Snowden's Email Provider Shut Down

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WhiteLight

Senior Member
As you may or maynot know, Edward Snowden had used Lavabit, a new secure & encrypted email service with lots more security to the user than any of the other providers.
This was a dream of a man who worked for 10 years to bring his ideas to life and to the level it reached..

Lavabit has now been shut down

This is what he has to say about this-
My Fellow Users
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I have been forced to make a difficult decision: to become complicit in crimes against the American people or walk away from nearly ten years of hard work by shutting down Lavabit.
After significant soul searching, I have decided to suspend operations. I wish that I could legally share with you the events that led to my decision. I cannot. I feel you deserve to know what’s going on--the first amendment is supposed to guarantee me the freedom to speak out in situations like this. Unfortunately, Congress has passed laws that say otherwise. As things currently stand, I cannot share my experiences over the last six weeks, even though I have twice made the appropriate requests.
What’s going to happen now? We’ve already started preparing the paperwork needed to continue to fight for the Constitution in the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. A favorable decision would allow me resurrect Lavabit as an American company.
This experience has taught me one very important lesson: without congressional action or a strong judicial precedent, I would _strongly_ recommend against anyone trusting their private data to a company with physical ties to the United States.
Sincerely,
Ladar Levison
Owner and Operator, Lavabit LLC
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SOURCE (Homepage)
 
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Dave_W

The Dude
The funny thing about this entire Snowden episode is how surprised people seemed to be about these so-called "revelations". Corporations have been collecting and selling our data back and forth for years. This is nothing even remotely new. Moreover, the internet is NOT a place anyone should go if they're looking for privacy. Everybody and their brother can see where you've been, what you've been looking at and what kind terms you search for. Other than the revelation that people still don't grasp the transparency of the internet, it's just a "more of the same" kind of news story.
 
Horoscope Fish

Horoscope Fish

Senior Member
Dave_W said:
... Moreover, the internet is NOT a place anyone should go if they're looking for privacy. Everybody and their brother can see where you've been, what you've been looking at and what kind terms you search for.
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While the Internet appears to be a service what it has actually done, in my mind anyway, is turn us all into product. Someone once said (in reference to "free stuff" on the Internet), "If you're not paying ... you're not the customer; you're the product being sold."

As for the government... The Internet is simply way, WAY too much good stuff. There's zero probability, to my way of thinking, "Big Brudder" is going to let that near infinite and ceaseless flow of information go untapped. Not for one second.
 
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carguy

Senior Member
Agreed about the internet, but this was about telephone based transactions. While I'm not on the Snowden bandwagon, the government's ability to strong arm a private company to cease services appears to be disturbing. While I don't have all the facts (of course), based on what we've been allowed to hear, it appears to be just more government intervention in the private sector.
 
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WhiteLight

Senior Member
As a civilization which has struggled for freedoms of all sorts from time immemorial, we are now facing a new era...
one where the concept of 'free' is now encompassed within a boundary..which by itself is self defeating.
strangely we seem to be accepting the new 'norms' and making do with what is thrown at us
 
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Carolina Photo Guy

Senior Member
Here in the US, we have always believed ourselves to be a nation of laws and as such we tend to respect the law because the law is the great equalizer. The law says that, no matter your social or economic standing rules have to be followed equally.
Reality says that we are a nation of LAWYERS and if you can't afford the best, you're screwed. If you want to destroy a nation from with-in, just pass laws that completely destroy the equality of the populace.
I just wonder when the elected public servants became the rulers?
JMTCW
​Pete
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
About us being a product for the internet. I was in Television for years and people would always complain about commercials. Commercials are what paid for you being able to watch TV for free. Yes I know you pay for cable but you can get it free via antenna if you want. The internet for the most part is set up the same way. This site does not charge you for being a member so they have to rely on the advertising on the site to pay the bills. I don't really like the fact that many sites carry it to far with tracking cookies that see where else you go but for the people who understand computers you can limit the amount of information that they can track. Now the government sticking their noses in our business is a totally different story.

One of my favorite quotes by Benjamin Franklin:

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
 
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WhiteLight

Senior Member
Tracsoft - Don Kuykendall said:
One of my favorite quotes by Benjamin Franklin:

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.
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But have they been given a choice in Black & White or is it being sugar coated to look like somethey they would wanto choose or is it being shoved down? :)
I think the days of Quid Pro Quo are over...
​It's the time of the wolves in sheep skins
 
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Don Kuykendall_RIP

RIP :(
WhiteLight said:
But have they been given a choice in Black & White or is it being sugar coated to look like somethey they would wanto choose or is it being shoved down? :)
I think the days of Quid Pro Quo are over...
​It's the time of the wolves in sheep skins
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So many times we are being force fed these "Choices" Certain groups think they know what is Best for us even though we do not want it. If you have not noticed yet I am very pro gun. that is not just because I like guns but it is just one of the things that people are trying to take away. First they take away our 2nd Amendment rights then what is next? Our 1st Amendment right of Free Speech? There is a large group of people here in the US that are not willing to give up any of our rights to the government no matter what the cost.

I am from Alabama and we really have a bad history of Civil Rights. I will be the first to admit that. George Wallace was our governor for many years and if you know anything about our State history you will see him as a racist.

GEORGE WALLACE: In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth, I draw the line in the dust and toss the gauntlet before the feet of tyranny and I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow and segregation forever.

Many, Many years later in a interview he explained his views. He said that when all this was going on that the majority of the people in the state wanted segregation and his job was to do what the voters wanted no matter what his views were. In his later years he became a champion of the blacks in our state. That did not receive the press as much as his earlier years did. I never agreed with his racist views but in my later years I understood why he did what he did. We elect our leaders and they should do the will of the people and not try to use their office to further their agenda.

(Stepping down off my soapbox now)
 
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