The following rush transcript probably contains errors and/or omissions…
Snooping – Spying – Hactivising
I’m Rex Latchford in New York, with another DayPage…
Here’s some of what’s happening on this day…
The computer hacker Jeremy Hammond has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for hacking into the computers of the private intelligence firm Stratfor. Hammond has admitted to being a member of the group Anonymous and to stealing files from Stratfor, as well as other government and corporate sites. Some five million Stratfor emails ended up on the whistleblowing website WikiLeaks, showing how the firm monitors activists and spies for corporate clients. Hammond pleaded guilty earlier this year in part to avoid a longer sentence of at least 30 years in prison. He has already spent 18 months behind bars, some of it in solitary confinement. On Friday, Hammond attorney Sarah Kunstler said Hammond’s sentencing judge had overlooked his political motivations.
[Audio Clips from Hammond Verdict Press Conference – Edited for brevity and clarity]
Those clips were from Attorney Sara Kunsler’s Press Conference after the Hammond Verdict.
Hammond’s 10-year sentence is one of the longest ever in a criminal hacking case. During his sentencing, Hammond said an FBI informant had directed him to hack into the websites of several foreign governments, including Brazil, Iran and Turkey. According to Hammond, the FBI used him and other hackers to disrupt vulnerabilities in the home pages of foreign states.
In Japan, a dangerous operation is underway at the earthquake-stricken Fukushima nuclear plant. Engineers are removing more than 1,500 radioactive fuel rods from a storage pool as part of the plant’s decommissioning. The rods could release toxic gases if they break or are exposed to air. Some of the tasks underway as part of Fukushima’s decommissioning have never been attempted anywhere else.
Protests were held in more than 260 cities worldwide on Saturday to mark two months since the detention of the Greenpeace “Arctic 30” for protesting gas drilling by Russia. The 28 activists and two journalists are facing charges of “hooliganism” which carry up to seven years in prison. Saturday’s rallies focused on urging Russia’s state-controlled oil company, Gazprom, and its partner, Shell, to back calls for the Arctic 30’s release.
The Supreme Court on Monday turned away an unusual challenge to a National Security Agency program that collects the telephone records of millions of Americans, as congressional critics of the data collection stepped up efforts to force more disclosure about the scope of the surveillance.
The intensifying efforts to gain transparency and put restraints on N.S.A. on both the legal and legislative fronts is running into stiff resistance from congressional leaders of both parties, as well as the Obama administration. This puts the administration and legislature at direct odds with growing public sentiment. Once again, Government of by and for the Government.
EPIC filed this last challenge directly with the Supreme Court arguing that the FISA court had exceeded its jurisdiction when it ordered the bulk collection of phone records. In urging the Supremes to throw out the case, the Federal Government said the proper way to mount a challenge is to file in Federal District Court… exactly where the Administration could firmly put down such a challenge on its own.
John Boener wants to quash any effort to address the NSA excess during the legislative session, and Harry Ried is afraid of harming national security. That’s National Security as in Federal Government’s Security, no doubt.
Meanwhile Angela Merkel is once again speaking out against NSA spying and bugging, referring to NSA documents released by Edward Snowden as “accusations” rather than fact unchallenged by the NSA. The German Government wants Snowden’s testimony, but won’t offer asylum unless he applies while on German soil. That would be tricky, as the US would most certainly try to snatch him if he were to travel there.
Indonesia has recalled it’s ambassador to Australia, a US spy-pal that the NSA’s documents show was spying on the Indonesian leader. The latest leaked NSA documents named the Indonesian President, his first lady, the vice president, and other senior ministers as targets of snooping, spying, and monitoring.
And that’s just about enough for this DayPage. You can collect them all at DayPage.net, a production of RadioInfoWeb and heard on the Liberty Radio Network. Join us again next time for another DayPage.