p2pnet World Headlines: Jan 19, 2011
Senator who opposes antipiracy bill under pressure? CNet News
Supporters of an antipiracy bill introduced into the Senate last year appear ready to put some pressure on one of the legislation’s chief opponents. Sen. Ron Wyden, a Democrat from Oregon, was instrumental in blocking the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) late last year. COICA was introduced by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, and passed in that committee unanimously. But it was derailed when Wyden opposed it. Individual senators can place holds on pending legislation. Since the legislation was introduced very late in the prior congressional session, Wyden’s opposition forced supporters to wait until Congress reconvened. Now that Congress is back to work, Leahy has said he will again try to get COICA passed. The bill already has the backing of the major Hollywood film studios and record labels, but a mostly new group of supporters sent a letter today to U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, praising him for past antipiracy efforts and asking for his support in getting COICA passed.
Augmented reality ads on the rise around Europe Deutsche Welle
A growing number of European startups have taken to creating virtual experiences that double as commercials. But as this sector is rapidly expanding, challenges remain. On Tuesday, the American pop band Black Eyed Peas released a new ad campaign to help promote the band’s latest hit single: “The Time (Dirty Bit).” In their recent music video, lead singer will.i.am points a Blackberry PlayBook at a billboard showing a videogame version of himself, and out pops a 3D hologram of the character who proceeds to monkey around the skyscraper. What was a special effect in the music video became an iPhone app, which allows users to mimic this augmented reality experience. “Technology has finally caught up with our imaginations,” wrote will.i.am on the band’s website last year, when the song debuted. “[Our album] is symbolic of adopting these new technologies, such as augmented reality.”
Yahoo IPv6 upgrade could shut out 1 million Internet users Network World
Yahoo is forging ahead with a move to IPv6 on its main Web site by year-end despite worries that up to 1 million Internet users may be unable to access it initially. Yahoo’s massive engineering effort to support IPv6 — the long-anticipated upgrade to the Internet’s main communications protocol — could at first shut out potential www.yahoo.com users due to what the company and others call “IPv6 brokenness.”
New secret UFO Wikileaks cable revealed All News Web
A source from within the inner circle of the Wikileaks team has confidentially leaked to All News Web the content of a State Dept cable, concerning UFO affairs, that Wikileaks has declined to upload onto their website. The cable states: “It is critical all embassy staff understand that they are not to discuss under any circumstance concerns DOD has with UFOs entering orbit, once again the seriousness of this matter cannot be overstated”. The cable was sent on 9 November, 2005 by the State Dept to a diplomat connected to the US embassy in Kiev, Ukraine. As it implies, the State Dept was concerned with diplomats with loose tongues chatting about UFOs at cocktail parties and conceding that the US does allocate resources to the matter. Due to the fact that UFO and alien affairs fall within the absolute highest level of secrecy and security clearance it is hardly surprising that Julian Assange has chosen, as a safety measure, not to reveal such information.
MEPs urge Lithuanian parliament to reject anti-gay law EU Parliament
The European Parliament called on the Lithuanian parliament on Wednesday to reject a draft law that would punish the “public promotion of homosexual relations”. It added that minors should be able to access information about homosexuality freely and asked the European Commission to present a plan to combat homophobia. Wednesday’s resolution, put forward by the S&D, ALDE, Greens/EFA and GUE/GNL groups, was triggered by “a series of worrying events”, according to MEPs. These include the adoption of a Law on the Protection of Minors against the Detrimental Effects of Public Information, an attempted ban by local authorities on holding equality and gay pride marches and the use by leading politicians of inflammatory or threatening language and hate speech. The immediate issue is a draft law that would amend the Code of Administrative Offences to punish the “public promotion of homosexual relations” with a fine of between €580 and €2900. This could potentially criminalise almost any public expression or portrayal of, or information about, homosexuality, according to a report by the EU Fundamental Rights Agency presented to MEPs on 30 November.
Family plans legal action in teen’s falling death Boston Globe
The family of a teenager who authorities said hid in the wheel well of an airplane in North Carolina before falling from the sky over Milton has hired a Florida law firm to pursue legal claims in his death, the firm said yesterday. The battered body of Delvonte Tisdale, 16, was found in a quiet subdivision in Milton in November. Milton police initially suggested that Tisdale was murdered, but former Norfolk district attorney William R. Keating said last month that Tisdale stowed away on a USAirways flight in Charlotte. The law firm representing the family believes lax security is to blame. ‘The evidence in this case makes it quite clear which party is at fault, and the family has every intention of pursuing legal action of the highest order,’ attorney Christopher Chestnut said in a statement.
Calif. town considers shaming DUI offenders on Facebook
Huntington Beach city council members are considering a unique way to fight back against drunk driving: posting the photos of repeat offenders to the police department’s Facebook page. The idea is actually a scaled-back version of one proposed in November by Councilman Devin Dwyer, who originally wanted the photos of every DUI offender posted.
MPs shocked by youth tied to wall in mental health institution Dutch News
MPs are to hold an emergency debate into the case of an 18-year-old mentally handicapped youth who has been tied to the wall in his room at an institution in Ermelo for the past three years. Film of the youth, known as Brandon, was shown on tv current affairs show Uitgesproken on Tuesday night. His mother claims he has not been outside for three years. According to the Telegraaf, the boy’s room is empty and basic and he is attached to the wall by a 1.5 metre belt. The institution, ‘s Heeren Loo, issued a statement saying Brandon has ‘unusually complicated problems’, which involve using ‘structural measures to limit movement’. There is no alternative, the clinic said.
January, 2011
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
World War III will be a global information war with no division between civilian & military participation ~ Marshall McLuhan
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January 19th, 2011 at 9:38 pm
AT&T wants “personal privacy” protections applied to businesses, just as they have long been granted to individuals.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/01/19/scotus.personal.corporations/index.html
At issue is whether corporate “personhood” extends to the Freedom of Information Act, which exempts the public release of government documents that invade personal privacy. The company wants material gathered by a federal agency during a consumer investigation to be kept secret.