Posts Tagged ‘freedom’
2009
“U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration needs to answer several questions about the privacy implications of a new version of a computer intrusion detection system that can reportedly read e-mail, a privacy and civil rights advocacy group said. The Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT), in a report released Tuesday, called on the Obama administration to release information about the legal authority for the so-called Einstein intrusion detection system, a version of which has been rolled out at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.>br/>
The CDT report also asks the Obama administration to release information about the role of the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA) in the development and operation of Einstein 3, a new version of the software reportedly being developed. The second version of Einstein is deployed at the DHS and is being rolled out to other U.S. agencies. While Einstein 2 is able to detect malicious code during predefined code signatures, Einstein 3 will also be able to read e-mail and other Internet traffic, according to recent press reports.
‘This raises serious privacy concerns,’ the CDT report says. ‘While its predecessor merely detected and reported malicious code, Einstein 3 is to have the capability of intercepting threatening Internet traffic before it reaches a government system, raising additional concerns. According to press accounts, Einstein 3 will operate inside the networks of the telecoms …’”
source: cio.com
“he Venezuelan government has ordered the closure of 34 radio stations, the head of the national telecommunications regulator, Conatel, has said. Diosdado Cabello, who is also minister of public works in the government of Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan president, said the closures were due to the stations’ inability to meet legal operating requirements, and warned that more closures may follow.
‘They will have to cease transmission once they have received the order’, Cabello said on Friday. ‘This is about legitimate authority of the government to manage the radio spectrum… We are only implementing what the law says…’”
source: aljazeera.net
“…The Internet remains one of the most powerful means ever created to give voice to repressed people around the world. Unfortunately, new technologies have also given authoritarian regimes new means to identify and retaliate against those who speak out despite censorship and surveillance. Below are six basic ideas for those attempting to speak without falling
victim to authoritarian surveillance and censorship, and four ideas for the rest of us who want to help support them…
1. Understand Risk Assessment
2. Beware of Malware
3. Choose the Least-Risky Communications Channels
4. Use Encryption to Prevent Surveillance and Censorship of your Web Usage
5. Be Careful of What and Where You Publish
6. Should I use a Tor Bridge…”
source: eff.org
“KoPubCo has just released Samuel Edward Konkin III’s An Agorist Primer in PDF form as a free ebook! A great work, for great justice! Brought to you by KoPubCo, a division of the Triplanetary Corporation! Get your copies today! Download from nostate.com: An Agorist Primer by Samuel Edward Konkin III And if you love the ideas and practical advice contained within the free ebook, why not pick up a few hardcopies?
One for the coffee table makes a great conversation starter! And it’s always good to keep at least one copy in the car for those annoying police searches and border crossings! And, why not buy a few hardcover first editions as gifts? The kids love ‘em, and they make great stocking stuffers! Buy a case or two if you like, send one to your Congresscritters and Senators! Leave copies on public benches, insert them surreptitiously into library collections (suggested heading: romance), and pass them out on Halloween! The sky’s the limit!”
source: nostate.com
“Israel is a democracy, we are told. We have freedom of speech to prove it. Aside from a few pesky details of a permanent state of emergency which allows the government and security forces to impose censorship of the media, we really are free to speak our minds – to an extent.
The legal limits on personal expression are draconian, but not very often invoked. It is the unspoken limits of freedom of speech which are more binding. Even as I write I hear the clinking of the chains in my mind: how much do I dare expose? What might be the repercussions of this word, or that sentence?
I, like most young Israeli Jews, went to the army at the age of 18. At the time I barely even questioned this. Going to the army here is a fact of life, merely another step in the standard ‘natural’ order: six years of grade school, six of high school, three in the army and so forth. In the army I was exposed to matters of varying levels of secrecy. Divulging them is, of course, illegal. But even that is not what I feel constrains me and so many others. What security clearance deems secret is not, as a general rule, an interesting subject for conversation other than in very specific circumstances, almost never occurring outside the army.”
source: guardian.co.uk
“As if AT&T wasn’t already bad enough. In an act that is sure to spark internet rebellions everywhere, AT&T has apparently declared war on the extremely popular imageboard 4chan.org, blocking some of the site’s most popular message boards, including /r9k/ and the infamous /b/. moot, who started 4chan and continues to run the site, has posted a note to the 4chan status blog indicating that AT&T is in fact filtering/blocking the site for many of its customers (we’re still trying to confirm from AT&T’s side).
Reports of the blocking began to surface on reddit this afternoon, and a number of blogs are beginning to pick up on the story, though it doesn’t seem like any have managed to get a comment from AT&T (we’ve reached out to the company and will update once we hear back)… “
source: techcrunch.com
“The several states are lining up to reclaim their sovereignty and telling the federal government to butt out. This is being done in myriad ways but all are related in that most claim that the Tenth Amendment protects the states from federal tyranny. States are passing resolutions, memorials and two states have passed laws and they intend to apply those laws for their citizens. The two states are Montana and Tennessee.
It was expected that at some point these laws would be challenged and it appears actions to do such has begun. The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has published open letters to federal firearms license holders in Montana and Tennessee explaining that federal law trumps state law when it comes to gun laws…”
via black bear blog
“Handheld DNA testing machines will revolutionise the investigation of murder, rape and other serious crime by producing results from the national database within an hour.
‘Rapid DNA’ technology will enable detectives to test material at the scene of a crime or in a police station and eliminate the need to send it to a laboratory.
A Whitehall briefing paper discusses the use of portable equipment for DNA analysis in one hour rather than three or four days with the longer-term aim of reducing the testing time to 30 minutes. “
via timesonline.co.uk
“Defense and intelligence contractor Raytheon is moving into the lucrative realm of cyber warfare, and wants to hire hundreds of ‘cyber warriors’ to ‘play offense and defense,’ according to an advertisement on the company’s web site.
‘President Obama recently announced that cyber security is one of our country’s most urgent national security priorities,’ reads the ad. ‘Raytheon is answering that call by hiring more cyber warriors this year to help fight the digital cyber war.’
The ad says the company has 250 positions available in its Intelligence and Information Systems (IIS) division. The jobs are for, among others, reverse engineers, kernel developers, and vulnerability and intrusion detection engineers. Raytheon also has positions available for something called “media sanitation specialists.””
via wired.com
“Home Secretary Alan Johnson is to scrap his predecessor’s policy of naming and shaming people banned from Britain for spreading race hate and terrorism. The U-turn follows Jacqui Smith’s controversial decision two months ago to announce a list of 16 people branded as ‘least wanted’ in the UK. It led to a claim for £100,000 damages by U.S. radio ’shock jock’ Michael Savage, who objected to being put in the same category as Islamic hate preachers and terrorists.
The Mail on Sunday has been told that Mr Johnson believes the move was a blunder and does not propose to issue similar lists in the future. But the switch could have major legal consequences for the Government. Mr Savage is suing Ms Smith for libel over the list and abandoning the policy could make it impossible to contest his demand for damages…”
via dailymail.co.uk
“A coalition of digital lobbying groups and library organizations are demanding that the US government drop its support for the most controversial part of the (generally controversial) Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement: Internet-related issues
ACTA, currently being negotiated secretly by the US, Japan, Canada, the EU, and others, will cover a host of cross-border concerns. And what could be more cross-border than the Internet? That’s why ACTA contains a blank section on Internet issues; the text is still being negotiated, but we already know that copyright holders hope that goodies like ISP filtering and graduated response end up in the final language of the treaty. Government negotiators refuse to give hints about what sorts of measures they are pushing for inclusion in this key section of the treaty.”
via arstechnica.com