Putin thanks Snowden for inspiring law cracking down on bloggers

[uhnope]

You couldn't make this stuff up
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/07/world/europe/russia-quietly-tightens-reins-on-web-with-bloggers-law.html

MOSCOW — Russia has taken another major step toward restricting its once freewheeling Internet, as President Vladimir V. Putin quietly signed a new law requiring popular online voices to register with the government, a measure that lawyers, Internet pioneers and political activists said Tuesday would give the government a much wider ability to track who said what online.
...
Speaking in St. Petersburg in late April, Mr. Putin voiced his suspicions about the Internet, even while noting that it had become a public market of huge proportions.

“You know that it all began initially, when the Internet first appeared, as a special C.I.A. project,” he said in remarks broadcast live nationally, before adding that “special services are still at the center of things.” He specifically thanked Edward J. Snowden, the former National Security Agency contractor granted asylum in Russia, for revealing to the world how efficient the N.S.A. was at collecting information.

Mr. Putin went on to say that someone writing online whose opinion affects thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people should be considered a media outlet. He said he was not talking about a ban, only acting “the way it is done all over the world.”

[Blue_Tires]

1. Snowden and Greenwald were unavailable for comment, as usual

[geek tragedy]

2. Greenwald doesn't give a shit about human rights in Russia, never has, never will

Russians don't count in his book.

[Jemon]

17. delete your post. The article does not claim to have asked Snowden or Greenwald for comment

Unless you wish people to ask you why you made that up.

I invite readers of this thread to see if Greenwald was mentioned at all.

[pnwmom]

25. Snowden is never available for any reliable comment as long as he's in Russia.

His situation in Russia makes everything he says from there suspect.

[Jemon]

27. The commenter implied that the author asked Snowden and Greenwald to comment, and they declined

And you left Greenwald out of your defense of the person who falsely claimed they were unavailable, because you know that Greenwald can be easily contacted by email, Twitter, etc. The NY Times has had him as a contributor so they can easily contact him by phone number as well.

The person who falsely claimed they were "unavailable for comment" won't delete his/her post; but at least I exposed it as a falsehood, and now the claim is discredited. Anyone reading the false unavailability claim will then read my response and realize this.

[Cha]

21. HAHA.. snowald's lips are zipped!

[warrprayer]

3. *** PLONK ***

[okaawhatever]

4. Putin really believes the CIA is still behind the internet. That surprises me. nt

[ProSense]

8. This was posted a couple of weeks ago:

Russia's Putin Calls the Internet a 'CIA Project'
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024864684

Kerry: The Internet Iron Curtain
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024892529

[okaawhatever]

13. Thanks for that. I found the comment interesting as well on the first article. n t

[randome]

5. It can't get any more surreal, can it?

[hr][font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font][hr]

[Octafish]

6. Just like in the USA.

Are You Ready for a Driver’s License for the Internet?

The White House is leading efforts for a new authentication system that would have users prove their identity with a single ID across the Web. And states are starting to pilot the system.

http://www.govtech.com/security/Drivers-License-for-the-Internet.html

[ProSense]

7. That isn't remotely the same thing. n/t

[msanthrope]

9. I'm waiting for the crop-circles-in-Russia thread. nt

[Octafish]

11. Ha ha. It is to laugh.

You ever hear about Delta Sierra Juliet?

Life presents realities that are difficult to comprehend.

[msanthrope]

15. You never disappoint....Russian alien abduction!! Well played! nt

[Octafish]

16. And you always do.

An attorney, too.

[Octafish]

12. Let's see: USA wants a unique identifier for each user.

Russia wants a unique identifier for some users.

Guess you got a point there, ProSense.

[ProSense]

18. "Guess you got a point there, ProSense." Yes

"Let's see: USA wants a unique identifier for each user.

Russia wants a unique identifier for some users."

...the "point" is the lengths some people will go to try to imply that Putin isn't so bad.

The comparison is beyond absurd. Attempting to distill the intent of the Russia law down to "unique identifier" is ludicrous.

[Octafish]

19. So, now I'm a Putin defender.

While he's never done anything to hurt me, as far as I know, I do know the government of the United States has done all it could to track me online an in life, which hurts my rights as a citizen. So, there's that.

[ProSense]

20. "Just like in the USA."

No, it's not, and like it or not, that comment, attempting to whitewash the intent of the Russian law is an attempt to imply that Putin isn't all that bad.

[Octafish]

24. Oh, so now I'm anti-USA, too.

You make me feel sorry for you, ProSense. Not only do you refuse to see what's written before your eyes, you refuse to acknowledge the continued erosion of American civil rights, the foundation of democracy.

[Tarheel_Dem]

10. Comrade Snowden, a true pioneer...

[Cali_Democrat]

14. Russia plans to hold a military parade in Crimea. Do you think Snowden will join the festivities?

We recently saw Snowden play the part of useful idiot and ask Putin a staged question about mass surveillance on Russian state TV. Snowden even facepalmed himself over that one.

Now Putin is thanking Snowden for inspiring a law cracking down on bloggers.

Russia plans to hold a military parade in Crimea on Friday:

http://news.yahoo.com/merkel-criticizes-russia-over-planned-military-parade-crimea-145108607.html

I wonder if Snowden will be a special guest of honor. That really wouldn't surprise me.

Maybe Greenwald will also be in attendance.

[Cha]

22. And, there's this.. "Pro-Kremlin journalists win medals for 'objective' coverage of Crimea"

Vladimir Putin gave 'Order of Service to the Fatherland' medals to 300 journalists known for Kremlin-friendly coverage

snip//

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, secretly gave prestigious awards to pro-Kremlin journalists for their "objective coverage" of the events leading up to the March annexation of Crimea, it has emerged.

Putin awarded medals of the "Order of Service to the Fatherland" to 300 journalists including several editors, directors and television hosts known for their Kremlin-friendly coverage in an executive order signed on 22 April that was not made public. After the well respected newspaper Vedomosti first published details of the awards on Monday, presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov confirmed that the order had been signed but declined to provide details.

Boris Korchevnikov, a host on the state-owned television channel Rossiya 1, told the Guardian that he had received the award but refused to discuss it further.

The awards indicated the Kremlin's approval of Russian media outlets that have told a dramatically different version of the Ukraine crisis than that shown by western media, regularly referring to the new Kiev government as a junta led by ultranationalists and fascists.

more to the story..
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/may/05/vladimir-putin-pro-kremlin-journalists-medals-objective-crimea?CMP=ema_546

[Thinkingabout]

23. So much for Putin's answer. Hell no they don't spy on their people, except for all the time.

[Armstead]

26. I'm glad the NSA is syping on us and invading our privacy. So, damn that Sowden guy for exposing it.

This place is Bizarro world sometimes.