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A comment on N.S.A. Contractor Arrested in Possible New Theft of Secrets. Parent comment

Re:N.S.A. Contractor Arrested in Possible New Theft of Secrets by VelociRapster on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @01:14PM (#12645744)
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.

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Re:N.S.A. Contractor Arrested in Possible New Theft of Secrets by withholding on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @01:38PM (#12645961)
The article clearly implies that Snowden's actions were "theft"
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Re:N.S.A. Contractor Arrested in Possible New Theft of Secrets by zeveb on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @02:27PM (#12646443)
Which they were. Also, espionage. Also, treason.

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

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Re:N.S.A. Contractor Arrested in Possible New Theft of Secrets by dragonwriter on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @02:31PM (#12646481)
> 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...

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Re:N.S.A. Contractor Arrested in Possible New Theft of Secrets by tP5n on Wednesday October 05, 2016 @03:51PM (#12647175)
> nothing ... is illegal

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

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

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