Group of hackers from Germany are accusing their government for being a tool of foreign intelligence agencies. The lawsuit is handled by the International League for Human Rights.
The story takes it roots from the revelations by Edward Snowden a former Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) employee and National Security Agency (NSA) contractor who brought to light the details of the surveillance that American government unleashed upon its citizens and beyond.
While the German officials had quite a negative response after the information that even Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile was being tapped, leading to her famous quote “spying among friends is unacceptable”, the Chaos Computer Club (CCC) accused her, as well as German government in violating human rights. CCC believe that the Chancellor and German officials were aiding US and UK intelligences in spying on Germans and therefore an investigation by the Federal Prosecutor General should be initiated.
Among the charges are a foreign espionage, obstruction of justice and violation of privacy.
The whistleblower was not forgotten and hackers are asking for Snowden to be moved to Germany as a witness. The group’s own evidence are claimed to be the massive surveillance system, a network of instant messages, created by German intelligence that CCC uncovered in 2012. Together with Snowden hackers hope to bring to justice all the responsible for this intrusion in private lives of Germans.
An attentive reader might ask him/herself what it has to do with Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies? Well, that’s the tricky part. Everything and nothing one might say.
I am not here to judge. However, I do have an opinion. Whatever is said by the conspiracy theory defenders, the terrorist threat is real. Maybe not on the scale that officials want us to believe but it still is. Thus, people do require a defense of sorts but we come to the question of price of such protection. Is government allowed to spy on its own citizens, on the people it supposed to support and save? Where does the protection end and the violation of human rights begin?
For me the answer is simple. If a policy like this really saves lives then I am fine with it. However, I do not believe that such harsh measures are for the benefit of the people’s rights. What I want to say is what was done is an overkill. Probably we would all sleep better if Snowden never blew the whistle but the problem goes deeper than the tranquility of our dreams. Here is where we come back to Bitcoin.
The cryptocurrencies until the recent events, when governments around the world began to force regulations, were a ticket out of system. The leash was loosened and global economic began deviate from the golden brick road that government apparatus has been building for it. Not much, but enough to raise competition, leading us out of the endless swamps of bureaucracy and allowing market to develop itself.
Hence, the free economy was being born again.
Many would have and have already said that Bitcoin elevated the shady side of market, but come on, let’s be honest it has always been there. If there are rules, someone would find a way around them, however intricate these are.
So, how can we speak of freedom if we are being watched day and night? Now, arguably, it’s not much of deal, but if the condition is allowed to progress, who knows how far it will go. Where is the breaking point, when we are not allowed the right of voice?
Summarizing everything said above, I believe that we should show our teeth sometimes, to keep people up there on their toes and if it’s needed fight for our rights. Government should serve and protect, not divide and rule. The moment we forget it, will be the moment we lose ourselves and become a food for the power hungry.