Tag Archives: Intellectual Poverty

We need your help to keep working for European digital rights

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“We had a major success with our case against mass surveillance which led to an Advocate-General’s opinion that the Data Retention Directive is incompatible with the European Charter of Fundamental Rights – and we are confident that this will lead in a few months to a judgment from the European Court of Justice which will give greater privacy rights for all Europeans. In February we applied to be an ‘amicus curiae‘ in a case brought by record companies demanding internet blocking in Ireland. The judge gave a detailed decision. However, the upshot was that we did not succeed in our application. What’s more, costs were awarded against us.”

http://www.digitalrights.ie/support-us-in-2014/

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2013: The Year Defiance of the State Became Cool

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“Information freedom activist Aaron Swartz took his own life under threat of a brutal prison sentence. Revealer of inconvenient government secrets Bradley/Chelsea Manning actually ended up in prison. And surveillance whistleblower Edward Snowden went into exile in Russia to escape what promised to be a ‘fair’ trial followed by a first-class hanging. But tough consequences aren’t unusual for people who defy the state. What was different and encouraging was how many people rallied behind Swartz, Manning, Snowden, and other rebels, explicitly siding with them over the government, in opposition to the powers-that-be.”

http://reason.com/archives/2013/12/31/2013-the-year-defiance-of-the-state-beca/print

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Obama’s Phony Free Trade Treaty That He Won’t Let Congress See

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“The Obama Administration is seeking to restore ‘fast-track approval’ powers on this, which would allow an up-or-down vote on the whole TPP without discussion of its individual components.  As a final point in this introductory post, let me say this: The problem with these ‘free trade’ agreements is that some critics rely on centuries-old protectionist fallacies; they are afraid of ‘cheap imports.’ Anyone familiar with Bastiat understands why such worries are misplaced. However, those of us who believe in genuine free trade shouldn’t trust government officials when they title something a ‘free trade’ agreement. It doesn’t take years of backroom negotiations to reduce tariff rates.”

http://consultingbyrpm.com/blog/2013/12/introduction-to-the-tpp.html

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The case against Kim Dotcom, finally revealed

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“Much of the information is likely what was gleaned from the servers that were copied, searched, and ultimately seized by US law enforcement. But prosecutors have also convinced several heavy users of Megaupload, identified so far only by initials, to testify against Dotcom and his comrades about how they used the system.  The purpose of the massive evidence dump is to get Dotcom extradited from New Zealand, where he has been wrapped up in legal proceedings for the 23 months since his mansion was raided. The US hardly got the quick handover they wanted—not only is Dotcom out of jail, he’s free to do business. This year, he launched a new site simply called ‘Mega.'”

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/12/us-unveils-the-case-against-kim-dotcom-revealing-e-mails-and-financial-data/

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Dubious ‘bankster’ behind Russia’s bid to trademark Bitcoin

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“The chief of a bank that was shut down over money laundering has reportedly applied to register the trademark for the popular cryptocurrency bitcoin. If successful, Russia could become the first country to register the anonymous currency.  The company applied to trademark a bitcoin logo with a capital letter ‘B’ inside a circle and other Russian companies are reportedly interested in trade marks.  Sberbank, Russia’s largest bank, hasn’t ruled out launching an e-commerce system similar to bitcoin, which would be managed by Yandex.Money. Bank chief German Gref said the Yandex.Money payment system would help smooth online purchases, and would be safer than bitcoins.”

http://rt.com/business/russia-bitcoin-trademark-bulochnik-369/

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Rick Falkvinge’s 2013 List Of Stone Dead Industries

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“There is a number of industries today that are already obsolete, kept alive by sheer inertia or by political subsidies. Many politicians, in an attempt to ‘save jobs’, are foolishly taking resources from new, viable industries and giving to these obsolete ones. ‘Saving jobs’ in this context means that politicians are rejecting ways of producing the same level of output with a much more competitive and cost-efficient method, and is not to be applauded at all.”

http://falkvinge.net/2013/12/10/rick-falkvinges-list-of-stone-dead-industries-today/

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JPMorgan Chase Patents ‘Bitcoin-Killer’

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“Without mentioning Bitcoin or cryptocurrencies at all for that matter, Chase appears to be building a competing centralized network to Bitcoin.  The application defines the problems that legacy banking has with online transactions and then provides a detailed explanation how Chase will address these problems with this new technology.  The application states that Chase’s technology is a ‘new paradigm.’  Moreover that it permits the creation of ‘virtual cash’ (also referred to as ‘web cash’) with a ‘real-time digital exchange of value.’  Chase’s updated Internet Pay Anyone technology appears to come head to head with Bitcoin.”

http://letstalkbitcoin.com/jpmorgan-chase-building-bitcoin-killer/

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Think NSA Snooping Is Bad? Check Out MPAA Theater Security

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“Hollywood studios are urging theater operators to crack down on in-theater camcording with the deployment of night-vision goggles, low-light binoculars and security cameras.  The latest version of the Motion Picture Association of America’s ‘Best Practices to Prevent Film Theft‘ (.pdf) also suggests old-school surveillance, like ‘random bag and jacket checks for prohibited items’.  Camcording is a federal felony carrying a maximum 3 year penalty. The District of Columbia and 41 states also have their own laws against it. The MPAA guidance urges theater employees, who are eligible for $500 rewards, to call the police immediately if they think illegal filming is occurring.”

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2013/11/mpaa-theater-security/

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Obama Administration Uses Pirated Code on Healthcare.gov

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“The new Obamacare website Healthcare.gov has had its fair share of problems over the past weeks, and the trouble continues.  As it turns out, the Government website uses the open source softwareDataTables, which is a plug-in for the jQuery Javascript library. While using open-source software is fine, the makers of Healthcare.gov decided to blatantly remove all references to its owners or the original copyright license.  In other words, they simply took the open-source software and are passing it off as their own, a clear violation of the GPL v2 and BSD (3-point) licenses DataTables uses.”

http://torrentfreak.com/obama-administration-uses-pirated-code-on-healthcare-gov-131019/

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The FDA: A Pain From the Neck to the Big Toe

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“Colchicine can be used to treat gout, Behcet’s disease, pericarditis, and the Mediterranean fever. It has been in use as a medicine for over 3,000 years.  In the summer of 2009, the Food and Drug Administration approved Colcrys as a treatment for gout flare-ups and the Mediterranean fever. The FDA gave pharmaceutical company URL Pharma an exclusive marketing agreement for selling Colcrys in exchange for completing studies on Colcrys and paying the FDA a $45 million application fee.  This deal effectively created a patented drug with no generic alternative. URL Pharma immediately raised the price from less than a dime to nearly $5 dollars per pill.”

http://www.mises.org/daily/6567/The-FDA-A-Pain-From-the-Neck-to-the-Big-Toe

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