Reporters Sans Frontieres with the backing of the French government, identifies bloggers as the new heralds of free expression
and offers advice on how to set up a blog and run it anonymously. Bloggers are often the only real journalists in countries where the mainstream media is censored or under pressure,
RSF Internet Freedom Desk Julien Pain said. Only they provide independent news, at the risk of displeasing the government and sometimes courting arrest.
The Handbook for Bloggers and Cyber-Dissidents can be downloaded from the RSF web site in English, French, Chinese, Arabic and Farsi
The RIAA has been pushing the FCC to impose a copy-protection mandate on the makers of next-generation digital radio receiver/recorders. Never mind that digital audio broadcasting is not significantly greater in quality than regular, analogue radio. Never mind that its music quality is vastly less than than that of audio CDs. In spite of these inconvenient facts, the RIAA is hoping that the transition to digital audio broadcasting
will provide enough confusion and panic that they can persuade Congress or the FCC to impose some kind of copy-protection scheme or regulation on digital radio broadcast
Switchfoot’s new album Nothing Is Sound shipped from Sony with copy protection software on the CD, much to the dismay of thousands of iPod-wielding fans. The band posted a response on their official forum apologising for the protection and detailing ways to circumvent the protection and rip their songs to PC. Switchfoot linked to open-source program CDex’s download page with instructions on disabling the autorunning protection and ripping the files to MP3. Many of Switchfoot’s fans have been upset by the copy protection measures, and it’s nice to know the artists seem to care about the issue — via Slashdot
The final plan for managing protected grey wolves that migrate into Oregon will prohibit ranchers from killing wolves that attack livestock and will not include compensation for losses to wolf attacks — via Tidepool
The Concerned Women
for America, a backward group of hate-mongering homophobes, have attacked the Girl Scouts for apparently trying to make feminist lesbians out of girls. At least, that’s how they portray it
Planned Parenthood in Philadelphia came up with an ingenious way to fight back against anti-choice fundamentalists who block clinic doors and harass workers and patients. The idea: hold a fund drive in which donors give cash for each protestor that shows up. The more there are, the more money Planned Parenthood receives. And, let the harassers know how much their presence is helping the clinic raise funds — via Warren Ellis
In the first case of its kind, US Magistrate Judge James Orenstein chastised the US Department of Justice for trying to constantly track a mobile user’s location without providing any proof of criminal behaviour. Their Patriot Act surveillance request was denied — via Politech
Heavily armed paramilitary mercenaries from the Blackwater private security firm, infamous for their work in Iraq, are openly patrolling the streets of New Orleans. Some of the mercenaries say they have been deputised
by the Louisiana governor; indeed some are wearing gold Louisiana state law enforcement badges on their chests and Blackwater photo identification cards on their arms. They say they are on contract with the Department of Homeland Security and have been given the authority to use lethal force. Several mercenaries we spoke with said they had served in Iraq on the personal security details of the former head of the US occupation, Paul Bremer and the former US ambassador to Iraq, John Negroponte
Activist’s Arrest Prompts Questions About Security Powers
Human rights lawyer Julian Burnside QC has questioned whether the Federal Government has abused its powers by planning to deport Scott Parkin, an American peace activist. Greens Senator Bob Brown has described Mr Parkin’s detention and probable deportation as an abuse of ASIO’s powers. To add insult to injury, John Howard‘s minions have charged Scott Parkin $11,000 for sending him back to the US
Two activists in Massachusetts are planning to create an online database of all the 65,825 people who signed a recent petition calling for a ballot question to ban gay marriages in the state. The activists say that the online list — which will include the names, street addresses, hometowns and ZIP codes of all the homophobes who signed — will help gay people to determine if their friends and neighbours are secretly bigots — via BoingBoing
The US government agency leading the rescue efforts after Hurricane Katrina said it does not want the news media to take photographs of the dead as they are recovered from the flooded New Orleans area. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, heavily criticised for its slow response to the devastation caused by the hurricane, rejected requests from journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims
Yahoo has been accused of supplying information to China which led to the jailing of a journalist for divulging state secrets
. Reporters Without Borders said Yahoo’s Hong Kong arm helped China link Shi Tao’s e-mail account and computer to a message containing the information. The media watchdog accused Yahoo of becoming a police informant
in order to further its business ambitions — via Warren Ellis
Lawrence Lessig predicts that the public domain will die a slow death at the hands of anti-piracy efforts. The danger remains invisible to most, hidden by the zeal of a war on piracy. And that is how the public domain may die a quiet death, extinguished by self-righteous extremism, long before many even recognise it is gone
According to the American Red Cross site: The state Homeland Security Department had requested — and continues to request — that the American Red Cross not come back into New Orleans following the hurricane. Our presence would keep people from evacuating and encourage others to come into the city. Access to New Orleans is controlled by the National Guard and local authorities and while we are in constant contact with them, we simply cannot enter New Orleans against their orders
—via Warren Ellis
Some US libraries are using Microsoft Media DRM to automatically return audiobooks checked out of their catalogue. A patron with a valid library card visits a library Web site to borrow a title for, say, three weeks. When the audiobook is due, the patron must renew it or find it automatically returned
in a virtual sense: The file still sits on the patron’s computer, but encryption makes it unplayable beyond the borrowing period
The BBC views the piracy of a Doctor Who episode before its broadcast date earlier this year as a wake-up call about the demand for new technology
, in a refreshing change of opinion from most media/broadcasting corporations, who would damn this piracy without hesitation. They are forming plans to simulcast the television channels BBC1 and BBC2 on the web, as well as allowing users (only in the UK to start with, unfortunately) access to shows for a week after the broadcast date. Other BBC3 comedies are due to follow suit and become available on the internet first
NSW will become the first Australian state to outlaw unauthorised surveillance of employees using technologies including video cameras, e-mail and tracking devices, when the Workplace Surveillance Bill 2005 comes into effect at the beginning of October
In a victory for free speech on the Internet, a New York man ordered to transfer the domain name www.fallwell.com to the Rev Jerry Falwell will be allowed to keep the Web site, the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit has ruled — via Politech
Ryan Hamlin, head of Microsoft’s Technology Care and Safety Group spoke out against New Zealand’s proposed anti-spam legislation, warning that it could impinge on the amazing vehicle of e-mail marketing
. He also suggests that CAN-SPAM has been effective in deterring spammers. Though often criticised as too meek, US anti-spam legislation — which relies on people opting out of spam — has proved effective in supporting prosecutions and deterring spammers
An allegedly legal rave in Utah last Saturday was broken up by a heavily armed SWAT team who reportedly teargassed hundreds of peaceful dancers and then set attack dogs on them. Some of the attendees had video cameras with them, and the footage that has begun to appear on the Internet is very disturbing, showing brutal assaults by the officers — via BoingBoing
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