

New Zealand PM requests inquiry into illegal Megaupload wire tapping - polemic
http://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/prime-minister-requests-inquiry

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dendory
The sad thing isn't that we found out they used an illegal warrant, they had
suspicious motives, or used illegal wiretapping, but that this comes out
purely because this is such a public case. Just think if so much shady
business goes on in a case they know will be high profile, how widespread and
commonplace these practices must be all around. How many other cases we won't
ever hear about because they aren't so scrutinized? Are we yet at a place
where officers breaking the law is so commonplace they just don't care or even
think about it anymore? Is going by the book something we tell children about,
but we all know it never happens?

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mattdw
See also MP John Banks' “I can only help you if your donations to me are
anonymous” to Dotcom. This case is making public a whole lot of what looks
like routine corruption.

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veb
Yet NZ is supposed to have next to no corruption. OK...

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption_Perceptions_Index>

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RachelF
Same goes for Australia, there's a high level of corruption in the form of
donations to politicians.

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chii
Theres no way to avoid the sort of "corruption" that you speak of - when an
individual (or entity) has money, it can be translated to power thru the use
of it.

The difference is that at least donations are (supposed to be?) listed and
tracable, and can be scrutinized if necessary.

Compare it with the sort of corruptino you find in countries like india, and
china, where you _have_ to give money to the official to get your paper signed
to do somethign that ordinarily you should'nt have to (e.g., may be you'd like
to open a car import/export business. you'd be paying quite a few visites to
gov't officials with expensive gifts or unmarked bills).

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stfu
It is great to see that there are still "somewhere" in the world high level
politicians who take these kind of things seriously. Judging by the coziness
of the US administration with the Entertainment industry and its lacking
willingness to clean up issues such as the Fast and Furious/AFT gunwalking
scandal, I very much doubt that this would have happened in the US.

~~~
mattdw
It's worth noting that in NZ, the Prime Minister is also the Minister
overseeing the GCSB. He has to sign off on all surveillance warrants, too. So
at the very least it's a huge and public failure in his department; at the
worst, he's complicit in illegal surveillance.

It's yet to be seen what his involvement is, but his whole involvement in this
case has reeked of ass-covering and distancing. It'll be interesting to see
the outcome of this inquiry.

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rjd
If you read this article
[http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&obj...](http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10836179)
he specifically states "Prime Minister John Key has revealed the GCSB was
acting without his sign-off".

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jordanthoms
Makes me proud to be a kiwi. Aside from the initial raid, I think the systems
have held up well despite lots of 'international pressure'

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dekz
Unlawful actions make you proud to be a Kiwi? This whole ordeal reminds me of
the BP oil spill, sure they'll help clean up, but lets not ignore what lead us
to this situation in the first place.

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lancewiggs
Yes - it's similar to after the Rainbow Warrior bombing. The French were able
to perpetrate a terrorist act, but they were comprehensively caught amidst a
sense of nationwide outrage.

The copyright lobby and elements of the USG were able to apply to pressure to
a few individuals, but after the back helicopters that sense of outrage and
strong internal systems are kicking in hard.

~~~
lostlogin
I like your comparison, but it doesn't quite work, as New Zealanders actually
did the door kicking dirty work. But another parallel is sure to emerge -
those who were/are responsible, get a slap over the wrist. I hope the
footnotes to the Ranbow Warrior saga dont pan out - The Rainbow Warrior
bombers who committed murder were basically treated as heroes and given medals
once home - while France savaged New Zealand industry as some kind of
punishment.

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Gustomaximus
And just as importantly: "Mr Key says he has also asked the Inspector-General
to recommend any measures he considered necessary to prevent the issue from
happening again."

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lostlogin
As this government would do absolutely anything to get closer to the US, I
suspect you're not right. Even the previous government tried fairly hard
(troops to Afghanistan for example), but this time it's shameless.

~~~
lostlogin
Sorry, terrible phrasing, and I can't seem to edit it. >>As this government
would do absolutely anything to get closer to the US, I suspect nothing will
come of any investigation. Even the previous government tried fairly hard
(troops to Afghanistan for example), but this governments pandering is
shameless. The Dotcom case being a prime example.<<

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Matsta
Meh, nothing is going to happen. We'll probably never hear the results of the
outcome of the inquiry. If NZ Police are involved, they'll just take their
sweet merry time until we all forget about it and then move onto something
else.

~~~
polemic
It's performed by "The Inspector-General of Intelligence and Security", a DoJ
appointment who must have been a High Court judge, and who has complete access
to the documents, premises and staff of the NZSIS and GCSB.

So, there is some hope!

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oreilly
A lot more information on this can be found in the NZ Herald (Major newspaper)
here:
[http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&obj...](http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10836179)

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ihsw
It seems 'Democracy' will be coming to NZ soon.

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davidw
What are you talking about? New Zealand has a flourishing democracy.

Or is this supposed to be some kind of hip/ironic comment suggesting... what,
that the US is going to invade NZ?

This is an example of why political articles foster commentary that is... less
than stellar.

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ihsw
The US sphere of influence is very well maintained and the US Government will
not tolerate deviation, it would be surprising to _not_ see diplomatic
pressure applied onto New Zealand. The US may not invade NZ in the sense
you're thinking but NZ going to get the US Government's attention (which is
rarely a good thing).

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sageikosa
Given that New Zealand scoffed at allowing US nuclear powered vessels to
harbor at their ports, it is unlikely that anything short of direct military
intervention will sway the New Zealand attitude. Any politician who is seen
appeasing the US would likely answer to the electorate in the next cycle.

~~~
lostlogin
Sort of. Please excuse the excess of history if you are familiar with it.
Prior to changing their leader, the National party (who now govern NZ) leader
said to an American senator that our nuclear policy would be 'gone by
lunchtime' if the National party got into power.
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10008905 It did and
Brash was elected, but Brash has somewhat cooked his goose since then. The
pressure from the US remains however, and the law remains unchanged.
www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10836045

Edit: spelling

