Russia's Putin calls the Internet a 'CIA project'

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-EXCITE

By NATALIYA VASILYEVA

MOSCOW (AP) - President Vladimir Putin on Thursday called the Internet a CIA project and made comments about Russia's biggest search engine Yandex, sending the company's shares plummeting.

The Kremlin has been anxious to exert greater control over the Internet, which opposition activists - barred from national television - have used to promote their ideas and organize protests.

Russia's parliament this week passed a law requiring social media websites to keep their servers in Russia and save all information about their users for at least half a year. Also, businessmen close to Putin now control Russia's leading social media network, VKontakte.

Speaking Thursday at a media forum in St. Petersburg, Putin said that the Internet originally was a "CIA project" and "is still developing as such."

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20140424/DADCI58G2.html

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Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a media meeting organized by the Russian People's Front in St. Petersburg, Russia, Thursday, April 24, 2014. Russia’s President Vladimir Putin has mocked the Internet as a CIA project and pledged to protect Russia’s interest in the online industry. (AP Photo/RIA-Novosti, Mikhail Klimentyev, Presidential Press Service)

[Peacetrain]

1. Putin is trying to pull the old Soviet Union out of his ...

well you know what I mean. He is not rational. He and China and North Korea and and and other countries of that ilk are bent on isolating their people from the rest of the world.

[Bernardo de La Paz]

2. Big Brother wants total control of information that Russians get. nt

[TwilightGardener]

3. I thought the Snowden Softball Setup question proved that Russia would never

collect data or spy on its citizens' computer use? As Putin takes control of social media servers...excuse me while I

[freshwest]

15. Who woulda thunk? I'm shocked, I tell you! No wonder the GOP hearts Putin... n/t

[ck4829]

4. In Putin Russia, search engine finds things on you.

[okaawhatever]

14. Lolz. Good one. nt

[jakeXT]

5. Probably more like transformed with the help of IN-Q-TEL, although I don't know much

Imperatives: Why was In-Q-Tel Created?

As an information-based agency, the CIA must be at the cutting edge of information technology in order to maintain its competitive edge and provide its customers with intelligence that is both timely and relevant. Many times the Agency and the federal government have been the catalysts for technological innovations. Examples of Agency-inspired breakthroughs include the U-2 and SR71 reconnaissance aircraft and the Corona surveillance satellites, while the creation of the Internet was led by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

...


Faced with these realities, the leadership of the CIA made a critical and strategic decision in early 1998. The Agency’s leadership recognized that the CIA did not, and could not, compete for IT innovation and talent with the same speed and agility that those in the commercial marketplace, whose businesses are driven by "Internet time" and profit, could. The CIA’s mission was intelligence collection and analysis, not IT innovation. The leadership also understood that, in order to extend its reach and access a broad network of IT innovators, the Agency had to step outside of itself and appear not just as a buyer of IT but also as a seller. The CIA had to offer Silicon Valley something of value, a business model that the Valley understood; a model that provides those who joined hands with In-Q-Tel the opportunity to commercialize their innovations. In addition, In-Q-Tel’s partner companies would also gain another valuable asset, access to a set of very difficult CIA problems that could become market drivers. Once the Agency’s leadership crossed these critical decision points, the path that led to In-Q-Tel’s formation was clear.

https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/additional-publications/in-q-tel/index.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-Q-Tel

[Douglas Carpenter]

6. well, that's certainly true of Facebook

[richard3]

10. In this period, only comedians tell the truth.

[jakeXT]

11. Facebook founder called trusting users dumb f*cks

Loveable Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg called his first few thousand users "dumb fucks" for trusting him with their data, published IM transcripts show. Facebook hasn't disputed the authenticity of the transcript.

Zuckerberg was chatting with an unnamed friend, apparently in early 2004. Business Insider, which has a series of quite juicy anecdotes about Facebook's early days, takes the credit for this one.

The exchange apparently ran like this:

Zuck: Yeah so if you ever need info about anyone at Harvard

Zuck: Just ask.

Zuck: I have over 4,000 emails, pictures, addresses, SNS

[Redacted Friend's Name]: What? How'd you manage that one?

Zuck: People just submitted it.

Zuck: I don't know why.

Zuck: They "trust me"

Zuck: Dumb fucks

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/05/14/facebook_trust_dumb/

[OKNancy]

7. Surely it's hard to defend him now.

It's so obvious what Putin is up to. It has zero to do with protecting Russian speakers or "saving Ukraine" and all that other bs.
How can so-called liberal support these actions?

[7962]

12. Because "USA bad"

[Cha]

13. Putin's like those posters around here.. "CIA" "CIA" "CIA"

[freshwest]

16. "CIA" "CIA" "CIA" = is their version of 'American Exceptionalism.' Gotta stay #1! n/t

[Ash_F]

8. Though unconscionable, this is still nothing compared to the US government

At least their legislators and public know it is coming, unlike ours.

and that speaks volumes.

[joshcryer]

17. You do know Wyden knew the answer to his question, right?

He's on the Senate Intelligence Committee. The question was rhetorical and Clapper couldn't really answer it. He later corrected the record after careful consideration with his lawyers.

[Ash_F]

19. No I don't. Do you have a source? /nt

[joshcryer]

20. Yup.

Wyden said National Intelligence Director James Clapper's office within days admitted privately Clapper lied in public testimony at an open congressional hearing March 12, but Clapper refused to acknowledge this formally to the committee for 14 weeks.

The New York Times reported June 11 Wyden knew immediately Clapper's testimony wasn't true, because Wyden is a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, which receives secret briefings from top intelligence officials, including Clapper.

Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2013/07/02/Wyden-deeply-troubled-by-Clappers-domestic-spying-lie/UPI-69721372748400/#ixzz2zs2N3Y00

Pretty cool system we got set up here.

Too bad no one ever goes after these guys for perjury.

[Sunlei]

9. Putin is such a N00B.everyone knows gamers started the internet so we could play table games global

[ozone_man]

18. I suppose he's right.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet

Maybe it is true now even more than at the beginning as the NSA exerts more and more control.