Iceland summons US envoy over WikiLeaks subpoena

[Joanne98]

Source: Bloomberg

LONDON (AP) — Iceland has summoned the U.S. ambassador to a meeting as top officials express concern over the U.S. criminal investigation into WikiLeaks — a probe that has included a demand to see the private details of an Icelandic lawmaker's Twitter feed.

A court order unsealed this week revealed that American authorities had gone to court to seek data from Twitter about WikiLeaks, its associates, and its alleged source, Army intelligence analyst Bradley Manning.

Among those targeted was lawmaker Birgitta Jonsdottir, a one-time WikiLeaks collaborator also known for her work on Iceland's media initiative, which aims to turn the tiny North Atlantic nation into a free speech haven.



Read more: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-09/iceland-summons-us-envoy-over-wikileaks-subpoena.html

[Demeter]

1. Iceland Is the Mouse that Roared

I'd put any Viking daughter up against the Chicago/Bankster Mafia, any day.

[Downwinder]

11. Perhaps Twitter will move to Iceland.

[Name removed]

44. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[lovuian]

21. yes it is

and the US Government has tried everything to keep it in align

[PufPuf23]

35. The Mouse that Roared is a great story and analogy kr

[Lars77]

2. Icelandic MP fights US demand for her Twitter account details

Source: The Guardian

A member of parliament in Iceland who is also a former WikiLeaks volunteer says the US justice department has ordered Twitter to hand over her private messages.

Birgitta Jonsdottir, an MP for the Movement in Iceland, said last night on Twitter that the "USA government wants to know about all my tweets and more since november 1st 2009. Do they realize I am a member of parliament in Iceland?"

She said she was starting a legal fight to stop the US getting hold of her messages, after being told by Twitter that a subpoena had been issued. She wrote: "department of justice are requesting twitter to provide the info – I got 10 days to stop it via legal process before twitter hands it over."

She said the justice department was "just sending a message and of course they are asking for a lot more than just my tweets."

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jan/08/us-twitter-hand-icelandic-wikileaks-messages

---

Once again the US government seem completely oblivious to the fact that US law does not apply world wide.

[Old Time Pagan]

15. Those Viking Princesses are tough

Trust me I know, I've been married to one for almost 30 years. Mine is named Eva Birgitta, must be something about that Birgitta name that makes them extra special tough. All I know is you sure don't want to mess with my sweetie. Sweet as honey until you cross her or threaten her family, then you best clear out of her space or suffer the consequences. LOL

Hopefully Iceland will pick up the mantle of defender of freedom. We all have the responsibility to resist tyranny to the best of our ability. Right now the US and the Democratic Party are coming up way short.

[Still a Democrat]

3. If she's associated with Wikileaks, she's a legitimate part of the investigation

Is she implying she is somehow exempt?

[JDPriestly]

4. You are assuming the US government has jurisdiction over her person

and her personal affects including her correspondence, her mail, her communications.

Here is the problem that the US government (our government) has created for itself.

The most recent disclosure of thousands of secret State Department cables saw U.S. diplomats being ordered to gather the DNA and fingerprints of their international counterparts, captured backroom dealing over issues such as Guantanamo and rendition, and publicized unflattering assessments of friends and foes alike.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-09/iceland-summon...

We are attempting to impose our law on the members of a foreign government.

Yet one of the first "secrets" disclosed by Wikileaks was the fact that Hillary Clinton had asked members of our diplomatic corps to spy on the diplomatic envoys from other nations and not just hostile nations, at the United Nations. What is more, we apparently have or had contacts who provide us information in other governments and even within the office of the chancellor of Germany.

How can we expect those governments to cooperate with us, much less permit us to inspect the internet activities, of their members or their diplomats?

Do you see the contradiction? We want other countries to respect the privacy of the communications of our diplomats and politicians, but we do not respect the privacy of the communications of their diplomats and politicians. That is why obtaining the cooperation of foreign governments in enforcing our espionage and secrecy laws will be very difficult.

The most likely outcome is that other countries pay lip service to helping us out, but then demand something in exchange or don't really assist or permit our prosecutions at all.

If we want to violate the privacy of other people or the sovereignty of other countries, then we should not be surprised if we have a problem obtaining their assistance in protecting our privacy or sovereignty.

It does not take a genius IQ to figure this out.

Our country is making a fool of itself because we do not seem to be able to look at our conduct in a mirror, to see ourselves as others see us.

[molly77]

5. Has the US govt investigated the troops who murdered Iraqis in cold blood for kicks?

[Still a Democrat]

19. What troops would those be? n/t

[Still a Democrat]

6. Jurisidction over Twitter

this is about gathering information, not prosecuting her.

[Demeter]

26. Diplomatic Immunity

You don't do things like that to foreign politicians. Ever. Unless they are in your country committing crime, in which case, you deport them.

[glinda]

14. US Government is participating in serious over-reach. They do not own the planet and every Country.

[Still a Democrat]

16. They have jurisdiction over Twitter

as well as an interest in the leaking of confidential information.

[glinda]

31. Most likely right but seems that non-citizens should not be bullied.

[daleo]

29. Nice summary

Human interactions are all about reciprocity. People, and nations, forget that at their peril.

[jerseyjack]

7. Is she implying she is exempt?

She is involved in the video leak that showed a U.S. helicopter shooting down two Reuters reporters. Where is the investigation over that?

The question is whether her communications are exempt. She may be exempt but Twitter isn't.

The best thing would be if Iceland parliament sets laws that prohibit interference on communication. Then a competitor to Twitter could be set up in Iceland and tell Eric Holder where to shove his subpoena.

[Still a Democrat]

8. "She may be exempt but Twitter isn't."

Agreed.

[JDPriestly]

12. But Iceland is entitled to protest. Twitter is international.

It may be that Twitter becomes less popular internationally if foreign users know that the American government can subpoena their records. Iceland could create its own version of Twitter. So could other nations.

They probably will not. I just see a huge problem for the US government when it reaches into the personal correspondence of all kinds of people over the world who are engaging in free political discussion.

No matter how sincere the US is about protecting its secrets, this kind of action may, in the long run, be counterproductive.

I don't understand about Twitter. Isn't it a public exchange like DU in the first place? It isn't private like e-mail, is it? If so, couldn't the government keep records without having to subpoena specific ones?

[Downwinder]

13. The Gov requested a data dump for all information on the subjects.

[Still a Democrat]

18. The government wants the information behind those accounts

which is not publicly available.

There's a difference between free political speech and compromising an ally.

[TorchTheWitch]

42. who has a problem with a govt subpoening a company's records

concerning a criminal investigation??? Are you actually advocating that a company should have supreme secrecy concerning their records even when it regards a criminal investigation??? Do you really imagine that anyone using Twitter (or any other company for anything) believes that a company has such a right and would even WANT companies to have such a right???

You think that the US government should be completely exposed yet a private US company should have supreme secrecy rights even when it comes to a criminal investigation? Do you realize how right-wing that attitude is???

[JackRiddler]

33. Anyone associated with the USG is a legitimate part of the war crimes investigation.

Is there no justification for authoritarian overreach that you won't justify?

[Robb]

9. Which is exactly what they should do. We'd do the same.

I don't know Jonsdottir's level of support in Iceland in general, but her government should rally behind her.

[Downwinder]

10. The US Gov. would negotiate for its own benefit as with the

Spanish treasure.

[Still a Democrat]

17. Depends what she did

if she participated in compromising an ally through illegally obtained information, then no.

[Robb]

20. Which remains to be seen.

Either way, it's a win-win for the Icelandic government to come out swinging for their own. If the evidence suggests she's not on the up-and-up, they've covered themselves.

[Still a Democrat]

22. Huh?

If the evidence suggests she's not on the up-and-up, they've made fools of themselves.

[Robb]

23. Not to Icelanders.

They've said, in essence, they will go to bat for their own, innocent until proven guilty, get a fair shake, etc. We'd do exactly the same thing if the roles were reversed.

[Still a Democrat]

24. Blind patriotism?

If she's potentially involved in wrongdoing, Icelanders shouldn't be objecting to any investigation simply because she's an Icelander. And if they are, they're dead wrong, just as we would be.

[micraphone]

27. If she leaked the videos she's guilty

But she does not work in the US armed services.

And does not live in the USA.

Case closed.

[Lars77]

25. I just read a digital law professor's view on the subject,

In a Norwegian newspaper today, Jon Bing, a widely known professor at the Norwegian Research Center for Computers and Law says that if the message of origin is in Iceland, Icelandic law and not American law applies. Where the servers are located is of little relevance, what matters is law of the place of the act i.e. typing of the message, vs the law where the company (twitter) are located.


Bing also say's that the US probably already has access to most messages in the world through the echelon system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Echelon_(signals_intelligence)) but since it downloads about 3 billion messages a day it's probably very difficult to filter for relevant info.


...Which brings me to some thoughts of my own on electronic surveillance. If you have a system going through 3 billion messages a day, you probably filter it searching for keywords. How can people be protected from arbitrary accusation and prosecution, because it must be impossible to put these messages into context?

Maybe i should just stop using the internet and move to a remote island. :think:

[Downwinder]

30. It is not about the messages, it is about the associations.

Who were the Tweets from and to.

[Lars77]

32. What?

So the content is completely irrelevant?

And supposing that it were, do you suppose that laws don't apply then?

[Downwinder]

34. The content is public.

The FBI discovered modern math. They are hooked on associative grouping.

[DeSwiss]

28. More of that change......

...that looks just like the last guy.

[maddezmom]

36. kick

[Hissyspit]

37. Iceland Summons U.S. Envoy Over Demand for MP's Twitter Details (WikiLeaks)

Source: Guardian UK

Iceland summons US envoy over demand for MP's Twitter details
Reykjavik calls for explanation of Justice Department's move to access account of politician caught up in WikiLeaks inquiry

Dominic Rushe
guardian.co.uk, Sunday 9 January 2011 18.44 GMT

The American ambassador to Iceland has been summoned to explain why US officials are trying to access the Twitter account of an Icelandic MP and former WikiLeaks collaborator.

Birgitta Jónsdóttir, an MP for the Movement in Iceland, revealed last week that the US justice department had asked Twitter to hand over her information. The US authorities are trying to build a criminal case against the website after its huge leaks of classified US information.

"(It is) very serious that a foreign state, the United States, demands such personal information of an Icelandic person, an elected official," the interior minister, Ogmundur Jonasson, told Icelandic broadcaster RUV. "This is even more serious when put (in) perspective and concerns freedom of speech and people's freedom in general," he added.

Iceland's foreign ministry has demanded a meeting with Luis Arreaga, the US ambassador to Reykjavík. No one at the US embassy in Reykjavík was available for comment.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jan/09/iceland-us-ambassador-twitter-wikileaks

[xchrom]

38. recommend

[proud2BlibKansan]

39. #5

[forty6]

40. WTF....??? Amazing the chutzpah of the USA in regards to

this wikileaks stuff.

[Vidar]

41. Good for Iceland. Throw the ambassador and his CIA stooges out.

[harvey007]

43. Iceland protests to U.S. over Twitter data demand

Source: Reuters

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Iceland called in the U.S. ambassador in Reykjavik on Monday to register its displeasure at a U.S. court's demand for details of an Icelandic lawmaker's Twitter account, the State Department said.

A U.S. court has ordered the social networking website to give up details of the accounts of WikiLeaks and of several supporters as part of a criminal investigation into WikiLeaks' release of hundreds of thousands of U.S. diplomatic cables.

Read more: http://ca.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idCATRE7096P120110110