Five years and still in court…

January 2, 2013 — xanthippa

Tomorrow, January 3rd, 2013, Mark and Connie Fournier from Free Dominion and John Does will again be at the Elgin St. (Ottawa) courthouse in yet another motion hearing in the lawsuit brought against them by Richard Warman.

Whether you’d like to support them or if you would just like to observe lawfare at work, come on down.  Other cases permitting, the ball should get rolling around 9 am.

This case has already set legal precedents in the field of internet privacy which are being cited in Canada as well as in the USA, so it is worth it to keep our eyes on this one!

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EFF Patent Project Gets Half-Million-Dollar Boost from Mark Cuban and ‘Notch’

December 19, 2012 — xanthippa

From the Electronic Frontier Foundation:

‘

San Francisco – America’s broken patent system needs major reform to protect innovators and the public. Today, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is announcing a major new boost to its patent work: a half-million dollars in funding from entrepreneur Mark Cuban and game developer Markus “Notch” Persson.

“The current state of patents and patent litigation in this country is shameful,” said Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks. “Silly patent lawsuits force prices to go up while competition and innovation suffer. That’s bad for consumers and bad for business. It’s time to fix our broken system, and EFF can help. So that’s why part of my donation funds a new title for EFF Staff Attorney Julie Samuels: ‘The Mark Cuban Chair to Eliminate Stupid Patents’.”

Cuban’s $250,000 donation also funds the hire of a new attorney experienced in patent reform and high profile patent litigation: Daniel Nazer, who will join EFF in January as a Staff Attorney. The rest of EFF’s seasoned intellectual property team includes Intellectual Property Director Corynne McSherry, Senior Staff Attorney Kurt Opsahl, and Staff Attorney Mitch Stoltz. The team is also assisted by EFF fellows Michael Barclay and Jason Schultz.

Persson’s separate donation of $250,000 cements EFF’s ability to tackle the systemic problems with software patents. With a blend of lawyers, technologists, and activists, EFF will push for reform in the courts, through activism campaigns, and by educating the public and politicians about what is wrong with software patents and what needs to change.’

Read the rest here.

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Big Brother is listening – on the bus

December 18, 2012 — xanthippa

This is creepy, but, unfortunately, true…

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From the ‘I just LOVE conspiracies’ file: Polybius, MK Ultra, and the CIA’s Brainwashing Arcade Game

December 14, 2012 — xanthippa

If you find conspiracy theories as much fun as I do, and if you enjoy video games, you’ll love this one!

H/T:  PlasmaLink

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Telecom giants and repressive regimes are teaming up to use a little-known UN agency to make the Internet more expensive, surveilled, and censored.

November 14, 2012 — xanthippa

From OpenMedia:

Wow. Telecom giants and repressive regimes are teaming up to use a little-known UN agency to make the Internet more expensive,1 surveilled,2 and censored.3

We need you to take a stand as part of a global community right now.

Internet freedom means connection with loved ones, open innovation, and free expression without interference by Big Telecom or repressive governments. All this is under threat right now, but you can make a difference in just a few seconds.

You are part of what’s shaping up to be the largest movement in history, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.

We’re already working together globally to stop new Internet restrictions from being imposed through trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP),4 and we’ve taken massive strides in Canada to push back against Big Telecom’s price-gouging activities.5 This kind of success is unique and inspiring, and it’s something you should be proud of.

Please don’t let them take it away from you – raise your voice now.

Thank you so much for being a part of this,

Steve, on behalf of your OpenMedia Team

P.S. Whether it’s stopping Big Telecom price-gouging and online surveillance in Canada, or opening the secret negotiations of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) to citizen comments, we’re bringing the pro-Internet community together to amplify your voice. Our community can only continue to be successful with stable support; you can help by becoming an Ally.

 

Footnotes

[1] See our blog, ITU proposals threaten Internet freedom and access, or the Center for Democracy and Technology’s Two Page Memo on Telecom Operators Proposal for New Internet Charging Scheme [PDF]

[2] See our blog, UN proposals threaten the Internet as we know it, or the Wired magazine article, The Kremlin’s New Internet Surveillance Plan Goes Live Today

[3] See GigaOM: Is the UN the next big threat to Internet freedom?

[4] See the successes with the StopTheTrap.net campaign so far listed in this recent letter to supporters: It’s time to amplify our voice against the TPP’s Internet trap

[5] See our infographic about the famous StopTheMeter.ca campaign here, or learn more about how we recently pushed for (and won) transparency around Big Telecom’s costs here.

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OpenMedia.ca is a non-profit organization that relies on donations from people like you to operate. Our small but dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way to make your voice heard. Please donate today.
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I wish I likes Skittles…

November 6, 2012 — xanthippa

On a lighter note – I so wish I liked Skittles, because then I’d have an excuse to get one of these:

H/T:  ZAGG

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Reddit user captures video of 2012 voting machines altering votes

November 6, 2012 — xanthippa

This is one terrible mess!

‘We are unable to confirm whether or not something fraudulent has occurred, but the story seems to lean towards a malfunction. Joseph Lorenzo Hall, Senior Staff Technologist at the Center for Democracy & Technology, has claimed that it is a miscalibration of the touch screen, though Centralpavote’s personal account directly contradicts that statement, pointing towards a malfunctioning piece of hardware, incorrectly implemented software or, in the worst case scenario, intentional voter fraud.’

Read it and weep:  incompetence or  malice, it does not really alter the fact that with electronic voting, without backup paper ballots, there is no way to verify whether the results the machines are reporting accurately reflect the will of the people.  Where such an accountability vacuum exists, fraud is sure to follow soon – it’s human nature!
Sad, just sad…

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Russian attack submarine sneaks inside the 200 mile territorial limit on the East coast of the USA

November 6, 2012 — xanthippa

This time, it’s no Marko Alexandrovich Ramius trying to defect, either!

From Washington Free Beacon:

‘A Russian nuclear-powered attack submarine cruised within 200 miles of the East Coast recently in the latest sign Russia is continuing to flex its naval and aerial power against the United States, defense officials said.

The submarine was identified by its NATO designation as a Russian Seirra-2 class submarine believed to be based with Russia’s Northern Fleet. It was the first time that class of Russian submarine had been detected near a U.S. coast, said officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of anti-submarine warfare efforts.’

The same article cites something that is potentially even more disturbing:

‘Meanwhile, the officials also said that a Russian electronic intelligence-gathering vessel was granted safe harbor in the commercial port of Jacksonville, Fla., within listening range of Kings Bay.

…

“A Russian AGI [Auxiliary-General Intelligence] and an SSN in the same geographic area as one of the largest U.S. ballistic missile submarine bases—Kings Bay—is reminiscent of Cold War activities of the Soviet navy tracking the movements of our SSBN’s,” said a third U.S. official, referring to the designation for ballistic missile submarines, SSBN.’

It only gets worse:

‘The submarine deployment followed stepped-up Russian nuclear bomber activity near U.S. borders last summer, including the transit of two Bear-H strategic bombers near the Alaska air defense zone during Russian strategic bomber war games in arctic in late June.Then on July 4, in an apparent Fourth of July political message, a Russian Bear-H flew the closest to the U.S. West Coast that a Russian strategic bomber had flown since the Cold War when such flights were routine.

In both incidents, U.S. military spokesmen sought to downplay the threat posed by the air incursions, apparently in response to the Obama administration’s conciliatory “reset” policy of seeking closer ties with Moscow.

U.S. and Canadian interceptor jets were scrambled to meet the Russian bombers during the flights last summer.’

In other words, specifically in response to Obama anemic projection of woosiness power, Putin’s Russia has placed air, surface and underwater military assets within US territorial jurisdiction…all without any response from Obama’s eviscerated military!

No wonder Putin has thrown his support behind Obama in the 2012 election!

Sure, the Bolsheviks are not in power in Russia any longer, but Obama and his Mensheviks are winning the long-term war in America – and dictators like Putin know how to exploit this very weakness!

 

 

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Remember, remember, the 5th of November…

November 5, 2012 — xanthippa

F***king Guy Fawkes day!

(OK – I need to explain the profanity….it’s a reference to an Ed McBain detective story where a transplanted Brit became a New York cop and riles on and on about the ‘f***king Guy Fawkes’.  Now, my hubby and I cannot say ‘Guy Fawkes’ without the preceding expletive…)

Well, since the Anonymous hactivists have adopted the movie ‘Guy Fawkes’ mask as their method of anonymization, ***** Guy Fawkes day has, traditionally, been a special day for them.  A day they call people to action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lB3wHORlehk

Here, in Canada, the government has banned masks from all protests – so that technology with facial recognition may be used to identify even peaceful protesters…

Why?

You should be asking not just yourself, but also your government representatives!

My advice?  If you plan to attend a demonstration of any kind, get a niqab or a burqa:  our governments may feel free to strip the rights away from non-favoured groups, but are too squeamish to strip those same rights away from militant Islamists.  Rather than bitching about it, we ought to use it!

And, you should not be willing to submit to the creep of ever-increasing surveillance.

Yes, we cannot avoid some of it – it has already become extremely pervasive in our society.

But it does not mean that we should not fight back against the creep!

And, creeping it is….

For example, a judge in the US has just ruled that the police do not need a warrant to install surveillance equipment to monitor your private property – even if it is fenced off and ‘no trespassing’ signs are posted all over the place.

And while we all know the tracking capabilities of smart phones and GPS units in vehicles (I’ve had mine physically unplugged, but the newer ones are being installed into the starter, so that the vehicle will not function if the GPS tracking has been disabled), did you know that seemingly innocuous items like asthma inhalers, will soon collect the data on everywhere you’ve been and report it to your MD or any government authority that demands the data?

Because if the data exists, somewhere, somehow, all kinds of government agencies can demand it.  It will always be turned over to them if they get a warrant, but it will also ‘usually’ be turned over to them by the companies (or individuals) who hold the info – and who fear that if they do not co-operate with ‘the authorities’, they will be targeted and put out of business through ‘targeted regulations enforcement’.

Don’t think this is happening?

Think of Buckey-balls!!!

Privacy is quickly becoming a thing of the past – governments know more and more about all aspects of our lives.

Don’t like it?

There is nowhere left to run…

Sure, you can do the basic things, like avoid the ‘points’ cards (they are simple tools of profiling and your profile is being sold for profit), pay cash, avoid using anything with a GPS in it, and so on.

Anonymous is taking it a step further – they actively urged everyone to use the occasion of F***cking Guy Fawkes Day to hack the organizations most active in conducting electronic surveillance and profiling.

So, how did it go?

There were protests in front of the British Parliament.

A couple of thousand Anonymous supporters held a demonstration in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Finance Minister (Canada) Jim Flaherty’s personal website was hacked – and downed for several hours.

NBC and Lady Gaga were also hacked.

Zynga and Facebook were bitched at.

Various bits of hacked data, including VMware source code, were publicly posted.

The most evil PayPal was hacked, as well as Symantec and even the Auzzzie government…

If you have a PayPal account (shame on you), you might want to consider changing your password, like, now – as there are reports PayPal account passwords were hacked and leaked.

TrapWire and INDECT were also hacked.

ZDNet has an excellent roundup – including updates and clarifications. (via TechEYE)

Sounds like a lot of hactivists were busy little beavers today!

 

 

 

 

 

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The Reference Frame: EU bureaucrats’ new strategy to close Czech nuclear power plant

October 3, 2012 — xanthippa

This really should not surprise me, but the EU bureaucracy is rising to new ‘Randian’ heights!

Here is the short version of the story:  the Czech republic is good at producing electicity.  In addition to hydro dams and other sources, it has invested heavily into nuclear power plants – over many decades, so that 1/3 to 1/2 of their electricity comes from nuclear power plants.  The Czech energy policy has been so successful that now, green-invested Germany buys much of its electricity from the Czechs.

While some of the Czech nuclear power plants are brand-spanking new, some are older and pre-date Czech’s entry into the EU.  These older plants use uranium fuel enriched in Russia.

So far, so good.

Then, Czrch became a member of EU.

Still OK.

Except that now, the EU bureaucrats came and told the Czechs they will have to shut down the power plant(s) that use Russian enriched uranium, because there is a pre-existing EU regulation that only EU enriched uranium may be used in EU nuclear power plants…

From TheReferenceFrame (note:  Temelin and Duchovany are Czech nuclear power plants):

‘Temelín – with its combined Russian-American design – was opened after the fall of communism, in 2002 (although the construction began in 1981), and it was a frequent target of attacks by the Austrian Luddite activists. However, Dukovany (constructed started 1974, opened in 1985-1987) which has apparently invited almost no opposition just came under a vicious assault by the EU bureaucrats.

…

We are learning that the Europeans are not allowed to buy uranium enriched outside of the EU due to some strange paragraph agreed upon at the 1994 EU Corfu Summit (island in Greece). Holy cow. How many shocking ghosts of this magnitude does the EU have? We weren’t members of the EU at that time and the citizens who were deciding about our EU membership in a referendum were not told that “Yes” could mean that some stunning assholes could get a weapon to close our nuclear power plants because of some silly sentence okayed by some drunk and corrupt jerks at an island belonging to a country that shouldn’t have been in the EU at all. If this information were the case, I would consider the referendum to be fraudulent.’

Read it and weep…

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