Posts Tagged ‘freedom’

Lily Alan, Ed O’Brien protest 6 Music close

// March 4th, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view P2P | Radio:- Aunty, aka the BBC, Britain’s once-revered national broadcaster, is shutting down two digital radio stations, as p2pnet was pretty much alone in reporting on Tuesday. Axed are 6 Music and Asian Network, with BBC Switch and BBC Blast, two multimedia outputs aimed at teenagers, also facing amputation. Protesting the 6 Music closure are UK singer Lily Alan and Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien, both staunch supporters of the organised entertainment cartel’s Three Strikes plan currently being touted by various governments which believe they owe allegiance to Hollywood and Big music rather than the people who elected them. On the 6 Music closure, O’Brien has posted an open protest letter on the Radiohead site , and the Guardian has an ‘OpEd’ from Alan on the same subject. However, given that O’Brien is a founder and director of the Featured Artists’ Coalition and Alan is one of its supporters, if not an actual member, he might well change his mind about arguing against the shut-down. And Alan? Well, the last time she got excited, her hysterical outburst inspired O’Brien, and the rest of his pals on the FAC board, to do a complete about-face on their much-publicised decision to stand against the Three Strikes element of ACTA , an entertainment cartel scam. Under it, national governments would become corporate copyright agents and ISPs, copyright enforcers against their own customers. People accused of sharing with each other online could, at the behest of the corporate movie and music industries, be thrown off the net. And all in the name of protecting the bottom lines of Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music, and Disney, News Corp, Time Warner, Viacom, NBC Universal and Sony Pictures. Both Alan and O’Brien are claiming the 6 Music closure would adversely affect indie music and musicians, which is passing strange given that both have done, and are still doing, far worse by openly backing the Three Strikes plan. However, their positions are understandable. Once you get into bed with Big Music and Hollywood, day becomes night, black becomes white, and lies become truth. http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/consultations/departments/bbc/bbc-strategy-review/consultation/consult_view Jon Newton – p2pnet - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi pretty much alone – BBC to close 6 Music and Asian Network, March 2, 2010 Guardian – Lily Allen: Why we must save BBC 6 Music, March 2, 2010 ACTA – New Zealand ‘tough’ on ACTA, March 2, 2010 complete about-face – Dear Ed O’Brien …, January 23, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

Hollywood’s AFACT: spying on Australians

// March 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view Freedom | P2P:- Briefly today — very briefly — under Downloaders watched for movie piracy , “Australian film fans who download pirated movies are being tracked online, AFACT says” stated Rupert ‘New Isn’t Free’ Murdoch’s news.com.au. It went on > > > The Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft (AFACT) has revealed it has hired experts to actively monitor excessive downloaders who use torrents to get film content. “If you’re using (torrents) (we) can see every movie you want, everyone who is sharing it and everyone who has it on their hard drive,” an AFACT spokeswoman said. “It’s very public what you do and as copyright holders we have a third-party company that is mining all that information and sending it to Internet Service Providers. “If (the ISPs) say the IP address is ours, we can see what file people were sharing, what time, how long and how much they downloaded … Then it suddenly vanished. “There were over 200 comments, 99% of them angry about this been a horrible invasion of privacy, by a corporate non law enforcement entity”, says Filip in an email. “The article got pulled off the site very quickly, but somebody saved a copy .” AFART is of course the Hollywood-owned ‘trade’ unit which recently ended up with egg all over its face and holes in both feet after trying to stomp local ISP iiNet. Instead, it was ordered by a court to pay costs of around $4 million and is now trying desperately to weasel out of it . Who could it be? “It’s very public what you do and as copyright holders we have a third-party company that is mining all that information and sending it to Internet Service Providers”, says the AFART mouthperson. Third-party company that is mining all that information, eh? Who that might that be? – one wonders. In January, “Ex-RIAA ‘evidence’ provider MediaSentry is like a really nasty rash”, said p2pnet , continuing > > > You think it’s gone. Then it turns up somewhere else. Acquired by SafeNet Digital Rights Management for $20 million in 2005 it was sold to rival MediaDefender three years later for a paltry $136,000 in cash and the promise of another $800,000. In the US, where it was apparently operating illegally in a number of states, it was fired by the RIAA. But spurious data it’d dug up against alleged file sharers is still embedded in official court documents. Although it also functioned this side of the border — “I wanted to give you a heads-up that MediaSentry (yes the very same discredited a**holes! ) are still up to their old tricks here in Canada  — Ontario at least!” — we haven’t heard anything about it lately. But the same can’t be said of Australia where long-term employee Andy Kemp (right), who describes himself as “reliable, detail-oriented, and motivated”, seemingly earns his living by making empty threats on behalf of the kartels. So is Media Dysentery working for Disney, News Corp, Time Warner, Viacom, NBC Universal and Sony Pictures in Australia? If it is, in May last year, “I can categorically state that Media Sentry are NOT authorised to operate within Australia nor to Intercept communications within Australia no matter what they state in the email,” said G.Thompson , a digital forensics consultant, programmer, lecturer, researcher in a p2pnet Reader’s Writecontinuing: “In fact stating they can and making published allegations against a specific user with identifiers attached so that the user is made known to other organisations ie: an Australian ISP, Educational Institution, and Rental Accommodation Manager(s) could result in action on defamatory grounds being taken against them if the publication of the information causes damage (which in this case seems likely that it has). “And thinking they are immune since they are outside Australian jurisdiction would be a folly on their behalf and I kindly draw their attention to Dow Jones and Company Inc v Gutnick [2002] HCA 56 – ( http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2002/56.html ).” If it isn’t Media Dysentery, who is it? And whoever it is, do they have legal authority to be spying on Australians on behalf of Hollywood? Stay tuned. (Cheers, Filip and Andrew aka Comeoncomcast) - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi weasel out of it – AFACT goes after iiNet for costs, February 22, 2010 p2pnet – MediaSentry – hard at it in Oz, January 27, 2010 operating illegally – MediaSentry and RIAA: government probe?,  April 5, 2009 SafeNet – Acquisition Expands SafeNet Digital Rights Management Business into Managed Services and Anti-Piracy for the Entertainment Industry,June 2, 2005 $20 million – SafeNet to buy MediaSentry, June 2, 2009 same discredited a**holes! – MediaSentry phuks up in Canada, July 2, 2009 describes himself – MediaSentry scandal continues, November 7, 2009 p2pnet – MediaSentry operates in Australia: confirmed, May 23, 2009 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

Silenced by copyright claims

// March 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view Freedom | P2P:- “Nearly a year ago, we wrote about how a YouTube presentation done by well known law professor (and strong believer in fair use and fixing copyright law), Larry Lessig, had been taken down , because his video, in explaining copyright and fair use and other such things, used a snippet of a Warner Music song to demonstrate a point”, writes Mike Masnick (right) on TechDirt . ” There could be no clearer example of fair use — but the video was still taken down”, he says, going on > > > There was some dispute at the time as to whether or not this was an actual DMCA takedown, or merely YouTube’s audio/video fingerprinting technology (which the entertainment industry insists can understand fair use and not block it). But, in the end, does it really make a difference? A takedown over copyright is a takedown over copyright. Amazingly enough, it appears that almost the exact same thing has happened again. A video of one of Lessig’s presentations , that he just posted — a “chat” he had done for the OpenVideoAlliance a week or so ago, about open culture and fair use , has received notice that it has been silenced. It hasn’t been taken down entirely — but the entire audio track from the 42 minute video is completely gone. All of it. In the comments, some say there’s a notification somewhere that the audio has been disabled because of “an audio track that has not been authorized by WMG” (Warner Music Group) — which would be the same company whose copyright caused the issue a year ago — but I haven’t seen or heard that particular message anywhere. However, Lessig is now required to fill out a counternotice challenging the takedown — while silencing his video in the meantime: While you can still see the video on YouTube, without the audio, it’s pretty much worthless. Thankfully, the actual video is available elsewhere , where you can both hear and see it. But, really, the fact that Lessig has had two separate videos — both of which clearly are fair use — neutered due to bogus copyright infringement risks suggests a serious problem. I’m guessing that, once again, this video was likely caught by the fingerprinting, rather than a direct claim by Warner Music. In fact, the issue may be the identical one, as I believe the problem last year was the muppets theme, which very, very briefly appears in this video (again) as an example of fair use in action. But it was Warner Music and others like it that demanded Google put such a fingerprinting tool in place (and such companies are still talking about requiring such tools under the law). And yet, this seems to show just how problematic such rules are. Even worse, this highlights just how amazingly problematic things get when you put secondary liability on companies like Google. Under such a regime, Google would of course disable such a video, to avoid its own liability. The idea that Google can easily tell what is infringing and what is not is proven ridiculous when something like this is pulled off-line (or just silenced). When a video about fair use itself is pulled down for a bogus copyright infringement, it proves the point. The unintended consequences of asking tool providers to judge what is and what is not copyright infringement lead to tremendous problems with companies shooting first and asking questions later. They are silencing speech, on the threat that it might infringe on copyright. This is backwards. We live in a country that is supposed to cherish free speech, not stifle it in case it harms the business model of a company. We live in a country that is supposed to encourage the free expression of ideas — not lock it up and take it down because one company doesn’t know how to adapt its business model. We should never be silencing videos because they might infringe on copyright. Situations like this demonstrate the dangerous unintended consequences of secondary liability. At least with Lessig, you have someone who knows what happened, and knows how to file a counternotice — though, who knows how long it will take for this situation to be corrected. But for many, many, many other people, they are simply silenced. Silenced because of industry efforts to turn copyright law into something it was never intended to be: a tool to silence the wider audience in favor of a few large companies. “The system is broken”, says Mike, adding: “When even the calls to fix the system are silenced by copyright claims, isn’t it time that we fixed the system?” - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi TechDirt – Bogus Copyright Claim Silences Yet Another Larry Lessig YouTube Presentation, March 2, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

Matthew Good: connecting with fans

// March 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view Music | P2P:- “Arguably”, says p2pnet regular and frequent poster Robert, “my favourite artist, Matthew Good (right) has decided to improve the connection with his fans”. Matthew’s had a blog since the Matthew Good Band days and “for a lengthy period had users sign up, for free, and they were permitted to comment on articles Matt and other contributers wrote”, says Robert. This, he says,” resulted in great interaction with fans”, but “unfortunately also added a lot of unnecessary stress”. The situation peaked with the removal of comments for almost a year. “Only recently and on select postings have comments been permitted” says Robertgoing on > > > Unfortunately, often the post and comments are removed, as some people just show up to stir up trouble. After much thinking and research, Matt has decided to change his website.  He realizes the value of connecting with fans, but how does one manage to connect with fans, add features for social interaction, and keep the bullshit to a minimum? Here’s how… Matt has decided to restructure his site. The blog will remain, with the return of guest contributers and a new paid membership area will added.  Paid membership areas never sit well with people, however one should really think about the pros and cons of this concept.  I hope this article helps people understand how an artist can use paid memberships to connect with fans, offer interaction between artists and fans and fans amongst themselves, all while reducing the headaches associated with allowing people to comment. For the paid members, videos will appear, one or two per week.  The videos will include writing process, and Q&A.  Many bands do Q&A, but I haven’t heard of any sharing the writing process.  It will appear like a story, one might describe roadblocks and another might cover the breakthrough of said roadblock.  The cool part?  Fans can comment and even give suggestions and fans feel a stronger connection through the artist simply sharing their experiences with fans. In addition to videos there will be a forum. Forums are clearly not new to websites right? Well this forum includes Soundcheck parties.  I don’t mean go and listen to the band tune their guitars, I mean a lottery where paid members can enter and when there is a concert in their area, can listen to the soundcheck, then ask questions, have things signed, learn about what goes into a show, etc. Soundcheck parties engage fans in the live experience, while also sharing the knowledge of what goes into a live show.  What about the recording process?  There will be lotteries for a few members to have the chance to experience a day in the recording process.  Dubbed Listening Party, a few members will get the chance to sit in a real recording studio and watch how it all goes down, which can be very interesting and helpful for up and coming bands, as well as a dream come true for die-hard fans. So we have videos detailing the writing process, Q&A, chances at Soundcheck Parties and Listening Parties, so what else is there? A Social Media section where paid members can connect with one another, as they already have a common connection, Matthew Good.  This page will enable members to post a little something about themselves, such as new to a city and looking to meet other fans or they have a band and wish to promote it to other fans, or their photography. With the social media page, fans have a twitter-sized little description section followed by a URL field and this can include “Hey I saw this great story from The Guardian …” and post the link, or “I saw this amazing sunset …” and post the link to their flickr page.  It is open to the members to see and given Matt is committed to interacting with his fans, he too will be viewing these posts and following links where he’s interested. So we have an opportunity for fans to share things they like with other fans and even the artist themselves! On the subject of fans connecting, Matt says: “I can’t count how many people whom have met, because, you know, of that shared connection of being a fan. So, you have someone in Chicago who’s now friends with someone from Calgary. Who, you know, 10 years ago didn’t know one another and now they are super close friends because of it. When it comes to my job that’s almost the best thing about it really, is that connectivity, that people can have because of it.” That last sentence is key!  It is not just about connecting artists and fans, but fans with fans as well! Now for the part most people have issues with, membership fees.  Are these not just extra income for the artist and their label to recoup losses, due to ‘piracy’ or the economic downturn?  No, they are not.  Sites that can support all those features, as well as handle tens of thousands of connections each day, require hardware and help from people with the technical expertise.  Most musicians do not want to become data centre experts, web development experts, networking experts, cloud-computing experimenters, as these all take away from their primary focus, art! Matt and his team have done a lot of research on the subject, consulting experts as well has having highly experienced techie members on his team.  They worked out $24.95/yr as the price required to provide these services.  Unless you are Metallica or Madonna whom have more money than you can shake a stick at, you really can’t afford to fund all of this yourselves to provide a free service to your fans.  Anyone with any technical knowledge of the Web and how it works knows this is not easy to implement, especially to scale well, and maintain. On the subject of the membership fee, Matt explains: “The revenue generated by membership is going to allow us the flexibility to do things, to implement things that we think are great, that otherwise, financially, we would be restricted .. that we can’t do.  Or at present can’t do, like say we need to pump in an extra $5000 into site development that right now I’d have to basically pay for.  It kind of just rolls back into the site, which is something that’s the basic reason for doing it … Kinda pays off in that respect.” Members of course get to comment on other members’ posts, Matt’s posts, the posts of contributers, etc. Members also can offer suggestions for things to implement, which is the purpose of the forums. The team intends to take these requests seriously and other members can easily provide yay or nay support through the forum.  The idea is to include fans in these decisions, as that’s the purpose of the site, to connect the artist with the fans, so why shouldn’t the fans have a voice? Policing the forums can be extremely difficult and requires moderators. How does a fan feel when the artist is overwhelmed with the task of policing instead of focusing on their creative works or engaging with fans?  Do fans want an invisible wall of moderators deciding which posts constitute harassment or blatant stupidity?  Matt adds this additional reasoning for the paid membership “As ‘democratic’ as people like to make the Internet seem, the reality is, having been involved in it as long as I have been… civility goes straight out the frickin’ window.  And unless you have some kind of stop-gab measure in place where people are going to actually be interested in being involved and not be jackasses .. you know .. for them to shell out money for the ability to do so obviously shows it is something that they take seriously. … once you open the frickin’ flood gates it just turns into a three-ring circus.” Additionally, the members themselves have the opportunity to voice concerns regarding the particular behaviour of certain members, whom don’t mind paying $25 to act stupid. Of course some skeptics might think that people who simply disagree with the artist will be labelled by other members as those requiring disconnection from the members area.  This is a possibility, but the artist themselves have the ultimate decision.  Naturally fans are supportive of their favoured artist and will rush to their defense even if it isn’t warranted.  This could lead to some fans teaming up against someone who simply disagrees with certain posts.  The hope is that common sense will be applied by most members and occasionally the artist will need to step in and set the record straight. Nothing is perfect, but the fact that members are included in keeping the peace is another form of connecting with the fans, encouraging them to take responsibility that comes with implementing this type of artist-fan interaction.  They are a part of it, not just observers! The concepts presented by Matt have lots of potential.  And given that Matt does engage in comments, it will be far better than other forums where the band members do not show up at all, leaving the moderating to hired-hands.  The real benefit is actually being there to connect with the fans, which Matt does an exceptional job in the current, sometimes-comments-allowed, form. “This new site will amplify this connection by orders of magnitude (powers of ten for the non-mathies)”, says Roberet, adding: ” Fans partake in the creation of the connection medium, not just the exchange between artists and fans.” Artist-to-fans-to-artist. - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi March, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

Canadian 4-step digital agenda

// March 3rd, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view P2P | Politics:- Parliament resumes this week following the unexpected – and unexpectedly contentious – decision by Prime Minister Stephen Harper to reset the legislative agenda through prorogation. The House of Commons may have been quiet but the calls for a national digital strategy have grown louder in recent months. Last week, the International Telecommunications Union issued its annual global measurement of the information society, which served again to highlight Canada’s sinking global technology ranking. Canada ranked 21st (down from 18th in 2007) in its ICT Development Index, which groups 11 indices including access, use, and technology skills. Canada’s sliding global ranking reflects 10 years of policy neglect. Other countries gave priority to digital issues while leaders from all parties here have been content to rest on the laurels of the late 1990s, only to wake up to a new, less-competitive reality in 2010. Industry Minister Tony Clement has spoken frequently about the need for a national digital strategy but concrete policies have been slow in coming. The parliamentary restart presents another opportunity for action. Given the failure to date to articulate a comprehensive digital strategy, perhaps a different approach might work. Following the Speech from the Throne and the budget, there will be about 100 days until the summer break. Clement could set a series of realizable targets during those 100 days. Such targets would not solve ongoing concerns regarding the competitiveness of Canada’s wireless sector or the findings that Canadians pay higher prices for slower Internet speeds than consumers in many other countries but some momentum could be gained and some quick wins achieved. A 100-day digital agenda could have four components: new laws, new initiatives, new enforcement, and new policy development. On the legislative front, Clement should reintroduce the Electronic Commerce Protection Act, the antispam bill that passed through the Commons and was to have been the subject of Senate hearings earlier this year. Having received all-party support and extensive study, the legislation should be placed on a rocket docket with a commitment to passing the bill before the summer recess. Two other long-awaited bills should be part of the short-term digital strategy. With the national copyright consultation complete, a digital copyright bill consistent with Clement’s commitment to a forward-looking, technology neutral approach should be introduced within the next 100 days. So, too, should a privacy reform bill, which Clement identified as a priority at the start of 2010. Beyond new legislation, government can use the next 100 days to lead by example. A new data.gc.ca website, with open government data sets like those found in the U.S. and U.K. should be easy to achieve. The government also could follow the Australian approach to solve the crown copyright problem that restricts use of government documents by adopting open licences that grant permission to use documents without formal approval (or the need for a new law). The government can use the next 100 days to step up its digital enforcement agenda. This includes ensuring Internet providers are compliant with net neutrality requirements and that telemarketers abide by do-not-call legislation. Finally, longer-term digital agenda issues must be put on the policy front burner. These include discussions on spectrum allocation, digital television transition, removal of Canadian control requirements in the telecom sector and new media issues. None of these initiatives will mark an immediate resurgence in Canada’s digital ranking. But, after years of missteps, perhaps some baby steps now would put the nation’s digital agenda back on track. Michael Geist – Michael Geist’s Blog [Geist is the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. He can be reached by email at mgeist @ uottawa dot ca ] - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi March, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

Baby Holden bounces Prince, Universal

// March 2nd, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view Freedom | P2P:- Remember the YouTube video of Holden Lentz (right) bouncing happily to a Prince song? He loved dancing to Mr Purple’s ‘Let’s Go Crazy’ and his mum, Stephanie, posted a 29-second YouTube family home video for other people to enjoy. You can barely hear Prince yodelling in the background. “Once upon a time little Holden Lentz used to like Prince,” Stephanie told p2pnet. But, now, “He’s all about Chuck Berry.” That was after “Universal and Prince violently objected to this awful infringement of their copyright,” said p2pnet at the time, going on: “The EFF (Electronic Frontier Foundation), acting for mother and,  in effect, son, says Vivendi Universal’s claim is rubbish and company, the biggest of the Big 4 labels for whom suing their customers is now standard practice, should be held accountable, ‘for misrepresenting that her fair use violated its copyrights’.” Now, says Am Law Daily , “we got an early sign that the EFF and Lenz may be on their way to a victory on the fair use issue, according to The Recorder , an Am Law Daily sibling publication. “The federal judge handling the case ruled that, in the event of a favorable ruling, Lenz would be entitled to some ‘limited’ damages under the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act …” Judge Jeremy Fogel’s ruling “is narrow and calls for the awarding of attorney fees only for ‘work done prior to filing the lawsuit,’ the Recorder says” accroding to AM Law Daily, which adds: “That means the EFF would have to submit a special application for the $400,000 or so it has racked up in litigation fees, the Recorder says.  Judge Fogel, of federal trial court in San Jose, California, has not ruled on the merits of the fair use claim yet, but the EFF and other experts said that simply allowing for Lenz to receive damages creates an important precedent.” Want to see what al the fuss was about? - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi bouncing happily – Baby Holden defeats Prince and Universal, November 1, 2008 p2pnet – ‘Fair Use’ doesn`t count in DMCA take-downs, July 21, 2008 Am Law Daily – Remember the Toddler Bopping Along to the Prince Song?, March 1, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

‘I am a man’: Johnny Weir

// February 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view Freedom | P2P:- Figure skater Johnny Weir “has come in for a lot of crap during this year’s Olympics”, says Lightly Buzzed . “First the PETA jerks took him to task for using animal fur in his outfits, then a bunch of a-hole broadcasters started making jokes about his sexuality and even floated the idea that he needs to undergo a gender test to confirm his maleness (what is he, a South African runner?)”, it says. But “Rather than sit there and quietly endure these insults, Weir decided to hold a press conference and speak in a frank and heartfelt manner about the situation”, says the story, adding. “I’d say he put the haters in their place pretty effectively.” He did. - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi Lightly Buzzed – Johnny Weir Reassures Us That He is Indeed a Man. With Facial Hair and Everything., February 26, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

ACTA transparency score card

// February 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view P2P | Politics:- With yesterday’s leak of a Dutch government document revealing the positions on ACTA transparency of many of the negotiating partners, it is worth taking stock of the current positions on the issue: Country Position on ACTA Transparency Australia Support Canada Support Japan Support New Zealand Support Singapore Oppose South Korea Oppose United States Neutral (but indication that oppose) European Commission Oppose (fear it would set precedent for other trade talks) Austria Support Belgium Oppose Denmark Oppose Estonia Support Finland Support France Support (but fear U.S. retaliation) Germany Oppose Hungary Support Ireland Support Italy Support (but fear U.S. retaliation) Netherlands Support Poland Support Portugal Oppose Sweden Support United Kingdom Support Remaining European Union countries with positions unknown: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain. Remaining ACTA countries with positions unknown: Mexico, Morocco, Switzerland. Michael Geist – Michael Geist’s Blog [Geist is the Canada Research Chair in Internet and E-commerce Law at the University of Ottawa. He can be reached by email at mgeist @ uottawa dot ca ] - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi February, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? - The ACTA Transparency Scorecard PDF | Print | E-mail Friday February 26, 2010 With yesterday’s leak of a Dutch government document revealing the positions on ACTA transparency of many of the negotiating partners, it is worth taking stock of the current positions on the issue: Country Position on ACTA Transparency Australia Support Canada Support Japan Support New Zealand Support Singapore Oppose South Korea Oppose United States Neutral (but indication that oppose) European Commission Oppose (fear it would set precedent for other trade talks) Austria Support Belgium Oppose Denmark Oppose Estonia Support Finland Support France Support (but fear U.S. retaliation) Germany Oppose Hungary Support Ireland Support Italy Support (but fear U.S. retaliation) Netherlands Support Poland Support Portugal Oppose Sweden Support United Kingdom Support Remaining European Union countries with positions unknown: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain. Remaining ACTA countries with positions unknown: Mexico, Morocco, Switzerland.

Apple: 28 billion $ in the piggy bank!

// February 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view Off Topic:- $28,000,000,000. Billion. Dollars. In cash reserves. Apple. “We were thinking of a toga party,” said Steve Jobs. His “quip” came before he told investors he was saving the money “for acquisitions or to cushion the company when it takes risky moves”, says the Courier Mail . If he isn’t doing anything particular with it, maybe he could loan some of it interest free to one or two countries whose peole are starving to death? Don’t hold your breath. (Cheers, Andrew aka Comeonecomcast) - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi Courier Mail – Apple sits on its $28bn in cash reserves, February 26, 2010 Gawker -Steve Jobs’s Obituary, As Run By Bloomberg, February 27, 2010 Macblogz - Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? - p2pnet view Off Topic:-

Danger! DIY drones!

// February 27th, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet vie w Security:- A short while back, “Iraq insurgents use software costing only a few dollars to hack live video feeds from remote-controlled US  aerial surveillance drones”, said p2pnet . The kit, commercial, only costs about $30. A terrorist’s dream. But its worse than that. While Patriot missiles “can take out UAVs, at $3 million apiece such protection carries a steep price tag, especially if we have to deal with $500 DIY drones”, says a Slashdot post. Hmmmm. “The CropCam offers images on demand and is an inexpensive alternative to satellite or flying an airplane over a field”, says the promo site, going on > > > The CropCam is $7,000 USD, highly efficient and user friendly for the commercial market. It is a radio control (RC) glider plane equipped with a Pentax digital camera, controlled by an autopilot, along with pre-programmed ground control software. Available in electric, the CropCam will also work with a RC transmitter for manual control of the plane. Hmmmm. $7,000, you say? How about $524.99? Slashdot links to a Wired story on a DIY dad who made his very own drone for fun, and who’s now gone commercial. Nor is this a startling knew revelation. The story dates back to January, 2009, and the dad was/is none other than Wired’s Chris Anderson who on his DIY Drone site now states > > > An Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV, colloquially known as a “drone”) is basically an aerial robot. As we define it, it is capable of both remotely controlled flight (like a regular RC aircraft) and fully-autonomous flight, controlled by sensors, GPS, and onboard computers performing the functions of an autopilot. Our UAVs include airplanes, helicopters, quadcopters and blimps. Most of them are under five pounds, and some of them (especially the blimps) can be used indoors. We are focused on non-commercial (”recreational”) projects by amateurs, although pros are always welcome too. Reasons to make your own UAV range from a fun technical challenge, student contests, aerial photography and mapping (what we call “GeoCrawling”), and scientific sensing. We are primarily interested in civilian, not military, UAV uses here. Lotsa DIY drone fun, hey? But could ‘pros’ include terrorist who’d like to fly their unmanned DIY drones into, or onto, something — something like a government building somewhere, perhaps? Says Newsweek > > > You wouldn’t know it to hear U.S. officials talk. Jim Tuttle, the Department of Homeland Security official responsible for safeguarding America against nonnuclear weapons, downplays the idea that drones could be used against us. “What terrorist is going to have a Predator?” he scoffed at a conference last winter. More recently, The Wall Street Journal reported, the U.S. ignored a dangerous flaw in its UAV technology that allowed Iraqi insurgents to tap into the planes’ video feeds using $30 software purchased over the Internet. Such arrogance is setting us up for a fall. Just as we once failed to imagine terrorists using our own commercial aircraft against us, we are now underestimating the threat posed by this new wave of technology. We must prepare for a world in which foreign robotics rivals our own, and terrorists can deliver deadly explosives not just by suicide bomber but also by unmanned machine. The “ease and affordability of such technology, much of which is already available for purchase commercially, means that drones will inevitably pass into the wrong hands, allowing small groups and even individuals to wield power once limited to the world’s great militaries” it adds. And for sourcing, terrorists need look no further than online advertising Goliath Google who’s Adse nse nonsense provides a handy starting point. - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi p2pnet – Iraq insurgents hack US Predator drones, December 17, 2009 Slashdot – Defending Against Drones , February 27, 2010 Wired – From GeekDad project to real business, January 30, 2009 Newsweek – Defending Against Drones, March 8, 2009 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

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