http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=10836733
Judge who watches the watchers
By Mai Chen 9:30 AM Thursday Sep 27, 2012
Former High Court judge Paul Neazor is a part-timer with the task of unravelling the great Dotcom spy scandal
In Mr Dotcom's case, the GCSB appears to have relied on the wrong advice of another public taxpayer funded agency, the Organised and Financial Crime Agency New Zealand, that Mr Dotcom and his associates were foreigners.
The GCSB failed to realise that this advice was wrong because they didn't check it. No one found out what the GCSB was up to because the Acting Prime Minister signed a ministerial certificate which effectively suppressed it. The GCSB had told him the certificate was warranted in the interests of security.
The result appears to be illegal spying because the GCSB Act states that the bureau must not take any action for the purpose of intercepting the communications of a person who is a New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/7734292/Scandals-spooks-not-regular-spies
Hager's book traced New Zealand's involvement in the global Echelon network, which spies on communications, including emails and phone calls. He interviewed a number of GCSB staff for the book.
The GCSB's involvement in the Dotcom case has raised questions about how and what information was collected on the internet entrepreneur.
Hager said the fact the GCSB operated without warrants limited its options, because any snooping which necessitated planting a device would require one. "They can legally go out and listen to the airwaves, because that's not planting a device.
"So they could theoretically sit on a hill and pick up signals. Those signals intelligence officers are very good . . . they pick up all the local radio signals so basically they would be picking up his mobile-phone traffic."
The other way they could spy on Dotcom was through the Waihopai listening station, which is part of the Echelon network. "They'd actually just plug in his email address, his name, his company name whatever and see what comes off it."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/7734184/Dotcoms-lawyers-question-police-statements
Dotcom's lawyer Paul Davison told the High Court at Auckland yesterday that Mr Wormald had said in evidence on August 9 there was no surveillance of Dotcom undertaken by anyone other than New Zealand police to his knowledge.
However, the GCSB were engaged by police to monitor Dotcom for at least a month before his arrest in January and attended a meeting with police and Crown Law before the raids.
"There are very grave and significant implications arising from this recent discovery," Mr Davison said.
He said it was not the first time Mr Wormald had been "inconsistent" and he had corrected his errors about other aspects of his testimony with an affidavit, but not the one about GCSB involvement.
Outside court, Mr Davison said the inconsistencies were "a matter of real concern".
"We had evidence from an officer on oath and we have some other material which makes it look to be inconsistent with that."
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/7734301/SIS-involvement-in-Dotcoms-residency-likely
Goff said it was hard to believe so many public agencies and government ministers were involved and Key was not made aware.
"Civil servants always act on the cautious side and if they're planning something that's big they like to ensure that there is a no surprises policy for government.
"Either [Key's] presiding over total incompetence or he's not telling the truth."
Judge Justice Helen Winkelmann in the High Court at Auckland yesterday questioned how GCSB could have been mistaken about Dotcom's residency.
