Edward Snowden to broadcast Channel 4's alternative Christmas Day message

[Reefa]

NSA whistleblower records message from Russia, filmed by Laura Poitras, warning of the dangers of a loss of privacy

Edward Snowden says: 'A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all.

Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who prompted a worldwide debate when he leaked a cache of top secret documents about US and UK surveillance, has recorded a Christmas Day television message in which he explains his actions.The short film was recorded for Channel 4, which has 20-year history of providing unusual but relevant figures as an alternative to the Queen's Christmas message shown by other UK broadcasters. It will be Snowden's first television appearance since arriving in Moscow

The address, to be broadcast at 4.15pm on Christmas Day, was filmed in Russia – where Snowden is living after being granted temporary asylum – by Laura Poitras, a film-maker who has closely collaborated with him on the NSA stories.In excerpts from the address released by Channel 4, Snowden says George Orwell "warned us of the danger of this kind of information" in his dystopian novel, 1984.

Snowden says: "The types of collection in the book – microphones and video cameras, TVs that watch us – are nothing compared to what we have available today. We have sensors in our pockets that track us everywhere we go. Think about what this means for the privacy of the average person."A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all. They'll never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves an unrecorded, unanalysed thought. And that's a problem because privacy matters; privacy is what allows us to determine who we are and who we want to be."

In the other extract of the address released, Snowden notes the political changes that have taken place since his leaked the cache documents to newspapers including the Guardian. He highlights a review of the NSA's power that recommended it be no longer permitted to collect phone records in bulk or undermine internet security, findings endorsed in part by Barack Obama, and a federal judge's ruling that bulk phone record collection is likely to violate the US constitution.

Snowden says: "The conversation occurring today will determine the amount of trust we can place both in the technology that surrounds us and the government that regulates it. Together we can find a better balance, end mass surveillance and remind the government that if it really wants to know how we feel, asking is always cheaper than spying."

The latter comment echoes a sentiment expressed by Snowden during a series of interviews in Moscow with the Washington Post, another paper that has carried revelations based on documents leaked by him. In this, Snowden said the effect of his actions had meant that "the mission's already accomplished".

In the newspaper interview, he added: "I already won. As soon as the journalists were able to work, everything that I had been trying to do was validated. Because, remember, I didn't want to change society. I wanted to give society a chance to determine if it should change itself."All I wanted was for the public to be able to have a say in how they are governed."

The alternative Christmas message, a counterpoint to the traditional festive broadcast by the Queen, began in 1993 with a broadcast from the writer and gay activist Quentin Crisp. Other notable participants include Iran's then-president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, in 2008, and a team of midwives two years later.

Source:http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/dec/24/edward-snowden-channel-4-christmas-day-message

[Mortal]

Is anyone else sick of this little prick? I, for one, would like to see him extradited, water-boarded and face justice for jeopardizing our national security agencies and breaking the laws he broke in the process to prove his little point. This guy knew just enough to put national security at risk for multiple countries.

Oh wait, he's a "hero"? For what again? Pointing out what every other civilizied country already knows and does? Give me a break!

[INT 13h]

Welcome to the forum, NSA.

[knowledge-Spammer]

Is anyone else sick of this little prick? I, for one, would like to see him extradited, water-boarded and face justice for jeopardizing our national security agencies and breaking the laws he broke in the process to prove his little point. This guy knew just enough to put national security at risk for multiple countries.

Oh wait, he's a "hero"? For what again? Pointing out what every other civilizied country already knows and does? Give me a break!

no we like what he did

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWGhJH4-G5Q&feature=c4-overview&list=UU4UrDq3uVQWxBJm6Hwblkdw

Edited December 24, 2013 by knowledge

[Ambrocious]

A global loss of privacy leads to a loss of motivation to create and invent and a dramatic decrease in innovation. Suppose you are a locally known genius or highly talented individual who is working on a project that is bound to make millions of dollars. No matter how simple or how complex this item or product is, you would hope that it would be private until you can produce it or mass produce it.

The NSA has the power and ability to send your blueprints and your ideas in total to private organizations that has BILLIONS to throw at the project. You could be smack dead at the end of creating your product, it's ready to be tested for safety or otherwise, but one thing you didn't know is that the NSA sold your data to Google (figuratively speaking) and they already had 25 people working overtime to produce your product but with a different look and slightly different functions. Google now owns the copyright to YOUR product but how on Earth could you ever prove it unless you have countless records of testing your product with some way to validate that the date of said testing’s had been done far in advance to Google's production of the product. Even then, Google (once again, figuratively speaking) would still probably win in a court of law because of one simple thing: money speaks.

Privacy is a breath of fresh air to breath in knowing that you can be your goofy self when no one is looking. It lets you be YOU without fear of embarrassment. In times when I am alone, I find that I can think of some of the most creative ideas or some conclusion to a problem I was having. In our privacy also stands our individuality. With individuality comes uniqueness. With uniqueness comes an unfathomable amount of endless possibilities of what we can do and how we "become" what we will become. No matter if we are artists, musicians, farmers, wrestlers, professional athlete or even the President of the United States, privacy is important to have as a unique identity that is unmolested by the grips of surveyed conformity (this applies to the NSA and any OTHER country that spies as the USA has been doing as well).

The NSA puts our individuality at stake; our essence to be who we are not have to be like everyone else and act in that sort of way we act when we are always around other people. Have you noticed how you behave around people compared to when you are alone? Would you strip naked in front of two balding men on your own free will? If you defend the NSA for this mass spying grid you might as well enjoy undressing in front of middle aged men who ENJOY watching you strip. With that mental image, Merry Christmas and remember folks, knowledge is power.

[napalm.neca]

Mass surveillance makes you feel safer?

[Holmes]

He didnt use fabricated keys and he didnt use self-signed certificates:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2013/12/16/an-nsa-coworker-remembers-the-real-edward-snowden-a-genius-among-geniuses/

He wants to help and cant the government is preventing him from doing so. This whole edward snowden crap with the government is bullshit:

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2319622/edward-snowden-pens-an-open-letter-to-the-people-of-brazil

I have meant to post this earlier better late than never..