sxsw – Techdirt (original) (raw)

EFF Defends Anti-War Group Against SXSW’s Bullshit IP Claims

from the streisand-effect dept

We haven’t talked a great deal about SXSW in some time, but they are back in the news and not for good reasons! The conference and festival kicked off in March as planned, but less planned were the protests that organized against the conference as a result of its affiliations with defense contractors and the United States military and the ongoing support of Israel’s heavy-handed response to the attacks it suffered from Hamas last year. Performers backed out and a handful of protest groups organized alternative concerts and demonstrations out in front of SXSW.

One of those groups was the Austin for Palestine Coalition (APC) that put out communication and organized protests along these lines. In those communications, some of them included parodied versions of the SXSW branding to make it clear that the group believes the organization has blood on its hands. For instance:

Now, for the sin of publishing this parody content, which you will already recognize as protected speech under the First Amendment, SXSW made several trademark and copyright claims for takedowns of social media and internet content. To be clear, those claims are utter nonsense.

And if you want to understand the specifics as to why, the EFF has gotten involved in supporting AFC and has a great explainer in the link.

On the trademark question first:

The law is clear on this point. The First Amendment protects your right to make a political statement using trademark parodies, whether or not the trademark owner likes it. That’s why trademark law applies a different standard (the “Rogers test”) to infringement claims involving expressive works. The Rogers test is a crucial defense against takedowns like these, and it clearly applies here. Even without Rogers’ extra protections, SXSW’s trademark claim would be bogus: Trademark law is about preventing consumer confusion, and no reasonable consumer would see Austin for Palestine’s posts and infer they were created or endorsed by SXSW.

Completely correct. APC is protected when it comes to this content via several vectors. Parody is protected speech. Political messaging is protected speech. And, finally, trademark law struggles to be employed when there is no serious concern for confusion in the public. And if SXSW really wants to make the argument that someone is going to take messaging critical of it as affiliated with SXSW, I’m happy to sit back and laugh at them.

As for the copyright claim, it’s even worse.

SXSW’s copyright claims are just as groundless. Basic symbols like their arrow logo are not copyrightable. Moreover, even if SXSW meant to challenge Austin for Palestine’s mimicking of their promotional material—and it’s questionable whether that is copyrightable as well—the posts are a clear example of non-infringing fair use. In a fair use analysis, courts conduct a four-part analysis, and each of those four factors here either favors Austin for Palestine or is at worst neutral. Most importantly, it’s clear that the critical message conveyed by Austin for Palestine’s use is entirely different from the original purpose of these marketing materials, and the only injury to SXSW is reputational—which is not a cognizable copyright injury.

As far as the EFF has heard, SXSW hasn’t responded to its pushback. And, of course, guess what all of this bullying type behavior designed to bury the protests has actually done? Well, in true Streisand Effect fashion, the very information this bullying was supposed to tamp down is instead on a repeater as more and more outlets, including us, discuss the story in its entirety.

When will they ever learn?

Filed Under: austin for palestine coalition, copyright, israel, palestine, parody, protests, sxsw, trademark
Companies: sxsw

SXSW Panel Pitch: Science Fiction Dreams Of Electric Jobs

from the help-us-go-to-sxsw dept

As you may recall, we’ve been working on a big fun project called Working Futures that mixes scenario planning and science fiction to start thinking about what the future of work might really look like. We’ve had a lot going on behind the scenes on that project, so expect more in the future. But, for now, we’re also pitching a panel at SXSW next year on this topic entitled: Science Fiction Dreams of Electric Jobs, in which myself and Berit Anderson from the sci-fi/scenario planning company Scout.ai would be joined by two incredible science fiction writers, who have both worked in tech for years, and who are brilliant and insightful, Nicky Drayden and Ramez Naam, to discuss this topic and maybe do a little live scenario planning as well.

But the way SXSW works (if you don’t know) is that part of determining if your panel is accepted is that all the panels that make it past the first level of review then are put up on SXSW’s “Panel Picker” platform for people to vote on over the next couple of weeks (voting closes on August 30th). The voting doesn’t fully determine what makes it (I believe it only accounts for about 30% of the decision), but obviously it does help. So if you think this would be a good panel at SXSW, please head over and vote (and… if you think it would be an awful panel, you should go vote for some of the other stuff, much of which looks pretty awesome as well).

Filed Under: berit anderson, future of work, nicky drayden, ramez naam, scenario planning, science fiction, sxsw, working futures

State Trooper Disciplined For Taking Photo With Person With 'Well-Known Criminal Background'

from the the-pettiness-of-the-powerful dept

Tired of hearing about just the bad cops? Here’s one with a good cop, surrounded by worse cops, and the amazing amount of pettiness the latter group can display.

Texas State Trooper Billy Spears was working an approved security detail at the recent South by Southwest conference when he was approached by one of the performing artists and his publicist. The artist asked for a photo with the trooper, who obliged. The photo was taken by the publicist and later posted to Instagram. Here’s the photo.

Trooper Spears is on the left.

In most other realities, this would have been the end of the story — one Billy Spears would be able to tell for years. Instead, it’s turned into something else. It’s still a story that Spears will be able to tell for years, but there won’t be many happy memories attached to it.

Much of what came next has been compiled by Spears’ attorney, Ty Clevenger, who submitted this to Techdirt. Instead of nothing happening, a whole bunch of petty crap went down, starting with the response from his “superiors.”

[H]ere’s an excerpt of the “deficiencies indicating need for counseling” in Billy’s official record: “While working a secondary employment job, Trooper Spears took a photo with a public figure who has a well-known criminal background including numerous drug charges. The public figure posted the photo on social media and it reflects poorly on the Agency.”

The “counseling” doesn’t mean a psychiatric evaluation but it does mean the addition of disciplinary documentation that could negatively affect Spears’ future employment or advancement opportunities. The Texas Dept. of Safety — of which the State Troopers are a division — has so far refused to comment on this action, something that appears to be vindictive rather than deserved.

First, there’s the ridiculousness of demanding troopers not pose with anyone who has a “criminal background.” Many people do. Far too many, given the law enforcement’s willingness to criminalize all sorts of behavior under vague charges like “obstruction,” “interference” and “resisting arrest.” No small percentage of a population possess a “criminal background.” As Clevenger points out, this sort of expectation is not only moronic, but it’s completely nonexistent.

And of course DPS has no policy requiring a criminal background check on everyone who requests a picture with a uniformed trooper. In fact, DPS has no policy forbidding a photograph with someone who has a criminal conviction.

The other problem with the DPS’s disciplinary action is that Spears didn’t post the photo. Snoop Dogg did.

Despite Spears having violated no existing policies, his supervisors went out of their way — way out of their way — to assure he was punished for this non-misdeed. This is from Clevenger’s letter to the director of the Texas Dept. of Public Safety.

At approximately 9 p.m., Trooper Spears was informed by Sgt. Michael Sparks that Lt. Jimmy Jackson would be driving from Tyler to Gilmer to serve him with a copy of the counseling form. Sgt. Sparks also told Trooper Spears that DPS is now requiring the presence of two superior officers for any incident involving him. I doubt there are any other troopers who must be served by at least two superior officers, and I must wonder why Trooper Spears was singled out for special treatment. I must also ask what is so special about Trooper Spears that a lieutenant would drive 80 miles round trip to serve him at 9:24 p.m. in the evening.

As Clevenger sees it, this is retaliation for Spears’ willingness to cross the blue line.

Last year, Trooper Spears filed a complaint and requested a criminal investigation of Sgt. Marcus Stokke of the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission. The complaint arose from a May 10, 2014 off-duty incident at Lake Fork wherein Sgt. Stoke detained Trooper Spears, with no apparent probable cause, because he thought Trooper Spears had been disrespectful to him at a public event.

The detention appears to have been a straightforward violation of Section 39.03 of the Texas Penal Code, but neither DPS nor TABC investigated the complaint against Sgt. Stokke. Instead, Trooper Spears’s superiors filed a disciplinary complaint against him, apparently because he “rocked the boat” by requesting an investigation of an officer from another agency.

The suspension was ultimately lifted, in large part because Sgt. Stokke was unable to keep his story straight during his testimony, which was also directly refuted by a number of eyewitnesses, including other troopers and game wardens.

What should have been nothing but a cool story is now an all-too-familiar story with bad cops as the antagonists. Someone who refuses to play within the confines of a broken system must be dealt with, and a pure BS disciplinary action predicated on policies that don’t exist illustrates perfectly why most cops just shut up and ignore the bad behavior of their colleagues.

Clevenger also notes another detail that’s a bit chilling on its own — if it’s what it appears to be.

Billy was informed by his sergeant that DPS monitors social media for photographs of DPS personnel. The photo contains no reference to Billy or DPS, and even Billy did not know that it had been posted to Instagram, so this begs the question of whether DPS is trolling social media with its facial recognition software.

This detail came directly from those involved in the disciplinary action against Trooper Spears.

According to Sgt. Sparks, the disciplinary action was initiated by Asst. Director David Baker after Trooper Spears’s photograph was detected during routine scanning of social media.

This is a legitimate concern. If the DPS is only monitoring known social media accounts of its employees for anything questionable, that would be one thing. (And still a misuse of its power.) But the only tie to this photo was Trooper Spears’ presence, something not noted anywhere in the posting, which originated from an account about as far removed from any DPS employee as possible.

Clevenger notes the DPS has already put biometric data to use in its system, comparing millions of stored drivers license photos to those stored in criminal record databases. This would be in addition to its quiet rollout of a demand for a complete set of prints in exchange for a drivers license. If it is using its database in conjunction with “social media monitoring,” it has far overstepped its bounds. It may be that certain vindictive parties performed this “scan” without authorization, which would limit the abuse to person or persons performing this search, but that still wouldn’t explain why or how the DPS is able to use biometric data to scan social media postings. Clevenger is demanding answers from the DPS, but it’s hardly likely he’ll receive them.

That’s the puzzling part. The other part — the vindictive display of power — isn’t. It’s so routine it’s almost banal.

Filed Under: austin, billy spears, snoop dogg, sxsw, texas

SXSW Considering Turning Austin Into The Olympic Village, Complete With 'Brand Equity'-Protecting 'Clean Zones'

from the the-worst-people-to-ask,-and-the-worst-answers-to-get dept

Whether you believe Austin’s SXSW to be a venerated institution or believe it’s outlived its usefulness, you probably believe the last thing it should do is morph into a many-tentacled IP monster a la the Olympics or the Super Bowl. And yet, that appears to be something those behind SXSW seem to be considering.

SXSW consulted with Populous, the design and planning committee that has worked with organizers for the Olympics, the World Cup and the Super Bowl in the past. Dan Solomon of Texas Monthly notes that most of the outrage aimed at this partnership has very little to do with impending IP ridiculousness and thuggery, but rather at the possibility that SXSW might have to relocate at some point in the future.

Immediately, local media seized on the idea that SXSW is implicitly threatening to move out of Austin if the massive changes suggested in the report regarding the way the city and the festival interact aren’t made. The Austin Business Journal ran with the headline “Festival overload could force SXSW to move away from Austin, report says,” while Culturemap Austin asked, “Bullying tactics or lack of options? SXSW says without changes it may leave Austin.”

But that’s not the biggest story here, says Solomon. He quotes SXSW co-founder Roland Swenson as saying its basically “unimaginable” that the conference would be held anywhere but Austin. It’s not the nearly-nonexistent threat of relocation. It’s the potential re-imagining of SXSW as a something more notable for its IP enforcement than for its many concerts and events.

The more disturbing recommendations are laid out in terms that wouldn’t look out of place in Philip K. Dick’s dystopias. Or Anthony Burgess’s, for that matter.

It recommends the creation of a “Legal Injunctive Zone,” or a “Clean Zone.” According to the report, the “Clean Zone” would be a perimeter around some part of the city that:

“protects the brand equity of SXSW and its sponsors but would be made to work with existing businesses and their interests so as to uphold sponsor values and private property rights—in return this may involve a financial exchange linked to the permit process that provides the City with additional funding for security and safety personnel.”

The report also recommends “soft searching” attendees for “forbidden items” — presumably anything not bearing a major sponsor’s logo — as well as busting up nearby events not officially sanctioned by the SXSW committee.

In order to ensure the profitability of SXSW, the city will have to abandon its equitable treatment of vendors and event organizers.

The current policy of the City with respect to the permitting process as ‘first come, first served’ and/or ‘must treat everyone equally’ appears to have become detrimental to event planning process and management of the key stakeholder interests. The SXSW event is one of the largest events in the world, and bespoke treatment is needed to facilitate a continuing safe event in Austin.

Note that the report conflates profitability and protection of sponsors’ interests with “safety.” It speaks highly of “brand equity” and uses these buzzwords to justify the deployment of tactics sure to land SXSW on the receiving end of First Amendment lawsuits.

“Clean Zone” ordinances tend to pop up in cities with one-time events like the Super Bowl or the All-Star Game, and their constitutionality is usually challenged quickly: The ACLU sued the city of New Orleans over theirs before the Super Bowl in 2013, resulting in a settlement that restored most of the rights that were restricted before the event. A federal lawsuit filed in Dallas was settled in 2012 after a man was cited by police for having a van with Best Buy logos on it within the Super Bowl clean zone.

The organizers may feel the current business model — one that allows non-SXSW entities to benefit from the influx of attendees without kicking back a portion of the revenue — is unsustainable in the long term. It may be, but the workarounds suggested here are much worse, especially in the long term.

“Clean zones” tend to end up in lawsuit settlements that are either late-breaking compromises, or months (or years) later cash payouts, as in Dallas. But the questions surrounding a SXSW clean zone would be harder to kick down the road, given that the event happens every year.

SXSW may be making more of an effort to protect its image and secure its legacy, but following these suggestions will only make the event more famous for the antics of its IP enforcers than for the concerts and conferences held under its name. It’s one thing when a once-in-a-decade or once-in-lifetime event puts a city under the control of “brand equity” martial law. It’s something else entirely when it’s year after year.

Filed Under: brand equity, brands, clean zones, sxsw, trademark
Companies: populous, sxsw

Google States Unequivocally It Was 'Attacked' By The Chinese… And By The United States

from the with-friends-like-these dept

Mon, Mar 10th 2014 10:15am - Karl Bode

Among the biggest revelations made by the Snowden documents so far was of course the fact that in addition to negotiating with companies like Yahoo and Google for user data via the front door (PRISM), the NSA was also busy covertly hacking into the links between company data centers for good measure (trust is the cornerstone of any good relationship, you know). The moves pretty clearly pissed off Google engineers, who swore at the agency and immediately began speeding up the already-underway process of encrypting traffic flowing between data centers.

Speaking at South By Southwest, Google’s Eric Schmidt for the first time (that I’m aware of) unequivocally stated that what the NSA did wasn’t just surveillance or your garden variety hack — it was a direct attack on one of the United States’ most successful companies:

“The solution to this is to encrypt data at multiple points of source. We had already been doing this, but we accelerated our activities,” he said. “We’re pretty sure right now that the information that’s inside of Google is safe from any government’s prying eyes, including the US government’s… We were attacked by the Chinese in 2010, we were attacked by the NSA in 2013. These are facts.”

You’re the executive chairman of one of the most powerful, wealthy companies in the world and you’re “pretty sure” Google’s internal networks are secure? Somehow I doubt that’s the case, given the fact that most of us forget we’re already working off of antiquated information provided by Snowden, and the NSA could have developed an unknown number of additional attack vectors since then. There’s only so much that the cat and mouse game of security can accomplish without the kind of meaningful intelligence oversight the United States government has made very clear they’re entirely disinterested in.

Last fall Schmidt stated that Google had briefly considered moving servers outside of the United States to avoid the NSA before the logistical nightmare (and likely futility given NSA’s reach and the even greater lack of oversight) of that concept had time to sink in. The reality is that no matter the endless analysis and constant promises of both companies and industry, we’ll probably have to wait until the next whistle blower emerges before we have any accurate, current idea of just how little privacy we currently possess.

Filed Under: china, edward snowden, eric schmidt, nsa, prism, sxsw
Companies: google

NSA Defender Rep. Mike Pompeo Attacks SXSW With Ignorant Misleading Diatribe For Having Ed Snowden Speak

from the no-free-speech dept

As you may have heard, Ed Snowden is speaking at the famed SXSW conference this morning (by videoconference, obviously). It got a fair bit of attention when it was announced, in part because, so far, Snowden has been incredibly reticent to speak out publicly over everything he’s been involved in. He has done so on a few occasions, including last week for the EU Parliament, but for the most part he has avoided all of the typical TV interviews and the like.

You may also know that there are some people who don’t like Ed Snowden very much. One of those is Rep. Mike Pompeo, one of Rep. Mike Rogers’ key attack dogs on the House Intelligence Committee. You may remember that back when Rep. Justin Amash was trying to defund the NSA’s bulk metadata program, that Pompeo was the sponsor of the “competing bill” to try to trick Reps. into supporting reform that actually further allowed the NSA to continue. Pompeo also believes that spying on all American citizens by collecting their metadata is the way “our government is supposed to operate.”

So, as you might imagine, Pompeo is not particularly happy with Ed Snowden. And he seems particularly livid at SXSW for allowing Snowden to speak there. Pompeo sent the conference organizers a letter so full of misleading statements to flat out lies, condemning their decision to invite Snowden, and asking them to cancel Snowden, that it makes you wonder just what Pompeo is so afraid of. Since when is a little free speech so scary?

Let’s dive in and look at some of the lies and misleading claims from the letter:

I share your passion for educating the American public on the intersection of civil liberties and technology, but I am deeply troubled to learn that you have invited Edward Snowden to address SXSW on privacy, surveillance, and online monitoring in the United States. Certainly an organization of your caliber can attract experts on these topics with knowledge superior to a man was hired as a systems administrator and whose only apparent qualification is his willingness to steal from his own government and then flee to that beacon of First Amendment freedoms, the Russia of Vladimir Putin.

Kicking it off on a high note. First of all, given his previous statements, I’m skeptical that Pompeo actually gives two shits about anyone’s civil liberties, but frankly, I’m much more “deeply troubled” by an elected US official sending a letter on Congressional stationery, trying to influence who can and who cannot speak at a conference. That screams of intimidation by the federal government.

Furthermore, the whole “fled to Russia” myth has been debunked so many times it just makes Pompeo look foolish to bring it up again. Snowden didn’t flee to Russia. He ended up being stuck there because the US government pulled his passport while he was enroute elsewhere, via Russia. Furthermore, the idea that Snowden is somehow unqualified to discuss US surveillance on its own people is simply crazy. It is difficult to think of anyone more qualified. Even many of his detractors begrudgingly are willing to admit that Snowden has helped kick off this big debate we’re having.

Mr. Snowden’s appearance would stamp the imprimatur of your fine organization on a man who ill deserves such accolades. Rewarding Mr. Snowden’s behavior in this way encourages the very lawlessness he exhibited. Such the ongoing intentional distortion of truth that he and his media enablers have engaged in since the release of these documents–undermines the very fairness and freedom that SXSW and the ACLU purport to foster. I strongly urge you to withdraw this invitation.

I don’t think Snowden’s appearance at SXSW makes one iota of difference in terms of encouraging or discouraging others. Nor do I think that without SXSW’s “imprimatur” anyone thinks any less of Snowden. That whole argument makes no sense. Furthermore, for Pompeo to call some of the best journalists in the world “media enablers” is just sickening. It’s taking a page from the playbook of his buddy Mike Rogers.

Furthermore, a very large percentage of the American public see Snowden as a whistleblower, which actually is the kind of activity that we should wish to encourage.

In case you did not have access to the full facts in making your initial decision to extend your invitation, I want to call a few undisputed facts about the actions taken by Mr. Snowden to your attention:

Warning: when someone like Pompeo announces he’s going to highlight “undisputed facts,” you can bet pretty strongly that what he’s about to describe are neither undisputed, nor facts.

The overwhelming majority of the materials stolen had nothing to do with the privacy of U.S. persons

Only a tiny sliver of the materials stolen by Mr. Snowden had anything to do with United States telecommunications or the privacy rights of Americans. Rather, the majority of the material taken, now in the hands of other countries, provides detailed information about America’s intelligence sources and methods. By divulging this information, Mr. Snowden has put the lives of our soldiers, sailors and airmen at risk–in addition to the lives of the people who will attend your conference.

Almost none of the above is accurate. The claim about him taking other information is based on the faulty assumption in a DOD report that every document that Snowden “touched” he took. Snowden, from the very beginning, made it clear that he carefully went through documents and removed those that he thought should remain classified. Second, government officials have repeatedly stated that there is no evidence that Snowden gave those documents to officials in other countries. For Pompeo to argue that this is an “undisputed fact” is laughable. Finally, the whole “put lives at risk” thing is again totally unsubstantiated. It’s the same argument that government officials have repeatedly made in response to leaks. They said it about Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers. They said it about Chelsea Manning and Wikileaks, and now they’re claiming it about Snowden. Every time they’ve eventually had to admit the claims were bogus.

Mr. Snowden cares more about personal fame than personal privacy

Mr. Snowden’s continued pursuit of the limelight has little to do with online privacy and everything to do with ensuring that he stays in the good graces of his new home nation. Once he stops doing interviews attacking America’s ability to collect intelligence lawfully, he stops being useful to the Kremlin. This helps to explain why, since arriving in Moscow single word about the number of political dissidents jailed in Russia or about Russia’s suspected state-sponsored cyber-attacks against other countries and private entities.

Again, this is laughable. Anyone who has followed this story has to note just how little Snowden has done “in pursuit of the limelight.” He’s turned down almost every media opportunity, only granting interviews to the key reporters he initially trusted. The claim that he’s been continually doing interviews attacking the US is a flat out lie. That he hasn’t spoken out about political dissidents in Russia is certainly a valid claim, but a meaningless one. Snowden need not fight every fight — especially one that he has little to do with. Furthermore, if you were in his shoes, with Russia currently being the only country willing to offer him some form of asylum, it seems reasonable that you’d focus on the area of your actual expertise (US surveillance) rather than attacking the host.

Mr. Snowden gives real whistleblowers a bad name

Mr. Snowden had–and was fully aware of–multiple opportunities to correct what he perceived as unlawful practices, but he chose not to go to his superior, to Congress, to the Inspector General, or to anyone save for Russia and Team Greenwald. This fact proves that his goal was not to fix what he saw as wrong, but rather to inflict harm upon the very nation that provided him with the rights he chose not to exercise. He is no more a whistleblower than were Alger Hiss, the Rosenbergs, or Benedict Arnold.

This is not true. Snowden has repeatedly talked about how he went to his superiors and colleagues and told them of his concerns. Meanwhile, just a few weeks ago, the NSA’s Inspector General made it clear that if Snowden had gone to him, he would have done nothing to fix things, but rather attacked Snowden. The idea that going to the Inspector General was a realistic option is laughable. And going to Congress? Who would he have gone to? You, Rep. Pompeo? Yeah, right.

Pompeo is simply out of step with the American public, a very large percentage of whom see Snowden as a whistleblower. The fact that two separate government review boards have each found the NSA metadata collection program problematic, to potentially illegal and unconstitutional and the President has committed to changing the program sorta confirms that he was, in fact, a whistleblower — and that his other “options” would not have worked.

Finally, the fact that Snowden went to the press rather than dead end options that would have gotten himself labeled a “troublemaker” somehow proves he wanted to harm the US? How so? That makes no sense. It’s just Pompeo spouting nonsense.

When I served in the Army along the Iron Curtain we had a word for a person who absconds with information and provides it to another nation: traitor. We also had a name for a person who chooses to reveal secrets he had personally promised to protect: common criminal. Mr. Snowden is both a traitor and a common criminal.

Again, Snowden didn’t provide information to “another nation.” He provided it to the press, so that the American public could learn about it. Pompeo might also want to familiarize himself with the official definition of treason. Also, I’m curious if this elected member of the legislative branch can possibly point to what criminal statute says that revealing information you promised not to reveal makes you a criminal?

While reasonable people can and should disagree on major policy issues in a free society, Mr. Snowden has, through his own actions, demonstrated he has no interest in contributing to a free society, choosing instead to live in Russia–a country in which political dissidents are jailed and individual rights have not been respected since at least 1917. The ACLU, which is moderating this panel, would surely concede that freedom of expression for Mr. Snowden has declined since he departed American soil.

He didn’t choose to live in Russia. Why must Pompeo lie?

As the Russians work to reestablish their empire by seizing neighboring territory and aiding the bad actors of the world such as Syria’s Bashar al-Assad and Hezbollah, they will no doubt take comfort in the ample information Mr. Snowden can provide them–information Mr. Snowden swore an oath to protect. Because of Mr. Snowden, our adversaries–terrorists and state actors alike–have access to our intelligence sources and methods. This security breach has degraded and will continue to hamper America’s and our allies’ efforts to fight terrorism, cybercrime, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

As has been pointed out by former CIA guy Barry Eisler, Snowden did not break his “oath.” The “oath” you sign is to protect the Constitution, not to protect secrecy. And, as has been pointed out plenty of times, the fear mongering about adversaries having access to “sources and methods” is quite overblown. Of the things revealed to date, while many are shocking for how far the NSA goes to get access to information, none of them are likely to surprise or concern actual adversaries, who were taking precautions a decade ago against the possibility of all of these things.

In fact, almost nothing revealed to date is likely to have changed terrorists’ communications. Instead, it’s created fear and uncertainty among innocent people around the globe, including American citizens — the ones who Pompeo is supposed to be defending, but Pompeo is defending the surveillance state.

Mr. Snowden has absconded with sensitive national security information that goes well beyond programs potentially related to privacy, yet the American press makes it sound as though he only sought to reveal a few NSA programs. Even more damning is his willingness to put American soldiers’ lives at risk, as he may have revealed where our troops are stationed. Surely that privacy interest deserved respect too.

Again, as noted earlier, this is no indication to date that Snowden revealed any such information. That’s all conjecture on Pompeo’s part. Yet he claims this is an “undisputed fact”? He’s lying.

We must protect the very things that make America so special–most certainly including our civil liberties. But we cannot do so without strong national security and a thoughtful and informed discourse.

Until Snowden blew the whistle there was no discourse on this issue. Now there’s a wide-ranging one.

This discourse is undermined when a music, film, and interactive conference and festival provides a venue to an at-large criminal who has refused extradition to answer for his crimes in court. His presence will not advance the debate; it will merely create a circus. Mr. Snowden doesn’t need a softball interview. What Mr. Snowden needs is to present himself, in the finest tradition of American protest and courage, to a court of law that will adjudge his actions.

The idea that Snowden has no part in the discussion that he kicked off is so ridiculous as it boggles the mind that Pompeo thinks anyone will take this letter seriously. As for his ability to “present himself” to a court of law, well, under the law the DOJ has charged him under, he is barred from presenting evidence that he is a whistleblower. That’s hardly a fair trial. Having seen how Chelsea Manning was railroaded in her trial, Snowden made the only reasonable decision, which was to make sure he was out of the country when this story broke, and not subject to being tortured by the US government, as Manning was.

As your organization makes its decision about how best to exercise its cherished First Amendment freedoms, it may choose to proceed with granting Mr. Snowden this undeserved opportunity to pretend to speak for “the protection of American privacy.” If so, I hope you will at least do what no journalist has yet had the courage or competence to do and ask Mr. Snowden a few pertinent questions:

Oh boy. Here they come. Let’s be helpful and answer them for Pompeo, who appears to have ignored the fact that nearly all these questions have been answered already:

What is Mr. Snowden’s relationship with Russia, financial or otherwise? Has he ever received money or other compensation from Russia, in cash or in-kind, and will he provide bank statements to support his answer to this question?

To date, Snowden has denied any relationship with Russia, as have the Russians. More importantly, so have US intelligence officials. Multiple times.

Why, instead of going to the Inspector General at his agency or a Member of Congress, did Mr. Snowden go to Russia with several stolen laptops full of Americans’ data?

Already discussed above. Given how Pompeo himself is bloviating in this letter, it seems rather obvious why he didn’t go to Congress. How would that have done any good? And we already described how the NSA’s Inspector General has made it clear that he wouldn’t have helped Snowden at all. Furthermore, as was revealed ages ago, the laptops never had any information on them. They were empty laptops. Finally, as stated above repeatedly, Snowden did not choose Russia. The US did — by pulling his passport while he was traveling via Russia.

If he believes he did the right thing, why is he not willing to come back to the U.S. to face the consequences for his actions?

Because the law he is charged under prevents him from making the case that he did the right thing.

Why should the audience at SXSW find credible a man who broke his oaths and deliberately deceived not only his employer, but his country, in order to commit a theft?

Again, he didn’t break his oath, which was to the Constitution, not to secrecy.

Thank you for considering this request to withdraw your invitation to Edward Snowden. I would be happy to speak with you further about why I have made it, at your convenience.

We know why you made it. What would be better, however, is if Rep. Pompeo could explain why almost every one of his “undisputed facts” are either lies or very much disputed? Furthermore, if he could explain why a government official is browbeating a conference in an attempt to silence an important discussion by a person perhaps most qualified to lead that discussion?

Somehow, I doubt we’ll hear any answers from Rep. Pompeo. However, I expect Snowden’s discussion later today will be quite interesting.

Filed Under: edward snowden, free speech, mike pompeo, nsa, sxsw

SXSW Threatens YXYY With Trademark Infringement

from the can't-we-all-get-along? dept

I know that in certain circles it’s become fashionable to bash SXSW as the conference has gotten bigger and bigger, and in typical “hipster” fashion, people will complain how it was “better back before everyone knew about it.” Personally, my experience with the event has been quite positive. Other commitments have kept me from going the past few years, but when I’ve gone, I’ve always been impressed by how many interesting people were there, and how many valuable and useful connections I was able to make. Still, I understand the desire of some folks to try to come up with alternatives that have more a feel of “the early years” of SXSW, which is great, because competition is a good thing and gives people more opportunities and choices. I’ve heard people compare newer events like XOXO to SXSW, and last year another new event popped up, called YxYY, which explicitly noted that it was trying to recreate the feel of “early” SXSW. The YxYY stood for “Yes By Yes Yes.” I had a few friends who attended YxYY and seemed to enjoy it.

So, it’s a bit distressing to find out that SXSW decided to get trademark bullyish and send YXYY a cease and desist. While it was a somewhat more friendly cease and desist (not sent by a lawyer, but still implying legal action) claiming that the name violates SXSW’s trademarks and could “cause confusion or dilution of the SXSW marks.” I don’t see how it would cause confusion, given that YXYY was always pretty clear that it was not associated with SXSW directly. And the “dilution” claim seems pretty weak as well (admittedly: I’ve long argued that dilution claims shouldn’t be included in trademark law, but they do exist).

Either way, the YxYY have agreed to modify their name slightly, keeping the YxYY, but now claiming that the “x” refers to “and” rather than “by.” So it’s now “Yes And Yes Yes.” As they point out, this is also a bit of a play on the standard improv rule of “yes and…” which fits with the more improvisational nature of the event. It’s unclear from the announcement if the SXSW folks find this an acceptable change, but I certainly hope they do. SXSW is a mammoth event and it’s kind of silly to think that its brand would be in any way harmed by another event — clearly inspired by SXSW — that happened to use YxYY to mark its own event.

Filed Under: consumer confusion, sxsw, trademark, yxyy

SXSW Panel On The New Era Of Tech & Innovation Advocacy

from the vote dept

It’s that time of the year again when SXSW does its annual “panelpicker” effort. I’m on one of the proposed panels, put together by Engine Advocacy, discussing the new era of tech advocacy by looking at the political landscape after the 2012 elections and how startups, entrepreneurs, open innovation advocates and the tech community can better engage in the political process to avoid disasters being pushed by legacy incumbents. The panel will include myself, Mike McGeary from Engine, Elizabeth Stark from both Stanford and StartX and Mark Colwell from Senator Jerry Moran’s office. If you’re reading this, you know who I am, and those other three were all important players in helping to stop SOPA earlier this year. Feel free to vote and hopefully our panel will get picked.

There are, as always, plenty of other great panels to check out as well. I haven’t had a chance to go through them all, but here are a few others that would be great, if you’re looking for ones to vote for:

There are lots, lots more, but these were a few that caught my eye.

Filed Under: innovation, panels, sxsw, tech policy, voting

The Internet Puts Up A Billboard In Front Of Lamar Smith's Office: Don't Mess With The Internet

from the will-he-notice? dept

You may recall that, back in March, on a whim based on a discussion at SXSW, Alexis Ohanian and Erik Martin (from Reddit) teamed up with Holmes Wilson (from Fight for the Future) to crowdfund a billboard to go up in Lamar Smith’s district in Austin. It turns out that you internet people don’t mind paying after all, and helped fund two billboards which have now gone up in Smith’s district, including one across the street from his office in San Antonio, and a second one on “Lamar Blvd” in Austin

Oh, and Ohanian’s BreadPig is selling a “Don’t Mess with the Internet” t-shirt, where each sale will help fund Fight for the Future and its new Internet Defense League — which you should join, in part because if you do cool things to help defend the internet, they hand out totally awesome medals.

Filed Under: alexis ohanian, austin, erik martin, fight for the future, holmes wilson, lamar smith, reddit, san antonio, sxsw

Help Fund A 'Don't Mess With The Internet' Billboard In Lamar Smith's District

from the don't-mess-with-reddit dept

Lamar Smith has really become the enemy of the internet. He’s the main sponsor behind both SOPA and the very dangerous data retention bill that he disguised as an anti-child porn bill, even though it does nothing to stop child porn. Don’t think the internet hasn’t noticed. With lots of internet folks in Austin (part of which is covered by Lamar Smith’s district), Erik Marin (GM of Reddit) and Holmes Wilson (co-founder of Fight for the Future) had the bright idea to buy a billboard in Smith’s district with the slogan: Don’t Mess with the Internet. The final design of the billboard is still being worked on, but Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian jumped right in and set up a crowdfunding campaign to try to raise the necessary $15,000. Feel free to join in and help send Lamar Smith a message…

Filed Under: data retention, don't mess with the internet, lamar smith, sopa, sxsw