BitCoins for Edward Snowden.

[marcus_of_augustus]

Edward Snowden is a modern day hero and deserves support for everyone who wants to preserve basic liberties, democracy and privacy. Do not let them demonise this guy.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance

In footage shot by The Guardian newspaper, Edward Snowden said he packed his bags for Hong Kong three weeks ago, leaving behind a "very comfortable life'' in Hawaii, a salary of $200,000, a girlfriend, a stable career and a loving family.

"I'm willing to sacrifice all of that because I can't in good conscience allow the US government to destroy privacy, internet freedom and basic liberties for people around the world with this massive surveillance machine they're secretly building." Snowden said.

But he believed that the value of the internet, along with basic privacy, is being rapidly destroyed by ubiquitous surveillance. "I don't see myself as a hero," he said, "because what I'm doing is self-interested: I don't want to live in a world where there's no privacy and therefore no room for intellectual exploration and creativity."

Once he reached the conclusion that the NSA's surveillance net would soon be irrevocable, he said it was just a matter of time before he chose to act. "What they're doing" poses "an existential threat to democracy", he said.

We just need to snag a BTC address for him .

[worldinacoin]

Hong Kong?  In the next few decades will be directly under the Chinese rule.   It is also obvious that the Chinese is meddling with Hong Kong political affairs.  I guess there are better destinations.

[TheFootMan]

Respect. Giving up all that to do the right thing. He's a hero.

He seems smart. He has probably already stashed away enough money to live well for many years...

He works for the friggin' CIA. He's probably move to some remote place in Asia, find a nice asian woman to be with, and he probably has changed identity too.

[Elwar]

At first I was outraged...$200k working for Booz Allen in Hawaii!!! 

Then I saw the end:

Snowden left the CIA in 2009 to work for a private contractor that gave him an assignment at an NSA facility on a military base in Japan.

$200k makes sense. So does that mean his position is open?

[Rygon]

Respect. Giving up all that to do the right thing. He's a hero.

He seems smart. He has probably already stashed away enough money to live well for many years...

He works for the friggin' CIA. He's probably move to some remote place in Asia, find a nice asian woman to be with, and he probably has changed identity too.

Hopefully he didn't stash it away in any fiat bank accounts.

I wonder if he's on this board? Seems likely based on his age, profession, and beliefs and right to privacy.

[TippingPoint]

He described as formative an incident in which he claimed CIA operatives were attempting to recruit a Swiss banker to obtain secret banking information. Snowden said they achieved this by purposely getting the banker drunk and encouraging him to drive home in his car. When the banker was arrested for drunk driving, the undercover agent seeking to befriend him offered to help, and a bond was formed that led to successful recruitment.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jun/09/edward-snowden-nsa-whistleblower-surveillance

Social Engineering is one way to defeat strong encryption.

[marcus_of_augustus]

The Guardian said Snowden had mostly remained ensconced in his Hong Kong hotel room since boarding a flight on May 20, stepping outside for only about three times during his entire stay.

Worried about being spied on, he has lined the door of his hotel room with pillows and places a large red hood over his head and laptop when typing passwords so that any hidden cameras can't record them, the newspaper added.

Sounds like a bitcoiner ....

Edit: Electronic Frontier Foundation is in another stoush shows why what this guy has done is so important. Basically, they have set-up a legal labyrinth that allows for operation without oversight and widespread Fourth Amendment violations. Without whistleblowers there is no way to break the legal blockade that is allowing for a full totalitarian State to develop in secrecy.

http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/06/justice-department-electronic-frontier-foundation-fisa-court-opinion

[TippingPoint]

His allegiance to internet freedom is reflected in the stickers on his laptop: "I support Online Rights: Electronic Frontier Foundation," reads one. Another hails the online organisation offering anonymity, the Tor Project.

[marcus_of_augustus]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2013/jun/09/nsa-whistleblower-edward-snowden-interview-video

Here's the video interview. He says he is a systems guy, engineer, admin type... I tend to believe him. It is is time for the sys admins to stand up for what they believe in and stop taking this shit that the technophobes keep dishing out to use technology to abuse other people's right. Go the good guys! Sys admins, you have the bridge, out.

[benjamindees]

It's entirely possible that the existence of Bitcoin is what enabled this whistleblower to stand up and do the right thing.

He was basically working for the Federal Reserve, helping the CIA/NSA to obtain trade secrets, etc.  Without an alternative, anonymous currency, the options for someone in his position, after leaking, would have been limited to moving into a self-sufficient shack a la Ted Kaczinski, an embassy a la Julian Assange, or a brig a la Bradley Manning.

[TomUnderSea]

If he is in hiding (not stashed in some hotel in Hong Kong), sending him bitcoin will potentially out him.

As much as we like to pretend bitcoin is untraceable, the fact is the block chain holds all the records.  If I give 1btc to an account set up for him, following that btc to it's destination will tell folks where he is.

He truly needs to go primitive.  Hard currency.   No formal employment.  No residence.

Personally, I think he is screwed unless he is willing to live entirely off the grid in the fashion of Ted Kaczynski.  I can't see a sys admin doing that for the rest of his life.

The next question is what government is willing to protect him (deny extradition) and does said government have living conditions he is willing to submit to?

IF the seastead folks had a working platform, he would be a first citizen.

[cypherdoc]

If he is in hiding (not stashed in some hotel in Hong Kong), sending him bitcoin will potentially out him.

what are you talking about? 

if he posts an address and ppl send him coins, so what?  since when is that illegal?  and since when would that reveal an ip address?

any spending out of his address would be unknown as to its purposes or usage since you wouldn't know the identity of anyone associated with those receiving addresses.  he could buy alpaca socks for all you know.

[TomUnderSea]

If he is in hiding (not stashed in some hotel in Hong Kong), sending him bitcoin will potentially out him.

what are you talking about? 

if he posts an address and ppl send him coins, so what?  since when is that illegal?  and since when would that reveal an ip address?

any spending out of his address would be unknown as to its purposes or usage since you wouldn't know the identity of anyone associated with those receiving addresses.  he could buy alpaca socks for all you know.

The spend will have an IP address associated with it.  The alpaca sock vendor will be located somewhere and have shipping records of who bought what and how the goods were delivered.

You want to send him money, it is less trackable to mail him fiat.

[cypherdoc]

If he is in hiding (not stashed in some hotel in Hong Kong), sending him bitcoin will potentially out him.

what are you talking about? 

if he posts an address and ppl send him coins, so what?  since when is that illegal?  and since when would that reveal an ip address?

any spending out of his address would be unknown as to its purposes or usage since you wouldn't know the identity of anyone associated with those receiving addresses.  he could buy alpaca socks for all you know.

The spend will have an IP address associated with it.  The alpaca sock vendor will be located somewhere and have shipping records of who bought what and how the goods were delivered.

You want to send him money, it is less trackable to mail him fiat.

have you ever heard of Tor?  no ip address there.  or he could just use a Starbucks cafe.

the alpaca socks example was more an example that Snowden won't be necessarily using BTC for "money laundering" or illegal activities.  he'll be using them for normal everyday living activities.

if he stays in HK, there are probably many local vendors who will accept BTC for food and living expenses.  or just plain localbitcoin exchange to fiat.  that will probably apply to any place he might go into hiding as well.

[marcus_of_augustus]

If he is in hiding (not stashed in some hotel in Hong Kong), sending him bitcoin will potentially out him.

what are you talking about? 

if he posts an address and ppl send him coins, so what?  since when is that illegal?  and since when would that reveal an ip address?

any spending out of his address would be unknown as to its purposes or usage since you wouldn't know the identity of anyone associated with those receiving addresses.  he could buy alpaca socks for all you know.

The spend will have an IP address associated with it.  The alpaca sock vendor will be located somewhere and have shipping records of who bought what and how the goods were delivered.

You want to send him money, it is less trackable to mail him fiat.

He can be anonymous as he likes using bitcoins, if he knows what he is doing. Something tells me this guy could keep his bitcoin activity entirely anonymous if he chooses. TOR sticker on his laptop is a good clue.

[TomUnderSea]

If he is in hiding (not stashed in some hotel in Hong Kong), sending him bitcoin will potentially out him.

what are you talking about? 

if he posts an address and ppl send him coins, so what?  since when is that illegal?  and since when would that reveal an ip address?

any spending out of his address would be unknown as to its purposes or usage since you wouldn't know the identity of anyone associated with those receiving addresses.  he could buy alpaca socks for all you know.

The spend will have an IP address associated with it.  The alpaca sock vendor will be located somewhere and have shipping records of who bought what and how the goods were delivered.

You want to send him money, it is less trackable to mail him fiat.

He can be anonymous as he likes using bitcoins, if he knows what he is doing. Something tells me this guy could keep his bitcoin activity entirely anonymous if he chooses. TOR sticker on his laptop is a good clue.

Guy is running from NSA.  He would be better served to go totally off grid.

[hozer]

The reason Snowden is a hero, and not some anonymous dead guy in a chinese river is that HE WENT PUBLIC.

Privacy is a nice thing to have, but the real changes and protections of individuals from government power are the individuals willing to go public, at personal risk, with information that their conscience tells them they are wrong to hide. (Now that being said, it's probably MUCH safer to go public than to try to be anonymous, and if you've worked at one of these places, you'd probably know that)

In the meantime, I think the best course of action would be go to https://supporters.eff.org/donate and hit the 'pay with bitcoin' button, and then tell all your friends.

(And then add this copyright message, with your name, to any messages you send)

This message copyright 2013 Troy Benjegerdes. Any duplication, by any means, including in-memory temporary copies made by monitoring hardware, by contractors of any state surveillance agency is a violation of the US federal and international Copyright law, and subject to a $2,000,000 per incident fee. Whistleblowers reporting violations will be entitled to 75% of damages recovered from said violations.

[marcus_of_augustus]

If he is in hiding (not stashed in some hotel in Hong Kong), sending him bitcoin will potentially out him.

what are you talking about? 

if he posts an address and ppl send him coins, so what?  since when is that illegal?  and since when would that reveal an ip address?

any spending out of his address would be unknown as to its purposes or usage since you wouldn't know the identity of anyone associated with those receiving addresses.  he could buy alpaca socks for all you know.

The spend will have an IP address associated with it.  The alpaca sock vendor will be located somewhere and have shipping records of who bought what and how the goods were delivered.

You want to send him money, it is less trackable to mail him fiat.

He can be anonymous as he likes using bitcoins, if he knows what he is doing. Something tells me this guy could keep his bitcoin activity entirely anonymous if he chooses. TOR sticker on his laptop is a good clue.

Guy is running from NSA.  He would be better served to go totally off grid.

If he was coward maybe.... seems like USA has too many of them and needs brave guys like this to stand up for what they believe in.

"For evil to flourish requires simply that good men do nothing." - Edward Burke

"The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of great moral crises maintain their neutrality." --Aleghieri Dante (1265 - 1321)

"In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up." --Martin Niemoeller, German Lutheran Pastor

“One man scorned and covered with scars still strove with his last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable stars; and the world was better for this.”

I think that maybe it is better to fight the windmills rather than submit to the darkness.

"Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught." -- J.C. Watts, Oklahoma Congressman

[TomUnderSea]

If he is in hiding (not stashed in some hotel in Hong Kong), sending him bitcoin will potentially out him.

what are you talking about? 

if he posts an address and ppl send him coins, so what?  since when is that illegal?  and since when would that reveal an ip address?

any spending out of his address would be unknown as to its purposes or usage since you wouldn't know the identity of anyone associated with those receiving addresses.  he could buy alpaca socks for all you know.

The spend will have an IP address associated with it.  The alpaca sock vendor will be located somewhere and have shipping records of who bought what and how the goods were delivered.

You want to send him money, it is less trackable to mail him fiat.

He can be anonymous as he likes using bitcoins, if he knows what he is doing. Something tells me this guy could keep his bitcoin activity entirely anonymous if he chooses. TOR sticker on his laptop is a good clue.

Guy is running from NSA.  He would be better served to go totally off grid.

If he was coward maybe.... seems like USA has too many of them and needs brave guys like this to stand up for what they believe in.

"For evil to flourish requires simply that good men do nothing." - Edward Burke

"The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of great moral crises maintain their neutrality." --Aleghieri Dante (1265 - 1321)

"In Germany they came first for the Communists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist. Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew. Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist. Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak up because I was a Protestant. Then they came for me, and by that time no one was left to speak up." --Martin Niemoeller, German Lutheran Pastor

“One man scorned and covered with scars still strove with his last ounce of courage to reach the unreachable stars; and the world was better for this.”

I think that maybe it is better to fight the windmills rather than submit to the darkness.

"Character is doing the right thing when nobody's looking. There are too many people who think that the only thing that's right is to get by, and the only thing that's wrong is to get caught." -- J.C. Watts, Oklahoma Congressman

He has stood and faced down the dragon.  We should ask no more of him.  It is on us to hold the dragon down and kill it.  He deserves to ride off into the sunset.

[cypherdoc]

i think the fact that he went PUBLIC and only revealed info that is damning to the NSA concerning blanket invasion of personal privacy laws in this country will save him in the end.

if they prosecute or assassinate someone for something that has clearly outraged the public sphere, and rightfully so, will be asking for trouble by the NSA.