Stop the Propaganda / Feed the Truth » Freedom & Law

Government spies could scan every call, text and email

Stop the Propaganda — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 21:59:13 +0000

(Telegraph.co.uk) - The huge eavesdropping programme would involve the creation of a mammoth central computer database to store hundreds of billions of individual pieces of communications traffic. Supporters say it would become one of the security services’ most comprehensive tools in the fight against terrorism but critics described it as “sinister”. MI5 currently has to apply to [...]

Researchers warn of Facebook malware

Stop the Propaganda — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 02:57:30 +0000

(vnunet.com, 08 Sep 2008) - A group of Greek security researchers has created a tool to turn Facebook into an attack platform. The researchers are from the Institute of Computer Science at the Foundation for Research & Technology Hellas, along with a researcher from Singapore’s Institute for Infocomm Research. In a paper entitled Antisocial Networks (PDF) the [...]

Are Contractors in War Zones Above the Law?

Daphne Eviatar, Washington Independent — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 07:00:01 +0000

(AlterNet.org) - In January of 2008, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth, 24, was electrocuted while showering in his Baghdad barracks. His death prompted last week’s congressional report concluding that defense contractor KBR, (until a year ago a subsidiary of the oil services giant Halliburton)

U.S. agents can seize travelers’ laptops: report

Stop the Propaganda — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:24:01 +0000

(StopThePropaganda.com) - Careful what you keep on your laptop or even your iPod when travelling to the United States. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. federal agents have been given new powers to seize travelers’ laptops and other electronic devices at the border and hold them for unspecified periods the Washington Post reported on Friday. Under recently disclosed Department [...]

Bush Signs Bill To Take All Newborns’ DNA

Stop the Propaganda — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 20:20:36 +0000

(InfoWars.net) - President Bush last week signed into law a bill which will see the federal government begin to screen the DNA of all newborn babies in the U.S. within six months, a move critics have described as the first step towards the establishment of a national DNA database. Described as a “national contingency plan” the [...]

Canadian open source community upset over proposed copyright law

Stop the Propaganda — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 20:14:14 +0000

(Linux.com) - The Government of Canada has angered those who believe that a proposed copyright law threatens the country’s open source business model. Russell McOrmond, a member of the Canadian Software Innovation Alliance (CSIA), says that Bill C-61, the proposed copyright legislation unveiled by the government last month, ignores just about every recommendation made by CSIA, [...]

Bell moves to limit internet downloads of competitor ISPs

Stop the Propaganda — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 19:58:04 +0000

(CBC.ca) - Bell Canada Inc. is moving to impose download limits on customers of independent internet providers, an act the smaller firms say is designed to eliminate broadband competition and prevent the introduction of new television services. The Montreal-based company, which cut its own Sympatico customers off from unlimited downloading last year, has proposed extending that [...]

Bill C-51, Codex and the SPP

Stop the Propaganda — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 16:39:53 +0000

(IntelStrike.com) - On April 8, 2008, Canada’s Health Minister introduced Bill C-51 which proposed sweeping changes to the Food and Drugs Act. The Canadian government has since been forced to make amendments because of intense grassroots pressure. There are fears that this Bill could lead to some vitamins, herbs, minerals, and dietary supplements no longer being [...]

Telemarketers face ‘do-not-call’ axe on Sept. 30

Stop the Propaganda — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:46:15 +0000

(CBC.ca) - Canadians will be able to give telemarketers the slip as of Sept. 30 when the national do-not-call-list officially begins operating. Under the new rules, announced Wednesday by the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission, telemarketers will not be allowed to call anyone who registers either by phone with Bell Canada Inc., which is administering the [...]

Olympic journalists face web restraints

Stop the Propaganda — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 15:37:01 +0000

(CBC.ca) - Journalists covering the Beijing Games will not have uncensored internet access, Chinese and Olympic officials have confirmed. Foreign media had complained about being unable to access politically sensitive websites such as that of Amnesty International, which on Tuesday accused China of failing to live up to its promise to improve human rights. China is known [...]

Copyfight Attracts Local Attention

Michael Geist — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 07:43:46 +0000

The Tri-City News in Maple Ridge, B.C covers local Fair Copyright for Canada activity. NDP MP Dawn Black describes the bill as a "massive failure."

New Orleans Public Housing Defenders Face Terror Charges

Bill Weinberg, AlterNet — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 14:00:01 +0000

As activists continue to fight for people's rights to keep their homes in New Orleans, repression by local authorities is brutal.

Olympics Journalists Urged To Use Crypto, to Thwart Chinese Spying

Sarah Lai Stirland — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 07:34:08 +0000

(Wired: Threat Level) - Journalists covering the Olympics in Beijing ought to consider using virtual private networks and avoiding the use of instant messenger to interview subjects for stories, says Rebecca MacKinnon, CNN's former Beijing bureau chief and University of Hong Kong new media professor. "If you are trying to work on sensitive stories that may [...]

The Canadian Copyfight 2.0

Michael Geist — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 03:35:22 +0000

Last week, I delivered a talk to the Toronto Fair Copyright for Canada chapter that chronicled the Canadian copyfight and stressed how important it is for Canadians to speak out now on the Canadian DMCA. Audio and slides of that talk have been posted on Blip.tv and embedded below. A video version of the talk can be accessed at MDialog or at Google Video.

61 Reforms to C-61, Day 28: TPMs - Interoperability Exception, Linux and DVDs

Michael Geist — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 02:42:42 +0000

The emergence of open source software as a powerful alternative to proprietary software models has been an important business and societal development. Open source software is today widely used by consumers (e.g., Firefox browser) and businesses (e.g., Linux operating system, Apache web server). From a policy perspective, the Canadian government's professed goal is to create a level playing field so that the marketplace rather than laws will determine marketplace winners. It has opposed attempts to create policy preferences for open source (over the objection of some advocates and countries) instead favouring a more neutral approach.

Notwithstanding the claims of neutrality, Bill C-61 creates significant marketplace impediments for open source software. Achieving a level playing field requires interoperability so that differing computer systems can freely exchange data. The bill includes an interoperability provision at Section 41.12 which states that the anti-circumvention provisions do not apply to:

a person who owns a computer program or a copy of it, or has a licence to use the program or copy, and who circumvents a technological measure that protects that program or copy for the sole purpose of obtaining information that would allow the person to make the program and any other computer program interoperable.

The problem with this provision is that it does not extend far enough to maintain a level playing field.

The classic example involves the use of Linux as a consumer operating system (Ubuntu has become a popular version). Unfortunately, this operating system cannot officially play DVDs since most commercial DVDs contain a digital lock and the entity that controls the lock does not license the necessary locks to play DVDs on Linux. Programmers have developed alternatives, but all involve circumventing the digital lock, an act that becomes illegal under Bill C-61.

The interoperability provisions do not help address this issue, since DVDs may not be considered computer programs and many of the circumventing programs have functionality beyond playback of commercial DVDs. The net effect, as noted by the Canadian Software Innovation Alliance, is that Bill C-61 erects an enormous barrier to open source software adoption, thereby harming innovation and a competitive marketplace. The solution - as proposed by the Computer and Communications Industry Association in 2000 - is to create an exception the substantially broadens the interoperability exception.

The Shield Law: Truth or Fear Mongering?

David Kravets — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 19:52:32 +0000

(Wired: Threat Level) - Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell is again playing the "we're-all-going-to-die" card. On Monday, in a USA Today op-ed piece, the director wrote that a proposed reporter's federal shield law "will gravely damage our ability to protect national security information." "The intelligence community recognizes the critical role that the news media plays in [...]

Congress Reconsiders Ban on Gays in the Military

Deb Price, Creators Syndicate — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 17:00:01 +0000

The hearing was an important first step in repealing an un-American law that hurts the military by pushing away talented gays and lesbians.

OPINION: TCM Community Sucked In by StopC51 Propaganda

Stop the Propaganda — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 18:40:29 +0000

Here is an alternative opinion provided by Barry Green of OttawaSkeptics.org. (ottawaskeptics.org) - StopC51 continues to play on the fears of natural health product (NHP) users. This time, the people who have been duped appear to be the Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) community, according to articles in the Vancouver-based The Province (”Feds want to restrict [...]

Privacy breaches on the rise in B.C.

Stop the Propaganda — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:24:12 +0000

(Vancouver Sun) - The number of privacy breaches in B.C. is on the rise, partly due to a spate of stolen laptops and personal records swiped from employee cars last year, according to the provincial privacy commissioner. Commissioner David Loukidelis said Tuesday his office investigated 92 privacy breaches last year, up from 86 a year earlier [...]

Viacom agrees to YouTube privacy deal

Stop the Propaganda — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:01:24 +0000

(vnunet.com) - Google and Viacom have reached an agreement to omit user information from a YouTube log which the search giant has been forced to hand over. The agreement means that Viacom will not be able to see precisely which videos have been accessed by each viewer, nor will it be able to see a specific [...]

Bill C51 in Canada is a MAJOR WARNING to all of us. Fascism is coming in through food and health products.

Stop the Propaganda — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:28:02 +0000

(OpedNews.com) - Activists in Canada have wrung some changes from the government in regard to Bill C51 it but the bill is so draconian that it stands as a warning to all of us of what corporate/government agencies will do to destroy alternative movements that are growing, whether in health or in food, and the [...]

Clement wants Parliament to dig into food legislation

Stop the Propaganda — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 16:23:09 +0000

(Canwest News Service) - OTTAWA - Health Minister Tony Clement says he wants Parliament to get cracking in the fall on legislation to make food and consumer products safer. Clement was commenting on Canwest News Service reports about an internal government review showing big gaps in Canada’s safety checks on imported foods and a draft plan [...]

Varsity on C-61

Michael Geist — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:40:05 +0000

The Varsity focuses on the effects of the Canadian DMCA on students.

Hamilton Chamber of Commerce Challenges National Chamber IP Approach

Michael Geist — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:27:39 +0000

As Copyright Watch recently chronicled, local Chambers of Commerce have been singing from the same songbook as Industry Minister Jim Prentice in letters to the editor on Bill C-61. This is consistent with the national Chamber, which earlier this year formed a new lobby group to push for copyright reform and issued a press release supporting the introduction of the copyright bill - complete with local quotes - within 90 minutes of the tabling of the bill.

Notwithstanding these lobbying efforts, a crack in the coalition has emerged. At least one chamber of commerce has decided that it wants to look at the bill with an eye to the impact on small and medium sized businesses. The Hamilton Chamber of Commerce had adopted a resolution that it is hoping to get the Ontario and Canadian Chambers of Commerce to adopt seeking studies on the impact that IP legislation would have on SMEs. The concern is that SMEs would bear the burden of enforcement directed at businesses. The Hamilton chamber argues:

The estimates of piracy used in support of the Canadian and Ontario policies are unsupported by verifiable Canadian data;
Most small businesses are not aware of IP issues and would likely be at a disadvantage if action were ever taken against them on any alleged IP infringement;
Small businesses would have a disproportionate increase in expenses in complying with the costs that the policies would create;
In Canada, many large owners of IP have ‘over-reached’ the protection that IP has given them to the detriment of small businesses;
The proposed change in laws does nothing to favour Canadian businesses;
Many IP users are funded by tax dollars (i.e. education, libraries, archives) and an increase in enforcement is likely to increase their costs, which will, in turn, lead to higher taxes which disproportionately affects small business.

The Hamilton Chamber expands on each of these concerns and issues five recommendations:

Verify the quantum of unlawful copying in Canada through the independent collection of statistics based on facts arising in Canada;
The impacts and benefits that any changes will have on all businesses in Canada including small businesses;
The financial and administrative burden that will be created for businesses - and especially small businesses - to ensure that they can successfully and inexpensively defend unsupported allegations of infringement;
A consideration of how IP enforcement regimes can - within international and national limits - favour and encourage Canadian businesses;
A consideration of how IP enforcement regimes will affect the costs of educational, archival and library uses of IP in Canada and how those costs paid by public funds can be reduced.

Sources indicate that the the Hamilton Chamber will present this resolution for debate in the fall by the full Chamber movement at its annual general meeting.

Kerr on Privacy Idealism

Michael Geist — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:23:41 +0000

My colleague Ian Kerr posts a great speech he recently delivered on the importance of privacy "idealism" in advocacy.

Bell’s internet throttling is like reading people’s mail, ISPs say

Stop the Propaganda — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:12:14 +0000

The CBC reports on the CAIP's final response to Bell in the throttling case.

61 Reforms to C-61, Day 23: TPMs - No Exception for Obsolete or Broken Digital Locks

Michael Geist — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 14:27:32 +0000

The inclusion of a right to circumvent in the event that the TPM breaks or becomes obsolete should be relatively uncontroversial. The U.S. Registrar of Copyrights has included a specific exception that addresses this situation since 2000. The exception reflects the recognition that the continual evolution of technology places the investment that consumers make in entertainment and software products or that libraries make in materials at risk in the event that a TPM ceases to function or becomes obsolete. While products do not come with a guarantee to function forever, the law should not impair consumers and libraries that seek to circumvent techologies that are no longer supported and thus create a significant barrier to access to their property.

Despite the obvious, recognized need for such an exception, Bill C-61 does not address the issue. There is an limited exception for software interoperability, but that provision does not come close address the concerns associated with obsolete or broken TPMs. Given the frequent changes in technology, it is a question of when, not if, technologies become obsolete. The Canadian DMCA must anticipate these technological changes by providing a right of circumvention due to obsolete or malfunctioning TPMs.

Net Censorship Law Struck Down Again

Ryan Singel — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 18:06:29 +0000

A federal appeals court struck down as unconstitutional a Clinton-era law that would have forced websites with adult material to verify visitors' ages, dealing another blow to the government in a 10-year court battle over net censorship. The 3rd U.S. Circurt Court of Appeals upheld on Tuesday a 2007 lower-court decision that the Child Online Protection [...]

News You Might Have Missed: Court Confirms President’s Dictatorial Powers

Andy Worthington, Andy Worthington's Blog — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:00:01 +0000

A 5 to 4 ruling in the case of Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri legitimizes the president's right to indefinitely imprison "enemy combatants."

61 Reforms to C-61, Day 22: TPMs - No Exception for Filtering Programs

Michael Geist — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 10:59:50 +0000

As part of the U.S. Copyright Office's DMCA rulemaking procedure (under which it identifies non-infringing uses that are hampered by the DMCA), the Office has twice issued an exemption for circumvention of filtering software programs in order to identify the list of sites included within the program. Filtering programs can be used to filter or block inappropriate material, yet the same programs have been subject to considerable criticism over concerns that they may be overbroad and block perfectly legitimate material. The only way for a party to ascertain whether their site is included on the block list is to access the lists contained in the software program, a process that typically requires circumvention.

In 2000, the Copyright Office found that an exception for filtering programs was needed. It reaffirmed the decision in 2003. In 2006, Seth Finklestein, the primary supporter of the "censorware" exception abandoned the fight for another renewal and the exception was dropped. The same concerns remain, however, which is why a clear exception for the circumvention of filtering programs is needed within Bill C-61.