Dear Prime Minister Harper: Bar Bush or prosecute him for torture Rabble
Dear Prime Minister and Ministers Nicholson, Van Loan, Kenney and Cannon; Bar George W. Bush from entering Canada or prosecute him for torture. George W. Bush, former President of the United States of America (U.S.) and Commander in Chief of the Armed Force, is reported to be coming to Toronto Ontario on May 29, 2009. We write to advise you of your duty to immediately take all necessary steps to prevent George W. Bush from entering Canada, in accordance with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), s. 35 (1) (a). If George W. Bush enters Canada we demand that he be arrested, as being inadmissible under the IRPA and as a person suspected of torture, and then either prosecuted in Canada for torture or extradited to another country that is willing and able to prosecute as required by the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Article 7 (CAT)… We look forward to receiving a timely response to our formal requests for action by the Prime Minister, Minister of Immigration, Attorney General of Canada, Minister of Public Safety and by the Canadian Border Services Agency: actions required by Canadian and by international law. Sincerely, Gail Davidson, Lawyers Against the War [Comment: Maybe we can conduct a P.O.W. exchange. Bush for Omar Khadr? ]

‘Sexting’ no worse than spin-the bottle: professor Montreal Gazette
Youths exchanging nude photos of themselves over cellphones, known as “sexting,” should not face child pornography charges, as some have in the United States, a humanities conference heard Tuesday. Peter Cumming, an associate professor at York University in Toronto, presented a paper on children’s sexuality at the 78th Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences defending the practice as a modern variation on “playing doctor or spin-the-bottle.” “Technology does change things, and there can be very serious consequences” Cumming said. [Comment: also see: Sexting just teens exploring their sexuality, child-culture expert says http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Sexting+just+teens+exploring+their+sexuality+child+culture+expert+says/1633268/story.html]

“Sexting” Could Land You in Jail MSNBC
…the Illinois State Senate has unanimously voted to pass a bill that would make “sexting” illegal.

Showdown in NSA Wiretap Case: Judge Threatens Sanctions Against Justice Department Wired
The Obama administration has until Friday to convince a federal judge not to levy sanctions against the government for “failing to obey the court’s orders” in a key NSA wiretapping lawsuit. U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker is threatening (.pdf) to summarily decide the 3-year-old lawsuit in favor of the plaintiffs, and award unspecified monetary damages to two American lawyers who claim their telephone calls were illegally intercepted by the NSA under the Bush administration. The lawyer represented a now-defunct Saudi charity that the Treasury Department claimed was linked to terrorism. If it survived appeal, such a ruling would be a blow to the government, but it would fall far short of deciding the important question the case asks: Can a sitting president, without congressional authority, create a spying program to eavesdrop on Americans’ electronic communications without warrants, as George W. Bush did in the aftermath of the 2001 terror attacks? This month the Obama administration refused to comply with Walker’s order. The government is “refusing to cooperate with the court’s orders because, they assert, plaintiffs’ attorneys do not ‘need to know’ the information that the court has determined they do need to know,” Walker wrote Friday.

Obama’s Supreme Court Pick Schooled in Cyberlaw Wired
If elevated to the U.S. Supreme Court, Judge Sonia Sotomayor would become the first justice to join the court with a history of precedent-setting rulings on cyberlaw issues, legal experts say. On Tuesday, President Barack Obama nominated Sotomayor, a judge in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, to the replace the retiring Justice David Souter. The former private IP lawyer’s cyberlaw decisions ranged from copyrights in a digitized world to warrantless computer searches, so-called click-wrap agreements and the Patriot Act. [Comment: For more on Sonia Sotomayor refer to: http://www.betanews.com/article/Sonia-Sotomayor-and-technology-What-we-know-so-far/1243389135 and http://www.scotusblog.com/wp/judge-sotomayors-appellate-opinions-in-civil-cases/]

High-speed Internet could be coming to rural N.B. Canadian Press
The New Brunswick government is helping high-speed Internet provider Barrett Xplore Inc. to expand and potentially create up to 200 jobs. The province is providing a $10-million loan guarantee, primarily as working capital for construction of New Brunswick’s rural high-speed Internet network, creating up to 100 direct jobs… The project is scheduled to be complete by July 2010.

No, You Don’t Get To Sue Facebook Because Your Account Got Hacked TechDirt
A guy in Florida has apparently sued Facebook because his account got hacked and started sending out links to a virus. He’s claiming that the site failed to protect its users, and he’s upset that, even though he got his account back, he lost his photos and had to re-add his friends. He’s only asking for $70.50 ($0.30 for every friend he had to re-add), which got a bit of a joking response from Facebook:…

Yahoo Image Search: Now With Creative Commons ReadWriteWeb
Yahoo Image Search got a nice update today that allows users to filter search results by Creative Commons (CC) license. For now, this search only includes CC-licensed images from Flickr, Yahoo’s own photo sharing service.

Time Warner To Decide On AOL Spinoff At Thursday Board Meeting (It’s A Done Deal, Supposedly) TechCrunch
Last month Time Warner announced that it would likely spin off its AOL assets into a new company, followed by an IPO (10Q SEC filing is here). Little detail was given about the transaction, other than the fact that Google’s 5% stake in AOL would be repurchased. But exactly when the transaction would occur, and what assets it would include, were left unstated. New CEO Tim Armstrong will lead the independent company. Sources close to AOL tell us that the board of directors will make a final decision on the AOL spinoff at a board meeting this Thursday, May 28, possibly undoing the $147 billion 2001 merger of the two companies. Sources characterize the decision as “a done deal.” The big question is whether AOL’s dial up access business will remain with AOL.

Iran’s Facebook access restored BBC
Iran has restored access to Facebook, the social networking site which had been blocked since Saturday. Media close to reformists had suggested the site was suspended to prevent its use by backers of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi. On Monday President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sidestepped questions about whether the authorities had ordered the blocking ahead of the 12 June election. He said officials had no need to shut down any sites.

SMS and Internet campaigns controversial in Iran election Reuters
“If you plan not to vote, just think about June 13 when you hear Ahmadinejad has been re-elected.” Young, urban mobile phone users in Iran are being bombarded with this and similar text messages in run-up to the poll on June 12 when hardline President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad will seek a second term. Emails and blogs are also playing a big part for the first time in a country more used hearing political messages blared through loudspeakers on small trucks, seeing gaudy posters and being herded to campaign rallies. The government, whose support base centres on the rural poor, is sending its own texts and emails lauding Ahmadinejad’s achievements, but is also showing signs of concern.

Facebook gets US$200 million from Russian investor CTV
Facebook is getting a US$200 million investment from a Russian Internet investor that values the social networking company at US$10 billion even though it has yet to turn a profit. The investment gives Digital Sky Technologies a nearly 2 per cent stake in Palo Alto, Calif.-based Facebook’s preferred stock. Digital Sky won’t get a board seat.

ICO tells cops to behave on CCTV – ‘Businesses are being forced into gathering information’ The Register
The Information Commissioner’s Office is poised to tell the Home Office to rein in police demands that pubs and clubs install CCTV cameras as a pre-condition of their licences. The issue came up back in February when it emerged that the Metropolitan Police were pressuring a pub in Islington to install cameras in order to guarantee their co-operation in a licence request. …A club in south London was told by police that: “all persons entering the premises must supply verifiable identification details that are passed through a digital scanning and recording system such as Club Scan, Idvista or similar computerised system”. A fetish night held at the venue did manage to get the club to agree to delete visitors’ details after 31 days. Deputy Information Commissioner David Smith told The Telegraph that he would send a formal submission to the Home Office calling for tighter rules on CCTV and other ID scanners being used to collect innocent people’s fingerprints and pictures. …”The question is whether we are going too far and is this surveillance at a level that is unacceptable that doesn’t justify the benefits. Pubs and clubs should not become information gathering sources for police.”

Hackintosh maker files for bankruptcy Channel Register
Macintosh clone vendor Psystar has filed for bankruptcy protection in Florida, effectively stalling its legal battle with Apple while the company tries to resuscitate its coffers.

Bloke builds a hackintosh The Inquirer

A bloke has built a PC that will run Apple’s OSX but he claims it does not break the Jobs’ Mobs’ draconian terms and conditions. Thom Holwerda over at OSNews has built his ‘Apple’ for just 200 Euro. It runs OSX Leopard and Apple sends it updates just as if it were the real Apple kit. The trick has been to use a bit of open source software called “boot-132″. This uses a modified Darwin kernel to bootstrap a regular, unaltered Mac OSX Leopard retail disk. It does not break Apple’s protection measures and is therefore legal under the DMCA. Holwerda says that the terms and conditions say that the hardware has to have an Apple badge. It does not say that it has to be a legitimate Apple badge or even a trademarked one. He stuck an Apple on top of the machine. [Comment: heh, see: http://www.osnews.com/story/21564/Building_a_Hackintosh_Apple_Can_t_Sue_You_ Lets see how long it takes before a ceist and desist comes from Apple]

Twitter Says It Won’t Be Free Forever Fox
Twitter Inc.’s co-founders say the rapidly growing online communications company will eventually charge fees for its services, but it’s unclear which ones and what will drive revenue. Williams and Twitter co-founder Biz Stone mentioned possible revenue-generators, including a service that would authenticate the source of information. For example, Dunkin’ Donuts could pay to make sure that impostors don’t send messages under its name.

Nintendo DS takes literary aim at Amazon Kindle and Sony Reader Buzz Newsroom
Turn your Nintendo DS into a pocket-sized library with 100 timeless novels from some of the greatest writers in history. Enjoy the exciting escapades of the swashbuckling Long John Silver in “Treasure Island”, marvel at the redoubtable skills of the most famous detective of all time in “the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes”, or run the course of true love with Elizabeth Bennet in “Pride and Prejudice” – the choice is yours!

Cyber security is the new arms race Canadian Press
Public Security Minister Peter Van Loan says cyber security is the new arms race. The minister says attacks on computer systems are the new big threat and Canada and the United States are working to defend against them. [Also see: http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090527/vanloan_napolitano_/20090527?hub=TopStories]

Obama to release cyber security report on Friday CanWest
President Barack Obama is to release the results of a 60-day review of U.S. cyber security policy on Friday. No single U.S. agency is currently charged with ensuring government cyber security and lawmakers have called for creating a powerful national cyber security adviser reporting directly to the president.

Hong Kong provides free recharging and internet access Passenger Terminal Today
Free power recharging and internet access stations at Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA) will provide passengers with an even more convenient travelling experience in Hong Kong. The new Power Pole facility offers broadband at download speeds up to 21Mbps plus a recharging service.

Streaming rates cut to lure back YouTube, Pandora The Register
Online services have welcomed a new rate schedule that will cut the cost of music streams in the UK. The PRS yesterday cut the cost of royalties owed for streaming a song from 0.22p to 0.085p. The headline rate rises to from 8 per cent to 10.5 per cent of revenue, supposing the company has any. The PRS rate includes mechanical copyright royalty – because a stream is considered a copy. Payments to the performer or label take the overall rate to about a penny, he said. Pandora closed down UK streams early last year, while Google’s YouTube went nuclear, and yanked its music videos in March. The rates take effect on July 1 and don’t apply to simulcasts, subscription services or download stores. Neither Pandora nor Google have yet commented on the move.

Court denies exclusive cable rights in apartments Daily Mail
A U.S. federal appeals court says cable companies cannot have exclusive rights to provide service in apartment buildings that they wire. The decision yesterday from the Court of Appeals in Washington upholds a FCC ruling that banned the exclusive agreements as anticompetitive.

[One] Slumdog child star gets new home BBC
Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle and the trust he set up have bought a new home for one of the child stars of his Oscar-winning movie. Boyle, who has been criticised for not helping the child actors enough, blamed the press for raising expectations. [Comment: ah]

Marc – p2pnet

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May, 2009