Steve Wozniak: Edward Snowden is 'a hero to me'

[ObscureMammal]

Source: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/steve-wozniak-us-would-look-like-dubai-if-it-didn-t-spend-all-its-money-on-military--593703.html#.VWRwlFPF_Yn

              http://www.itp.net/603307-if-ever-a-wiz-there-woz-itpnet-talks-to-steve-wozniak?tab=article&page=1

 

Apple co-founder says the NSA whistleblower “gave up his own life . . . to help the rest of us”

 

Steve Wozniak reaffirmed his staunch support for digital privacy in an interview over the weekend in which the Apple co-founder called NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden “a hero.”  Wozniak has expressed an affinity for Snowden in the past and reiterated his admiration for Snowden in an interview with ITP.net & ArabianBusiness.com

 

 

And "Woz" is equally approachable for normal people. He speaks passionately about everything and does not appear to edit himself. When we start to talk about privacy and I ask him whether he thinks NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is a hero or a villain his answer is prompt and unabashed.  

 

"Total hero to me; total hero," he gushes. "Not necessarily [for] what he exposed, but the fact that he internally came from his own heart, his own belief in the United States Constitution, what democracy and freedom was about. And now a federal judge has said that NSA data collection was unconstitutional."

 

Snowden, who revealed classified NSA documents to reporters in 2013, is a fugitive from US prosecutors, living on a temporary visa in Russia, another nation he has criticised for its approach to privacy. The judgement Wozniak refers to is that of a federal court in New York, which earlier this month found Section 215 of the US Patriot Act, which authorised the mass surveillance programmes exposed by Snowden, to be insufficient grounds for justifying the NSA's collection of domestic communications data.

 

"So he's a hero to me, because he gave up his own life to do it," says Wozniak. "And he was a young person, to give up his life. But he did it for reasons of trying to help the rest of us and not just mess up a company he didn't like."

 

As stories emerge worldwide of implanted spyware in commercially available hard disks and in SIM cards sold to international telecoms companies, security specialists have incessantly offered solutions to the general public, as to how to shield private activities and data from prying eyes. Wozniak, however, is pessimistic about the prospects of protection, and believes the root cause of the problem extends back to the early years of OS development.

 

"It's almost impossible [to protect yourself] because today's operating systems generally get so huge that they can only come from a few sources, like Microsoft, Google and Apple," he says. "And those operating systems have so many millions of lines of code in them, built by tens of thousands of engineers over time, that it's so difficult to go back and detect anything in it that's spying on you. It's like having a house with 50,000 doors and windows and you have no idea where there might be a tiny little camera."

 

Woz is an ardent privacy advocate and bemoans the lost chances of computing's fledgling years, where he feels it may have been possible to block future attempts at monitoring.

 

[AnnoyedShelf]

Wozniak has always been a really nice guy.  I've also heard that he's really laid back.

[Imabigmac]

I personally can't go as far as to say he is a hero, but what he did was important and I think we should thank him. 

[Lethal Seraph]

Ought to watch John Olivers video with Snowden to get a rundown with what's NSA up to. I liked it how he dumbed it down to anybody who had trouble with tech.

[Aniallation]

Wozniak has always been a really nice guy.  I've also heard that he's really laid back.

Agreed, both Wozniak and Snowden have been great people that many people have underrated 

[slay english]

I personally can't go as far as to say he is a hero, but what he did was important and I think we should thank him. 

^This,but he deserves a pardon in my opinion.

[Norman_the_Owl]

I'm convinced anyone who's anti snowden is either ignorant of what really happened or a terrible person

[Trik'Stari]

He exposed the truth, that our government sees anyone who isn't them, as the enemy. Be they allies, actual enemies, or the american people.

[Aniallation]

I'm convinced anyone who's anti snowden is either ignorant of what really happened or a terrible person

Or in denial of the truth

[Prophet of Entropy]

snowden  may not be a "hero" but I think "heroes" as a concept are ridiculous.  but I think what he did was very admirable, considering he knew it would make him incredibly powerful enemies.

 

as other people in this thread have said anyone who thinks he's a traitor is either delusional, ignorant or so authoritarian in their world view as to be un-American themselves.

[Embattled]

^{*hides cuz he's the only guy on the forum that's not a Snowden fan*}

[Trik'Stari]

^{*hides cuz he's the only guy on the forum that's not a Snowden fan*}

By that I assume you're okay with our government slowly becoming a totalitarian entity?

[Embattled]

By that I assume you're okay with our government slowly becoming a totalitarian entity?

^{No I respect Chelsea Manning but not Snowden cuz one actually faced the courts and didn't run the fuck to Russia like it was some spy free uptopia...}

[AlwaysFSX]

By that I assume you're okay with our government slowly becoming a totalitarian entity?

And the double standard the uphold regarding everyone else?

 

^{No I respect Chelsea Manning but not Snowden cuz one actually faced the courts and didn't run the fuck to Russia like it was some spy free uptopia...}

^ Does not know what actually happened, and how quickly Snowden would have been executed.

[the_void]

^{No I respect Chelsea Manning but not Snowden cuz one actually faced the courts and didn't run the fuck to Russia like it was some spy free uptopia...}

You should read about all the horrible stuff your government put Chelsea through before saying something like that.

[Embattled]

You should read about all the horrible stuff your government put Chelsea through before saying something like that.

Wtf did u even read my post? I said I believed Chelsea was a hero!^{Looks at post count, understands...}

[Embattled]

And the double standard the uphold regarding everyone else?

 

^ Does not know what actually happened, and how quickly Snowden would have been executed.

They wouldn't have executed Snowden.

[AlwaysFSX]

They wouldn't have executed Snowden.

HAH. Right. You don't know our government very well.

[Embattled]

HAH. Right. You don't know our government very well.

Apparently I know it better than you.

[AlwaysFSX]

Apparently I know it better than you.

Don't give me the giggles.

[Embattled]

Don't give me the giggles.

It's fine, it's not I would even know if you live in the States anyways.

[the_void]

Wtf did u even read my post? I said I believed Chelsea was a hero!^{Looks at post count, understands...}

They would have done the same things to Snowden as they did to Manning. Snowden would have been an idiot to stick around to get an unjustified life in prison.

 

Also don't think you are somehow more intelligent because you post more on this forum.

[Embattled]

They would have done the same things to Snowden as they did to Manning. Snowden would have been an idiot to stick around to get an unjustified life in prison.

 

Also don't think you are somehow more intelligent because you post more on this forum.

From wikipedia 

 

 

On August 14, Manning apologized to the court: "I am sorry that my actions hurt people. I'm sorry that they hurt the United States. I am sorry for the unintended consequences of my actions. When I made these decisions I believed I was going to help people, not hurt people. ... At the time of my decisions I was dealing with a lot of issues."^[115]

Manning's offenses carried a maximum sentence of 90 years.^[118] The government asked for 60 years as a deterrent to others, while Manning's lawyer asked for no more than 25 years. She was sentenced on August 21 to 35 years in prison, reduction in rank to private (private E-1 or PVT), forfeiture of all pay and allowances, and a dishonorable discharge.^[2] She was given credit for 1,293 days of pretrial confinement, including 112 days for her treatment at Quantico, and will be eligible for parole after serving one-third of the sentence.^[2] There may also be additional credit for good behavior, which means she could be released after eight years.^[118] She is confined at the United States Disciplinary Barracks (USDB) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.^[12]

On April 14, 2014, Manning's request for clemency was denied, as a result of which the case will go to the United States Army Court of Criminal Appeals for further review

BTW the post count thing was a joke, there are high post counts who are idiots and low post ones who are very intelligent. 

[AlwaysFSX]

BTW the post count thing was a joke, there are high post counts who are idiots and low post ones who are very intelligent. 

No need to resort to sad attacks like that. :'D

It's fine, it's not I would even know if you live in the States anyways.

Been here all my life.

[Embattled]

Been here all my life.

Then would you think the US in this day and age would execute someone for espionage charges that low level?

 

In fact with ~a minute of research I found out the charges he faced didn't even carry the possibility of capital punishment.