Posts Tagged ‘rules’
Congress prepares to declare war on the internet
Many internet users in the United States have watched with horror as countries like France and Britain have proposed or instituted so-called “three strikes” laws, which cut off internet access to those accused of repeated acts of copyright infringement. Now the U.S. has its own version of this kind of law, and it is arguably much worse: the Stop Online Piracy Act, introduced in the House this week, would give governments and private corporations unprecedented powers to remove websites from the internet on the flimsiest of grounds, and would force internet service providers to play the role of copyright police.
As the Electronic Frontier Foundation notes in a post on the proposed legislation, the law would not only require ISPs to remove websites from the global network at the request of the government or the courts (by blocking any requests to the central domain-name system that directs internet traffic), but would also be forced to monitor their users’ behavior in order to police acts of copyright infringement. Providers who do not comply with these requests and requirements would be subject to sanctions. And in many cases, legal hearings would not be required…
In addition to using what some are calling the “internet death penalty” of removing infringing websites from the DNS system so they can’t be found, the proposed bill would also allow copyright holders to push for websites and services to be removed from search engine results and to have their supply of advertising cut off — and would require that payment companies like PayPal and ad networks comply with these orders. If you liked what PayPal and others did when they shut off donations to WikiLeaks, you’re going to love the new Stop Online Piracy Act…
The bottom line is that if it passes and becomes law, the new act would give the government and copyright holders a giant stick — if not an automatic weapon — with which to pursue websites and services they believe are infringing on their content. With little or no requirement for a court hearing, they could remove websites from the internet and shut down their ability to be found by search engines or to process payments from users. DMCA takedown notices would effectively be replaced by this nuclear option, and innocent websites would have to fight to prove that they deserved to be restored to the internet — a reversal of the traditional American judicial approach of being assumed innocent until proven guilty — at which point any business they had would be destroyed.
Just as our Congress has become the kind of legislative body that would make any corporation happy and content, this bill would make for the kind of internet that would increase smiles and profits for media conglomerates — regardless of the stifling blanket dropped on the whole Web.
$22M + Lockheed + Pentagon flunky = private spy network
A senior Pentagon official broke Defense Department rules and “deliberately misled” senior generals when he set up a network of private contractors to spy in Afghanistan and Pakistan beginning last year, according to the results of an internal government investigation.
The Pentagon investigation concluded that the official, Michael D. Furlong, set up an “unauthorized” intelligence network to collect information in both countries — some of which was fed to senior generals and used for strikes against militant groups — while masking the entire operation as a more benign information operations campaign.
The inquiry concluded that “further investigation is warranted of the misleading and incorrect statements the individual made” about the legality of the program, according to Col. David Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman…
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates ordered the investigation after The New York Times reported on the existence of the network in March. The inquiry was carried out by Michael Decker, a top aide to Mr. Gates for intelligence issues…
Mr. Furlong, a senior Air Force civilian official, has been barred from his office in San Antonio for several months. The Air Force inspector general is conducting a separate investigation into the matter, to determine whether Mr. Furlong broke any laws or committed contract fraud.
Pentagon rules forbid the hiring of contractors as spies.
Mr. Furlong’s network, composed of a group of small companies that used agents deep inside Afghanistan and Pakistan to collect intelligence on militant groups, operated under a $22 million contract run by Lockheed Martin.
Furlong continues to have a successul career in what are termed “military-friendly” corporations and contractors.
In other words, that portion of the military-industrial complex that does the grunt work that leads to fatter contracts for corporations that profit the most from death and destruction.
Retirement haven hunts violators: No children allowed!
From behind the wheel of his minivan, Bill Szentmiklosi scours the streets of Sun City in search of zoning violations like unkempt yards and illegal storage sheds. Mostly, though, he is on the lookout for that most egregious of all infractions: children.
With a clipboard of alleged violations to investigate, he peers over fences and ambles into backyards of one of America’s pioneer retirement communities, a haven set aside exclusively for adults, where children are allowed to visit but not live…
But it is when he strides up to a home, dressed in shorts, sandals and a polo shirt, and knocks on the door that his detective work really begins. He tells the suspected violator that a neighbor has complained and he asks gentle questions to get to the bottom of things, all the while peering around for signs of youthful activity. His work is helped by a simple reality: children are hard to hide.
They leave tracks and make unique sounds. Newborns bellow, toddlers shriek and teenagers play music that is not typical around Sun City…
The vigorous search for violators of Sun City’s age rules is about more than keeping loud, boisterous, graffiti-scrawling rug rats from spoiling residents’ golden years, although that is part of it. If Sun City does not police its population, it could lose its special status and be forced to open the floodgates to those years away from their first gray hair.
The end result would be the introduction of schools to Sun City, then higher taxes and, finally, an end to the Sun City that has drawn retirees here for the last half-century.
To remain a restricted retirement community, at least 80 percent of Sun City’s housing units must have at least one occupant who is 55 or older, allowing for younger spouses or adult children. But the rules are clear on one thing: no one, absolutely no one, who is a teenager, an adolescent, a toddler, a newborn, any form of child, may call Sun City home.
RTFA. Interesting to say the least.
I’ve never considered living in a retirement community of any kind. I suppose it might be a possibility if I needed some sort of managed care that couldn’t be provided for the same cost in my home.
I live in a pretty diverse rural community, now. Maybe a 100-120 families. Probably half are originally owner-builders though that has changed as families move out, move in. They often are extended families, 2 or 3 or even 4 generations living together.
Some know each other well. Most of us at least wave and know each other by sight. Houses are far enough apart to merit the classification of “sprawl” by textbook sociologists who never got round to deciding how they feel about living cheek-by-jowl next to someone whose music sucks. Young families and geezers are as mixed as our ethnic identities, choices in jobs and cars.
Mexican Supreme Court rules gay marriage valid nationwide
Daylife/AP Photo used by permission
Mexico’s supreme court has ruled that same-sex marriages in Mexico City must be recognised throughout the country. The ruling does not mean other states have to allow gay weddings on their territory.
Two of the court’s 11 judges voted against the measure, arguing that it would damage the harmony of the federal system.
Last week the supreme court ruled that the law allowing gay marriages in the capital was constitutional.
The court will now consider the legality of allowing adoption by gay couples.
Mexico City’s local assembly passed the law in December, giving gay people full marital rights, including the right to adopt. Hundreds of gay and lesbian couples have since been married.
However, the law drew strong opposition from the Catholic Church and conservative groups, including the governing PAN party, and federal prosecutors challenged it on constitutional grounds.
I’m a bit surprised. I guess I’m too accustomed to politicians in the United States. Cowardice is always the better part of valor, here. Stone Age beliefs often overrule political progress – especially when it comes to equal opportunity.
The same generally holds true for our judges.
So – good for you Mexico. Nice to see some good news come from your battered nation.
Court rules neighbor wasn’t masturbating – but, scratching
Lund District Court found that a 38-year-old man, who stood accused of sexual molestation charges by his female neighbor, was most likely not pleasuring himself on his home’s balcony while the woman was in her nearby kitchen.
The court acquitted the unidentified suspect on all charges after ruling he may have simply been scratching at a rash that was present in his groin area.
The man openly admitted in court he may have been present on his balcony on occasions that his neighbor was in her home’s kitchen.
The defendant also admitted his robe may have been open during some of those instances, but insisted such displays were not intentional and only occurred when he was wearing underwear.
Well, I don’t know if I can stand all the excitement and controversy. Phew!
Audi Scores Thrilling Sebring Victory
Daylife/Getty Images
Audi christened its brand-new R15 TDI with a thrilling debut victory Saturday in the 57th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The second-generation diesel-powered prototype co-driven by Allan McNish, Dindo Capello and Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen crossed the line 22.3 seconds ahead of the second-placed No. 08 Team Peugeot Total 908 HDi-FAP of Stephane Sarrazin, Franck Montagny and Sebastien Bourdais.
The thrilling down-to-the-wire battle between the two diesel juggernauts ended up favoring the German prototype despite McNish having to make a splash-and-go for fuel with 15 minutes remaining. The team’s sister car of Marco Werner, Lucas Luhr and Mike Rockenfeller rounded out the podium in LMP1.
The two Audis also did an exciting job of swapping places with each other. You really couldn’t predict this one.
Lowe’s Fernandez Racing celebrated its maiden victory in the American Le Mans Series, taking the LMP2 class win, while the No. 3 Corvette Racing C6.R took home GT1 honors. Risi Competizione started its 2009 season on the right foot by claiming GT2 honors in the around-the-clock marathon with their Ferrari F430GT.
The story for me was the diesels. Four of the first five places were diesel-powered.
And I still can’t get a small or mid-sized pickup truck in the United States – with a diesel engine.
South Korean judge backs right-to-die plea
A family’s request to cease all medical assistance to a 75-year-old woman in a persistent vegetative state should be granted, a South Korean court has ruled.
Seoul Western District Court ruled Friday that the woman, identified only with the surname Kim, should be taken off life support and have her feeding tube removed as per the family’s request, the Yonhap News Agency said.
The judge’s ruling was unexpected given the fact it marked the first time in South Korea that a removal of life support has been legally approved, the report said. The fact the removal of life support was supported without the patient’s consent made the ruling particularly ground-breaking, Yonhap said.
Bravo!
Rules of war made simple for military leaders
Daylife photo from Reuters Pictures
Senior military officers from 50 countries gathered in Geneva Monday to put international humanitarian law into simple language that can be understood in theatres of war worldwide.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), which organized the two-week course with the Swiss Armed Forces, said that civilians accounted for the overwhelming majority of war casualties despite being protected in the Geneva Conventions laying out the rules of war.
“By making international humanitarian law more easily understandable and accessible to military personnel, the ICRC hopes to give combatants the guidance they need to make the right choices,” the neutral aid organization said…
International humanitarian law sets constraints on the methods by which conflicting parties can fight, aiming to avoid unnecessary carnage and spare civilians and their property.
The rules also spell out principles for providing medical services to those wounded by war, including enemy combatants, as well as acceptable conditions for detention and imprisonment.
Kellenberger said the ICRC is engaging in confidential dialogue with military leaders around the world, including Afghanistan, Iraq, Sudan, Chad, and Sri Lanka, as part of its mandate to encourage compliance with international humanitarian law. It also meets non-state armed groups when security permits.
Then, we face the question of getting the elected leaders of our nations to live up to the mandates and guidance which our military may understand – and our politicians refuse to obey.
Colorado must reinstate purged voters
Daylife/Getty Images
Tens of thousands of Coloradans who had been removed from the state’s voter rolls will be allowed to vote in next week’s election and given extra protections so their ballots are counted, under an agreement reached late Wednesday in federal court here.
The voters’ names had been removed by Mike Coffman, the Republican secretary of state, who said he did so because the voters had moved out of state or were listed more than once on the rolls. But Mr. Coffman was sued by a coalition of voting rights and other groups who said such purges were generally prohibited by federal law within 90 days of an election.
Under the agreement, voters removed from the rolls will be permitted to cast provisional ballots, and those ballots will be counted unless election officials can prove the voters were not eligible. To strike such ballots, county election officials must conduct an extensive records review on each one, a decision that must then be reviewed by Mr. Coffman’s office.
Edward B. Foley, a law professor at Ohio State University and an authority on voting litigation nationwide, said the settlement was noteworthy because many states had put the onus on voters to prove that their provisional ballots were legitimate before they could be counted. The settlement shifts this responsibility to the state.
The wrap on all of this is that the Help America Vote Act is what state after state is using to keep people from voting. Does the hypocritical model of the so-called Patriot Act work at every level of American government?
You call your crappy law one thing when the intent is the exact opposite.
Bad News for the Bailout
Lawmakers on Capitol Hill seem determined to work together to pass a bill that will get the credit markets churning again. But will they do it this week, as some had hoped just a few days ago? Don’t count on it.
Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, says his office has gotten “close to zero” calls in support of the $700 billion plan proposed by the administration. He doubts it’ll happen immediately either. “I don’t think it has to be a week” he says. “If we do it right, then we need to take as long as it needs.”
“The secretary and the administration need to know that what they have sent to us is not acceptable,” says Committee Chairman Chris Dodd, D-Conn. The committee’s top Republican, Alabama Sen. Richard Shelby, says he’s concerned about its cost and whether it will even work.
In fact, some of the most basic details, including the $700 billion figure Treasury would use to buy up bad debt, are fuzzy.
“It’s not based on any particular data point,” a Treasury spokeswoman told Forbes.com Tuesday. “We just wanted to choose a really large number.”
What!
I was inclined on 1st hearing to give Paulson and Bernanke the benefit of a doubt. The longer I reflect, the more time I spend investigating, evaluating, I think this is a bill with no real benefit to working people.
Speaking to friends in banking IT, those working in solvent banks accustomed to living by the rules – they said the credit “squeeze” lasted about 24 hours. Fact is, they can proceed on the assets they have. Which is what they’re supposed to be able to do.
BTW, I went to congress.org to express my opposition to the bailout – and that number is running at 91%…
Thanks, Justin
