I do agree with Vitaliy, come on how is that possible that someone considered "dangerous" for keeping secret information would be running around and talked in all mass media, NO WAY.

If this guy is genuine and I really doubt that, then the only possibility he is still alive it's because someone somewhere wants to show the world (aka mass not awaken people) a lesson, I CONTROL YOUR LIVE AND YOU CAN DO NOTHING ABOUT IT.

Now the more real theory is like Vitaliy said "decoy", will it be to deviate attention from something really important like a law being approved, the fact that there is a silent crisis that is about to blow, a preparation for a war declaration to some countries in Latin and south america, or that hundreds of millions bees are dying and if things continue like this we are absolutely dependent on transgenic seeds (aka economically), or whatever I do not now. But something is 99% sure Snowden is a actor (even if he himself does now it).

Security... well technology today is in a point where is not possible to hide, unless you have unlimited resources the only way to keep transparent is playing the game and don't move many people at the same time.

The question here is why they (power authorities) let happen so many illegal stuff, why so many crimes. Well the answer is simple, they need to feel comfortable to be themselves.

GREETINGS

If Snowden is a Red Herring (which wouldn't surprise me), then we have to ask "What is the purpose?". The simplest and most obvious explanation is that the government wants to "Beat the grass and startle the snakes". However I wonder if it is much more complex then that. We'll have a better idea once we see the conclusion to this little drama. It might be some sort of test of other countries to see which ones are loyal or not based on offers of asylum and such or even a long-term project to insert Snowden as an undercover operative.

I played around with Tor a short while back just to check it out. However I actually heard about it based on posts of older hackers fairy tales of the "Deep Web" to scare and awe the newbs. But because of all the renewed interest in those related posts from a year or two ago, Tor and .onion sites have gotten lot of popularity and exposure recently and such have also become even more trolled by law enforcement and such. Particularly the Silk Road and such. It's a big mess now I don't bother with and never had any use for except as entertainment value.

Joshua

Best would be to have a move of people towards encrypted communications, Tor Browser, email, search engines etc. encrypted phones are still bloody expensive: http://www.cryptophone.de/

@Vitaly_Kiselev You didn't read exactly what I was writing. I said that maybe it was not a big deal for you or for me or a many others who since years are knowing these kind of facts and are trying to make people conscious about it. But for the entire world to know and being a proved and published fact that they are being controled in any internet or phone comunication - that is a huge shock especially for the younger generations who in 70% think Snowden is a heroe. And this will definitely change their view and behaviour about dealing with communications systems. Thats why there is a before and an after.

@jimmykorea

I already told you that according to his own words and newspapers words he contacted them long ago. In time he was working still. All this were known to NSA from day one, as he (very strangely) specially contacted newspapers who are very closely related with goverments.

He also did not disclosed anything valuable.

But being worldwide published that the US government, their intelligence services and the corporations are spying every single persons communications in the entire world - that is big.

LOL. It is not. As it is just obvious. If you get any security conference or talk to any expert all told same things.

Mister Snowden even contacted all major newspapers (that work closely with NSA) long before his run, so everyone knew about it.

This guy is made for average man sitting before his TV :-)

@gameb

I already told my opinion about this guy. All of the facts show that he just a decoy.