Month: June 2014

DOJ Admits It’s Still Destroying Evidence In NSA Case; Judge Orders Them (Again) To Stop; DOJ Flips Out

In the court case between DOJ and EFF, the DOJ has apparently decided the temporary restraining order ordering them to preserve any relevant evidence, doesn’t concern them. According to the DOJ, preserving evidence means that the terrorists will win.

The court has now sent a new TRO, reaffirming the previous.

In its TRO, the Court ordered the government to refrain from any further destruction of evidence pending final resolution of the parties’ dispute over the government’s evidence preservation obligations: “Accordingly, it is HEREBY ORDERED that Defendants, their officers, agents, servants, employees, and attorneys, and all those in active concert or participation with them are prohibited, enjoined, and restrained from destroying any potential evidence relevant to the claims at issue in this action, including but not limited to prohibiting the destruction of any telephone metadata or ‘call detail’ records, pending further order of the Court.” ECF No. 189 at 2 (emphasis added). In its Amended Minute Order, the Court reiterated that the TRO’s prohibition on any evidence destruction remains in effect until the Court has finally decided the evidence preservation dispute: “The Court extends the temporary restraining order issued on March 10, 2014 until a final order resolving the matter is issued.” ECF No. 206 at 1.

The response from the DOJ was simple, yet unbelievable

Undersigned counsel have been advised by the National Security Agency that compliance with the June 5, 2014 Order would cause severe operational consequences for the National Security Agency (NSA’s) national security mission, including the possible suspension of the Section 702 program and potential loss of access to lawfully collected signals intelligence information on foreign intelligence targets that is vital to NSA’s foreign intelligence mission.

So basically, look the other way or the terrorists win.

I would rather say; If we look the other way, the terrorists win.

Link (Techdirt)

Hte spo0kest boook in the w0lrd by Sp0okmstr666

What the hell is this person going on about? I tried to parse whatever gibberish the KS page was written in, and I think my soul (or whatever is left of it) collapsed by the sheer lack of grammar.

That might be THE WORST kickstarter I’ve EVER seen.

He,lo i m sop00kmstr666 nd i a

(Interoducchun stoelem by skelligtons (spooeky! Ooo”& ) ]

I wan 2 wriet a book dat is ackshully sacry an creats a truely literary (or should I say, literSCARY) experunse.

so i rite a big boko wehr ther r lets of spoeoku (edit: spo0key) skeltuons onand ghsts goblns ghoools demonz nd oethr creatures fo the rectangls of hell. If u ware scoks like i do, thyr wil be scrared off! (I m not liabel 4 costs of loosing soxks.

I m a traynd riter with a skellton inside of me so i thin i m perfeqtly cwalifyed 2! writ a book abou thm. I wil research demo ns and othr parinormal beingz so evrythin u read will b real lief$.

The book I will be writing is a literary thriller with elements of horror and paranormal themes. Dar wil be skelingss nd othe creaters of th nite!

It wll b the sp00kyst bo(2 – 2)k u will ever read

Link (Kickstarter) – Although, you might not want to actually read that…

Secret Trials: UK Holds A Secret Terror Trial, As US Appeals Court Holds Secret Hearing In Terror Case

Mike Masnick over at Techdirt has published an excellent article about a trial where everyone except the three judges and attorneys representing the government were denied access, all in the name of “national security”.

As the arguments concluded, Judge Richard Posner announced the public portion of the proceedings had concluded and ordered the stately courtroom cleared so the three-judge panel could hold a “secret hearing.” Daoud’s attorney, Thomas Anthony Durkin, rose to object, but Posner did not acknowledge him. Deputy U.S. marshals then ordered everyone out – including Durkin, his co-counsel and reporters.

Only those with the proper security clearance — including U.S. Attorney Zachary Fardon, his first assistant, Gary Shapiro, and about a dozen FBI and U.S. Department of Justice officials – were allowed back in the courtroom before it was locked for the secret session.

Link (Techdirt)

How the internet was broken

The Register has published a thorough article on how the NSA has subverted the security of the Internet in the name of national security.

The damage created to IT security is deliberate, sustained and protected even inside the agencies’ compartmented planning cells by arcane contrivances of language. Breaking the safety and value of crypto systems, in sigint speak, is “enabling”. Deliberately sabotaging security, in the inverted Orwellian world of the sigint agencies is said to be “improving security”.

The only European countries apparently not signed up to help break the internet are Luxembourg, Switzerland, Monaco, and Ireland. And Iceland.

Link (The Register)

Update on faithInHumanity–;

This is an update for this post

I won’t say I told you so, but…you know what, screw it, I told you so. I told you the horror story out of Waukesha, Wisconsin, where two girls attacked a friend, nearly killing her, invoking the name of Slender Man, the creation of one user on internet site Creepypasta, would result in yet another moral panic iteration. Truth be told, it wasn’t a difficult prediction to make and I certainly wasn’t going out on a limb. This kind of thing is sadly as predictable as the weather in San Diego, but not nearly as pleasant. Already the focus is being cast exactly where it shouldn’t, even by police officials.

“This should be a wake-up call for all parents,” Russell P. Jack, Waukesha’s police chief, said in a statement Monday. “Parents are strongly encouraged to restrict and monitor their children’s Internet usage.”

Link (Techdirt)

Take a Number

This requires that the business in question used their solution, that the customer has a compatible phone, AND that the customer has downloaded the app. A piece of paper doesn’t.

Another problem is, what do you do if someone has entered the queue but doesn’t actually show up? Do you wait?

Last time I was at a clinic, I booked an appointment by phone in advance, and when it was my turn, they called me up. No paper needed. No app needed.

This whole thing sounds to me like a solution in search of a problem.

Link (Kickstarter)

What Excuse Remains for Obama’s Failure to Close GITMO?

I find it sad that their motto os "Honor Bound to Defend Freedom". 
That must be some special American version of Freedom.

In order to secure the release of American POW Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, the Obama administration agreed to release from Guantanamo five detainees allegedly affiliated with the Taliban. But as even stalwart Obama defenders such as Jeffery Toobin admit, Obama “clearly broke the law” by releasing those detainees without providing Congress the 30-day notice required by the 2014 defense authorization statute

(…)

The only conceivable legal argument to justify this release is if the Obama White House argues that the law does not and cannot bind them. As documented by MSNBC’s Adam Serwer – who acknowledges that “when it comes to the legality of the decision [critics] have a point” – Obama has suggested in the past when issuing signing statements that he does not recognize the validity of congressional restrictions on his power to release Guantanamo detainees because these are decisions assigned by the Constitution solely to the commander-in-chief

(…)

But once you take the position that Obama can override — i.e., ignore — Congressional restrictions on his power to release Guantanamo detainees, then what possible excuse is left for his failure to close the camp? As Jason Leopold notes in an astute article at Al Jazeera, this week’s episode “has led one human rights organization to question why the Obama administration has not acted to transfer dozens of other detainees who have been cleared for release for many years.”

Source (The Intercept)