This latest hyprocrisy from the government makes it crystal clear why the people should have the power to remote detonate politicians who lie, accept special interest money, or break any of the over 35 million laws on the books, including of course any copyright laws.
To take it a step farther, what we really need is a 24/7 âoeGovCamâ to be permanently mounted on every elected official so we can tune in and see what the hell they are up to.
Itâ(TM)s a network show thatâ(TM)s guaranteed to make The Sopranos dull and drab to be sure. And then some brave media company can put together a website where there is a Survivor-like online game and the losing politicians are exploded out of office.
Starting with Orrin Hatch, of course. Live by remote detonation, die by remote detonation.
The irony of this new Swedish law has got me laughing at the sheer folly of modern life. Our era seems to have been 'gifted' with a pandemic of corruption in our culture and moral fabric.
Consider the fact that VDSL is just rolling out in Sweden and that it is quite affordable. Imagine 26 mbits/sec for $40 euros a month. In fact, it's a much better deal than almost anywhere else. Especially Greece, where broadband will run you approximately 850 times as much.
Now what can someone legally do with that bandwidth under the new law? You guessed it. They can watch government-okayed programming channels and view government-okayed content. These are the websites that will have gone through some sort of copyright review and approval process.
With these new laws, the powers that be will have successfully turned the European internet into something resembling interactive television. The existing media lords are of course quite happy with the new laws as their sphere of control has been strengthened. And the existing governments are of course quite happy with the new laws as it gives them even more control over their respective populaces.
It's hard to say how the Swedish populace and the rest of Europe will react to these new laws. Most likely nothing significant will happen beyond a few protests. But as someone pointed out, sooner or later the government will put one too many chains of laws and taxes on the people and the people will start to exhibit some very interesting non-linear behaviors. As history has taught us, there is only one way to take liberties back from an oppressive government.
However, for the time being, we do know one thing for sure. Sweden's rank ranking on the "most corrupt governments list" is going to take a hit. And it's about time -- Sweden is the only country on record for filing criminal charges against a news company for second guessing URL's.
I think there is also a mindshift that has to happen with Blogs. Many people view them as their own private rant space. However, almost all of them are public on the Internet, open and available to all, including search engines. This is the equivalent of posting your private rant in millions of places all over the world. And obviously if you posted something incorrect and negative about someone or something, they would want the ability to reply to that, seeing as you effectively made your opinion known to potentially millions of people. The same as if someone posted something horrible about you. Maybe all your friends decide to shun you because of it. Maybe all your customers decide to stop buying from your company because of it.
'Right of reply' is far better than what is in place today which is the "nuke" approach -- get a court order and kill the entire website, often by going to the ISP and not the website operator.
Yes, going to 'right-of-reply' is a major shift, I admit. The immediate fall out will be substantive as we don't know in advance "how much" feedback/right-of-reply is appropriate. However, I think the direction that society ends up with 'right of reply' is a better direction than 'i'll say whatever shit i want and you don't get to say anything'. And especially outside of the personal Blog space, the effect on news reporting has the potential to be a very large positive.
The move to 'right of reply' by the Council of Europe is a godsend for objective news and fair reporting. And this is good for all people who read information on the web and use it in their daily lives.
In America, where there is no 'right of reply' almost all the mainstream websites contain false information. Imagine if there was a way to put more objective facts in the news instead of the politico-spin that Americans are force fed?
Many blogs contain absolutely incorrect information about companies, happenings in the world, other people, etc. And where there is just 'one side', there is no dialogue, no conversation. And when someone can see an entire conversation, it makes the subject more clear and understandable than just seeing one side.
Let's say your ex-girlfriend puts some poisonous stuff about you in her blog. Which just happens to be read by your mutual friends. Wouldn't you like to reply? Wouldn't you want to tell it like it is?
The 'right of reply' makes people think twice about slandering other people. It makes people consider what they are going to say as they could easily be shown to be liars, manipulators, etc.
The caveat is that for 'right of reply' to work for ordinary people, more liberal 'freedom of information' acts must be passed. Governments and corporations will have to open up their records so that objective facts can be accessed.
And it is very difficult to tell what will happen here. In America, Bush has rolled back the Freedom of Information movement by 20 years at least. Of course, Bush is in the position of greatest danger of running into problems as his administration has little basis on objective facts. So the chances of 'right of reply' happening in the US are slim to none, at least with the current administration.
Overall, this is a great move by Europe. Perhaps they will even start getting tough on the US vis-a-vis privacy laws instead of giving the US more and more extensions and loopholes. Provided there are liberal freedom of information laws to back it up, 'right of reply' will help build human communities that are far more human than what we have today.
This is a great moment for Brazil and for humanity's fight against ignorance and hunger. By moving to free software, all of Brazil can participate in working together to build Brazil's future. There is now a path that can be walked by all whereas with the insane prices of Microsoft software, very few get to participate and even then not on their own terms.
Robert Oppenheimer was a strong believer in universal access to knowledge as it is the only thing that prevents our humanity from being lost in a vast flood of specialized and closed technology:
"The open society, the unrestricted access to knowledge, the unplanned and uninhibited association of men for its furtherance - these are what may make a vast, complex, ever growing, ever changing, ever more specialized and expert technological world, nevertheless a world of human community."
-- J. Robert Oppenheimer
And Paulo Freire, one of the 20th century's most influential educators, born in Brazil, held prisoner in Brazil, exiled from Brazil, would have loved to see this moment. Finally a way for so many more Brazilians to act on their own behalf.
"Freire's life and work as an educator is optimistic in spite of poverty, imprisonment, and exile. He is a world leader in the struggle for the liberation of the poorest of the poor: the marginalized classes who constitute the "cultures of silence" in many lands. On a planet where more than half the people go hungry every day because nations are incapable of feeding all their citizens, where we cannot yet agree that every human being has a right to eat and to be housed, Paulo Freire toils to help men and women overcome their sense of powerlessness to act in their own behalf."
One need only compare Freire's "the teacher" and Microsoft to understand the level of oppression that occurs in closed source monopoly price software environments:
"This solution is not (nor can it be) found in the banking concept. On the contrary, banking education maintains and even stimulates the contradiction through the following attitudes and practices, which mirror oppressive society as a whole:
(a) the teacher teaches and the students are taught;
(b) the teacher knows everything and the students know nothing;
(c) the teacher thinks and the students are thought about;
(d) the teacher talks and the students listen--meekly;
(e) the teacher disciplines and the students are disciplined;
(f) the teacher chooses and enforces his choice, and the students comply;
(g) the teacher acts and the students have the illusion of acting through the action of the teacher;
(h) the teacher chooses the program content, and the students (who were not consulted) adapt to it;
(i) the teacher confuses the authority of knowledge with his own professional authority, which he sets in opposition to the freedom of the students;
(j) the teacher is the Subject of the learning process, while the pupils are mere objects.
It is not surprising that the banking concept of education regards men as adaptable, manageable beings. The more students work at storing the deposits entrusted them, the less they develop the critical consciousness which would result from their intervention in the world as transformers of that world. The more completely they accept the passive role imposed on them, the more they tend simply to adapt to the world as it is and to the fragmented view of reality deposited in them.
The capability of banking education to minimize or annul the students' creative power and to stimulate their credulity serves the interests of the oppressors, who care neither to have the world revealed nor to see it transformed. The oppressors use their "humanitarianism" to preserve a profitable situation. Thus they react almost instinctively against a
-- the Sierra Club and other environment groups for sending out mass environmental disaster alerts. Look at all the emails that have gone out because Bush is gutting the Clean Water Act, for instance.
http://www.commondreams.org/news2003/0609-04.htm
-- all the government reform groups sending out mass communication to potential supporters
-- all other political activism groups
We know who won't be investigated using these 'secret powers'... the merchandisers who under the new Internet Tax Law are contributing sales tax to the government.
If you value the rights that were wrested from government, please don't be naive and give those rights back to the government. Once given back, they are gone forever, until taken back by force.
And OS X 10.3 is going to contain Apple's DRM layer.
And Microsoft mac:OfficeX 2.0 is going to contain Microsoft's DRM.
Linux and FreeBSD and a few others are going to be the only non-DRM operating systems.
And they won't be able to run on the new PC's after Intel gets done putting EFI BIOS on all the new machines. And of course Intel's new CPU's won't run unless there is EFI BIOS.
The powers that be are more than willing to lose 1% of the PC market (Linux) in order to use DRM to control 99% of the market.
It only gets worse from this point on.
justice for an ethically flawed product?
on
Buy a Segway... Please
·
· Score: 1, Insightful
it will be good riddance if segway goes away.
while people all over the world rely on the bicycle to get around -- and get some exercise -- only a greedy and fat US company would dare offer a $5000 no-exercise pod mobile.
you can also think of a segway as a little coal power plant. the power electricity we use, the more pollution. or if you don't like coal, how about a nuclear power plant? it certainly doesn't run on solar power.
segway's leverage of the corrupt government markets is another part of this company's devious business plan. by making industrial models that sell for far more than the standard $5000 model and then getting the public to pay for them.
maybe the many millions of dollars that went into segway and all the hype could have used to build more bikepaths and walkways?
all in all, a segway is nothing but a expensive toy that meets no actual societal needs. it is antoher remnant of the dotcom era meeting its just demise.
Telcos have done better. DoCoMo has a perfectly good working micro-payment system in Japan.
The banking and credit companies have no incentive to create a micropayment system. These sorts of companies are making billions in profits using a high-payment fee model and only stand to invalidate or undermine their high profit system.
So it is up to companies that have working billing systems and are used to billing for minute things to come up with something compelling for micropayments. These companies have most of the infrastructure needed already in place.
A giant RSA super-crypto machine is not the answer to micropayments. However, it is a good vehicle for setting up a lifestyle company with someone else's money.
Pretty Good Payments sounds far better than some big black box at a RSA-like security company that hands out cash prizes to lottery winners based on some unknown set of algorithms.
I noticed the Peppercoin site did have any overt mention of a robust privacy policy... something that micropayments must include for people to actually trust it.
One can argue that RSA set back security for normal people by many years. Phil Zimmermann changed this with the open source PGP. Peppercoin sounds like the RSA of micropayments.
I find it rather hard to believe that the science editors found any evidence that their journals were being used by terrorists to craft bio-terror weapons.
In all the caves we searched in Afghanistan, I don't remember any mention of science journals. Nor did any of the spy satellite pictures that Powell presented to the United Nations have any scientific journals in them. What a 'smoking gun' that would be, the latest 'Nature' sitting next to a cave toilet.
However, there is one nation that is planning on using bio-terror weapons.
And that is the United States:
"While American forces invading Iraq face the threat of chemical attack, they could themselves be using biochemical agents which are banned under international law."
Anyone that can see past the spin of ABC News sees that the US government is controlling information because it is trying to corner the market on bio-terror, disabling legitimate use of new science by other nations, much less terrorists.
In this modern world, it is weakening the system of checks and balances that has kept us away from World War III for 50+ years. The French feel that if this war with Iraq goes forward, it will lead to 100 years of new wartime. Only the United States and Israel seem to want this.
In the meantime, I would urge all scientists to speak in their communities and make it be known they will not stand for censorship. If science goes down that road, scientists will not be safe, science will not be safe, and the world will not be safe.
Slashdot Mirror
To take it a step farther, what we really need is a 24/7 âoeGovCamâ to be permanently mounted on every elected official so we can tune in and see what the hell they are up to.
Itâ(TM)s a network show thatâ(TM)s guaranteed to make The Sopranos dull and drab to be sure. And then some brave media company can put together a website where there is a Survivor-like online game and the losing politicians are exploded out of office.
Starting with Orrin Hatch, of course. Live by remote detonation, die by remote detonation.
Consider the fact that VDSL is just rolling out in Sweden and that it is quite affordable. Imagine 26 mbits/sec for $40 euros a month. In fact, it's a much better deal than almost anywhere else. Especially Greece, where broadband will run you approximately 850 times as much.
Now what can someone legally do with that bandwidth under the new law? You guessed it. They can watch government-okayed programming channels and view government-okayed content. These are the websites that will have gone through some sort of copyright review and approval process.
With these new laws, the powers that be will have successfully turned the European internet into something resembling interactive television. The existing media lords are of course quite happy with the new laws as their sphere of control has been strengthened. And the existing governments are of course quite happy with the new laws as it gives them even more control over their respective populaces.
It's hard to say how the Swedish populace and the rest of Europe will react to these new laws. Most likely nothing significant will happen beyond a few protests. But as someone pointed out, sooner or later the government will put one too many chains of laws and taxes on the people and the people will start to exhibit some very interesting non-linear behaviors. As history has taught us, there is only one way to take liberties back from an oppressive government.
However, for the time being, we do know one thing for sure. Sweden's rank ranking on the "most corrupt governments list" is going to take a hit. And it's about time -- Sweden is the only country on record for filing criminal charges against a news company for second guessing URL's.
I think there is also a mindshift that has to happen with Blogs. Many people view them as their own private rant space. However, almost all of them are public on the Internet, open and available to all, including search engines. This is the equivalent of posting your private rant in millions of places all over the world. And obviously if you posted something incorrect and negative about someone or something, they would want the ability to reply to that, seeing as you effectively made your opinion known to potentially millions of people. The same as if someone posted something horrible about you. Maybe all your friends decide to shun you because of it. Maybe all your customers decide to stop buying from your company because of it.
'Right of reply' is far better than what is in place today which is the "nuke" approach -- get a court order and kill the entire website, often by going to the ISP and not the website operator.
Yes, going to 'right-of-reply' is a major shift, I admit. The immediate fall out will be substantive as we don't know in advance "how much" feedback/right-of-reply is appropriate. However, I think the direction that society ends up with 'right of reply' is a better direction than 'i'll say whatever shit i want and you don't get to say anything'. And especially outside of the personal Blog space, the effect on news reporting has the potential to be a very large positive.
The move to 'right of reply' by the Council of Europe is a godsend for objective news and fair reporting. And this is good for all people who read information on the web and use it in their daily lives. In America, where there is no 'right of reply' almost all the mainstream websites contain false information. Imagine if there was a way to put more objective facts in the news instead of the politico-spin that Americans are force fed? Many blogs contain absolutely incorrect information about companies, happenings in the world, other people, etc. And where there is just 'one side', there is no dialogue, no conversation. And when someone can see an entire conversation, it makes the subject more clear and understandable than just seeing one side. Let's say your ex-girlfriend puts some poisonous stuff about you in her blog. Which just happens to be read by your mutual friends. Wouldn't you like to reply? Wouldn't you want to tell it like it is? The 'right of reply' makes people think twice about slandering other people. It makes people consider what they are going to say as they could easily be shown to be liars, manipulators, etc. The caveat is that for 'right of reply' to work for ordinary people, more liberal 'freedom of information' acts must be passed. Governments and corporations will have to open up their records so that objective facts can be accessed. And it is very difficult to tell what will happen here. In America, Bush has rolled back the Freedom of Information movement by 20 years at least. Of course, Bush is in the position of greatest danger of running into problems as his administration has little basis on objective facts. So the chances of 'right of reply' happening in the US are slim to none, at least with the current administration. Overall, this is a great move by Europe. Perhaps they will even start getting tough on the US vis-a-vis privacy laws instead of giving the US more and more extensions and loopholes. Provided there are liberal freedom of information laws to back it up, 'right of reply' will help build human communities that are far more human than what we have today.
Robert Oppenheimer was a strong believer in universal access to knowledge as it is the only thing that prevents our humanity from being lost in a vast flood of specialized and closed technology:
And Paulo Freire, one of the 20th century's most influential educators, born in Brazil, held prisoner in Brazil, exiled from Brazil, would have loved to see this moment. Finally a way for so many more Brazilians to act on their own behalf.
People You Should Know : Freire
One need only compare Freire's "the teacher" and Microsoft to understand the level of oppression that occurs in closed source monopoly price software environments:
mirror, mirror on the wall
who is watching who
are you watching me
or am i watching you
and the fact that the product is geared towards hotels is all too obvious.
one more step towards 1984.
The definition of 'spam' is up to the government.
m
So who will actually be investigated for 'spam'?
-- the Sierra Club and other environment groups for sending out mass environmental disaster alerts. Look at all the emails that have gone out because Bush is gutting the Clean Water Act, for instance.
http://www.commondreams.org/news2003/0609-04.ht
-- all the government reform groups sending out mass communication to potential supporters
-- all other political activism groups
We know who won't be investigated using these 'secret powers'... the merchandisers who under the new Internet Tax Law are contributing sales tax to the government.
If you value the rights that were wrested from government, please don't be naive and give those rights back to the government. Once given back, they are gone forever, until taken back by force.
And Microsoft mac:OfficeX 2.0 is going to contain Microsoft's DRM.
Linux and FreeBSD and a few others are going to be the only non-DRM operating systems.
And they won't be able to run on the new PC's after Intel gets done putting EFI BIOS on all the new machines. And of course Intel's new CPU's won't run unless there is EFI BIOS.
The powers that be are more than willing to lose 1% of the PC market (Linux) in order to use DRM to control 99% of the market.
It only gets worse from this point on.
while people all over the world rely on the bicycle to get around -- and get some exercise -- only a greedy and fat US company would dare offer a $5000 no-exercise pod mobile.
you can also think of a segway as a little coal power plant. the power electricity we use, the more pollution. or if you don't like coal, how about a nuclear power plant? it certainly doesn't run on solar power.
segway's leverage of the corrupt government markets is another part of this company's devious business plan. by making industrial models that sell for far more than the standard $5000 model and then getting the public to pay for them.
maybe the many millions of dollars that went into segway and all the hype could have used to build more bikepaths and walkways?
all in all, a segway is nothing but a expensive toy that meets no actual societal needs. it is antoher remnant of the dotcom era meeting its just demise.
Telcos have done better. DoCoMo has a perfectly good working micro-payment system in Japan.
The banking and credit companies have no incentive to create a micropayment system. These sorts of companies are making billions in profits using a high-payment fee model and only stand to invalidate or undermine their high profit system.
So it is up to companies that have working billing systems and are used to billing for minute things to come up with something compelling for micropayments. These companies have most of the infrastructure needed already in place.
A giant RSA super-crypto machine is not the answer to micropayments. However, it is a good vehicle for setting up a lifestyle company with someone else's money.
I noticed the Peppercoin site did have any overt mention of a robust privacy policy... something that micropayments must include for people to actually trust it.
One can argue that RSA set back security for normal people by many years. Phil Zimmermann changed this with the open source PGP. Peppercoin sounds like the RSA of micropayments.
So I'm going to wait for Pretty Good Payments.
In all the caves we searched in Afghanistan, I don't remember any mention of science journals. Nor did any of the spy satellite pictures that Powell presented to the United Nations have any scientific journals in them. What a 'smoking gun' that would be, the latest 'Nature' sitting next to a cave toilet.
However, there is one nation that is planning on using bio-terror weapons.
And that is the United States:
"While American forces invading Iraq face the threat of chemical attack, they could themselves be using biochemical agents which are banned under international law."
US plans to use illegal weapons
Anyone that can see past the spin of ABC News sees that the US government is controlling information because it is trying to corner the market on bio-terror, disabling legitimate use of new science by other nations, much less terrorists.
In this modern world, it is weakening the system of checks and balances that has kept us away from World War III for 50+ years. The French feel that if this war with Iraq goes forward, it will lead to 100 years of new wartime. Only the United States and Israel seem to want this.
In the meantime, I would urge all scientists to speak in their communities and make it be known they will not stand for censorship. If science goes down that road, scientists will not be safe, science will not be safe, and the world will not be safe.