-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1
Questions for the new European Commissioners
,----[ Quote ]
| 2 weeks after launching a consultation, la
| Quadrature du Net is submitting to the
| European Parliament a set of questions to be
| asked to the Commissioners designate.
|
| They cover a broad range of issues that are
| essential to people's right to access a free
| and open Internet. All these topics should
| be a core component of the upcoming European
| digital agenda.
|
| All questions directly relate to the
| portfolio of Neelie Kroes, Commissioner for
| the Digital Agenda. Other Commissioners
| designate whose Directorate-General are
| competent for specific issues are indicated
| below.
`----
http://www.laquadrature.net/en/questions-for-new-european-commissioners
Government wants new powers to block wikileaks and squeeze web tv
,----[ Quote ]
| Just over a week ago I wrote a fairly dry
| legal analysis of the Digital Economy Bill.
| I spotted an extremely serious provision â
| clause 11 â in the version being discussed
| in the House of Lords. Having looked at the
| amendments (which you can find on the Bill's
| document page) I am worried that no-one in
| Parliament appears to be taking the problem
| serious.
`----
http://www.francisdavey.co.uk/2009/12/government-wants-new-powers-to-block.html
Danish police abuse climate-change demonstrators
,----[ Quote ]
| Zoran sez, "Earlier this week (12th Dec), a
| massive, peaceful protest of 100,000 people
| -- the largest demonstration for climate
| justice in world history -- was met with a
| heavy-handed response by the Danish police.
| Thousands of riot police swarmed the march
| route, blocked off streets surrounding large
| groups of protestors, and arrested almost
| 1,000 people. Arrestees were cuffed and
| forced to sit in rows for hours, as the
| temperatures dipped below freezing; numerous
| people urinated on themselves after being
| denied use of toilets."
`----
http://www.boingboing.net/2009/12/16/danish-police-abuse.html
BBC deletes important story on toxic waste dumping in the Ivory Coast after legal threats, 12 Dec 2009
,----[ Quote ]
| This file contains a deleted BBC news
| article on the toxic-waste dumping of
| commodities giant Trafigura. According to a
| September 2009 UN report, the dumping drove
| 108,000 people in the Ivory Coast to seek
| medical attention.
|
| Trafigura and their lawyers Carter Ruck had
| been pursuing an ongoing libel case against
| the BBC over a news story from on the case
| that aired in May 2009[1].
|
| In the story "Dirty Tricks and Toxic Waste
| in the Ivory Coast", the BBC's Newsnight
| programme stated: "It is the biggest toxic
| dumping scandal of the 21st century, the
| type of environmental vandalism that
| international treaties are supposed to
| prevent. Now Newsnight can reveal the truth
| about the waste that was illegally tipped on
| Ivory Coast's biggest city, Abidjan". The
| programme alleged that a number of deaths
| had been caused by the dumping of this toxic
| waste, which had originated with Trafigura.
|
| Until this week the story was still
| available on the BBC website.[2]
|
| The link stopped working some time on
| December 10th or 11th, but at the time of
| writing the Google cache is still
| available[3].
`----
http://wikileaks.org/wiki/BBC_deletes_important_story_on_toxic_waste_dumping_in_the_Ivory_Coast_after_legal_threats%2C_12_Dec_2009
Stand up to Trafigura abuse of outdated libel laws
,----[ Quote ]
| Trafigura took a very aggressive stance,
| using the UKâs outdated libel laws to gag
| the media, and questions in Parliament. When
| the Guardian reported that it had been
| served with a âsuper-injunctionâ that didnât
| allow it to name Trafigura, or Carter-Ruck,
| *or* the fact that they had taken out an
| injunction on them, the Internet took up the
| case and plastered the details everywhere.
`----
http://kierenmccarthy.com/2009/12/16/trafigura-newsnight-show/
Child groups slam Conroyâs ISP filtering plans
,----[ Quote ]
| Childrenâs rights groups have spoken out
| against the Federal Governmentâs plans to
| introduce mandatory ISP-level filtering,
| saying it will not effectively protect
| children.
|
| International child rights group, Save the
| Children, said while it congratulates the
| government on its attempt to improve the
| safety of children online, an ISP-level
| filter is not the best way to offer
| protection.
`----
http://www.computerworld.com.au/article/330087/child_groups_slam_conroy_isp_filtering_plans
Child safety vetting list will grow from initial 9m
,----[ Quote ]
| There had been plans for some 11.3 million
| adults to be vetted - but after criticism
| from school leaders and children's authors
| the rules on frequency of contact have been
| eased, reducing this to an estimated nine
| million.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/8412450.stm
Silvio Berlusconi: Italian government threatens to block anti-Berlusconi Facebook groups
,----[ Quote ]
| Outraged Italian ministers have threatened
| action against dozens of Facebook groups
| which have sprung up praising the actions of
| the man who allegedly attacked Silvio
| Berlusconi.
`----
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/6810927/Silvio-Berlusconi-Italian-government-threatens-to-block-anti-Berlusconi-Facebook-groups.html
Battles over Berlusconi rage in cyberspace
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8415170.stm
Facebook to Monitor Berlusconi Content
,----[ Quote ]
| Facebook said Tuesday that it would monitor
| content on its Web site dealing with Prime
| Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy
| following an attack at a political rally
| that left him hospitalized.
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/16/technology/internet/16iht-face.html?src=twt&twt=nytimestech
Italian student tells of arrest while filming for fun
,----[ Quote ]
| Police community support officers (PCSOs)
| stopped Italian student Simona Bonomo under
| anti-terrorism legislation for filming
| buildings in London. Moments later, she was
| arrested by other officers, held in a police
| cell and fined. She talks Paul Lewis through
| the footage she recorded of her conversation
| with the PSCOs. Source: guardian.co.uk Link
| to this video
`----
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/dec/15/italian-student-police-arrest-filming
Online-only news to be overseen by press watchdog
,----[ Quote ]
| Internet-only publications are to face the
| same regulations as newspapers for the first
| time under an extension to the powers of
| newspaper industry self-regulator body the
| Press Complaints Commission (PCC).
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/16/pcc_annexes_online_only_content/
Google weighs in to Aussie firewall row
,----[ Quote ]
| Google has criticised the Australian
| government's forthcoming mandatory ISP
| censorship system for targeting a "too wide"
| a range of content.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/16/google_oz_filtering/
Australia introduces web filters
,----[ Quote ]
| Australia intends to introduce filters which
| will ban access to websites containing
| criminal content.
|
| The banned sites will be selected by an
| independent classification body guided by
| complaints from the public, said
| Communications Minister Stephen Conroy.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8413377.stm
Recent:
What is the 'Clean Feed'?
,----[ Quote ]
| The Australian Federal Government is pushing
| forward with a plan to force Internet
| Service Providers [ISPs] to censor the
| Internet for all Australians. This plan will
| waste tens of millions of taxpayer dollars
| and will not make anyone safer.z
|
| Despite being almost universally condemned
| by the public, ISPs, State Governments,
| Media and censorship experts, Communications
| Minister Stephen Conroy is determined to
| force this filter into your home.
`----
http://nocleanfeed.com/
Australia Edges Us Towards the Digital Dark Ages
,----[ Quote ]
| The first is that it won't actually stop
| people accessing illegal or unsuitable
| content. As fast as sites and IP addresses
| are blocked, others will pop up in an online
| arms race that is unwinnable by leaden-
| footed bureaucracy.
|
| Another issue is that by providing a
| compulsory filtering of the feed, the
| Australian government could easily lull
| parents into a false sense of security, and
| actually *increase* the risk of children
| being exposed to dangerous material. As with
| all kinds of online dangers, the best
| protection is for parents to be actively
| involved in the children's exploration of
| that world, and it's foolish to send out the
| message that the government is now
| âtacklingâ this problem, because many people
| will draw the inevitable conclusion that
| they don't need to worry about the issue any
| more.
`----
http://www.computerworlduk.com/community/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=2698&blogid=14
Chinese domain crackdown targets smut sites
,----[ Quote ]
| Chinese regulators have started to request
| business licences and paperwork before
| allowing future .cn domain registrations.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/15/china_domain_regs/
Mandelson's Power to Censor the Net
,----[ Quote ]
| Hidden away inside the Bill, there's
| unlimited - and arbitrary - censorship of
| any site the Secretary of State takes
| against:
|
| Surely something must limit this power
| you ask? It seems not. The Secretary of
| State may make an order if "he considers
| it appropriate" in view of:
|
| (a) an assessment carried out or steps
| taken by OFCOM under section 124G; or
| (b) any other consideration.
|
| Where "any other consideration" could be
| anything. To their credit the Tories do
| seem to have realised that this
| particular alternative is overly
| permissive. Lord Howard of Rising and
| Lord de Mauley have proposed (in the
| first tranche of amendments proposed
| that the "or" be replaced by an "and".
|
| What astonishes me is that there is no
| obligation for the Secretary of STate to
| even publish such an order, let alone
| subject it to the scrutiny of
| Parliament, yet he could fundamentally
| change the way the internet operates
| using it. Other orders made under other
| parts of the Bill will have to be made
| by statutory instrument and most will
| require Parliamentary approval. Not this
| one.
|
| If this goes through, we are in deep
| trouble, people....
`----
http://opendotdotdot.blogspot.com/2009/12/mandelsons-power-to-censor-net.html
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (GNU/Linux)
iEYEARECAAYFAksp+x8ACgkQU4xAY3RXLo5URQCfYib5WIt2UtufNM6jXTrgRmRH
BggAn0O9+YcLbAD46K1kQD+TFR9k58RU
=o3re
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
|
|
