openUReyes - Alternative News Blog

The European Commission has dropped plans to offer Israel data sharing access after pressure from the Irish government.

A proposal for an application to recognise the Jewish state's data protection regime as equivalent to that in the EU was shelved on Thursday (3 September) after Dublin made it clear that it would oppose the move at a commission meeting in Brussels.

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Law enforcement agencies have finally gone sci-fi. A new software developed by University of Pennsylvania professor Richard Berk (Pre-crime) uses algorithms and historical data to predict future crimes before they occur. Agencies in Philadelphia and Baltimore have used a similar software in the past to predict murder risks by past offenders, but the Pre-Crime upgrade allows agencies a more detailed look into the future.

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The Obama administration is seeking authority from Congress that would compel internet service providers (ISPs) to turn over records of an individual's internet activity for use in secretive FBI probes.

In another instance where Americans are urged to trust their political minders, The Washington Post reported last month that "the administration wants to add just four words--'electronic communication transactional records'--to a list of items that the law says the FBI may demand without a judge's approval."

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Monday 30 August · 19:00 - 21:00
St. Josephs Church, Basin Reserve (just off Brougham St, Mt Vic)

Come to a public meeting to hear both supporters and opponents of the Bill.

Speakers:

Michael Bott, NZ Council for Civil Liberties
Chester Burrows, National MP, Justice and Electoral Select Committee chair

Plus a spokesperson from the stop the Search and Surveillance Bill Campaign spokesperson.

An interim report on the Search and Surveillance Bill was issued by the Justice and Electoral Select Committee last week. The report is an admission that the bill will confer enormous new powers onto 70+ government agencies.

The report confirms that police will get a load of new powers: video surveillance where police trespass on private property will be legal; the circumstances in which audio bugging will be legal will dramatically increased from what it is at present. The threshold for warrantless searches is being lowered, as are the circumstances for setting up roadblocks.

An anti-piracy group has caused a storm of controversy by taking down movies it has no rights to. GVU successfully ordered video hosting site Vimeo to take down several Creative Commons videos created by a freelance journalist and an independent filmmaker. The anti-piracy tracking company hired by GVU claims that its technology failed.

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The owner of an internet service provider who mounted a high-profile court challenge to a secret FBI records demand has finally been partially released from a 6-year-old gag order that forced him to keep his role in the case a secret from even his closest friends and family. He can now identify himself and discuss the case, although he still can’t reveal what information the FBI sought.

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The government has built a national security and intelligence system so big, so complex and so hard to manage, no one really knows if it's fulfilling its most important purpose: keeping its citizens safe.

The Washington post takes an interesting look at Top Secret activity within the US, and includes some interesting interactive data.

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In this patriotic and sentimental film, international award winning Writer/Director Kevin P. Miller GENERATION RX, WE BECOME SILENT) exposes how Canadians are being stripped of their dsdfs personal sovereignty by government agencies — and how free trade deals and other international agreements imperil Canadian democracy.

Quietly, over a period of many years, unconstitutional legislation encompassed in Bills C-51, C-6, and the current Bill C-36 have placed not only basic civil liberties and freedoms at risk, but Canada's national sovereignty as well. The film shares how entangling alliances with groups like the World Trade Organization, the World Health Organization, Codex Alimentarius, the United States and even multinational corporate interests have become so powerful that they literally threaten to make elected officials in Parliament irrelevant.

http://www.aquestionofsovereignty.com/

The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill, which allows for large fines and six month Internet suspensions, has already passed its first reading in the New Zealand Parliament. However, according to copyright advocates, it doesn’t go far enough. Instead of simply disconnecting repeat infringers, they are calling for a heavier punishment that would take people’s right to Internet access away.

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High Court Trims Miranda Warning Rights Bit By Bit
Supreme Court Trims Miranda Warning Rights: 'Death By A Thousand Cuts' Says Defense Attorney