More links this week, with by far the largest number news items being about the United States’ efforts to censor the internet on behalf of large media companies. See the section on SOPA, below.
Censorship:
- How Occupy Became This Century’s Free Speech Movement 11 November 2011, 12:27 pm
- Groups Urge Supreme Court to Halt FCC Broadcast Censorship 14 November 2011, 2:17 pm
- Tumblr’s anti-censorship message generated 87,834 phone calls to representatives 18 November 2011, 4:28 am
- South African Bill Poses Grave Threat to Press Freedom 21 November 2011, 5:41 pm
- S Africa adopts contentious ‘secrecy bill’ 22 November 2011, 9:57 pm
- No More Press Freedom in South Africa 23 November 2011, 4:03 am
- EU Court of Justice: Censorship in Name of Copyright Violates Fundamental Rights 25 November 2011, 5:34 am
- Google Now Censors The Pirate Bay, isoHunt, 4Shared and More 25 November 2011, 5:37 am
I find it interesting to consider the conflict between human rights and content ownership, in particular the conflict between freedom of speech and property rights.
Copyright / Patent:
- Hollywood’s New War on Software Freedom and Internet Innovation 11 November 2011, 12:19 pm
- “Shoot the Pirate” Copyright Campaign Descends Into Real Violence 13 November 2011, 8:23 am
- RIAA claims you do not own your iTunes music purchases 17 November 2011, 9:43 am
- It Is A Violation Of The Adobe Trademark To Say An Image Was “Photoshopped” 23 November 2011, 2:06 am
- MPAA Costs Hollywood More Than US BitTorrent Piracy 23 November 2011, 2:07 am
- Copyright monopoly study claims “without copyright, no computers” 25 November 2011, 6:05 am
Right next to censorship comes ownership of intangibles, such as copyright and patent. I must say that while I’m getting a bit tired of the debate about what should happen with content ownership, I’m more concerned that these ownership fights result in both physical violence and in violence against freedom of expression. Property rights shouldn’t trump fundamental freedoms, is what I’m getting at, and why I guess I’ll keep on following these issues.
Education:
- Generation Jobless: Students Pick Easier Majors Despite Less Pay 14 November 2011, 6:03 am
- Programming for Children, Minus Cryptic Syntax 16 November 2011, 3:11 am
- Hottest Major on Campus? Computer Science 24 November 2011, 4:39 am
- Use of Technology-Rich Learning Environment Reveals Improved Retention Rates 24 November 2011, 5:20 am
I wonder at item 4, really I do: do toys help people retain information? I guess that’s what they’re saying, when it comes down to it … or maybe they’re saying that different learning modalities are addressed? I can’t tell.
Hacktivism:
- Army Sets December Court Date for Alleged Leaker Bradley Manning 21 November 2011, 10:26 am
- Bradley Manning Defense to Call 50 Witnesses to Hearing 22 November 2011, 10:27 am
Not much happening in Hacktivism this week … I mean, well, aside from lots of unpleasantness surrounding the supposed leaker Bradley Manning. We’ll see how it turns out, I suppose. More links to come on this subject, I have a sneaking suspicion.
Law:
- EFF Asks Supreme Court to End the FCC’s Indecency Regulations 11 November 2011, 11:35 am
- Anti-Hacking Law Criminalizes Most Computer Users, Former Prosecutor Says 14 November 2011, 11:27 am
- Calif. Judge Spreads Federal Circuit’s Gospel: Less Is More 15 November 2011, 6:04 am
- Scotland: football hate law confused and unnecessary 16 November 2011, 5:30 am
- FBI Sanctioned for Lying About Existence of Surveillance Records 21 November 2011, 5:05 pm
Oh, Scotland (link 4). Must you be so horribly sectarian? They wouldn’t try to stop you from being absolute jerks if you … well, weren’t, when it came to the footie. And, link 5, whee! Glad to see the FBI being … sanctioned … as if that’s going to make a difference?
Medical Technology:
- Kids in Polluted Areas Show Cognitive Problems 11 November 2011, 9:26 am
- Pizza now counts as a vegetable in US schools 18 November 2011, 7:15 am
- Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation 22 November 2011, 3:59 am
- Ignorance breeds aversion on social issues 25 November 2011, 7:45 am
1
Link 3’s the only happy link in the bunch, really. Meditate: it’ll make you happier. Other than that, well, move along….
Miscellany:
- Shocking New Research: Stasi Had Thousands of Spies in West Germany 24 November 2011, 6:29 am
Ahh, it feels like home, really. You’ll have to wait for next week’s links to find out exactly how (hint: they want people to spy on their friends and relatives).
Open Source:
- Adobe Donating Flex to Open Source Foundation 15 November 2011, 7:20 am
- Secure Boot turn out to be “Restricted Boot” – where is the freedom of choice 25 November 2011, 5:13 am
So, an unprofitable software package thrown into open source … which I suppose means that somebody will have to adopt it, the poor thing. Forget about buying a computer which can run anything open-source, though, as if Microsoft gets its way, nobody will be able to run anything but Winders. Oh – you’re surprised?
Politics:
- Bureau Recommends: Corruption and chaos in UK Border Agency 14 November 2011, 4:11 am
- Congress: Trading stock on inside information? 14 November 2011, 4:54 am
- Pentagon: Cyber Offense Part of U.S. Strategy 16 November 2011, 8:55 am
- Bureau Recommends: Failings of freedom of information laws 18 November 2011, 3:36 am
- Who owes what to whom in Europe 22 November 2011, 12:41 am
- Why Do Police Officers Use Pepper Spray? 22 November 2011, 4:23 pm
- Inside Occupy Wall Street’s Growing Student Protests 23 November 2011, 10:19 am
- The 57,000 Page Tax Return 24 November 2011, 9:06 am
- Bureau Recommends: Tax evasion costs $3.1 trillion 25 November 2011, 4:24 am
- Senator Joe Lieberman asks Google for a terrorist flagging button on Blogger 25 November 2011, 5:25 am
Read link 6. Please. The rest, well, yeah, it’s important … but the whole pepper-spray-a-peaceful-protestor thing is just over the top.
Privacy:
- Just Where Is GPS Tracking Taking Us? 11 November 2011, 10:59 am
- The DAA’s Self-Regulatory Principles Fall Far Short of Do Not Track 14 November 2011, 6:02 pm
- ISP Access to Email Content Not an Invasion of Privacy 15 November 2011, 2:59 am
- Illinois Appellate Court Upholds Anonymity of Online Critic of Political Candidate 17 November 2011, 1:19 pm
- Most laser printer printed pages have tracking watermark 21 November 2011, 3:09 am
- The Surveillance Catalog 21 November 2011, 3:35 am
- Syrian Surveillance Project Raises Concerns About Effectiveness of Export Controls 21 November 2011, 4:23 pm
- No Reasonable Expectation of Privacy on Facebook, Pa. Judge Says 23 November 2011, 2:03 am
Link 4 is happy … but, well, the rest is just downright depressing.
Security:
- Security researcher defeats Windows 8 secure boot 17 November 2011, 9:31 am
- Full-disc encryption is too good, complain CSI teams 21 November 2011, 3:00 am
- Rogues Falsely Claim Copyright on YouTube Videos to Hijack Ad Dollars 21 November 2011, 3:30 am
- Northern Exposure: Unmasking Online Spying in Canada 21 November 2011, 12:38 pm
- Carrier IQ Tries to Censor Research With Baseless Legal Threat 21 November 2011, 12:51 pm
- Mobile ‘Rootkit’ Maker Tries to Silence Critical Android Dev 22 November 2011, 12:58 pm
- Confusion Center: Feds Now Say Hacker Didn’t Destroy Water Pump 22 November 2011, 5:12 pm
- Carrier IQ Drops Empty Legal Threat, Apologizes to Security Researcher 23 November 2011, 1:58 pm
- Mobile ‘Rootkit’ Maker Apologizes to Critical Android Dev It Tried to Silence 23 November 2011, 7:57 pm
- 9 Reasons Wired Readers Should Wear Tinfoil Hats 24 November 2011, 3:30 am
Read link 10, please. Yes, links 5, 6, 8 and 9 are important, and link 2 just makes me happy, but link 10 … well, no, not so happy. At all.
Social Media:
- Naming Names: Rushdie Wins Facebook Fight 15 November 2011, 7:01 am
- Facebook Tells Salman Rushdie He Has to Go By His Given Name, Ahmed Rushdie 15 November 2011, 7:01 am
In a quick turn-around in the fight to make people use their “real names,” FaceHook has reversed itself and allows “Ahmed Rushdie” to go by the name he’s used for years, “Salman Rushdie.” Why do they care about “real names?” Why, to sell your identity to marketers, of course! Makes you wonder why companies, when they reach such a size, should be held unaccountable except to the court of public opinion, eh?
SOPA:
- US Bill Creating the Great Firewall of America 15 November 2011, 6:38 am
- House Judiciary Committee Refuses To Hear Industry Concerns About SOPA 15 November 2011, 7:21 am
- Piracy bill could be used to attack open source projects 15 November 2011, 7:22 am
- What’s On the Blacklist? Three Sites That SOPA Could Put at Risk 15 November 2011, 2:47 pm
- An Explosion of Opposition to the Internet Blacklist Bill 15 November 2011, 5:19 pm
- Who’s Missing From Today’s SOPA Hearing? A Short List 16 November 2011, 1:01 am
- Internet Engineers’ Letter in Opposition to DNS Filtering Legislation 16 November 2011, 9:00 am
- Mozilla urges its users to raise their voice against SOPA 16 November 2011, 9:01 am
- Internet Community Shut Out of Stop Online Piracy Act Hearing – Again 16 November 2011, 9:10 am
- Chief Sponsor Wavers on Web Censorship Bill in Charged Hearing 16 November 2011, 2:19 pm
- Internet giants place full-page anti-SOPA ad in NYT 17 November 2011, 9:43 am
- This Week in Internet Censorship: SOPA, UAE Bloggers on Hunger Strike, Chilean Sites Attacked 17 November 2011, 11:06 am
- Analysis: Internet Blacklist Bill Is Roadmap to ‘the End’ of the Internet 17 November 2011, 3:39 pm
- US piracy law could threaten human rights 18 November 2011, 2:11 am
- Who else is behind SOPA? 18 November 2011, 4:29 am
- SOPA sponsors break their own laws 18 November 2011, 4:29 am
- Microsoft, Apple and 27 other tech companies backing SOPA indirectly 18 November 2011, 7:07 am
- Companies, Lobbyists on Both Sides of Web Piracy Bill 21 November 2011, 2:16 am
- Senator Promises To Filibuster Internet Blacklisting Bill 21 November 2011, 1:56 pm
- Free Speech is Only as Strong as the Weakest Link 21 November 2011, 3:55 pm
- How SOPA Will Affect You 22 November 2011, 4:00 am
- After the Hearing: SOPA Down But Not Yet Out 22 November 2011, 11:33 am
- Against the Blacklist Bills: Congressmen and Senators Speak Up 22 November 2011, 2:36 pm
- Mozilla | FIGHT SOPA (The Internet we know and love is at risk. Help save it.) 24 November 2011, 9:01 am
- Why SOPA endangers America’s Internet leadership 24 November 2011, 9:05 am
- SOPA won’t stop the internet, it will merely force it underground. 25 November 2011, 5:19 am
- In Response to SOPA, Reddit Meshnet Project picks up steam 25 November 2011, 5:36 am
SOPA wraps it up, with nearly a quarter of the links for this week. It’s truly about mass censorship, when it comes down to it. Think it won’t affect you? Well, ask yourself, “who runs the internet?” That’d be the US, largely, and they want to control who gets to say what – particularly, they want to stop “pirates.” With so many against the idea, you’d think that they’d just give it up as a bad idea, wouldn’t you? We can only hope.
-D