Category: Freedom
America, Capitalism, and a general ramble.
Before I get started I want to make it clear that this article is not aimed as an attack against the American people, I hope that the American people can take it as it is meant - though I do realise that many people do have strong patriotic feelings and so I can only hope that I do not offend...
Europe - the Judge Dredd of the internet
"I am the LAW!"
From the BBC :
"Europeans suspected of putting movies and music on file-sharing networks could be thrown off the web under proposals before Brussels.
The powers are in a raft of laws that aim to harmonise the regulations governing...
US courts destroy your right to privacy.
From the BBC :
"Google must divulge the viewing habits of every user who has ever watched any video on YouTube, a US court has ruled.
The ruling comes as part of Google's legal battle with Viacom over allegations of copyright infringement.
Digital rights group...
Councils snoop into phone records of 1,000 callers
From The Mirror :
Nearly 1,000 people's phone records have been investigated by council snoopers, it was revealed yesterday.
The surveillance powers for tracking terrorists have been used to probe everything from a bogus faith healer to dog smuggling.
A survey of Big...
FCC Cross-Ownership Decision Could Boost Newspapers
From the MediaDailyNews :
The effects of Tuesday's vote by the Federal Communications Commission to loosen restrictions on cross-ownership of media will not be felt for at least a year or two.... But once the kinks are worked out, the decision could be a boon to newspaper owners....
Are Students Canaries in the Free-Speech Coal Mine?
From the First Amendment Center:
After 12 years of censorship and regimentation, many high school students
will graduate this spring with little or no idea about what it means to be a
free, active and engaged citizen in a democracy.
When they march across the stage...
Bill Thompson on Cloud Computing
Another interesting article by Bill Thompson for the BBC :
Please read the whole article on the BBC site, but some interesting extracts are:
"The issue was recently highlighted by reports that the Canadian government has a policy of not allowing public sector IT projects...
US Civilian Resident In Military Prison
From Yahoo! News
Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri was a legal US resident who came to the US on Sept 10, 2001 with wife and children to study computer programming in Peoria, IL. The next day, the twin towers fell, and not long after that, the feds came to call. Two years...
If you're not using GPG - Start!
From BBC :
Ministers are to consider plans for a database of electronic information holding details of every phone call and e-mail sent in the UK, it has emerged.
The plans, reported in the Times, are at an early stage and may be included in the draft Communications Bill...
Facial recognition - coming to a supermarket near you!
From BBC :
"The supermarket chain Budgens has installed face recognition cameras in one of its stores to stop children buying alcohol and cigarettes. It is thought to be the first time a UK retailer has used the technology to identify underage customers. The scheme is being...
National Staff Dismissal Register - Don't piss-off your boss!
Later this month the National Staff Dismissal Register (NSDR) will go live - backed by the likes of Harrods, Selfridges, Reed Managed Services and Mothercare. This particular national database has been set up by Action Against Business Crime to store the details of workers ACCUSED of theft,...
World press freedom day.
Today (3rd May), is world press freedom day. To mark this, the Council of Europe is launching an online discussion forum on media freedom.
The forum, for both journalists and anyone else concerned
about freedom of expression, will center on how journalists do their
job in the face...
