except a bit more authoritarian while pretending to be nice and polite. I would know, I live here.
Try being held for them for 3 hours for literally no reason before you're allowed to go on your way whilst they ask absurdly irrelevant and probing questions about your friends, family, sex life, finances, job, and search your laptop and ask who you speak to on random websites like Facebook and to aggressively accuse you of lying to try and rile you up and get a reaction.
Believe me, Canadian customs officers most definitely do know how to be absolute cunts for no reason.
To be fair though yes, I did cross one of the land borders at Montreal once, and they were fine there actually, so maybe it's just Montreal and Ottawa airports that are staffed by unnecessarily angry jackasses.
You probably get an easier ride if you're a citizen too though as they ultimately have to answer to you (i.e. via your MP), my wife has Canadian citizenship and generally gets an easier ride. The only time they were shitty with her is when she left on her Canadian passport and flew back on her British passport because she didn't want to renew two passports so let her Canadian one expire. Apparently they can't track whose in the country if you're not consistent on your passports, and I believe they changed the law recently so you now legally have to travel only to and from Canada on your Canadian passport if you have one for precisely this reason.
I've had the anti-terror grilling in the UK and the US. Paranoid cunts.
http://www.acetonestudio.com
Just check out this guys comment history.
War with Canada!!!! Yay!!!!
http://www.acetonestudio.com
And send him to Gitmo!
In 2014, Assange allegedly breached the embassy's network security, reading confidential diplomatic material and setting up his own secret communications network.
Seriously? After all the hospitality they've provided Assange? They need to write up formal charges for this and extradite him for computer crimes committed at the embassy. He should get a LONG stay in an Ecuadorian prison that will make the Sweden rape allegations look small by comparison.
She should know all about things being fake...
reap what you sow!
If you think they are at all reflective of anything other than "stupid instances that get laughed out of court" then you're sadly mistaken.
Every country has stories of such things and there's ALWAYS more behind it than the headline would have you belief. And even when there isn't, it gets laughed out on appeal and people sanctioned.
Sorry, but you honestly AREN'T British if you haven't constantly taken the piss out of every establishment in the country at every opportunity, and you'll not suffer in any way, shape or form for doing so. Honestly, watch one of OUR cop-shows. They are incredibly boring and frustrating as some guy yells into a police officers face and calls him every name under the sun and the police just go "Yes, right, okay" in a display of utter, accustomed, British tolerance.
If you think there are police (with batons, not even guns) on every corner beating the populace into line, you just haven't been to the UK.
P.S. I've lived in some of the scummiest areas of London and Essex. I've worked in schools under "special measures" because the teenagers are kicking off so much that they have assigned police officers. And I have ZERO cause to be scared of the police or any similar organisation. If anything, I pity them immensely and I'm not sure I could apply their same coolness to that job, especially not for the wages we pay them.
Far from being an oppressed population under a police state, we tend to live out our lives without interacting with the police at all, and then only positively.
My father-in-law was in America once and was removed from his car at gunpoint for "failing to come to a complete stop at a stop sign". I guarantee you this is true. I also don't believe it's reflective of the entire US.
By contrast, after dropping an unnecessary second (foreign) mobile phone into a bin on Liverpool Street Station (back in the days before we imported US terror-phobia when we had bins on them), short after the July London bus bombings, without thinking, the same guy was surrounded and questioned by unarmed anti-terrorism police officers in seconds. Who were then laughing with him about the whole thing and barely even bothered to take his name.
These things are not indicative of real life. But real-life between the US and the UK in terms of policing is RADICALLY different. Honestly, come over. Spend some time here. Find out. Police here are professional people. Highly trained. Highly regulated. Held responsible for every action, word, gesture and implication they provide.
What you're referring to are media-blown instances missing 99% of the facts. P.S. the judiciary are NOTHING to do with the police force at all. They aren't allowed to be, they are entirely separate, and blurring the two shows your ignorance.
In actuality... nope.
And I didn't have a TV for about 5 years.
You just write them a polite letter that says "go away" and then tend to stop bothering you until someone else moves into that house again. Or you buy a TV (the shops have to dob you in by law).
> You keep bees, you will get stung.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
ROFL!
Very good joke :)
+5 Funny.
I suspect most of slashdot (like 99.999%) will not get your joke :)
A country is obligated to let her citizens in even if their travel papers have expired (or lost) as long as they can prove their citizenship status.
I once flew to visit my parents abroad and did not notice that my passport (of the destination country) had expired. They told me straight away that if I didn't take care of it during my stay, I would not be able to fly out back home.
... allegedly breached the embassy's network security, reading confidential diplomatic material and setting up his own secret communications network. ...
Rough translation: Assange found that little placard with the WiFi password written on it for all to freely use, discovered an open share on one of the embassy's network-connected computers (but probably didn't find anything particularly interesting on it) and then he casually turned on his VPN to tunnel through the embassy firewall and log into Wikileaks.
It feels to me like certain high profile personalities in the media (like Assange, but certainly not limited to him) are all-too-often treated like they possess some sort of super-intelligence, and can do shockingly amazing things with computers. The reality is likely to be underwhelming most of the time, when you break down the colorful but vague terminology into layman's terms.
Its toe the line, not tow. The police are not in a disabled boat that needs to be towed back to shore.
Though this might solve a few problems if they were.
I'm a good cook. I'm a fantastic eater. - Steven Brust
Canada just dosent have the culture to put assholes like that in authority and approve of thier treatment of citizens.
Bwahaha! Oh wait, you're serious? Let me laugh even harder!
Canada is just like the US, except a bit more authoritarian while pretending to be nice and polite. I would know, I live here.
And you don't live in the US. I hear the same bitching from my family that lives there, they feel just like you because they don't experience all America has to offer. Every time I need a light hearted break from the harsh reality here I tune into Canadian news and listen to the cure problems you have there. Tredau crapping out on represtational voting, aww we have a corrupt greedy toddler dismantling the EPA, HUD, Department of Education, and who is breaking every promise America has made to the world under obama ruining our international reputation further. Aww, you sold a few APC to the saudis who might use them to kill civilians, trump sold 200 billion in planes, missles systems, and weapons of war to definately ethnicity cleanse Yemen. Oh and the poor Canadian guy who got a heart attack and was flown to ND hospital with no medical recriprocity so he owed 100k hospital bill and it was national news lmafo!!! I know three people who got fkd harder by the healthcare system here, that story happens every 5 minutes lmafo. But do go on about your problems, I've been depressed by the news lately.
I knew it! Julian Assange is a Borg.
I've been ruded to coming into Canada from the US. Later I realized they were probably trained to do that in an attempt to fluster a crook into making a mistake.
If I were writing a process for them, I might do that.
(-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
I've always found US customs officers decent, and UK customs officers nice on my return (albeit a little fucking dense), I've found Canadian customs officers to be universally complete arseholes in Ottawa and Montreal, but usually pretty nice in Toronto and Vancouver. Across the rest of the globe it's always been a mixed bag - nice and laid back in the Caribbean, corrupt and dodgy in Egypt for example.
I've found most customs everywhere is about answering their questions without setting off any flags, which mostly involves knowing where you are going to be staying and what you are going to be doing. If they ask you some question that lets you ramble on enthusiastically about what you are going to be doing or have done, they'll usually tell you to shut up, finish your paperwork, and get you on your way. Personally, I've found the easiest way to get through customs is to wear the leather jacket with the studs, the offensive band t-shirt, big boots, and all the metal accessories I have to take off for security, and tell them I'm going to/coming from a music festival. They usually never even give me an opportunity to ramble on to one of their questions. The one exception tot hat seems to be crossing the physical border into Canada. Then they want to see cash. I didn't have $50 cash in my pocket because I was planning to withdraw local money from an ATM once in country for best exchange rate like I always do, and had me park to the side and go talk to some woman who was litterally explaining how they are not responsible for the damage done to my car when they take it apart, when I pulled out a ATM slip with my bank balance on it showing I had money, and then they let me go and waved me through without any more questions.
War with Canada!!!! Yay!!!!
On cold, clear nights, you can hear sounds from sharpening hockey sticks eerily drifting across the border.
Perhaps you are just ugly? As a tall attractive man, I’ve never had problems with authorities anywhere. Hell, in China, they didn’t even ask for id at checkpoints.
He turned Wikileaks from a service publishing information to the public while protecting the source to a political weapon to push a specific political agenda.
Actually wikileaks *always* pushed a political agenda. Their famous gulf war video was edited so as to remove the fact that the journalists killed were essentially "embedded" with an armed insurgent group while blocks away American troops were fighting other insurgents. Hang with insurgents near a firefight and you run the legitimate risk of getting Apache'd.
Wikileaks was the same during the Bush and Obama years, the only difference is that some cheered during the former and others cheered during the latter. The difference only being the politics of those cheering.
Cameras are cheap. People to watch them, however, aren't.
Google is working with the Pentagon to fix that.
Back in the 70's, $6 Million would have bought you a whole Bionic Man.
Now adjust for 40+ years of inflation. Might want to review the costs using modern components too. :-)
If it makes you feel any better, that is exactly the experience I had while entering the UK.
The UK border guards are fuckers. I've been asked obtuse, obscure questions where they wouldn't accept the truth for an answer and I'm fucking British with a valid passport.
SJW n. One who posts facts.
Spending $5m on Assange seems like weird priories from a country where 25% of the population makes less than $2/day.
“Common sense is not so common.” — Voltaire
It's a cat detector van...
New Zealanders are well balanced with a chip on each shoulder. One represents Australia, the other the rest of the world
Maybe they thought you were going to help Assange.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
They kicked your asses last time you tried to invade them
Yeah, I pointed this out to my wife, that if they denied her entry, they'd be breaking human rights law.
I'm also not sure they could stop her leaving frankly either, because she's got dual British citizenship and I don't think they can arbitrarily detain you over something like an expired passport unless it's actually a criminal offence, so as much as they huff and puff about having to travel on that passport, I think if you really wanted to push it they could neither stop you entering, nor leaving on another passport quite frankly. In fact, she could simply just not even mention she has Canadian citizenship and enter and exit on her British passport like anyone else and I doubt they'd even know.
I'm always amused by the outrage expressed by Americans regarding Assange. Yep he certainly outed the US doing terrible and embarrassing things. You blame him for snitching rather than looking at your own actions. Sad really.