Links

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:

1. How Occupy Became This Century’s Free Speech Movement    11 November 2011, 12:27 pm
2. Groups Urge Supreme Court to Halt FCC Broadcast Censorship    14 November 2011, 2:17 pm
3. Tumblr’s anti-censorship message generated 87,834 phone calls to representatives    18 November 2011, 4:28 am
4. South African Bill Poses Grave Threat to Press Freedom    21 November 2011, 5:41 pm
5. S Africa adopts contentious ‘secrecy bill’    22 November 2011, 9:57 pm
6. No More Press Freedom in South Africa    23 November 2011, 4:03 am
7. EU Court of Justice: Censorship in Name of Copyright Violates Fundamental Rights    25 November 2011, 5:34 am
8. 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:

1. Hollywood’s New War on Software Freedom and Internet Innovation    11 November 2011, 12:19 pm
2. “Shoot the Pirate” Copyright Campaign Descends Into Real Violence    13 November 2011, 8:23 am
3. RIAA claims you do not own your iTunes music purchases    17 November 2011, 9:43 am
4. It Is A Violation Of The Adobe Trademark To Say An Image Was “Photoshopped”    23 November 2011, 2:06 am
5. MPAA Costs Hollywood More Than US BitTorrent Piracy    23 November 2011, 2:07 am
6. 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:

1. Generation Jobless: Students Pick Easier Majors Despite Less Pay    14 November 2011, 6:03 am
2. Programming for Children, Minus Cryptic Syntax    16 November 2011, 3:11 am
3. Hottest Major on Campus? Computer Science    24 November 2011, 4:39 am
4. 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:

1. Army Sets December Court Date for Alleged Leaker Bradley Manning    21 November 2011, 10:26 am
2. 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:

1. EFF Asks Supreme Court to End the FCC’s Indecency Regulations    11 November 2011, 11:35 am
2. Anti-Hacking Law Criminalizes Most Computer Users, Former Prosecutor Says    14 November 2011, 11:27 am
3. Calif. Judge Spreads Federal Circuit’s Gospel: Less Is More    15 November 2011, 6:04 am
4. Scotland: football hate law confused and unnecessary    16 November 2011, 5:30 am
5. 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:

1. Kids in Polluted Areas Show Cognitive Problems    11 November 2011, 9:26 am
2. Pizza now counts as a vegetable in US schools    18 November 2011, 7:15 am
3. Tuning out: How brains benefit from meditation    22 November 2011, 3:59 am

1

4. Ignorance breeds aversion on social issues    25 November 2011, 7:45 am

Link 3’s the only happy link in the bunch, really. Meditate: it’ll make you happier. Other than that, well, move along….

Miscellany:

1. 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:

1. Adobe Donating Flex to Open Source Foundation    15 November 2011, 7:20 am
2. 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:

1. Bureau Recommends: Corruption and chaos in UK Border Agency    14 November 2011, 4:11 am
2. Congress: Trading stock on inside information?    14 November 2011, 4:54 am
3. Pentagon: Cyber Offense Part of U.S. Strategy    16 November 2011, 8:55 am
4. Bureau Recommends: Failings of freedom of information laws    18 November 2011, 3:36 am
5. Who owes what to whom in Europe    22 November 2011, 12:41 am
6. Why Do Police Officers Use Pepper Spray?    22 November 2011, 4:23 pm
7. Inside Occupy Wall Street’s Growing Student Protests    23 November 2011, 10:19 am
8. The 57,000 Page Tax Return    24 November 2011, 9:06 am
9. Bureau Recommends: Tax evasion costs $3.1 trillion    25 November 2011, 4:24 am
10. 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:

1. Just Where Is GPS Tracking Taking Us?    11 November 2011, 10:59 am
2. The DAA’s Self-Regulatory Principles Fall Far Short of Do Not Track    14 November 2011, 6:02 pm
3. ISP Access to Email Content Not an Invasion of Privacy    15 November 2011, 2:59 am
4. Illinois Appellate Court Upholds Anonymity of Online Critic of Political Candidate    17 November 2011, 1:19 pm
5. Most laser printer printed pages have tracking watermark    21 November 2011, 3:09 am
6. The Surveillance Catalog    21 November 2011, 3:35 am
7. Syrian Surveillance Project Raises Concerns About Effectiveness of Export Controls    21 November 2011, 4:23 pm
8. 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:

1. Security researcher defeats Windows 8 secure boot    17 November 2011, 9:31 am
2. Full-disc encryption is too good, complain CSI teams    21 November 2011, 3:00 am
3. Rogues Falsely Claim Copyright on YouTube Videos to Hijack Ad Dollars    21 November 2011, 3:30 am
4. Northern Exposure: Unmasking Online Spying in Canada    21 November 2011, 12:38 pm
5. Carrier IQ Tries to Censor Research With Baseless Legal Threat    21 November 2011, 12:51 pm
6. Mobile ‘Rootkit’ Maker Tries to Silence Critical Android Dev    22 November 2011, 12:58 pm
7. Confusion Center: Feds Now Say Hacker Didn’t Destroy Water Pump    22 November 2011, 5:12 pm
8. Carrier IQ Drops Empty Legal Threat, Apologizes to Security Researcher    23 November 2011, 1:58 pm
9. Mobile ‘Rootkit’ Maker Apologizes to Critical Android Dev It Tried to Silence    23 November 2011, 7:57 pm
10. 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:

1. Naming Names: Rushdie Wins Facebook Fight    15 November 2011, 7:01 am
2. 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:

1. US Bill Creating the Great Firewall of America    15 November 2011, 6:38 am
2. House Judiciary Committee Refuses To Hear Industry Concerns About SOPA    15 November 2011, 7:21 am
3. Piracy bill could be used to attack open source projects    15 November 2011, 7:22 am
4. What’s On the Blacklist? Three Sites That SOPA Could Put at Risk    15 November 2011, 2:47 pm
5. An Explosion of Opposition to the Internet Blacklist Bill    15 November 2011, 5:19 pm
6. Who’s Missing From Today’s SOPA Hearing? A Short List    16 November 2011, 1:01 am
7. Internet Engineers’ Letter in Opposition to DNS Filtering Legislation    16 November 2011, 9:00 am
8. Mozilla urges its users to raise their voice against SOPA    16 November 2011, 9:01 am
9. Internet Community Shut Out of Stop Online Piracy Act Hearing – Again    16 November 2011, 9:10 am
10. Chief Sponsor Wavers on Web Censorship Bill in Charged Hearing    16 November 2011, 2:19 pm
11. Internet giants place full-page anti-SOPA ad in NYT    17 November 2011, 9:43 am
12. This Week in Internet Censorship: SOPA, UAE Bloggers on Hunger Strike, Chilean Sites Attacked    17 November 2011, 11:06 am
13. Analysis: Internet Blacklist Bill Is Roadmap to ‘the End’ of the Internet    17 November 2011, 3:39 pm
14. US piracy law could threaten human rights    18 November 2011, 2:11 am
15. Who else is behind SOPA?    18 November 2011, 4:29 am
16. SOPA sponsors break their own laws    18 November 2011, 4:29 am
17. Microsoft, Apple and 27 other tech companies backing SOPA indirectly    18 November 2011, 7:07 am
18. Companies, Lobbyists on Both Sides of Web Piracy Bill    21 November 2011, 2:16 am
19. Senator Promises To Filibuster Internet Blacklisting Bill    21 November 2011, 1:56 pm
20. Free Speech is Only as Strong as the Weakest Link    21 November 2011, 3:55 pm
21. How SOPA Will Affect You    22 November 2011, 4:00 am
22. After the Hearing: SOPA Down But Not Yet Out    22 November 2011, 11:33 am
23. Against the Blacklist Bills: Congressmen and Senators Speak Up    22 November 2011, 2:36 pm
24. Mozilla | FIGHT SOPA (The Internet we know and love is at risk. Help save it.)    24 November 2011, 9:01 am
25. Why SOPA endangers America’s Internet leadership    24 November 2011, 9:05 am
26. SOPA won’t stop the internet, it will merely force it underground.    25 November 2011, 5:19 am
27. 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