The Internet Revolts Against Anti-Piracy Censorship

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13 November 2011
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In response to the pending SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), leading civil liberties and tech policy organisations are calling for a Internet-wide day of protest against censorship.

The event is dubbed American Censorship Day, because it will take place on the day of House hearings on the legislation that will introduce web censorship in the US.

The groups say that under the new legislation, America’s Internet could no longer be free and open as it is now, but controlled by large entertainment industry companies and their fear of piracy. As a result thousands of perfectly legitimate Internet services have to fear for their existence.

Sites are encouraged to participate. All the have to do is put a code snippet on their site so all US visitors will be alerted.

Visitors to these sites will then see a splash-page with a seizure notice that allows them to contact Congress to vote against the pending anti-piracy bills (they can click it away and it will only be shown once) — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Mi research es su research

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10 November 2011
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It’s free, if you use it properly. That’s what the University of NSW has reportedly said to companies about the results of its research. I believe that this is a responsible step in testing different intellectual property (IP) models, and I’m really interested to see how it turns out.

According to a report this morning in The Australian, the university will give away rights to 80 per cent of its intellectual property as long as it can be shown that it will be used for economic and social benefit.

The man behind the move, Kevin Cullin, has apparently done similar things at the University of Glasgow in Ireland — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Busted! Two New Fed GPS Trackers Found on SUV

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10 November 2011
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As the Supreme Court gets ready to hear oral arguments in a case Tuesday that could determine if authorities can track US citizens with GPS vehicle trackers without a warrant, a young man in California has come forward to Wired to reveal that he found not one but two different devices on his vehicle recently.

The 25-year-old resident of San Jose, California, says he found the first one about three weeks ago on his Volvo SUV while visiting his mother in Modesto, about 80 miles northeast of San Jose. After contacting Wired and allowing a photographer to snap pictures of the device, it was swapped out and replaced with a second tracking device. A witness also reported seeing a strange man looking beneath the vehicle of the young man’s girlfriend while her car was parked at work, suggesting that a tracking device may have been retrieved from her car — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Royal Mail postman failed to deliver 30,000 items of mail

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10 November 2011
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A postman who hoarded 30,000 letters and parcels in his house, car and a garage, has been ordered to do 280 hours of unpaid work.

Paul Willicott claimed that he did not have enough time to deliver all the mail he was expected to handle during his four-hour round. He became so overwhelmed he ended up stashing unopened mail in his car and in his home in Paignton, Devon.

Willicott, 44, told magistrates in Torbay that his intention was to deliver all the mail when his workload was lighter but that he was never able to catch up — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Our Contract With Serco

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9 November 2011
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New Matilda has gained exclusive access to the first publicly available version of the 2009 Department of Immigration and Citizenship (DIAC) contract with British multinational Serco.

The contract was obtained through a Freedom of Information request and reveals the most comprehensive information yet about the running of Australian detention centres — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Shop staff refuse to sell whisky to great-grandmother, 92, because she couldn’t prove she was over 18

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9 November 2011
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A great-grandmother blasted shop staff today after they refused to sell her alcohol at the age of 92, because she had no ID to prove she was over 18.

Diane Taylor was stunned to be asked for proof of age when she asked for a bottle of whisky from her local One Stop Shop in Harlow, Essex.

The great-grandmother-of-three produced her over-60s bus pass, an OAP card and even her pacemaker certificate, but was still turned away because she could not provide a passport or driving licence.

It was the first time that the pensioner, who was born in 1919 turned 18 in 1937, has ever been asked to show ID when buying alcohol — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Michigan Senate Legalises Anti-Gay Bullying

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4 November 2011
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In their infinite desire to protect the rights of their hate-filled children to spew anti-gay nonsense, bully other children, and drive gay kids to suicide (or at least a childhood of self-loathing), Republicans added language to the bill that allows religious people to continue bullying.

The bill now says that the anti-bullying requirements don’t prohibit a statement of a sincerely held religious belief or moral conviction of a school employee, school volunteer, pupil, or a pupil’s parent or guardian

Father Bob forced out by Catholic Church

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4 November 2011
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Outspoken South Melbourne priest Father Bob Maguire has lost his fight to stay on as a parish priest.

The Catholic Church has confirmed Father Maguire’s tenure at Saint Peter and Paul’s parish will end next year.

The archdiocese was putting pressure on the 77-year-old to step down because of his age, but Father Maguire says he wanted to stay on — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Met police using surveillance system to monitor mobile phones

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31 October 2011
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Britain’s largest police force is operating covert surveillance technology that can masquerade as a mobile phone network, transmitting a signal that allows authorities to shut off phones remotely, intercept communications and gather data about thousands of users in a targeted area.

The surveillance system has been procured by the Metropolitan police from Leeds-based company Datong plc, which counts the US Secret Service, the Ministry of Defence and regimes in the Middle East among its customers. Strictly classified under government protocol as Listed X, it can emit a signal over an area of up to an estimated 10 sq km, forcing hundreds of mobile phones per minute to release their unique IMSI and IMEI identity codes, which can be used to track a person’s movements in real time.

The disclosure has caused concern among lawyers and privacy groups that large numbers of innocent people could be unwittingly implicated in covert intelligence gathering. The Met has refused to confirm whether the system is used in public order situations, such as during large protests or demonstrations — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Occupy London could be protected by Christian ring of prayer

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30 October 2011
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Christian groups have drawn up plans to protect protesters by forming a ring of prayer around the camp outside St Paul’s Cathedral, should an attempt be made to forcibly remove them.

As the storm of controversy over the handling of the Occupy London Stock Exchange demonstration deepened on Saturday, Christian activists said it was their duty to stand up for peaceful protest in the absence of support from St Paul’s. One Christian protester, Tanya Paton, said: “We represent peace, unity and love. A ring of prayer is a wonderful symbol.”

With senior officials at St Paul’s apparently intent on seeking an injunction to break up the protest, the director of the influential religious thinktank Ekklesia, Jonathan Bartley, said the cathedral’s handling of the protest had been a car crash and predicted more high-profile resignations from the Church of England.

The canon chancellor of St Paul’s, Dr Giles Fraser, and the Rev Fraser Dyer, who works as a chaplain at the cathedral, have already stepped down over the decision to pursue legal action to break up the camp — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Google Denies Requests To Remove Videos of Police Brutality

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29 October 2011
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In a show of good faith today, Google touted the fact that it has refused to cooperate with local law enforcement agencies in the U.S. who requested the removal of YouTube videos of police brutality and criticisms of law enforcement officials. Google cited its transparency report from the first half of this year, but to mention it today is telling. With violent crackdowns at Occupy Oakland this week, citizen media like YouTube have been a vital channel — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Blue Coat Acknowledges Syria Used Its Gear for Internet Censorship Amid Arab Spring

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29 October 2011
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A US company that makes Internet-blocking gear acknowledges that Syria has been using at least 13 of its devices to censor Web activity there — an admission that comes as the Syrian government cracks down on its citizens and silences their online activities.

Blue Coat Systems Inc of Sunnyvale, California, says it shipped the Internet filtering devices to Dubai late last year, believing they were destined for a department of the Iraqi government. However, the devices — which can block websites or record when people visit them — made their way to Syria, a country subject to strict US trade embargoes — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Minister declares logging protects koalas

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27 October 2011
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The New South Wales Environment Minister has been ridiculed by the Opposition after telling a budget estimates hearing that logging protects koalas.

Robyn Parker was being questioned at the NSW Parliament over the State Government’s election commitment to protect threatened species, including koalas.

Labor MP Luke Foley asked Ms Parker how the promise could fit with a decision to allow logging in important koala habitats at Bermagui and in the Boambee State Forest, in the state’s south and mid-north coast — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Struggling Wikileaks stops publishing classified files

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25 October 2011
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What Does it Cost to Change the World? from WikiLeaks on Vimeo.

The whistle-blowing website Wikileaks is suspending its publication of classified files.

Wikileaks said that it would focus instead on raising funds to ensure its future survival.

The announcement came after what the group called a blockade by US-based finance companies.

This followed its disclosure on the internet of hundreds of thousands of secret US government files and diplomatic cables.

Wikileaks founder Julian Assange said that since last December an arbitrary and unlawful financial blockade had been imposed by Bank of America, Visa, MasterCard, PayPal and Western Union.

The attack has destroyed 95% of our revenue, he said — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Mother sues banks over son’s eBay scam

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24 October 2011
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A woman is suing Australia’s big four banks for their alleged role in a $200,000 money laundering scam masterminded by her teenage son.

The woman, from the NSW south coast, has launched an action in the Supreme Court seeking damages and wants an apology from the Commonwealth Bank, ANZ, Westpac and NAB for unconscionable conduct after they allegedly handed her son dozens of bank accounts and debit cards without reasonable scrutiny.

In 2007, the then 14-year-old was selling fictitious products on eBay and, at one stage, earning more than $6000 a day — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Google+ to Support Pseudonyms

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20 October 2011
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Google+ will soon support pseudonyms and other forms of identity, says a Google executive.

During a conversation at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, SVP of Social Vic Gundotra revealed that Google will eventually support other forms of identity. While Google started with only allowing users to sign up if they used their real names, it will be adding features that will support other forms of identity in the next few months — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Mysterious Directors of Movie Anti-Piracy Group Unmasked

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19 October 2011
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As previously reported, US film distributor Lightning Entertainment has been approaching Australian ISPs in an attempt to obtain the identities of individuals they say illegal shared the movie Kill The Irishman.

Of course, it’s the same old story. Threaten to sue individuals but get them to hand over cash settlements instead.

The front company carrying out this work are called Movie Rights Group but until this week the identities of the people behind this group were unknown. An article in The Age has just completely unmasked them.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, especially considering the industry’s efforts around Europe and the United States with similar schemes, the people behind Movie Rights Group (MRG) are rich pornographers — via redwolf.newsvine.com

DRM Needs To Be Banned Because It’s Toxic

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17 October 2011
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With the European Greens’ adoption of the Pirate perspective on the copyright monopoly, I have received a few questions from entrepreneurs, the copyright industry lobby, and libertarians why we want to ban Digital Restrictions Management. It’s a good question that deserves a good answer.

First of all, DRM is a type of fraud that robs citizens of their lawful rights. The copyright monopoly is chock full of exceptions that allow copying in many circumstances; DRM takes no notice of this whatsoever but establishes and enforces a superset of restrictions that goes well above and beyond those of the law.

Therefore, to begin with, a ban on DRM can be seen as a form of consumer protection — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Government redacts ISP anti-piracy consultation text

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17 October 2011
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The Federal Government has quietly deleted a controversial section of text published in a consultation paper last Friday that proposed a streamlined legal process to aid anti-piracy organisations such as Movie Rights Group and AFACT to target individuals allegedly downloading copyrighted material online.

Last Friday, 14 October, the Department of the Attorney-General published a consultation paper regarding digital copyright regulation. The original paper, available in full here (PDF), contained two discrete sections. The first dealt with a proposal to revise the scope of ‘safe harbour’ regulations to better protect organisations which host others’ content online — via redwolf.newsvine.com

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