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Spanish Court Orders Google To Delete App Used For Catalan Independence Vote (reuters.com)
From a report: Catalonia's High Court on Friday ordered Google to delete an application that it said Catalan separatists were using to spread information about a disputed independence vote this Sunday. The court said the "On Votar 1-Oct" application on the Google Play smartphone app store opposed an order in September from Spain's Constitutional Court to suspend the referendum while it determined its legality. The court also ordered Google to block any future applications developed by the gmail address "Onvotar1oct@gmail.com', according to a written ruling. Nobody at Google in Spain was immediately available to comment.
Gotta love how Spain is celebrating Franco's 125th BDay.
. . . the Spanish Inquisition!
Their main weapons are fear, surprise, and a Catalonia's High Court order for Google to delete an application!
Yes, "High" Court, indeed.
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
By "decentralize", do you mean like what has happened with git, where nearly all git users have centralized on GitHub because it's damn near impractical to use decentralized systems?
And what the fuck would stop a government from requesting that the blockchain client app be removed from app stores, or otherwise deeming such an application illegal to use? Nothing! Nothing at all!
"Blockchain" is a lot like the Rust programming language. It sounds so great to the dumb, but anyone with even just an ounce of intelligence sees right through the bullshit.
Why an app? Just make a web site.
Absolutely. We need core information infrastructure that is extraterritorial (distributed around the planet, fully encrypted) and the providers of such infrastructure need to not be trying to make money by staying friendly with all the governments of the world. Google would be in a conflict of interest here. We need to avoid this kind og situation by changing the architecture to route around this kind of censorship.
Where are we going and why are we in a handbasket?
Then it seem we just need thousands of small servers, each of which back up random subsets of each others data, and performs a small amount of search queries.
Vintage computer adverts: http://www.vintageadbrowser.com/computers-and-software-ads
One of the unavoidable pitfalls of being a global company is that you have to follow the laws of each and every country you do business in. In the end, you have to follow the most restrictive rules in order to avoid sanctions in any part of the globe.
Once Google gave into one countries demands (say like China), they no longer have a leg to stand on when the next country comes along with it's demands. Just the latest round for Google and just the next round for other global tech companies like Facebook and Twitter who now face EU sanctions.
Github is an amazing example of an insidious centralization of the decentralized.
Consider: Does your employer use GitHub? Do you know what would happen to your ability to work for them if your account got flagged (perhaps by an automated system) for breaching the Terms of Service? Would you have difficulty if you needed to submit a pull request or issue for open source software? What would happen on your next job interview when someone asked to see your code on GitHub?
Namely, that whenever news comes out of Europe about anything tech-internet, it almost always is about court actions, fines, and the like. Hardly ever does something appear about a European startup, or how such-and-such out of Europe is transforming an industry, or how the Europeans are taking over something. I saw article this morning about a French company that was apparently pretty good at machine vision...and how Apple was buying them.
For anyone else who may have been confused by the wording in "(the app) opposed an order in September from Spain's Constitutional Court to suspend the referendum while it determined its legality," the legality in question is in regards to the referendum, not the app. The fight over the app is just an extension over the fight in Spain over whether Catalonia is legally allowed to have a referendum for a vote of independence from Spain.
You mean the monsters that thwart censorship and destroy government's delusion that they can dictate what people may read, write and ponder?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
A big splash screen for Spain reading
Dear Spain,
Google services have to be suspended due to the Catalan vote for independence. Please check in again on (voteday+1), the day after it's held.
Yours,
Google
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Am I the only one that thinks the timing of part of Spain wanting to break away and become a (tiny little) independent country is rather.. susupicious?
Yes, you're probably the only one. The movement for Catalonia's independence isn't something new. It's been going on for three centuries. There has always been a certain proportion of the Catalan population who wanted independence from Spain, but in the last 10 years the Spanish government has been restricting our autonomy, attempting to take over our institutions and instigating a wave of hate against Catalans and Catalonia in order to gain votes in the rest of Spain.
This is what has fueled the pro-independence sentiment in so many of us. Russia has nothing to do with it.
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Well, Obama provided him with a spectacular template.
At least one Spanish newspaper claimed a few days ago that this was happening. But as to the timing, this has been brewing for a few years. I think it's better explained by a comment I saw yesterday (and I wish I could remember where to credit it properly) that as a universal rule of thumb, nationalisms get a big popularity boost in times of economic difficulty.
...and I was on the fence about secession, this shit would make me 100% for it.
-jcr
The only title of honor that a tyrant can grant is "Enemy of the State."
Legal problems like this aren't solved by technology; the Catalans could conceivably vote however they want but it won't matter one bit if the courts ignore the result.
If God forks the Universe every time you roll a die, he'd better have a damned good memory.
My understanding is that three centuries ago the movement was for the restoration of the furs. I would characterise that goal as a return to federalism rather than a bid for independence. Is that a disagreement in interpretation or were there two separate movements with different goals?
No the monster that allows any government to control what people read, write and think and not just the government that controls the land they live on.
Shareaza is the centralized app for decentralized networks, oddly enough.
Then: War The more you tighten your grip the more control slips through your fingers.
So...are you a good corporate citizen, or a corporate tool?
Are you about freedom and open expression? Or are you going to toe the line when it might cost you some of your $billion$?
-Styopa
It is. Grow up.
Yes, it's just you and your sick mind.
No, so far has not been a proof of Russian _influence_ in the US election, no proof that Russians broke into DNC server or podesta's email account, and no proof that Russians leaked anything to wikileaks. All we have is a bunch of allegations by highly politicized heads of our dear three letter agencies. Funny how CIA/NSA/etc were caught red handed doing nasty shit like a million times, and how they were always the least trusted US agencies, but as soon as they make statements specially designed to sink the Trump administration, every leftie in the USA is now cherishing our always trusted and honest "intelligence community" which never illegally spied on Americans, never tortured anyone, and never provided false evidence for the Iraq war. Please, what a joke.
Do me a favor, next time there is big stink in your bedroom, look under the bed and see if there is a Russian troll or Putin himself hiding there!
Don't trust the MSM.
You're wrong. I'm Catalan and grew up in Barcelona. Most of my family and friends live there.
There has never been a wave of hate against the rest of Spain in Catalonia. There's discontent now about the current government of Spain because of the many cases of blatant corruption, but that's a thing in all Spain, not just Catalonia. On the other side, there has always been a certain amount of aggression against Catalans coming from the rest of Spain. This became worse when in 2006 the current government of Spain instigated a campaign of disinformation and hate against Catalans with the objective of taking away the Estatut (a set of laws giving Catalonia a certain amount of autonomy). They used this campaign to gain more votes from other regions in Spain.
Children in Catalonia learn both Spanish and Catalan at school. This has always been the same. We grow up speaking both languages natively because both are official languages in all Catalonia. Spanish has never been restricted in Catalan schools, but the Catalan language has: it was prohibited during Franco's regime, and the current government (formed by ex-members or relatives of the dictator's circle) is trying hard to restrict its usage again.
I don't know where you're getting your information from. Probably from the state-owned media, because you're just parroting back all the propaganda coming from Madrid.
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You’re wrong again.
The 2006 Estatut where the Catalan Government tried a power grab of such length as to pave the ground to later claim independence defining Catalonia as a nation? Which was obviously was ruled Unconstitutional.
Bullshit. This Estatut was approved by the previous government of Spain, and later ruled unconstitutional by the current ruling party. The funny thing is, the same provisions that were ruled unconstitutional for Catalonia are allowed for granted Basque Country, Spain’s other autonomous region.
Alright, The children of Catalonia can only study in Spanish in 34 private schools
Public education is bilingual in both Spanish and Catalan because both are official. If you want Spanish-only education then sure, go to one of those private schools.
Oh yes, I forget that if there are someone whom keeps the +40 years dead dictator alive and well are the nationalist. What make those supposed ex-members now, 80?
Rajoy is 62. Sáez de Santamaría is 47, I think. The chief of national police is 53. All of them are family of members of Franco’s regime. The whole PP political party was AP before (Alianza Popular), the Patty created by Fraga Iribarne, one of Franco’s ministers. Just to mention a few.
You’ve been watching too much right-wing propaganda. Stop spreading their bullshit.
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Keep fucking the Franco chicken, AC.
For those of you who are challenged by URL de-obfuscators: Yes, that's a goatse link.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
Don't you worry--you'll get that pesky moose and squirrel some day, I'm sure.
Hugs to Natasha,
Z.
Il n'y a pas de Planet B.
You're seeing TEH ROOSHINS under your bed, boy. Here, with zero evidence, pure conjecture, nothing but confirmation bias in play, a person finds it must have been TEH ROOSHINS despite the existence of Catalan separatism for centuries. I used to think intelligent people couldn't be duped by such obvious canards, but the last 10 months of mass media attention proves you really can implant ideas in people's heads. The dolchstoss-legende planted by Podesta the day after the election has taken root and borne fruit. It's here to stay.
Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
There are plenty of regions in Europe that sooner or later will separate from their current country and become independent, hopefully staying in the E.U.
Catalonia, Basque, probably Mallorca (under catalan reign, but they hate that even more than the catalonians hate the rest of spain, because Catalonia forbids teaching of the native language in Mallorca, but insists they can teach their own native language in Catalonia).
Probably Bavaria, most likely Scottland.
Belgium might split into two, but a recent referendum voted for staying together.
Brittany might seperate from France, probably Alsace or Loraine, too. But that is much more unlikely like separations going on in Spain and Italy.
Keep in mind, the Spain, a typical foreigner sees, does not exist. Spain is a patchwork Kingdom with minimum 5 distinct languages and 5 dialects that are so far of from Castilian Spanish that they can be considerd their own languahe, too.
Over the course of the next 50 years I expect a shift in balance from countries power into two directions: more power to the EU, and more power to the regions, at cost of the countries power.
Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
Imagine how ape-shit US citizens would be, if California was engaging in an Independence vote right now?
... to a very extreme extent.
Just to mention one recent example: There's an online translator that dwarfs the likes of Google's or Microsoft's translators made by a relatively small German company - and even though EU press covered this comprehensively, a site like Slashdot did not even mention this.
Oh for fuck's sake. Putin is having his people do whatever they can to destabilize NATO and the U.S. and any other country that would stand in the way of him building a new Russian empire because he misses the days of the USSR and the KGB, and I'm far from the only person who sees these things going on. How can you be so goddamned blind?
Judicial tyranny is one of the great problems of our age. The very idea of "fair", "impartial" courts is a utopian fantasy with no basis is historical reality.