Some of the most anticipated events at the SXSW Interactive Festival were Julian Assange and Edward Snowden's discussion on U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) surveillance of the web.

Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, talked about the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) via a live streaming video during the SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin. Speaking to 3,500 participants from his hiding place, the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, his speech centered on surveillance, journalism and the current condition in Ukraine. Assange also criticized the administration of President Obama for disregarding Snowden's exposure of NSA wiretapping activities eight months ago. He insisted that the U.S. government should have conducted an investigation and compelled a responsible party to leave the NSA.

Assange confessed to being surprised at the issues concerning the tech community, particularly issues of online privacy, security and spying. He stressed that web laws have become society's laws since the two have merged. Assange asserts that the NSA penetration of the Web has resulted in a "military occupation" of private space. He also argued that gathering information about their users has profited web giants like Google and Facebook in advertising revenues.

Assange has been detained in the Ecuadorian embassy since June 2012 in order to evade deportation to Sweden due to sexual assault allegations. Assange says that this is just the first step in an attempt to transfer him to the U.S. so he can be tried for circulating several confidential documents.

The five-day conference also features Edward Snowden, who will talk about the effects of NSA wiretapping on the tech community. An ex-contractor at the NSA, his talk includes technological methods that can protect the tech community from surveillance, including tips on how to protect personal data.

Snowden is currently exiled in Russia because he leaked a series of manuscripts that revealed the extent and nature of NSA surveillance. His work has won him acclaim in Europe, where he is nominated for the Nobel Prize for peace. Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist of the American Civil Liberties Union, will conduct the remote interview with Snowden on Monday.

Some of the most anticipated events at the SXSW Interactive Festival were to hear Julian Assange and Edward Snowden talked about NSA surveillance of the web.

Julian Assange, founder of WikiLeaks, talked about the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) via a live streaming video during the SXSW Interactive Festival in Austin. Speaking to 3,500 participants from his hiding place, the Ecuadorian Embassy in London, his speech centered on surveillance, journalism and the current condition in Ukraine. Assange also criticized the administration of President Obama for disregarding Edward Snowden's exposure of NSA wiretapping activities eight months ago. He insisted that the U.S. government should have conducted an investigation and compelled a responsible party to leave the NSA.

Assange confessed to being surprised at the issues concerning the tech community, particularly issues of online privacy, security and spying. He stressed that web laws have become society's laws since the two have merged. He asserted that the NSA penetration of the Web has resulted in a "military occupation" of private space. He argued that gathering information about their users has profited web giants like Google and Facebook in advertising revenues.

Julian Assange has been detained in the Ecuadorian embassy since June 2012 in order to evade deportation to Sweden due to sexual assault allegations. Assange says that this is just the first step in an attempt to transfer him to the U.S. so he can be tried for circulating several confidential documents.

The five-day conference also features Edward Snowden, who will talk about the effects of NSA wiretapping on the tech community. An ex-contractor at the NSA, his talk includes technological methods that can protect the tech community from surveillance, including tips on how to protect personal data. Snowden is currently exiled in Russia after he leaked a series of manuscripts that revealed the extent and nature of NSA surveillance. His work has won him acclaim in Europe, where he is nominated for the Nobel Prize for peace. Christopher Soghoian, principal technologist of the American Civil Liberties Union, will conduct the remote interview with Snowden on Monday.

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