US Slams EU Plans for Anti-Spying Network
In light of the Snowden revelations-and the concurrent German probe into NSA spying, the EU has decided to take measures to as to protect themselves but the US has something to say about that:
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/...A331W820140404The United States on Friday criticized proposals to build a European communication network to avoid emails and other data passing through the United States, warning that such rules could breach international trade laws.
In its annual review of telecommunications trade barriers, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative said impediments to cross-border data flows were a serious and growing concern.
It was closely watching new laws in Turkey that led to the blocking of websites and restrictions on personal data, as well as calls in Europe for a local communications network following revelations last year about U.S. digital eavesdropping and surveillance.
"Recent proposals from countries within the European Union to create a Europe-only electronic network (dubbed a 'Schengen cloud' by advocates) or to create national-only electronic networks could potentially lead to effective exclusion or discrimination against foreign service suppliers that are directly offering network services, or dependent on them," the USTR said in the report.
Germany and France have been discussing ways to build a European network to keep data secure after the U.S. spying scandal. Even German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cell phone was reportedly monitored by American spies.
The USTR said proposals by Germany's state-backed Deutsche Telekom to bypass the United States were "draconian" and likely aimed at giving European companies an advantage over their U.S. counterparts.
Deutsche Telekom has suggested laws to stop data traveling within continental Europe being routed via Asia or the United States and scrapping the Safe Harbor agreement that allows U.S. companies with European-level privacy standards access to European data. (www.telekom.com/dataprotection)
"Any mandatory intra-EU routing may raise questions with respect to compliance with the EU's trade obligations with respect to Internet-enabled services," the USTR said. "Accordingly, USTR will be carefully monitoring the development of any such proposals."
U.S. tech companies, the leaders in an e-commerce marketplace estimated to be worth up to $8 trillion a year, have urged the White House to undertake reforms to calm privacy concerns and fend off digital protectionism.
In the report, the USTR also criticized restrictions on Internet telephony in India andChina, foreign investment limits in countries, including China, and efforts to increase the rates U.S. telecommunications operators must pay in order to connect long-distance calls in Pakistan, Fiji, Tonga and Uganda.
to be fair, the US telecom/internet giants brought it upon themselves the moment they compromised user privacy and security and giving the NSA tacit official access to all of their user data.
In the midstof all this, calls for Snowden to testify in Germany are growing:
Source: http://rt.com/news/germany-nsa-hearings-snowden-557/Parliamentary hearings into the scandal involving NSA spying on Germany have started. Some members of the investigative committee have suggested bringing in the document leaker Edward Snowden himself to testify. Some expect this to anger Washington.The Bundestag presented the evidence on Thursday, as German public anger over America’s blatant violations of German sovereignty vents steam. But some are already speculating what the result of the hearings will mean in practical terms, for German-US relations. And what political fallout will ensue by inviting Snowden to Berlin?
Fresh revelations regarding the NSA’s activities in Germany continue to pour in amid outcries from the German people. Der Spiegel magazine has published further Snowden leaks recently, among them the revelation that the Americans compiled a comprehensive dossier on Merkel, which included over 300 intelligence reports. Apparently, the NSA database contains information obtainedduring surveillance of over a hundred world leaders.
What’s more, the magazine detailed how British secret services also played a part in all this, by hacking into German internet companies.
Clemense Binninger, who is tasked with leading the eight-person investigative committee, does not expect the US to help much in clearing up the surveillance allegations, and believes attempts to formulate a Washington-Berlin no-spy agreement have come to a complete halt, Deustsche Welle reports. Questions the German government sent to the US government have likewise not received a reply – and the head of the committee doesn’t see this changing anytime soon. But Binninger, who is a member of Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democratic Union party, said “mass surveillance of citizens will not be tolerated.”
The committee chair believes getting at least some response from the Americans would be “an important step forward to restoring trust.” However, this is where their power ends, as the committee can do little more than examine evidence. They can neither compel the US or Britain to play a more active role in helping, nor do they have the authority to summon foreign witnesses to Germany to testify.
And this is where the disagreements arise. Konstantin von Notz of the Green Party first filed a motion to subpoena Snowden and get him to Berlin for a testimony. Given Snowden’s key role nine months ago in leaking the history-changing documents, this is seen as a matter of paramount importance.
And Snowden is willing to testify, as von Notz’s Green Party colleagues visiting the former NSA contractor in Moscow found out. But Binninger himself isn’t sure how much help he could offer, since the computer wizard himself said he doesn’t know much more than what is being revealed. And it’s been said that his answers to earlier questions by the EP were quite general.
Other members of the committee are just as serious about getting Snowden’s take on the NSA’s role in the surveillance on the German political apparatus. Patrick Sensburg, an MP from the CDU, suggested that some document exchange be facilitated between cooperating journalists as a substitute for Snowden traveling to Berlin.
Others are pressing harder for direct talks with Snowden. Martina Renner of the Left Party believes the “knowledge in Snowden’s head” can only be accessed by direct questioning.
The inquiry will be very thorough, and German politicians expect to spend two more months studying documents before a decision on summoning Snowden is reached. But even then, the time frame for actually getting Snowden there has been set at two years; it’s difficult at the moment to see where Snowden’s place in the inquiry will be.
And they would have other things to consider, namely – would it be wise to risk a limited testimony from Snowden over further souring relations with the West, who have an arrest warrant out for the document leaker and readily accuse anyone of colluding with the enemy if Snowden’s name is so much as mentioned?
A top German prosecutor is also deciding whether to open a full-scale criminal investigation against the NSA – another way to go about the issue.
Some, though, think that this is unlikely, because it would contribute to increasing German-US tensions at a time when both are trying to stir up a unified effort against Russia for its alleged actions in Ukraine.
In either case, the committee has said that its inquiry will also deal with the broader questions of intelligence work, such as what the limitations on international cooperation are, what the US is allowed to do regarding Germany, how deep did the knowledge of NSA snooping on German officials run in domestic circles, and others.
Benninger also believes that a discussion on the place of data gathering on citizens in today’s world will be beneficial for redirecting the focus from all-out data-mining to more streamlined identity checks.
All in all, this is but the first of many, many steps whereby the internet will become balkanised and each country will start to have their own interwebs, much like China, Iran and North Korea.
But more pressing is how this is going to affect the EU-US alliance, since sharing intel is a massive sign of trust, hence the existence of the 5 Eye:
Source:http://rt.com/news/us-europe-nsa-snowden-549/If the European-centric plan gets the go ahead, it would require the dismantlement of the Safe Harbor agreement that allows US companies access to European data. It should be noted that despite the work of the NSA, Europe has some of the strictest privacy laws in the world.
US telecommunication and internet firms are now lobbying Washington to calm fears over privacy concerns in an effort to halt Europe’s move toward protectionism.
Similar criticisms were directed by the USTR at another American ally, Canada. The representative complained about privacy rules enforced in Canadian provinces of British Columbia and Nova Scotia, which do not normally allow public bodies to store and access private data of Canadians outside the country.
The USTR also criticized the Canadian federal government’s move to build a unified email system, which required data to be stored in Canada and thus prevented US companies from bidding. Bell Canada eventually won the $400-million contract.
“In today’s information-based economy, particularly where a broad range of services are moving to “cloud” based delivery where US firms are market leaders, this law hinders US exports of a wide array of products and services,” the report said.
Much like the EU, Canada has concerns over its dependence on US for routing telecommunications, with some 90 percent of all Canadian internet traffic going through the US. The Canadian Internet Registration Authority proposed in October 2013 building up domestic infrastructure, which would change this and protect the data from potential NSA snooping.
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Originally Posted by Exarch
Yes, I can see it now, the complete unravelling of NATO, Exarch's wet dream and Christmas coming early. 
