[liberationtech] Technocracy Now event, August 23

[Jacob Appelbaum]

On 08/22/2011 07:12 PM, Steve Weis wrote:
> I saw a blurb about this "Technocracy Now" event on another list and
> thought it might be of interest to liberationtech.
> 
> It shows a deep and nuanced appreciation of irony to include Palantir
> on a panel about government transparency and democracy. Case in point:
> http://wikileaks.ch/IMG/pdf/WikiLeaks_Response_v6.pdf
> 
> --------------
> Technocracy Now
> http://technocracynow.eventbrite.com/
> 
> Tuesday, August 23, 2011 from 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM (PDT)
> Mountain View, CA
> 
> A discussion about how technology is changing government transparency
> and decision making with Ari Gesher (Palantir), Abhi Nemani (Code for
> America), Matt Monahan (Inflection) and more. A great event if you are
> interested in the civic space.

As someone featured on a slide or two in the "The WikiLeaks Threat: An
Overview by Palantir Technologies, HBGary Federal, and Berico
Technologies"  mentioned above, I'd like to express my sadness that I
cannot attend this event.

Palantir reached out to a few people in those now famous HBGary/Palantir
slides above to apologise for their behaviour:
http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2011/02/15/palantir

However, while they may like to present themselves as a very forward
thinking, civil liberties aware company that cares about transparency,
I'd like to say that it is it's a marketing ploy.

They certainly didn't bother to reach out to me and apologise. So I
guess they think that I'm a valid target or something along those lines.
For that  and the other reasons, I'd like to encourage anyone on this
list attending to rake them over the coals.

Their attempts to civil-liberties-and-human-rights-wash their company
should not go unnoticed. They're part of a major societal problem and
they're not interested in providing the world with any kind of privacy
protecting solutions. They are one of the profiteering corporatins that
have helped to create the surveillance and police state present in the
US; it isn't much better when their software is used abroad, it's
disgusting to see them capitalise on the tragedies of September 11th,
2001 as part of their business model.

They're a profit over people kind of place and they don't deserve any
positive press relating to civil liberties. Their business model is to
further the surveillance state and to make money, hand over fist in the
process.

All the best,
Jacob