INTERNATIONALARAB TIMES, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2016

11

Surveillance

Snowden warns on spying

Trump urged toback encryptionWASHINGTON, Nov 15, (RTRS): US internet companies including Facebook Inc and Amazon Inc have sent President-elect Donald Trump a detailed list of their policy priorities, which in-cludes promoting strong encryption, immigra-tion reform and maintaining liability protections from content that users share on their platforms.

The letter sent on Monday by the Internet As-sociation, a trade group whose 40 members also include Alphabet’s Google, Uber and Twitter, represents an early effort to repair the relation-ship between the technology sector and Trump, who was almost universally disliked and at times denounced in Silicon Valley during the

presidential campaign.“The internet industry

looks forward to engag-ing in an open and pro-ductive dialogue,” reads the letter, signed by Michael Beckerman, president of the Internet Association, and seen by Reuters.

Some of the policy goals stated in the letter may align with Trump’s priorities, including eas-

ing regulation on the sharing economy, low-ering taxes on profi ts made from intellectual property and applying pressure on Europe to not erect too many barriers that restrict US internet companies from growing in that market.

Other goals are likely to clash with Trump, who offered numerous broadsides against the tech sector during his campaign.

They include supporting strong encryption in products against efforts by law enforcement agencies to mandate access to data for criminal investigations, upholding recent reforms to US government surveillance programs that ended the bulk collection of call data by the National Security Agency, and maintaining net neutrality rules that require internet service providers to treat web traffi c equally.

The association seeks immigration reform to support more high-skilled workers staying in the United States. Though Trump made tougher immi-gration policies a central theme of his campaign, he has at times shied away from arguing against more H-1B visas for skilled workers, saying in a March debate he was “softening the position because we need to have talented people in this country.”

SupportWhile urging support for trade agreements,

the letter does not mention the Trans Pacifi c Partnership, which Trump has repeatedly as-sailed with claims it was poorly negotiated and would take jobs away from US workers. The technology sector supported the deal, but mem-bers of Congress have conceded since the elec-tion it is not going to be enacted.

Trump’s often-shifting policy proposals on the campaign trail frequently alarmed tech companies and sometimes elicited public mockery, such as when Trump called for closing off parts of the in-ternet to limit militant Islamist propaganda.

Trump has also urged a boycott of Apple Inc products over the company’s refusal to help the Federal Bureau of Investigation unlock an iP-hone associated with last year’s San Bernardi-no, California, shootings, threatened antitrust action against Amazon, and demanded that tech companies such as Apple manufacture their products in the United States.

In a statement, Beckerman said the internet industry looked forward to working closely with Trump and lawmakers in Congress to “ce-ment the internet’s role as a driver of economic and social progress for future generations.”

Meanwhile, Donald Trump’s election as US president raises concern that Washington may increase the intrusiveness of domestic intelli-gence gathering, former US spy agency contrac-tor Edward Snowden said on Monday, warning that democratic checks and balances were los-ing ground to authoritarianism.

Snowden lives in Moscow under an asylum deal after he leaked classifi ed information in 2013 that triggered an international furor over the reach of US spy operations. He spoke at a teleconference hosted by Buenos Aires Univer-sity’s law school.

Principle“We are starting to substitute open govern-

ment for sheer authoritarianism, a government based not upon the principle of informed con-sent granted by people who understand its ac-tivities but rather a trust in personalities, a trust in claims, a trust in the hope that they will do the right thing,” Snowden said.

Washington pledged not to engage in indis-criminate espionage following Snowden’s 2013 disclosures. But Snowden questioned if that policy could be modifi ed by new offi cials “who have a very different set of values and can gov-ern in the dark.”

“If government does actually win our trust, because they go for some years and they do op-erate in a way that we should support, what hap-pens when it changes?” he asked.

“This is kind of the challenge that we’re fac-ing today in the United States with the result of the last election.”

Supporters see Snowden as a whistleblower who boldly exposed government excess. But the US government has fi led espionage charges against him for leaking intelligence information.

Trump, who scored an upset win over Demo-crat Hillary Clinton in last Tuesday’s election, broke with many in his own Republican Party during the campaign and emphasized his suc-cess as a businessman and reality TV show star. He promised sweeping security measures to deal with the threat of attacks on the United States.

His election was greeted with concern from the American Civil Liberties Union over state-ments he made during the campaign supporting increased surveillance of US Muslims, mass deportation of illegal immigrants, reauthoriza-tion of waterboarding and changing libel laws to increase press restrictions.

Snowden, asked if he thought the election of Trump, who has praised Russian President Vladimir Putin as a strong leader, might in-crease chances of him being pardoned by the US government, responded: “Who knows?”

Beckerman

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee (right), speaks with Public Defender Jeff Adachi before a meeting at City Hall in San Francisco by city leaders and community activists, to reaffi rm the city’s commitment to being a sanctuary city in response to Donald Trump’s

support of deportations and other measures against immigrants, on Nov 14. (AP)

Davis Yusuf

Light sentences in IS case: Two men who cooperated with authorities investi-gating a Minnesota conspiracy to join the Islamic State group in Syria were rewarded with light sentences Monday, but a third who didn’t help prosecutors got a 10-year sentence from a federal judge.

US District Judge Michael Davis sentenced Abdullahi Mohamed Yusuf, 20, to 21 months already served in jail. Abdirizak Warsame, 21,

didn’t fare as well, but his sentence of 2-ó years in prison was two years less than prosecutors sought. While all three pleaded guilty, Zacharia Abdurahman, 21, got 10 years in prison be-cause he didn’t cooperate with the government and refused to testify against other members of what Davis called a “terrorist cell.”

Davis asked Abdurahman why he didn’t.“As a man, I made a decision not to do

that to my former friends. Your honor, I’m a man of principle . ... Our religion teaches you not to harm another brother,” he replied, sniffi ng and wiping away tears as he stood

before the court. (AP)❑ ❑ ❑

More testimony on Bergdahl: A judge will hear more arguments Tuesday about whether injuries to soldiers on a search mission should be allowed as evidence that US Army Sgt Bowe Bergdahl endangered comrades by walking off his post in Afghanistan.

On Monday, the judge, Army Col Jeffery Nance, also agreed to delay Bergdahl’s trial by several months until May 15, 2017. Prosecutors asked for the delay because of the slow pace at which they’re getting approval to turn over classifi ed evidence.

Prosecutors are arguing that two wounded soldiers’ injuries should be allowed as evidence to show that Bergdahl’s disappearance effectively put other military members in harm’s way.

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‘IS won’t ruin parade’: New York City police sought to reassure residents and tourists on Monday that they would be safe attending the city’s Thanksgiving Day parade despite the militant group Islamic State calling on its followers to attack the event with trucks.

The largest US city has prepared for such attacks in the past and will be prepared again, John Miller, deputy police commissioner for counter-terrorism, said at a news conference.

“Come to the Thanksgiving Day parade. Have a good time. Bring your family. I always go. I always bring mine,” he said.

The holiday celebration, featuring enor-mous balloons shaped like cartoon char-acters high above Manhattan, is scheduled to be broadcast nationwide the morning of Nov 24.

Islamic State, in the latest edition of its online magazine Rumiyah, suggested that readers use motor vehicles to kill and injure people. (RTRS)

America

Bergdahl