Friday, 5 August 2011
Thursday, 4 August 2011
Mexico arrests 'deputy financier of Zetas drug cartel'
The Mexican military says it has arrested the alleged number two financial operator of the Zetas drug cartel.
Valdemar Quintanilla Soriano was captured in the northern city of Saltillo in Coahuila state, where weapons and cash were also found. Another Zetas suspect, Jose Guadalupe Yanez Martinez, was also detained.
The Zetas and the Gulf Cartel are in a bloody battle for control of drug smuggling routes to the United States.
"During the last months, Quintanilla Soriano often travelled to Monterrey in Nuevo Leon, Saltillo and Monclova in Coahuila to coordinate finance matters as well as the payment to authorities working for the criminal organisation," said Colonel Ricardo Trevilla, spokesman for Mexico's National Defence Secretariat.
Another key Zetas suspect, Jesus Enrique Rejon Aguilar, was arrested a month ago.
The Zetas were formed by former Mexican special forces soldiers.
Mr Rejon was a member of the Mexican special forces but deserted in 1999, officials say.
The Zetas initially acted as armed enforcers for the Gulf Cartel.
The Zetas have since split with their former paymasters, and have been engaged in brutal turf wars for control of smuggling routes.
@'BBC'
Amateur scientist caught trying to split atoms in his kitchen
A Swedish man who was arrested after trying to split atoms in his kitchen says he was only doing it as a hobby.
Richard Handl said that he had the radioactive elements radium, americium and uranium in his apartment in southern Sweden when police showed up and arrested him on charges of unauthorised possession of nuclear material.
The 31-year-old Handl said he had tried for months to set up a nuclear reactor at home and kept a blog about his experiments, describing how he created a small meltdown on his stove.
Only later did he realise it might not be legal and sent a question to Sweden’s Radiation Authority, which answered by sending the police.
‘‘I have always been interested in physics and chemistry,’’ Handl said, adding he just wanted to ‘‘see if it’s possible to split atoms at home.’’
The police raid took place in late July, but police have refused to comment. If convicted, Handl could face fines or up to two years in prison.
Although he says police didn’t detect dangerous levels of radiation in his apartment, he now acknowledges the project wasn’t such a good idea.
‘‘From now on, I will stick to the theory,’’ he said.
@'The Age'
Richard Handl said that he had the radioactive elements radium, americium and uranium in his apartment in southern Sweden when police showed up and arrested him on charges of unauthorised possession of nuclear material.
The 31-year-old Handl said he had tried for months to set up a nuclear reactor at home and kept a blog about his experiments, describing how he created a small meltdown on his stove.
Only later did he realise it might not be legal and sent a question to Sweden’s Radiation Authority, which answered by sending the police.
‘‘I have always been interested in physics and chemistry,’’ Handl said, adding he just wanted to ‘‘see if it’s possible to split atoms at home.’’
The police raid took place in late July, but police have refused to comment. If convicted, Handl could face fines or up to two years in prison.
Although he says police didn’t detect dangerous levels of radiation in his apartment, he now acknowledges the project wasn’t such a good idea.
‘‘From now on, I will stick to the theory,’’ he said.
@'The Age'
British government agrees that copyright has gone too far
The British government today pledged (PDF) to enact significant changes to copyright law, including orphan works reforms and the introduction of new copyright exceptions. And the tone of the comments was surprising: the government agrees that "copyright currently over-regulates to the detriment of the UK." CD (and perhaps DVD) ripping for personal use should become legal at last—and the government is even keen to see that the consumer rights granted by law can't simply be taken away by contract (such as a "EULA" sticker on a CD demanding that a disk not be ripped).
Responding to an independent study done earlier this year, the government has also endorsed the creation of a digital copyright exchange to facilitate licensing. Within limits, the government endorses the view that "the widest possible exceptions to copyright within the existing EU framework are likely to be beneficial to the UK."
The government's report is also significant for what it pledges not to do. The government says it will not bring forward the "site blocking" provisions of last year's Digital Economy Act. This is evidently not referring to the power of copyright holders to compel individual ISPs to block infringing sites after a lawsuit, but to a more comprehensive system whereby the government maintains a list of sites that all ISPs in the country would be required to block.
Probably the most important announcement is the expansion of copyright exceptions. Unlike the US, the UK does not have a broad, judge-made "fair use" doctrine that allows transformative uses of copyrighted works. Today's report doesn't use the phrase "fair use," but it endorses legalizing many of the same ideas. The government proposes to create "a limited private copying exception," to "widen the exception for non-commercial research," to "widen the exception for library archiving," and "to introduce an exception for parody."
Orphan works are out-of-print works that cannot be used by anyone because their copyright holders cannot be found. Legislation to address the problem has languished in the US Congress for years. The British government has now pledged to enact orphan works reform that would allow "both commercial and cultural uses of orphan works," once a prospective user has conducted a diligent search for the copyright holder and paid standard licensing fees.
The report devotes significant attention to the creation of a Digital Copyright Exchange, a centralized clearinghouse to improve the efficiency of copyright licensing efforts. The project is still in the planning phase and participation in the scheme would be voluntary. But the government vows to study ways to encourage and facilitate the creation of an exchange. One way it will do that is by ensuring that the government's own "Crown copyright" works will be available for licensing.
Patents receive only a brief mention in the report. The government pledges to "resist extensions of patents into sectors which are currently excluded unless there is clear evidence of a benefit to innovation and growth." It also promises to investigate the problems created by patent thickets, although it doesn't endorse any specific proposal for addressing the problem.
The report is significant not only for the specific policies it endorses, but also for the shift in tone it represents. For decades, policymakers around the world have steadily expanded the breadth of copyright and patent protections and ratcheted up enforcement. So the fact that the UK's official copyright agenda now consists mostly of creating new copyright exceptions and abandoning previously announced enforcement efforts suggests the pendulum may finally be swinging in the other direction. The individual reforms are important, but it is most significant as a barometer of the shifting political climate.
Timothy B. Lee @'ars technica'
Responding to an independent study done earlier this year, the government has also endorsed the creation of a digital copyright exchange to facilitate licensing. Within limits, the government endorses the view that "the widest possible exceptions to copyright within the existing EU framework are likely to be beneficial to the UK."
The government's report is also significant for what it pledges not to do. The government says it will not bring forward the "site blocking" provisions of last year's Digital Economy Act. This is evidently not referring to the power of copyright holders to compel individual ISPs to block infringing sites after a lawsuit, but to a more comprehensive system whereby the government maintains a list of sites that all ISPs in the country would be required to block.
Probably the most important announcement is the expansion of copyright exceptions. Unlike the US, the UK does not have a broad, judge-made "fair use" doctrine that allows transformative uses of copyrighted works. Today's report doesn't use the phrase "fair use," but it endorses legalizing many of the same ideas. The government proposes to create "a limited private copying exception," to "widen the exception for non-commercial research," to "widen the exception for library archiving," and "to introduce an exception for parody."
Orphan works are out-of-print works that cannot be used by anyone because their copyright holders cannot be found. Legislation to address the problem has languished in the US Congress for years. The British government has now pledged to enact orphan works reform that would allow "both commercial and cultural uses of orphan works," once a prospective user has conducted a diligent search for the copyright holder and paid standard licensing fees.
The report devotes significant attention to the creation of a Digital Copyright Exchange, a centralized clearinghouse to improve the efficiency of copyright licensing efforts. The project is still in the planning phase and participation in the scheme would be voluntary. But the government vows to study ways to encourage and facilitate the creation of an exchange. One way it will do that is by ensuring that the government's own "Crown copyright" works will be available for licensing.
Patents receive only a brief mention in the report. The government pledges to "resist extensions of patents into sectors which are currently excluded unless there is clear evidence of a benefit to innovation and growth." It also promises to investigate the problems created by patent thickets, although it doesn't endorse any specific proposal for addressing the problem.
The report is significant not only for the specific policies it endorses, but also for the shift in tone it represents. For decades, policymakers around the world have steadily expanded the breadth of copyright and patent protections and ratcheted up enforcement. So the fact that the UK's official copyright agenda now consists mostly of creating new copyright exceptions and abandoning previously announced enforcement efforts suggests the pendulum may finally be swinging in the other direction. The individual reforms are important, but it is most significant as a barometer of the shifting political climate.
Timothy B. Lee @'ars technica'
phbarratt Paul Barratt
David Hicks, abandoned by Howard Govt enters plea bargain under extreme duress. Gillard goes after his "proceeds of crime". Stay classy, JG.
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