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archive : 2003-05

Psion PGP thwarts Italian anti-terrorism police
Excerpt: Dated May 21, but worth mentioning: Italian police say they've been unable to read PGP-encrypted files stored on Psion PLCs by members of the Red Brigade. Much of the article is spent detailing...

Cuba demands halt to US radio broadcasts.
Excerpt: The Cuban government has demanded a halt to radio broadcasts from the US, saying they are in breach of international law and describing the broadcasts as "aggression[s]". The Cuban government...

Torture and intimidation in Uzbekistan
Excerpt: The Guardian reports on torture and intimidation by Uzbekistan's police and intelligence services. The article suggests US aid money is helping to fund the agencies responsible, despite State...

Syrian journalist released
Excerpt:Syrian journalist Ibrahim Hmeidi has been released, five months after his detention on charges of reporting information about refugee camps. Hmeidi, 34, said he was arrested for...

Australian govt report on Zimbabwe torture
Excerpt: An Australian government report details the extent of government torture, censorship and intimidation against opposition supporters. It also describes the effect of President Mugabe's campaign to...

TIA spin
Excerpt: DARPA's Total Information Awareness program is getting plenty of press, due largely to a name change - it's now Terrorist Information Awareness - intended to draw the focus away from planned...

WHO proposes global tobacco ad ban
Excerpt: The World Health Organization is pushing for global restrictions on cigarette advertising. The proposal cites passive smoking as a justification, despite recent evidence suggesting there is no...

Moroccan editor faces jail over cartoon
Excerpt: The editor of a Moroccan newspaper faces a possible prison term for publishing a satirical cartoon accusing the king of corruption. Ali Lmrabet is accused of insulting the king and is also...

Guardian journalist expelled from Zimbabwe
Excerpt: Guardian journalist Andrew Meldrum has been deported from Zimbabwe, despite three court rulings overturning the order. Meldrum says there are few remaining reporters who are not controlled by...

New report on Patriot Act powers
Excerpt: A new report details some of ways US law enforcement has used Patriot Act powers in investigations unrelated to terrorism. In a 60-page report to the House Judiciary Committee, Justice...

Washington bans cop-killing video games
Excerpt: Washington government Gary Locke has signed into law a controversial bill banning video games that depict violence against police. Publishers are planning an appeal. House Bill 1009, known as...

US police claim warrant unnecessary for GPS tracking
Excerpt: AP reports on a US court challenge to police use of GPS tracking beacons. Note that the challenge is against the circumstances in which the device was used, not the nature of the surveillance....

BBC speculates on Echelon surveillance capabilities
Excerpt: BBC has some speculation on "Echelon"-style communications interception capabilities. There's a mix of deduction and speculation here: there's no reference given for the idea that traffic is...

Gait recognition fooled by combat boots?
Excerpt: Fox News has some details on a gait recognition project being funded by DARPA as a possible addition to the Total Information Awareness project. At a cost of less than $1 million over the...

China jails democracy activist for web publishing
Excerpt: A Chinese democracy activist has been jailed for 5 years on subversion charges for publishing articles on the web. Huang Qi, 40, was sentenced on charges of inciting the overthrow of the...

UK govt requests 100 million telco records each year
Excerpt: BBC reports UK Home Office figures that say government officials make 1 million requests for customer records from ISPs and telcos each year. Police and other officials are making around a...

Australian band fined for importing own album
Excerpt: Three members of Australian band Intense Hammer Rage have been fined for breaching censorship laws by importing copies of their own album. Note that while the material is described as...

Cellphone foiled Apache regiment
Excerpt: Asymmetric warfare on the traditional battlefield: the Pentagon says its only serious failure in the Iraq war was due to a cellphone. The Army's only retreat in the lightning-fast war...

Zimbabwe overturns media censorship law
Excerpt: Zimbabwe's Supreme Court has overturned parts of Robert Mugabe's media censorship laws . Two journalists had appealed after being charged with publishing falsehoods. Chief Justice Godfrey...

Britain considers revoking Fox News license over alleged bias
Excerpt: Britain's TV regulators are considering revoking Rupert Murdoch's Sky Digital broadcasting license, over complaints of bias on Fox News. There are no details about the alleged crimes. In a...

Israel asks Britain to act against web incitement?
Excerpt: The Israeli government has asked Britain to increase its efforts against those accused of inciting terrorism, says the Guardian. The report mentions a web site, alsunnah.org , published by the...

Invisiblog Client
Excerpt: Invisiblog now has a prototype client application . The Invisiblog Client requires: - Python 2.2 - Mixmaster 2.9 - GnuPG It assumes these are installed and functioning correctly. It...

California bill requires ISPs to notify customers of subpoenas
Excerpt: A new California bill seeks to reduce the attractiveness of lawsuits against ISPs seeking to discover the identity of subscribers, by requiring ISPs to notify their customers of such subpoenas....

US judges reject a single wiretap request in four years
Excerpt: Washington Times says US judges refused only 1 of 13,000 wiretap requests in four years. Those figures don't include FISA anti-terrorism warrants, which have never been rejected. One commentator...

Australia refused return of detainee Hicks
Excerpt: AAP says Australia has refused US requests to take detainee David Hicks, who has been held in Guantanamo Bay since 2001, because Hicks has not violated any Australian law. The New York Times...

French arrest airport security theft gang
Excerpt:French police have arrested a gang of airport security workers who used X-ray machines and security checks to steal items from luggage. A neat example of how poorly designed security measures can...

US seeks domestic CIA, military surveillance
Excerpt: The Bush administration sought broad domestic surveillance powers for the CIA and military, according to the NY Times. The measure, tucked into an intelligence bill, was not passed, but has been...

British detainee sues Saudi torturers
Excerpt: Ron Jones, one of the British men imprisoned and tortured by Saudi authorities after being falsely accused of leading a bombing campaign , is suing his captors over the incident. A Guardian...

DSD, ASIO asked to spy on MP
Excerpt:Reports say the Australian Federal Police asked ASIO and the DSD, Australia's NSA equivalent, to intercept communications by a federal MP. The AFP denies is made the request. IGIS is...

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