Thursday, 8 March 2012

PMSL!!!

Chris Dodd: The Internet Developed Because Of Strict Copyright Enforcement bit.ly/xogUUN He really is the Jar-Jar Binks of lobbyists

Great Barrier Reef is at a crossroads, says UN mission

The World According To Americans

(Click to enlarge)

Via

PayPal sparks furor over limits on 'obscene' e-books

The Empress And The Ukraine King

Louis Vuitton threatens law school over parody poster

...In a reply to Pantalony, the University's general counsel denied that the poster infringed LV's trademarks, describing the laws that establish the public right to parody—especially for noncommercial and educational purposes. He also invited Pantalony to attend the symposium so that he may learn more about intellectual property.

LOL!!!

FBI director: Have to check whether targeted killing rule is outside US only

How terrorist 'entrapment' ensnares us all

What do 20 year old Colorado student Peter Smith and Avengers superhero Iron Man have in common? They both throw missiles at their enemies. That’s according to the Denver police anyway, who charged Mr. Smith with throwing a missile, causing a disturbance, and unlawful acts after he “glitter bombed” Mitt Romney earlier this month.
For those not in the know: glitter bombing is an activity engaged in by gay rights activists, who throw handfuls of glitter at politicians to make those that think gay people are fairies, look like fairies themselves. It has become increasingly popular, and a laundry list of politicians have already felt the glistening wrath of their civilian opponents.
The media has been mighty taken by Mr. Smith’s story. Some claim that the possible punishment for Mr. Smith (six months in jail and a $1,000 fine) is ludicrous, while others say that because the Secret Service has no way of knowing if it’s glitter or anthrax being thrown (hint: one sparkles!), the student should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law...
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Funny Truth ‏ @smo4s

That awkward moment when you see someone you know in public and you both act as though you've never seen each other before.

Anonymous Rocked by News That Top Hacker Snitched to Feds

On the heels of 25 arrests of Spanish-speaking anons last week, Anonymous was rocked Tuesday by the news that Hector Xavier Monsegur, the legal name of prominent antisec known as Sabu, has been cooperating with the FBI to hunt down other anon hackers from Lulzsec and Antisec.
The chatter on the anon IRC servers and anon-associated Twitter accounts ranged Tuesday from denial about Sabu’s involvement to outrage and hatred for Monsegur. One who worked with Sabu as part of Antisec, the miltant and pranksterish arm of Anonymous, described themselves as “emotionally devastated” and “shocked” by the news.
“Sabu was in my opinion a great guy. I was woken up today with the message that the arrests happened. It came to me like an emotional bitchslap,” said the anon in an online chat. ”I know why I got kicked out of antisec now,” the anon continued, intimating that Sabu did so to protect him/her from prosecution.
Another anon described Sabu as a mentor figure, saying Sabu had encouraged and taught him/her about Python programming.
“I honestly wouldn’t have learned without him actually taking the time to give me some really pro tips… and show me that there was almost no limits to what you could do with it if you were doing it right.”
But in the timeframe of Monsegur’s arrest — which occurred without public notice in the summer, this anon saw a change in Monsegur’s behavior. Monsegur became more distant, and while he’d always displayed an un-Anonymous desire for fame that drew criticism, “after a certain point everything just became about him-him-him. And he’d randomly send out some almost cryptic messages about how it was all for Anonymous etc etc, but at a certain point I just stopped buying that. I think a lot of people did.”
According to several anons, around this time Monsegur became interested in a wider range of operations, including those he’d not had previous involvement in.
But despite the changes and ultimate betrayal, many anons aren’t ready to condemn Monsegur after hearing about the arrests of fellow anons due to his cooperation with the feds.
“It was either 124 years for Sabu, or 10 years each for the others,” said the former antisec anon. “I get why he did it, but he damaged the collective because of his own problems. And Anonymous is not your personal army. Nor is antisec.”
The possible 124-year sentence for Monsegur’s crimes struck anons as out of proportion for his crimes. As one put it, “Sabu is approximately one Topiary and some cash less heinous than Bernie Madoff, according to the FBI using their measurement of prison time,” referring to the purported age of one of the Lulzsec members Monsegur snitched on and the relatively light sentence of the billion-dollar ponzi scheme fraudster...

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Quinn Norton @'Wired'

Was Anonymous' Hacker-Informant Sabu A Tool Of FBI Entrapment?

Journal disavows study touted by U.S. abortion foes

Mao's way: Chinese propaganda posters

Move the Mountain is an exhibition of original Chinese propaganda posters from 1969-1979. The communist posters depict scenes ranging from young Chinese people holding up copies of Mao's Little Red Book to soldiers fighting cartoonish capitalist monsters. This is the first time these works have been exhibited in the UK. At Richard Goodall Gallery in Manchester from 9 March to 7 April 2012
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