Web freedom faces greatest threat ever, warns Google's Sergey Brin | Technology. The principles of openness and universal access that underpinned the creation of the internet three decades ago are under greater threat than ever, according to Google co-founder Sergey Brin. In an interview with the Guardian, Brin warned there were "very powerful forces that have lined up against the open internet on all sides and around the world". "I am more worried than I have been in the past," he said. "It's scary. " The threat to the freedom of the internet comes, he claims, from a combination of governments increasingly trying to control access and communication by their citizens, the entertainment industry's attempts to crack down on piracy, and the rise of "restrictive" walled gardens such as Facebook and Apple, which tightly control what software can be released on their platforms.
Revealed: US and China's cyber war gamesWashington's plan to beat web censorsChina struggle to regain control of the internetHow open is your internet? An interactive map. Our Not-So-Friendly Northern Neighbor. Quebec Erupts. 100. One hundred days have now passed since the “Printemps Érable” (“Maple Spring”)began in February 2012. Students have been protesting on the streets of Montreal each night against announced increases in their tuition fees, ordered by government of Jean Charest, the Canadian province’s premier. Fees would jump from $2,168 to $3,793 Canadian dollars a year by 2017, a rise of 75% in five years. While that might seem low in comparison to rates in the US, it is intolerable to a population who traditionally believe education should be financially accessible to all – if not free.
Last week a special bill was passed following a debate that lasted some 21 hours. The bill has drawn the ire of the highly unionised workers of Quebec, helping spread the protests far beyond just the student world. This law was expected to bring order, but it is about to become the very purpose of the protests. Brutality Avis donné à la foule : #manifestation illégale, les gens doivent quitter immédiatement. The White Savior Industrial Complex - Teju Cole - International. It starts in Quebec: Our revolution of love, hope and community. In almost every report on the social movement now sweeping Quebec, including my own, words like conflict, crisis and stand-off figure prominently. Anger is omnipresent. The anger of protesters, the anger of government, the anger of those supposedly inconvenienced. Pundits scream about mob rule, anarchy in the streets and the dissolution of society as we know it.
Don't get me wrong, there is anger, present of course. But that is not what you see if you take to the streets, or watch CUTV's live stream. As I write these words there are demonstrations going on in every neighborhood of Montreal. The prevailing question in the media is, how do we end this? As this movement goes on, and grows by leaps and bounds, it is increasingly clear that it is not a movement of anger, of rage or of hate. Perhaps the most lasting effect of this movement will be to build stronger, more connected communities. This is what Charest is afraid of. We walk past each other every day, but we do not smile. How Yahoo Killed Flickr and Lost the Internet. Has the Art Market Lost its Mind? | Picture This. Fetishism of Digital Commodities and Hidden Exploitation: the cases of Amazon and Apple | Wu Ming Foundation. Italiano – Français - Español . [The original version of this essay was published on Giap on 26 September 2011, which means several days before Steve Jobs died.
The French version was published on Article XI on the eve of Jobs' death. The piece had already received a lot of attention, backlinks and comments when the news arrived. However, it obviously sky-rocketed to the status of "crucial" text as soon as the media landscape was filled with iGrief, and it kept attracting people when anonymous cultural activists "displaced" the discussion on iGrief by creating the "Steve Workers" persona.
The present English translation was done collectively on a Wiki page on Mauro Vanetti's website. Many thanks to Mauro, SandorKrasna and all the guys who gave a hand. Last week a Pennsylvanian daily newspaper, The Morning Call, published a long and detailed inquiry – entitled Inside Amazon’s Warehouse – on the appalling work conditions at Amazon warehouses in the Lehigh Valley. Jeff Bezos. 1. 2. 3. 4. Amnesty International seeks George W. Bush's arrest - Tim Mak. The human rights group Amnesty International called on Canadian authorities Wednesday to arrest former President George W. Bush when he attends an economic summit in the province of British Columbia next week. The group accused Bush of “responsibility for crimes under international law including torture.” Continue Reading Amnesty International asked that Canada either prosecute or extradite Bush for violations that they allege took place during the CIA’s secret detention program between 2002 and 2009.
“Canada is required by its international obligations to arrest and prosecute former President Bush given his responsibility for crimes under international law including torture,” Susan Lee, Americas Director at Amnesty International, said in a statement. The Canadian government responded to the request with critical words for Amnesty International. “I cannot comment on individual cases… that said, Amnesty International cherry picks cases to publicize based on ideology. The Physical Archive of the Internet Archive Aims to Collect A Copy of Every Book in Existence. Panic of the Plutocrats. Italian Wikipedia Shuts Down In Protest Of Proposed Law. In the true spirit of online activism, the entire Italian Wikipedia website has voluntarily taken itself down in order to protest a bill being proposed to Parliament. The law (“DDL intercettazioni,” roughly translated as Wiretapping Act) would require every website to publish within 48 hours a correction or comment relating to any content an applicant has deemed “detrimental to their image,” as they put it.
If that sounds vague, broad, and onerous, that’s because it is. If this law were passed, Wikipedia and other websites would have to post unedited and unsolicited “corrections” to any content deemed objectionable by any person. This content would have to be displayed without any review of the offending content or the “correction.” In case it isn’t clear, let me just sketch out an example. Wikipedia is careful to point out that the whole point of their service is to provide a free, comprehensive, and neutral encyclopedia that is open to input from all parties. MSNBC on NYPD Police Brutality during Occupy Wall Street Lawrence O'donnell with "The Last Word" Declaration of the Occupation of New York City | NYC General Assembly.
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Such action will be taken in order to maintain the effective operation of our forums for civil, constructive and thoughtful discourse. Participants should note the following prior to posting content: We're Not Broke, Just Twisted: Extreme Wealth Inequality in America. Fallout.jpg (JPEG Image, 800x446 pixels) Italy prepares 'one strike' anti-piracy law - intellectual property, legal. The Italian government is preparing an anti-piracy law that could ban Internet users from access after one alleged infringement, a lawyer and an analyst warned. ISPs would be required to use filters against services that infringe copyright, trademark or patents under terms of the draft law. The proposed changes to Italy's e-commerce directive were drafted in July by members of parliament belonging to the Il Popolo della Libertà (PdL) party of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi.
After analyzing the proposed amendments, Paolo Brini, spokesperson for ScambioEtico, a grassroots movement committed to copyright reform, concluded the Italian government is in fact proposing a "one strike" out Internet law. Citizens could be disconnected from the Internet if a provider is notified of an alleged copyright, trademark or patent infringement on the Web, Brini said. It remains to be seen how the technical implementation of the law would be performed. Google Removes 1 Million Infringing Links Monthly | Threat Level. Each month, Google removes more than 1 million links to infringing content such as movies, video games, music and software from its search results — with about half of those requests for removal last month coming from Microsoft. The search and advertising giant revealed the data Thursday as it released sortable analytics on the massive number of copyright takedown requests it receives — adding to its already existing data on the number of times governments ask for users’ personal data.
The Mountain View, California-based company removes links to comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The DMCA requires search engines to remove links to infringing content at a rights holder’s request or else face liability for copyright infringement itself. Google said it complies with about 97 percent of requests, which are submitted via an online form and usually approved via a Google algorithm. Removal of links has become big business, as rights holders often farm out such duties.