Senate Votes Down Cybersecurity Act, Obama Likely to Sign Executive Order

via: OccupyCorporatism
by: Susanne Posel
August 6, 2012

While a compromised version of the Cybersecurity Act of 2012 was introduced to the Senate in July, the false claims of “. . . foreign governments, criminal syndicates and lone individuals are probing our financial, energy and public safety systems every day. It would be the height of irresponsibility to leave a digital backdoor wide open to our cyber adversaries” was perpetuated by President Obama.

Shawn Henry, a veteran of the cyber security division in the FBI, stated in a CBS interview that although he has no proof, Russia and China are behind infiltration and damage to computers in America, while also claiming that he feels it is “very, very likely” that a massive cyber-attack is due to occur.

According to Jay Carney, White House Press Secretary, Obama may just write an executive order to ensure his cybersecurity agenda is implemented. “In the wake of Congressional inaction and Republican stall tactics, unfortunately, we will continue to be hamstrung by outdated and inadequate statutory authorities that the legislation would have fixed. Moving forward, the President is determined to do absolutely everything we can to better protects our nation against today’s cyber threats and we will do that.”

Continue Reading At: OccupyCorporatism.com

Internet Giants Combine Forces Creating New Lobby to Control Capitol Hill

via: OccupyCorporatism
by: Susanne Posel
July 30, 2012

The titans of the internet, including Google, eBay, Amazon and Facebook, are combining forces under the blanket of a newly formed lobby group that wants to influence lawmakers on how they can manipulate the internet as well as how important they truly are.

In September of this year, the lobby groups called the Internet Association , will be based in Washington, DC, and headed by Michael Beckerman, former adviser of the Energy and Commerce Committee within the House of Representatives.

The Internet Association’s goal is to control the perspective of elected officials on internet technologies, their uses and cooperation with various federal agencies. Their website claims they are “dedicated to advancing public policy solutions to strengthen and protect an open, innovative and free Internet.”

Beckerman explains : “The Internet isn’t just Silicon Valley anymore. The Internet has moved to Main Street. Our top priority is to ensure that elected leaders in Washington understand the profound impacts on the Internet and Internet companies on jobs, economic growth, and freedom.”

Through the influence of money and pressure, this lobby seeks to have an over-reaching effect on the internet as a whole. In conjunction with major corporations in the tech industry and remaining focused on subversive control over the internet, the Internet Association will lead the way toward Big Brother becoming a very necessary part of our lives.

Google, internet monster and collector of information for the National Security Agency (NSA), announced back in March that they will use a new feature to spy on Android and smartphones customers that will allow background noise to assist Google in identifying location and therefore track unsuspecting Americans better.

Continue Reading At: OccupyCorporatism.com

Youtube Wants You To Use Your Real Name!

via: TrutherGirls
July 25, 2012

A Crash Course on the Internet Piracy Debate: Infographic

via: ActivistPost
Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Lawmakers continue to push for strict Internet control legislation at the behest of establishment mega-media. Congressmen such as Lamar Smith have even gone as far as to propose government IP Czars to supplant the wave of private copyright trolls filing frivolous lawsuits.

Despite the government’s history of failed attempts to control the Internet, the legal battle for control over the Internet rages on.

The infographic below does an exemplary job at pointing out the major economic fallacies and realities surrounding Hollywood’s piracy fear mongering. Just one example of this shows that the Recording Industry Association of America has sued a staggering 12,000+ people for an average of $150,000 per song – and music sales have still increased for the first time since 2004.

The future of information sharing is on the line, and it is important that the facts are made clear. While the livelihood of artists should be a central issue, there is much to suggest that artists have more tools than ever to express themselves in more creative ways, and to earn a living in novel ways that are still yet being conceived.  Is it worth throwing away the entire free-flow of information that the Internet has come to represent strictly to bring pirates under control? We welcome your thoughts in the comment section under the infographic posted below.

Continue Reading At: ActivistPost.com

Verizon Claims Right to “Edit” What You See on the Internet

via: AllGov
by: Noel Brinkerhoff
July 15, 2012

Like other Internet service providers, Verizon is fighting to derail the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) rules for network neutrality. But Verizon has set itself apart from other ISPs with its legal arguments for why the FCC’s Open Internet Order should be tossed out.

In its legal brief filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, Verizon lawyers claim the FCC has exceeded its regulatory authority by trying to dictate how ISPs control the flow of information across their networks. More importantly, the company claims the net neutrality rules violate its First Amendment and Fifth Amendment rights.

As Verizon sees it, “broadband networks are the modern-day microphone by which their owners [e.g. Verizon] engage in First Amendment speech.” Furthermore, the company should be allowed to act like a newspaper does, selectively choosing what information should be allowed to stay and what should be selected out.

Continue Reading At: AllGov.com

When It Comes to Cybersecurity, Scare Tactics Aren’t Convincing Americans to Sacrifice Privacy

via: ActivistPost
by: Rainey Reitman
Saturday, July 14, 2012

This week, comments from Democratic Senators, a panel of witnessses, and the director of the National Security Agency (NSA) called on the Senate to enact cybersecurity legislation. But a new poll shows that Americans don’t want to sacrifice civil liberties by allowing unfettered data exchanges between corporations and the government. Discussions this week were part of an effort to break the partisan stalemate over the Cybersecurity Act, a bill that would allow Internet companies to monitor the sensitive communications of users and pass that data to the government without any judicial oversight. The Cybersecurity Act would also give companies the right to “modify or block data packets” if they do it with “defensive intent,” while offering little in the way of liability for companies that overstep their authority.

In response to ongoing delays in passing the bill, backers of the Cybersecurity Act have been attempting to drum up fears about catastrophic cyberattacks. Yesterday, Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Richard Blumenthal called on the Senate to enact cybersecurity legislation despite the ongoing civil liberties concerns with the proposed legislation. Speaking to the Senate, Senator Blumenthal warned of doomsday scenarios, saying: “The consequences of a debilitating attack will be catastrophic for our nation.”

Speaking in a similar vein earlier this week, Army Gen. Keith Alexander, head of the Pentagon’s Cyber Command, gave a speech cautioning against potential terrorist cyberattacks and warned that, “The conflict is growing, the probability for crisis is mounting.” In response to civil liberties concerns, Alexander stated: “The reality is we can do protection of civil liberties and privacy and cybersecurity as a nation.” This is a particularly ironic statement because Alexander, as director of the NSA, oversees the warrantless surveillance program begun by the Bush Administration which collects en masse the Internet communications and communications records of millions of Americans (like browsing habits, emails, and chats).

Continue Reading At: ActivistPost.com 

HOPEful: Hackers seek ways to open govt secrets to public

via: RT
July 14, 2012

The hackers’ conference that once inspired Julian Assange to create WikiLeaks is underway in New York. Though the whistleblower may be waiting in limbo at the Ecuadorian embassy in London, his cause is alive and kicking across the Atlantic. Years before WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, there was HOPE (Hackers on Planet Earth). This community’s ninth conference has gathered computer nerds in New York for July 13-15. The biannual event has gathered those concerned who stand against the concealment of vital information from the public. Hackers come to the conference to discuss various topics, such as freedom on the internet, government surveillance in the web, cases around whistleblowers etc. Naturally, at the conference hackers share their experience on how to hack into systems, reports RT’s Marina Portnaya, who is attending the event.

SOPA Being Reintroduced Through Creation of Copyright Commissars

via: ActivistPost
by: Joe Wright
July 12, 2012

The battle rages on between lovers of the free Internet and a big government hellbent on controlling the only semblance of a fair and balanced media that still exists.

An onslaught of bills have been introduced worldwide which seek to criminalize the fundamental way that information is freely shared. Among the most comprehensive:

ACTA - Recently struck down by the European Parliament in a 478 to 39 vote after street protests swept across Europe. However, ACTA has already been signed in the United States. ACTA allows accusers of copyright infringement to bypass judicial review. Lack of “due process” makes these bills and ACTA unconstitutional and violates the Magna Carta, a charter signed in 1215 on which most Western law is based, including the US Constitution. (Source)

PIPA - A massive protest in January generated over 7 million petition signatures, which caused the bill to be postponed. Some of the most popular websites on the planet blackened their pages to protest the PROTECT IP Act, (S. 968), which threatens free access to information on the Web by allowing accusers to shut down an entire website – even shared platforms like Twitter, WordPress and YouTube, because of a single copyright violation. (Source)

OPEN - Darrell Issa (CA-R) and 24 co-sponsors introduced H.R. 3782. The bill claims to only target foreign websites for digital trade violations, while keeping Americans free to surf and post, but the bill’s wording was wide open to pursue American sites. (Source)

CISPA - The grandaddy of cyber legislation, ushering in fascism to the Internet by giving full control to the Department of Defense and all of its satellite federal agencies and private contractors to surveil and wage cyberwar. (Source)

Resistance has been strong, but Big Brother remains motivated to move in by stealth if necessary, as evidenced by a new related bill that seeks to sneak a previously defeated piece of SOPA past an unsuspecting public.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has been at the forefront of keeping the public informed about the myriad ways that our (s)elected representatives are attempting to usher in tyranny to the free market of ideas known as the World Wide Web.

Continue Reading At: ActivistPost.com

Cell Phone Corporations Help Government and Law Enforcement Spy On You

via: OccupyCorporatism
by: Susanne Posel
July 12, 2012

Your wireless company is tracking you with GPS, recording your phone calls and text messages . . . and they are selling the information they collect to other corporations, nations, governments – anyone willing to pay for the data. The US government is one of the wireless corporation’s biggest clients. They are collecting yotabytes of data from multiple sources on all American citizens.

Congressman Ed Markey complied a report wherein information from numerous cell phone corporations that showed just how much data law enforcement receives from prominent cell phone carriers.

AT&T, Sprint, Verizon and T-Mobile were requested to hand over personal client data to federal agencies and local law enforcement at an alarming rate.

• 1.3 million = total number of law enforcement requests for “text messages, caller locations and other information in the course of investigations.”
• 116 = average number of requests the tiny Cricket fields each day.
• 700 = average number of requests AT&T fields each day.
• 1,500 = average number of requests Sprint fields each day.
• $8.3 million = the total amount in bills that AT&T sent to law enforcement and government agencies to comply with their requests. (That was up from $2.8 million in 2007.)

Sprint, catering to the illegal data mining of government agencies, has also made their job easier by providing anautomated web interface specifically designed for law enforcement which allowed them to retrieve more public information than from any other cellular phone carrier.

Continue Reading At: OccupyCorporatism.com

Record labels killed online innovation

via: RTAmerica
July 11, 2012

Napster was the first mainstream file sharing network that has shaped the way we obtain music. The company was shut down due to a copyright infringement case and was held responsible for the information its users shared. According to some critics, record labels felt it was more profitable to sue someone in court than actually selling their company’s music. But has this move set us back when it comes to online innovation? Michael A. Carrier, professor at Rutgers School of Law-Camden, joins us with more.