In the wee hours of Sunday, the U.S. Embassy in Berlin became the unwitting host of a light show expressing opposition the U.S. surveillance programs.
"The United Stasi of America," was splashed on a wall at the embassy around 1 a.m., the work of German guerrilla artists.
The Europeans in general have been extremely critical of the surveillance programs. And the Germans have been particularly vocal given the history of the Nazis and the Stasi, the secret police during the communist era in East Germany.
The light projection also included the likeness of Kim Dotcom, also known as Kim Schmitz, the Internet entrepreneur who founded Megaupload and its successor, Mega.
However, the actual projection was carried out by Oliver Bienkowski, and is captured here in this YouTube video.
Bienkowski received permission from Kim Dotcom to use the image. Dotcom, a German who is currently living in New Zealand, then tweeted his approval from afar:
"I defaced the U.S. Embassy in Berlin with a truth-projection last night. 0wned!"
According to the German paper Bild, Bienkowski used a five-person team for the projection, and they spent three days setting up outside the embassy.
Agence France-Presse quoted a U.S. embassy spokesperson as saying, "Very funny. But anyone making such a comparison knows neither the Stasi nor the United States."
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