In the latest salvo in the battle to defend the right to publish the law, EFF filed a counterclaim on Friday against three standards development organizations (âSDOsâ), asking a federal court in Washington to declare that the online publication of safety codes does not violate copyright or trademark law. We are joined in the effort by co-counsel Fenwick & West LLP, Durie Tangri LLP, and David Halperin.
Daily Archives: 30. September 2013
It Sure Sounds Like the NSA Is Tracking Our Locations
The drumbeat of ânon-denial denialsâ is getting louder as the NSA continues to refuse to directly state whether it is using cell phone information to track Americansâ whereabouts. When NSA Director Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander was asked again about the NSAâs cell phone location tracking on Thursday â at a hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence â this is how the exchange went:
âFreedomâs just another word…â The Police State of America
I no longer recognize my country.
Back in 1997, after two years living in China, and five more living in Hong Kong, during which time, as a correspondent for Business Week magazine, I slipped in and out of China regularly as a journalist to report on developments there, I got a good dose of life in a totalitarian society.
Facebook expands Graph Search to let you search status updates
Facebook Graph Search, the social network‘s natural language search engine, is maturing in a way that will help it live up to its original promise of freeing all past and present content from the confines of News Feed.
Two generals asked to retire in wake of Bastion attack
The attack was devastating. The insurgents completely destroyed six AV-8B Harrier jets, which cost about $24 million each, and severely damaged two others. Six other aircraft were also damaged.
CNN, NBC cancel Hillary Clinton film projects
„It‘s a victory for the Clintons, and for the money machines that both political parties have now become,“ Ferguson wrote. „But I don‘t think that it‘s a victory for the media, or for the American people.“
Asked for a comment on the developments, Merrill e-mailed this statement: „Lights, camera, no reaction.“
Charter protesters call for âopen Quebecâ
Mit dabei war Philosoph Charles Taylor, der als Co-Vorsitz Quebec 2007 der Kommission ĂŒber angemessene Vorkehrungen.
„Ich glaube, dies ist ein wesentliches Merkmal unserer Gesellschaft – gleiche Rechte fĂŒr alle und wenn man das gehen lassen, haben wir nichts fĂŒr unsere Kinder und unsere Enkel geben“, Taylor gegenĂŒber Reportern.
Haiti introduces special police force for tourists
The agents will carry 9 mm handguns and will report both to the tourism and justice ministries.
The two-year-old government of President Michel Martelly has sought to make tourism a priority. His government has doubled its tourism budget and is hoping that $27 million from Venezuela will help revive the once-thriving industry.
Auch Congstar wird drosseln
Trotz gegenteiliger ErklĂ€rungen im April 2013 wird Congstar doch eine Drosselung einfĂŒhren. Das erklĂ€rte ein Sprecher der Deutsche-Telekom-Tochter dem Nachrichtenmagazin Focus. „Wir planen die EinfĂŒhrung einer Datenobergrenze fĂŒr Festnetzkunden.“ Ein genauer Zeitpunkt wurde nicht bekanntgegeben.
Martha Stewart Joins the Fight Against Lodsys as Apple Takes a Timeout
The competition is fierce, but Lodsys might be the worst patent troll in America. Using vaguely worded early-90s patents that barely rise above gibberish, it has waged a massive campaign of lawsuits and intimidation against small application developers. Last week saw two big stories in the ongoing Lodsys saga.
The first story is that Martha Stewartâs media company has sued Lodsys in federal court in Wisconsin. How did Lodsys end up in a patent fight with Martha Stewart?
Kampfjet in der TĂŒrkei verunglĂŒckt â beide Piloten ĂŒberlebten
Ein Kampfjet der tĂŒrkischen FliegerkrĂ€fte ist am Montag im zentralen Teil des Landes nach Angaben der Nachrichtenagentur Anadolu verunglĂŒckt.
Irak will Erfahrungen Russlands im Kampf gegen Terror nutzen
âDie irakische Regierung strebt eine Kooperation mit Russland im Kampf gegen den Terror an und möchte die erfolgreichen russischen Erfahrungen bei der BekĂ€mpfung bewaffneter extremistischer Gruppierungen in Tschetschenien und in Afghanistan ĂŒbernehmenâ, sagte Mohamed al-Akili, Abgeordneter von der Regierungsblock im irakischen Parlament.
Kerry: Trotz Syrien werden die Vereinigten Staaten von Amerika weiterhin ihr MilitĂ€r im Ausland benĂŒtzen
Der plötzliche Ausbruch von Diplomatie in Syrien hat eine Reihe von Falken desorientiert, und den Aussenminister John Kerry, den Möchtegern-Architekten eines Krieges, zu dem es dann nicht gekommen ist, auf der Suche nach einer Wiederholung von Amerikas militĂ€rischer KriegslĂŒsternheit gelassen.
Saatgutvielfalt in Gefahr – gegen eine EU-Saatgutverordnung zum Nutzen der Saatgut-Industrie
Keine weitere Zerstörung der landwirtschaftlichen und gartenbaulichen Sortenvielfalt in Europa!
If It Took Seven Years And An Employee Confession To Reveal Intentional NSA Abuse, How Can NSA Say It Knows All Abuses?
Given that, you‘d assume those twelve cases of intentional (and at times flagrant) abuse of the system, often to spy on „love interests“ would have been caught by those audits. But no. By our count, only three out of the twelve were caught by audits. And four of the revelations appear to have been self-reported. And one of the abuses (one of the self-reported ones) happened seven years before the confession.
Die Schweizer Armee fĂŒhrt gerade eine Ăbung durch.
Das ist noch nicht spannend, aber guckt euch mal das Szenario an, das die da ĂŒben. Es handelt sich um einen Angriff aus Frankreich.
Industry leader says Italy risks being ruled from Brussels
Confindustria President Giorgio Squinzi said he feared the country could return to the situation it faced late in 2011, when Silvio Berlusconi was forced to quit as premier to make way for Mario Monti‘s emergency technocrat administration due to the threat of a Greek-style financial meltdown.
Letta‘s office says received PdL ministers‘ resignations
Alfano, De Girolamo, Lorenzin, Lupi, Quagliariello quit
Mortar shell hits Chinese embassy in Syria: state media
A mortar shell hit the Chinese embassy in Syria‘s capital Damascus on Monday, damaging the building and wounding one person, Chinese state media reported.
Peres: Israel will consider joining chemical weapons ban treaty
The Israeli government will seriously consider joining the international treaty banning chemical weapons after Syria said it would destroy its own toxic arsenal, President Shimon Peres said on Monday.
Es gibt mal wieder einen klaren Fall von Selbstmord: Ein Kronzeuge gegen den NSU.
Der setzt sich vor Zeugen in ein Auto, und das Auto explodiert. Und er hat keinen Abschiedsbrief hinterlassen.
NSA Has Built Its Own, Secret, Warrantless, Shadow Social Network, And You‘ve Already Joined It
The NY Times has an article by James Risen and Laura Poitras (what a combo reporting team there!) detailing how the NSA has basically built its own „shadow“ social network in which it tries to create a „social graph“ of pretty much everyone that everyone knows, foreign or American, and it all happens (of course) without a warrant. And, note, this is relatively new:
Anonymous Cop Claims Anonymity Is Bad, Proposes National Email Registry For Internet Users
Online anonymity is a feature, not a bug, as we‘ve pointed out several times here at Techdirt. True, being faceless and nameless can often bring out the worst in certain people. Anonymity may make a bad things worse, but anonymity, in and of itself, isn‘t a bad thing.
Die NSA hat auch US-Senatoren Frank Church und Howard Baker abgehört
Mit anderen Worten: Die NSA hat illegal Politiker abgehört, die fĂŒr die Aufarbeitung von FĂ€llen von illegalem Abhören zustĂ€ndig waren.
Helping Build The Surveillance State Is Good Business: Palantir Gets $196 Million More In Funding
Palantir is definitely a fairly well-known (if somewhat secretive) company in Silicon Valley. While Silicon Valley firms actually tend to have a reputation for being skeptical of partnering up with the intelligence community, Palantir has always focused on trying to work directly with the intelligence community, quite successfully. Palantir got a bit of notoriety a couple years ago, when it was revealed to be associated with HBGary Federal when Anonymous leaked plans to try to discredit Wikileaks and various critics (including Glenn Greenwald) in a pitch to Bank of America and the US Chamber of Commerce.
Senators Angle for Monsanto-Friendly FDA Voluntary GMO Labeling ‚Guidance‘
While consumers battle on for laws mandating the labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in food products, some lawmakers are taking the GMO labeling debate in a different direction. And itâs a direction thatâs anything but consumer friendly.
Last month, Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.) asked the U.S. Food & Drug Administration to finalize its 2001 guidance on voluntary labeling of genetically modified organisms (GMOs).
Pentagon chief Chuck Hagel seeks deal to keep 10,000 troops in Afghanistan
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Monday he hoped an accord on the future US military presence in Afghanistan would be in place by November, despite President Hamid Karzaiâs refusal to be rushed.
âI hope weâll have that agreement by the end of October, because we just canât move without it,â Hagel told US soldiers participating in a live-fire exercise in South Korea.
Hartz IV: Mutter friert mit Baby ohne Heizung
Im Februar stellte die 21-JÀhrige hochschwanger in Begleitung ihrer Schwiegermutter einen Antrag auf Hartz IV beim zustÀndigen Jobcenter. Da sich der Vater des Kindes noch in der Tischler-Ausbildung befindet, reicht das Geld der kleine Familie hinten und vorne nicht. Das Jobcenter behauptete jedoch, keinen Antrag erhalten zu haben. Da ein Stempel auf den Unterlagen fehlte, konnte die jungen Mutter nicht das Gegenteil beweisen.
Ahnungsloser AuĂenminister: Westerwelle und Deutschlands chemiewaffentaugliche Lieferung an Syrien
Am 18. September gab das Bundeswirtschaftsministerium bekannt, dass Deutschland bis 2006 waffentaugliche Chemikalien nach Syrien lieferte. AuĂenminister Guido Westerwelle fĂŒgte eiligst hinzu, dass diese Lieferungen einen Zeitraum betreffen, in der er nicht in Regierungsverantwortung war. Nun stellt sich heraus, dass Deutschland noch bis zum 1. Halbjahr 2011 chemiewaffentaugliche Stoffe nach Syrien exportierten.
N.S.A. Gathers Data on Social Connections of U.S. Citizens
A year earlier, an internal briefing paper from the N.S.A. Office of Legal Counsel showed that the agency was allowed to collect and retain raw traffic, which includes both metadata and content, about âU.S. personsâ for up to five years online and for an additional 10 years offline for âhistorical searches.â
âTravelsWith, hasFather, sentForumMessage, employsâ â NSA nutzt Passagierdaten zur permanenten Rasterfahndung
Auch deutsche Behörden kooperieren mit dem DHS. Die operative Zusammenarbeit mit dem BKA und Bundesamt fĂŒr Verfassungsschutz wird seit 2008 in einer âSecurity Cooperation Groupâ ausgestaltet (GroĂbritannien unterhĂ€lt hierfĂŒr mit dem DHS eine âJoint Contact Groupâ). Das deutsche Zollkriminalamt darf seit 1973 zur âDrogen- und TerrorismusbekĂ€mpfungâ mit US-Behörden Daten tauschen.
Stuttgart 21: Verantwortliche bestrafen statt BĂŒrger ĂŒberwachen
PresseerklĂ€rung zur heutigen 191. Stuttgarter Montagsdemo der BĂŒrgerbewegung gegen das Industrieprogramm âStuttgart 21âł (S21), sowie zum dritten Jahrestag des Schwarzen Donnerstags
Egypt Brotherhood youth reach out across ideology
the Brotherhood faces deep skepticism over its rebranding, particularly among leftist and revolutionary activists who oppose the military‘s current domination of the political scene. Those activists recall how the Brotherhood and its Islamist allies supported military rule after Mubarak‘s 2011 fall because it served their interests, paving the way to elections they would win. The Brotherhood and other Islamists even backed deadly crackdowns on anti-military protesters at the time.
Anti-Coup Pro-Democracy Alliance Reaffirms ‚Youth Are Mainstay of Revolution‘ Week Two
The Anti-Coup, Pro-Legitimacy National Alliance expresses deep appreciation for the steadfastness of the great Egyptian people against the coup, with Egyptian youth in the forefront, during the „Youth Are the Mainstay of the Revolution“ protest week.
The Alliance also greatly values the role of Egyptian students who foiled the putschistsâ heinous plots, with the start of studies postponed in many universities and disrupted in others. Students have also brought down the decision that was close to being issued to delegate powers of arrest to university staff.
Egyptâs former culture minister probed over âindecentâ Facebook chat
The prosecution says the former minister used sexual language with his female students in a Facebook chat during his time as instructor at the High Cinema Institute.