13 replies to this topic

[LWFM]

Australian ISPs Will Start Voluntary Internet Censoring
Added: Tuesday, July 5th, 2011
Category: Bit Torrent Freedom > The Right To Share

Starting July, a number of Aussie’s Internet service providers will start blocking customer access to over 500 sites. Meanwhile, industry observers complain of a lack of transparency of such practice, as well as inability for online services to appeal placement on the secret list.

Telstra, Primus and Optus are going to voluntarily implement Internet censoring policy beginning sometime in July. The plan is currently involving over 500 websites and is supposed to primarily target those containing child porno as identified by ACMA (the Australian Communications and Media Authority). The outfit promised to compile and manage a list of URLs of kids abuse material to be blocked.

Australian Communications Minister Stephen Conroy has been calling for a “voluntary obligatory” Internet censoring regime for a while now, but his plan has been delayed because the government has failed to implement a number of transparency and accountability measures it had promised would accompany the enforcement of ISP filtering.

The list of content to be censored includes child pornography, detailed instruction in crime or drug use, bestiality, incitement of a terrorist act, and extreme violence including rape. However, it is still unclear whether websites containing such material will originally be included on the list of services to block.

The EFF has already pointed to some problems with this scheme. First of all, the outfit argued that the suggested plan was multi-layered: there was no transparency in the selection of websites to be censored, as well as there was no accountability from the regulatory authorities creating the lists. Secondly, the Australian Communications and Media Authority has previously had problems with its blacklist – for example, they for some reason included the site of a dentist there, who apparently had nothing to do with kids porno. Finally, the EFF noted that the proposed scheme largely fails to halt child porno, because perpetrators usually use peer-to-peer and encrypted VPN connections to distribute illegal content, but not publicly accessible sites.

The critics also point out that the blacklisting scheme has no mechanism for websites to appeal their placement on the list, which sets a precedent that censoring is acceptable.


By:
SaM from Extratorrent.com
July 5th,2011

[luv u long time]

I remember seeing something similar, but quite different, about 6 months ago where the law enforcement authority for the UK (SOCA) tried to get the power to block any site that was set up for the purpose of organised crime, which no doubt had the same or similar headings as this Ozzy proposal. It fell on its arse cos there is already a more transparent channel to go through to do that with Nominet who will assess any info and close a site down from view from the UK accordingly.

More recently the EU commission wanted more power to control the net in the EU, but again, it fell on its arse for reasons of transparency and freedom for its citizens.

Im not so sure if ISPs should be in charge of blocking, I think it should come from law enforcement if its to do with crime gain sites.

[jcs]

Certainly agree that some sites should be blocked, But "nanny state" does spring to mind!

[bluesman55]

Google got 38 user data requests from Canada in 6 months
CBC News Posted: Jul 8,2011 2:41 PM ET Last Updated: Jul 8, 2011 6:06 PM ET

Canadian government departments, entities and agencies asked Google to hand over data about 38 users in a six-month period last year, according to a report from the internet giant.

According to its latest transparency report, Google says the statistic primarily reflects requests for user data due to criminal investigations, though it's possible some requests did not involve criminal matters. Google received the requestsfor data between July and December 2010.

Google complied with 55 per cent of the requests, the report said.

The 38 requests ranked Canada low on a list of 26 countries that sought data on users.The United States was at the top of list with 4, 601 requests, followed by Brazil with 1,804 and India with 1,699.

Google said it doesn't always know if the requests are related to criminal investigations and that included in the statistics may be instances where a government wants information to save the life of a person in danger.

The report doesn't say whether police services are included as government entities and it doesn't specify what levels of government the requests came from. Federal courts are included among the statistics, Google said.

In six-month blocks, Google reports on government inquiries for information about users and requests to remove content from its services. Content removals are sometimes related to allegations of defamation or allegations that the content violates laws prohibiting hate speech or pornography.

Seven requests for content removal came from Canada between July and December of last year. Three were related to internet searches, three to blog material and one to YouTube. The report said Google complied fully or partially with 86 percent of the requests.

It noted that in 2009, a request was received from a Canadian politician who wanted a critical blog removed, but his request was declined because the material did not violate any of Google's policies.

"We hope this tool will shine some light on the appropriate scope and authority of government requests to obtain user data around the globe," the report states.

http://www.google.co...sparencyreport/

Edited by bluesman55, 11 July 2011 - 08:16 AM.

[transgirls]

this could be a good basis to calculate 2 ratios:

internet content acceptance: removal requests from a country/internet users in a country

big brother index: data requests from a country/internet users in a country

[bluesman55]

A Google vehicle drives around PaloAlto, Calif. in 2010 to shoot Street Views, which received a fine from France'sprivacy watchdog Monday. Paul Sakuma/Associated Press


Google receives first fine over privacy concerns

The Associated Press Posted: Mar 21, 2011 11:49 AM ET Last Updated: Mar 21, 2011 3:53 PM ET
Google received its first ever fine for improperly gathering and storing data for its Street View application on Monday when it was penalized by France's privacy watchdog.

The $139,100 penalty — the largest ever by French body CNIL — sanctions Google for collecting personal data from Wi-Fi networks — including emails, web browsing histories and online banking details — from 2007 to 2010 through its roaming camera-mounted cars and bicycles.

The incidents, which some critics have derisively labeled as "Wi-Spy,"were caused by "an engineer's careless error as well as a lack of controls to ensure that necessary procedures to protect privacy were followed,"Canada's Privacy Commissioner, Jennifer Stoddart, concluded in a report last October.

Several other countries have skewered Google for scooping up 600 gigabytes of data —equivalent to about six floors of an academic library — from Wi-Fi systems for more than two years before detecting a problem in response to an inquiry from regulators in Germany.

Google initially said it had only captured fragments of people's online activities, but Canada's investigation determined that entire emails, passwords and website addresses had been obtained and stored.

The fine is the first against Google over the data-gathering, which more than 30 countries have complained about. At least two other European countries are considering fines, while some others have ruled against penalizing Google.

Google Inc.has apologized and says it will delete the data.

"As we have said before, we are profoundly sorry for having mistakenly collected payload data from unencrypted Wi-Fi networks," Google's Global Privacy Counsel Peter Fleischer said in an emailed statement. "As soon as we realized what had happened, we stopped collecting all Wi-Fi data from our Street View cars and immediately informed the authorities."

Google has two months to appeal the fine. It hasn't yet decided whether it will, a company spokesman said.

The head of CNIL criticized Google for a lack of transparency and co-operation with its investigation, which it launched in 2009.

"They were not always willing to co-operate with us, they didn't give us all the information we asked for, like the source code of all devices in the Google cars," said Yann Padova, CNIL's executive director. "They were not always very transparent."

Edited by bluesman55, 13 July 2011 - 08:56 AM.

[LWFM]

Denmark Will Forbid Anonymous Internet Use
Added: Friday, July 8th, 2011
Category: Bit Torrent Freedom > The Right To Share
Tags:ET, p2p, Torrent, Piracy, Peer To Peer, Network, Hackers, Internet, BitTorrent, Google, utorrent, bitcomet, extratorrent, 2010, www.extrattorrent.com

Stumble it!
The police in Denmark reportedly believe that using the web anonymously should be a thing of the past. That’s why the authorities are currently recommending that users’ identities should be verified before they are able to log on to the worldwide web. However, it seems that hoping that online anonymity is abolished and making it happen are absolutely different things.



According to media reports, interesting developments are taking place in Denmark. The police in the country are reportedly hoping that online anonymity should be abolished, but they don’t explain how exactly people are supposed to make themselves known to thus far anonymous connections. Meanwhile, the representatives of the country’s Ministry of Justice mention different possibilities like electronic signature, Social Security numbers, or SMS solutions.

In short words, the police will require that an Internet user doesn’t have access to the web before the information about their identity is registered and verified. However, if the police in the country plan to fight Internet anonymity in Denmark this way, it will most likely not work, because nothing can stop people from accessing TOR, for example. And if an Internet user accesses a site via TOR, then their IP address would be different, thus making it almost impossible to trace that individual back to the original IP address.

On the other hand, if the goal of the current proposal isn’t to end online anonymity altogether, then it is unclear what exactly this would accomplish. In reality, if people want to cover their online tracks and they have some idea of how to do it, they will undoubtedly be able to hide themselves from the authorities. In addition, people would never agree to use such things as social security numbers, because if they are used to verify Internet users’ identities, the chances are that third parties will be able to trace these numbers. As a result, identity thieves will be a huge step closer to stealing users’ identities.

Overall, this proposal will only be an extra strain on the system. Besides, it could cost plenty of money to enforce, and, finally, it is still unclear how such suggestion, if implemented, would be able to end online anonymity at all.


By:
SaM
July 8th,2011
Posted by: SaM
Date: Friday, July 8th, 2011

[bluesman55]

BBC

9 August 2011 Last updated at 12:52 ET
Rioters' mobile phones could help police investigation


Many of those taking parts in riots used their mobile phones to coordinate with friends. Police may be able to use rioters' mobile phone information to help convict them, say legal experts.


Investigators can apply to see the contents of text and instant messages, as well as their location.

However, authorities may not be able to access the full wealth of data available to telecoms companies because of legal restrictions.

Guidelines require police to find out individuals' identities first before obtaining records from trouble spots.

Research In Motion, maker of the BlackBerry smartphone, has already said that it will be cooperating with investigations, and pointed out that it is bound to hand over subscriber information when it relates to criminal activity.

The company's BBM instant messenger has been identified as one of the services used by rioters to coordinate their actions.

One-by-one
Under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA), police can apply for details of a customer's phone records, including their location, details of calls made and received, and internet activity.

But requests must be made for each suspect on a case-by-case basis.

Police would be unable to carry out a broad-based search, identifying, for example, every person who was in Clapham Junction sending the word "riot".

Similar to other technology providers in the UK we comply with the Regulation.”
Patrick Spence - Blackberry

"They would have to say we want this individual's comms data and these are the reasons why," said solicitor advocate Simon McKay, who has written a book on the subject.

"When it comes to the next person they would have to look at that completely separately and re-apply."
Initial identification data would likely need to be taken from video, photographs, CCTV footage and other intelligence.

Those limits mean telecoms subscriber data becomes useful additional evidence, rather than a first port of call.

Mr McKay explained that, when considering requests, the issue of collateral intrusion also had to be taken into account - specifically, how much of other people's data might inadvertently be disclosed, along with that of the suspect.

Time consuming
Such safeguards make investigations extremely labour intensive according to Barrie Davies, a retired chief inspector who now teaches RIPA procedure for Baron Training.

"It is a lot of paperwork," he told BBC News.

"People don't always believe us but there is a lot of oversight that is done by authorising officers to make sure that anything that is done is necessary and proportionate."

Iain Mackenzie says there is 'credible evidence' that rioters are using BlackBerry Messenger

Despite the restrictions, some legal experts believe there is scope to push RIPA guidelines further than they have been in the past.

One senior barrister, with extensive experience of this area, told the BBC that doing a "trawl" for mobile phones in a particular location where rioting was taking place might be considered proportionate in this case.

However, he conceded that it was unlikely police would make such a request.

Message data
Another possibility, according to solicitor Mike Conradi from DLA Piper, would be for BlackBerry to pro-actively offer a limited portion of their user data to police.
"They could say 'this person in Brixton and he sent messages to 40 people and an hour later 25 of them turned up'," said Mr Conradi.

That basic information could be used to narrow down suspects worthy of further investigation, without violating either data protection or RIPA guidelines, he explained.

"There's a specific section in the data protection act which says you can disclose personal information for the purposes of detection of crime without the consent of the person to whom it relates."

The Met Police was unavailable for comment on this matter at the time of writing.

Edited by bluesman55, 10 August 2011 - 09:26 AM.

[baronnoir]

I am reading again 1984, read it first about 30 years ago, amazing how Orwell was ahead of his time !!!

[roscoe]

Big deal ... none of this blocking does much good. If you get a subscription to a good VPN/Proxy service like Astril, it will get you around the toughest blocking (China, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia). I think these are just wastes of government money.

[bluesman55]

By Georgina Prodhan | Reuters – 2 hours 24 minutes ago

Activists meet to defend Internet from state control

LONDON (Reuters) - Internet activists will this week make an 11th-hour attempt to stop governments seizing more control of the Web that has fueled Arab revolutions, enabled mass leaks of U.S. diplomatic cables and allowed online piracy to thrive.

The Internet Governance Forum that begins in Nairobi on Tuesday brings together companies, non-profit groups, academics, engineers, government representatives and ordinary citizens.

They hope to show they are best placed to write the rules of the road ahead for the World Wide Web, an increasingly important driver of economic growth in a world on the brink of recession.

In a study published this year, consultancy McKinsey found the Internet accounted for 21 percent of GDP growth in mature countries, and that almost $8 trillion changes hands through e-commerce each year.

"Stronger influence of governments seems inevitable. The Internet has simply become too important for them to ignore it. They prefer a top-down approach," Markus Kummer of the Internet Society, which campaigns for the open Internet, told a recent London seminar.

Groups like the Internet Society fear the creeping use by governments of tools like "three strikes and you're out" laws to cut off Internet access from citizens caught breaking copyright rules, already passed by France and being considered in several other European countries.

Some countries have tried more radical measures, like Egypt cutting itself off from the Internet during the Arab Spring to stop flash protests being coordinated on websites like Twitter.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who applauded the Arab Spring, hosted the e-G8 in Paris this year, a conference of political leaders and Internet company bosses at which he put the case for more government regulation while paying lip service to an inclusive approach to governing the Internet.

"It was very exclusionary. For women and the global South there was virtually no consultation. It was a hand-picked group of white, male billionaires," Internet lawyer and consumer advocate Jeremy Malcolm told Reuters.

"The IGF is really the last best hope for this process. If it fails, what we're going to get is India, Brazil, South Africa, China, Kazakhstan, Russia and so on putting forward the idea that we need an intergovernmental process."

The Internet's potential to raise living standards is under-exploited in the developing world where just 21 percent of the population have access, compared with 69 percent in the developed world.

Its role as a catalyst for development will be a key theme of the IGF, a United Nations-sponsored event where speakers will include World Wide Web inventor Tim Berners-Lee and EU digital agenda commissioner Neelie Kroes.

If it is to succeed in keeping governments at arm's length, the IGF will also have to show it is serious about cybersecurity, which companies now view as a bigger threat than traditional crime, natural disasters and terrorism.

The forum comes at a time of technical upheaval for the Internet where top-level domains such as .com or .org are about to be liberalized, enabling companies and communities to buy, create, name and run their own domains.

Web addresses in languages like Arabic and Russian have also recently been made possible, a move expected to transform the Internet and give more power to non-English speakers.

"The technology continuing to change is a given that we have to accept," said Jeff Brueggeman, who runs public policy for U.S. telecoms operator AT&T and will attend the IGF. "The idea is always to be looking ahead at the next issue."

(Editing by Robert Woodward)

Edited by bluesman55, 27 September 2011 - 05:05 AM.

[pied]

I always hate to here the word censor. I should be able to see what I want. But when it comes to exploiting children It is hard for me to be against censorship. My fear is what will happen once they have censored certain sites? Will it grow to and interfere in what I want to see.

[bluesman55]

AFP
Researcher finds snooping smartphone software
AFP – 16 hours ago

A smartphone security researcher is shining light on a hidden program that tracks activity on Android, BlackBerry and Nokia handsets.

Trevor Eckhart exposed the workings of Control IQ in a video available online Wednesday as the California company behind the software defended it as a tool for mobile network operators.

"Our software is designed to help mobile network providers diagnose critical issues that lead to problems such as dropped calls and battery drain," Carrier IQ said in a press statement.

The company denied the software logged keystrokes or tracked smartphone users.

However, Eckhart's video showed Control IQ software buried deep in an Android-powered smartphone recording buttons pressed, Internet search queries, text messages and locations.

Eckhart typed a text message of "Hello world!" only to have it instantly appear in a Control IQ application log in an Android phone.

The software was tricky to find on the device and couldn't be turned off, according to his demonstration.

Control IQ had tried to silence Echkart with a cease-and-desist letter threatening legal action but backed off after lawyers at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) went to his defense.

"Mr. Eckhart's legitimate and truthful research is sheltered by both the fair use doctrine and the First Amendment," EFF senior staff attorney Marcia Hofmann wrote in a response to the Control IQ letter.

Eckhart wanted details regarding why the Control IQ software was vacuuming information about smartphone use and who they shared it with.

[bluesman55]

THE SPY FILES:

http://wikileaks.org/the-spyfiles.html