A Christmas Message From Edward Snowden [video]

by infinity0 • 13 years ago

47 14 13 years ago

infinity0• 13 years ago

3rd-party copies of the video[1][2][3] are "unavailable in this country" on Youtube UK, but this may just be exceptionally fast copyright filters - the content was apparently broadcast on Channel 4 and also 4oD (their internet TV-on-demand service).

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWLFwif-BrY [2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siy8RP2Vo4A [3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjOACWG0oW8

tombrossman2• 13 years ago

Anyone else find it completely asinine that to watch the original video you must log in to the 4od service?[1] Talk about missing the point. I'm pleased to see it popping up now on third-party sites that can be accessed without logging in.

Good on Channel 4 for airing this (with full knowledge that it would be politically unpopular in the UK) but the login requirement seems like either a huge oversight or a crude practical joke. Maybe this was a restriction put in place by the video's creator?

I suspect I wasn't the only one to create a new throwaway account on 4od to watch the video this morning.

[1]https://twitter.com/tombrossman/status/415816279992172544

neeee• 13 years ago

You can't view it on youtube either from Norway, the UK, and many other countries. "This video contains content from Channel 4 s/f, who has blocked it on copyright grounds."

Shank• 13 years ago

Blocked in America too.

salient• 13 years ago

Not only did they add that after the fact, when they saw people were coming to their site to see it, but it seems they've also asked Google to flag all Youtube videos with it.

Wow. How can they claim copyright on that? Wasn't the video made by Snowden himself? It certainly seemed like a video taken with a phone (480p recording, too).

k-mcgrady• 13 years ago

> "Wow. How can they claim copyright on that? Wasn't the video made by Snowden himself? It certainly seemed like a video taken with a phone (480p recording, too)."

The fact they Channel 4 were the only ones to show it and it was for their alternative Christmas message suggests they had some sort of exclusive on it.

joering2• 13 years ago

About Snowden, so far what I know: he didn't do it for money. He didn't do it for fame. He didn't do it for publicity, nether his revelations harmed anyone (not willingly, at least, and even if it wouldn't be far from a "collateral damage" US accepts itself [1]). He sacrificed his own live, future, ability to see family in US, friends, and I cannot stop thinking other than he did all this because he truly cared. For me I would most likely continue comfortable job with high paid salary and a model girlfriend by my side; the most I would do is quit, moved on and kept my mouth shout. This guy willingly accepted that his life will change for worst, forever, and accepted it. Hats down for Mr. Snowden!

[1] http://investigations.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/10/21/21065224-...

oceanstone2• 13 years ago

If you'd like to make an account, here's a valid UK Postal Code: KT12 5PY

oceanstone2• 13 years ago

Heads up to Ubuntu, and possibly Linux users. I wasn't able to view the video, after making an account. There seems to be a DRM technology they are using, that keeps making web requests indefinitely. Oh well, I'll hold off until this gets released to YouTube / Vimeo / whatever.

tombrossman2• 13 years ago

I had no problem watching it with Firefox or Chromium in Ubuntu. Try the torrent file from another comment here, or check my profile to email me & I'm sure we can sort out a way for you to view it.

For anyone else wanting to try 4od u=c3289976@drdrb.com / p=password - for however long that keeps working.

jotaass• 13 years ago

There's a torrent of the video available here

http://pirateproxy.net/torrent/9395395/Channel_4_Alternative...

justincormack• 13 years ago

Its on vimeo if you cant access the original http://vimeo.com/82666985

jnbiche• 13 years ago

Transcript from http://gretawire.foxnewsinsider.com/2013/12/24/click-to-read... (attributed to FNC's Hava Pasha):

Alternative Christmas Message 2013

Hi and Merry Christmas. I’m honoured to have a chance to speak with you and your family this year.

Recently we learned that our governments, working in concert, have created a system of world-wide mass surveillance – watching everything we do.

Great Britain’s George Orwell warned us of the danger of this kind of information. The types of collection in the book – microphones and video cameras, TVs that watch us are nothing compared to what we have available today. We have sensors in our pockets that track us everywhere we go. Think about what this means for the privacy of the average person. A child born today will grow up with no conception of privacy at all. They’ll never know what it means to have a private moment to themselves an unrecorded, unanalysed thought. And that’s a problem because privacy matters, privacy is what allows us to determine who we are and who we want to be.

The conversation occurring today will determine the amount of trust we can place both in the technology that surrounds us and the government that regulates it. Together we can find a better balance, end mass surveillance and remind the government that if it really wants to know how we feel asking is always cheaper than spying.

For everyone out there listening – Thank you and Merry Christmas.

A Christmas Message From Edward Snowden [video]

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