Saturday, 21 May 2011
Grinderman - A Short Film
A short film about Grinderman. First broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK on 19 May 2011. The film includes an interview with Nick Cave, behind the scenes footage from the album artwork photoshoot and videos by John Hillcoat, Ilinca Höpfner and Iain Forsyth & Jane Pollard
German police seize Pirate Party servers, looking at Anon's toolkit
Authorities appear to be concerned about a possible attack on French energy giant EDF. The German Pirate Party said in a statement that it does not believe itself to be a target of the investigation and expressed willingness “within its legal obligations” to aid French police:
The [Pirate Party] Board does not have information that indicates the necessity to take all servers of the Pirate Party off-line. According to the information it has been provided with, only one single public service on a virtual server of the party was affected. The disconnection of all servers is a massive intrusion into the communications infrastructure of the sixth largest party in Germany. Considering the state elections taking place in Bremen in two days, this caused a severe political damage, which the Board condemns decisively.
In relation to the ongoing investigations, it will have to be verified whether the issued search warrant was actually appropriate, especially whether the principle of proportionality was followed. After all, this action has led to a large-scale breakdown of the technical infrastructure of the Pirate Party Germany. It will also have to be verified whether data have been affected that have no relation to the French investigation.
PiratenPad links in Anonymous chat rooms
The EtherPad Foundation, which coordinates development of the underlying technology, said today, "We entirely support PiratenPad in its struggle, we believe that EtherPad deployments and really-real time collaborative document editing should be a right for all people, great and small."
The group believes the main reason for the raid is “because PiratenPad was being used by the group Anonymous to organize an attack," but notes that even this particular EtherPad install was used for legitimate purposes such as "structured debates around the protests in Spain, so this is a major cause for concern from a libertarian perspective."
Anonymous' main communications tools have been hit hard in the last two weeks. The main Internet Relay Chat servers, run by a group called AnonOps, were taken over last week by a dissident member and have only recently been relocated to a different domain name, which continues to have "issues." Now comes the attack on PiratenPad, though an AnonOps leader says that "police.de wasn't my fault."
Rick Falkvinge, who heads the Swedish Pirate Party, came to the defense of his piratical brethren today, writing, "Doing this to a democratic party—Germany’s sixth largest, actually—two days before an election is nothing short of a democratic sabotage. This shows why we must introduce understanding of information policy into the justice system all across Europe. A computer is not just something you can carry away; doing so has consequences. It is not a wrench, and yet the law (and police) treat it like any tool, just like a wrench."
In response to the takeover of its servers, the German Pirate Party has been tweeting up some sturm und drang today, and its "#servergate" hashtag is the second highest "trending" tag in Germany.
Not surprisingly, the main German police website is now down, as is the website of federal investigators (the BKA). As one Anon put it in a tweet, "#Anonymous to german police: 'Let me introduce myself...' #servergate #PoliceMeetsCocks."
But the German Pirate Party called the attacks inappropriate. "We condemn the totally inappropriate actions by investigators,” said Sebastian Mink, chair of the Chairman Pirate Party, “but these actions are not a reason to attack other websites and we distance ourselves from such attacks.”
Nate Anderson @'Ars Technica'
*Gigg(le)s*
prodnose Danny Baker
BBC LATEST: Injunction footballer "to sue Twitter". Also seeks restraining order on anyone going within 100m of grapevine. More later.
BBC LATEST: Injunction footballer "to sue Twitter". Also seeks restraining order on anyone going within 100m of grapevine. More later.
Patti Smith interviewed by Thurston Moore (BOMB 54/Winter 1996)
Patti Smith by Robert Mapplethorpe
Patti Smith was, and is, pure experience… Her reign in the 70s as a street-hot rock & roll messiah seemed to exist from a void. No past, no future—”the future is here,” she’d sing. I’d hear tales of romance, the girl with the blackest hair hanging out at recording sessions writing poetry. But I didn’t know her. I could only embrace the identity I perceived. I was impressionable and she came on like an alien. The first time I met her was in 1975 in a magazine. It was two poems about three wishes: rock & roll, sex, and New York City. Her photo was stark—no disco color flash. It was anti-glam, nocturnal staring eyes, black leather trousers. She was skinny and smart. She posed as if she were the coolest boy in the city. And she was. I could only imagine her world through her poems: telling, truthful, dirty, hopeful. I wanted to meet her and take her to a movie, but she was so unobtainable and fantastic I could only entrust my faith to the future. The future would allow me to have a date with Patti Smith or at least hang out with her. And the future seems to have come. It seems to be happening, it’s happened. It’s here.Patti grew up in south Jersey in the ‘60s. As a teenager she became involved in a succession of religious experiences: “Catholic lust,” an intense relationship with the Jehovah Witnesses, and a full-on romance with Tibetan Buddhism. She completely immersed herself in the genius of Bob Dylan and Arthur Rimbaud. She loved (and loves) rock & roll with an unbounded passion. It instilled beauty and vision to a complex life of dreams.
Patti moved to New York City late in the decade. I’ve met people who knew her at this time and I’ll stare at them as if to somehow transport myself through their memory to see her. She was skinny and exotic. She had Keith Richard’s haircut. She was sexy and manic. She worked at book stores and wrote and read poetry and did art. She co-wrote and acted in Cowboy Mouth with Sam Shepard. She was muse and lover to Robert Mapplethorpe. They were writers, artists, and rock & rollers—they were young and had any which way to go. Years moved by.
She and Lenny Kaye jammed poetry and electric guitar at St. Mark’s Church. Patti would touch her chest and pronounce, “Jesus died for somebody’s sins but not mine…” Word was out that an amazing woman with a wild, intellectual positivism was tearing it up downtown. Local news programs and the Village Voice would begin to monitor her moves. She wrote amazing, celebratory record reviews for Rolling Stone, ??Rock Scene and Creem. Rock & roll was the sounding tool for modern prayer. She went to hear Television at CBGB and joined forces with Tom Verlaine and Richard Hell. They amplified the influence of Burroughs, Genet, Hendrix, Dylan, Stooges, Dolls and reggae.
Patti and Television spent 1975 at CBGB creating a forum for an excited and completely distinctive sensibility. “We created it, let’s take it over,” she’d shout and brought serious sounds to the people away from the arena-mind of the corporatized music/youth culture. Revolution was neccessary. The Ramones came in, Blondie came in, Talking Heads came in. Entrepreneurs hyped the Sex Pistols and a subculture was begun. Its current status as a valid mainstream format is just a commercial of its sublime expansion. By 1979 Patti split to Michigan with Fred “Sonic” Smith (legendary guitarist of Detroit’s high energy prophets the MC5) and got married. They had two kids and did a lot of fishing. She was out of the scene and out of sight. A second generation of artists and musicians had come to New York City and began to make noise in an explosion of punk rock inspired enterprise. The strongest and most original force in the music’s history had been a woman. And this fact alone exacted upon the “punk” culture a situation in which women were empowered and encouraged.
Patti reappeared in the late ‘80s with the affirming “People Have the Power.” The song’s video showed a distinguished, serious Patti at home in proclamation amongst images of spiritual leadership. She and Fred played at a celebration for Dylan and another for Jackson Pollock.
Fred passed away in 1995 as did Patti’s brother and close friend, Todd. Robert Mapplethorpe had also passed away.
Patti doesn’t drive. In 1977 she fell off the stage and her eyesight was damaged. Survival in Michigan is difficult and lonely without Fred. She wants to play. As soon as her 13-year-old ends the school year she plans on moving back to New York. She has no set design on a professional life but she loves performance. And teaching. I could only interview Patti in conversational mode. She speaks with humor and thoughtfulness, her words are at once searching and prosaic.
I flew to Boston to meet her and Lenny Kaye where we were to drive to Lowell, Massachusetts for a benefit for the Kerouac Foundation. She asked me to play guitar on three songs: one she had written, one by Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter, and one an improvisation to a poem by Kerouac. We did a show in Lowell and two in Boston, all three in these cool churches. We spent Saturday visiting the haunts of Kerouac’s Lowell. Patti took Polaroids of my hands for a Sunday exhibit at a friend’s gallery in Jamaica Plain. She’d frame the photos with broad white frames and write around them vignettes pertaining to the subject. I was friends with someone I had dreamed of being friends with for nearly 20 years.
This conversation was recorded late night in a hotel in Lowell, October 6, and the next day in the back seat of a car driving to Boston.
INTERVIEW
Via
(Thanx son#1!)
Koichi Sato
Musical poster (1989)
Concert poster (1974)
Film poster (1988)
Graphic designer & professor at Tama Art University.
Mr. Sato was born in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, in 1944. He graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (now, Tokyo University of the Arts) with a degree in Visual Design. After initially working in the advertising department of Shiseido, he went freelance in 1971. He won a Tokyo ADC Award in 1985, a Mainichi Design Award in 1991, and the Education Minister's Art Encouragement Prize for young artists in 1997. He has also won numerous awards at international poster competitions, including at the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). His works are part of permanent collections at many art museums both in Japan and abroad. Mr. Sato is presently a member of JAGDA, AGI, Japan Design Committee, Tokyo ADC and Tokyo TDC. He is best known for his unique style of expression acclaimed for its Oriental touch, but in recent years he has been working with other modes of free expression.
Exhibition runs until May 31 in Tokyo
Mr. Sato was born in Takasaki City, Gunma Prefecture, in 1944. He graduated from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music (now, Tokyo University of the Arts) with a degree in Visual Design. After initially working in the advertising department of Shiseido, he went freelance in 1971. He won a Tokyo ADC Award in 1985, a Mainichi Design Award in 1991, and the Education Minister's Art Encouragement Prize for young artists in 1997. He has also won numerous awards at international poster competitions, including at the New York Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). His works are part of permanent collections at many art museums both in Japan and abroad. Mr. Sato is presently a member of JAGDA, AGI, Japan Design Committee, Tokyo ADC and Tokyo TDC. He is best known for his unique style of expression acclaimed for its Oriental touch, but in recent years he has been working with other modes of free expression.
Exhibition runs until May 31 in Tokyo
Friday, 20 May 2011
Manhunt Inc.: Firm ‘Tags’ Terrorists for Special Ops
Over the last decade Styer’s company, the Virginia-based Blackbird Technologies, has become a leading supplier of equipment for the covert “tagging, tracking and locating” of suspected enemies. Every month, U.S. Special Operations Command spends millions of dollars on Blackbird gear. The U.S. Navy has a contract with Blackbird for $450 million worth of these so-called “TTL” devices. “Tens of thousands” of Blackbird’s devices have been sent to the field, according to a former employee. And TTL is just one part of the Herndon, Virginia firm’s multifaceted relationship with the special operations, intelligence and traditional military services.
“Blackbird has hit the trifecta: They’ve got people to sell, people to perform the job, and people to keep it all secret,” says one well-placed Defense Department contractor. “Everybody keeps their distance.”Blackbird helps hunt for missing troops, and pries information off the hard drives captured in military raids. The firm counts one of the CIA’s most famous former operatives among its 250 or so employees. Its staff hackers specialize in infiltrating hostile networks without leaving a trace. Interest in the methods commandos and intelligence operatives use to track down leading targets may have spiked since the killing of Osama bin Laden; for Blackbird, it’s old news. The company has spent years at the center of this secretive field...
Continue reading
Noah Shachtman @'Wired'
Access Copyright Claims Trademark On The Copyright Symbol
Okay. This is just insane. Via Howard Knopf, we learn that Canadian copyright licensing agency Access Copyright is claiming to hold the trademark on the classic copyright symbol: ©. You can see it in their new website:
While there are three TMs in the image, at least two of them (top logo and in the righthand column) appear to be on the copyright symbol itself. You can see one directly here:
Mike Masnick @'techdirt'
App Developer Fights Pirate With Politeness
Most major music and movie industry outfits go out guns blazing against those who dare to copy their content. They often label these people, who also make up a great portion of their legitimate customers, as thieves and criminals. App developer and owner of the website Word of the Day decided to take another route, and crushed a potential pirate with politeness instead.
Piracy presents content creators with a mind-twisting dilemma. No one wants to see the work they have to live off being copied for free, but in today’s age not being pirated is probably even worse. Being overlooked in this way generally means that the public is not interested in what you have to offer.
The situation gets even more complicated when one realizes that ‘pirates’ are often legitimate customers too. As previously highlighted, music pirates are the ones who spend the most money on legitimate music. In a way, speaking out against pirates is speaking out against one’s biggest fans.
So how does a content creator approach such a multi-layered species when he or she spots one in the wild?
If we look at Chris Baker, app developer and owner of the The Fucking Word of the Day website, confrontational politeness might turn out to be a good choice. Yesterday, Chris spotted a potential pirate on the xSellize forums, who posted the following request:
“Can someone please crack The F-ing Word of the Day app. Please.”
Although many content creators would have cringed upon reading the message, perhaps tempted to shout the pirate down, Chris opted for a more peaceful reply to the poster “HiDefinition”.
“Hello! I’m the creator of the *** Word of the Day website and more particularly the F-ing Word of the Day App. First of all, this is a huge compliment! As a person who pirates content, I’ve always placed the moment people are pirating MY goods as the exact time of my arrival, as it were.”
Chris Baker goes on to explain that, although he has a decent job in New York, he’s by no means rich. The app and website are his pet projects and he works on them during his free time in the hope that the public might learn something. Then he continues with giving the prospective pirate his virtual blessing.
“What’s my point in all this? Go ahead and pirate the app. It cost me 1500 bucks to have programmed. It’s not even a month’s rent for me. But if you think the site is cool, and you want to pay for one eighth of a Stella Artois for me, hook me up with 99 cents. The rapture will be here soon, I could use the drink.”
The above might not have been the response HiDefinition had been hoping for, but it did make an impact. Suddenly, the prospect of getting a pirated App without paying didn’t seem as appealing as it did before.
HiDefinition replied:
“Wow, I wasn’t expecting the developer to comment. Sorry, about that. You know I was only looking to get the IPA for free only because I have no credit, credit cards, or any kind of banking services. However, your attitude has seal[ed] the deal for me. It might end up costing me a couple extra dollars in nominal fees to figure out how to pay for it but I’d be glad to contribute towards that Stella fund raiser you’ve got going on.
“Besides, I really appreciate your response and I fully support your work. I hope no one actually cracks your app [and] for sake of respect, consider my request revoked. Thanks again Chris and have a good one bro!”
It appears that with his polite reply, Chris eliminated at least one potential pirate. But that wasn’t the end of the matter. Instead of eagerly waiting for HiDefinition’s 99 cents, Chris offered to buy the App for him, asking for a positive rating in return.
Chris then concluded:
“I hope this comment thread goes down as one of the more unexpected things that happens to you online. I like the unexpected. And I like making people happy, even when something stupid like learning vocabulary is involved.”
The thread is memorable for sure, and shows that the blazing guns strategy might not always be the best one, especially not for indie content creators. This doesn’t necessarily mean that ‘pirates’ should be cuddled, but it might be a good idea to try a more balanced response every now and then.
TorrentFreak got in touch with Chris, who shared his remarkable encounter on Reddit, and he told us that he expected people to pirate his app and that it’s not a problem.
“I knew people would try to pirate my app and I’d rather have people trying to pirate my app than not pirate it. If no one is trying to pirate you, you’re irrelevant,” Chris said.
In fact, Chris admits that he too has pirated software since he was eight or nine. Whether it is the moral thing to do is not up to the developers he believes, it’s something every ‘pirate’ has to decide for him or herself.
“The morality of pirating an app will be a topic that gets debated forever,” Chris told us. “If a starving kid steals a loaf of bread to feed himself, is that wrong? If a starving designer pirates a copy of a 700 dollar version of Photoshop, is that wrong?”
“A creative storyteller could produce narratives that make you see both sides to each story,” he concludes.
Ernesto @'TorrentFreak'
Piracy presents content creators with a mind-twisting dilemma. No one wants to see the work they have to live off being copied for free, but in today’s age not being pirated is probably even worse. Being overlooked in this way generally means that the public is not interested in what you have to offer.
The situation gets even more complicated when one realizes that ‘pirates’ are often legitimate customers too. As previously highlighted, music pirates are the ones who spend the most money on legitimate music. In a way, speaking out against pirates is speaking out against one’s biggest fans.
So how does a content creator approach such a multi-layered species when he or she spots one in the wild?
If we look at Chris Baker, app developer and owner of the The Fucking Word of the Day website, confrontational politeness might turn out to be a good choice. Yesterday, Chris spotted a potential pirate on the xSellize forums, who posted the following request:
“Can someone please crack The F-ing Word of the Day app. Please.”
Although many content creators would have cringed upon reading the message, perhaps tempted to shout the pirate down, Chris opted for a more peaceful reply to the poster “HiDefinition”.
“Hello! I’m the creator of the *** Word of the Day website and more particularly the F-ing Word of the Day App. First of all, this is a huge compliment! As a person who pirates content, I’ve always placed the moment people are pirating MY goods as the exact time of my arrival, as it were.”
Chris Baker goes on to explain that, although he has a decent job in New York, he’s by no means rich. The app and website are his pet projects and he works on them during his free time in the hope that the public might learn something. Then he continues with giving the prospective pirate his virtual blessing.
“What’s my point in all this? Go ahead and pirate the app. It cost me 1500 bucks to have programmed. It’s not even a month’s rent for me. But if you think the site is cool, and you want to pay for one eighth of a Stella Artois for me, hook me up with 99 cents. The rapture will be here soon, I could use the drink.”
The above might not have been the response HiDefinition had been hoping for, but it did make an impact. Suddenly, the prospect of getting a pirated App without paying didn’t seem as appealing as it did before.
HiDefinition replied:
“Wow, I wasn’t expecting the developer to comment. Sorry, about that. You know I was only looking to get the IPA for free only because I have no credit, credit cards, or any kind of banking services. However, your attitude has seal[ed] the deal for me. It might end up costing me a couple extra dollars in nominal fees to figure out how to pay for it but I’d be glad to contribute towards that Stella fund raiser you’ve got going on.
“Besides, I really appreciate your response and I fully support your work. I hope no one actually cracks your app [and] for sake of respect, consider my request revoked. Thanks again Chris and have a good one bro!”
It appears that with his polite reply, Chris eliminated at least one potential pirate. But that wasn’t the end of the matter. Instead of eagerly waiting for HiDefinition’s 99 cents, Chris offered to buy the App for him, asking for a positive rating in return.
Chris then concluded:
“I hope this comment thread goes down as one of the more unexpected things that happens to you online. I like the unexpected. And I like making people happy, even when something stupid like learning vocabulary is involved.”
The thread is memorable for sure, and shows that the blazing guns strategy might not always be the best one, especially not for indie content creators. This doesn’t necessarily mean that ‘pirates’ should be cuddled, but it might be a good idea to try a more balanced response every now and then.
TorrentFreak got in touch with Chris, who shared his remarkable encounter on Reddit, and he told us that he expected people to pirate his app and that it’s not a problem.
“I knew people would try to pirate my app and I’d rather have people trying to pirate my app than not pirate it. If no one is trying to pirate you, you’re irrelevant,” Chris said.
In fact, Chris admits that he too has pirated software since he was eight or nine. Whether it is the moral thing to do is not up to the developers he believes, it’s something every ‘pirate’ has to decide for him or herself.
“The morality of pirating an app will be a topic that gets debated forever,” Chris told us. “If a starving kid steals a loaf of bread to feed himself, is that wrong? If a starving designer pirates a copy of a 700 dollar version of Photoshop, is that wrong?”
“A creative storyteller could produce narratives that make you see both sides to each story,” he concludes.
Ernesto @'TorrentFreak'
Popol Vuh remixed by Moritz von Oswald, Âme, Stereolab, Mika Vainio and more
Revisited & Remixed (1970-99)
The second disc (Cosmic Side) compiles remixes by various artists from the worlds of house, techno and the electronic avant-garde. Mika Vainio‘s masterful take on ‘Nacht Schnee’, and Haswell & Hecker‘s ‘Aguirre I / II’ , both appear in edited form, the full versions having been released on limited edition 12″ by Editions Mego back in 2008. Other remixers include Innervisions supergroup A Critical Mass (Âme, Henrik Schwarz, Dixon), Moritz von Oswald, Thomas Fehlmann, Mouse On Mars and Stereolab.
“Popol Vuh guided me into a world of wonder and awe,” says Stereolab’s Tim Gane. “At its core the music is very spiritual, they just sound far out and mysterious. The clanging guitar chord of ‘Wehe Khorazin’ will stay with me all my life. At that moment you really do travel a million miles. “
Roland Appel, co-producer of the Revisited & Remixed project, adds: “To be involved in a project like this means always to require as much as possible knowledge about the music or band or artist , who created the original. I thought that I know a lot about Popol Vuh. But I learned that there is much more behind this project than music. It’s almost a cosmos and I think that’s the reason why the music and the project Popol Vuh is such an inspiration for so many people, including myself.”
Tracklisting @'FACT'
Blatter says Qatar may be stripped of FIFA World Cup 2022
FIFA president Sepp Blatter, who is standing for re-election for a fourth term, has admitted that there is a ground swell of popular support to re-hold the 2022 vote won by Qatar. Qatar won the right to host the 2022 World Cup finals controversially last December.
The Independent quoted Blatter, as saying that a FIFA inquiry into claims made by The Sunday Times that there was corruption in the vote could lead to the FIFA executive committee (ExCo) voting again.
Re-voting would represent the biggest U-turn in the governing body's history.
hile Blatter was not thought to have cast his own vote for Qatar, he knows that any move to go back on the decision would cause huge ructions within world football.
While the 75-year-old did not say what he thought the likely outcome of FIFA's investigation would be, he refused to put any limit on the measures they could take if they uncovered wrongdoing.
In an interview with the Press Association, Blatter said that the notion that the 2022 vote would be re-held was "alarming" but conceded it was one that had a groundswell of popular support and was "circulating around the world".
Taking the World Cup from Qatar would be a huge blow to the prestige of FIFA, which has been widely criticized for its decision to award the biggest sports event in the world to a country of 1.6 million people with little football culture and temperatures of around 50C in June and July.
Qatar spent by far and away the most on its bid, committing 27 million pounds on communications alone in one year. To put that in perspective, the next biggest budget in the 2022 race was Australia who spent 28 million pounds in total. (ANI)
@'Yahoo'
The Independent quoted Blatter, as saying that a FIFA inquiry into claims made by The Sunday Times that there was corruption in the vote could lead to the FIFA executive committee (ExCo) voting again.
Re-voting would represent the biggest U-turn in the governing body's history.
hile Blatter was not thought to have cast his own vote for Qatar, he knows that any move to go back on the decision would cause huge ructions within world football.
While the 75-year-old did not say what he thought the likely outcome of FIFA's investigation would be, he refused to put any limit on the measures they could take if they uncovered wrongdoing.
In an interview with the Press Association, Blatter said that the notion that the 2022 vote would be re-held was "alarming" but conceded it was one that had a groundswell of popular support and was "circulating around the world".
Taking the World Cup from Qatar would be a huge blow to the prestige of FIFA, which has been widely criticized for its decision to award the biggest sports event in the world to a country of 1.6 million people with little football culture and temperatures of around 50C in June and July.
Qatar spent by far and away the most on its bid, committing 27 million pounds on communications alone in one year. To put that in perspective, the next biggest budget in the 2022 race was Australia who spent 28 million pounds in total. (ANI)
@'Yahoo'
Eight New Yorkers sue Baidu for $16m
Baidu is being sued by eight New York residents, who filed a lawsuit yesterday against the company accusing the search engine of censoring internet information in collusion with the People's Republic.
According to Reuters, the complaint claims violation of the US Constitution. It names Baidu and, unusually, the Chinese government as defendants in the case.
The suit was filed in the US District Court in Manhattan, New York. It claims that Baidu operates as an "enforcer" to Beijing policies by censoring pro-democracy content on the internet.
An example cited is China's military action against protesters in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
The plaintiffs, described in the complaint as pro-democracy activists, allege that their writings and videos have been suppressed by Baidu.
"We allege a private company is acting as the arm and agent of a foreign state to suppress political speech, and permeate US borders to violate the First Amendment," the plaintiffs' lawyer Stephen Preziosi told Reuters. The idea is that as Baidu searches conducted in the States do not show the pro-democracy materials, US law has been violated.
"An internet search engine is a public acommodation, just like a hotel or restaurant," Preziosi argued.
The complainants are seeking total damages of $16m. However, there are no demands for Baidu to tweak its search engine policies.
"It would be futile to expect Baidu to change," said Preziosi.
Kelly Fiveash @'The Register'
Only in America!
(Thanx Robin!)
According to Reuters, the complaint claims violation of the US Constitution. It names Baidu and, unusually, the Chinese government as defendants in the case.
The plaintiffs, described in the complaint as pro-democracy activists, allege that their writings and videos have been suppressed by Baidu.
"We allege a private company is acting as the arm and agent of a foreign state to suppress political speech, and permeate US borders to violate the First Amendment," the plaintiffs' lawyer Stephen Preziosi told Reuters. The idea is that as Baidu searches conducted in the States do not show the pro-democracy materials, US law has been violated.
"An internet search engine is a public acommodation, just like a hotel or restaurant," Preziosi argued.
The complainants are seeking total damages of $16m. However, there are no demands for Baidu to tweak its search engine policies.
"It would be futile to expect Baidu to change," said Preziosi.
Kelly Fiveash @'The Register'
Only in America!
(Thanx Robin!)
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