New Zealand PM requests inquiry into illegal Megaupload wire tapping

http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/prime-minister-requests-inquiry

by polemic • 14 years ago

181 37 14 years ago

beehive.govt.nz

And just as importantly: "Mr Key says he has also asked the Inspector-General to recommend any measures he considered necessary to prevent the issue from happening again."

lostlogin5• 14 years ago

As this government would do absolutely anything to get closer to the US, I suspect you're not right. Even the previous government tried fairly hard (troops to Afghanistan for example), but this time it's shameless.

lostlogin5• 14 years ago

Sorry, terrible phrasing, and I can't seem to edit it. >>As this government would do absolutely anything to get closer to the US, I suspect nothing will come of any investigation. Even the previous government tried fairly hard (troops to Afghanistan for example), but this governments pandering is shameless. The Dotcom case being a prime example.<<

jordanthoms• 14 years ago

Makes me proud to be a kiwi. Aside from the initial raid, I think the systems have held up well despite lots of 'international pressure'

_hnwo• 14 years ago

really?

NZ should never have gone along with it - just trying to please the US.

veb2• 14 years ago

That's what I hate about my country right now. We're seemingly bending over to all the whims of the US. Not cool. We're supposed to be independent little hobbits, not getting in the affairs of things that don't concern us.

mattdw3• 14 years ago

Aside from the initial raid, and the illegal surveillance, and the invalid warrants, and the illegal seizure of evidence. Sure.

dekz• 14 years ago

Unlawful actions make you proud to be a Kiwi? This whole ordeal reminds me of the BP oil spill, sure they'll help clean up, but lets not ignore what lead us to this situation in the first place.

lancewiggs2• 14 years ago

Yes - it's similar to after the Rainbow Warrior bombing. The French were able to perpetrate a terrorist act, but they were comprehensively caught amidst a sense of nationwide outrage.

The copyright lobby and elements of the USG were able to apply to pressure to a few individuals, but after the back helicopters that sense of outrage and strong internal systems are kicking in hard.

ihsw2• 14 years ago

It seems 'Democracy' will be coming to NZ soon.

davidw2• 14 years ago

What are you talking about? New Zealand has a flourishing democracy.

Or is this supposed to be some kind of hip/ironic comment suggesting... what, that the US is going to invade NZ?

This is an example of why political articles foster commentary that is... less than stellar.

ihsw2• 14 years ago

The US sphere of influence is very well maintained and the US Government will not tolerate deviation, it would be surprising to not see diplomatic pressure applied onto New Zealand. The US may not invade NZ in the sense you're thinking but NZ going to get the US Government's attention (which is rarely a good thing).

sageikosa3• 14 years ago

All that democracy provides for (in this case) is that no one is above reproach or accountability. It doesn't mean that officials are sanctified and immaculate and won't work in opposition to jurisprudential values (ie, won't be corrupt). If officials couldn't be taken to account (in an functional civil court), then you can wonder about the state of the nation.

The fact that New Zealand is looking into this is proof that democracy is working there.

Matsta• 14 years ago

Meh, nothing is going to happen. We'll probably never hear the results of the outcome of the inquiry. If NZ Police are involved, they'll just take their sweet merry time until we all forget about it and then move onto something else.

polemic• 14 years ago

It's performed by "The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security", a DoJ appointment who must have been a High Court judge, and who has complete access to the documents, premises and staff of the NZSIS and GCSB.

So, there is some hope!

dendory• 14 years ago

The sad thing isn't that we found out they used an illegal warrant, they had suspicious motives, or used illegal wiretapping, but that this comes out purely because this is such a public case. Just think if so much shady business goes on in a case they know will be high profile, how widespread and commonplace these practices must be all around. How many other cases we won't ever hear about because they aren't so scrutinized? Are we yet at a place where officers breaking the law is so commonplace they just don't care or even think about it anymore? Is going by the book something we tell children about, but we all know it never happens?

mattdw3• 14 years ago

See also MP John Banks' “I can only help you if your donations to me are anonymous” to Dotcom. This case is making public a whole lot of what looks like routine corruption.

veb2• 14 years ago

Yet NZ is supposed to have next to no corruption. OK...

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index

lancewiggs2• 14 years ago

John Banks (along with Winston Peters) are the two politicians in NZ who appear to abide by their own set of values, doing whatever it takes to get elected. Essentially everyone else, especially from the National, Labour and Green parties are on a higher plane. We may not enjoy everything they say and do, but in NZ politics smells a lot less from personal ambition than elsewhere, and anything as small as a favour to a mate is seen and exposed as corruption. Our tolerance for corruption is extraordinarily low, which is why this case is causing such issues.

stfu• 14 years ago

It is great to see that there are still "somewhere" in the world high level politicians who take these kind of things seriously. Judging by the coziness of the US administration with the Entertainment industry and its lacking willingness to clean up issues such as the Fast and Furious/AFT gunwalking scandal, I very much doubt that this would have happened in the US.

mattdw3• 14 years ago

It's worth noting that in NZ, the Prime Minister is also the Minister overseeing the GCSB. He has to sign off on all surveillance warrants, too. So at the very least it's a huge and public failure in his department; at the worst, he's complicit in illegal surveillance.

It's yet to be seen what his involvement is, but his whole involvement in this case has reeked of ass-covering and distancing. It'll be interesting to see the outcome of this inquiry.

caf• 14 years ago

As Sir Humphrey Appleby says, never hold an inquiry unless you know what its outcome will be.

rjd• 14 years ago

If you read this article http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&obj... he specifically states "Prime Minister John Key has revealed the GCSB was acting without his sign-off".

stewartbutler• 14 years ago

Check your facts, please. ATF has its own share of assholes, but from personal experience I'm inclined to attribute its failings to incompetence in upper ranks rather than malice.

http://features.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2012/06/27/fast-and-fu...

oreilly• 14 years ago

A lot more information on this can be found in the NZ Herald (Major newspaper) here: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&obj...

New Zealand PM requests inquiry into illegal Megaupload wire tapping

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