7. Nominet’s 2,650 domain seizures - no legal accountability READ THE NEWS ON ONE CLICK
I’m just back from the latest Nominet meeting about domain seizures. I’ve also spent time meeting law enforcement agencies on behalf of ORG to get a better picture of what they are doing, and what is needed. Nominet have produced some useful figures about requests. The numbers involved are 2650 locks or suspensions so far. The police and trading standards are likely to expand the number of requests and their range. Their requests are currently not based on a legal power. In fact, they are very clear that they are not insisting on requests, but wish Nominet to know about “breaches of terms and conditions”. This is not a satisfactory state of affairs, of course. On the one hand, law enforcement are making detailed investigations, but are not taking responsibility for the actual suspension. Nominet are being informed that they may be liable for criminal activity taking place on domains they have in their registry, but equally may be l iable for mistakes if domains are taken down. Perhaps the worst aspect is that the current set up leaves no scope for deciding what sort of criminal activity should be addressed, and places no real external accountability on law enforcement. If you wish to talk to Nominet, or have specific concerns, please get in touch.
Jim Killock, Open Rights Group
8. G8: Protect the Net
For the first time, the leaders of the G8 developed countries are going to discuss the internet’s role in society and the economy at their annual meeting next week in France. Worryingly, the French government -- which holds the G8 rotating presidency this year -- has largely shut out civil society and the interests of users like us. Instead, the Heads of State of some of the most powerful nations are going to be advised by corporate CEOs, many of whom have paid $100,000 just for a seat at the table. From documents leaked by official invitees and our contacts with French activists, the discussions at this year’s G8 meetings are going to focus on issues like strict intellectual property enforcement instead of citizen-centered policies like net neutrality, privacy protection, and combating online censorship. Unless we speak out now, decisions about internet policy are going to be made at the highest levels without our voices represented. Please s ign this urgent petition calling on the G8 leaders to adopt sensible, citizen-centered internet policies, starting with saying NO to online censorship and the internet kill switch and YES to net neutrality and expanding internet access for all, which we’ll deliver at a press conference to the assembled world media on Monday in Paris.
For internet freedom, The Access Team
9. ACLU Counts Four More Secret Records Demands in WikiLeaks Probe
An examination of case numbers of entirely-sealed dockets in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia suggests to the ACLU that there were four Justice Department records demands issued in the same manner as a December 2010 demand sent to Twitter, which seeks information on three current and former WikiLeaks associates. On Thursday, the ACLU, in conjunction with the EFF, asked a federal judge to open those dockets to the public. “here is still no publicly available docket with individual docket entries that gives the public notice that any applications or orders granting or denying those applications, or any challenges to such applications or orders, have been filed under seal,” the ACLU wrote in an appeal Thursday. “Regardless of whether it is appropriate to maintain certain documents under seal, the absence of a public docket somewhere containing docket entries identifying any other applications, orders, motions , or other documents is simply not permissible.” The Thursday filing appeals a second shuffling of the Twitter court filings to yet another case number, ordered by a U.S. magistrate judge on May 4. A hearing on Thursday’s appeal is set for June 24 before U.S. District Court Judge Liam O’Grady.
d3ck4, Hackers Extreme Disclosure Expose
10. The Unmaking of Bradley Manning, Part III & Part IV
Gregg Mitchell continues with Bradley Manning information and now publishes The Unmaking of Bradley Manning, Part III -- The Chat Logs and The Unmaking of Bradley Manning, Part IV: Will Tuesday's 'Frontline' Make Legal Case Against Assange?
Gregg Mitchell, The Nation
Monday, 23 May 2011
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