Orwellian

When Your Car Is Spying on You

"Traffic cameras in Britain as well in Los Angeles and other jurisdictions overwhelmingly ring up drivers for offenses that wouldn't trouble a cop. New Jersey is just the latest state scandalized by discovery that yellow lights are set below the state minimum in order to yield more red-light camera tickets. London uses its cameras to levy special fees on those who drive SUVs in the city's financial distract. In some future discrimination or hate-crime lawsuit, will vehicle records be called up to show you locked your doors in a minority neighborhood but not in a white neighborhood? Will the state decide to raise your ObamaCare copays because a face-recognition camera also recognized a cigarette?" Continue reading →

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Britain fights EU’s ‘Big Brother’ bid to fit every car with speed limiter

"Drivers face having their cars fitted with devices that slam on the brakes if they go over the speed limit, under draconian new road safety measures being drawn up by officials in Brussels. All new cars would have to include camera systems that ‘read’ the limits displayed on road signs and automatically apply the brakes. And vehicles already on the road could even be sent back to garages to be fitted with the ‘Big Brother’ technology, meaning that no car in the UK would be allowed to travel faster than 70mph – the speed limit on motorways. The EC’s Mobility and Transport Department aims to slash the death toll from traffic accidents by a third by 2020." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingBritain fights EU’s ‘Big Brother’ bid to fit every car with speed limiter

AT&T paid for access to 4 billion call records a day for federal, local drug investigations

"US law enforcement officers working on anti-drugs operations have had access to a vast database of call records dating back to 1987, supplied by the phone company AT&T. The project, known as Hemisphere, gives federal and local officers working on drug cases access to a database of phone metadata populated by more than four billion new call records each day. Unlike the controversial call record accesses obtained by the NSA, the data is stored by AT&T, not the government, but officials can access individual’s phone records within an hour of an administrative subpoena. AT&T receives payment from the government in order to sit its employees alongside drug units to aid with access to the data." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingAT&T paid for access to 4 billion call records a day for federal, local drug investigations

FBI increases surveillance of Syrians in U.S.

"The FBI has beefed up its surveillance of Syrians living in the United States ahead of a possible US military attack on Syria, The New York Times reported Sunday. The newspaper said FBI agents are set to interview hundreds of Syrians in the coming days. US officials are especially concerned because Syria’s close ally Iran has warned that any military action on Syria would leave Israel in flames. It said senior FBI officials have also directed the bureau’s field offices to follow up with sources linked to Syrians as part of an effort to identify any talk of a retaliatory strike. And Syrians currently under investigation will be placed under closer scrutiny." Continue reading →

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Snowden files reveal NSA spied on Brazil and Mexico presidents

"Rio de Janeiro-based journalist Glenn Greenwald told Globo on Sunday that a document dated June 2012 shows that Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto’s emails were being accessed. That was a month before his election. The NSA also intercepted some of Pena Nieto’s voicemails. The communications included messages in which the future leader discussed the names of potential cabinet members. As for Brazil’s Dilma Rousseff, the NSA said in the document that it was trying to better understand her methods of communication and interlocutors using a program to access all Internet content the president visited online." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSnowden files reveal NSA spied on Brazil and Mexico presidents

Record labels ask UK broadband providers to collect data on illegal downloads

"BT, Virgin Media, BSkyB and TalkTalk are being asked by music and film companies to sign up to a voluntary code for policing illegal downloading. Negotiations have been underway for some months with the BPI, which represents the major labels including Warner, Sony and Universal, and the British Video Association, whose members include the BBC and Hollywood studios. Measures could include throttling internet connections to slow them down, blocking users from particular sites, disconnecting offenders from broadband for a limited period, and ultimately prosecution. In order to implement these measures, broadband companies would need to keep a list of those customers." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingRecord labels ask UK broadband providers to collect data on illegal downloads

CEO of Danish CopyrightAlliance: “Control is Freedom!”

"Maria Fredenslund, the CEO of the Danish CopyrightAlliance, in a debate in which she argues for increased control of the Internet in the name of copyright, proclaims that 'control is freedom.' She lauds the 'highly controlled and regulated society we live in' and insists that 'control gives us freedom.' You see, 'Control and regulation creates innovation … and personal liberty.' She criticizes the Internet as being 'undemocratic' because there is not enough 'control' of it. And people say I am exaggerating when I use the term 'fascism' to describe IP." Continue reading →

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Larry Lessig Threatened With Bogus DMCA Notice; Decides To Fight Back

"As we've discussed, unfortunately, it's been almost impossible to win a 512(f) claim over a bogus DMCA takedown. The entertainment industry has fought hard to make sure that sending totally bogus DMCA notices that censor content are basically unpunishable, unless they can show a willful and intentional decision to ignore fair use and censor the content. Liberation doubled down even after being told that Lessig believed the video was fair use. On top of that, by filing the lawsuit himself, and seeking the declaratory judgment, instead of being sued first, it means that Liberation can't just dismiss the lawsuit (they're now the defendant, not the plaintiff)." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingLarry Lessig Threatened With Bogus DMCA Notice; Decides To Fight Back

Interview with British ‘straight pride’ group removed by copyright takedown notice

"WordPress has removed an interview with the 'homophobic' campaign Straight Pride UK after the group used US copyright law to issue a takedown notice. In an interview posted on his WordPress blog, student Oliver Hotham published an interview with the group, in which they stated that they 'admire President Vladimir Putin of Russia for his stance and support of his country’s traditional values'. Hotham did not take down the post, and WordPress then proceeded with a DMCA takedown notice on 3 August. The DMCA contains a provision mandating any company to instantly remove material if they are informed it breaches copyright." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingInterview with British ‘straight pride’ group removed by copyright takedown notice