Daily Archives: 26. April 2023


26.04.2023 - 15:55 [ Nachrichtenagentur Radio Utopie ]

We now expect the CIA, Pentagon, NSA, etc, to have all their communications screened. We are looking for:

– child porn
– animal porn
– spy shit
– illegally and arbitrarily stolen communications, secrets, private information and other intellectual, creative, spiritual and personal property (formely called thoughts, identity, mind and soul, and stuff)
– deceitful law drafts, that potentially could be talked into parliamentarian dummies, in order to sell those laws on the other hand to a bunch of idiots as some kind of aid, protection or rescue for anybody, so that everybody®s applauding when they are subjected to an electronic colony, police state and feudalism.

And remember: if they are progessives, they let you do it!

26.04.2023 - 15:20 [ CNN ]

The number of people with Top Secret clearance will shock you

(August 16, 2022)

The Director of National Intelligence publishes what is described as an annual report, “Security Clearance Determinations,” although the most recent one I could find was from 2017.

In it, more than 2.8 million people are described as having security clearance as of October 2017 – more than 1.6 million have access to either Confidential or Secret information and nearly 1.2 million are described as having access to Top Secret information.

26.04.2023 - 15:09 [ Daniel Neun / Radio Utopie ]

TOP SECRET AMERICA (II): “Nationale Sicherheit AG”

(24. Juli 2010)

– Von den 854.000 Personen mit dem Sicherheitszugang “Top Secret” sind 265.000 kommerzielle Vertragsnehmer, rund 30 Prozent des Arbeitspersonals im Spionage-Komplex.

– Im “Ministerium fĂŒr Heimatschutz” (“Department of Homeland Security” DHS) arbeiten genauso viele staatliche Beamte wie Vertragsnehmer, in der Spionageabteilung stellt das “private” Personal sogar 60 Prozent. Das Heimatschutz-Ministerium hat VertrĂ€ge mit 318 Konzernen, von denen allein 19 sich ausschließlich mit der Rekrutierung neuer Vertragsnehmer beschĂ€ftigen.

– 56 Firmen im Spionage-Komplex sind nur damit beschĂ€ftigt, stĂ€ndig neue Linguisten, Sprachwissenschaftler und Dolmetscher zu rekrutieren. Anschliessend werden sie an die US-Regierungsbehörden weitervermietet, um auf dem ganzen Planeten abgehörte Telefonate und GesprĂ€che, sowie abgefangene emails und Telekommunikation zu ĂŒbersetzen und zu interpretieren.

– fĂŒr die 16 US-Spionagedienste erstellen allein 400 Konzerne Datenverarbeitungs- und informationstechnische Systeme zur internen Kommunikation zwischen den Diensten und deren jeweiliger Computernetzwerke.

– die “National Security Agency” (NSA), die weltweite Telekommunikation abfĂ€ngt und elektronische Überwachungen durchfĂŒhrt, bezahlt zur Zeit 484 Konzerne, u.a. fĂŒr die Entwicklung neuer Spionage-Technologien.

– die planetare Satelliten-Spionage des “National Reconnaissance Office” (NRO), einem der wichtigsten von offiziell 16 Spionagediensten der USA, wĂ€re nicht möglich ohne die Zuarbeit von vier großen Konzernen, die als Vertragsnehmer fĂŒr die NRO arbeiten.

– Bei der CIA sind von (offiziell) 30.000 Personalstand 10.000 Personen externe, nichtstaatliche Vertragsnehmer aus sage und schreibe 114 Firmen. Viele von ihnen sind nur fĂŒr zeitlich begrenzte Jobs oder Operationen an Bord und kommen aus der MilitĂ€rspionage.

Die CIA ist das Beispiel fĂŒr eine Regierungsagentur, welche nicht mehr ohne dieses kommerzielle Hilfspersonal auskommt, obwohl gerade sie Operationen durchfĂŒhrt, die keiner anderen Behörde gesetzlich erlaubt ist.

26.04.2023 - 14:52 [ Washington Post ]

TOP SECRET AMERICA: National Security Inc.

(July 20, 2010)

The Post investigation uncovered what amounts to an alternative geography of the United States, a Top Secret America created since 9/11 that is hidden from public view, lacking in thorough oversight and so unwieldy that its effectiveness is impossible to determine.

It is also a system in which contractors are playing an ever more important role. The Post estimates that out of 854,000 people with top-secret clearances, 265,000 are contractors. There is no better example of the government‘s dependency on them than at the CIA, the one place in government that exists to do things overseas that no other U.S. agency is allowed to do.

(…)

Most of these contractors do work that is fundamental to an agency‘s core mission. As a result, the government has become dependent on them in a way few could have foreseen: wartime temps who have become a permanent cadre.

26.04.2023 - 14:50 [ Popsugar.co.uk ]

„Who Watches the Watchmen?“ Means More Than You Think in HBO‘s New Series

(17 October 2019)

The United States wins the Vietnam War and President Nixon‘s Watergate scandal is never exposed — mostly because he enlists one of the Watchmen who has turned evil to kill Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein. Nixon also abolishes term limits, so he is still president in 1985, which is when the film is set.

(…)

The phrase dates back to the 1st/2nd century Roman poet Juvenal, who wrote satires about tyrannical governments, oppressive dictatorships and law enforcement corruption. The original phrase is „Quis custodiet ipsos custodes“ in Latin, which literally translates to „Who will guard the guards themselves,“ the modern version of which has become „Who watches the watchmen?“

26.04.2023 - 14:18 [ Netzpolitik.org ]

Stop CSAM Act: Neues Gesetz in den USA könnte VerschlĂŒsselung schwĂ€chen

Hinzu kommt laut der BĂŒrgerrechtsorganisation auch ein neuer zivilrechtlicher Anspruch, der Privatklagen gegen Internetunternehmen und App-Stores wegen der „Förderung oder Erleichterung“ der Ausbeutung von Kindern, des „Hostings oder Speicherns von Kinderpornografie“ oder des „ZugĂ€nglichmachens von Kinderpornografie fĂŒr jedermann“ ermöglichen soll. Dies geschehe alles auf der Grundlage eines sehr niedrigen FahrlĂ€ssigkeitsstandards, so die EFF.

Außerdem wird ein Benachrichtigungs- und Löschsystem geschaffen, das von einem neu geschaffenen Ausschuss fĂŒr den Schutz von Kindern im Internet beaufsichtigt wird und von den Anbietern verlangt, Inhalte auf Anfrage zu entfernen oder zu deaktivieren, noch bevor eine administrative oder gerichtliche Entscheidung vorliegt, dass es sich bei den Inhalten tatsĂ€chlich um CSAM handelt.

Damit geht das geplante Gesetz lange nicht so weit wie die europĂ€ische Chatkontrolle oder der britische Online Safety Act, welche derzeit von den Anbietern verlangen, die Kommunikationsinhalte und gespeicherte Dateien vor der VerschlĂŒsselung zu durchsuchen. Dennoch sieht die EFF in den Formulierungen des Gesetzes große Fallstricke:

26.04.2023 - 13:43 [ Techdirt ]

Senator Durbin’s ‘STOP CSAM Act’ Has Some Good Ideas
 Mixed In With Some Very Bad Ideas That Will Do More Harm Than Good

(18.04.2023)

It’s “protect the children” season in Congress with the return of KOSA and EARN IT, two terrible bills that attack the internet, and rely on people’s ignorance of how things actually work to pretend they’re making the internet safer, when they’re not. Added to this is Senator Dick Durbin’s STOP CSAM Act, which he’s been touting since February, but only now has officially put out a press release announcing the bill (though, he hasn’t released the actual language of the bill, because that would actually be helpful to people analyzing it). (…)

Notice what’s not talked about? It’s not mentioned how much law enforcement has done to actually track down, arrest, and prosecute the perpetrators. That’s the stat that matters. But it’s missing.

26.04.2023 - 13:22 [ Electronic Frontier Foundation ]

The STOP CSAM Act Would Put Security and Free Speech at Risk

(21.04.2023)

– It makes it a crime for providers to “knowingly host or store” CSAM or “knowingly promote or facilitate” the sexual exploitation of children, including the creation of CSAM, on their platforms.

– It creates a new civil claim and corresponding Section 230 carveout to encourage private lawsuits against internet companies and app stores for the “promotion or facilitation” of child exploitation, the “hosting or storing of child pornography,” or for “making child pornography available to any person”—all based on the very low standard of negligence.

– It requires providers to remove (in addition to reporting and preserving) “apparent” CSAM when they obtain actual knowledge of the content on their platforms.

– It creates a notice-and-takedown system overseen by a newly created Child Online Protection Board, requiring providers to remove or disable content upon request even before an administrative or judicial determination that the content is in fact CSAM.

(…)

Because the law already prohibits the distribution of CSAM, the bill’s broad terms could be interpreted as reaching more passive conduct like merely providing an encrypted app.

(…)

Not every platform will have the resources to fight these threats in court, especially newcomers that compete with entrenched giants like Meta and Google.

26.04.2023 - 13:14 [ US Senate Committee on the Judiciary ]

Durbin Introduces Stop CSAM Act to Crack Down on the Proliferation of Child Sex Abuse Material Online

(19.04.2023)

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL), Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today introduced the Strengthening Transparency and Obligation to Protect Children Suffering from Abuse and Mistreatment Act of 2023 (STOP CSAM Act), legislation to crack down on the proliferation of child sex abuse material online. To combat this horrific crime, the STOP CSAM Act supports victims and increases accountability and transparency for online platforms.

26.04.2023 - 12:35 [ WA People's Privacy / Nitter ]

Please be on alert for the re-introduction of KOSA (Kids Online Safety Act) -fed bill that over 100 orgs opposed last session due to dangers to kids‘ free speech, and deep concerns about privacy and state‘s control over content moderation. Folks may need to snap into action

26.04.2023 - 12:32 [ @evan_greer / Nitter ]

URGENT: We‘ve just heard that @SenBlumenthal and @MarshaBlackburn plan to reintroduce the controversial Kids Online Safety Act (#KOSA) tomorrow.

They will say that they‘ve engaged with LGBTQ groups (true) and addressed all concerns with the bill (NOT TRUE!!!)

26.04.2023 - 11:56 [ the Hill ]

Sanders forgoes 2024 bid, endorses Biden

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Tuesday that he is supporting President Biden’s reelection in 2024 and is foregoing a third presidential bid.

Sanders, who finished second to Biden in 2020 for the Democratic presidential nomination, made the announcement hours after Biden announced his bid for a second White House term.