Technocracy

New Hampshire city suing ‘Robin Hood’ for paying parking meters of strangers

"The six 'Robin Hooders' named in the suit troll downtown Keene — often tracking parking enforcement officers — in search of cars parked at expired meters. When they find one, they pay the meter and slip notes under the windshield wiper of the vehicle that says: 'Your meter expired; however, we saved you from the king’s tariffs, Robin Hood and his Merry Men. Please consider paying it forward.' The note includes an address where people can send donations for the effort. The city claims in the lawsuit that the 'Robin Hooders' are causing the city’s three parking enforcement officers so much anxiety and distress that they’ve considered leaving their jobs." Continue reading →

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Florida quietly shortened yellow lights, resulting in millions in additional red light camera fines

"A subtle, but significant tweak to Florida's rules regarding traffic signals has allowed local cities and counties to shorten yellow light intervals, resulting in millions of dollars in additional red light camera fines. The 10 News Investigators discovered the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) quietly changed the state's policy on yellow intervals in 2011, reducing the minimum below federal recommendations. The rule change was followed by engineers, both from FDOT and local municipalities, collaborating to shorten the length of yellow lights at key intersections, specifically those with red light cameras (RLCs)." Continue reading →

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Ohio Appeals Court Forbids Traffic Stop Over Unpaid Parking Tickets

"Since April last year, Dayton, Ohio has been trying to generate millions in additional revenue by towing vehicles said to have unpaid photo enforcement or parking tickets. The city's policy instructed police to pull over motorists and take their car away until the alleged debt was paid. To keep a steady stream of $85 citations, Redflex Traffic Systems of Australia operates ten red light cameras and ten speed cameras in Dayton. In a decision late last month, the state Court of Appeals said Chief Biehl and the city have been flouting the Constitution." Continue reading →

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Obamacare: Taxpayers Must Report Personal Health ID Info to IRS

"When Obamacare’s individual mandate takes effect in 2014, all Americans who file income tax returns must complete an additional IRS tax form. The new form will require disclosure of a taxpayer’s personal identifying health information in order to determine compliance with the Affordable Care Act’s individual mandate. As confirmed by IRS testimony to the tax-writing House Committee on Ways and Means, 'taxpayers will file their tax returns reporting their health insurance coverage, and/or making a payment'." Continue reading →

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FBI’s Latest Proposal for a Wiretap-Ready Internet Should Be Trashed

"The FBI has some strange ideas about how to 'update' federal surveillance laws: They’re calling for legislation to penalize online services that provide users with too much security. The FBI’s misguided proposal would impose costly burdens on thousands of companies (and threaten to entirely kill those whose business model centers on providing highly secure encrypted communications), while making cloud solutions less attractive to businesses and users. It would aid totalitarian governments eager to spy on their citizens while distorting business decisions about software design. Perhaps worst of all, it would treat millions of law-abiding users as presumed criminals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI’s Latest Proposal for a Wiretap-Ready Internet Should Be Trashed

FBI’s Latest Proposal for a Wiretap-Ready Internet Should Be Trashed

"The FBI has some strange ideas about how to 'update' federal surveillance laws: They’re calling for legislation to penalize online services that provide users with too much security. The FBI’s misguided proposal would impose costly burdens on thousands of companies (and threaten to entirely kill those whose business model centers on providing highly secure encrypted communications), while making cloud solutions less attractive to businesses and users. It would aid totalitarian governments eager to spy on their citizens while distorting business decisions about software design. Perhaps worst of all, it would treat millions of law-abiding users as presumed criminals." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI’s Latest Proposal for a Wiretap-Ready Internet Should Be Trashed

FBI Monitors G-Mail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Facebook Accounts

"If you store your emails for over 180 days, the FBI says it can legally monitor them without a warrant. It took a Freedom of Information Act inquiry to find this out. This defies a ruling made in 2010 by a federal appeals court. An FBI 'Operations Guide' makes exemptions for any email that stored by a service provider for more than 180 days. G-mail is a third party. Outlook isn’t. The FBI has to get a warrant to look at Outlook emails. I use Outlook. I don’t use G-mail. I never have. Why not? Because of exactly this reason. I did not want a third party to store my emails. In a statement, the FBI insisted its methods are constitutional." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI Monitors G-Mail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Facebook Accounts

FBI Monitors G-Mail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Facebook Accounts

"If you store your emails for over 180 days, the FBI says it can legally monitor them without a warrant. It took a Freedom of Information Act inquiry to find this out. This defies a ruling made in 2010 by a federal appeals court. An FBI 'Operations Guide' makes exemptions for any email that stored by a service provider for more than 180 days. G-mail is a third party. Outlook isn’t. The FBI has to get a warrant to look at Outlook emails. I use Outlook. I don’t use G-mail. I never have. Why not? Because of exactly this reason. I did not want a third party to store my emails. In a statement, the FBI insisted its methods are constitutional." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingFBI Monitors G-Mail, Yahoo, Hotmail, and Facebook Accounts

Australia: Another Toll Road Goes Bankrupt

"The same phenomenon is common in Europe. In Spain last year, ten toll concessions, including the Madrid-Toledo highway, became insolvent. The Spanish government provided more than a billion euros in bailout money to the tolling firms Abertis, Acciona, ACS, Bankia, Cintra, OHL and Sacyr Vallehermoso. Failures are equally common in the United States, beginning with the toll lanes on the 91 freeway in Orange County, California which had to be bought out by county taxpayers in 2003 for more than the original cost of construction. San Diego's South Bay Expressway went bankrupt in 2010 and was also bought out by county government." Continue reading →

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League City, Texas Red Light Cameras Bagged

"Red light cameras in League City, Texas were covered with bags this week, but not by vigilantes. Australian camera vendor Redflex Traffic Systems had no choice but to shut down the devices. Last November, 77 percent of voters approved a measure banning the use of automated ticketing machines -- the fifth city in the Lone Star State to do so. City officials last year re-wrote the immediate ban initiative circulated by citizens and replaced it with a measure that would only take effect on October 29, 2014, when the city's contract with Redflex expired. The change proved politically untenable, so on April 23, the council voted to pay Redflex $350,000 to end the contract on July 1." Continue reading →

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