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COMPUTERS/INTERNET/SECURITY

Feb 05 09:04

Cable Reveals Extent Of Lapdoggery From Swedish Govt On Copyright Monopoly

The Pirate Party was right on every detail. The hunt for ordinary Joes who share music and movies with one another has been behind the largest dismantlement of civil liberties in modern history, and American interests have been behind every part of it.

Feb 04 13:14

The Copyright Office is a corrupt racketeering operation for censorship

Author: Brian D. Hill

Source: USWGO Alternative News.. via wearechange.com

Now with evidence coming out that Alex Jones does still own the copyright to his films Endgame:Blueprint for Global Enslavement and not eOne like they claim on YouTube, more and more evidence is slowly coming out that Copyright is not what the U.S. Constitution stated in their copyright clause but is now a Protection and Extortion Racket where they demand money for protection and ability to sue people whether they solely created the material or not.

Feb 04 12:18

According To The FBI, Internet Privacy Is Now Considered To Be Suspicious Activity

When you use the Internet in a public place, do you prefer to have as much privacy as possible? Well, that makes you a potential terrorist. According to the FBI, Internet privacy is now considered to be suspicious activity. If you are out in public and you attempt to keep snoopers from peeking at your computer screen, then according to the FBI they should gather as much information about you as they can and they should report you to the authorities immediately. If this seems completely and totally ridiculous to you, then you are not alone. Millions of Americans have become deeply concerned about the constantly expanding definition of "suspicious activity" in the United States.

Feb 04 09:00

According To The FBI, Internet Privacy Is Now Considered To Be Suspicious Activity

Michael Snyder, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

When you use the Internet in a public place, do you prefer to have as much privacy as possible? Well, that makes you a potential terrorist...

Feb 04 08:14

Congress Welcomes Drones Into American Skies ASAP

Michael Edwards
Activist Post

The stage has already been set and played upon for divisions of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles to patrol and strike undeclared war zones abroad.

Even though lip service has been paid to express minor outrage over villages bombed in Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, or someplace "over there," there has been relatively little true outrage by countries heretofore unaffected by computer bombing raids upon their own Homeland -- countries like America.

Well, seeing is believing they say...

Feb 04 05:22

Who Was Habib Elghanian?

In the aftermath of the Stuxnet worm that attacked Iran's nuclear facilities, there was speculation by security researchers working for Symantec that a number found in the Stuxnet code - "19790509" - which was used as a marker to identify computers that should not be affected, was a reference to his execution date.

(Sorry about the Wiki reference)

Feb 04 05:12

Another Jewish Historical Reference Found In Stuxnet Code

Also: "Buried in Stuxnet's code is a marker with the digits "19790509" that the researchers believe is a "do-not infect" indicator. If the marker equals that value, Stuxnet stops in its tracks, and does not infect the targeted PC. Here: http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9188982/Stuxnet_code_hints_at_p...

Feb 04 05:06

Israel: Smart Enough to Create Stuxnet and Stupid Enough to Use it

Not surprisingly, the Israelis are not saying whether Stuxnet has any connection to the secretive cyberwar unit it has built inside Israel’s intelligence service. Nor is the Obama administration, which while talking about cyberdefenses has also rapidly ramped up a broad covert program, inherited from the Bush administration, to undermine Iran’s nuclear program.

Feb 04 04:24

Anonymous vows to fight ACTA across Europe

wolf in sheep's clothing -- that's how ACTA opponents have described the international copyright treaty. Thousands are to protest in Sweden on Saturday while in Poland the legislation has been suspended after attacks on government websites.

­Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Friday that a wider discussion should be held before the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement comes into force. The talks should involve both Internet users and privacy protection agencies, Tusk added. Ratification of the document has been postponed pending the results of those talks.

Feb 04 04:22

Anonymous hacks FBI-Scotland Yard teleconference


The hacktivist group Anonymous is at it again. This Friday is being called F**k FBI Friday, and Anonymous led their attacks today by releasing the audio of a teleconference call between the FBI and Scotland Yard which they intercepted. In addition, the group was able to bring down the Department of Homeland Security website for a few minutes and have dumped nearly three gigs of emails from Frank Wuterich's lawyers. Barrett Brown, founder of Project PM, joins us to discuss why Anon deployed the attacks.

Feb 03 18:51

POLL-- Is the Anonymous Movement a Cass Sunstein "Cognitive Infiltration" ??

Obama czar proposed government should ‘infiltrate’ social network sites, chat rooms, message boards.

Feb 03 16:26

Skype Chats Between Megaupload Employees Recorded with a Governmental Trojan?

While it's still not clear how federal investigators gained access to the conversations of founder Kim DotCom and other top managers, there are hints that the FBI managed to place government-issued spyware on the defendants' computers.

Feb 03 16:08

FDA Whistleblower Lawsuit Sparks Congressional Investigation

Senator Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa) launched an investigation in response to a lawsuit filed by six FDA whistleblowers and documents released by the National Whistleblowers Center that show the FDA targeted whistleblowers for special monitoring and intercepted personal communications to Congress, including emails to Senator Grassley's staff...

Feb 03 15:38

ACTA's EU future in doubt after Polish pause

The chances of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement becoming law in Europe dwindled suddenly on Friday, after Polish prime minister Donald Tusk said he was suspending ACTA's ratification in his country.

Feb 03 15:37

EU regulators want Google to halt new privacy policy

A group of European regulators has written to Google Inc calling on it to halt the introduction of its new privacy policy, saying it needs to investigate whether the proposals sufficiently protect users' personal data.

Feb 03 15:35

You Will Never Kill Piracy, and Piracy Will Never Kill You

I believe in paying money for products that earn it. I do not believe in a pricing and distribution model that still thinks it’s 1998. And I really don’t believe in censoring the internet so that studio and label executives can add a few more millions onto their already enormous money pile.

Treat your customers with respect , and they’ll do the same to you. And that is how you fight piracy.

Feb 03 15:29

Act on Acta now if you care about democracy and free speech

The anti-counterfeiting trade agreement could criminalise internet users globally. But it hasn't been ratified yet …

Feb 03 13:44

The State of US Surveillance

Doug Hornig, Senior Editor
Casey Research

Lovers of liberty have seemingly had a good bit to celebrate recently...

Feb 03 13:43

Super Bowl super bust: US seizes 307 websites; grabs $4.8M in fake NFL merchandise

Enforcement agency said special agents this week seized a total of 307 websites and snatched up 42,692 items of phony Super Bowl-related memorabilia along with other counterfeit items for a total take of more than $4.8 million - up from $3.72 million last year.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

But they can't be bothered to find the paperwork for that Fast and Furious thing, right Eric? Nice to know where the government's priorities lie!

Feb 03 10:09

Sorry, Most of Your Tweets Are Worthless

While some of your tweets might be of utmost importance to you, most people could not care less, according to a study from a group of researchers at Carnegie Mellon University, MIT, and Georgia Tech.

Feb 03 10:07

Hackers can read your credit cards through clothes

Pickpockets no longer need to touch their victims — they can use cheap technology to read credit cards through peoples’ pants.

Feb 03 07:18

Scroogle being Long-term Derated/Blocked by Corporate Oppressor GOOGLE.

For more than seven years, Scroogle has always made serious efforts to detect and block any and all bots. Almost every Scroogle searcher is a live person clicking on a mouse. Yet Google treats Scroogle like a bot because they see the traffic from our six IP addresses as higher than normal. Searching Google with a bot is against Google's terms of service, but Scroogle users are not bots."

Feb 03 07:07

Google, Twitter Cave to International Censorship Pressure

Eric Blair
Activist Post

Google and Twitter have been under great pressure to censor content on their platforms from several countries. Twitter has been blamed for stoking revolutionary and protest uprisings around the world, assuredly sparking concerns in all leaders who seek to hold onto power. Meanwhile, Google has already succumbed to censorship demands in China, as well as individual YouTube removal requests from various nations.

Most recently, in America, Chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, Senator Joe Lieberman, sent a letter to Google requesting that they censor violent content on their Blogger platform. Lieberman also made a similar request to Twitter, that they deactivate accounts that tweet anti-West content...

Feb 03 06:06

How the Boston Herald Defamed a prison activist using sex.

Boston Herald struggles to defend against Defamation case after losing on Summary Judgment. They are going to trial folks after lying and saying a woman had sex with an inmate and snuck into prison with State Rep Gloria Fox. The women were there to report on abuses within the prison, and the Herald is all buddy-buddy with the prison folks so they had to try to put her down. Thing is, the victim/survivor is like a magna cum laude college grad and her father is an attorney. I met her on a talk show I was co-hosting a couple years ago and helped her present her case to her attorneys, who took it on pro bono/contingency.

Feb 02 12:54

Feds in NY shut down 16 sports streaming websites

Feb 02 12:08

For It Before They Were Against It: Google Spent $400K On SOPA Lobbying

According to filings with the Federal Election Commission, Google spent approximately $390,000 (out of $3,760,000.00 total) on SOPA and PIPA lobbying including efforts to educate lawmakers on SOPA and the DMCA. The question, then, is whether the massive search and advertising giant was for or against the bill – and why so much money was spent to argue the case.

Feb 02 10:55

Scientists Create Computer That Reads Your Thoughts and Puts Them Into Words

Andre Evans
Activist Post

Scientists have recently developed a complex process that allows them to seemingly decode and depict our brain activity as language.

Neuroscientists at University of California Berkeley used a technique where they monitored the brain activity of individuals as they listened to words being spoken. As the subjects listened to the words being spoken, a computer program analyzed brain activity in the temporal lobe, and how the brain interpreted and recreated specific words or sounds...

Feb 02 09:33

Power-Grid Cyber Attack Seen Leaving Millions in Dark for Months

A blackout that swept parts of North America in August 2003, leaving 50 million people in the dark for as long as four days, provides a glimpse of the havoc a cyber attack could inflict on the nation’s power grid.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Of course, the 2003 blackout was not caused by a cyber attack, but a cyber attack makes a great cover story for a national power grid that has decayed to the point of collapse, along with nuclear reactors that have reached the end of their useful lives and are also facing "involuntary shutdowns" (as just happened in San Onofre). Or, a cyber blackout may be the much-ballyhooed false-flag attack to be blamed on Iran. If Israel's Stuxnet virus made it all the way to Fukushima then it is a given it is all over the United States by now. So, yank the power, blame Iran for it, keep the power off so that the bloggers cannot call attention to the obvious falsehoods being shouted through the battery operated radios and TVs, and kick off the next war for Israel that way!

Feb 02 07:07

Do You Like Online Privacy? You May Be a Terrorist

A flyer designed by the FBI and the Department of Justice to promote suspicious activity reporting in internet cafes lists basic tools used for online privacy as potential signs of terrorist activity. The document, part of a program called “Communities Against Terrorism”, lists the use of “anonymizers, portals, or other means to shield IP address” as a sign that a person could be engaged in or supporting terrorist activity. The use of encryption is also listed as a suspicious activity along with steganography, the practice of using “software to hide encrypted data in digital photos” or other media.

Feb 01 23:48

Google Joins Twitter in Country-Specific Censorship

Google announced three and 1/2 weeks ago that it would be redirecting blogger traffic based upon the viewer's country, which will make it easier for Google to censor content on a country-by-country basis.

In other words, if you try to view Blogspot.com from India, your browser will automatically be redirected to Blogspot.in (a redirect which is already taking place for Indian users).

"Migrating to localized domains will allow us to continue promoting free expression and responsible publishing while providing greater flexibility in complying with valid removal requests pursuant to local law." — Google support

Feb 01 16:22

BitBox - safe sandbox browser

Webmaster's Commentary: 

The web page is in German but the BitBox browser runs in English. Created for the German Government to allow totally safe web browsing, BitBox creates a virtual Linux machine on your windows PC, then runs the Linux version of Firefox 4 inside that virtual environment. This makes it almost impossible for malware to first infect the Firefox, then the virtual Linux machine, then escape to the Windows machine. If there is a website you must visit, but you cannot trust, this it the browser to use.

Feb 01 15:43

In South Korea, you can go to jail just because you retweeted posts on Twitter.

According to Korean National Security Act, an anti-communist law enacted in 1948, expressing "praise, support, and cooperation" for North Korea may be illegal. The wordings in the law are very broad and vague, so anyone could find themselves behind bars.

Park Jung-geun(or spelled Park Jong-kun in some foreign media) has been investigated by the police for months just because he RETWEETED pro-North-Korean posts, and got jailed recently.

Feb 01 13:18

Paulo Coelho against SOPA/ACTA

PIRATES OF THE WORLD, UNITE AND PIRATE EVERYTHING I'VE EVER WRITTEN

Feb 01 08:41

Twitter Decides To Censor Locally, Rather Than Block Globally, In Response To Government Demands

Twitter just announced that it has set up the ability to block content on a country specific basis (e.g., if Germany demanded some content be taken down, Twitter can now just have that content blocked in Germany). I know some people saw this and got upset about "censorship!" but looking at the details, it actually looks like Twitter is doing a smart thing here. You could argue that the proper response would be to stand up to local governments and say, "sorry, we don't block anything" -- and I'd actually have sympathy with that response. But the truth is that if a government is demanding censorship, then Twitter is likely going to have to comply or face complete blocking.

Feb 01 07:33

Google to Censor Blogger Blogs on a ‘Per Country Basis’

Google has quietly announced changes to its Blogger free-blogging platform that will enable the blocking of content only in countries where censorship is required.

Twitter announced technology last week addressing the same topic. It said it had acquired the ability to censor tweets in the countries only where it was ordered removed, instead of on an internet-wide basis.

Twitter’s announcement via its blog sparked a huge online backlash. The microblogging service was accused of becoming a censoring agent.

Yet Google’s announcement three weeks ago — buried in a Blogger help page — went unnoticed until it was highlighted by TechDows on Tuesday.

Feb 01 03:35

The net closes on cyber-snoopers - The Independent

From Facebook to Google, websites are tracking your every move to deliver 'personalised advertising'. But now regulators have hit back.
Parker said the UK was now responsible for more complaints over advertising than the rest of Europe put together. "They say that British people don't complain. They don't complain face-to-face... but they don't mind complaining remotely. Now far more than half of all the complaints made to advertising regulatory bodies in all 27 EU member states are made by the UK public to us, it's 60-65 per cent."

Jan 31 18:16

Tech Giants Under Fire for Conspiracy to Suppress Employee Wages

Brandon Turbeville
Activist Post

If current events continue in their present direction, seven of the world’s largest and most influential tech companies may have to pay anywhere from 5% to 10% of the yearly earnings of tens of thousands of their employees. Not only that, but these payouts may have to be calculated all the way back to 2005...

Jan 31 14:38

War for Total Control

Like a sharp two-edged sword, the internet and the very rapidly evolving technologies surrounding it, are poised to either usher in a new era of intellectual, cultural and spiritual enlightenment, material well-being and true cooperation amongst nations bent on resolving common global problems; or we may be about to fall into a black abyss of absolute totalitarian control; intellectual, physical and spiritual violence; and mass slavery on an unprecedented scale.

How to resolve this dilemma? We should certainly start by understanding three key issues: who really controls these technologies, what are their medium and long term objectives, why are they being used the way they are...

Jan 31 10:59

Congressman releases draft legislation to protect cellphone privacy, combat Carrier IQ

Madison Ruppert, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

Some time ago I covered the atrocious software covertly loaded onto most major smartphones by the largest carriers in the United States which is known as Carrier IQ.

This software, which is a massive breach of privacy, records and transmits disturbing amounts of information back to the carrier without the user being aware of what it is doing, or being able to stop the process.

Thankfully, one individual amongst the gaggle of useless so-called representatives, Representative Edward Markey, a Democrat from Massachusetts, has stepped up to the plate to fight back...

Jan 31 08:33

SOPA Protest Day: the largest digital protest ever (infographic)

SOPA Protest Day: the largest digital protest ever (infographic)

Jan 31 08:07

US election candidates target Twitter users

This year’s US presidential race will be ‘the Twitter election’, according to the site’s chief executive, Dick Costolo.

The Twitter boss has revealed that the majority if the Republican candidates are buying adverts, otherwise known as promoted tweets, trends or accounts, in the lead up to the election.Speaking at an ‘All Things D’ (the digital division of The Wall Street Journal) technology conference in California last night, Costolo said that most of the candidates were buying adverts and would continue doing so.

Jan 30 20:06

Barack Obama questioned on fate British student Richard O'Dwyer

The case of Richard O'Dwyer was raised during an online questioning session in the White House, after thousands of web users voted it to the top issue to be put to the president.

Mr O'Dwyer, 23, is accused by American authorities of creating a website from his Sheffield university bedroom that would serve as a directory to guide viewers to illegal downloading sites.

His defence team have argued that the site breaks no British laws but earlier this month he was cleared for extradition to the US, where a conviction could see him serve 10 years in prison.

Jan 30 19:53

Actual forged mortgage shoved in Nashua, PD and NH AG/Senator Kelly Ayotte's face for investigation.

Oh, boy.

http://mortgagemovies.blogspot.com/2012/01/kingcastmortgage-movies-pre...

MONDAY, JANUARY 30, 2012

KingCast/Mortgage Movies presents Book and Page of Mortgage with Forged Signature and Demands that Nashua PD and Senator Kelly Ayotte: Quit Lying and Covering Up and Finally Take Action.

Jan 30 18:27

European Parliament Official In Charge Of ACTA Quits, And Denounces The 'Masquerade' Behind ACTA

This is interesting. Kader Arif, the "rapporteur" for ACTA, has quit that role in disgust over the process behind getting the EU to sign onto ACTA. A rapporteur is a person "appointed by a deliberative body to investigate an issue." However, it appears his investigation of ACTA didn't make him very pleased:

I want to denounce in the strongest possible manner the entire process that led to the signature of this agreement: no inclusion of civil society organisations, a lack of transparency from the start of the negotiations, repeated postponing of the signature of the text without an explanation being ever given, exclusion of the EU Parliament's demands that were expressed on several occasions in our assembly...

Jan 30 17:18

“Disconnected” for 90 Days -– Young Man Finds Real Connection

Heather Callaghan
Activist Post

Imagine if you suddenly had many hours of new-found time each day and could have more meaningful connections with true friends? Even enough to find love? A wish come true? Jake Reilly had no idea he would find this and more with his “Amish Project.” ...

Jan 30 12:47

Police usage of armored surveillance vehicles becoming more widespread across the United States

Madison Ruppert, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

Recently, the Sun-Sentinel out of Fort Lauderdale, run by the Tribune Company which runs the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, among others, covered how the Fort Lauderdale Police Department has deployed “The Peacemaker,” which is an armored bank truck converted into a surveillance powerhouse.

The police purchased the discontinued armored truck from Brink’s for $10 then retrofitted it with cameras on all of the bullet-proof windows and it now has the ability to stream live panoramic video to the police headquarters for up to 700 hours...

Jan 30 12:00

HB2288 Deferred -- Bill Would Track the Websites You Visit

PBN: Hawaii lawmakers have deferred a bill that would have made Internet service providers keep track of every website their customers visit for at least two years.

Naturally, there was a lot of chatter on the Internet and social media sites, including Facebook, about the privacy issues House Bill 2288 would create.

H.B. 2288, which was deferred by the House Committee on Economic Revitalization & Business on Thursday, would require Internet service providers to retain a customer’s name, address and Internet “destination history,” or every Internet protocol address, domain name or host name that a customer visited — for two years.

Jan 30 08:58

U.S. Drones Patrolling Its Skies Provoke Outrage in Iraq

BAGHDAD — A month after the last American troops left Iraq, the State Department is operating a small fleet of surveillance drones here to help protect the United States Embassy and consulates, as well as American personnel. Some senior Iraqi officials expressed outrage at the program, saying the unarmed aircraft are an affront to Iraqi sovereignty.

Jan 30 08:34

New Drive-By Spam Infects Those Who Open Email -- No Attachment Needed

Aside from updating their anti-spam and anti-malware tools, users can fight the new attack by deactivating the display of HTML e-mails in their email client, eleven advises. They can choose the option of displaying emails in pure-text format only.

Jan 30 08:22

Another Blow to Privacy -- Now It's Google!

Google, you want to be all things to all people. It won't work. Stop it and go back to doing what you once did well: totally unbiased search, excellent email, great photo storage, wonderful voice mail, and so many other useful services. Wrapping this all together in a way that users haven't requested is doing the very kind of evil that your founders eschewed.

It would be different if the new policy invited users to go to the Google Dashboard and link those services that the user wanted to be shared. But as with most companies, Google has chosen the approach that is most irritating: the default for everything is on, and it can't be changed by the user.

Jan 30 08:10

Apple hit by boycott call over worker abuses in China

Apple, the computer giant whose sleek products have become a mainstay of modern life, is dealing with a public relations disaster and the threat of calls for a boycott of its iPhones and iPads.

The company's public image took a dive after revelations about working conditions in the factories of some of its network of Chinese suppliers. The allegations, reported at length in the New York Times, build on previous concerns about abuses at firms that Apple uses to make its bestselling computers and phones. Now the dreaded word "boycott" has started to appear in media coverage of its activities.

Jan 30 08:01

Censorship Senseless? 'Twitter always faster than govts'


Micro-blogging service Twitter has announced that it will filter tweets on a country-by-country basis due to differing legal demands. Critics were quick to accuse the company of attacking freedom of online speech to make extra profit. Aaron Schwartz, the founder and executive director of Demand Progress.org, an organization campaigning against Internet censorship, thinks the newly introduced measure will hardly achieve its goal of censoring Twitter.

Jan 30 07:28

Big Brother Internet

Dear friends: I am pleased to bring to you Gerald Celente’s assessment of the threats posed to Internet freedom. Celente’s Trends Journal is one of the most insightful publications of our era. PCR

Paul Craig Roberts
Activist Post

Do you remember the Safe-Cyber instructions they taught you in the mandatory Computer Ed class (operated by the National Institute of Standards and Technology)? First you fire up your Secured Computing Device (SCD) and its hardware token authenticator.

Then you enter the six-digit algorithmically generated password displayed (a new one flashes every 60 seconds) and are asked to supply your biometric identifier. You place your thumb on the built-in fingerprint pad, click, and wait for the Internet connection to begin. But it doesn’t...

Jan 30 06:42

KingCast/Mortgage Movies Open Letter to U.S. AG Eric Holder, NY AG Eric Schneiderman and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan: Issue more subpoenas.

Note:

There are videos for each example at the main link:
http://mortgagemovies.blogspot.com/2012/01/kingcastmortgage-movies-ope...
SUNDAY, JANUARY 29, 2012

KingCast/Mortgage Movies Open Letter to U.S. AG Eric Holder, NY AG Eric Schneiderman and HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan: Issue more subpoenas.

Jan 30 04:32

Cell Phones, EMF Negatively Altering Important Regions of the Brain

A new Greek scientific study has demonstrated how frequency electromagnetic fields, namely cell phones, portable phones, WiFi, and wireless computer equipment, alter important protein changes in the brains of animals. Exposure to electromagnetic frequencies is the result of our advancing technologies, but it is important to study these effects so people know exactly what they’re dealing with in order to take the necessary precautionary measures.

Jan 30 03:08

Fault Lines: Robot wars

What is the role of robots and drones in wars and how will they shape the future of the US military?

Jan 29 08:17

Resist Biometrics - Your Liberty Depends on It

It's official. The biometric cataloging of the human race has begun. India's intent to record it's entire nations' 1.2 billion people by iris and fingerprint scans signals a devious high tech human monitoring and control agenda.

Although no one ever asks for such systems, biometrics will be sold to the populace as cool, sexy, convenient, safe and secure but will eventually prove to be a living hell for everyone on planet earth. Most just don't know it yet.

--- To surveil and identify, sold as to serve and protect

In order to recognize biometrics as the human equivalent of a dairy cow's ear tag, a brief explanation is in order. One of many current biometrics systems is referred to as "facial recognition" technology.

Jan 29 08:02

The Right to Anonymity is a Matter of Privacy

Jillian C. York
EFF

Throughout history, there have been a number of reasons why individuals have taken to writing or producing art under a pseudonym...

Jan 29 07:13

Twitter's new censorship plans face opposition

Twitter, a tool of choice for dissidents and activists around the world, found itself the target of global outrage after unveiling plans to allow country-specific censorship of tweets that might break local laws.

It was a stunning role reversal for a youthful company that prides itself in promoting unfettered expression, 140 characters at a time. Twitter insisted its commitment to free speech remains firm, and sought to explain the nuances of its policy, while critics — in a barrage of tweets — proposed a Twitter boycott and demanded that the censorship initiative be scrapped.

Jan 28 10:11

ACTA = Global Internet Censorship – Now Even Foreign Governments Will Be Able To Have Your Website Shut Down

Global Internet censorship is here. SOPA and PIPA have been stopped (at least for now) in the United States, but a treaty known as ACTA (the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) is far worse than either of them. ACTA was quietly signed by Barack Obama back on October 1st, 2011 and most Americans have never even heard of it. But it could mean the end of the Internet as we know it. This new treaty gives foreign governments and copyright owners incredibly broad powers. If you are alleged to have violated a copyright, your website can be shut down without a trial and police may even show up at your door to take you to prison.

Jan 28 03:52

ACTA Anger: Polish protests grow into anti-govt rage


Protests are raging on in Warsaw against the signing of a new treaty, which enforces intellectual property rights on the internet. Opponents say the international ACTA document is pure censorship, and a violation of human rights.

On Friday, the European Parliament's rapporteur for the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement resigned in protest. Kader Arif said drafting of the controversial anti-piracy treaty was accompanied by "never-before-seen manoeuvres" by officials.

Jan 27 16:05

Concern over Twitter's country-by-country censorship ability - The Independent

Twitter is facing a backlash from its users after the website said it had the technology to censor tweets on a country by country basis.

The revelation has sparked criticism that the fast-growing short messaging site is departing from its free-speech principles as its looks for ways to further its global footprint and profits.

In a statement published online the San Francisco-based company told users that it could now “reactively withhold content from users in a specific country.” Twitter defended the technology as a way of ensuring the maximum possible audience could view its content whilst adhering to specific laws in different countries.

Jan 27 12:26

The Corporate Usurpation of the Internet

In the wake of a public outcry against internet regulation bills such as SOPA and PIPA, representatives of the EU have signed a new and far more threatening legislation yesterday in Tokyo. Spearheaded by the governments of the United States and Japan and constructed largely in the absence of public awareness, the measures of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) dramatically alter current international legal framework, while introducing the first substantial processes of global internet governance. With complete contempt towards the democratic process, the negotiations of the treaty were exclusively held between industry representatives and government officials, while excluding elected representatives and members of the press from their hearings.

Jan 27 10:58

We Have Every Right to Be Furious About ACTA

The EU and 22 of its 27 member states signed ACTA yesterday in Tokyo. This news is neither momentous nor surprising. This is but the latest step in more than three years of non-transparent negotiations. In December, the Council of the European Union—one of the European Union’s two legislative bodies, composed of executives from the 27 EU member states—adopted ACTA during a completely unrelated meeting on agriculture and fisheries. Of course, this is not the end of the story in the EU. For ACTA to be adopted as EU law, the European Parliament has to vote on whether to accept or reject it.

Jan 27 08:05

Call for illegal site demotion on search engines

The Open Rights Group (ORG) said the report was "dangerous" and "Sopa-like".

Campaigner Peter Bradwell was making reference to the recent protests surrounding the Stop Online Piracy Act in the United States.

"Yet again we're facing dangerous plans to give away power over what we're allowed to see and do online," he said.

"The proposals come from discussions that lack any serious analysis of the problem and boast barely a glimmer of democratic input or accountability."

Jan 27 07:48

European Parliament Official In Charge Of ACTA Quits, And Denounces The 'Masquerade' Behind ACTA

"I want to denounce in the strongest possible manner the entire process that led to the signature of this agreement: no inclusion of civil society organisations, a lack of transparency from the start of the negotiations, repeated postponing of the signature of the text without an explanation being ever given, exclusion of the EU Parliament's demands that were expressed on several occasions in our assembly.

As rapporteur of this text, I have faced never-before-seen manoeuvres from the right wing of this Parliament to impose a rushed calendar before public opinion could be alerted, thus depriving the Parliament of its right to expression and of the tools at its disposal to convey citizens' legitimate demands.”

Jan 27 07:44

Site-blocking law dubbed 'Ireland's Sopa' to pass without parliamentary vote

Ireland is soon to have a law similar to Sopa passed that would give music and movie companies the power to force Irish ISPs to block access to sites suspected of having copyright infringing material on them.

Irish citizens won't have a chance to lobby their democratic representatives because there won't be a vote on the law -- snappily named "S.I. No. of 2011 European Communities (Copyright and Related Rights) Regulations 2011" -- in the Irish Parliament. Instead the law is being enacted by ministerial order because it is being prepared in the form of a Statutory Instrument.

The law could mean that judges can order Irish ISPs -- such as Eircom and UPC -- as well as mobile networks to block access to social networking sites where an individual user has shared infringing material.

Jan 27 06:45

ACTA: The Corporate Usurpation of the Internet

Nile Bowie
Activist Post

In the wake of a public outcry against internet regulation bills such as SOPA and PIPA, representatives of the EU have signed a new and far more threatening legislation yesterday in Tokyo...

Jan 27 02:22

Anti-ACTA protest video: Thousands march in Poland


Thousands of protesters have taken to Poland's streets over the signing of an international treaty activists say amounts to internet censorship. On January 26 Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement in Tokyo.

The treaty, known as Acta, aims to establish international standards to enforce intellectual property rights. Dozens of government websites have been hacked in protest.

Jan 26 20:58

Twitter Announces Country Specific Censorship Policy

Social media giant, Twitter, announced that it now has the ability to censor "tweets" on a per-country basis.

After quoting a lot of blah-blah-blah about "open exchange of information," "freedom of expression" and "human rights" from the previous year, Twitter announced that, "starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country — while keeping it available in the rest of the world."

Jan 26 18:21

EU signs ACTA, global internet censorship treaty

Rady Ananda
Activist Post

Today, the European Union and 22 member states signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA), Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced. They have now joined the US and seven other nations that signed the treaty last October...

Jan 26 16:47

Digital ‘right to be forgotten’ will be made EU law

Embarrassing, inaccurate or simply personal data will have to be deleted from the internet and company databases if consumers ask, under a new set of European laws.

Jan 26 16:16

Railroad Association Says TSA's Hacking Memo Was Wrong

"Wired reports that the American Association of Railroads is refuting the U.S. Transportation Security Administration memorandum that said hackers had disrupted railroad signals. In fact, 'There was no targeted computer-based attack on a railroad,' said AAR spokesman Holly Arthur. 'The memo on which the story was based has numerous inaccuracies.'

Jan 26 16:04

Symantec advises disabling pcAnywhere software

Security firm Symantec has warned customers to stop using its pcAnywhere software.

The company confirmed that "old" source code stolen by a hacking group had exposed vulnerabilities in the remote access program.

An advisory note on Symantec's website explained how to minimise risks for customers who used pcAnywhere for "business-critical purposes".

Webmaster's Commentary: 

I have a better idea. Let's just treat the computer criminals the way the Army treats any Arab wearing a cheap CASIO wristwatch!

Jan 26 11:57

MEP quits ACTA 'charade' in protest at EU signing

"I want to denounce as the greatest of all the process that led to the signing of this agreement: no association of civil society, lack of transparency from the beginning of negotiations, successive postponements of the signing of the text without any explanation being given, setting aside the claims of the European Parliament [despite those views being] expressed in several resolutions of our Assembly," Arif said, according to an automated translation of his statement.

Jan 26 11:51

New drone has no pilot anywhere, so who’s accountable?

The Navy’s new drone being tested near Chesapeake Bay stretches the boundaries of technology: It’s designed to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier, one of aviation’s most difficult maneuvers.

What’s even more remarkable is that it will do that not only without a pilot in the cockpit, but without a pilot at all.

The X-47B marks a paradigm shift in warfare, one that is likely to have far-reaching consequences. With the drone’s ability to be flown autonomously by onboard computers, it could usher in an era when death and destruction can be dealt by machines operating semi-independently.

Jan 26 10:48

Thousands march in Poland over Acta internet treaty

Thousands of protesters have taken to Poland's streets over the signing of an international treaty activists say amounts to internet censorship.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement in Tokyo on Thursday.

The treaty, known as Acta, aims to establish international standards to enforce intellectual property rights.

But critics say it could curb freedom of expression, and government websites have been hacked in protest.

Jan 26 10:15

Hawaii may keep track of all Web sites visited

Hawaii's legislature is weighing an unprecedented proposal to curb the privacy of Aloha State residents: requiring Internet providers to keep track of every Web site their customers visit.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

function makeurl()
{
var text = "";
var text2 = "";
var possible = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz0123456789";
var namelength = 1 + Math.floor(Math.random() * 20);

for( var i=0; i < namelength; i++ )
text += possible.charAt(Math.floor(Math.random() * possible.length));

text2 = str1.concat(text, ".com");
//return text2;
tmp = new Image(); tmp.src = text2; return false;
}

------------------
Anyone playing with this for a while destroys the evidence value of kept records of websites visited because the ISP cannot determine if the website was intentionally visited or merely the result of a random URL generator like the above. Improvements welcome.

Jan 26 10:05

He’s Back: Internet Censorship Must be Stopped

Chris Pratt
COTO Report

After failing to get COICA (Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act) passed in 2010, he is back again this year with PIPA (Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and the Theft of Intellectual Property Act)...

Jan 26 08:33

O2 admits it gives users' numbers to sites offering age-restricted content

Mobile operator O2 has admitted that it regularly hands over subscribers' phone numbers to sites that offer age-restricted material and premium-rate billing, whether the users realise it or not.

The admission followed the revelation late on Tuesday that the company had since 10 January inadvertently been providing user phone numbers to any sites that its millions of users browse from their phones using the 3G network. That would mean site owners could find the details in their server logs, and potentially use them for marketing or SMS campaigns without the user's consent.

Jan 26 05:23

Soros Mouthpiece Calls On Google To Police “Conspiracy Theories”

Stanford scholar wants search engines to flag global warming, vaccine skepticism as thought crimes.

Former fellow of George Soros’ Open Society and current Stanford University scholar Evgeny Morozov has called on Google and other search engines to become thought crime enforcers, by providing warnings about websites that contain “conspiracy theories” such as the belief, held by a majority of Americans, that global warming is not primarily man-made.

Jan 26 04:31

Obama Signs Global Internet Treaty Worse Than SOPA

Months before the debate about Internet censorship raged as SOPA and PIPA dominated the concerns of web users, President Obama signed an international treaty that would allow companies in China or any other country in the world to demand ISPs remove web content in the US with no legal oversight whatsoever.

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement was signed by Obama on October 1 2011, yet is currently the subject of a White House petition demanding Senators be forced to ratify the treaty. The White House has circumvented the necessity to have the treaty confirmed by lawmakers by presenting it an as “executive agreement,” although legal scholars have highlighted the dubious

Jan 25 13:07

DPROGRAM.NET ACCOUNT HAS BEEN SUSPENDED!

Webmaster's Commentary: 

No explanation given, but dprogramfilms.net is still operating.

Jan 25 12:19

How to Permanently Delete Your Facebook Account

A step by step tutorial on how to delete and not just deactivate your Facebook account, your profile and all data - photos, videos, comments, status updates, friends and connections - associated with it.

Jan 25 12:09

Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) removes any need for SOPA or PIPA. It's WORSE

The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a proposed plurilateral agreement for the purpose of establishing international standards on intellectual property rights enforcement.

Might sound okay... IF you understand bureaucratic lingo but ACTA conceals a huge threat in plain view:ACTA hides a WWW threat even more sinister than anything SOPA or PIPA ever dreamed up

Jan 25 12:07

What Is ACTA?

Jan 25 11:20

Department of Justice Misdirection on Cloud Computing and Privacy

Cindy Cohn & Katitza Rodriguez
EFF

Does using cloud computing services based in the United States create a risk of US law enforcement access to people's data? The US Department of Justice (DOJ) seems to be trying to placate international concern by saying one thing in international fora; but it says something quite different quite in the US courts...

Jan 25 09:29

European Union considering desperately needed new privacy law

Madison Ruppert, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

The destruction of national sovereignty and democracy is a deadly plague upon humanity which is aptly embodied by the European Union.

I wouldn’t consider myself a nationalist, but I do believe that every person should be able to live in a place where they can actually have a say in the laws of the land.

In the case of the EU, much of the legislation is decided by unaccountable individuals and the people who are affected by such legislation have little to no say in the matter...

Jan 25 08:27

Google user data to be merged across all sites under contentious plan

Google is under fire for plans to collect data on individual users across all of its websites and merge the information into a single profile that can be used to alter the person's search results and target them with advertising and services.

Webmaster's Commentary: 

Targeted ads I do not mind, but if they are altering search results for paid advertisers, then they are potentially altering search results for the government, and that is a good reason to stop using Google's search engine.