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Twas not my intention to offend, but in a way I love it that Russians (I presume) can still get worked up about the East-facing/West-facing themes in the novels of Turgenev or Tolstoy!

I can't imagine many Americans rushing to denounce the political views of Melville!

> A government do not destroy a language, a culture, a tradition, a people, it did not exist and it does not exist ; these attacks come from abroad.

Now you sound like a character in the dystopian novel "Petersburg" by Andrei Bely. If you don't mind my saying so.

> US is a very young country without a real history, like Israel

Well, those countries certainly have *shorter* histories than Russia or France, but they are *interesting* histories which can help us all better understand the situation ordinary folk face at the dawn of the 21st Century.

Other than the issue of Turgenev's character, I am not sure we actually disagree about the important stuff. I was trying to warn that the US courts have generally not interpreted privacy as a right enshrined in the Bill of Rights, while you are arguing that they should so interpret the Constitution. In short, if I understand you correctly, we both want more privacy for all.

> > [Russia's Constitution] guarantees "the right to privacy of correspondence, of telephone conversations, postal, telegraph and other messages"
>
> Of course, such Constitutional guarantees are only as good as the willingness of courts to uphold them.

It's important for anyone working to slow the encroachment of explicit censorship into US, France, etc. to know that Iran is very far from being a political monolith. Just as in China, Russia, there are many intellectuals who are placing themselves in danger by speaking out in various ways. Tor can help them to do this a little more safely.

Iran's Constitution prohibits media censorship, but here too the courts have been unwilling to shoot down unconstitutional practices. (In fact, in Iran, the courts are often the most "hard-line" political institution.)

In a bold step which we should all applaud, a major Iranian newspaper has just published an open letter condemning political censorship:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/09/iranian-newspaper-ettelaat…
Iranian newspaper condemns media censorship in rare front-page editorial
9 Dec 2015

> The Islamic republic’s constitution has explicitly made clear that censorship is prohibited but the country has one of the world’s worst records of press freedom, with dozens of journalists and bloggers currently held behind bars.

Everyone in countries like France, USA is no doubt aware of the ascension of fascism in their own country. One effect the mainstreaming of far right views has is that "moderate" views now encompass such ideas as the recent suggestion by Rep. McCaul (chair of the US House of Rep Homeland Security Committee) that *any* "inflamatory" blogging "helps ISIS":

http://thehill.com/policy/national-security/262594-inflammatory-rhetori…
'Inflammatory' rhetoric helps ISIS, says chairman for Homeland Security
Julian Hattem
9 Dec 2015

> “Any time somebody is making inflammatory statements about Muslims or whatever, they can take that and use it to their advantage for recruiting purposes,” Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) told reporters at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor.

http://america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/12/8/whatever-happens-to-don…
Whatever happens to Donald Trump, Trumpism is here to stay
Ned Resnikoff
8 Dec 2015

> Americans are used to such venom dripping from the lips of talk radio hosts and the occasional Fox News anchor. But to be uttered by the frontrunner for the nomination of one of the two main parties was more than many had bargained for. What once had been considered hate speech confined to the margins of political life is now out and proud in the mainstream... [Trump's] base is not too different from that of the Front National, which just triumphed in the French regional elections, Ukip or any of the range of far-right parties currently making headway in Europe.

All Tor users should follow the fate of CISA, the US bill, which has passed both Senate and House with all privacy amendments voted down, so that the two versions of the law are being "reconciled" by McCaul and others, because it is virtually certain that NSA will use the information they get to target all Tor users whose Tor circuits sometimes pass through the US, i.e. all Tor users, using the excuse that "we have to see whether they are using Tor for cyberintrusion" [sic].

The one remaining provision which might have offered some civil rights protections was that most Senators and Reps who voted for the bills did so under the understanding that DHS would try to remove PHI before passing information on to NSA, etc., but behind closed doors even this has been removed. Since privacy advocates have been reduced to attempting to exploit turf wars between DHS, NSA, CIA, we should support the effort of--- believe it or not--- McCaul, who is no friend to privacy or network security to force the DHS role to remain in the law when it goes to the President for signature.

http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/262598-white-house-reviewing-ne…
White House reviewing cyber compromise
Cory Bennett
9 Dec 2015

> The White House is reviewing a near-final draft of major cybersecurity legislation that would encourage companies to share more data on hackers with the government, according to multiple people with direct knowledge of the negotiations...the Obama administration’s approval is not certain... portions of the text [are] still being negotiated.

In the context of a last-minute rush to avoid a USG shutdown this weekend, new bills are being introduced by powerful politicians trying to force them through at the last minute without debate:

http://thehill.com/policy/cybersecurity/262530-social-media-terrorism-b…
Bill targeting social media 'terrorist activity' faces backlash
Katie Bo Williams
8 Dec 2015

> Feinstein, the Senate Intelligence Committee's top Democrat, has been pushing for legislation to try to stall the growing use of social media by extremist groups to spread propaganda, recruit followers and plan attacks.

It is easy to forget that there appears to be little if any credible evidence supporting this assumption, much less the assumption that alleged recruitment drives are actually accomplishing what Feinstein claims to fear.

As we have seen in Iran, once you give censors the power to block political views they dislike, they will abuse their power.

I hope to see a global grassroots movement making an international outcry against censorship and oppression everywhere. And calling for the courts to uphold constitutions everywhere.

If Iranian journalists are courageous enough to speak out, so should FVEY and French journalists.

Another alternative to raise funds for new paid staff would be for those who choose not to be anonymous to sponsor an employee. If 100 donors contribute $100/month it would raise $120,000 per year. Enough for one, or perhaps two employees. As a reward for their donation, the donor could receive 10 hours of computer/Tor assistance per year. (Which they could use themselves, donate back to Tor, or donate to some other worthy group)