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File-sharing Bill could give Government control of the internet
,----[ Quote ]
| The Digital Economy Bill would give the
| Government the power to control the internet
| access of UK citizens by ministerial order,
| bypassing Parliament and without an adequate
| right of appeal, according to one legal
| expert.
|
| Barrister Francis Davey has examined clause
| 11 of the Bill and believes that it puts
| extraordinary powers to control the
| information available to UK internet users
| in the hands of the Secretary of State for
| Business, Innovation and Skills, currently
| Lord Mandelson.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/18/government_to_control_the_web/
No decrease in illegal downloading, says BPI
,----[ Quote ]
| The number of people downloading music
| illegally is not decreasing, despite the
| availability of new legal services,
| according to a music industry research.
`----
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/8420484.stm
BPI Survey Suggests Spotify Hasn't Magically Decreased Desire For Unauthorized Music Access
,----[ Quote ]
| Still, what strikes me as interesting is
| that BPI still keeps insisting that this is
| a "problem," without any evidence that this
| is true. The only real "problem" is the
| failure of the record labels that BPI
| represents to adjust their business models.
| If they did that, there wouldn't be much of
| a problem at all. But, the labels don't want
| to do that. They want the government to
| rescue them and to pretend they can keep
| doing business they way they always did.
`----
http://techdirt.com/articles/20091218/1453367431.shtml
Recent:
My Reaction to Eric Schmidt
,----[ Quote ]
| Schmidt said:
|
| I think judgment matters. If you have
| something that you don't want anyone to
| know, maybe you shouldn't be doing it in
| the first place. If you really need that
| kind of privacy, the reality is that
| search engines -- including Google -- do
| retain this information for some time
| and it's important, for example, that we
| are all subject in the United States to
| the Patriot Act and it is possible that
| all that information could be made
| available to the authorities.
|
| This, from 2006, is my response:
|
| Privacy protects us from abuses by those
| in power, even if we're doing nothing
| wrong at the time of surveillance.
|
| We do nothing wrong when we make love or
| go to the bathroom. We are not
| deliberately hiding anything when we
| seek out private places for reflection
| or conversation. We keep private
| journals, sing in the privacy of the
| shower, and write letters to secret
| lovers and then burn them. Privacy is a
| basic human need.
|
| [...]
|
| For if we are observed in all matters,
| we are constantly under threat of
| correction, judgment, criticism, even
| plagiarism of our own uniqueness. We
| become children, fettered under watchful
| eyes, constantly fearful that -- either
| now or in the uncertain future --
| patterns we leave behind will be brought
| back to implicate us, by whatever
| authority has now become focused upon
| our once-private and innocent acts. We
| lose our individuality, because
| everything we do is observable and
| recordable.
|
| [...]
|
| This is the loss of freedom we face when
| our privacy is taken from us. This is
| life in former East Germany, or life in
| Saddam Hussein's Iraq. And it's our
| future as we allow an ever-intrusive eye
| into our personal, private lives.
|
| Too many wrongly characterize the debate
| as "security versus privacy." The real
| choice is liberty versus control.
| Tyranny, whether it arises under threat
| of foreign physical attack or under
| constant domestic authoritative
| scrutiny, is still tyranny. Liberty
| requires security without intrusion,
| security plus privacy. Widespread police
| surveillance is the very definition of a
| police state. And that's why we should
| champion privacy even when we have
| nothing to hide.
`----
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2009/12/my_reaction_to.html
Patriot Act Renewal Moving Forward
,----[ Quote ]
| Renewal of two controversial Patriot Act
| provisions set to expire at the end of the
| year have been approved by House and Senate
| Committees over the past month, and appear
| headed for floor votes in both bodies.
| President Obama has endorsed extending the
| provisions.
|
| The two provisions include the ârecordsâ
| rule and the âroving wiretapsâ provision.
| The so-called ârecordsâ rule grants federal
| officials with a court order the power to
| force private parties such as businesses,
| hospitals, and libraries to hand over "any
| tangible thing" they believe has "relevance"
| to a terrorist investigation.
|
| âRoving wiretapsâ allow wiretapping multiple
| lines of communication without informing
| FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act)
| courts which specific phone lines or
| communication media are being targeted.
`----
http://www.jbs.org/jbs-news-feed/5705-patriot-act-renewal-moving-forward
Gov slams critical database report as opaque, flawed, inaccurate
,----[ Quote ]
| The report assigned each database a status
| based on traffic lights. Only six of the 46
| databases were assigned the 'green' status
| that indicated they worked properly and
| legally.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/11/rowntree_report/
Does the EU-Commission use Google Analytics?
,----[ Quote ]
| And if so, does this constitute a national
| security risk? I am just asking because
| even in private sector operations often
| passionate citizens approach us with
| concerns when we use Google Analytics. I
| am curious if the European Data Protection
| Supervisor website also uses Google
| Analyticsâ
`----
http://arebentisch.wordpress.com/2009/12/08/does-the-eu-commission-use-google-analytics/
EU Chemical Agency and the Analytics trojan
,----[ Quote ]
| I wonder how a public authority can make a
| company use the traffic information of its
| visitors for commercial analysis purposes.
| So in other words, a European Union body
| allows a company from a third nation to
| record traffic data, to spy on the use of
| its government websites and hand it out to
| third nation authorities.
`----
http://arebentisch.wordpress.com/2009/12/08/eu-chemical-agency-and-the-analytics-trojan/
Google chief: Only miscreants worry about net privacy
,----[ Quote ]
| If you're concerned about Google retaining
| your personal data, then you must be doing
| something you shouldn't be doing. At least
| that's the word from Google CEO Eric
| Schmidt.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/12/07/schmidt_on_privacy/
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