The Zombie Bill and the REAL ID Act
Submitted by rkamens on Mon, 2007-06-18 17:24.[[From Downsize DC]]
It was dead, but now it walks the Earth again. The bloated 700+ page
immigration bill that died last week has come back to life. What
strange voodoo has re-animiated this corpse? In a word . . .
Bribes.
Or so we hear.
These are legal bribes -- bribes with your tax money -- pork deals
being offered in return for votes.
This sounds about right to us. The immigration bill is hated by so
many people for so many different reasons that it's hard to imagine
anything else but bribes that could make it rise from the dead.
Don't let Red Hat fold!
Submitted by rkamens on Sat, 2007-06-16 14:25.Even though it's a corporation, Red hat has continually placed being a good
member of the Free and Open source community over being one of the corporate
community. Their dedication to FOSS is outstanding, and yet
they receive very little thanks. As a stronghold and *the* prime of
example of corporate GNU/Linux, they are an important domino. We have
seen Microsoft's FUD cause our comrades to pay for patents and
intellectual property that doesn't exist and if Red Hat caves in, many
more will follow. Let's rally our support behind Red Hat to make sure
EFF Urges Judge to Require the FBI to Release Surveillance Abuse Records
Submitted by rek2 on Fri, 2007-06-15 02:00.EFF Urges Judge to Require the FBI to Release Surveillance Abuse Records - More Questions About Misuse of Authority at the Justice Department
Dear WIPO
Submitted by rkamens on Wed, 2007-06-13 16:46."In 2006, the World Intellectual Property Organization
(WIPO) was inches away from finalizing a treaty that would
have crippled Internet broadcasting. Called the WIPO
Broadcasting Treaty, it gave traditional broadcasters and
cablecasters new copyright-like rights over their signals.
Under the Treaty, video hosting websites like YouTube could
suddenly face new legal liability and innovative products
like the SlingBox could face crippling lawsuits.
In an astounding turnaround, WIPO Member States told the
WIPO Secretariat to rewrite the Treaty and make it focus
Stop the SPY Act!
Submitted by rkamens on Wed, 2007-06-13 16:45."The SPY Act is supposed to help stop spyware, deceptive
adware, and other malicious software, but it is unlikely to
do any good and could actually make things worse. If
enacted, it would block lawsuits similar to the one EFF
brought against Sony-BMG for infecting customers' computers
with privacy-invasive copy protection. Don't let badware
makers off the hook -- tell Congress to go back to the
drawing board and draft a more sensible law:
http://action.eff.org/site/Advocacy?id=301
Both the Federal Trade Commission and Department of Justice
Secret Surveillance Evidence Unsealed in AT&T Spying Case
Submitted by rek2 on Wed, 2007-06-13 10:58.Secret Surveillance Evidence Unsealed in AT&T Spying Case - Whistleblower Declaration and Other Key Documents Released to Public
San Francisco - More documents detailing secret government surveillance of AT&T's Internet traffic have been released to the public as part of the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF's) class-action lawsuit against the telecom giant.
Get Ready - International Day of Solidarity With John Bowden #2!
Submitted by rkamens on Tue, 2007-06-12 15:16.From ELP:
--- International Day of Solidarity With John Bowden ----
Friday 13th July has been chosen as the date for the 2nd International Day
of Solidarity with John Bowden. On that day, around the world, please make
every effort to hold an action in support of John and in defence of the
Anarchist Black Cross (ABC.)
John Bowden is a long-term prison resister who has been at the forefront of
the British prison struggle throughout his time in jail – More than 25
years!
After decades of struggle, John has spent the past couple of years in an
Spoon-Bending 'Paranormalist' Ramps Up Illegal Attacks on Online Critic
Submitted by rek2 on Tue, 2007-06-12 13:57.Spoon-Bending 'Paranormalist' Ramps Up Illegal Attacks on Online Critic - More Bogus Copyright Claims in Uri Geller's Frivolous Lawsuit
San Francisco - The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged a judge Monday to dismiss a frivolous lawsuit filed by Uri Geller -- the "paranormalist" famous for seemingly bending spoons with his mind -- because of its blatant attempt to silence critic Brian Sapient with bogus copyright claims.
DigiMaj: The STOA report needs some corrections on software patents?
Submitted by rek2 on Fri, 2007-06-08 14:58.DigiMaj: The STOA report needs some corrections on software patents? - DigiMaj: The STOA report needs some corrections on software patents? [No Software patent news]
The Internet needs your help once again!
Submitted by tata on Wed, 2007-06-06 22:16.Phone and cable company lobbyists are attacking Internet freedom again in
Washington. But people from every corner of the country are rising up to stop
them.
The FCC recently launched an official inquiry into Net Neutrality. They're
already hearing plenty from AT&T, Verizon and Comcast -- who want to be the
gatekeepers deciding what you can do online. Now they need to hear from you.
The FCC needs to hear your story about why an open Internet is important to your
life, work and family -- and to our democracy.
Reporter Arrested on Orders of Giuliani Press Secretary
Submitted by jgrant on Wed, 2007-06-06 10:09.Manchester, NH - Freelance reporter Matt Lepacek, reporting for Infowars.com, was arrested for asking a question to one of Giuliani's staff members in a press conference. The press secretary identified the New York based reporter as having previously asked Giuliani about his prior knowledge of WTC building collapses and ordered New Hampshire state police to arrest him.
http://www.jonesreport.com/articles/050607_reporter_arrested_giuliani_or...
Watch the video - the kid is just asking questions and he gets the boot.
Can you say violation of the Constitution? Big fat uh oh.
FREE THE BBC!
Submitted by rkamens on Mon, 2007-06-04 17:42.
Binary Freedom has launched a new site to fight DRM called Free The BBC. You already know that DRM is bad. You know that it restricts your rights. You know that it is a technology that destroys free culture so please join us in calling on the BBC to release DRM-free content and use open/free formats.
An interview takes you farther down the rabbit hole.
Submitted by rkamens on Sun, 2007-06-03 13:54.This is an interview with the owner of http://www.truthistold.com, an anti-Suzanne Shell site. This interview does not represent the views of Binary Freedom Boston, Ringo Kamens, or The Binary Freedom Press office. Use this information to draw your own conclusions.
Note From Ringo: Yes, she does have connections with Scientology. She was interviewed in their magazine and they only interview their own. So fight both Shell and Scientology: They are both very dangerous.
1. What do you do (talk about your site etc.)
Write to WBUR/NPR radio and tell them to stream in a format other than MP3!
Submitted by jgrant on Fri, 2007-06-01 13:40.MP3 is encumbered with patents which require listeners to buy licensed players or risk facing patent infringement lawsuits. Since WBUR is publicly funded, it seems silly for it to use resources to enrich a private enterprise. Listeners have already payed once to have the content made, so they shouldn't have to pay an extra MP3 tax.
Remember the "iGeeks" - New Campaign Takes on "I hate digg" Suzanne Shell
Submitted by rkamens on Wed, 2007-05-30 11:50.Suzanne Shell is at is again, censoring her critics. She posted the information of a critic who was a minor on her site, and filed a police report against him for causing the DIGG effect to get her in addition to putting her website in a frame on his or as Suzanne likes to call it, domain hijacking. She sued archive.org for archiving her site which she could have avoided with a robots.txt file or a nice letter, but she demanded 100,000 in damages. Her campaign to silence the internet is back and we need to stop her.
You say you want a revolution... Sign this petition!!
Submitted by rek2 on Tue, 2007-05-29 18:19.I just learned about a really important issue, and signed a petition about it. The federal government is on the verge of turning over a huge portion of our public airwaves to companies like AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast--who will use them for private enrichment instead of the public good.
Save the internet!!!
Submitted by rek2 on Fri, 2007-05-25 14:51.Last year, more than 1.5 million Americans contacted Congress and stopped phone and cable company efforts to kill Net Neutrality. Now industry lobbyists are pressuring the Federal Communications Commission to abandon this fundamental Internet freedom.
It's time the FCC heard from you. The agency has launched a public inquiry into whether it should protect Net Neutrality or let companies like AT&T, Verizon and Comcast dictate which Web sites you can use. Take action now and help stop the big phone and cable companies again.
'Electric Slide' Creator Calls Off Online Takedown Campaign
Submitted by rek2 on Tue, 2007-05-22 19:04.'Electric Slide' Creator Calls Off Online Takedown Campaign - Agreement Ends Copyright Threats Over Non-Commercial Use of Popular Dance
San Francisco - The man who claims to have created "The Electric Slide" has agreed to call off his online video takedown campaign and to stop threatening people using the popular line dance for non-commercial purposes. Instead, he's making the dance available for all noncommercial use.
The Microsoft message: Time to invest in Free Software (2007-05-18)
Submitted by rek2 on Tue, 2007-05-22 19:03.The Microsoft message: Time to invest in Free Software
(2007-05-18) - In an attempt to inspire fear, uncertainty and doubt in the hearts of
the financial world, Microsoft alledged massive patent infringement by
Free Software in a recent Fortune article. [FSF.Europe]
