NSW Police Minister Michael Costa has asked the Federal Government to shut down web sites with instructions to disrupt a World Trade Organisation meeting in Sydney
Privacy activists warn that increasing reliance on biometric technology for security purposes is a serious threat to the rights of innocent Americans
The Wayback Machine, an archive of web sites as they appeared in their past incarnations, is reported as having censored the Scientology-critical Xenu.net, in a repeat of the heavy-handed tactics used against Google
ISPs are preparing for a new cybercrime code of conduct that will detail how much data they should keep on subscribers in order to co-operate with police and other law enforcement agencies
Millions of internet users have unwittingly consented to having their online activities monitored by agreeing to convoluted terms and conditions on web sites
The Liberty and Livelihood March was the biggest civil liberty protest in British history as hundreds of thousands of countryside protesters gathered in London and the Prince of Wales became embroiled in the escalating row over the future of rural Britain
Rodent lovers are celebrating a decision by a Queensland court today to fine three people $375 for abandoning a pet rat
A pro-euthanasia group in Australia is planning to distribute exit bags
designed to help people commit suicide
An online anarchist scavenger hunt
proposed for next week’s annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank has raised the ire of police, who fear demonstrators could damage property and wreak havoc. Break a McDonald’s window, get 300 points. Puncture a Washington DC police car tire to win 75 points. Score 400 points for a pie in the face of a corporate executive or World Bank delegate
Germans mulling joining the army may think twice now thanks to a new regulation banning soldiers from having sex while in active service
Karin Spaink has had her house raided by police based on an unsubstantiated claim by the dodgy Church of Scientology
Police are being given authority to tap telephone conversations at such an unprecedented rate that Australians are 20 times more likely to be bugged than Americans
California Assembly candidate Dan Dow has an official Web site: Dandow.com. But he’s also registered the URLs JohnDutra.com, JohnDutra.net and JohnDutra.org. And incumbent Assemblyman John Dutra — Dan Dow’s opponent in the upcoming election for California’s 20th District — is none too pleased that his name is being used against him in the campaign
Sony has pledged to appeal a Federal Court decision that gave a green light to mod-chipping PlayStation game consoles
Duke University’s law school has received an anonymous US$1 million gift to fund advocacy and research aimed at curtailing the recent expansion of copyright law. The school is using the money to fund a centre focused on finding ‘the correct balance’ between intellectual property rights and material that should be in the public domain
Adobe has announced that it has asked the US District Court to resolve a contractual dispute that Adobe has the right to permit its customers to embed ITC fonts in electronic documents. Adobe is also the same rights with respect to Monotype fonts. Adobe attempted to resolve this matter informally with Monotype and ITC, but was unsuccessful
When MIT announced in March that it won a US$50 million grant to design high-tech gear for the US Army’s soldier of the future
, the project was hailed as the stuff of science fiction and comic book heroes. The school has grudgingly acknowledged that it copied images from the sci-fi comic book Radix
as part of its winning bid
A federal law that the recording industry is using to unmask a suspected KaZaA music-trader is unconstitutional, according to a coalition of non-profit groups
The Canadian government is considering a proposal that would force ISPs to rewire their networks for easy surveillance by police and spy agencies. A discussion draft released Sunday also contemplates creating a national database of every Canadian with an Internet account, a plan that could sharply curtail the right to be anonymous online
Defence lawyers and the American Civil Liberties Union are up in arms over a police file of potential criminals in Delaware. The database contains a list of people who police believe are likely to break the law. It features names, addresses and photographs of potential suspects — many of whom have clean slates. Since the system was introduced in Wilmington in June, most of the 200 people included in the file have been minorities from poor, high-crime neighbourhoods
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