BIG BROTHER in the age of INTERNET # (Ongoing - Links, Articles & Videos)

5 Major Reasons The NSA Can’t Be Trusted to Run U.S. Cybersecurity Programs
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
EFF

This week, the Senate will be voting on a slew of amendments to the newest version of the Senate’s cybersecurity bill. Senators John McCain and Kay Bailey Hutchison have proposed several amendments that would hand the reins of our nation’s cybersecurity systems to the National Security Agency (NSA). All of the cybersecurity bills that have been proposed would provide avenues for companies to collect sensitive information on users and pass that data to the government. Trying to strike the balance between individual privacy and facilitating communication about threats is a challenge, but one thing is certain: the NSA has proven it can’t be trusted with that responsibility. The NSA's dark history of repeated privacy violations, flouting of domestic law, and resistance to transparency makes it clear that the nation's cybersecurity should not be in its hands.

In case you need a refresher, here’s an overview of why handing cybersecurity to the NSA would be a terrible idea:

CONTINUE: [link to www.activistpost.com]

BIG BROTHER CYBER POLICE: internet CONTROL debate INTERNET SECURITY govt DIRTY TACTICS

[link to youtu.be]

Predicting crime online and offline

[link to youtu.be]
The future of surveillance in the EU & Brazil's internet bill of rights.

Hiya Roxy,

I'm somewhat disturbed that this video's display screen altered from one of the women speaking to the display of controversial issues. What kind of message is that sending us? It's okay to look for ourselves, but sharing it with others puts a different slant on things?

If things continue being altered indiscriminately on the internet, I'll just go back to relaxing in my old years and reading novels. I don't wish to be caught up in false set ups and intrigue. I'm just a simple country grandmother that wants to be informed and hear others opinions.

Google's Opaque New Policy Lets Rightsholders Dictate Search Results
Saturday, August 11, 2012


Earlier this summer, we applauded Google for releasing detailed stats about content removal requests from copyright holders. Now that we know how they are going to use that data, we are less enthusiastic. Today, Google announced that it would use copyright takedown notices made under the DMCA1 as what it calls a "signal” on search results. Specifically, those "signals" will demote certain websites in search results.

We wish we had some more details to illustrate just what that means, but unfortunately the process is pretty opaque. What we know: sites that have a “high number of removal notices” of takedown notices that result in actual takedowns will show up lower in some search results, though they will not be removed. What we don’t know: what is a “high number”? How does Google plan to make these determinations? Oh, and one other thing we do know, one that is particularly troubling: there will be no process or recourse for sites who have been demoted.

CONTINUE: [link to www.activistpost.com]

Information Control in the Digital Age: The Journey From Internet Piracy to Full Spectrum Tyranny
Joe Wright
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Activist Post

The online community has clearly stated its opposition to all government attempts doing the bidding of mega entertainment corporations, despite a massive lobbying effort by the industry. The economic concerns stated by organizations such as RIAA that have resulted in a massive number of lawsuits have also been called into question as entirely fallacious (infographic).

An extremely well-done short history of this journey that Internet controllers have embarked upon - first through anti-piracy legislation, and now cybersecurity - can be seen in a 25-minute video from AlJazeera's 'Fault Lines' posted below.

As this video reveals, both forms of oppression have very little to with the stated protections which they claim to offer, and much more to do with a concern over the free-flow of information itself.

CONTINUE: [link to www.activistpost.com]

Three years later, deleting your photos on Facebook now actually works - After years of photo hoarding, Facebook now deletes user photos within 30 days.
by Jacqui Cheng
Aug 16 2012

It has been more than three years since Ars first started covering Facebook's inability to remove "deleted" photos from its servers, but this particular saga appears to be coming to an end. The company told Ars that its new photo storage systems are in place and are now deleting photos within a reasonable period of time, which we were able to independently confirm.

But this doesn't mean Facebook's privacy problems are gone. There are plenty of other issues that Facebook users have run into in recent years. As the company moves forward into its new role as a public entity, those issues will have to be addressed if Facebook wants to remain on top.

How we got here

CONTINUE: [link to arstechnica.com]

Facebook court ruling: What you share on Facebook is admissible as evidence
By Tecca
Thu, Aug 16, 2012

Did you know that what you say on Facebook can be used against you in a court of law? If you're sharing something with your friends, you may as well be sharing directly with the judge and jury: A recent ruling in a U.S. federal court says that if you post something on Facebook, your friend can share that information with the police — it's not a violation of your privacy.

CONTINUE: [link to news.yahoo.com]

TrapWire tied to anti-Occupy Internet-spy program
22 August, 2012,

How do you make matters worse for an elusive intelligence company that has been forced to scramble for explanations about their ownership of an intricate, widespread surveillance program? Just ask Cubic, whose troubles only begin with TrapWire.

Days after the international intelligence gathering surveillance system called TrapWire was unraveled by RT, an ongoing investigation into any and all entities with ties to the technology has unturned an ever-increasing toll of creepy truths. In only the latest installment of the quickly snowballing TrapWire saga, a company that shares several of the same board members as the secret spy system has been linked to a program called Tartan, which aims to track down alleged anarchists by specifically singling out Occupy Wall Street protesters and the publically funded media — all with the aid of federal agents.

CONTINUE: [link to rt.com]

Feds Expand Domain Seizures to Mobile-App Pirate Sites
by David Kravets
08.22.12

The U.S. government for the first time has seized internet domains of online sites accused of selling pirated mobile applications, in this instance, Android apps.

Seizing domains is nothing new under the President Barack Obama administration. Usually, however, sites are shuttered for offering gambling, hawking counterfeit goods, or providing links to or streaming unauthorized movies and sporting events, or selling unauthorized copies of software. The government has seized more than 750 domains in the past two years under a program called “Operation in Our Sites.” (.pdf)

The domains seized, announced late Tuesday, include applanet.net, appbucket.net and snappzmarket.com. The servers of the targeted were largely hosted overseas, the authorities said. No arrests were announced.

The U.S. government has been seizing .com, .org. and .net domains with court approval, under the same civil seizure law the government invokes to seize brick-and-mortar drug houses, bank accounts and other property tied to illegal activity.

CONTINUE: [link to www.wired.com]

TPP - Worse Than ACTA?
The Trans-Pacific Partnership is the son of ACTA, a secretive copyright and trade treaty being negotiated by the Pacific Rim nations, including the USA and Canada. As with ACTA, the secretive negotiation process means that the treaty's provisions represent an extremist corporate agenda where due process, privacy and free expression are tossed out the window in favor of streamlined copyright enforcement.

Destroying Internet Freedom by Taxation
James Hall, Contributor
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Activist Post

Government taxation is as old as the first brute using force to steal from those intimidated by threats. So why should it be any different for the Internet? In today’s political environment of choosing winners and losers, the rush to tax online sales is gathering steam. Everyone feels the presence of the Amazon behemoth. Retail outlets like Best Buy are rethinking their business model in order to compete. States are eager to tap the flow of transactions with a sales tax that would cost consumers dearly. The issue of "so called" fairness is the argument that bureaucrats love to hang their hats on. So who makes the valid case for exemption or inclusion?

CONTINUE: [link to www.activistpost.com]

Smartworld - Identity Ecosystem
Julie Beal, Contributor
Saturday, September 1, 2012
Activist Post

Tsze-lu said, "The ruler of Wei has been waiting for you, in order with you to administer the government. What will you consider the first thing to be done?”
The Master replied, “What is necessary is to rectify names.”
- Confucius, Analects XIII, 3, tr. Legge


Part One: IDENTITY CRISIS - I am not a dog
Cybersecurity has become the dominant concern for geeks and elites around the world, as governments and corporations attempt to exert control over the Internet to protect their interests. News is hot with updates on the TPP and the like, but there is little coverage of the push to control identity.

For many years, the anonymity afforded by the Internet has prompted discussions about the problem of not knowing who exactly you’re interacting with online, i.e. how can you tell it’s a real person, and not a dog? More to the point, how do you know who to trust?

Most of the technical aspects to resolving this issue have been successfully tried and tested for many years now, as those with the most to lose have implemented Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems which offer secure solutions for digital transactions. This has created a powerful industry, especially for military applications; in fact, the market for IAM is expected to grow to $12.3 billion by 2014, from just $2.6 billion in 2006.

CONTINUE: [link to www.activistpost.com]

The Exponential Power of Internet Information (Infographic)
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Activist Post

The fact that the Internet is a revolutionary tool of communication is indisputable, which is underscored by the fact that the establishment is spending an inordinate amount of effort to control the free flow of information. Everything from piracy to cybersecurity threats are being rolled out to stack the deck against the free market of ideas that is the wrecking ball to the New World Order.

The infographic below puts the exponential power of this information into perspective. We rightly should be skeptical of the idea that social media has actually started physical revolutions, such as those we saw within the "Arab Spring," as there are other geopolitical maneuverings to consider (and we must know the true origins of the Otpor fist of "people power").

However, the central point of the graphic is spot-on. Knowledge is power, and if all information is revealed to the greatest number of people, then widespread freedom is guaranteed to be the result, as the truth will always prevail.

However, rather than become more responsive to the concerns of the public, as Mark Zuckerberg says in the graphic's citation, governments headed by globalist controllers are profoundly irritated by the need to respond at all.

CONTINUE: [link to www.activistpost.com]

Smartworld - Identity Ecosystem - Part 2: Identity Profiling
Julie Beal, Contributor
Sunday, September 2, 2012
Activist Post

Even as the corporate giants position themselves for control of our identities, the minute details of our lives are already being scrutinised and analysed and completely and utterly bastardised. They can never truly know who we are, for we are forever changing, and self-understanding is a lifelong process.

Inside knowledge has always been sought by the power-hungry; it’s an age-old thing. Knowledge is power. So our profiles are built, and updated, and said to constitute who or what we are. Our personal data is used to feed super-brain computers in an attempt to control and enslave and profit from us.

They think they have our identities. But what can they do with what they’ve got? Well, we all know that companies are collecting information about our habits, and selling it to advertisers. This data forms a rude sketch of our identity (I am more than my ID profile!), as it is often erroneous and, above all, incomplete. However, surveillance techniques are becoming more and more sophisticated and widespread, as are the methods being employed to analyse and share the data being compiled. These techniques constitute the profiling of our identities on a global scale: by government and law enforcement, businesses, and academics.

Data-mining
Every time you go on the Internet you are creating a trail of data – crumbs of personal information which combine to become highly valuable. Each crumb is worth about two-fifths of a cent, and is collected and sold to advertisers. Information can be gathered in a number of ways; for instance, cookies which can track your every move as you click through webpages, and apps that can look at your contact list and even your location.

CONTINUE: [link to www.activistpost.com]

Smartworld: Identity Profiling With Radio Frequency
Julie Beal, Contributor
Monday, September 3, 2012
Activist Post

RFID, or radio frequency identification (also known as near field communication, or NFC) is used for wireless communication between devices, one of which is a transmitter and the other is a receiver. This involves the use of low frequency radio waves passing between the devices; it is in widespread use, although the impact on health is rarely alluded to. RFID is being used for a multitude of applications involving sensing and communication of information, especially ID verification using smart cards/phones, miniscule sensors known as smart dust, bodily implants, and product tracking.

There are already many well-established ID Management companies who are also using or advocating RFID and biometrics. These companies are heavily involved in the emerging global identity ecosystem (eg, the NSTIC program, the work of the ITU, and the European initiatives, including STORK), and include Accenture, IBM, Verisign/Symantec and Oracle. The industry has grown significantly and the trend looks set to continue – especially considering the heavy investment by leading corporations like Google, IBM, and Microsoft.

CONTINUE: [link to www.activistpost.com]

ACLU: TPP is the ‘biggest threat to free speech and intellectual property that you’ve never heard of’
Madison Ruppert, Contributor
Sunday, September 9, 2012
Activist Post

The highly secretive Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations are coming under increased fire from both government officials like Senator Ron Wyden and civil liberties organizations like the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

More information on the somewhat mysterious TPP negotiations emerged recently in a Congressional Research Service (CRS) report published by the Federation of American Scientists which can be read here.

In a recent blog post, Sandra Fulton of the ACLU’s Washington Legislative Office went as far as to call the TPP the “biggest threat to free speech and intellectual property that you’ve never heard of,” which is likely not all that much of an exaggeration.

Others have characterized the TPP as “SOPA on steroids,” referring to the Stop Online Piracy Act which was abandoned thanks to a great deal of public activism. However, it became quite clear that SOPA would not be the end of these efforts.

CONTINUE: [link to www.activistpost.com]

Copyright Trolls Censor Internet Content with False Claims of Infringement
Susanne Posel, Contributor
Saturday, September 8, 2012
Activist Post

The battle over free speech on the Internet has been uphill for those who are victimized by the US government and professional trolls.

The entertainment industry, namely the RIAA and MPAA have been at the frontlines, claiming copyright infringement as they have employed Internet providers as spies to look for potential violators.

As cited by the Electronic Frontier Foundation, SOPA and PIPA came together to create the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA) which “effectively creates a ‘cybersecurity’ exemption to all existing laws”.

This big brother legislation would have given the power to the corporations to allege copyright infringement which would empower them to spy on users online activity, personal data, ISPs, search engines, social networks, text messages, phone calls, emails and all other digital correspondence.

CONTINUE: [link to www.activistpost.com]

Recent Attack on GoDaddy is False Flag Justifying Need for Cybersecurity EO
Susanne Posel, Contributor
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Activist Post

Earlier this week, the CIA-sponsored hacker group called Anonymous claimed responsibility for the taking down of hosting provider GoDaddy and several websites hosted by this corporation. This nameless, faceless group took down the Domain Name System (DNS) while a currently undetermined number of customers were affected.

Some of the websites taken down belonged to towns, cities, private businesses, and real estate agencies. The branch of the fake-hacker group calling themselves AnonymousOwn3r, claimed the attack, yet did not disclose their motive other than stating that this was a test of GoDaddy’s security systems.

AnonymousOwn3r said he is the “security leader of #Anonymous.” He goes on to say in an earlier tweet that he was “behind many things such like irc, ops, attacks [sic].”

Customers of GoDaddy have reacted with anger. On a blog, there is a call for a class-action lawsuit against the hosting company for monetary loss due to the hacker’s success.

CONTINUE: [link to www.activistpost.com]

Police Learn Propaganda Tactics at Internet Conference
Joe Wright
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Activist Post

The exponential power of the Internet, and particularly the overwhelming force of social media, already has earned the attention of governments around the world. When Hillary Clinton declared that the U.S. was not telling its story correctly to the rest of the world -- alluding to the Cold War when the U.S. gov't properly did so, according to her -- she was signaling for a ramp up in propaganda domestically and abroad.

The sixth annual Social Media, the Internet and Law Enforcement (SMILE) conference at the Omni Hotel in Richmond Virginia made the dissemination of propaganda a focal point. Being connected online puts police on the streets of the virtual world, which offers an opportunity to engage in news management. As stated by Police Chief Rick Clark: "You can't afford not to."

However, beyond merely walking a virtual beat and engaging their fellow citizens when called upon, emphasis was also placed on tactics for monitoring discussions for criminal activity through social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

CONTINUE: [link to www.activistpost.com]

E-Mail Privacy Reform Vote Postponed Until After Elections
By David Kravets
09.20.12

A Senate committee on Thursday delayed until after the November elections whether to approve sweeping digital privacy protections requiring the government, for the first time, to get a probable-cause warrant to obtain e-mail and other content stored in the cloud.

The move by the Senate Judiciary Committee to table considering the first meaningful rewrite of the 1986 Electronic Communications Privacy Act comes as law enforcement urged the committee to evaluate how crime fighting would be impacted under what would be the biggest advance to digital privacy following the act’s original adoption during the President Ronald Reagan administration.

Lawmakers are expected to recess at week’s end until after the elections.
“Any effort to revise ECPA should involve detailed and careful consideration of the consequences of proposed changes on the ability of law enforcement investigators to conduct their work efficiently and effectively on behalf of American citizens,” the six different police groups wrote (.pdf) the committee. They include the National District Attorneys’ Association, National Narcotic Officers’ Associations’ Coalition, National Sheriffs’ Association, the Major County Sheriffs’ Association, Major Cities Chiefs of Police Association and Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies.

The package the Judiciary Committee was considering sending to the Senate floor Thursday nullifies a provision of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act that allows the government to acquire a suspect’s e-mail or other stored content from an internet service provider without showing probable cause that a crime was committed — as long as the content has been stored on a third-party server for 180 days or more. Currently, the government only needs to show, often via an administrative subpoena, that it has “reasonable grounds to believe” the information would be useful in an investigation.

CONTINUE: [link to www.wired.com]

Simulated Cybersecurity Threats That Pave the Way for Internet Restrictions
Susanne Posel, Contributor
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Activist Post

Janet Napolitano, Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, spoke to the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee meeting this week and confirmed that the Obama administration is circumventing Congress and drafting an “inter-agency process” which is “close to completion depending on a few issues that need to be resolved at the highest levels.”

John Brennan, assistant to the President for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism and chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation has planted the concept that a cybersecurity executive order will give the Obama administration power over the future of the internet in ways the passage of legislation would never be able to provide. In a letter to Senator Jay Rockefeller, Brennan said that Obama is “exploring issuing an executive order to direct federal agencies to secure the nation’s critical infrastructure by working with the private sector to develop security standards.”

CONTINUE: [link to www.activistpost.com]

Facebook reveals users’ personal messages on public timeline
By Arturo Garcia
Monday, September 24, 2012

Facebook users in America and France reported seeing their private messages posted publicly Monday as part of the Timeline feature, making them visible to anyone.

CONTINUE: [link to www.rawstory.com]

1#Privacy A Postmortem (Part 1)




1#Privacy A Postmortem (Part 2)



Last Edited by RoXY on 09/26/2012 11:24 AM

Australian Government Now Spies on Its Citizens More than the US Government Does
Andrew Puhanic, Contributor
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Activist Post

The Australian Government has now been labelled as the most intrusive government in the Western world.

It has been revealed that on a per-capita basis, the Australian government spies on its citizens more than any other Western government.

In 2010-2011, more than 3,400 Australians had been spied on by more than 17 government law enforcement agencies. This includes state and federal police agencies, the Australian Tax Office (ATO) and Medicare.

The shocking truth is that these government agencies can access telephone and Internet data records without a warrant from a judge.

CONTINUE: [link to www.activistpost.com]

YouTube Removes Undercover Video Showing Whole Foods GMO Misinformation
Anthony Gucciardi
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
Activist Post

Youtube has pulled an undercover ‘Organic Spies’ video questioning Whole Foods employees as to whether or not any of the products within Whole Foods contained GMO ingredients. Created to show how even the employees themselves are misinformed (or even dishonest) about the very real presence of Monsanto’s GMOs in a store like Whole Foods that is supposed to promote health and wellness, the Organic Spies video received over 100,000 views in a few short days.

CONTINUE: [link to www.activistpost.com]

Smart Meters: How the Government Monitors Your Every Move
Susanne Posel, Contributor
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Activist Post

Smart meters have been approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) who says their risks are minimal. However, many customers blame them for causing health problems and house fires. These devices are responsible for two-way communication with utilities corporations and government; helping them spy on their customers.

Researchers in Germany have concluded that when privacy implications were analyzed, they proved that customers were being surveilled by their utility company with encrypted data to determine whether or not the customers were home.

They are marketed as a way to save energy on monthly bills as well as reduce carbon emissions. Jim Marston, vice president of energy for the Environmental Defense Fund, maintains that “if done right, smart meters allow us to eliminate waste from the system. It’s not unlike the revolution in telephones. These are things that allow you to know when you are gone and to turn off all your lights. Or to allow your appliances to turn on only when renewable power is available, or for utilities to figure out where outages are.”

CONTINUE: [link to www.activistpost.com]

Giving money and power to government is like giving whiskey and car keys to teenage boys.
- P.J. O'Rourke, Civil Libertarian