UK: Your private messages revealed to government in new plansBroadband providers and phone networks are to reveal to authorities your every phone call, text message, email and private social network message. New anti-terror laws could force phone networks and broadband providers to store our digital communications in databases open to security services to check up on us -- and if that doesn't worry you, just wait until the hackers get their hands on it.
The Communications Capabilities Development Plan sets out the new scheme, as suggested b... (more)
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Government Pressures Twitter to Hand Over Keys to Occupy Wall Street Protester's Location Data Without a WarrantOn October 1, 2011, over 700 Occupy Wall Street protesters were arrested on the Brooklyn Bridge. Most of the protesters, including Malcolm Harris, were charged with the mundane crime of disorderly conduct, a "violation" under New York law that has a maximum punishment of 15 days in j... (more)
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"Progressive Homeschooling" is a Crime against the Holy State, Insists Lefty Think Tank WonkPolitically progressive parents who withdraw their children from government schools are ideological hypocrites who undermine the common good, insists Dana Goldstein, a Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation.
In recent years, "there has been a resurgence of interest in homeschooling -- not just the religious fundamentalist variety practiced by Michele Bachman and Rick Santorum, but also in secular... (more)
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The Pirate Bay Faces UK ISP Block After High Court RulingIn a case brought by major recording labels including Sony, EMI and Warner, today a judge in the High Court ruled that The Pirate Bay and its users breach copyright on a major scale. The ruling means that it is almost inevitable that The Pirate Bay will face a nationwide UK ISP blockade in the coming months.
After the MPA won its blocking case against the Newzbin2 Usenet indexing site last year, it became clear that the entertainment industries would seek further injunctions again... (more)
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Pirate Bay ISP Block Challenged For Censoring Lawful ContentThe censorship of The Pirate Bay, which is slowly spreading to ISPs all around Europe, is designed to reduce the availability of unauthorized media, but the site also allows artists without a corporation-backed delivery mechanism to self publish to the world. However, since blockades are a blunt instrument, their work is being wiped out too. On this basis, the legality of a recent Pirate Bay blockade is now being questioned.
During May 2011, the Copyright Information and Anti-Pira... (more)
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Congrats, US Government: You're Scaring Web Businesses Into Moving Out Of The USThe federal government has been paying lip service to the idea that it wants to encourage new businesses and startups in the US. And this is truly important to the economy, as studies have shown that almost all of the net job growth in this country is coming from internet startups. Thankfully some... (more)
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Senators Ramp Up Fear Mongering To Try To Rush Through Cybersecurity BillWe're still waiting for any actual evidence that this new cybersecurity bill is really necessary. An actual description of the real problem being dealt with would be a good start. Instead, we just get pure fear mongering. While some Senators are asking supporters of the bill to slow down and carefully consider the issue, the bill's backers, led by ... (more)
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Taxpayers slapped with $32 billion bill to pay for TSA molestation of their children and seniorsThe Obama Administration has proposed significantly hiking air travel fees to cover the costs associated with the U.S. Transportation Security Administration’s (TSA) molestation of air travelers. Under the new plan, which would garner a whopping $32 billion in ten years, ticket fees that cover the costs of TSA security screenings would more than double for passengers, costing them at least $5 per one-way trip.
As the TSA continues installing naked body scanners at U.S. airpo... (more)
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Presenting PreCheck: Fascist and Furious Seldom have so many bragged so much about so little.
The TSA and its flaks in the corporate media are currently shilling for the agency’s "Pre√ (yes, Jargon plumbs new depths here: that cuneiform translates as ‘PreCheck’) Program." The outrage with the Orwellian name isn’t anything new: it’s haunted nationalized aviation for almost as long as the TSA has. Sometimes, companies who "partner" with the Feds but nonetheless insist ... (more)
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Cyberwar Is the New YellowcakeIn last month's State of the Union address, President Obama called on Congress to pass "legislation that will secure our country from the growing dangers of cyber threats." The Hill was way ahead of him, with over 50 cybersecurity bills introduced this Congress. This week, both the House and Senate are moving on their versions of consolidated, comprehensive legislation.
The reason cybersecurity legislation is so pressing, proponents say, is that we face an immediate risk of nation... (more)
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Prepper Declared "Mentally Defective," Put On FBI ListBefore featuring in National Geographic’s new show Doomsday Prepper, David Sarti visited his doctor complaining of chest pains, only to have the doctor later commit him to a psychiatric ward and alert authorities, before Sarti was declared “mentally defective” and put on an FBI list that strips him of his second amendment rights.
Back in November, Sarti, a resident of Lebanon Texas, visited a cardiologist named Andre C. Olivier, M.D., who examined Sarti and then ... (more)
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Crazy Anti-Drug Ad Tells Kids to Do Parkour Instead of DrugsAs I've discussed previously, Drug Czar is just one of the worst jobs you can have. You don't get to use cool weapons or go on missions or do anything exciting, ever. Your job is to convince adults that the drug war is good and convince young people that drug use is bad. It hasn't gone well for anyone, no, not at all.
If anybody needs a quick exhibit in why the government's ant... (more)
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Justice Department Wants $5 Million To Bolster Its Efforts As Hollywood's Private Police ForceWhile the proposed Obama 2013 budget for the federal government is supposed to be about cutting extraneous expenditures, one area where it's seeking more money is to expand the Justice Department's copyright enforcement efforts. You see, this is what happens when you hand the Justice Department over to the RIAA and MPAA. DOJ is seeking an extra $5 million t... (more)
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UK Now Seizing Music Blogs (With American Domains) Over Copyright ClaimsLast year, we wrote about how the UK was following in the footsteps of the US's Homeland Security/ICE domain seizures. As we noted, the process there is even less rigorous than in the US -- often without a court being involved at all. Law enforcement just had to ask, and Nominet would take down the domain. Still, we hadn't heard about any specif... (more)
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Dawn of the Drones: The Realization of the Total Surveillance State“To be governed is to be watched, inspected, spied upon, directed, law-driven, numbered, regulated, enrolled, indoctrinated, preached at, controlled, checked, estimated, valued, censured, commanded, by creatures who have neither the right nor the wisdom nor the virtue to do so. It is, under pretext of public utility, and in the name of the general interest, to be placed under contribution, drilled, fleeced, exploited, monopolized, extorted from, squeezed, hoaxed, robbed; then, ... (more)
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