Kabinet: internetproviders mogen diensten blokkeren – Emerce.

It can be a pain to remember alternative domains when the main domain is moved or illegally seized.Rather than mess around in your hosts file or keep a list of alternative domains and copy/paste this add-on automatically redirects you to the correct alternate site.

via MafiaaFire Redirector :: Add-ons for Firefox.

Why would doctors need to have client secrecy privelige? Exactly. Get rid of it. And we need to store camera images for longer.  Who needs privacy anyway?!

Kabinet rekt privacywet op | Webwereld.

The guy, John A Rizzo, who signed off on CIA kill orders gives Newsweek a candid interview on the process involved.

Inside the Killing Machine – Newsweek.

So claims Bits of Freedom. Of course, it is a huge invasion of your privacy. In some countries they refuse to do it, in NL, they get enthusiastic and force ISPs and Telco’s to retain five years of history.

‘Bewaarplicht Europese verkeersgegevens levert weinig op’ – Emerce.

The European Union’s new point person on copyright policy won’t take up her post until mid-April, but she’s already stirring up controversy. That’s because Maria Martin-Prat spent years directing “global legal policy” for IFPI, the global recording industry’s London-based trade group, before moving back into government. The appointment raises new questions about the past private-sector work of government officials, especially those crafting policy or issuing legal judgments on the same issues they once lobbied for.

The US has judges who used to be music industry lawyers sitting on copyright cases – I thought the EU had more sense than installing people with such clear conflicts of interests.

via Key music industry lawyer now EU copyright chief.

The Dutch foreign minister has stated that if the US comes up with some trumped up charges, he’ll happily deliver Rob Gonggrijp –  founder of XS4ALL – to the US for helping to spread wikileaks information and the gunship videos.

That this isn’t a crime in NL is no barrier to throwing him to the 4th reich wolves.

Nederland staat open voor uitleveren Gonggrijp – UPDATE | Webwereld.

And no one sees any conflict of interest?!

While many judges around the country are throwing out file sharing lawsuits on account of questionable or faulty arguments, DC federal judge Beryl Howell just recently allowed three cases filed by copyright holders to proceed. What makes it intriguing is that she used to be a former RIAA lobbyist.

via Former RIAA Lobbyist Now Handles File Sharing Cases as a Federal Judge.

And plastered with a message saying the site was shut down for kiddie porn. Are the FBI embarressed? Apologetic? Hell no!

They’ve done this before and they’ll do it again. This is why we like governments to have NO say in how the internet runs.

Feds Accidentally Shut Down 84,000 Websites over Wrongful Kiddie Porn Accusation.

3 key provisions of the patriot act have not been extended in the House by a vote of 277 – 148.

One of the provisions authorizes the FBI to continue using roving wiretaps on surveillance targets; the second allows the government to access “any tangible items,” such as library records, in the course of surveillance; and the third is a “lone wolf” provision of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorist Prevention Act that allows for the surveillance of targets who are not connected to an identified terrorist group.

44 – House rejects measure that would extend key Patriot Act provisions through December.

Facebook introduced a handful of new ad units that combine your “Likes,” Facebook Places check ins, and your use of certain apps with advertisements for things like Starbucks, Coke, Levi’s jeans and Budweiser.

In other words, if you happen to click “Like” on the Starbucks page, check into your local faux Italian coffee bar, or use your Starbucks Greek iPhone app, your Facebook avatar could appear in an ad paid for by Starbucks and appearing on your friends’ pages.

Facebook ads use your face for free | ITworld.

The Dutch have a system on roads that read number plates automatically for speeding purposes. Now – surprise surprise – they want to store not only the number plate information, but also the pictoral information (including the driver’s face) for a period of four weeks.

I’m sure they’ll be trotting out the paedofile capturing arguments in 3 … 2 … 1 …

Minister wil alle kentekens opslaan | Webwereld.

Not only was it prepared by a recent college graduate, agent Andrew Reynolds basically just listened to the MPAA – who have a vested and misinformed agenda. This takedown is a horrible joke gone wrong: no one seems to have any idea of how technology, or indeed just surfing the internet, works, but they have the power to take down websites and only inform the owners months later.

Homeland Security Presents ‘Evidence’ For Domain Seizures; Proves It Knows Little About The Internet – Or The Law | Techdirt.

Federal law enforcement agencies do not limit their surveillance of US residents to phone calls, emails and geo-location information. They are also interested in calling cards, credit cards, rental cars and airline reservations, as well as retail shopping clubs.

The document also reveals that DOJ’s preferred method of obtaining this information is via an administrative subpoena. The only role that courts play in this process is in issuing non-disclosure orders to the banks, preventing them from telling their customers that the government has spied on their financial transactions. No Fourth Amendment analysis is conducted by judges when issuing such non-disclosure orders.

via slight paranoia: DOJ’s “hotwatch” real-time surveillance of credit card transactions.

Why is this strange? Well, torrent-finder doesn’t host any torrents, or contain a database with the location of torrents – it doesn’t even show any torrents: it shows torrent finding sites in iframes (ie outside of its own site).

It’s been taken down unilaterally by ICE in the *cough* land of the *cough* free, the US.

U.S. Government Seizes BitTorrent Search Engine Domain and More | TorrentFreak.

The reemerging Interception Modernisation Programme (IMP) means internet providers will be forced to install interception equipment in their networks to capture details of who contacts whom, when, where and how via services such as Facebook, Skype, webmail, and online games.

Under the most likely scenario, Deep Packet Inspection technology will be configured by GCHQ to grab such data from passing traffic and store it in vast silos run by communications providers. The same technology will also allow for the content of communications to be intercepted, although this requires a warrant from the Home Secretary.

via Green light for spooks’ net snoop plan • The Register.

And here I was thinking the new government was for privacy…

Yup, if you implement a population controlling measure ‘to save the children’ then the useage of the measure goes far beyond the original remit. The internet is meant to be free and people in democracies – being deemed intelligent enough to vote – should be allowed to choose what sites they watch. It’s none of government’s business what we visit.

First off, according to a report this week in The Australian, the amount of online content referred to the Australian Classification Board for a ruling by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) more than tripled – up from 77 referrals in 2008-9 to 258 in 2009-10. This year, more than five times as many URLs were banned as last year – the figures went from 14 last year to 78 in this.

via The great Aussie firewall is back – and this time it’s personal • The Register.

Which means they have to conform to data retention and data tapping laws, as well as a registration fee to the OPTA.

Which also means that anyone offering free WiFi (MacDonalds, Airports, Starbucks, etc) is liable to be seen as an ISP.

Guess the OPTA is desperate for money.

OPTA jaagt op hotels met internet | Webwereld.

UPC, one of Ireland’s largest internet service providers, has won a major legal victory against four of the world’s most powerful record companies over the much-contested issue of online music piracy.

The High Court in Dublin ruled today that there was no precedent in Irish law to force ISPs to identify and disconnect people accused of illegally downloading copyrighted files, which means that despite the record companies requests, UPC will not be required to take part in the three strikes programme that had been on the table for some time now.

via Law: Irish ISP wins major legal victory against record labels – No legal precedent in Irish law for disconnection | TechEye.

This is hardly surprising – they’ve been emailing the pictures (which resolve into full colour when you put the ‘negative’ filter over them in photoshop) and been poking fun at colleagues and now they’re basically just using them to check you out naked. Anyone suprised?

Lagos — The 3D full-body scanners procured for thorough body check of passengers at the nation’s major airports for security reasons are now being abused by security officials from the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria FAAN, THISDAY can confirm.They use the machines, installed in the wake of the Farouk AbdulMutallab affair, to watch the naked images of female passengers for fun.The controversial body scanners have been dubbed “e-stripping” in advanced countries because of the way they expose the nakedness of those being screened.THISDAY discovered that during off-peak periods, the aviation security officials, who are trained on the use of the scanners, usually stroll from the cubicle located in a hidden corner on the right side of the screening area where the 3D full-body scanner monitors are located.They do so to catch a glimpse of some of the passengers entering the machine and immediately go back to view the naked images, in order to match the faces with the images since the faces are blurred on the monitors while passengers are inside the machine.The face that appears on the scanner’s monitor is usually blurred so that the operator viewing the full body will not recognise who passes through the machine.But by coming out to see the passenger in person and then going back to see his or her image, the objective of protecting the privacy of the passenger has been defeated.THISDAY observed this development first-hand when it visited the screening area, passed through the conventional screening machine at 3pm last Saturday and observed that passengers were reluctant to use the new 3D full-body scanner.To compel them to use it, one of the conventional scanners was put out of service, leaving the ones at the left end and another very close to the new scanner.

via allAfrica.com: Now Showing at MMIA: Nude Images of Passengers.