The maximum penalty for serious animal cruelty will be tripled in Queensland following a spate of attacks.
The state’s criminal code will be amended to create a new serious animal cruelty offence carrying a maximum seven years’ jail, increasing the penalty from the current maximum of two years’ imprisonment, Premier Anna Bligh said on Monday — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Last week, Bryan McCarthy, the 32-year-old operator of ChannelSurfing.net, was arrested on charges of criminal copyright infringement. This arrest has once again raised questions about the seizure of domains operated by those that are accused, but not convicted, of copyright infringement related crimes. Critics ranging from bloggers to individual rights advocates to Senators have rightfully questioned the constitutionality of these seizures — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A US judge has ordered Twitter to hand over the data of three users in contact with the activist site WikiLeaks, rejecting arguments the move would violate their rights to privacy and free speech — via redwolf.newsvine.com
As the United States and Britain look for an excuse to invade another oil-rich Arab country, the hypocrisy is familiar. Colonel Gaddafi is delusional
and blood-drenched
while the authors of an invasion that killed a million Iraqis, who have kidnapped and tortured in our name, are entirely sane, never blood-drenched and once again the arbiters of stability
.
But something has changed. Reality is no longer what the powerful say it is. Of all the spectacular revolts across the world, the most exciting is the insurrection of knowledge sparked by WikiLeaks. This is not a new idea. In 1792, the revolutionary Tom Paine warned his readers in England that their government believed that people must be hoodwinked and held in superstitious ignorance by some bugbear or other
. Paine’s The Rights of Man was considered such a threat to elite control that a secret grand jury was ordered to charge him with a dangerous and treasonable conspiracy
. Wisely, he sought refuge in France — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A new study commissioned by several entertainment industry outfits made the rounds in the Australian news yesterday. It claims that illicit movie, music and games downloads cost the industry $900 million a year as well as 8,000 jobs and that an increase in broadband adoption could propel the losses to a staggering $5.2 billion in the next five years. However, it looks like the public isn’t buying it, figuratively speaking — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A well-known Chinese commentator has accused Facebook of insulting him by closing his account on the grounds he uses a pseudonym, while hosting a page for founder Mark Zuckerberg’s puppy — via redwolf.newsvine.com
A bizarre family feud left two hamsters dead and a teen behind bars after a Brooklyn clash that would make Jerry Springer cringe — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Tobacco displays in shops will be banned in England as part of a package of measures to discourage smoking — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The Federal Government has given final environmental approval for a new pulp mill in northern Tasmania — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Squatters have taken over a London house thought to belong to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libyan dictator Moamar Gaddafi — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Adoption fairs, where foster children and prospective parents mingle, are like speed dating
. They’re ineffective and damaging. I would know, as I was adopted by parents I met at one of these fairs. States should instead use ‘arranged marriages’ to match children with well-prepared parents — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Before a business trip to the US, I wanted a copy of the film Veronica Guerin, a journalistic biopic starring Cate Blanchett, to show my journalism students in my stead. My university library did not carry the film, so I turned to Amazon.com for a digital copy. None available. Netflix, which won’t stream content in most places outside the US, wasn’t an option. I haven’t been able to buy any iTunes content outside the US for several months, so Apple was out, too. I told my research assistant to just show the students All the President’s Men instead.
I teach journalism ethics, so I didn’t download a pirated copy of the 2003 film, but it would be hard to blame another global content seeker for doing so — via sean-easter.newsvine.com
Makers of Australian pasties have been assured they can still use the term Cornish
despite a trademark ruling by the European Commission — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Ministers must do more to stop internet service providers (ISPs) snooping on private e-mails without consent, an ex-cyber security minister has said. Some ISPs have trialled software that intercepts and scans e-mails to target ads.
They are meant to ask permission first – but former Labour minister Lord West says it is too easy to flout the rules — via dungbeetlemania.newsvine.com
The First Amendment protects hateful protests at military funerals, the Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday in an 8-1 decision.
Speech is powerful,
Chief Justice John G Roberts Jr wrote for the majority. It can stir people to action, move them to tears of both joy and sorrow, and — as it did here — inflict great pain.
But under the First Amendment, he went on, we cannot react to that pain by punishing the speaker
. Instead, the national commitment to free speech, he said, requires protection of even hurtful speech on public issues to ensure that we do not stifle public debate
— via redwolf.newsvine.com
And you thought cigarettes were expensive.
An Upper East Side man has agreed to fork over $2,000 to his next-door neighbors any time he smokes a cigar inside his apartment — via redwolf.newsvine.com
The National Broadband Network Company (NBN Co) will now be subject to freedom of information (FOI) laws after a successful negotiation between the Greens and the government, Greens Party Communications Spokesperson Scott Ludlam announced today — via redwolf.newsvine.com
These have been some eventful weeks in the world of copyright trolling. Thousands of unnamed John Does
in P2P file sharing lawsuits filed in California, Washington DC, Texas, and West Virginia have been severed, effectively dismissing over 40,000 defendants. The plaintiffs in these cases must now re-file against almost all of the Does individually rather than suing them en mass — via redwolf.newsvine.com
These have been some eventful weeks in the world of copyright trolling. Thousands of unnamed John Does
in P2P file sharing lawsuits filed in California, Washington DC, Texas, and West Virginia have been severed, effectively dismissing over 40,000 defendants. The plaintiffs in these cases must now re-file against almost all of the Does individually rather than suing them en mass — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Thirteen Vietnamese women, seven of them pregnant, have been rescued from an illegal and inhuman
surrogate baby breeding ring in Thailand, officials said — via redwolf.newsvine.com
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