'Being the good guys' does not seem to rate very high on the ISPs priority scale. That aside, googling for 'Prenda' might help the ISPs realize that blackmailing alleged pirates can not only be seen as very bad, it can be the direct road to bankruptcy and worse.
Prohibiting Photography is quite popular in German museums, presumably to force sales of their overpriced catalogues. And, presumably, they'd be quite happy to sell pictures to Wikimedia as well, professional quality for professional prices.
Shame on the courts (and on the government, who sponsor the museums and could instruct them to play fair) for supporting these extortion practices.
On a scale of 0 (best case) to 100 (worst case) ...
... where is the new law?
It is interesting that while the EU did do a consultation on copyright as a basis, it appears they rejected practically all of the end user suggestions, and implemented only 150 % of the demands put forward by the industry.
Nothing new in Brussels, with 20000 lobbyists for industry and none representing our interests.
Back in March, her government blamed Whatsapp and moved on
If, instead,they had done a proper analysis of the Westminster attack (van + knife, sound familiar?), the government might have re-hired some of the 20.000 cops Teresa May had fired earlier.
And the knife-men wouldn't have had a free roam for 8 minutes to attack dozens of innocents while police were flown in from away.
Why not give the exploit to Microsoft asap, so they can prepare a patch asap and keep it locked up (with NDAs, NSLs, injunctions), so it can be released immediately when Hackers discover it?
The music industry has hugely successful in taking down pretty much any business they want by alleging that huge damages could have been avoided if the defendant had 'done more'. No evidence needed for damages actually being incurred, no evidence needed that defendant had any role at all in someone copying a file worth 20 cents.
Just a question of time until the plaintiffs find a judge willing to drop the hammer on Facebook. The mistake they made here is going after an American company in an American court.
Maybe it is time to move Judge Jackson to a new position where he can hear non-existent cases in a non-existent court room - perhaps in his home office?
Before Malibu looses their main source of income and disappears into oblivion:
Is there, by any chance, a picture showing one or more of those fearless fighters for copyright protection in government or congress, surrounded by samples of immense human creativity produced by Malibu that those honorable gentlemen in expensive dark suits work so hard to protect?
"I have decided that a further amendment be moved that will require agencies to obtain a warrant in order to access a journalist's metadata for the purpose of identifying a source," Abbott said at the time.
"The government does not believe that this is necessary, but is proposing to accept it to expedite the Bill."
Is there any legitimate purpose for police or government to spy on journalists?
They wouldn't need subpoena power: If the NSA/ODNI were sufficiently desperate for congress to grant them new rights, congress would have enough negotiation power to request whatever they wanted.
"The ODNI (Office of the Director of National Intelligence) may decide the shutdown renders this particular query [by Sen. Wyden et al] moot."
The ODNI is part of the government, which Senate and Congress are supposed to oversee. If they took their role seriously, they could demand full disclore, a set of safeguards against future 'inadvertent' mistakes, and the names of people personally responsible for enforcing them BEFORE granting or extending any further rights to the NSA.
If somebody robbed a bank, people would laugh in their face if their defense was the argument that the incident happened in the past and is longer ongoing. We should do the same with the ODNI.
Suppose a Newspaper recommends a nightclub for the music/atmosphere/best drinks in town, and the police later finds that someone is peddling drugs in said nightclub.
Would anybody consider arresting the newspaper owner for drug dealing?
Two more things the Intelligence Community could do:
1: Explain why they did not share details about secret security holes with software producers when the tools were stolen. 2: Explain why they did not buy the tools back in the firesale, just to take them off the market.
Any possible justification for keeping knowledge about security holes secret went out of the door the minute the tools were stolen!
"Assange isn't a US citizen, so he's not automatically guaranteed First Amendment protections."
Would that be because not being a US citizen means he doesn't fall under US jurisdiction? The US Government may be upset about things that Wikileaks may have done, they may have the power to bully other countries into surrendering their citizen to the US, and they may have no qualms about doctoring the legal process to fabricate a conviction.
But lets stop pretending this farce has anything to do with laws, justice or even morality.
Wikileaks and others have shown that the US government has been - and still is - breaking the laws of other nations on an industrial scale. If the US wants to uphold the laws, then stop doctoring charges against whistleblowers, and start holding your own employees accountable!
During my active days - until about 10 years back - pubmed, Google Scholar and Google Patents pretty much covered the literature in the technical/medical area free of charge, and most libraries had access to Web of Science even for visitors.
If that has changed, then yes, maybe some of the bigger governments should add a clause to one of their trade/copyright agreements to encourage publishers to cooperate with open database providers.
One wonders if those requesting encryption keys realize the trade-off: Whatever key they may be able to pressure Whatsapp to produce, one thing is sure - they won't get it exclusively. If they get a key, a lot of others will get one, too.
While the key may allow them to read other people's communication, they pay by opening up their own.
Isn't it amazing how the same people that tell us 'if you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear' seem to be obsessed with keeping their own secrets?
Would that be the same commission that insists on keeping pretty much all information on ongoing negotiations secret even from governments and elected politicians? On the grounds that some private space is needed because it is impossible to conduct your business everything is known to everybody?
And do the same security agencies that keep reminding us of the dangers of Putin siphoning off any information he can get his hands on to manipulate us really insist on making it easier for Putin & co to spy on us?
On the post: Copyright Troll Rightscorp Ramps Up Its Efforts To Get ISPs To Push Its Payment Demands On Users
'Being the good guys' does not seem to rate very high on the ISPs priority scale. That aside, googling for 'Prenda' might help the ISPs realize that blackmailing alleged pirates can not only be seen as very bad, it can be the direct road to bankruptcy and worse.
On the post: Multiple German Courts Rule Photos Of Public Domain Works Are Not In The Public Domain
Shame on the courts (and on the government, who sponsor the museums and could instruct them to play fair) for supporting these extortion practices.
On the post: EU Copyright Proposal: Not Good, But Not As Blatantly Terrible As It Could Have Been
On a scale of 0 (best case) to 100 (worst case) ...
It is interesting that while the EU did do a consultation on copyright as a basis, it appears they rejected practically all of the end user suggestions, and implemented only 150 % of the demands put forward by the industry.
Nothing new in Brussels, with 20000 lobbyists for industry and none representing our interests.
On the post: Theresa May Blames The Internet For London Bridge Attack; Repeats Demands To Censor It
Back in March, her government blamed Whatsapp and moved on
And the knife-men wouldn't have had a free roam for 8 minutes to attack dozens of innocents while police were flown in from away.
On the post: Colombian Grad Student Finally Cleared Of Criminal Charges For Posting Academic Article Online
On the post: NSA Was Concerned About Power Of Windows Exploit Long Before It Was Leaked
On the post: Judge Dumps Two Lawsuits Attempting To Hold Facebook Responsible For Acts Of Terrorism
crazy arguments, maybe
Just a question of time until the plaintiffs find a judge willing to drop the hammer on Facebook. The mistake they made here is going after an American company in an American court.
On the post: Judge Refuses To Fix His Rubber-Stamping Of A Fraudulently-Requested Court Order
On the post: Judge Alsup Threatens To Block Malibu Media From Any More Copyright Trolling In Northern California
a request
Is there, by any chance, a picture showing one or more of those fearless fighters for copyright protection in government or congress, surrounded by samples of immense human creativity produced by Malibu that those honorable gentlemen in expensive dark suits work so hard to protect?
On the post: Australian Mandatory Data Retention Abused Just Weeks After Rules Are Put In Place
Interesting quote in ZDNet story
"The government does not believe that this is necessary, but is proposing to accept it to expedite the Bill."
Is there any legitimate purpose for police or government to spy on journalists?
On the post: The Email Collection The NSA Shut Down Has Been Abused For Years
Supoena power
On the post: The Email Collection The NSA Shut Down Has Been Abused For Years
Wag the dog?
The ODNI is part of the government, which Senate and Congress are supposed to oversee. If they took their role seriously, they could demand full disclore, a set of safeguards against future 'inadvertent' mistakes, and the names of people personally responsible for enforcing them BEFORE granting or extending any further rights to the NSA.
If somebody robbed a bank, people would laugh in their face if their defense was the argument that the incident happened in the past and is longer ongoing. We should do the same with the ODNI.
On the post: European Court Asked To Overturn Ruling Saying Linking To Defamatory Content Is Defamatory
In the real world ...
Would anybody consider arresting the newspaper owner for drug dealing?
On the post: Former Spies' Dubious Claim: Release Of NSA's Windows Exploits Has Seriously Harmed National Security
Two more things the Intelligence Community could do:
2: Explain why they did not buy the tools back in the firesale, just to take them off the market.
Any possible justification for keeping knowledge about security holes secret went out of the door the minute the tools were stolen!
On the post: The US Charging Assange For Publishing Documents Would Be An Unprecedented Attempt To Chill A Free Press
Would that be because not being a US citizen means he doesn't fall under US jurisdiction? The US Government may be upset about things that Wikileaks may have done, they may have the power to bully other countries into surrendering their citizen to the US, and they may have no qualms about doctoring the legal process to fabricate a conviction.
But lets stop pretending this farce has anything to do with laws, justice or even morality.
Wikileaks and others have shown that the US government has been - and still is - breaking the laws of other nations on an industrial scale. If the US wants to uphold the laws, then stop doctoring charges against whistleblowers, and start holding your own employees accountable!
On the post: Initiative for Open Citations Takes Alternative Approach To Freeing Up Knowledge
If that has changed, then yes, maybe some of the bigger governments should add a clause to one of their trade/copyright agreements to encourage publishers to cooperate with open database providers.
On the post: Moderate French Presidential Candidate Suggests He May Pressure US Tech Companies Into Creating Encryption Backdoors
Sharing Economy
While the key may allow them to read other people's communication, they pay by opening up their own.
On the post: Canada's National Police Force Officially Confirms Ownership, Use Of Stingray Devices
On the post: Spotify (Basically) Tells Its Free Users, 'Go Pirate!'
On the post: EU Plans To Weaken Encrypted Communications Despite Countless Warnings It Can't Be Done Safely
And do the same security agencies that keep reminding us of the dangers of Putin siphoning off any information he can get his hands on to manipulate us really insist on making it easier for Putin & co to spy on us?
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