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by VelociRapster 3545 days ago
Are you of the opinion that whistleblowing and espionage are the same thing?

It's one thing to call attention to warrantless wiretapping and unconstitutional practices. It's an entirely different thing to take and distribute the source code of a tool used to access foreign government systems. The former is illegal the latter is literally the reason why the NSA was created.

1 comments

The article clearly implies that Snowden's actions were "theft"
Which they were. Also, espionage. Also, treason.

And — also — not whistleblowing, because nothing he has alleged is illegal.

> nothing he has alleged is illegal.

At least one surveillance program revealed by Snowden has been challenged in US courts and found to be illegal, whether any others revealed were illegal remains a disputed point.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/05/07/politics/nsa-telephone-metadat...

> nothing ... is illegal

A federal court disagreed to that in 2015 [PDF]:

http://pdfserver.amlaw.com/nlj/NSA_ca2_20150507.pdf