vigilant.tv

freedom and technology

archive : 2001-10

zdnet: Virgin Mobile admits storing customer location records
Excerpt: Virgin Mobile UK has been recording location data from mobile calls for the last two years, and has no intention of deleting those records, reports ZDNet. Via Privacy Digest ( see...

epic: DOJ Issues Guidance on New Anti-Terrorism Powers
Excerpt: EPIC has published the DOJ's summary of the USA PATRIOT Act. Attorney General Aschcroft has directed the FBI to begin implementing the new laws immmediately. Section 814 makes a...

nytimes: Veiled Messages of Terrorists May Lurk in Cyberspace
Excerpt: More experts jump on the terrorist steganography bandwagon. Of course they're not revealing details, evidence or disclosing their own financial interest in the investigation - unlike the...

zdnet: Supreme Court zaps violent game law
Excerpt: An Indianapolis law requiring parental supervision of children playing video games has been overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court. The court agreed with a previous finding by a Chicago...

wired: FBI Terror Detentions Questioned
Excerpt: An update from Wired on the status of the 1,000 detainees in the FBI terrorism investigation. There's still no information available on who is being held or why, though it seems clear many...

ip: Fox News goes overboard
Excerpt: Stewart Baker of Steptoe & Johnson responds to Sunday's Fox News article on FBI wiretapping efforts (vigilant.tv, foxnews: FBI Seeking to Wiretap Internet ) , suggesting he was...

sacramentonews: Homeland Insecurity
Excerpt: A freelance journalist tells of his experiences at a U.S. domestic airport - notes confiscated, photographs destroyed, and escorted from the aircraft for his "suspicious" behaviour. I...

foxnews: FBI Seeking to Wiretap Internet
Excerpt: According to Fox News, the FBI plans to change the architecture of the internet to suit its wiretapping needs. This seems to be based on Baker's earlier comments on CALEA ( see...

australianit: Porn police patrol the net
Excerpt: The NSW Attorney General reportedly plans to introduce new legislation which punish the online distribution of material "unsuitable for minors." Like the South Australian legislation, this...

wired: Terror Act Has Lasting Effects
Excerpt: Some of the most troubling aspects of the USA anti-terrorist Act are permanent, despite a sunset clause which expires parts of the legislation in 2005. But the Dec. 2005 expiration...

latimes: Net Archive Turns Back 10 Billion Pages of Time
Excerpt: The LA Times reports on Brewster Kahle's Internet archive project ( see web.archive.org ) The Internet Archive, informally called the Wayback Machine, holds more than 10 billion Web...

freedomforum: The war on journalism
Excerpt: Freedom Forum reports on U.S. government efforts to restrict news journalists' access to information. Nearly a dozen federal agencies have dismantled their Web sites or removed...

siliconvalley: Entertainment control freaks have an ally in Microsoft
Excerpt: An opinion piece from Dan Gilmor suggests Microsoft may be planning to support legislation such as the SSSCA bill. Still, Microsoft is bidding to be the entertainment industry's...

wired: Suppression Stifles Some Sites
Excerpt: Wired reports on the increasing censorship of "unpatriotic" web sites. Several radical Internet radio shows produced by Cosmic Radio, including IRA Radio, Al Lewis Live and Our...

ap: Congress OKs Anti-Terror Bill
Excerpt: AP reports on the U.S. Congressional approval of the new anti-terrorism legislation. President Bush has reportedly agreed to sign the bill. The legislation, somewhat weakened from the...

aclu: ACLU Responds to Senate Passage of Anti-Terrorism Bill, Ashcroft Speech
Excerpt: The ACLU has released a response to the Senate approval of the USA Patriot Act. "This bill goes light years beyond what is necessary to combat terrorism," said Laura Murphy,...

washingtonpost: House Approves Terrorism Measure
Excerpt: The U.S. anti-terrorism bill could be signed into law by Friday, according to the Washington Post. The legislation has galloped through Congress in record time, skirting normal...

wired: Filter Plan Leaks Like a Sieve
Excerpt: This Wired article points out the flaws in ICRA, a rehashed version of RSACi voluntary ratings for web pages being pushed once more by industry heavyweights. Yahoo appears to breach its...

cnet: Tech giants pan anti-piracy mandate
Excerpt: Major technology firms have announced their response to the SSSCA bill. In their press conference Monday, the technology companies said the market is already responding with adequate...

linux-kernel: censored due to legal advice
Excerpt: Linux kernel maintainer Alan Cox has censored a kernel changelist in response to legal advice suggesting security reports could be considered DMCA circumvention devices. Via slashdot....

newsforge: Disney Channel cartoon portrays music downloads as evil
Excerpt: Newsforge has posted a plot synopsis of a recent Disney Channel cartoon which reportedly portrays music downloads as "evil." 4. Girl gets addicted to collecting free music, her...

reuters: Microsoft Explores Legal Options Against Hacker
Excerpt: Microsoft responds to last weeks analysis of its Digital Rights Management system (vigilant.tv, cryptome: Microsoft's Digital Rights Management Scheme - Technical Details ) , claiming the...

washingtonpost: Silence of 4 Terror Probe Suspects Poses Dilemma
Excerpt: The FBI contemplates using drugs and torture to extract a confession from suspects in the September 11 hijacking investigation. Link via Privacy Digest ( see www.privacydigest.com ) ,...

cryptome: Microsoft's Digital Rights Management Scheme - Technical Details
Excerpt: Via cryptome, an anonymous post to the sci.crypt newsgroup last week provides a technical analysis of Microsoft's Rights Management system, including proof-of-concept code to remove copy...

cnn: Tips for spotting suspicious activities
Excerpt: Thanks to CNN, here's a list of suspicious activities which should be immediately reported to local law enforcement. Does surveilling ones neighbours count as "strange" conduct? 1....

newsday: Wartime Secrecy Presents Hazards to U.S. Freedom
Excerpt: Newsday reports on the arrest and imprisonment of material witnesses in the terrorism investigation. He was kept in shackles and moved to three different jails. He was first denied...

citypaper: Novel Security Measures
Excerpt: A Philadelphia man was prevented from boarding a flight because he was carrying a novel with a picture of dynamite on the cover, according to this Philadelphia City Paper story....

ap: Ashcroft urges caution in release of public records
Excerpt: The U.S. Attorney General has encouraged government agencies to resist Freedom Of Information requests on national security grounds, according to this October 17 article. Ashcroft...

mercurynews: ID card idea attracts high-level support
Excerpt: Larry Ellison continues to push his national ID card idea, a plan which would coincidentally provide a very lucrative contract for Oracle. In an interview with the Mercury News on...

nationaljournal: FBI To Require ISPs To Reconfigure E-mail Systems
Excerpt: The FBI is reportedly planning to require packet data wiretapping services from ISPs under the CALEA law. The FBI is in the process of finalizing technical guidelines that would...

wired: Senator Backs Off Backdoors
Excerpt: Judd Gregg, the U.S. Senator who called for restrictions on encryption after the September 11 attacks, has changed is mind. A spokesman for the New Hampshire Republican said Tuesday...

smh: Altman says films inspire terrorism
Excerpt: Robert Altman blames terrorism on violent films, and calls for a move towards "thoughtful, character-driver films." Coincidentally, Altman makes his living producing and directing...

cryptome: Safeweb on Anongo IP Address
Excerpt: It seems Safeweb's privacy service isn't as anonymous as you might think. Secondly, what do we do with the logs? Every night we tar them up, ship them to a central machine, compile...

politech: A modest proposal: Use brain scans to ID potential terrorists
Excerpt: I've avoided reporting on the "terrorist brain scan" proposal which surfaces a week or so ago, simply because - as anyone who has studied psychology or statistical diagnosis knows - the...

newyorker: How vulnerable are the Saudi royals?
Excerpt: A New Yorker article on corruption amongst the Saudi royal family reveals the scope of NSA wiretapping and surveillance capabilities. Since 1994 or earlier, the National Security...

smh: State's disaster plan in force as PM targets pranksters
Excerpt: The Australian government is considering new "anti-hoax" laws after dozens of anthrax reports turned out to be false alarms. Looking at the numbers, however, the problem seems to be less...

chronicle: Law Professor Sparks a New Debate Over Flaws in Digital-Copyright Act
Excerpt: An interview with Jessica Litman, author of the book Digital Copyright. I think we have a securely entrenched structural situation. I think for the last 50 years it's been absolutely...

westaustralian: Online privacy 'vital to profits'
Excerpt: Privacy might start to become an economic issue according to this West Australian article. "Nearly half of Australians say they have already stopped - not thought about stopping,...

webleyweb: Racism and the New Profiling
Excerpt: This piece on racial profiling concludes that even those who object to profiling of themselves overwhelmingly approve of its use against others. Link via EtWoF ( see billstclair.com )...

ap: Flight diverted to Charlotte after men seen praying in back
Excerpt: A Delta Airlines flight was reportedly diverted over hijacking fears after two men were overheard speaking a foreign language. Officials at Charlotte/Douglas International Airport...

guardian: Censorship of news in wartime is still censorship
Excerpt: An opinion piece at The Guardian discusses recent incidents of state censorship surrounding the war on terrorism. The clumsiest involved the US secretary of state Colin Powell's urging...

Slashdot fails to read steganography article before posting, film at 11
Excerpt: A slashdot article ( see slashdot.org ) suggests a real steganographic message has been found hiding an image of a satellite photo: Niels Provos writes: "After months of searching for...

wired: RIAA Wants to Hack Your PC
Excerpt: The RIAA is concerned it may be considered a terrorist group under the forthcoming USA Act, according to Wired News. A proposed amendment would legalize hacking activities used to...

washingtonpost: Questions Swirl Around Men Held in Terror Probe
Excerpt: The Washington Post reports on the secrecy surrounding those held for questioning in the September 11 terrorism investigation. Officials have released virtually no information: names, the...

mycfnow: Postal Union Wants International Mail Halted
Excerpt: The American Postal Workers Union reportedly wants to suspend international mail. Via Unknown News ( see unknownnews.net ) The union said Thursday that it will ask President George...

wired: House Endorses Snoop Bill
Excerpt: The U.S. House of Reps has approved the USA Act, which would give police greatly expanded search and wiretap powers. During the five-hour debate, legislators complained that House...

knightridder: White House takes media war to newspapers
Excerpt: Newspapers have been asked to join U.S. television networks in censoring statements from Osama bin Laden. Via Unknown News ( see unknownnews.net ) "What they're doing, in effect, is...

reuters: Alleged 'Jihad Webster' Trainer Pleads Not Guilty
Excerpt: A British man has pleaded not guilty to terrorism charges over a web site which offered combat training. Zainulabidin was arrested in London earlier this month and charged with...

ananova: Taliban 'bans people from speaking English'
Excerpt: UN representitives in Afghanistan have been banned from speaking English, according to this brief report. They're being forced to speak in local languages like Pashton and Dari,...

fairfax: Defence pulls 'sensitive' content from .au websites
Excerpt: Australian government departments have begun censoring their web sites. Inside the Defence Department and its major agencies, the private national intranet carrying interdepartmental...

reuters: Secrecy Foe Joins U.S. Move to Scrub Data on Web
Excerpt: The FAS has admitted censoring its own web sites. The Federation of American Scientists, a staunch advocate of government openness, said Thursday it had yanked about 200 of its...

guardian: FBI closes 'pro-IRA' website
Excerpt: According to the Guardian, a US-based web site has been shut down by the FBI for allegedly supporting the Real IRA. The New York-based web site - iraradio.com - contained an archive of...

epic: Affidavit of Randall S. Murch
Excerpt: EPIC has published an affadavit from a supervisor of the FBI Laboratory Division on the key logging technology used in the Scarfo case. The statement is extraordinary vague about the...

nytimes: At U.S. Request, Networks Agree to Edit Future bin Laden Tapes
Excerpt: The NY Times reports on an agreement between the five major US television broadcasters to edit future statements from Osama bin Laden at the government's request. The decision, the...

vancouversun: Thobani accused of hate crime against Americans
Excerpt: A Canadian professor has been accused of a "hate crime" after giving a speech on U.S. foreign policy. Local police are investigating the complaint. An unidentified B.C. resident...

ananova: UK firm decodes 'bin Laden's messages' on internet
Excerpt: A Glasgow firm claims to have discovered evidence of steganographic messages hidden in "inappropriate" images. Despite the headline there's no specific information about the messages other...

heise: Dutch Government wants to regulate strong cryptography
Excerpt: Via the cryptography list, the Dutch government is reportedly planning to restrict the availability of strong cryptography. Dutch Government is launching a range of proposals...

detroitfreepress: SECURITY INCREASES: U.S. on guard at home
Excerpt: Detroit Free Press gives an overview of the "new secruity paradigm." The most obvious changes are already familiar: military personnel at the nation's airports, nuclear plants and...

vnunet: SMS terrorist joke ends in arrest
Excerpt: According to this vnunet story, Belgian police arrested a man after he received a joke SMS message purporting to be from Osama bin Laden. The joke was enough to get the Filipino...

WSJ: Extremist sites under heightened scrutiny
Excerpt: Via ZDNet, the Wall Street Journal reports service providers are shutting down "extremist" web sites. Note that while "criminal activity" is mentioned as justification for the takedowns,...

unknownnews: Was something lost in the translation of Osama bin Laden's October 7 remarks?
Excerpt: Unknown News shows the contrast between the different published transcripts of Osama Bin Laden's response to US attacks on Afghanistan. The Manchester Guardian's translation seems...

cryptome: SECRET RIAA MEETING
Excerpt: A document on cryptome from an anonymous source includes quotes purportedly from a "secret" meeting of the RIAA with technology and media industry leaders. "We will develop whatever...

bbc: US launches 'anti-terror' satellite
Excerpt: According to the BBC, the U.S. launched a new surveillance satellite two days before the attacks on Afghanistan. The launch looks to have occurred on Friday ( see www.spaceref.com ) ....

sundaytimes: The proof they did not reveal
Excerpt: The Sunday Times engages in a little speculation about surveillance and - of course - steganography. At the US National Security Agency, the most secretive and powerful such service...

cbc: Man, 81, charged after saying 'bomb' at P.E.I. airport
Excerpt: According to CBC, simply uttering the word "bomb" is now considered a threat. I'd recommend substituting "wheelbarrow" instead. It's much safer. Blanchard was travelling with his...

abcnews: Hijackers May Have Used Secret Internet Messaging Technique
Excerpt: Claims from France that the hijackers used steganography. Western intelligence officials say they have learned that instructors at Osama bin Laden's camps in remote Afghanistan train...

cryptome: WTC Photos
Excerpt: Following up yesterday's story of censored photography at the WTC ruins (vigilant.tv, cypherpunks: WTC Crime Scene ) , the restored photographs have been published on cryptome.org. A...

reuters: HNC Developing New Air Security Software
Excerpt: HNC, which develops software to detect credit card and insurance fraud, has announced it will develop a product to scan airline reservations for patterns which match potential terrorist...

newsfactor: Terrorists Adapt Ancient Technique to Web
Excerpt: Newsfactor says the terrorists used steganography, despite everyone else saying otherwise (vigilant.tv, usatoday: Hijackers' e-mails sifted for clues ) . Their argument doesn't make much...

slashdot: ZeroKnowledge to Discontinue Anonymity Service
Excerpt: Zero Knowledge is suspending its anonymous web browsing and encrypted email services. They give users 7 days before the system is shut down and all untraceable email addresses are...

theage: Copyright: your number's up
Excerpt: Two Australian composers have copyrighted the DTMF sequences of 100,000,000,000 telephone numbers to poke fun at copyright laws. With the aid of a computer, [composers] Helyer and...

cypherpunks: WTC Crime Scene
Excerpt: Here's a first-hand account from John Young ( see cryptome.org ) of censorship at the WTC ruins. Today I managed to walk around the stupefying WTC disaster site for half an hour, doing...

latimes: U.S. Agencies Pull Sensitive Data Off Web
Excerpt: U.S. federal agencies are beginning to remove documents and information from their web sites, citing security reasons. But as Elias Levy points out, any terrorists who want the information...

upi: US to Qatar: rein in Al-Jazeera
Excerpt: According to this UPI article, the U.S. Ambassador to Qatar has filed a formal complaint about a satellite network's reporting of the September 11 terrorist attacks, after the station...

politech: Leaked documents allegedly reveal RIAA assault on peer-to-peer
Excerpt: According to Politech, a leaked RIAA memo reveals plans to file suit against various peer-to-peer network providers. The memo concludes: 'Thus, we recommend (1) filing claims against...

theregister: Carnivore substitute keeps Feds honest
Excerpt: Via The Nose Who Knows ( see bignose.squidly.org ) , The Register reports on NetWitness, a pen register and wiretap package aimed at the ISP market. Because Carnivore is capable of...

seattletimes: Government seeks to extend reach of secretive court used on spies, terror
Excerpt: Via Unknown News ( see unknownnews.net ) , the Seattle Times reports on the secret hearings used to grant warrants for wiretaps under the FISA act. The court's seven judges just can't...

smh: An 'assault on freedom' maybe, but Americans are not free to question it
Excerpt: The Sydney Morning Herald reports on politically correct self-censorship and corporate censorship of reports on the WTC attack. Mr Bush said freedom itself was attacked on September...

bostonglobe: Compromise gained on surveillance bill
Excerpt: The U.S. House Judiciary Committe has produced a compromise bill granting broader surveillance powers. The Sensenbrenner-Conyers bill largely would grant the administration the new...

cnet: San Francisco bans filters in libraries
Excerpt: Despite the likelihood of losing federal funding, San Fransisco library supervisors have voted against the use of censorware on public web terminals. San Francisco's Board of...

cnet: Companies rethink Net privacy after attacks
Excerpt: CNet reports on possible violations of privacy policies in the terrorism investigation. Some companies reportedly handed over entire customer databases to the FBI without a warrant....

counterpane: Crypto-Gram September 30
Excerpt: Bruce Schneier offers his analysis of anti-terrorist security measures in the latest Crypto-Gram newsletter. The worst security measure of them all is the photo ID requirement. This...

usatoday: Hijackers' e-mails sifted for clues
Excerpt: Via Privacy Digest ( see www.privacydigest.com ) , USA Today reports on email correspondence between some of the hijackers involved in the September 11 attacks. They used cybercafes and...

wired: Eavesdrop Now, Reassess Later?
Excerpt: A new bill has been released which would give U.S. police expanded wiretapping powers. A 122-page draft of the Patriot Act, obtained by Wired News, says that police could conduct...

internetweek: Encryption Debate Revived
Excerpt: A brief but positive piece from Internet Week on crypto bans and key escrow. Nevertheless, the terrorist attacks have rekindled the debate over privacy vs. national security and the...

fox: Amtrak Starts Requiring Photo ID
Excerpt: According to Fox News, U.S. train passengers will now have to provide photo ID when purchasing tickets or sending packages. The rule, announced Tuesday, will not apply to riders who...

bbc: Net surveillance 'fatally flawed'
Excerpt: Caspar Bowden of FIPR responds to Jack Straw's comments (vigilant.tv, bbc: Net freedom fears 'hurt terror fight' ) on key escrow and surveillance powers. 'Key escrow': Everybody...

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