[Meet Isabella Brademeyer: the 4 year-old, 'gun-smuggling high security threat' (photo/Facebook)]
The much-maligned Transport Security Authority (TSA) is once again in hot water after it accused an innocent four-year-old girl of attempted gun smuggling as she hugged her grandmother in the security zone.
In a Facebook post that has since gone viral, Michelle Brademeyer describes the story of her family being detained as potential terrorists by the TSA on a fligh... (more)
New Yorker Ross Berenson can burn for ever in eternal damnation as far as the TSA are concerned, following his attempts to find out why his luggage had been broken into and tampered with during a flight from LAX to JFK.
When Berenson discovered that the “TSA-certified” green lock on his bag had been removed and the loops of the zippers cut, he enquired with airline JetBlue as to what had happened.
The Manhattan-based graphic designer was referred t... (more)
A Big Brother transport bill that will empower the IRS to revoke passports of alleged tax delinquents, mandate the installation of black boxes in all cars, as well as a myriad of other privacy-busting measures, is set to take a huge leap forward this week.
House Republicans are taking heat from Democrats over their passage of a bill that merely extends funding for already existing federal highway programs. Dems such as Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) have been vocal in pushing th... (more)
Just a few months ago in United States v. Cassidy, a court smacked down a prosecutor's attempt to use the federal anti-stalking law to punish a man for criticizing a religious leader on Twitter. The court ruled that the criminal charges brought against the critic ran afoul of his constitutional right to free speech. Becaus... (more)
The recent Week of Action against CISPA, the dangerously vague 'cybersecurity' bill , highlights the growing bi-partisan disapproval of the many provisions that would gut all existing privacy laws. Internet users across the political spectrum voiced their concerns with h... (more)
Earlier this year, strong public opposition led by several prominent websites forced Congressional leaders to cancel votes on two bills known in Washington as “SOPA” and “PIPA.” Both of these bills threatened search engines and websites with possible shutdowns if the Justice Department deemed them insufficiently cooperative with our phony “war on terror,” or if they were merely accused of copyright infringement. Fortunately the American public flooded Capito... (more)
U.S. Rep. Francisco Canseco said he was assaulted by a TSA agent at the San Antonio International Airport.
The Texas Congressman said the security agent went too far during a pat-down earlier this month.
"The agent was very aggressive in his pat-down, and he was patting me down where no one is supposed to go,” said Canseco. “It got very uncomfortable so I moved his hand away. That stopped everything and brought in supervisors and everyone else."
... (more)
You would think that it would be in the mobile operators' best interest to protect their own customers' privacy and to stand up for their basic rights. You would think, but apparently you'd be wrong. It appears that CTIA -- the mobile operators' industry association -- is opposing an effort in California to require mobile operators to require a warrant ... (more)
In the week that lawmakers will vote on the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CIPSA), Presidential candidate Ron Paul has slammed the legislation in an effort to raise public awareness of the dangers the bill poses to the free and open internet.
"CISPA is essentially an Internet monitoring bill that permits both the federal government and private companies to view your private online communications with no judicial oversight, provided, of course, that they do so... (more)
"This disconnect between the public's view of copyright and fair use and what should and should not be prosecuted, versus the 'copyright maximist' view of the law, is our generation's Prohibition," says Ben Huh, CEO and founder of Cheezburger and a loud voice in the recent backlash to SOPA and PIPA, two congressional bills aimed at curbing internet piracy.
A US judge has put a bomb under the Megaupload case by informing the FBI that a trial in the United States may never happen. The cyberlocker was never formally served with the appropriate paperwork by the US authorities, as it is impossible to serve a foreign company with criminal charges.
The US Government accuses Kim Dotcom and the rest of the “Mega Conspiracy” of running a criminal operation.
Charges in the indictment include engaging in a racketeerin... (more)
The US judge handling the Megaupload case noted today that it may never be tried due to a procedural error, a comment that has sparked the anger of Megaupload’s founder. Kim Dotcom is furious with the US Government for destroying his businesses and rendering hundreds of people unemployed. According to Dotcom the case is the result of “corruption on the highest political level, serving the interests of the copyright extremists in Hollywood.”
The ‘Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act’ (MAP-21) is so crammed full of unconstitutional provisions that even the mainstream media is up in arms, with an Investors Business Daily editorial describing the section that allows the IRS to revoke passports of accused tax delinquents as “Stalinist”.
As we reported earlier this week, Senate Bill 1813 would empower the Internal Revenue Service to bar Americans from leaving the country if they are... (more)
The US State Department keeps saying it wants to support a free and open internet, and to build systems that protect dissedents and reformers who are speaking out. But it seems that they can't get the message through to the rest of the US government. Apparently the FBI has seized a server used by various people to anony... (more)
A bill already passed by the Senate and set to be rubber stamped by the House would make it mandatory for all new cars in the United States to be fitted with black box data recorders from 2015 onwards.
Section 31406 of Senate Bill 1813 (known as MAP-21), calls for “Mandatory Event Data Recorders” to be installed in all new automobiles and legislates for civil penalties to be imposed against individuals ... (more)
Wheelchair-bound 95-year-old veteran Omer Petti and his 85-year-old partner Madge Woodward were treated like terrorists by TSA agents at San Diego International airport, ostensibly so TSA workers could separate them from $300 dollars in cash which subsequently went missing.
“Can you imagine an 85-year-old lady and 95-year-old retired Air Force Major in wheelchairs being treated like terrorists?” Petti asked the Detroit News’ Marney Keenan.
Rep. Rogers is adamant that CISPA, the Cybersecurity Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act, is cybersecurity legislation intended to help protect critical infrastructure intrusions and private and government information. But as we've written in the past, CISPA is a bill that allows for companies to spy on use... (more)
A new program in Houston will place undercover TSA agents and police officers on buses whose job it will be to perform bag searches, watch for “suspicious activity” and interrogate passengers in order to ‘curb crime and terrorism’.
Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee unveiled the program, labeled Bus Safe, during a press c... (more)
A blogger who called a local politician a 'c***' on Twitter sparked a row over freedom of speech after being convicted of sending the offensive remark.
John Graham Kerlan who blogs under the name Olly Cromwell, faces jail after Councillor Melvyn Seymour complained.
Kerlan, who was attacking Bexley Council in south east London, posted an image of Mr Seymour's house, as well as a tweet saying: 'Which c*** lives in a house like this. Answers on a postcard to #bexleycou... (more)
