Category — freedom

Much to my surprise, many Europeans* seem blissfully unaware of the constant flow of illegal African immigrants that every month try to reach the coasts of the Canary Islands, southern Spain or Malta. In overcrowded crumbling rowboats, with heavily pregnant women and sometimes even children, they try to make it into the European Union, hoping to find better lives there.

Levels of illegal immigration to the Canary Islands alone dropped to 13,424 last year, down from a peak of nearly 32,000 in 2006. Authorities in southern European nations are still struggling however, to patrol for, care for, to process and repatriate this continuing flow of immigrants.

The Big Picture published yesterday a moving collection of pictures that illustrate the issue. For the Spaniards in my (teeny weeny) audience, these images are nothing new. For the rest of you, enjoy: African Immigration to Europe - The Big Picture

* I suspect most North Americans are unaware of this problem too. But they have their own southern border to worry about.

Researchers replicate Milgram’s experiment and get the same results as Milgram got 50 years ago. A good thing to remember in these days of peace-wishing and all-round goodness: most humans need only a little prodding to commit atrocities.

“People learning about Milgram's work often wonder whether results would be any different today,” said Burger, a professor at Santa Clara University. “Many point to the lessons of the Holocaust and argue that there is greater societal awareness of the dangers of blind obedience. But what I found is the same situational factors that affected obedience in Milgram's experiments still operate today.”

Stanley Milgram was an assistant professor at Yale University in 1961 when he conducted the first in a series of experiments in which subjects – thinking they were testing the effect of punishment on learning – administered what they believed were increasingly powerful electric shocks to another person in a separate room. An authority figure conducting the experiment prodded the first person, who was assigned the role of “teacher” to continue shocking the other person, who was playing the role of “learner.” In reality, both the authority figure and the learner were in on the real intent of the experiment, and the imposing-looking shock generator machine was a fake.

Milgram found that, after hearing the learner's first cries of pain at 150 volts, 82.5 percent of participants continued administering shocks; of those, 79 percent continued to the shock generator's end, at 450 volts. In Burger's replication, 70 percent of the participants had to be stopped as they continued past 150 volts – a difference that was not statistically significant.

via Replicating Milgram: Researcher finds most will administer shocks when prodded by ‘authority figure’

The real threat of evil, I think, lies in the temptations of “international governance” — say, a sinister multilateral government body called the World Information Center. Nice as it sounds, the reality is likely to be ridden with bureaucracy, susceptible to control by the worst of the world’s governments rather than its best ones, and incapable of innovation. Take, for example, ICANN, the body that sets policy for the Domain Name System. I was its founding chairman, and I don’t think anyone considers it a success. Its saving grace is that it is widely considered illegitimate and therefore has little power.

Esther Dyson in the Taipei Times

If you only have time for one essay this week, make it Bruce Sterling’s Last Viridian Note, his essay marking the death of the Viridian environmentalist design movement. It is so good I’ll be forced to post more than one excerpt from it.

Rather than "thinking globally and acting locally," as in the old futurist theme, I now live and think glocally. I once had a stable, settled life within a single city, state and nation. Nowadays, I divide my time between three different polities: the United States, the European Union and the Balkans. With various junkets elsewhere.

The 400-year-old Westphalian System doesn't approve of my lifestyle, although it's increasingly common, especially among people half my age. It's stressful to live glocally. Not that I myself feel stressed by this. As long as I've got broadband, I'm perfectly at ease with the fact that my position on the planet's surface is arbitrary. It's the nation-state system that is visibly stressed by these changes – it's freaking out over currency flows, migration through airports, offshoring, and similar phenomena.

I know that, by the cultural standards of the 20th century, my newfangled glocal lifestyle ought to bother me. I ought to feel deracinated, and I should suffer from culture shock, and I should stoically endure the mournful silence and exile of a writer torn from the kindly matrix of his national culture. A traditional story.

However, I've been at this life for years now; I really tried; the traditional regret is just not happening. Clearly the existence of the net has obliterated many former operational difficulties.

Furthermore, my sensibility no longer operates in that 20th-century framework. That's become an archaic way to feel, and I just can't get there from here.

Living on the entire planet at once is no longer a major challenge. It's got its practical drawbacks, but I'm much more perturbed about contemporary indignities such as airport terrorspaces, ATM surchanges and the open banditry of cellphone roaming. This is what's troublesome. The rest of it, I'm rather at ease about. Unless I'm physically restrained by some bureaucracy, I don't think I'm going to stop this glocally nomadic life. I live on the Earth. The Earth is a planet. This fact is okay. I am living in truth.

The Viridian Design Movement - The Last Viridian Note

Terrorists 1 - Open society 0:

More than half of town halls admit using anti-terror laws to spy on families suspected of putting their rubbish out on the wrong day.

Their tactics include putting secret cameras in tin cans, on lamp posts and even in the homes of 'friendly' residents.

The local authorities admitted that one of their main aims was to catch householders who put their bins out early.

The dustbin Stasi: Half of councils use anti-terror laws to watch people putting rubbish out on the wrong day | Mail Online

In any endeavor (software development, politics, philosophy, home economics, love, etc.) when we have momentarily spare resources we should spend them to sharpen our tools — our basis set — to be better prepared for the next challenge. There are better and worse ways to prepare but to select the better ones it takes forms of practice that yield skills, experience, and resources. It requires, in other words, an aesthetic judgement combined with skilled practice. So there is, by definition, a craft to it. A basis craft: the practice of being ready to improve things.

Basiscraft is the exercise of manufacturing future liberties.

Tom Lord - basiscraft.com

Tears came to him. He wept quietly, holding nothing back. He mourned mankind, and the blindness of men, who thought that the Kosmos had rules and limits that would shelter them from their own freedom. There were no shelters. There were no final purposes. Futility, and freedom, were Absolute.

Cory just posted over at Boing Boing the best brief description of DRM that I’ve read so far:

DRM — Digital Rights Management, or Digital Restrictions Management — is technology that prevents you from using some files by taking over part of your computer so that it won’t obey your requests. DRM is always proprietary. Before a DRM is released, it is infected with “Hook IP” — a patent or trade secret that is introduced to the technology so that the only way you can implement the DRM is by licensing the Hook IP. Anyone who licenses the Hook IP is forced to promise to make their DRM behave as intended, preventing uses and taking over computers and devices. Without Hook IP, a company could implement the DRM but leave out the restrictions, shipping products that allow all the uses their competitors’ products deny. Hook IP gives the DRM maker something to sue over if this happens.

More on DRM:

• Wikipedia article, with a more detailed description
• EFF’s site on DRM, including discussion, court cases, pointers to related issues, links, etc.
• Defective by Design, the FSF’s campaign against DRM. From their website: “There is no more important cause for electronic freedoms and privacy than the call for action to stop DRM from crippling our digital future.”

A couple of weeks ago I subscribed again to the RSS feed of El Pais, the biggest (and, supposedly, ‘best’) Spanish newspaper. Reading the headlines and some of their articles has become my daily dose of irritation with the so-called professional media. The articles are often misinformed, and at times show the utter ignorance of the authors and their unwillingness to do a little bit of basic research.

Take, for example, El Pais’ coverage of the OOXML vote.

The article’s headline is “Microsoft doesn’t give up in battle for OOXML”, and it is signed by Aitor Riveiro. The only external source referenced in said article is Héctor Sánchez, CEO of Microsoft Iberia. Mr Riveiro does not bother to mention which countries and organizations opposed the vote, and what are their reasons for voting ‘no’. Clearly Mr. Riveiro is of the opinion that it is of no interest to El Pais’ readers why countries like UK and Canada and France disapproved of the standard, or why the Spanish standards body, AENOR, decided to abstain.

Another El Pais article on the topic, linked in the sidebar of this first one, mentions in passing that Microsoft had “put pressure” on some countries. There is no mention of the accusations against Microsoft of trying to buy off its Swedish partners, or the uncanny correlation between corrupted countries and countries that voted in support of Microsoft’s proposal (not that I am suggesting that Ivory Coast and Trinidad and Tobago don’t have a stake in document standards, but you will agree that their sudden eagerness to participate in the ISO and approve OOXML is suprising).

Compare this coverage with an article on the same topic from the IHT: Microsoft’s bid for ‘open’ document format is unexpectedly rebuffed. This article quotes Microsoft’s manager for interoperability and standards, discusses Microsoft’s “agressive lobbying” that “reached into high levels of government”, gives hard numbers on the opposing/approving votes, and details on the upcoming final vote on the issue, which will take place in February.

:: sigh ::

International Herald Tribune: Are your jeans sagging? Go directly to jail:

Starting in Louisiana, an intensifying push by lawmakers has determined pants worn low enough to expose underwear poses a threat to the public, and they have enacted indecency ordinances to stop it.

Since June 11, sagging pants have been against the law in Delcambre, Louisiana, a town of 2,231 that is 80 miles southwest of Baton Rouge. The style carries a fine of as much as $500 or up to a six-month sentence. “We used to wear long hair, but I don’t think our trends were ever as bad as sagging,” said Mayor Carol Broussard.

In case you didn’t get it the first time, I’ll repeat that again:

… an intensifying push by lawmakers has determined pants worn low enough to expose underwear poses a threat to the public …

No comment.

It seems the Chinese government doesn’t like the content of this site, and blocks access to it from Chinese computers.

You can test your own URL at GreatFirewallOfChina.org.

(found via Kobayashi Maru)

danah boyd has a great post, Growing up in a culture of fear: from Columbine to banning of MySpace, where she shares some interesting thoughts (and experiences) about the difficulties of growing up over-protected. Here’s a snippet:

The wealthy kids in our society are so protected, pampered. When given an ounce of freedom, they go from one extreme to the other instead of having healthy exploratory developments. Many of the most unstable, neurotic and addicted humans i have met in this lifetime come from a position of privilege and protectionism. That cannot be good.

Now go read the whole thing.

Joi Ito writes that

At EuroOSCON, Microsoft announced new software licenses including some variations that may meet the Open Source Initiative (OSI) Open Source Definition.

The times they are a-changing, or what?

Catching up with my overdue feed-reading I come upon this pearl of modern patent-making:

Cereality has patents pending to give them an exclusive right to six business methods, including “displaying and mixing competitively branded food products” and adding “a third portion of liquid.” If these patents are approved by the U.S. Patent Office, Cereality would have a complete monopoly on cereal bar business–just for being the first to put together the legalese necessary to describe mixing breakfast cereal.

I wonder why we still haven’t seen anyone trying to patent burgers. Now that would be a profitable one!

(via Boing Boing: Putting-milk-in-cereal patent-application: kill business-method patents now!)

Economist.com has a nice analysis of the Grokster ruling. The article summarizes:

But this blow against internet piracy may not be the magic bullet that the industry hopes will end its malaise. A Pew survey suggests that the swapping of music and film files doesn%u2019t just happen over file-sharing networks. Some 19% of downloads, involving about 7m individuals, now happen through someone else’s iPod or MP3 player. Around 28% take place via email and instant messages. And quite apart from file-sharing, one in three CDs sold worldwide is pirated, according to the IFPI. Enforcement action to protect material under copyright has seen seizures of illegal CD-copying equipment double since 2003. Copyright theft through DVD piracy is equally worrying for the film industry, especially in countries like China, Indonesia and Mexico.

Furthermore, legal downloading could cannibalise industry profits as fans are given the ability to pick and choose favourite tracks rather than having to buy whole albums. Indeed, advocates of P2P file-sharing insist that the option to sample for nothing an artist%u2019s oeuvre could work in the record company%u2019s favour as music buyers discover new favourites whose material they will subsequently pay for. Ultimately, many critics of the music business claim that its problems stem from an inability to produce a product that consumers want to buy, and that most illegal downloaders will flatly refuse to pay for unappetisingly packaged songs and films that they previously got for free.

The US Supreme Court, despite recent progressive gestures such as the recent uncovering of Justice’s tit (which Ashcroft had had previously covered), ruled today that P2P network providers can be liable for illegal activities of their users. It is like ruling that the maker of a knife is guilty of any murder that is commited with that knife. But in the P2P case it is even worse, as it means that virtually anyone who provides a new technology can be liable for any illicit activities others might use it for.

The media is all over the ruling. Here go some quotes:

BBC NEWS - File-sharing suffers major defeat:

Michael McGuire, from analyst firm GartnerG2, said: “It’s something of a surprise. It will be interesting to see how record labels respond. It could be argued that these peer-to-peer services were the most efficient way to deliver rich media.”

The decision could also have an impact on any technology firm developing gadgets or devices that let people enjoy media on the move.

If strictly interpreted the ruling means that these hi-tech firms will have to try to predict the ways people can use these devices to pirate copyrighted media and install controls to stop this infringement.

The ruling could also prompt a re-drafting of copyright laws by the US Congress.

El Pa?ɬ?s - El supremo de EE UU dictamina que se puede responsabilizar del pirateo a las redes P2P:

La justicia norteamericana ha desestimado un fallo de un tribunal de apelaciones y considera que las redes P2P como Emule, Grokster o BitTorrent, pueden ser procesadas por violar los derechos de autor, independientemente de que estas mismas redes se puedan utilizar adem?ɬ�s para intercambiar todo tipo de archivos, legales o ilegales.

Wall Street Journal - High Court Sides With Studios in Grokster Case:

The Supreme Court ruled unanimously today that Grokster can be sued if consumers use its file-sharing software to illegally swap songs and movies while also deciding in favor of cable companies seeking to deny rivals access to broadband lines.

[...]

The justices reviewed an August ruling by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that file-sharing companies aren’t liable for copyright infringement that takes place within their networks. Three appellate judges found that file-sharing software has some legal uses, and the file-sharing companies can’t control whether consumers are using it for legal or illegal uses.

News Factor Network - Supreme Court Rules Against P2P Networks:

Monday’s ruling gives the entertainment industry another legal option to the more costly and less popular route of going directly after millions of online file-swappers believed to distribute songs and movies illegally.

It’s unclear how much the decision will actually deter the widespread problem of piracy since software programs created abroad won’t be subject to the tougher U.S. copyright laws. Still, analysts say the court’s stern rebuke should provide a boost to many file-sharing services that offer legal downloading for a fee.

Industry observers have said a ruling against Grokster could also prompt stiffer enforcement from European regulators, who were watching the case for guidance on tackling copyright questions in their countries.

Recording companies in the United States have already sued thousands of individual users; at least 600 of the cases were eventually settled for roughly $3,000 each.

New York Times - Court Rules File-Sharing Networks Can Be Held Liable for Illegal Use (free registration required):

But there was widespread concern that the court, which provided little in the way of describing what might qualify as behavior aimed at encouraging infringement, has opened up the door to prohibitive legal battles that just might stifle future innovations.

“The court has now given as precedent to the whole world of digital technology companies a very difficult road to follow,” said Richard Taranto, the lawyer who argued the case on behalf of Grokster and StreamCast before the Supreme Court.

“The immediate impact for the future of our case is not clear,” he said, but the impact on future technologies “is a chilling one.”

The Register - Supremes protect P2P technology, then punt:

Following the decision, CDT Staff Counsel David Sohn explained, “We never felt that Grokster and StreamCast were innocent parties that should get a free pass, but there’s a principle at stake here that’s much larger than the peer-to-peer issue. Since 1984, the rule has been that developers of technologies that have legal uses aren’t liable when users misuse those technologies to infringe copyright.”

“This decision offers a framework for the courts to distinguish bad actors from those who merely distribute innovative technologies,” he added.

As for what comes next, it is possible that the case will end up back before the Supremes, if the ambiguity of their current definitions of inducement should leave the forthcoming district court decision open to appeal. And it is all but certain that the entertainment industry will be lobbying Congress ruthlessly to outlaw P2P software outright, since the Supremes have declined to do so. We can expect new life for the Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act (Induce Act), but certainly not before the mid-term elections.

If you want even more coverage of the case, have a look at Google News.

From BBC News - Portugal youths in beach rampage:

Some 500 youths, mainly teenagers, have raided a popular beach near Lisbon spreading panic among beachgoers and mugging a large number of people.

[..]

Policemen in riot gear were confronted by gangs and struggled to restore calm, making four arrests.

The attackers are believed to come from some of the capital’s poorest suburbs.

“Small groups of youngsters aged 12 to 20 assembled and robbed en masse those they found on the beach,” a local cafe owner, Helder Gabriel, told AFP news agency.

I repeat: 500 youths raid a beach. Policemen in riot gear arrest 4.

Oh my.

I wonder what is going to be next? I’m guessing that 500 semi-organized people can riot pretty much anything in most western cities, and get away with it. It would probably work if 500 geeks would gather to raid a MediaMarkt store to replenish their gear stocks.

Schneier on Security: Encryption as Evidence of Criminal Intent: “An appeals court in Minnesota has ruled that the presence of encryption software on a computer may be viewed as evidence of criminal intent.”

I have no words.

According to this article, the Israeli Defense Forces automatically give low security clearances to soldiers that have roleplaying games as a hobby. Summarizing: if you like roleplaying, you belong in the loony bin.

Here goes a snippet with the juiciest bits:

[...]

“One of the tests we do, either by asking soldiers directly or through information provided us, is to ask whether they take part in the game,” he says. “If a soldier answers in the affirmative, he is sent to a professional for an evaluation, usually a psychologist.”

More than half of the soldiers sent for evaluation receive low security clearances, thus preventing them from serving in sensitive IDF positions, he says.

[...]

“These people have a tendency to be influenced by external factors which could cloud their judgment, a military official says. “They may be detached from reality or have a weak personality - elements which lower a person’s security clearance, allowing them to serve in the army, but not in sensitive positions.”

I specially like this: These people have a tendency to be influenced by external factors. So the Israeli Army is looking for people that ignore external factors?

(found via Bruce Schneier)

Death and Taxes is a great visual representation of how the US discretionary budget is spent. Here is a selected bit:

(via Infocult)

A considerable percentage of american teenagers believes that the US is commited to spreading “freedom” abroad. At the same time, they think that there is too much freedom of speech and press in the US.

From BBC News US teens ‘reject’ key freedoms:

[...]

Over a third of the 100,000 students questioned felt the First Amendment went “too far” in guaranteeing freedom of speech, press, worship and assembly.

Only half felt newspapers should be allowed to publish stories that did not have the government’s approval.

[...]

Some 83% of students polled felt people should be allowed to express unpopular views, as opposed to 97% of teachers.

[...]

The president of the John S and James L Knight Foundation, which conducted the research, said: “Ignorance about the basics of this free society is a danger to this nation’s future.”

Just saw Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11″. It can all be summarized in a sentence: “It is all about the money.” Not that we didn’t know before, but it is good to be reminded. While he does use some questionable methods to convey his message (mothers crying for killed sons, footage of maimed soldiers, etc), Moore is still a good storyteller with a great sense of rythm that can make even a documentary about war and corruption as fun as the best of modern action films.

Unforgettable are the vendor of “safe rooms” stepping inside one of his 1m2 “rooms” saying “You can safely sit inside here and enjoy life while outside…” and Britney Spears, looking as blonde and gum-chewing as ever, stating that she completely trusts The President.

“Two Bush opponents, taken out of the crowd in restraints by police, said they were told they couldn’t be there because they were wearing shirts that said they opposed the president.”

(from Yahoo! News story on Bush’s 4th July speech, via Democratic Veteran)