- Sputnik International
World
Get the latest news from around the world, live coverage, off-beat stories, features and analysis.

Oregon Man Dares Obama to Arrest Him for Giving Bitcoin to Edward Snowden

© REUTERS / Glenn Greenwald/Laura Poitras Edward Snowden
Edward Snowden - Sputnik International
Subscribe
An Oregon software programmer is calling on President Barrack Obama to arrest him for possibly violating an executive order which the 27-year-old believes prohibits citizens from providing cyber currency to intelligence leaker Edward Snowden.

Former NSA Contractor Edward Snowden - Sputnik International
NSA Struggles to Recruit New Talent in US Post-Snowden
Kristopher Ives, of Lafeyette, Ore., sent Snowden, who fled to Moscow after being charged with espionage, 33 cents via the cyber currency Bitcoin.

"It's not much but it's the principle of the matter," Ives wrote on the social networking site Reddit. "Please come arrest me. I live in Oregon and my name is Kristopher Ives and you can reach me at 503-383-1047."

The Executive Order which allows for "Blocking the Property of Certain Persons Engaging in Significant Malicious Cyber-Enabled Activities" appeared to Ives as criminalizing sending money to Snowden and others.

Snowden, a former contractor for the National Security Agency, made international headlines in 2013 when he leaked classified material to journalists.

Although he faces criminal charges related to operating against the United States, his supporters view him as a whistleblower exposing the wrongdoings of the intelligence sector. 

Edward Snowden, pictured here accepting the 2014 Carl von Ossietzky Medal via livestream in Berlin, was the fourth most admired man in Germany, according to a YouGov poll. - Sputnik International
Pentagon Cracks Down on Top Security Clearances After Snowden
He was responsible for exposing the NSA’s practice of gathering Americans’ telephone records. Others view him as a traitor fleeing prosecution.

ZDNet, a business technology website, published a piece on the online community’s reaction to Ive’s supposed act of civil disobedience.

“In a post on Reddit's Bitcoin subreddit, members pledged to donate to the whistleblower's relief fund, despite the wording of the new executive order suggesting that doing so was illegal," ZDNet noted.

However, the executive order may not actually put them in any legal trouble according to a report published by Motherboard.  

Nonetheless, several supporters are still flowing cash to Snowden’s Bitcoin wallet – more than $46,000 as of April 1 according to Ives.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала