vigilant.tv

freedom and technology

archive : 2001-09


abc: ASIO accused of using undue force
07:50 PM +1000, Sep 30 2001
Excerpt: Australia's ABC reports on allegations that ASIO agents have use force during interrogations. Government sources have confirmed ASIO and the Australian Federal Police have carried out...

cnet: Compromise for CD copying is in the works
02:37 PM +1000, Sep 30 2001
Excerpt: CNET reports on a new CD copy-protection scheme. IT doesn't sound like much of a compromise though - it's Windows only, and still prevents copying. The record industry is...

cnet: Crypto doesn't kill--people do
11:48 AM +1000, Sep 30 2001
Excerpt: A CNet opinion piece on the futility of key escrow and crypto bans in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. First off, it's a quick-fix, feel-good measure that won't make a...

washingtonpost: Some Cry Foul As Authorities Cast a Wide Net
11:29 AM +1000, Sep 29 2001
Excerpt: The Washington Post reports on the arrest of innocent people in the FBI's terrorism investigation. So far, more than 350 people have been held in the investigation. Most of them are...

bbc: Net freedom fears 'hurt terror fight'
11:25 AM +1000, Sep 29 2001
Excerpt: Jack Straw, former U.K. home secretary behind the R.I.P. act, has suggested terrorists might have been detected if government surveillance powers were stronger. He said he had tried,...

theregister: Face recognition useless for crowd surveillance
03:16 PM +1000, Sep 28 2001
Excerpt: The Register suggests face recognition systems are far too inaccurate to be useful for surveillance. Even for a biometric authentication tool these error rates are too high. "This...

abc: Govt proposes eavesdropping legislation
02:27 PM +1000, Sep 28 2001
Excerpt: The ABC reports briefly on proposed Australian legislation which would give broader wiretapping powers to police. Legislation has been introduced to Federal Parliament to allow...

guardian: How the plotters slipped US net
12:11 PM +1000, Sep 28 2001
Excerpt: A good article at The Guardian focuses on the failure of technological surveillance methods to warn of the September 11 attack, and clears up some of the misinformation which has been...

nytimes: In the Next Chapter, Is Technology an Ally?
12:00 PM +1000, Sep 28 2001
Excerpt: An interview with some notable "technologists" on crypto, technology and terrorism. Whitfield Diffie and Lawrence Lessig are amongst those interviewed. Diffie: In my view the natural...

zdnet: Developer encrypts corporate IM
11:37 AM +1000, Sep 28 2001
Excerpt: ZDNet Australia has a PR piece on "CIPHERim", a crypto-enabled instant messaging client for Windows. Neither source nor protocol specs appear to be available. Firstly it's been...

cnet: VeriSign empire's new territory: Net IDs
09:15 AM +1000, Sep 28 2001
Excerpt: A CNet piece suggests VeriSign might be the winner in the Microsoft/AOL authentication wars. As part of its .Net initiative, Microsoft will support VeriSign's server digital...

dispatch: Graphic sex journal made public as plea battle continues
12:15 PM +1000, Sep 27 2001
Excerpt: Via politech ( see politechbot.com ) , the "obscene" fictional journal used to convict an Ohio man on child pornography charges is now available as a public document. It's not available on...

ap: N.Y. Bans Amateur Photographs
11:06 AM +1000, Sep 27 2001
Excerpt: Via Doc Searls ( see doc.weblogs.com ) , the New York Major's office has banned photography at the WTC ruins. "It doesn't affect anybody who is authorized. Obviously, a news...

prnewswire: Industry Leaders to Form Network Identity Alliance-Liberty Alliance Project
10:13 AM +1000, Sep 27 2001
Excerpt: Some big industry names have announced the liberty alliance project , which looks to be an answer to Microsoft's Passport ID system. The charter members of the Liberty Alliance...

bbc: Antiques man guilty of Enigma charge
10:08 AM +1000, Sep 27 2001
Excerpt: A U.K. antiques dealer has admitted to "handling" the Enigma machine stolen from Bletchley Park last year. It's not yet clear how he was involved in the theft; the BBC reports he will make...

wired: China Re-Blocks News Sites
10:02 AM +1000, Sep 27 2001
Excerpt: Wired reports on the re-blocking of a number of major news sites by Chinese censors a week after those sites were made accessible. China's Ministry of Public Security, which oversees...

cnet: Publishers trounce Universal in license fight
09:50 AM +1000, Sep 27 2001
Excerpt: The record companies get bitten by their own laws. Universal Music discovers that, like everyone else, it has to negotiate new licenses for streaming online music - even for songs it has...

nytimes: Disputes on Electronic Message Encryption Take On New Urgency
09:59 AM +1000, Sep 26 2001
Excerpt: The push for key escrow continues. There's still no solid proposal, just muttering. Senator Gregg said he would not make a specific legislative proposal until he saw what Mr....

New CD copy protection announcements
09:53 AM +1000, Sep 26 2001
Excerpt: Two announcements of impending copy-protected releases. The first is from ZDNet, on Sony's latest release of a Michael Jackson single: The copy-protection measure is aimed to prevent...

ladailynews: When the FBI guys come knocking, it's the worst of times
09:38 AM +1000, Sep 26 2001
Excerpt: A Californian man tells of his interview with the FBI about "the events of last Tuesday." By the end of the 75-minute ordeal, I was convinced that the agents were not acting on any...

wired: ID Cards Are de Rigueur Worldwide
09:24 AM +1000, Sep 26 2001
Excerpt: Wired reports on the adoption of ID cards worldwide. The cards have also been employed by certain regimes to repress segments of the population that are seen as "troublesome." In...

miamiherald: U.S. intelligence analyst charged with spying for Cuba
08:43 PM +1000, Sep 25 2001
Excerpt: Via the spooks list ( see spynumbers.com ) , an interesting data point: an espionage trial in Washington has provided documented evidence of shortwave radio "numbers stations" being used...

securityfocus: Hackers face life imprisonment under 'Anti-Terrorism' Act
11:40 AM +1000, Sep 25 2001
Excerpt: Via slashdot: According to this Security Focus article, the proposed U.S. Anti-Terrorism Act would classify many computer crimes as terrorist acts with a maximum sentence of life...

ustreasury: Executive Order
10:47 AM +1000, Sep 25 2001
Excerpt: Here's the text of the Presidential executive order freezing the assets of "persons who commit, threaten to commit, or support terrorism." The Annex lists around 25 individuals and...

wired: Why Liberty Suffers in Wartime
10:20 AM +1000, Sep 25 2001
Excerpt: Wired has posted a brief history lesson giving some background to the suspension of civil liberties during wartime. The [Supreme Court] justices ruled: "When a nation is at war, many...

zdnet: Terrorists and steganography
09:13 AM +1000, Sep 25 2001
Excerpt: Bruce Schneier speculates on the possible use of steganography by terrorist cells. It doesn't surprise me that terrorists are using this trick. The very aspects of steganography that...

times: Blunkett wants ID cards for all
03:57 PM +1000, Sep 24 2001
Excerpt: The UK moves towards a national ID card, increased surveillance & arrest powers for police. Police may be allowed to arrest people suspected of having knowledge about terrorism,...

sfbg: Bugged on the bus
03:34 PM +1000, Sep 24 2001
Excerpt: According to the San Fransisco Bay Guardian, the city's "Muni" buses and trains use digitial video and audio systems to record passengers. If you think surveillance cameras and...

siliconvalley: Oracle boss urges national ID cards, offers free software
10:11 AM +1000, Sep 24 2001
Excerpt: Oracle CEO Larry Ellison has offered to provide software for a national ID card free of charge. There's no explanation of how an ID system - even one which is perfectly secure - could...

newscientist: Malaysia pioneers smart cards with fingerprint data
10:33 AM +1000, Sep 23 2001
Excerpt: According to New Scientist, Malaysia has adopted compulsory identification cards, which use smart card technology to store fingerprint data. "A lot of governments including the US...

reuters: Lawmaker Wants More Internet Encryption, Not Less
01:03 PM +1000, Sep 22 2001
Excerpt: Bob Goodlatte, who backed earlier efforts to loosen U.S. export restrictions on crypto, has called for increased use of encryption technology rather than limits. "That's like telling...

washingtonpost: To Attacks' Toll Add a Programmer's Grief
12:37 PM +1000, Sep 22 2001
Excerpt: According to the Washington Post, Phil Zimmerman has been under attack by some who blame PGP for the September 11 terrorist attacks. As with previous articles there is still some confusion...

worldnetdaily: Digital moles in White House?
12:29 PM +1000, Sep 22 2001
Excerpt: WorldNetDaily claims Osama Bin Laden has used steganography created by a Syrian "expert". This is at odds with a recent FBI announcement (vigilant.tv, reuters: Ashcroft: FBI Probes if...

nytimes: Concern Over Proposed Changes in Internet Surveillance
12:19 PM +1000, Sep 22 2001
Excerpt: The New York Times reports on the current state of wiretaps, pen registers, trap-and trace, and forthcoming legislation that reduces the need for warrants. [Former DoJ prosecutor]...

reuters: Frenchman Probed for Web Site Applauding Attacks
09:01 AM +1000, Sep 21 2001
Excerpt: According to Reuters, a French man faces possible charges of "endorsing suicide attempts which aim to kill others" after setting up a U.S. based web site applauding last week's terrorist...

politech: Text of "Mobilization Against Terrorism Act" now online
01:53 PM +1000, Sep 20 2001
Excerpt: Politechbot has posted a copy of the U.S. Mobilization Against Terrorism Act as a series of jpeg files. I'm quoting here from an EFF press release included with the article. One...

washtech: Terrorists' Online Methods Elusive
11:47 AM +1000, Sep 20 2001
Excerpt: A slightly confused report from Washtech suggests the FBI is calling on security "experts" for help in tracking down online messages related to last week's attacks. This seems at odds with...

msnbc: Rules drafted to speed deportations
09:27 AM +1000, Sep 20 2001
Excerpt: MSNBC reports that the U.S. Congress is considering mandatory identity cards for all residents. The attacks in New York and at the Pentagon have prompted Congress to begin considering...

reuters: Ashcroft: FBI Probes if Other Planes Were Targeted
09:22 AM +1000, Sep 20 2001
Excerpt: An FBI official has released more information on email communication used by the September 11 hijackers, stating that encryption was not used. In Washington, D.C., an FBI official told...

cnet: VeriSign bars "offensive" Net name auctions
09:17 AM +1000, Sep 20 2001
Excerpt: According to a CNET article, Verisign has begun blocking auctions of domain names it believes are offensive. A VeriSign representative said the Mountain View, Calif.-based company...

reuters: FCC Grants Delay for Phone Surveillance
09:12 AM +1000, Sep 20 2001
Excerpt: The FCC has given U.S. phone companies more time to install packet-mode intercept capabilities. Wireless and wireline telephone carriers are supposed to have their networks capable of...

mercurynews: EarthLink rejects FBI's request to install Carnivore
09:10 AM +1000, Sep 20 2001
Excerpt: Earthlink has reportedly refused an FBI request to install its Carnivore listening device, choosing instead to hand over only records specified by court order. EarthLink, which...

wired: Bush Bill Rewrites Spy Laws
09:08 PM +1000, Sep 19 2001
Excerpt: Wired reports on a new draft bill which would give increased search, arrest and wiretapping powers to U.S. law enforcement. According to the two-page outline -- which lacks key details...

nytimes: I.S.P.'s Curb Terrorist Postings and an Anti-Islamic Backlash
10:42 AM +1000, Sep 19 2001
Excerpt: Web hosts, message boards and ISPs are reportedly removing content seen as "hateful or harmful." Both anti-American and anti-Islamic content has been removed by a number of hosts....

theregister: Terror attacks usher in copy controlled hardware
10:19 AM +1000, Sep 19 2001
Excerpt: The Register tries to draw attention back to the SSSCA bill (vigilant.tv, wired: New Copyright Bill Heading to DC ) . But according to Andre Hedrick, who publicly fought attempts to...

zdnet: Disposable phones--a security risk?
09:32 AM +1000, Sep 19 2001
Excerpt: ZDNet reports preemtive suspicion at disposable cellphones, due on your local supermarket shelf in October. Whether disposable phones were used to help orchestrate Tuesday's attack...

fairfax: The spymasters' dilemma
08:49 AM +1000, Sep 19 2001
Excerpt: Fairfax IT quotes from James Bamford's book Body of Secrets, suggesting Osama Bin Laden regularly uses unencrypted communications. "According to information obtained for Body of...

politech: Majority of Americans want anti-encryption laws, poll says
02:12 PM +1000, Sep 18 2001
Excerpt: Politech has posted a transcript of a recent poll which suggests Americans are generally in favour of limiting or banning encryption. I suspect things aren't as bad as they first seem, as...

bbc: Spy satellites search for Bin Laden
10:38 AM +1000, Sep 18 2001
Excerpt: The BBC reports on the "retasking" of signals intelligence and imaging satellites. The use of Sigint satellites marks a departure from normal procedure, as they are not usually used...

wired: E-Tickets Get New Restrictions
10:35 AM +1000, Sep 18 2001
Excerpt: Wired reports on new security procedures at airports surrounding the use of internet and kiosk bookings. There's no explanation as to how any of these measures are intended to prevent a...

washingtonpost: Hijackers May Have Accessed Computers at Public Libraries
10:28 AM +1000, Sep 18 2001
Excerpt: The Washington Post suggests last week's hijackers used library computers for communications. Library officials in Fairfax County also said today FBI agents Thursday requested the...

zdnet: Aust: Encryption crackdown gets thumbs down
09:58 AM +1000, Sep 18 2001
Excerpt: ZDNet reports on the Australian reaction to a possible crypto ban. "The problem with that is if those [decryption] tools are available, what's to stop them being used in the wrong...

nytimes: Scouring the Internet in Search of the Tracks of Terrorists
09:04 AM +1000, Sep 18 2001
Excerpt: The NY Times reports on the scope of online investigations after Tuesday's terrorist attack. Sofar there have been no successful leads reported to the press. Online service providers...

zdnet: Ban crypto, cripple commerce
08:59 AM +1000, Sep 18 2001
Excerpt: ZDNet writes about the importance of of cryptography as a protective measure, pointing out that a ban on cryptography - even if successful - won't hamper secret communications amongst...

freerepublic: U.S. Equipped Terror Sponsors
11:22 AM +1000, Sep 17 2001
Excerpt: Free Republic suggests Tuesday's terrorists were equipped with military communications hardware supplied to Syria by the U.S. government. The article is dated September 12, I hadn't...

cnn: Ashcroft wants tougher anti-terrorism laws
11:06 AM +1000, Sep 17 2001
Excerpt: U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft plans to ask Congress for more surveillance powers. Ashcroft said earlier he would ask Congress to rewrite some laws to enhance anti-terrorist...

jpost: Palestinian Police confiscates footage at Gaza rally
11:01 AM +1000, Sep 17 2001
Excerpt: According to the Jerusalem Post, Palestinian police have confiscated video and still recordings of a pro-Hamas march in Gaza. After the rally, plainclothes Palestinian policemen...

guardian: Society's freedoms may be curtailed
09:44 AM +1000, Sep 17 2001
Excerpt: Via Unknown News ( see unknownnews.net ) , the UK is considering sweeping changes to extradition treaties, warrants, finance and identification laws. Note the confusion of "freedom" with...

wired: Attacks Spur Canada Web Concern
09:10 AM +1000, Sep 17 2001
Excerpt: A Canadian group is calling for regulation of online "hate" material after alerting the RCMP to a website with possible pro-Bin Laden information. Any such regulation would presumably not...

newscientist: Intelligence technology may not stop terrorists
07:47 PM +1000, Sep 16 2001
Excerpt: New Scientist weighs in on the SIGINT vs. HUMINT distinction, and the failure of communications surveillance to give any warning of Tuesday's attacks on New York and Washington. But...

houseoflords: E-mail, internet, crypto to blame
12:55 PM +1000, Sep 16 2001
Excerpt: Via Cyberia-L, this quote from the House of Lords seeks to blame "modern secret communication" for the US terrorist attacks (Lord Howell of Guildford speaking here): The new reality...

washingtonpost: A Wide, Aggressive Probe Collides With Civil Rights
12:46 PM +1000, Sep 16 2001
Excerpt: The Washington Post details some of the false alarms and arrests which have occurred during the investigation of Tuesday's attacks. Authorities said they suspected that one of the...

digdirt: E-mails link Osama Bin Laden's terrorist network to Tuesday's bombings
12:26 PM +1000, Sep 15 2001
Excerpt: Digdirt claims the FBI has discovered email correspondence between terrorists involved in Tuesday's attacks. This would seem to contradict reports from earlier this year that Osama Bin...

siliconvalley: British cyberpolice ask providers to retain all data..
11:54 AM +1000, Sep 15 2001
Excerpt: Via politechbot.com, The British National High-Tech Crime Unit has asked ISPs and telcos to keep all communications data to help with the U.S. terrorist investigations. The...

wired: Senate OKs FBI Net Spying
11:47 AM +1000, Sep 15 2001
Excerpt: The U.S. Senate has approved a new bill to allow wiretapping and surviellance without a warrant. Warrantless surveillance appears to be limited to the addresses of websites visited,...

latimes: Officials Call for More Net Security
02:22 PM +1000, Sep 14 2001
Excerpt: More interesting quotes on wiretap capabilities. This is a day older than the Wired article on crypto laws (vigilant.tv, wired: Congress Mulls Stiff Crypto Laws ) . "We can listen...

guardian: Microsoft game taken off shelves
01:19 PM +1000, Sep 14 2001
Excerpt: A strange panic reaction hits UK computer game retailers. British retailers are sweeping the Microsoft Flight Simulator computer game off their shelves after worries emerged that the...

Assorted links
10:03 AM +1000, Sep 14 2001
Excerpt: "One day after the terrorist attacks against New York and Washington, a congressional report has warned of the vulnerability of the country's computer networks." ( see news.bbc.co.uk )...

reuters: Experts: Digital Privacy May Suffer Amid Attacks
09:46 AM +1000, Sep 14 2001
Excerpt: Reuters quotes "experts" on privacy issues. Experts pointed out that in the case of Tuesday's devastating attack, however, a paper trail is already developing, which might make...

wired: Congress Mulls Stiff Crypto Laws
09:34 AM +1000, Sep 14 2001
Excerpt: U.S. lawmakers begin their attack on cryptography. In a floor speech on Thursday, Sen. Judd Gregg (R-New Hampshire) called for a global prohibition on encryption products without...

indymedia: CNN USING 1991 FOOTAGE of celebrating Palistinians to manipulate you
09:29 AM +1000, Sep 14 2001
Excerpt: An unconfirmed report from Indymedia claims CNN images of Palestinians celebrating the WTC bombing came from 1991 archival footage. [ update : The footage is real. Snopes has thoroughly...

abc: Terrorist attacks halt mail deliveries
09:38 PM +1000, Sep 13 2001
Excerpt: Australia's ABC reports briefly on mail problems caused by international airline restrictions. The crisis in the United States led to airline freight being offloaded in London and...

theregister: Anonymous Remailers Survive Politech Attack
07:59 PM +1000, Sep 13 2001
Excerpt: The Register gives Declan McCullagh a serve over his Wired and Politech reports on remailer closures. But Sassaman's system didn't go off-line and McCullagh, it turns out, hadn't...

cnet: Terrorist search leads to ISPs
02:53 PM +1000, Sep 13 2001
Excerpt: More details on the warrants being served on ISPs. EarthLink's vice president of communications, Dan Greenfield, confirmed that the Atlanta-based ISP was served with a warrant under...

msnbc: Did Encryption Empower These Terrorists?
11:34 AM +1000, Sep 13 2001
Excerpt: Steven Levy raises the inevitable crypto question in a Newsweek opinion piece. In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, our attitude toward these tools may well take a turn that has...

sfgate: FBI looking to Internet for terrorism clues
11:02 AM +1000, Sep 13 2001
Excerpt: The FBI appears to be tracing specific email addresses with the cooperation of ISPs and network providers. "They wanted to know what we have on our network, and our logs about this...

abc: Rumsfeld blasts intelligence leaks
10:25 AM +1000, Sep 13 2001
Excerpt: The U.S. Defence Secretary has asked military personnel to report anyone "mishandling" information after classified details were leaked to the press. [Defence Secretary Donald...

foxnews: Early Evidence Points to Bin Laden
09:39 AM +1000, Sep 13 2001
Excerpt: A few sketchy details of surveillance capabilities are beginning to emerge. U.S. intelligence also intercepted communications between bin Laden supporters discussing the attacks on the...

salon: Terrorists are made, not born
09:35 AM +1000, Sep 13 2001
Excerpt: Salon calls for restraint, warning an agressive response will only continue the cycle of violence. Just how effective would the Baker-Eagleburger strike-hard policy be in quelling the...

cnet: EMI samples new digital security
09:11 AM +1000, Sep 13 2001
Excerpt: EMI is reportedly planning to use a new audio copy protection system from BayView Systems. Unlike competitors that use encryption or watermarking techniques to prevent copying, San...

wired: Hollywood Loves Hollings' Bill
09:02 AM +1000, Sep 13 2001
Excerpt: The film industry gives its blessing to the SSSCA draft. "This is an exceedingly moderate and reasonable approach," said Preston Padden, executive vice president of the Walt Disney...

wired: Anti-Attack Feds Push Carnivore
08:57 AM +1000, Sep 13 2001
Excerpt: According to Wired, the FBI is already increasing its internet surveillance, installing wiretap equipment at network providers and requesting information about Hotmail accounts. An...

dailypenn: In eyes of experts, a new age has dawned
08:39 AM +1000, Sep 13 2001
Excerpt: The Daily Pennsylvanian quotes various observers and analysts on the likely policy and security changes as a result of the September 11 attack. Lustick also said that American...

AFP: US bans all knives from civilian aircraft
08:24 AM +1000, Sep 13 2001
Excerpt: The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration has cleared limited air service but banned all knives and cutting instruments from being carried aboard civilian aircraft. Armed security guards...

politech: Anonymous remailer operators start to take remailers offline
07:24 AM +1000, Sep 12 2001
Excerpt: Politech reports on posts from the remailer operators list. At least one anonymous remailer has been taken offline in the wake of the U.S. bombings. By now everyone is aware of the...

cnn: Amercia Under Attack
07:15 AM +1000, Sep 12 2001
Excerpt: We live in interesting times. This is outside my usual scope; I'm quoting it here for context. Shock turned to grief and anger in the United States following the series of terrorist...

siliconalley: Amazon Criticized for Links to Intifada.com
11:20 AM +1000, Sep 11 2001
Excerpt: Via politech, Amazon is under fire because a Palestinian website is a member of its associate program. An indignant Eric Greenberg, founder of Scient, Viant, and 12 Entrepreneuring,...

washingtonpost: Seoul's Crackdown Leaves Newspaper Chiefs in Jail
09:34 AM +1000, Sep 11 2001
Excerpt: The South Korean government has begun jailing newspaper owners amid mutual accusations of corruption. The government brought tax evasion and embezzlement charges against 13 officials...

usatoday: Spy agency plans cryptographic upgrade
09:25 AM +1000, Sep 11 2001
Excerpt: A vague piece from FCW covers NSA plans to upgrade cryptographic hardware over the next few years. AES is not mentioned. "A lot of that [hardware] technology is at or [is] getting to...

cryptome: Security Systems Standards and Certification Act
10:24 AM +1000, Sep 10 2001
Excerpt: Cryptome has published to full text of the SSSCA working draft (vigilant.tv, wired: New Copyright Bill Heading to DC ) as a HTML document. It's remarkably short, worth reading in full....

boulderweekly: Pirate Radio
09:02 AM +1000, Sep 10 2001
Excerpt: Boulder Weekly reports on corporate radio's use of the FCC to fight unlicensed community radio stations. To insure their lock on what was once a public resource, the corporate media...

wired: New Copyright Bill Heading to DC
05:33 PM +1000, Sep 09 2001
Excerpt: Apparently not content with the DMCA, the music industry is lobbying the U.S. Congress for a new law which would outlaw computer equipment which doesn't include copy protection. The...

reuters: Judge Demands Documents on FBI Computer Spy System
05:19 PM +1000, Sep 09 2001
Excerpt: Judge Politan has ordered the Department of Justice to provide summaries of the keystroke logging technology used in the Scarfo case, describing their arguments that it be kept secret as...

reuters: eBay Wins Key Copyright Suit
10:02 AM +1000, Sep 08 2001
Excerpt: A U.S. Federal Judge has ruled Ebay is not responsible for copyright infringement for goods sold through its online auction services. Importantly, Ebay will not be required to monitor...

politech: California woman sues CD company over user-tracking technology
01:57 PM +1000, Sep 07 2001
Excerpt: Politech reports on a lawsuit against a record label over SunnComm's "copy protection" technology. While the copy protection is nothing new, this is the first mention I've seen of privacy...

AP: Justice Department Says It's Subpoenaed Reporters' Phone Records 13 Times in Past Decade
10:31 AM +1000, Sep 07 2001
Excerpt: The U.S. Justice Department has released figures detailing subpoenas used to gain access to journalists' documents and phone records. The department said that besides the subpoenas...

ocregister: Doubts over police report
10:18 AM +1000, Sep 07 2001
Excerpt: An OC Register report claims Anaheim police used criminal analysis techniques to compile a report on activists who had lodged complaints about police misconduct. Retired Capt. Marc...

philly: Bill would allow summary offenders held until ID'd
09:54 AM +1000, Sep 07 2001
Excerpt: A new bill proposed in Philadelphia would allow police to detain suspects until their identiy is confirmed. The proposal comes after rioters escaped charges by giving false names to...

zdnet: Security experts protest copyright act
09:22 AM +1000, Sep 07 2001
Excerpt: ZDNet reports on the recent spate of self-censorship in the security world. "When they started to arrest people and threaten researchers, I decided the legal risk was not worth it,"...

reuters: FBI Denies Bias as Raid Shuts Arabic Web Sites
09:17 AM +1000, Sep 07 2001
Excerpt: An FBI anti-terrorism raid has resulted in the shutdown of 500 Arabic web sites hosted in Texas, including a major news site. Some sites have been able to move to alternate servers, but...

AP: Man Charged: E-Snooping on Wife
09:06 AM +1000, Sep 07 2001
Excerpt: A man has been charged with various eavesdropping and computer crimes after using a commercially available software package to monitor his estranged wife's computer communications....

australianit: FreeBird flies
04:20 PM +1000, Sep 06 2001
Excerpt: The Australian reports on FreeBird, a new peer-to-peer proxy system billed as an anti-censorship network. Photono CEO Thorsten Schmidt said: "Within this network every user acts as a...

AP: US authorities watch gang websites for signs of crime
04:13 PM +1000, Sep 06 2001
Excerpt: More trolling for Cybercrime funding as Los Angeles police monitor chat rooms for gang activities. As usual, there's no data to back up their claims. Notably, no "significant" criminal...

reuters: China Shuts Down College BBS
01:31 PM +1000, Sep 06 2001
Excerpt: A message board hosted by a Chinese university has been shut down by "communications officials" after anti-government messages were posted in June. "Articles on the June 4 incident...

politech: Judge says Ohio man with dirty diary can't change guilty plea
08:55 AM +1000, Sep 06 2001
Excerpt: The Ohio man sentenced in July over fictional stories in his private diary has been denied permission to change his guilty plea. Franklin County Judge Nodine Miller said Brian Dalton...

reuters: Russia Warns Computer Experts on U.S. Travel
08:55 PM +1000, Sep 05 2001
Excerpt: A few days old but worth mentioning: the Russian Foreign Ministry has warned software experts not to travel to the U.S. due to the risk of arrest under the DMCA. "We want to point out...

edinburghnews: CCTV fails to cut crime rate
09:44 AM +1000, Sep 05 2001
Excerpt: Via cypherpunks, a brief report suggests police-monitored CCTV systems are failing as a crime prevention measure. The criticism comes as a review of CCTV systems in East Lothian is...

fairfax: Ex-police convicted over database misuse
09:05 AM +1000, Sep 05 2001
Excerpt: Two ex-police officers have been convicted after illegally supplying police records to an insurance company. Senior police are reportedly concerned that the practice is widespread. A...

nytimes: Using Software to Sniff Out Electronic Evidence
08:59 AM +1000, Sep 05 2001
Excerpt: Reasons To Encrypt part xvii: The NY Times reports on electronic evidence collection in the discovery process of civil suits. Many people do not realize that electronic documents now...

reuters: French Judge Considers More Internet Nazi Bans
08:44 AM +1000, Sep 05 2001
Excerpt: A French judge is investigating the possibility of requiring ISPs to censor access to neo-nazi web sites. [French judge] Gomez will rule whether companies trading in France, such as...

cnet: Bertelsmann steps up CD security efforts
08:37 AM +1000, Sep 05 2001
Excerpt: More Rights Management maneuvering as Midbar signs an agreement with a CD manufacturer. "CDS-300" sounds like it doesn't do anything at all. Under the agreement, Bertelsmann's...

salon: No free speech for animal rights Web sites
04:49 PM +1000, Sep 03 2001
Excerpt: Salon reports on a U.K. medical research firm using the DMCA to force an animal rights group offline. Now, apparently, in the wake of the Bank of New York's successful action,...

guardian: Top Gun versus Sergeant Bilko? No contest, says the Pentagon
10:31 AM +1000, Sep 03 2001
Excerpt: According to The Guardian, the U.S. Department of Defence is buying favourable depictions in films in return for access to military hardware and land. Producers have often changed scripts...

ap: AOL Sued for Chat Room Language
09:20 AM +1000, Sep 03 2001
Excerpt: A lawsuit against AOL alleges inconsistent enforcement of "community standards" rules amongst its chat rooms, allowing "harassment" in Muslim forums. [Plaintiff's attorney] Memon is...