So, we have a name for the PRISM leaker: Edward Snowden. Now his name is public, the US government and the military-infosec complex are going to work really hard at blowing smoke around the whole thing. In that, I think Snowden made a tactical error – not because of the danger he's in (his name would have been found out by his …

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Monday 10th June 2013 04:25 GMT wim

some as celbrities

For me I regard Snowden the same as celbrity actors.

I really don't care about their personal lives. I just care that they are good actors.

I really don't care about the smear campaign that will try to paint Snowden as a traitor/enemy/whatever.

I only care that he had the courage to do what he did and that is enough for me.

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Monday 10th June 2013 04:49 GMT SuccessCase

I disagree. I think he has made a tactically brilliant move. He has shown bravery. He clearly isn't a nutter. He will be difficult to persecute without a high degree of suspicion as to what is going on. It is clear already he has won over the common man. He would have been outed soon enough anyway. The CIA would have enjoyed the opportunity to prepare the backstory to vilify him first. He has denied them that opportunity. Now of course the CIA * may * try to attack his credibility with everything in their arsenal. I say *may* because I think there is now a reasonable chnace Obama will see the danger in trying too hard and too overtly to discredit this one. They will of course employ many subtle tricks to undermine him, and they will work where a good number of the population are concerned, but fortune favours the brave and the mood is already such that Obama may realise that to begin persecuting him, is the worst move of all. I think, therefore, there is a good chance their response will therefore be more measured than it was for say, Bradley Manning.

Time will tell.

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Monday 10th June 2013 05:06 GMT Anonymous Coward

Good story, but you're forgetting one thing...the press are still pretty pissed off about their personal phone interceptions, so might not be as cooperative as usual when it comes to the (coming soon, probably) hatchet job.

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1. Monday 10th June 2013 05:37 GMT Yes Me
  
  Re: pretty pissed off
  
  "the press are still pretty pissed off about their personal phone interceptions"
  
  But are they surprised? I've assumed since about 1996 that my email has all been sucked up by some large machine somewhere; technology comes and goes, but the people who fought so hard against ready public access to cryptography had a reason for doing so back then, and what could it have been except a big electronic vacuum cleaner? Of course the same applied to phone records as soon as they went onto computers, decades ago.
  
  Kudos to Mr Snowden, but, really, where's the surprise?
  
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Monday 10th June 2013 05:57 GMT Anonymous Coward

Step 1, 'find' child pornography on his PC...

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Monday 10th June 2013 05:58 GMT solidsoup

Completely disagree with the article. Snowden made a brilliant move by getting ahead of the administration on this. With stories this big, human element is an irresisitible aspect. He would be the story regardless of whether he would put himself in the center.

There is also an interesting depth to his views. Junior or not, his understanding of Prism is clearly nuanced. While NSA collects all this data, it only really uses it for active investigations and tracing leads. The current system and the way its being used isn't really the problem, as he himself implies. Constituational issue is pretty narrow and has to do with the fact that analysts are given guidance to follow 2 hops from an overseas target, meaning they can eavesdrop on an American who hasn't communicated with someone overseas. However, the actual issue is the capability itself. What happens to such a capability tomorrow? This is one of the places where slippery slope argument is very apropos. How long before this is used for copyright enforcement fishing expeditions or paedophile hunting trips?

Looking ahead, this probably won't turn out well and the reason is simple - people are sheep and they don't care. What will happen is the same program will now exist publicly with a few appropriate briefs from Holder and 5-4 acquiesence from SCOTUS. People who think that's better, delude themselves. It's like your wife cheating on you openly and publicly rather than secretly and discreetly.

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Monday 10th June 2013 10:14 GMT FrankBarnes

I was performing some research on Mr."Edward Snowden" using my CIA-certified tracking and monitoring tool called "Facebook". Unfortunately, there's too many accounts, and can't verify which is his.

So I fired up my CIA-Certified Microsoft Internet Explorer, now powered with "BING SEARCH® with PrismOVERDRIVE®" , (which according to the recent ad campaigns has better results that Google. Shameless Plug) There wasn't much there, either.

Eventually, I found him, on my CIA-Certified XBox with "MS Prism® Power!" The XBox said he goes by the user name "Snowden-Then-SKI" He likes to play Warcraft, and chess.

You can send him an email, at Hotmail now powered with Exclusive "MS Prism-PRO® Technology". I saw his details and contact information, but his profile had an explitive in it, which would likely be flagged. But he has an address over at hotmail.

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