Posts Tagged ‘politics’

Black Hawk Safety Net down

// February 8th, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view Politics:- The Black Hawk Safety Net, said to be China’s largest hacker training website, has been shut down, and three of its members arrested. The site “taught hacking techniques and provided malicious software downloads for its 12,000 members in exchange for a fee, says the Wuhan Evening News newspaper, quoted by Blogtactic . Hacking from China is on the front burner, thanks to Google, which said it was pulling out of the country following hack attacks . “The website was shut in late November and three of its members arrested on suspicion of criminal activity, the newspaper reported, without saying why the news was only released now,” says the story, going on > > > Wuhan happens to be home to the Communication Command Academy, which trains hackers, according to U.S. congressional testimony by cyber expert James Mulvenon in 2008. The popularity of hacking in China, and hackers’ use of multiple addresses and servers, in Taiwan and elsewhere, makes it hard to prove how or by whom they are coordinated. Would-be hackers in China don’t have to look far to “figure out how to do it, thanks to a healthy hacking industry and sites such as Black Hawk Safety Net (www.3800hk.com), which was unavailable on Monday”, Blogtactic adds. - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi Blogtactic – Black Hawk Safety Net Shutdown by China, February 7, 2010 hack attacks – Google’s China about-face, January 19, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

Olympics bosses tangle with boxing kangaroo

// February 6th, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view Politics | Freedom:- The 2010 winter olympics are being staged in Vancouver, British  Columbia. And ’staged’ is the right word. Because the games are turning into  a farcical embarrassment. Check out > > > Olympic blogs OK for Vancouver – May 15, 2009 Olympics bosses get nasty over Flickr pix – October 9, 2009 Liberties group condemns Olympics ‘jail’ law – October 12, 2009 Border guards grill Goodman on 2010 Olympics – November 28, 2009 Vancouver censors anti-Olympic art – December 12, 2009 2010 Olympics. Watching the watchers – December 14, 2009 Vancouver’s latest Olympics debacle – December 17, 2009 Now, “Wha’tcha doin’ to me Canada?” – asks Andrew aka Comeoncomcast in an email. “I was excited about Vancouver 2010 but this has dampened the Start ” – he says. Andrew lives in Oz. There’s a huge flag hanging down for two storeys in the building where Australian athletes are staying. “The IOC believed the flag represented an inappropriate commercial trademark,” the Sydney Morning Herald has Australian Olympic Committee spokesman Mike Tancred stating. ”We put it up about three days ago and the next morning the IOC told us to take it down”, he says. The flag became famous in 1983 “when used by Alan Bond and his crew when they won the America’s Cup, although in his new book Great Moments in Australian History , historian Jonathan King says the image first graced RAAF P40 Kittyhawk fighters in Africa in World War II,” says the story. “The AOC bought the registered trademark of the flag from Bond when he later got into financial trouble.” But, ”If the IOC send us a formal letter telling us to take it down, then we probably will,” says Tancred in the story. - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi Sydney Morning Herald – Australians defy IOC request over boxing kangaroo, February 6, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

Joint select committee’s file sharing concerns

// February 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view P2P | Politics:- “The internet is constantly creating new challenges for policy-makers but that cannot justify ill-defined or sweeping legislative responses, especially when there is the possibility of restricting freedom of expression or the privacy of individual users,” says Andrew Dismore. He’s the chairman of Britain’s Joint Select Committee on Human Rights comporising 12 members from both the House of Commons and the House of Lords. The committee had examined the parts of the Bill “that focus on plans to tackle illegal file-sharing as well as a controversial amendment to copyright law”, says the BBC . “The concern we have with this Bill is that it lacks detail,” it has Dismore saying. “It has been difficult, even in the narrow area we have focussed on, to get a clear picture of the scope and impact of the provisions.” As the story points out, the “three strikes rule”, a corporate entertainment industry innovation, “would give regulator Ofcom new powers to disconnect or slow down the connections of persistent net pirates”. The committee “had concerns about ‘technical measures’ like these and how they would be applied.” It also examined Clause 17 which would give the government free rein to alter copyright law without passing further primary legislation. The Committee “remains concerned that Clause 17 remains overly broad and that parliamentary scrutiny may remain inadequate,” the story adds. It’s interesting how the three strikes thingy, part of the ACTA package being introduced around the world by the entertainment cartels, is always presented by the lamescream press corpse as though it’s a local government, and not corporate,  ‘initiative’. - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi BBC – File-sharing bill could ‘breach rights’, February 5, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

YouTube movie rentals: Epic Fail

// February 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view Movies:- It was a surprise for Google but not, probably, for inhabitants of the online P2P communities. Gargle’s foray in into the digital movie rental business fell flatter than a pancake. It’d linked itself to the Sundance Film Festival with five indie releases which were available online for 10 days, says the New York Times . Gargle’s GooTube has how many zillion viewers every day? But only 2,684 people figured $4 a pop was worth it to borrow one of the offerings, netting Gogle a princely $10,709. And 16 cents. “The odds are always stacked against independent film makers,” the story has spokesman Chris Dale stating. “Some of the films at Sundance may have been seen by a few hundred people, and the YouTube test may have allowed them to double their audience.” It is the season, spin, spin, spin ….. Or it could be that in these times of economic distress people just aren’t going to totally blow four bucks to rent a flick on Gargle’s YouTube. And maybe they never will, not with so very many alternatives, a significant number of them free, available. Time for Gargle to call in the Obama administration for a little help? Here’s the NYT’s breakdown > > > The Cove – 1,103 times Children of Invention – 490 times Bass Ackwards – 396 Homewrecker – 355 times One Too Many Mornings – 340 times The makers would’ve  got a whole lot more mileage online if they’d released their art on the P2P networks. At least that way more than just a relative handful of people would’ve seen them. But there’s still time … - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi New York Times – YouTube’s Take From Movie Rentals: $10,709.16, February 2, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

Spotlight on ACS:Law ‘blackmail’

// February 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view P2P | Politics:- They “can accuse absolutely anyone they feel like, and the person will have no choice but to pay the fine they demand – it is legally sanctioned blackmail”. ‘They’ are the members of the Big 4 organised music gang, personified by Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music. Making the charge is lord Ralph Lucas. Speaking in the House of Lords, he “took aim at ACS:Law solicitors, a firm that has been used by record companies in Britain to intimidate file-sharers, and that has apparently cause an enormous number of complaints to the Solicitors Regulation Authority,” says Digital Wrong , which recently went online to ‘Stop the Digital Economy Bill’. Blackmail  by Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music’s US Mafia-style enforcer RIAA are “creating a cottage industry for unscrupulous lawyers and the people who hire them,” said p2pnet recently, going on: The RIAA is a “past master at firing off subpoenas and following them up with threatening ‘pay up or else’ letters”, we said, adding: “Britain’s ACS:Law is pretty good at it too.” Digital Wrong singles out the statement below, made by Lucas to the House of Lords. “If people fall foul of this Bill, they will have a couple of warning letters, but after that they will get a typical ACS:Law Solicitors standard letter saying, ‘Pay us £500 or we will take you to court’ “, he says, continuing > > > If they do not pay the £500, they will end up in court, there will be technical evidence against them, and they will have no ability to provide a technical defence. That is the difficulty that people faced with ACS:Law Solicitors have at the moment. There is this inequality of arms. They are in a civil court, with a 50:50 balance-of-probability judgment, and must contemplate risking thousands of pounds in mounting a defence when it is not easy to do that. “This is a recognition of one of the fundamental problems with a bill like the DEB,” says Digital Wrong. The “consumer-grade networking equipment that is currently available and that has been being given out by ISPs in the past few years does not allow users to defend themselves,” it states, noting > > > Say, for example, that you get a letter accusing you of violating copyright and demanding that you stop. You know that you haven’t been, and you think that it was probably the tech-savvy kid from next-door breaking into your wireless. What can you do? On most consumer-grade equipment: nothing. The wireless routers that have been distributed by ISPs do not support strong enough encryption to keep him out, nor do they keep detailed enough logs to vindicate yourself. To put it simply: once the accusation has been made you cannot escape it, since the tools are not available to you to prove your innocence. In a civil procedure on a technical matter, says the post, “it amounts to blackmail; the cost of defending one of these things is reckoned to be £10,000. You can get away with asking for £500 or £1,000 and be paid on most occasions without any effort having to be made to really establish guilt. “It is straightforward legal blackmail.” Click here for details of the bill. Meanwhile, the Digital Economy Bill is slated to enter committee stage in the House of Lords tomorrow when it’ll be examined line-by-line. Stay tuned. - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi Digital Wrong – Record Companies have been harassing innocent users, February 3, 2010 p2pnet – ACS:Law: ‘It’s Christmas. Time to sue’, November 27, 2009 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

The 2010 Pirate Oscars

// February 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view Movies:- It’s almost that time of year again, the time when Hollywood gets all dolled up to tell itself how wonderful it is. Oscar time, in other words. And it’s now also a tradition for Waxy.org ’s Andy Baio to publish statistics centering on “the eternal war between the MPAA and Internet movie pirates”. In 2009, of 26 nominated films, “an incredible 23 films are already available in DVD quality on nomination day, ripped either from the screeners or the retail DVDs,” he said, pointing out it was the highest percentage since he’d started tracking. But this year, “The tide may be turning,” says Baio. “There’s still a month out before the Academy Awards, but so far, fewer Oscar screeners leaked online this year — only 14 out of 34 nominated films, the lowest percentage ever. And they’re taking twice as long to leak — a median 21 days after theatrical release, up from 11 days the previous year,” he says, going on > > > It’s not limited to screeners, either. Camcorder and telesync releases dropped this year. Even the percentage of retail DVD rips has dropped, though this will likely shift before the broadcast. In the chart below, you can see the percentage of films that were released in each format. (For example, 21% of this year’s films had a cam release and 44% had a retail DVD leak.) And the R5 DVD releases that dominated previous year’s Oscars is now mostly dead. I’m guessing the studios are moving away from the early distribution of R5 DVDs entirely. Click here for the spreadsheet. - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi Waxy.org – Pirating the 2010 Oscars, February 3, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

Google hooks up with US spy agency

// February 5th, 2010 // No Comments » // p2p

p2pnet view Politics | Advertising:- The arrogance which is giant US advertising company Google knows no bounds. It has its own political arm, it has minions carefully placed in middle and senior positions in the Obama administration, its executives routinely whine and I dine powerful political figures, it’s in the process of corralling the world’s books and now, “Google links up with US spy-master to thwart threats to cyberspace” as a Times Online headline sums it up. Thwarting threats to cyberspace? That looks dire. But it’s all about getting USA taxpayers involved in funding its continuing efforts against China, whose hackers recently (and effortlessly, with Microsoft’s help ) breached its security fences. Thanks to its pals in the US government, it’s felt free  to rope in  spy unit the National Security Agency for “technical assistance”. EPIC (The Electronic Privacy Information Center) has already filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the NSA for records on the relationship between the two. “The EPIC FOIA request also seeks NSA communications with Google regarding Google’s failure to encrypt Gmail and cloud computing services,” it says, pointing almost a year ago, it’d filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission urging it to “investigate the adequacy of Google’s cloud computing privacy and security safeguards”. Members of the NSA’s information assurance unit, aka The Blue Team, “went to Google at the company’s request several weeks ago to discuss details of the attack,” says Bloomberg News , quoting an anonymous source,  and going on: “The NSA plans to return to the company to continue to share information, the person said.” But so far, “the NSA hasn’t discovered much beyond what the Mountain View, California-based company’s own cyber-security officials had found”. Nor, apparently, is Gargoyle the only company US taxpayers are helping out via the NSA. “The NSA was responding to Google in much the same way it has to requests from other companies to look over the work they’ve done following a cyber attack, the person said, declining to name the other firms,” says the story. Says ConsumerWatchdog ’s John Simpson > > > NSA, of course, is the agency that taps all sorts of electronic communications around the globe. They’re also the outfit that broke the law and engaged in warrant-less interception of Americans’ phone calls and emails after the 9/11 terrorist attack. Cyber security is a huge issue that is downplayed by the online industry.  Google was right to go public when it was attacked, but the proposed Google-NSA deal raises huge concerns. Undoubtedly Googlers can learn something from NSA’s master-spy eavesdroppers, but how much of consumers’ data will Google share with the spy agency? So far Google and NSA aren’t commenting on the details of what’s under consideration. “It’s incumbent on both parties to be completely transparent about what kind of information is being shared,” says Simpson, adding: “Sadly, NSA has already demonstrated a willingness to flout the law. If Google wants to maintain any shred of trust from consumers it needs to do more that pledge, ‘privacy is important’ and fall back on the ‘Don’t be evil’ mantra. Tell us exactly what you’re doing with NSA’s cyber spies.” - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi Times Online – Google links up with US spy-master to thwart threats to cyberspace, February 5, 2010 EPIC – EPIC Seeks Records on Google-NSA Relationship, February 4, 2010 Microsoft’s help – Internet Explorer ‘vector’ in Google China attacks, January 15, 2010 Bloomberg News – Google Said to Seek Spy Agency’s Advice After Attack, February 4, 2010 ConsumerWatchdog – Google asking spy agency for help, February 4, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

UK government as music agents

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

p2pnet view Music | Politic:- Contract problems will soon be a thing of the past for young musicians in the UK. The British government is to about to take over the task of looking after their interests, they’ll be relieved to learn. A new committee will be working with the likes of the discredited Featured Artists Coalition, the performers’ organisation which first came out strongly against the entertainment industry’s Three Strikes proposal to disconnect people said to have shared music with each other online,  only to completely reverse its position not long after. “The Intellectual Property Office is following up on its promise to clarify and clean up contracts between artists and record companies by appointing a team to ‘ensure artists don’t sign everything away when they are young’,” says MusicWeek , going on: “Intellectual Property minister David Lammy, in collaboration with the Department for Business Innovation and Skills, made the promise to draw together a working party to develop model contracts or contract clauses that strike a fair balance between the rights of creators and publishers as one of its 32 “conclusions and actions” in last year’s report © the way ahead: A Strategy for Copyright in the Digital Age.” The Department for Business Innovation, etc, is the fiefdom of Peter ‘Mandy’ Mandelson, the man chosen by Hollywood and Big music to represent their vested corporate interests in the UK. He’s the principal face behind the Three Strikes bill under which the government, supported by UK taxpayers, would look after entertainment industry copyright concerns, and ISPs would act a copyright cops against their own customers, who’d be at risk of being thrown off the net on the say-so of Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music, and Disney, News Corp, Time Warner, Viacom, NBC Universal and Sony Pictures. Now “a spokesman for the IPO says it is close to formulating the team and expects to approach publishers and groups such as the Featured Artists Coalition in order to progress work on the ‘muddled’ contracts before the end of March”, says MusicWeek, quoting the spokesman as stating: “We want to ensure that artists when they sign young don’t lose out because some of these contracts – certainly in the fine print – are like entering a pact with the devil,” he says. He “expects the work will involve a number of industry-related workshops”. The story doesn’t say how many millions of pounds will be spent on sorting things out, what role the corporate cartels will play, who will decide precisely what comprises a “fair balance”, or what will be used to legitimise the now squeaky clean contracts. And there’s not a word about the most important elements of all — the fans and voters, the people upon whom these diverse interests wholly depend. Stay tuned. Or not. (Cheers, Paul) - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi completely reverse its position – Dear Featured Artists’ Coalition …, December 28, 2009 MusicWeek – Government to name team to clean up “muddled” contracts, February 3, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? - http://www.-/images/dico.jpg

SoundExchange: $256 MILLION undistributed dollars

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

p2pnet view Music:- According to their 2008 IRS 990 form, SoundExchange, as of 12/31/2008, was holding over $256 MILLION dollars in undistributed royalties, an increase of almost 30% from the same figure the year before. The amount held in “investments” nearly doubled from $100 million to $200 million. Can you imagine how much worse these numbers would be if SoundExchange wasn’t doing the really, really good job they tell us they are? According to that website, as of today (2/4/10), they’ve paid out $361 million in royalties.  If, in the last 13 months, SoundExchange has added $105 million to that undistributed pile (which would be just about what they added to those “investments” during 2008), then SoundExchange is managing to pay out only about half of the money they promised they would. I’m sure Laura Williams would love to explain how that proves SoundExchange is doing a good job for artists, but clearly her job description is limited to telling people she will answer questions rather than actually answering questions. In “We’re not the RIAA, really, we’re not” news, in 2008, SoundExchange reported paying approximately $1.9 million to the law firm and the lobbying firm they share with the RIAA.  I’m sure this is just a coincidence, given that there are so few law firms and lobbyists in Washington to choose from. Perhaps the choice of lawyers and lobbying firms is the result of that “horsetrading” that Dick Huey swears goes on in the Boardroom.  You know, the negotiation between conflicting interests that ends up with the RIAA getting to pay who they want what they want and, in trade, Mr Huey getting to stay on the Board and tell people he’s independent. And, from the “not paying artists is good business” desk, the tax return shows that the top three employees (who, we should remember, all used to draw RIAA paychecks), all got really nice raises and in fact pulled down over 25% of the entire payroll for the year. Imagine how much these guys will be worth if terrestrial radio royalties become law and they fail to distribute hundreds of millions a year! Someone is going to have to spin these numbers really hard to make it seem like SoundExchange is doing a good job for artists, but thankfully, SoundExchange can rely on the public relations firm of Daniel J. Edelman LLC to spread the word. Edelman earned it’s spurs representing the tobacco industry and issuing “studies” that minimized the health risks from second hand smoke. Furthermore, the PR firm showed it’s good sense of timing, if not it’s ethical standards, by making a large campaign contribution to Gov. Rod Blagojevich just as it was being awarded a $6.2 million dollar contract by the state of Illinois when it was not the low bidder.  Sounds like some of that good old-fashioned horsetrading, doesn’t it? In 2008, SoundExchange paid Edelman $320,000 for PR services, according to that tax return.  That works out to be about $600 per member of Congress, which is chicken feed compared to that $256 million dollar pile of undistributed royalties.  I’d say they’re worth every penny. So, again, kudos to SoundExchange and it’s Board of Directors.  As of a year ago, they’ve managed not to pay artists a quarter of billion dollars. Who knows what the total is today?  You don’t achieve that level of performance overnight.  It takes real focus and determination. Fred Wilhelms – p2pnet [If the corporate music industry had any ethics, Wilhelms would be its 'ethicist-in-chief,' wrote CounterPunch's Dave Marsh. Wilhelms is an entertainment attorney based in Nashville, Tennessee. You can contact him at fred.wilhelms @ gmail dot com. ] - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi February, 2010 Laura Williams – SoundExchange and the ‘unpaid pool’, December 23, 2009 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

Assassination threat for Americans abroad

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

p2pnet view Politics:- If you’re an American travelling abroad and you’re worried some foreigner might kill you, worry no more. You can safely leave it the US government. Your potential assassination, that is. Because US citizens can be safely assassinated by the US government when they’re overseas. At least, that’s what National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair told told the House Intelligence Committee, yesterday, says AntiWar.com . According to Blair, this should “reassure” Americans that there’s a “set of defined policy and legal procedures” and such assassinations are “always carried out by the book”, says the story. Phewww! That’ll be a huge relief for US citizens on the move! And it’s OK. ” … we don’t target people for free speech”, AntiWar.com has Blair stating. Adds the story, “Rather they are subject to assassination when the government decides they are a threat and when they ‘get specific permission.’ “Exactly who was giving that permission was unclear.” (Cheers, Robert) - … .. … and identi.ca More First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi AntiWar.com – Blair: US Govt Can Kill Citizens Overseas as Part of ‘Defined Policy’, February 23, 2010 Use free p2pnet newsfeeds for your site. Subscribe to - | | rss feed: http://-/feed -? -

« Older Entries


eXTReMe Tracker