From rforno at infowarrior.org Mon Sep 1 17:38:09 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2014 18:38:09 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Registrar Namecheap issues security advisory Message-ID: <7168AD03-72A3-4486-A8D2-D95A0081E1B7@infowarrior.org> Urgent security warning that may affect all internet users http://community.namecheap.com/blog/2014/09/01/urgent-security-warning-may-affect-internet-users/ --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Mon Sep 1 17:38:31 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2014 18:38:31 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Fwd: Telco giants ask FCC to squash their civic competitors References: <4ADCA006-E997-4B1F-A397-9D34C33FD55A@well.com> Message-ID: <094C536E-8C0C-4C43-ABE5-573946FB405D@infowarrior.org> > > http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/aug/29/us-telecoms-fcc-block-high-speed-internet-chattanooga > > US telecoms giants call on FCC to block cities' expansion of high-speed internet > > USTelecom wants to block expansion of popular networks in Chattanooga, Tennessee and Wilson, North Carolina > > Dominic Rushe in New York > theguardian.com, Friday 29 August 2014 12.32 EDT > > The US telecoms industry called on the Federal Communications Commission on Friday to block two cities? plans to expand high-speed internet services to their residents. > > USTelecom, which represents telecoms giants Verizon, AT&T and others, wants the FCC to block expansion of two popular municipally owned high-speed internet networks, one in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and the other in Wilson, North Carolina. > > ?The success of public broadband is a mixed record, with numerous examples of failures,? USTelecom said in a blogpost. ?With state taxpayers on the financial hook when a municipal broadband network goes under, it is entirely reasonable for state legislatures to be cautious in limiting or even prohibiting that activity.? > > Chattanooga has the largest high-speed internet service in the US, offering customers access to speeds of 1 gigabit per second ? about 50 times faster than the US average. The service, provided by municipally owned EPB, has sparked a tech boom in the city and attracted international attention. EPB is now petitioning the FCC to expand its territory. Comcast and other companies have previously sued unsuccessfully to stop EPB?s fibre optic roll out. > > Wilson, a town of a little more than 49,000 people, launched Greenlight, its own service offering high-speed internet, after complaints about the cost and quality of Time Warner cable?s service. Time Warner lobbied the North Carolina senate to outlaw the service and similar municipal efforts. > > USTelecom claims the FCC has no legal standing over the proposed expansions and does not have the power to preempt the North Carolina and Tennessee statutes that would prevent them. > > ?States have adopted a wide range of legislative approaches on how much authority they give local governments to build, own and operate broadband networks. Some states require an election or public hearings before a public project can move forward. Others ask for competitive bids, and still others put restrictions on the terms of service so the public entities bear the same regulatory burdens as private service providers,? said USTelecom. > > ?States are well within their rights to impose these restrictions, given the potential impact on taxpayers if public projects are not carefully planned and weighed against existing private investment.? > > In January this year, the FCC issued the ?Gigabit City Challenge?, calling on providers to offer gigabit service in at least one community in each state by 2015. The challenge has come amid intense lobbying from cable and telecoms firms to stop municipal rivals and new competitors including Google from building and expanding high speed networks. > > In a statement EPB said: ?Communities should have the right ? at the local level ? to determine their broadband futures. > > ?The private sector didn?t want to serve everyone, but public power companies like EPB were established to make sure that everyone had access to this critical infrastructure. ? > > ? This article was amended on 30 August 2014. Comcast is not a member of USTelecom, as was stated, and has not filed comments in the FCC proceeding to which the article refers. > From rforno at infowarrior.org Mon Sep 1 17:38:49 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Mon, 1 Sep 2014 18:38:49 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Fwd: Feynman Lectures now free online References: Message-ID: <353D868B-DBA8-4FB5-945D-D1720C9A5347@infowarrior.org> > Before the internet every physics student knew about the Feynman Lectures, but only a few could actually buy the three volumes. > After the internet, Caltech made them available online but the seeker still had to pay for them. Now they are free for the online text version. > > > > http://laist.com/2014/08/30/caltech_makes_famed_physicists_feyn.php > > Caltech Makes Famed Physicist's 'Feynman Lectures' Available Online For Free > > Caltech has made all three volumes of The Feynman Lectures On Physics, the celebrated textbook,available to read online for free. > > The site was first launched in September of 2013, with only Volume I: Mainly mechanics, radiation, and heat at first. But now, as KPCC has pointed out, the other two volumes, Mainly electromagnetism and matter and Quantum mechanics have now been posted. The site is even optimized to look good on a mobile or tablet device. Get your learn on! > > Richard P. Feynman, the Nobel laureate who was at Caltech from 1949 until the end of his life, is one of the most celebrated physicists and scientific minds of the 20th century. He would win the Nobel Prize in 1965 for his work in the field of quantum electrodynamics. Aside from his contributions to the world of physics, he also worked on the Manhattan Project and served on the commission that investigated the explosion of the Space Shuttle Challenger. > > His personality and enthusiasm made him a beloved figure, which helped to make the world of physics more accessible to the general population. He was known to ensure that students understood the material he was teaching, which earned him the nickname "The Great Explainer." > > The Feynman Lectures are based on lectures Feynman gave to undergrads at Caltech from 1961 to 1963 in order to serve as an updated and streamlined introductory course to physics in light the major advancements being made in the field. Because he only gave the lectures once, they were recorded and first published in three volumes in 1964. > > The textbooks have been printed in a dozen languages, and the English copies alone have sold over 1.5 million copies. Sections of the Lectures have been condensed into the books Six Easy Pieces andSix Not So Easy Pieces, and audio CDs released of all 103 hours of lectures that Feynman gave. > > Here's a video of Feynman giving the first of his series of seven lectures about physics at Cornell in 1964. You can watch the other six over at io9. Although an academic lecture, it's a great document of what made him so engaging. > > If you'd like something a little less heavy, here's a fun interview with him from 1981 touching on topics ranging from the beauty of the natural world to particle physics. It offers great insight into his enthusiasm. > > > > > http://feynmanlectures.caltech.edu > > The Feynman Lectures on Physics > Feynman ? Leighton ? Sands > > Caltech and The Feynman Lectures Website are pleased to present this online edition of The Feynman Lectures on Physics. Now, anyone with internet access and a web browser can enjoy reading a high quality up-to-date copy of Feynman's legendary lectures. > > However, we want to be clear that this edition is only free to read online, and this posting does not transfer any right to download all or any portion of The Feynman Lectures on Physics for any purpose. > > This edition has been designed for ease of reading on devices of any size or shape; text, figures and equations can all be zoomed without degradation. > > Volume I: mainly mechanics, radiation and heat > Volume II: mainly electromagnetism and matter > Volume III: quantum mechanics > From rforno at infowarrior.org Tue Sep 2 10:06:49 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2014 11:06:49 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - North Korean tactics in cyberwarfare exposed Message-ID: <8132C606-D874-433B-B9BF-5A226BC07B08@infowarrior.org> North Korean tactics in cyberwarfare exposed An HP report suggests the reclusive country's cyberwarfare capabilities are rapidly making it a threat to Western systems. ? by Charlie Osborne ? September 2, 2014 7:13 AM PDT http://www.cnet.com/news/north-korean-tactics-in-cyberwarfare-exposed/#ftag=CAD590a51e --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Tue Sep 2 11:09:55 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Tue, 2 Sep 2014 12:09:55 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - FBI Radio: Public Service or Self-Serving? Message-ID: FBI Radio: Public Service or Self-Serving? http://dailysignal.com/2014/09/02/fbi-radio-public-service-self-serving/ --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Thu Sep 4 06:27:19 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2014 07:27:19 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Red light camera industry fights citizen vote Message-ID: <1FD49085-C4F1-495B-9008-4F7E8724C3F5@infowarrior.org> Red light camera industry fights citizen vote http://www.wtsp.com/story/news/investigations/2014/09/03/ats-fights-brooksville-citizen-referendum-on-red-light-cameras/15013135/ Noah Pransky, WTSP 12:13 a.m. EDT September 4, 2014 BROOKSVILLE, Florida - You could call it a love triangle, except there is no love lost between the three parties fighting over red light cameras in one of Florida's smallest cities. Florida's leading red light camera-provider American Traffic Solutions confirms to 10 Investigates Wednesday that it has joined the fight to prevent a citizen-backed referendum on red light cameras from ever reaching a ballot. The city is also fighting the referendum on grounds that it infringes upon city council's power. However, the enemy of the city's enemy is not its friend in this case; the city is objecting to the intervention from the industry-backed group. As previously reported by 10 Investigates, Tampa law firm Carlton Fields Jorden Burt incorporated a group last week called "Keep Florida Roads Safe," and immediately filed lawsuits to prevent voters from having a say on red light cameras (RLC). The firm has represented ATS before, but would not reveal if it formed the new group on behalf of ATS. ATS, which has the majority of Florida' 70+ RLC contracts but not Brooksville's, appears concerned about a possible precedent-setting legal decision and citizen vote. American Traffic Solutions, which provides red light cameras, is fighting to prevent a citizen-backed referendum on the devices from reaching a ballot. The company, which has spent approximately $1 million lobbying Tallahassee the last three years alone, refused to comment on whether its "support" of Keep Florida Roads Safe included financial support. ATS' typically-forthcoming spokesman, Charley Territo, kept repeating a carefully-worded email statement, "ATS supports the coalition and its efforts to promote red-light safety cameras." Carlton Fields answered questions about the leadership and purpose of "Keep Florida Roads Safe" with a prepared statement Wednesday afternoon. The statement didn't give any hints as to whom incorporated the group, but said, "It is a non-profit entity whose purpose is to ensure that decision makers at all levels of government are educated about the relationship between state and local laws governing traffic safety...Keep Florida Roads Safe supports the city of Brooksville's position on their red-light safety camera program and stands ready to provide any assistance needed in their efforts to continue the important safety initiative." Texas attorney Andy Taylor, in Brooksville to represent the coalition, told 10 Investigates the coalition was made up of citizens and businesses that favored keeping cameras on Florida roads. However, he couldn't identify if any of the citizens were from Hernando County. "I don't know the addresses of the citizens - you can call the law firm (Carlton Fields) that helped me file the petition," Taylor said. "What I can tell you in confidence is that this organization is designed for one single purpose, and that is to keep the red light camera program going statewide because it saves lives." Taylor said he had worked on similar campaigns in numerous other states. 10 Investigates found similarly-named red light camera "advocacy" groups around the country, including: SaferCARoads.com, SaferCreoleRoads.com, SaferLouisianaRoads.com, SaferNewYork.com, SaferNYRoads.com,SaferTexasRoads.com, SaferTucson.com, TexasSafe.com, CreoleRoadSaftey.com, KeepIllionoisSafe.com,KeepJacksonSafe.com, KeepCaliforniaSafe.com, KeepCookCountySafe.com, KeepTennesseeSafe.com, KeepTNSafe.com,SafeCreoleRoads.com, SafeLouisianaRoads.com, SafeAmericanRoads.com, SaferCajunRoads.com, KeepNolaSafe.com,KeepNYCSafe.com, KeepLASafe.com, KeepLincolnSafe.com, KeepMesaSafe.com and KeepNassauSafe.com. In addition to suing the petition-gatherers, Keep Florida Roads Safe is also suing the county's Supervisor of Elections, Shirley Anderson, to prevent her office from putting a red light camera referendum on the county ballot. Anderson's attorney, Cliff Taylor, has filed a motion to remove her from the suit. "It amazes us that this small city can garner this much attention, except that we could set a precedent in Florida," Pat & Shirley Miketinac, the defendants who gathered the petitions, told 10 Investigates in an email. "Just imagine if the citizens found out that they could have a say in their own government. That might set a 'dangerous' precedent indeed!" "It's all about the money," said Hernando County Commissioner Jim Adkins, who used to work for the city of Brooksville. "Follow the money trail (to) find out what's going on." Cliff Taylor also serves as general counsel for the City of Brooksville, which maintains the ballot language is unconstitutional by restricting council's power to sign into future camera contracts. The Miketinacs are seeking to end the city's current red light camera contract with Sensys America and prohibit future city councils from ever entering into another RLC contract. Brooksville has developed a reputation for using the cameras to generate huge profits, mostly through over-aggressive right turn on red ticketing. The town of about 8,000 residents makes millions of dollars a year on RLC fines. On Wednesday, a Hernando County judge told the Miketinacs and the city to plan for a judgement hearing on October 14. It's still unclear if Keep Florida Roads Safe will be allowed to take part in the hearing. If the case needs to go to trial, it would take place no earlier than early December, leaving a special election the only hope for citizens looking to cast ballots on red light cameras. UPDATE: Red light camera critic and former Florida Highway Patrol officer Paul Henry filed a complaint with the state Wednesday, alleging Keep Florida Roads Safe was registered to 424 SW 7th St. in Miami, a 16-unit apartment complex with no designated apartment number. Because valid addresses are required, he is seeking to invalidate the group's incorporation records. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Thu Sep 4 06:27:25 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2014 07:27:25 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - When can FBI use National Security letters to go after reporters? Sorry, that's classified. Message-ID: <50412992-2AC4-4D2E-A445-FBB86C354363@infowarrior.org> When can FBI use National Security letters to go after reporters? Sorry, that's classified. http://boingboing.net/2014/09/03/when-can-fbi-use-national-secu.html --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Thu Sep 4 16:13:12 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2014 17:13:12 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Hacker Breached HealthCare.gov Message-ID: <11988159-F5CC-4F02-B088-CE2EB078E1DB@infowarrior.org> tl;dr version - reportedly via a default password still in the production system somewhere. ?rick Hacker Breached HealthCare.gov Insurance Site By DANNY YADRON CONNECT Sept. 4, 2014 4:04 p.m. ET http://online.wsj.com/articles/hacker-breached-healthcare-gov-insurance-site-1409861043 A hacker accessed a server used to test code for the HealthCare.gov website in July.Associated Press A hacker broke into part of the HealthCare.gov insurance enrollment website in July and uploaded malicious software, according to federal officials. Investigators found no evidence that consumers' personal data was taken in the breach, federal officials said. The hacker appears only to have accessed a server used to test code for HealthCare.gov. The Department of Health and Human Services discovered the attack last week. An HHS official said the attack appears to mark the first successful intrusion into the website, where millions of Americans bought insurance starting last year under the Affordable Care Act. It raised concerns among federal officials because of how easily the intruder gained access and how much damage could have occurred. "Our review indicates that the server did not contain consumer personal information; data was not transmitted outside the agency, and the website was not specifically targeted," the Department of Health and Human Services said in a written statement. "We have taken measures to further strengthen security." The attack comes as the federal government and insurance companies prepare for open enrollment, which begins Nov. 15. It is likely to be seized on by Republican lawmakers, who oppose the law, in fall campaigns as another sign of the health law's flaws. HealthCare.gov suffered from crippling technology problems when it launched in October, though the government has since improved the site. Taken with recent data thefts from J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., Home Depot Inc., HD+1.04% and celebrities' iPhones, the HealthCare.gov hack further underscores that large organizations haven't yet mastered how to secure the troves of data they collect from consumers. The White House and Congressional staff have been briefed on the matter, officials said. The Department of Homeland Security, Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency have aided the investigation, which is active. The FBI traced the attack to several Internet addresses?some overseas?but doesn't think it is the work of a state-backed actor, officials said. "There is no indication that any data was compromised at this time," DHS spokesman S.Y. Lee said in a written statement. "DHS will continue to monitor the situation and help develop and implement precautionary mitigation strategies as necessary." As an insurance enrollment portal, HealthCare.gov stores deeply personal details on Americans, including Social Security numbers, financial data and names of family members. None of that appeared to gain the still unknown hacker's interest, officials said. Rather, investigators found that in July, the intruder did just one thing: install malware on a HealthCare.gov server so it could be used in future cyberattacks against other websites, federal officials said. Hackers often take over troves of computers and servers to direct mischief traffic at websites. The rush of traffic, known as a denial of service attack, overwhelms the site and knocks it offline. Such types of cyberattacks are considered a nuisance and, if discovered at a private company, it is likely the firm wouldn't disclose the incident, cybersecurity attorneys have said. "If this happened anywhere other than HealthCare.gov, it wouldn't be news," a senior DHS official said. Investigators found that the hacker was scanning both federal and private websites for a certain type of server that the person would then hack. This suggests the hacker wasn't targeting the health-care website, the official said. Washington officials said they are concerned that an intruder gained access to the HealthCare.gov network through a basic security flaw. The server accessed had such low security settings because it was never meant to be connected to the Internet, the HHS official said. When the hacker broke in, it was only guarded by a default password, which often is easy to crack. "There was a door left open," the official said. The department discovered the break in weeks later on Aug. 25 during a daily security scan. Buried amid lines of computer log files was data showing the test server had been contacted by the outside Internet, which wasn't supposed to happen. HHS said it has taken cybersecurity seriously since launching HealthCare.gov nearly a year ago. The site undergoes quarterly security audits from Blue Canopy Group LLC, a private security company in Reston, Va. It also undergoes daily security scans and drill hacking exercises. Lawmakers first raised security concerns about the website when it launched. At the time, then-Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius said the department had a plan in the event of a security breach. Other hacking attempts reportedly have been made but none appear to have been successful before this. Write to Danny Yadron at danny.yadron at wsj.com --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Thu Sep 4 17:19:30 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2014 18:19:30 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - The information Google doesn't want you to organize Message-ID: The information Google doesn't want you to organize: Column Thomas R. Burke and Jonathan Segal 10:17 a.m. EDT September 4, 2014 http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/09/04/google-spying-advertising-privacy-column/15051241/ Once the fact was out, the internet giant tried to get a judge to help them hide it again. Back in February, in a San Jose courtroom, a bombshell was dropped that could have been erased from the public record. It turns out that Google, which bases its business on collecting and analyzing huge reams of data for advertising purposes, has been scanning users' emails even before users have a chance to open or read them, including email messages that are deleted without being opened. Google knows what's in your email before you do. The revelation came in a now-settled legal dispute over Google's Gmail service. Dozens of the nation's largest newspapers and media companies fought to make sure that the case ? and its wide-ranging implications for Internet users ? received a full public airing. It has been an unfolding drama ever since, affecting what analysts estimate are 500 million Gmail users worldwide. Google tried, and failed, to redact information about its email scanning process from a transcript of a public court hearing. Last month, the judge in the case ruled that portions of the transcript from that February hearing could not be redacted retroactively, since that would be tantamount to closing a public courtroom. The company's attempt ? akin to putting toothpaste back into a tube ? was a reversal of its previous position in the lawsuit, a pledge that there would be a "fully public airing of the issues raised by plaintiffs' motion for class certification." The NSA recently used the very same tactic when it tried to secretly delete portions of a public court transcript in a lawsuit filed against its surveillance practices. As a result, we now know much more about how Google collects personal information from users of Gmail and Google Apps and, in this case, how it plugged a critical gap in its data mining operation to sweep up even more of your information. Here's what happened: Back in 2010, Google was facing a vexing problem. It was losing out on a treasure trove of personal information from millions of Gmail users who were slipping through its chief analytical tool, known as "Content OneBox." Anytime they accessed their email through Outlook or on their iPhone, Google's data machine wasn't there to capture it all. So it needed a way to sidestep the problem. Within a matter of months, the company shrewdly moved the Content OneBox from Gmail's storage area to the "delivery pipeline" ? meaning that it could now scan messages before they were received. As the plaintiffs explained: "Google made a choice. They said, you know what, when people are accessing emails by an iPhone, we are not able to get their information. When people aren't opening their emails or they are deleting them, we are not able to get their information. When people are using Google Apps accounts where ads are disabled, we are not able to get that information. When people are accessing Gmail through some other email provider, we are not able to get that information. So what they did is they took a device that was in existence already and operating just fine back in the storage area, and they moved it to the delivery pipeline." This move has sweeping consequences, as Chris Hoofnagle, director of privacy programs at Berkeley's Center for Law & Technology, has described: "Hiding ads while analyzing data takes advantage of a key deficit users have around internet services: users only perceive profiling if they receive ads. The content one box infrastructure would allow Google to understand the meaning of all of our communications: the identities of the people with whom we collaborate, the compounds of drugs we are testing, the next big thing we are inventing, etc. Imagine the creative product of all of Berkeley combined, scanned by a single company's 'free' email system." Google's stated goal is to "organize the world's information," but they fought to avoid disclosing how and why they've done it. Now we know. Thomas R. Burke and Jonathan Segal of Davis Wright Tremaine represented media companies, including the corporate parent of USA Today, Gannett Co. Inc, in the Google Gmail litigation. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Thu Sep 4 17:19:36 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Thu, 4 Sep 2014 18:19:36 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - The Very Strange New DoD Detainee Directive Message-ID: <322A262B-B6B8-4A7F-B981-2838735E9CEA@infowarrior.org> The Very Strange New DoD Detainee Directive http://justsecurity.org/14608/dod-detainee-directive/ --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Fri Sep 5 09:36:24 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Fri, 5 Sep 2014 10:36:24 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - =?windows-1252?q?The_U=2ES=2E_Government=92s_Secr?= =?windows-1252?q?et_Plans_to_Spy_for_American_Corporations?= Message-ID: The U.S. Government?s Secret Plans to Spy for American Corporations https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/05/us-governments-plans-use-economic-espionage-benefit-american-corporations/ --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Sat Sep 6 08:45:05 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2014 09:45:05 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Legal memos released on Bush-era justification for warrantless wiretapping Message-ID: <29E55AED-F57F-4039-99B8-EE829028ADE9@infowarrior.org> Legal memos released on Bush-era justification for warrantless wiretapping By Ellen Nakashima September 6 at 12:15 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/legal-memos-released-on-bush-era-justification-for-warrantless-wiretapping/2014/09/05/91b86c52-356d-11e4-9e92-0899b306bbea_story.html The Justice Department released two decade-old memos Friday night, offering the fullest public airing to date of the Bush administration?s legal justification for the warrantless wiretapping of Americans? phone calls and e-mails ? a program that began in secret after the 2001 terrorist attacks. The broad outlines of the argument ? that the president has inherent constitutional power to monitor Americans? communications without a warrant in a time of war ? were known, but the sweep of the reasoning becomes even clearer in the memos written by then-Assistant Attorney General Jack Goldsmith, who was head of President George W. Bush?s Office of Legal Counsel. ?We conclude only that when the nation has been thrust into an armed conflict by a foreign attack on the United States and the president determines in his role as commander in chief .?.?. that it is essential for defense against a further foreign attack to use the [wiretapping] capabilities of the [National Security Agency] within the United States, he has inherent constitutional authority? to order warrantless wiretapping ? ?an authority that Congress cannot curtail,? Goldsmith wrote in a redacted 108-page memo dated May 6, 2004. The program, code-named Stellar Wind, enabled the NSA to collect communications on U.S. soil when at least one party was believed to be a member of al-Qaeda or an al-Qaeda affiliate, and at least one end of the communication was overseas. Its existence was revealed in 2005 by the New York Times, setting off great controversy, and the program was finally brought under court oversight in 2007. ?What these memos show is that nearly three years after President Bush authorized the warrantless wiretapping of Americans? e-mails and phone calls, government lawyers were still struggling to put the program on sound legal footing,? said Patrick Toomey, staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, which obtained the memos through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. ?Their conclusions are deeply disturbing,? he said. ?They suggest that the president?s power to monitor the communications of Americans is virtually unlimited ? by the Constitution, or by Congress ? when it comes to foreign intelligence.? Goldsmith argued that Congress?s 2001 Authorization for the Use of Military Force passed shortly after the al-Qaeda attacks on the United States provided ?express authority? for the warrantless program. ?In authorizing ?all necessary and appropriate force,??? he reasoned, the AUMF necessarily applied to electronic surveillance, including domestically. He also asserted that the authorization can be read to ?provide specific authority .?.?. that overrides the limitations? of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, a law passed in 1978 that required a court order to wiretap an American or any person on U.S. soil. So broad is the president?s Article II power, that he can conduct warrantless searches for foreign intelligence purposes without congressional approval ?even in peacetime,? Goldsmith stated, citing Supreme Court cases and the Federalist papers. In a second memo, dated July 16, 2004 , Goldsmith argued that a Supreme Court decision reached weeks earlier, involving a U.S. citizen named Yaser Esam Hamdi captured on the battlefield in Afghanistan, bolstered the reasoning of his first memo. Five justices in the decision, he said, agreed that Hamdi?s detention was authorized because it is a ?fundamental? and ?accepted? incident of waging war, he said. ?Because the interception of enemy communications for intelligence purposes is also a fundamental and long-accepted incident of war, the [AUMF] likewise provides authority for Stellar Wind,? he said. The Hamdi decision, Toomey noted, did not make any mention of wiretapping or intelligence collection on U.S. soil. The memos were written at a time of high-level internal debate about the legality of the surveillance programs. And the unredacted portions do not reveal much analysis about what was reported to have been at the time the most controversial of the programs: the NSA?s bulk collection of e-mail metadata, or mass gathering of information such as the to-from lines in an e-mail. In March 2004, the OLC concluded the e-mail program was not legal, and then-Acting Attorney General James Comey refused to reauthorize it. That refusal resulted in a dramatic showdown that month between Attorney General John Ashcroft, who was in the hospital with a severe pancreatic ailment, and White House counsel Alberto Gonzales, who had rushed to Ashcroft?s hospital bedside in a futile attempt to persuade him to reauthorize the e-mail program. In July 2004, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court authorized the program under a theory that bulk e-mail collection could be relevant to a terrorism investigation. That program was shut down in 2011. ?Unfortunately, the sweeping surveillance they sought to justify is not a thing of the past,? Toomey said. ?The government?s legal rationales have shifted over time, but some of today?s surveillance programs are even broader and more intrusive than those put in place more than a decade ago by President Bush.? The warrantless program was placed under statute in 2007 and 2008 by Congress. The current program, known as Section 702 of the FISA Amendments Act, gives the government authority to collect communications on U.S. soil when the target is believed to be a foreigner overseas ? not just for purposes of countering terrorism, but also for broader foreign intelligence purposes. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Sat Sep 6 13:55:56 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2014 14:55:56 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Andrew Kay, Pioneer in Computing, Dies at 95 Message-ID: <7B4563B7-E928-4770-B668-06D3B047224A@infowarrior.org> Andrew Kay, Pioneer in Computing, Dies at 95 By JOHN MARKOFF SEPT. 5, 2014 http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/06/business/andrew-kay-pioneer-in-computing-dies-at-95.html Andrew Kay, the designer of an early portable computer, the Kaypro II, that became a smash hit in the early 1980s before his company fell into bankruptcy in the ?90s as the computer industry leapfrogged ahead of him, died Aug. 28 in Vista, Calif. He was 95. His death was confirmed by his son Allan. For a time, Mr. Kay?s company, Kaypro, was the world?s largest portable computer maker, ranked fourth in the PC industry over all behind IBM, Apple Computer and RadioShack. Early on, the Kaypro II developed a loyal following. Arthur C. Clarke used a Kaypro to write his novel ?2010: Odyssey Two?; Stephen M. Case, who would become chief executive of America Online, bought one as his first computer, adding a 300-baud modem to explore the fledgling online world. ?The Kaypro computer was a necessary step in getting to the iPad,? Paul Freiberger, co-author of ?Fire in the Valley: The Making of the Personal Computer,? said in an interview on Friday. ?Back then few thought of making a computer you could carry around. It was loved because he got almost everything right.? The Kaypro II burst onto the scene in 1982 at the West Coast Computer Faire in San Francisco. The hobbyist phase of the industry was just ending, and although IBM had entered the personal computer market the previous year, portable computers were still a novelty. The 1981 exposition was dominated by Adam Osborne?s trailblazing Osborne I computer, which weighed 24 pounds, had a five-inch display and came with a handful of programs for what was then a breakthrough price: $1,795. The next year Mr. Kay?s boxy computer appeared at the same event, downstairs in a tiny booth in what was normally an underground parking garage. The Kaypro II generated a great deal of enthusiasm by surpassing many of the Osborne?s features. Both machines were described as ?luggables? and were the size of portable sewing machines. But the Kaypro?s case was rugged metal, in contrast to the Osborne?s plastic shell, and it had a nine-inch cathode ray tube display. It weighed 29 pounds and, like the Osborne I, sold for $1,795. Later that year, Mr. Kay?s fledgling company benefited when Mr. Osborne announced plans for a new model, effectively killing sales of the firm?s existing machine. This failure of business strategy became famously known as the ?Osborne effect.? By the end of 1983, Mr. Osborne?s company was bankrupt. Neither the Osborne I nor the Kaypro II initially ran the MS-DOS operating system, which would ultimately be an Achilles? heel as the software world catalyzed around the IBM PC and the software platform Microsoft had developed for it. Mr. Kay came to the personal computer industry when he observed that his son-in-law was having trouble moving a bulky Apple II that came with a separate monitor. It occurred to him that an all-in-one machine would be more portable. At the time, Mr. Kay owned a small company that made electronics test equipment for the aerospace industry in Southern California. The idea for a portable computer arrived just in the nick of time. His firm, Non-Linear Systems, had originally grown on the strength of the military and space industries. But after the Apollo space program ended in the early ?70s, the company foundered and lost money for a number of years. Kaypro?s revenue exceeded $120 million in 1985. But the company never successfully made the transition to the IBM-compatible world. It filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in 1990, and Mr. Kay, putting up $250,000 of his family?s money, asserted, ?We?ll build up our independent dealer base and do it again.? Kaypro was not able to emerge from bankruptcy, however, and its assets were liquidated in 1992. Andrew Francis Kopischiansky was born on Jan. 22, 1919, in Akron, Ohio, and received an engineering degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1940. After moving to California in 1949, he went to work at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, where he was involved in the Redstone rocket development program. His family changed its surname to Kay that same year. He founded Non-Linear Systems in 1952 and invented the digital voltmeter in 1954 after he decided that analog voltmeters, which displayed current values with a movable needle, were not accurate enough. Mr. Kay?s voltmeter used a system of lights to display numeric values. In addition to his son Allan, his survivors include another son, David; two daughters, Janice Kay Batter and Nancy Egli; and 14 grandchildren. Allan Kay said his father was first and foremost an inventor. The Kay children, he recalled, were able to watch ?Hopalong Cassidy? on a homemade television projection system, with the picture displayed on a plywood board that was painted white and hung on the wall of the family home. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Sat Sep 6 16:14:48 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2014 17:14:48 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Daisy - 50 Years Later Message-ID: <70C6B535-F58B-4D69-B2A4-B6B6E5046312@infowarrior.org> Daisy - 50 Years Later http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/233589/daisy-50-years-later.html?edition=75880 < - > Fifty years on, there are many lessons to be derived from the Daisy spot. It was remarkable for its use of powerful symbols and its simplicity: a little girl counting petals, an atomic bomb exploding (reminding viewers that many little girls, including their own children, would be killed in a nuclear war), and a suggestion that one person running for president would be more likely to protect the little girls. It also illustrates a principle that Tony Schwartz would later write about. Some of the most powerful messages in advertising are not in the ad -- they are in the heads and attitudes of viewers -- but are evoked by the advertising. Tony Schwartz called this the responsive chord principle. He used it time and again in the ads he created for commercial products, politicians and public service campaigns. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Sat Sep 6 21:43:08 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Sat, 6 Sep 2014 22:43:08 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Stop and seize Message-ID: Stop and seize Aggressive police take hundreds of millions of dollars from motorists not charged with crimes http://www.washingtonpost.com/sf/investigative/2014/09/06/stop-and-seize/ --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Mon Sep 8 09:08:20 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Mon, 8 Sep 2014 10:08:20 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Comcast Wi-Fi serving self-promotional ads via JavaScript injection Message-ID: (c/o SL) Comcast Wi-Fi serving self-promotional ads via JavaScript injection The practice raises security, net neutrality issues as FCC mulls Internet reforms. by David Kravets - Sept 8 2014, 8:00am EDT http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/09/why-comcasts-javascript-ad-injections-threaten-security-net-neutrality/ --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Tue Sep 9 07:47:18 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2014 08:47:18 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - DC IG skewers city speed camera/enforcement practices Message-ID: (And rightfully so. Worth skimming or reading if you drive through/to DC regularly. --rick) A new report from the D.C. Office of the Inspector General finds that when drivers get a speed camera or parking ticket in the District of Columbia, they're presumed guilty until they can prove themselves innocent. < - > http://www.wtop.com/654/3697614/Report-Ticketed-drivers-guilty-until-proven-innocent-in-DC From rforno at infowarrior.org Tue Sep 9 08:01:45 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2014 09:01:45 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - BBC: ISPs Should Assume Heavy VPN Users are Pirates Message-ID: The level of fail in this sentiment defies belief anywhere except in the deluded minds of entertainment industry and techno-ignorant politicians. ---rick BBC: ISPs Should Assume Heavy VPN Users are Pirates ? By Andy ? on September 8, 2014 In a submission to the Australian Government on the issue of online piracy, the BBC Worldwide indicates that ISPs should be obliged to monitor their customers' activities. Service providers should become suspicious that customers could be pirating if they use VPN-style services and consume a lot of bandwidth, the BBC says. < - > http://torrentfreak.com/bbc-isps-should-assume-heavy-vpn-users-are-pirates-140908/ --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Tue Sep 9 08:32:02 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2014 09:32:02 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Ratcheting up the fear Message-ID: Americans Now Fear ISIS Sleeper Cells Are Living in the U.S., Overwhelmingly Support Military Action By Glenn Greenwald https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/08/lesson-americans-refuse-learn-war/ < - > " If the goal of terrorist groups is to sow irrational terror, has anything since the 9/11 attack been more successful than those two journalist beheading videos? It?s almost certainly the case that as recently as six months ago, only a minute percentage of the American public (and probably the U.S. media) had even heard of ISIS. Now, two brutal beheadings later, they are convinced that they are lurking in their neighborhoods, that they are a Grave and Unprecedented Threat (worse than al Qaeda!), and that military action against them is needed. It?s as though ISIS and the U.S. media and political class worked in perfect unison to achieve the same goal here when it comes to American public opinion: fully terrorize them." < - > --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Wed Sep 10 16:38:54 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 17:38:54 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - =?windows-1252?q?DHS_will_ask_stores_to_watch_cus?= =?windows-1252?q?tomers=92_buying_habits_for_terrorist_clues?= Message-ID: DHS will ask stores to watch customers? buying habits for terrorist clues By Stephen Dinan - The Washington Times - Wednesday, September 10, 2014 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/sep/10/dhs-will-ask-stores-watch-customers-buying-habits/ Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said his department will be issuing new guidance to retailers this week giving them pointers on how to spot potential terrorists among their customers by looking at what they?re buying. While saying the government cannot prohibit sales of some everyday materials, Mr. Johnson said retailers should be trained to look for anyone who buys a lot from what he described as a ?long list of materials that could be used as explosive precursors.? He said it was an extension of the ?If you see something, say something? campaign launched by his predecessor, former Secretary Janet Napolitano, which tries to enlist average Americans to be aware of their immediate environment. ?We can?t and we shouldn?t prohibit the sale of a pressure cooker. We can sensitize retail businesses to be on guard for suspicious behavior by those who buy this kind of stuff,? Mr. Johnson said during a question-and-answer session after a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations. Other than pressure cookers, Mr. Johnson did not say what other products might appear on the guidance that will be sent to retailers. Mr. Johnson said he is aware of the tenuous balance between security and freedom, and does not want to upset it with his moves. He also said there is no current credible information indicating that Islamic State militants, who are on the advance in Iraq and Syria, are plotting immediate attacks in the U.S. He said, though, that there is a potential long-term threat, particularly given the number of foreign fighters from countries that have visa waiver privileges from the U.S. He said the government should be looking for patterns in someone?s travel or purchasing that raise questions ? particularly if they are buying what he called ?explosive precursors.? The Boston Marathon bombers used pressure cookers to create crude improvised explosive devices. The prospect had been considered by Homeland Security officials as far back as a decade ago, when the department issued a bulletin warning of the home appliance?s potential use as a terrorist device. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Wed Sep 10 16:48:05 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 17:48:05 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - USG dumps USIS for clearance investigations Message-ID: Security clearance contractor to lose gov't work Wednesday - 9/10/2014, 5:46pm ET STEPHEN BRAUN Associated Press http://www.wtop.com/289/3698640/US-cancels-security-clearance-contract WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal Office of Personnel Management plans to terminate its massive contracts with USIS, the major security clearance contractor targeted last month by a cyberattack, agency, congressional and company officials say. The computer network intrusion compromised the personal files of as many as 25,000 government workers. An OPM official said Tuesday that agency officials decided not to renew USIS' background investigations and support contracts "following a careful and comprehensive review." The OPM oversees background investigation contracting for most federal agencies. The official said the move would not preclude some other agencies from still working with the firm. The early August cyberattack against USIS' computer network compromised the files of 25,000 Homeland Security Department workers and is under investigation by the FBI. The OPM official spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details of the internal contracting changes. USIS has said it was targeted by what it described as a "state-sponsored attack." Marnee Banks, spokeswoman for Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., said OPM officials notified Tester's office earlier in the day that the agency had decided to sever its relationship with USIS by the end of September. Tester also confirmed the move, saying: "This news is a welcome sign that the federal government is finally beginning to hold contractors accountable for taking millions in federal money and then failing to get the job done for the taxpayer." USIS also acknowledged the OPM move late Tuesday, saying it was notified by the agency that OPM "is declining to exercise its remaining options on USIS' background investigation fieldwork and background investigation support services" expiring on Sept. 30. "We are deeply disappointed with OPM's decision, particularly given the excellent work our 3,000 employees have delivered on these contracts," the firm said through a spokeswoman, Ellen Davis. "While we disagree with the decision and are reviewing it, we intend to fulfill our obligations to ensure an orderly transition." The OPM move to sever its relationship with USIS was a stunning development for a company that itself started out as a branch of OPM and then went private as the federal government relied increasingly on contractors to assess the backgrounds of its growing ranks of national security officials. At its height, the Virginia-based USIS performed background investigations on almost half of 5 million government workers who require national security clearances. The firm also provides office and logistics support for numerous federal agencies. An internal OPM email sent to other federal agencies Tuesday and obtained by The Associated Press said all cases that were pending with USIS would be redistributed to government investigators and the USIS contract would be awarded to a new contractor. The agency temporarily halted all of USIS' fieldwork last month after the cyberattack in early August from an unidentified foreign nation that exposed thousands of personal and financial records belonging to DHS workers. In the email, the OPM acknowledged an "adverse impact on the timeliness of investigations" since the stop-work order was issued. DHS officials also issued "stop-work orders halting the provision of additional sensitive information" to USIS in August. That order was to remain in place until the agency regained confidence that the contractor could protect its sensitive material, DHS officials said. The firm has been repeatedly on the defensive in recent months. The Justice Department filed a civil complaint in January against USIS alleging that the firm defrauded the government by submitting at least 665,000 security clearance investigations that had not been properly completed and then tried to cover up its actions. USIS replied in a statement at the time that the allegations dealt with a small group of employees and that the company had appointed a new leadership team and enhanced oversight and was cooperating with the Justice probe. The firm has also been criticized in Congress for its handling of the background investigations into NSA systems analyst Edward Snowden and Aaron Alexis, the military contract employee who killed 12 people during a mass shooting spree at the Washington Navy Yard in September 2013. The company responded earlier this week on its website that its investigations of Snowden and Alexis were conducted properly and tied the company's previous problems to company officers no longer with the firm. USIS also emphasized that it had "self-reported" the cyber strike to federal officials and hired a forensics computer firm to investigate the attack. USIS also claimed that other contractors were taking advantage of its recent problems to take over its government work. FCi Federal, which had previously performed security checks for the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services, filed a protest against the immigration agency's decision earlier this year to switch to USIS. Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Wed Sep 10 18:51:59 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Wed, 10 Sep 2014 19:51:59 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Pew Survey: Security trumping civil liberties Message-ID: <2592F6D6-9313-474C-B2C7-B0646210F7F5@infowarrior.org> Growing Concern about Rise of Islamic Extremism at Home and Abroad More Prioritize Security over Civil Liberties in Anti-Terror Policies < - > http://www.people-press.org/2014/09/10/growing-concern-about-rise-of-islamic-extremism-at-home-and-abroad/ --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Thu Sep 11 07:14:15 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 08:14:15 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - The Congressional Hyperbole Caucus Message-ID: The Congressional Hyperbole Caucus By Dan Froomkin @froomkin Yesterday at 3:53 PM https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/10/congressional-hyperbole-caucus/ When judging the hyperbole emerging from Capitol Hill about the Islamic State, you must keep this in mind: ?The threat ISIS poses cannot be overstated.? That?s what Sen. Dianne Feinstein, the California Democrat who chairs the Senate intelligence committee, wrote in a USA Today op-ed on Sunday. In other words, there can be no hyperbole. In what is therefore, by definition, understatement, Feinstein called the Islamic State ?the most vicious, well-funded and militant terrorist organization we have ever seen.? She expressed sympathy for those who don?t fully appreciate its horror ? yet. ?I recognize the reluctance of many Americans to engage in another war in the Middle East. But it is imperative that every American is fully cognizant of how dangerous and deadly ISIS really is,? she wrote. ?Americans need to understand ISIS? degree of viciousness as well as what will happen in the absence of U.S. leadership and action? [W]e could suffer the consequences for decades to come.? New Jersey Democratic Sen. Robert Menendez told Fox News on Sunday: ?ISIS is a savage terrorist organization that has to be defeated before they can create the operational wherewithal to conduct a September 11th-like tragedy.? This despite the fact that national security officials have seen no sign of domestic threats posed by the Islamic State. Rep. Steve Cohen (D-TN) got all metaphorical on Fox News earlier today: ?ISIS is, in kind of a scary way, it?s like something Ian Fleming created. It?s like Dr. No,? he said. ?It?s the evil empire that is not a nation, just an evil group of people, or an evil individual at the head, that?s a threat to the free world. It?s like privatized terrorism; a public-private partnership.? ?It ought to be pretty clear when they start cutting off the heads of journalists and say they?re going to fly the black flag of ISIS over the White House that ISIS is a clear and present danger,? said Florida Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson. But here?s the thing: Democrats do actually come off as somewhat understated ? in comparison to their GOP colleagues. ?It is a real menace to our moving forward as a peaceful society,? Sen. Roy Blunt (R-MO) told a St. Louis radio audience today. ?Where they are, in Syria and Northern Iraq, puts them on the back door of Europe.? Writing in the National Review, Rep. Mike Pompeo (R-KS) called the Islamic State ?an existential threat to America.? The U.S., he wrote, is ?the target of the most lethal and powerful terrorist group ever to have existed.? He warned: ?The Islamic State has apparently gained control of several dozen kilograms of radioactive material from research institutions in Mosul, Iraq. It cannot be made into a nuclear bomb, but it could be used in a ?dirty bomb? to contaminate a wide area with radioactivity.? (Wrong.) And the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, Jim Inhofe (R-OK), told a TV station in August: ?We?re in the most dangerous position we?ve ever been in as a nation.? That?s ever. ?They?re crazy out there and they are rapidly developing a method of blowing up a major U.S. city and people just can?t believe that?s happening,? Inhofe said, evidently incredulous about the naivete of his fellow Americans. Photo: MGM Studios Email the author: dan.froomkin From rforno at infowarrior.org Thu Sep 11 07:16:42 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 08:16:42 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Regarding brutal war imagery Message-ID: <2E9E9C2E-B88A-4F01-BABD-6900BC62B66D@infowarrior.org> (I must admit agreeing w/the logic in Maass's article here. --rick) Why More Americans Should See the Beheading Videos By Peter Maass https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/10/case-for-watching-beheading-videos/ Beheading is barbaric. The men of the Islamic State who executed James Foley and Steve Sotloff are monsters. Yet their monstrosity does not fully explain our fury over their beheading videos, or the exhortations we have heard to not share or distribute the harrowing images. We are right to be repulsed. But I think part of our horror stems from the fact we rarely see images of American victims of war. It is the last taboo in our era of endlessly transgressive media ? publishing photos or videos of injured, dying, or dead Americans in a war zone. How has this taboo been maintained? To a great degree, the reason is censorship on the part of the American government. By shielding us from disturbing imagery, our government may have made us all the more vulnerable when we finally see dead Americans. It is an oddity of all of the violence since 9/11: Despite constant warfare and the death of more than 5,000 American soldiers (a figure that does not include American contractors, aid workers, and journalists) ? not to mention the more than 50,000 wounded ? we have rarely seen photos or videos of Americans in their ultimate agony. Photographers embedded with American troops have been all but forbidden from taking pictures of dead or wounded soldiers; Michael Kamber?s Photojournalists on War is filled with tales of war photographers prevented from doing their necessary work. Until 2009, it was even forbidden to take photographs of flag-draped coffins as they returned home. I once had a minor encounter with the machinery of censorship: On a military flight out of Baghdad in 2005, a military police officer confiscated my camera after I took a few shots of the coffins on board. He returned the device after deleting the pictures. < - > In the end, it is a strange twist: Instead of pushing us away from war, as the Vietnam generals feared, images of American casualties are now driving us into the vortex. Would seeing more of it really help? Instead of reasoned discussion, might there be more howls for revenge? Or might there be shrugs of seen-it-before indifference, as Susan Sontag warned in her 2002 New Yorker essay, ?Looking at War?? I wish we didn?t have to ask these questions ? that there were no loathsome images to flash on our screens ? and I wish we didn?t have a responsibility to look and think deeply. But we do, if the depravity of war is to be understood and, hopefully, dealt with. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Thu Sep 11 16:47:17 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 17:47:17 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - U.S. threatened massive fine to force Yahoo to release data Message-ID: <9A2C0E54-66C3-4368-923B-2CDFE4E9912B@infowarrior.org> U.S. threatened massive fine to force Yahoo to release data By Craig Timberg September 11 at 4:16 PM http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/us-threatened-massive-fine-to-force-yahoo-to-release-data/2014/09/11/38a7f69e-39e8-11e4-9c9f-ebb47272e40e_story.html The U.S. government threatened to fine Yahoo $250,000 a day in 2008 if it failed to comply with a broad demand to hand over user data that the company believed was unconstitutional, according to court documents unsealed Thursday that illuminate how federal officials forced American tech companies to participate in the NSA?s controversial PRISM program. The documents, roughly 1,500 pages worth, outline a secret and ultimately unsuccessful legal battle by Yahoo to resist the government?s demands. The company?s loss required Yahoo to become one of the first companies to begin providing information to PRISM, a program that gave the National Security Agency extensive access to records of online communications by users of Yahoo and other U.S.-based technology firms. ?The released documents underscore how we had to fight every step of the way to challenge the U.S. Government?s surveillance efforts,? said company General Counsel Ron Bell in a Tumblr post published Thursday afternoon. The program, which was discontinued in 2011, was first revealed by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden last year, prompting intense backlash and a wrenching national debate over allegations of overreach in government surveillance. Federal Judge William C. Bryson, presiding judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, ordered the documents from the legal battle unsealed on Thursday as part of a broad effort by the court system to declassify the arguments that formed the legal foundation for PRISM. The original order to Yahoo came in 2007 and set off alarms at the company because of the sweep of its requests and its side-stepping of the traditional requirement that each target be subject to court review before surveillance could begin. The order, Yahoo officials said, required only that the target be outside of the United States at the time, even if the person was a U.S. citizen. The company challenged the order on constitutional grounds but lost repeatedly, both at the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court and an appeals court, the Foreign Intelligence Court of Review. The government requested and obtained permission to share the ruling with other companies as it gradually pressured most of the major players in the American tech industry ? including Google, Apple and Facebook ? to comply with the data demands. The requests concerned not the content of e-mails but what it called ?metadata,? which detailed who users exchange e-mails with and when. It is not known if e-mail collection continues in some other form. The ACLU, which had supported Yahoo?s legal fight in 2008, applauded Thursday?s move to release the documents but said it was long overdue. ?The public can?t understand what a law means if it doesn?t know how the courts are interpreting that law,? said Patrick Toomey, a staff attorney with the ACLU?s national Security Project. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Fri Sep 12 06:47:31 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 07:47:31 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - San Diego school district acquires MRAP Message-ID: <705CEC99-DE8B-43C1-8575-0CD4D870BFDE@infowarrior.org> Can't.....brain.....this. ---rick San Diego school district acquires MRAP (basically a tank) from Dept. of Defense http://boingboing.net/2014/09/11/san-diego-school-district-acqu.html --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Fri Sep 12 06:48:54 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 07:48:54 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - DOJ IG: FBI hampering its investigation Message-ID: <27030920-2778-4704-B117-8A0166DFBF92@infowarrior.org> Justice Department inspector says FBI not providing documents it needs for investigations Associated Press Sept. 9, 2014 | 1:31 p.m. EDT + More By ERIC TUCKER, Associated Press http://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2014/09/09/justice-dept-watchdog-complains-of-interference WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Justice Department's inspector general said Tuesday that his staff is routinely blocked from getting access to documents it needs for audits and reviews of the department and its law enforcement agencies. The interference causes delays in investigations and has several times required the intervention of Attorney General Eric Holder to ensure that the records are ultimately turned over, Michael Horowitz, the inspector general, told members of Congress. Horowitz's appearance before the House Judiciary Committee came one month after nearly 50 inspectors general from a broad spectrum of federal agencies complained in a letter to Congress about similar obstruction from the departments they monitor. In the last few years, the FBI has denied access to records that should be provided under federal law, including grand jury materials, an organizational chart and electronic surveillance information, Horowitz testified. He said the refusal to grant routine requests stalls investigations, including a recent one on FBI material witnesses, such that officials who are under review have sometimes retired or left the agencies before the report is complete. The inspector general's office has in several instances received the requested information only after Holder, or Deputy Attorney General Jim Cole, have granted permission. "We should be able to get direct access to information," Horowitz said. If a witness wants to directly approach the inspector general's office with information, they should be able to do so, he said. "We shouldn't have to go make a request to the legal counsel, have them go look through the documents and get them eventually ? hopefully," he added. The Justice Department in May asked its Office of Legal Counsel to issue a legal opinion addressing the objections raised by the FBI. The FBI did not immediately respond to a request seeking comment. "This is so outrageous," said Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah. "The inspector general should have unfettered access to all the information they want. And when it's gotten to the point when they can't even see an organizational chart, it's reached the level of absurdity that must be addressed immediately." Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Fri Sep 12 10:53:22 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Fri, 12 Sep 2014 11:53:22 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Congresswoman: "I'm Glad People Have This 9/11 Mentality Again" Message-ID: Posted without comment.... Congresswoman: "I'm Glad People Have This 9/11 Mentality Again" http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-09-12/congresswoman-im-glad-people-have-911-mentality-again --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Sat Sep 13 07:49:24 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 08:49:24 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - =?windows-1252?q?More_=91Imperial_Hubris=92_Than_?= =?windows-1252?q?Bush?= Message-ID: <541BD869-BA30-450B-B6DE-B46869F74A6F@infowarrior.org> More ?Imperial Hubris? Than Bush https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/12/imperial-hubris-bush/ --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Sat Sep 13 15:07:56 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 16:07:56 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - How Should We Program Computers to Deceive? Message-ID: <892B531F-74C1-412A-8B15-39C522530EFF@infowarrior.org> How Should We Program Computers to Deceive? http://www.psmag.com/navigation/nature-and-technology/technology-deception-elevator-crosswalk-programming-robots-lie-89669/ --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Sat Sep 13 19:58:35 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Sat, 13 Sep 2014 20:58:35 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - =?windows-1252?q?Despite_Obama=92s_Pledge_to_Curb?= =?windows-1252?q?_It=2C_NSA_Mass_Surveillance_Wins_Rubber_Stamp?= Message-ID: <2ACC7CE4-5B9C-4AB7-BBC0-96E759010CDD@infowarrior.org> Despite Obama?s Pledge to Curb It, NSA Mass Surveillance Wins Rubber Stamp Mass surveillance just earned another 90-day blank check, nine months after President Obama promised to rein in the NSA?s spying powers. By Dustin Volz http://www.nationaljournal.com/tech/despite-obama-s-pledge-to-curb-it-nsa-mass-surveillance-wins-rubber-stamp-20140913 In the face of congressional inaction, a federal court on Friday renewed an order allowing the government to collect phone records on virtually all calls within the United States. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court approved the Justice Department's request for another 90-day extension of the National Security Agency's controversial mass surveillance program, exposed publicly last summer by Edward Snowden and authorized under Section 215 of the post-9/11 Patriot Act. The spying authority is next set to expire on Dec. 5. "Given that legislation has not yet been enacted, and given the importance of maintaining the capabilities of the Section 215 telephony metadata program, the government has sought a 90-day reauthorization of the existing program, as modified by the changes the president announced in January," the Justice Department and Office of the Director of National Intelligence said in a joint statement. The extension marks the third of its kind since President Obama pledged in January to reform how the NSA spies on Americans during a major policy speech delivered amid withering scrutiny of the nation's intelligence-gathering practices. Obama outlined a series of immediate steps to reform government surveillance and boost transparency, but noted he would wait for Congress to deliver him a bill before ending the bulk collection of U.S. call data. At the time, Obama said he has asked Attorney General Eric Holder and the intelligence community to devise "options for a new approach" for phone-records surveillance "before the program comes up for reauthorization on March 28." The president added that "during this period, I will consult with the relevant committees in Congress to seek their views and then seek congressional authorization for the new program, as needed." But attempts at NSA reform on Capitol Hill this year have been slow going. And in the absence of legislation, the courts have now renewed the collection of telephone metadata?the numbers and time stamps of a call but not their actual contents?in March, June, and now September. Republicans have claimed throughout the year that Obama has overstepped the constitutional bounds of his office, a charge that has even brought a lawsuit from the House of Representatives. But NSA critics have urged Obama to not wait for Congress and simply let the phone-records program lapse. In June, more than two dozen privacy groups sent the president a letter asking him to not renew the program, a decision they said was "solely within the authority of the Department of Justice." In July, Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy introduced the USA Freedom Act, which would effectively end the government's collection and storage of phone metadata and instead require phone companies to retain those records, which intelligence agencies could obtain only after earning court approval for their queries. The measure is a more ambitious proposal of a version of the bill that passed the House in May, and it has accrued support from tech companies, privacy groups, the administration, and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. "Congress must ensure that this is the last time the government requests and the court approves the bulk collection of Americans' records," Leahy said in a statement. "This announcement underscores, once again, that it is time for Congress to enact meaningful reforms to protect individual privacy." In their joint statement, the Justice Department and Office of the Director of National Intelligence endorsed the House version of the USA Freedom Act, noting that "it reflects a reasonable compromise that preserves essential intelligence community capabilities, enhances privacy and civil liberties, and increases transparency." The statement did not directly comment on Leahy's package. Despite the wide breadth of support for the Freedom Act, the bill is unlikely to earn a vote in the Senate before the midterm elections, and it could be tabled until next year. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Sun Sep 14 08:03:21 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Sun, 14 Sep 2014 09:03:21 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - The NSA Breach of Telekom and Other German Firms Message-ID: <7F3E989F-D5D8-4C20-BAA5-03591E1EC806@infowarrior.org> The NSA Breach of Telekom and Other German Firms http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/snowden-documents-indicate-nsa-has-breached-deutsche-telekom-a-991503.html --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Mon Sep 15 06:30:44 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 07:30:44 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - NZ Launched Mass Surveillance Project While Publicly Denying It Message-ID: <18ED9E28-2715-4E58-BCAC-C518323156C3@infowarrior.org> New Zealand Launched Mass Surveillance Project While Publicly Denying It By Glenn Greenwald and Ryan Gallagher @ggreenwald at rj_gallagher https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/15/new-zealand-gcsb-speargun-mass-surveillance/ --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Mon Sep 15 06:32:17 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 07:32:17 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Warner Bros Conspired with New Zealand Over Kim Dotcom Extradition Message-ID: <242B29CB-F4E6-4993-A94A-326FB5BFA7F7@infowarrior.org> Warner Bros Conspired with New Zealand Over Kim Dotcom Extradition http://torrentfreak.com/email-warner-bros-conspired-with-new-zealand-over-kim-dotcom-extradition-140915/ Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Mon Sep 15 10:04:41 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 11:04:41 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Comcast threatens to cut off Tor users Message-ID: <774F1946-87C4-4263-9258-D8445C451475@infowarrior.org> Comcast Is Threatening To Cut Off Customers Who Use Tor, The Web Browser For Criminals ? James Cook ? Sep. 15, 2014, 5:28 AM Multiple users of anonymous web browser Tor have reported that Comcast has threatened to cut off their internet service unless they stop using the legal software. According to a report on Deepdotweb, Comcast customer representatives have branded Tor "illegal" and told customers that using it is against the company's policies. Tor is a type of web browser that, in theory, makes all your internet activity private. The software routes traffic through a series of other connected internet users, making it difficult for governments and private companies to monitor your internet usage. Up to 1.2 million people use the browser, which became especially popular after Edward Snowden leaked information showing that the NSA was eavesdropping on ordinary citizens. Prior to that, Tor had been popular among people transacting business on Silk Road, the online market for drugs and hitmen. The problem is that downloading or using Tor itself isn't illegal. Plenty of people might have legitimate reasons to want to surf the web in private, without letting others know what they were looking at. But Tor has been pretty popular with criminals. Comcast has reportedly begun telling users that it is an "illegal service." One Comcast representative, identified only as Kelly, warned a customer over his use of Tor software, DeepDotWeb reports: Users who try to use anonymity, or cover themselves up on the internet, are usually doing things that aren?t so-to-speak legal. We have the right to terminate, fine, or suspend your account at anytime due to you violating the rules. Do you have any other questions? Thank you for contacting Comcast, have a great day. Comcast customers, speaking to Deepdotweb, claimed that Comcast repeatedly asked them which sites they were accessing using Tor. In a statement to Business Insider, Comcast refuted the claims made in Deepdotweb, stating that they had launched an internal review into the discussions reported above: Customers are free to use their Xfinity Internet service to visit any website or use it however they wish otherwise. Like virtually all ISPs, Comcast has an acceptable use policy or AUP that outlines appropriate and inappropriate uses of the service. Comcast doesn?t monitor users? browser software or web surfing and has no program addressing the Tor browser. he anecdotal chat room evidence provided is not consistent with our agents? messages and is not accurate. Per our own internal review, we have found no evidence that these conversations took place, nor do we employ a Security Assurance team member named Kelly. Tor?s own FAQs clearly state: 'File sharing (peer-to-peer/P2P) is widely unwanted on Tor' and 'BitTorrent is NOT anonymous' on Tor. Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/comcast-threatens-to-cut-off-tor-users-2014-9#ixzz3DOfsqiJY --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Mon Sep 15 14:16:27 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 15:16:27 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - =?windows-1252?q?TSA=92s_X-Ray_Nude_Body_Scanners?= =?windows-1252?q?_Output_50=25_More_Radiation_Than_Admitted_To_By_TSA=3F?= Message-ID: <7BE25056-FFF6-418C-B109-BC04404A35F4@infowarrior.org> TSA?s X-Ray Nude Body Scanners Output 50% More Radiation Than Admitted To By TSA? http://tsaoutofourpants.wordpress.com/2014/09/15/tsas-x-ray-nude-body-scanners-output-50-more-radiation-than-admitted-to-by-tsa/ --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Mon Sep 15 16:13:10 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Mon, 15 Sep 2014 17:13:10 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Comcast Denies Allegations of Tor Crackdown Message-ID: <37131BD7-72BD-437D-B260-A2577D6F4EBC@infowarrior.org> Comcast Denies Allegations of Tor Crackdown: Users Should Continue to Report any Non-Neutral Activity https://www.eff.org//deeplinks/2014/09/comcast-denies-allegations-tor-crackdown-users-should-continue-report-any-non < - > This morning Comcast issued a statement denying that the ISP is blocking Tor and denying that there is any record of exchanges between Comcast and Tor users. The Vice President went as far as to say that he also uses Tor at times, adding, ?Comcast doesn?t monitor our customer?s browser software, web surfing or online history.? But considering the fact that Comcast hasn?t always been completely transparent about its network practices, we still invite Internet users to contact us if they?ve been discouraged from using Tor by any Internet service provider. To do so, please email info at eff.org to share your story. < - > --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Tue Sep 16 14:12:46 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2014 15:12:46 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - =?windows-1252?q?No=2C_Snowden=92s_Leaks_Didn=92t?= =?windows-1252?q?_Help_The_Terrorists?= Message-ID: <453D85DC-EFD3-464A-AA62-6832881FFBAF@infowarrior.org> No, Snowden?s Leaks Didn?t Help The Terrorists By Murtaza Hussain @mazmhussain Today at 1:57 PM https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/16/snowdens-leaks-didnt-help-terrorists/ Did Edward Snowden?s revelations on NSA surveillance compromise the ability of intelligence agencies to monitor terrorist groups? Contrary to lurid claims made by U.S. officials, a new independent analysis of the subject says no. As reported by NBC: ?.?Flashpoint Global Partners, a private security firm, examined the frequency of releases and updates of encryption software by jihadi groups?.. It found no correlation in either measure to Snowden?s leaks about the NSA?s surveillance techniques, which became public beginning June 5, 2013.? The report itself goes on to make the point that, ?Well prior to Edward Snowden, online jihadists were already aware that law enforcement and intelligence agencies were attempting to monitor them.? This point would seem obvious in light of the fact that terrorist groups have been employing tactics to evade digital surveillance for years. Indeed, such concerns about their use of sophisticated encryption technology predate even 9/11. Contrary to claims that such groups have fundamentally altered their practices due to information gleaned from these revelations, the report concludes. ?The underlying public encryption methods employed by online jihadists do not appear to have significantly changed since the emergence of Edward Snowden.? < - > Snowden?s critics have accused his actions of contributing from everything from the rise of ISIS to Russia?s invasion of the Ukraine. Seemingly every possible failure of the U.S. intelligence community has been attributed back to his disclosures, yet upon further analysis these allegations have always been revealed to be unfounded. Now, in an attempt to both build consensus for a new conflict in Iraq and distract from the ongoing erosion of domestic civil liberties, it is again being insinuated that his revelations have aided terrorists and made the United States less secure. This most recent study is the most comprehensive repudiation of these charges to date. Contrary to lurid claims to the contrary, the facts demonstrate that terrorist organizations have not benefited from the NSA revelations, nor have they substantially altered their behavior in response to them. Despite this, don?t expect to hear any change in the rhetoric of those who have been baselessly insisting otherwise. Email the author: murtaza.hussain at theintercept.com --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Wed Sep 17 16:03:18 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 17:03:18 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - DOJ Proposal Would Let FBI Hack Into Computers Overseas With Little Oversight Message-ID: <00EE41FA-EF06-4EFF-89CC-44786E89DBB1@infowarrior.org> DOJ Proposal Would Let FBI Hack Into Computers Overseas With Little Oversight https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140916/17495228543/doj-proposal-would-let-fbi-hack-into-computers-overseas-with-little-oversight.shtml --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Thu Sep 18 13:22:30 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 14:22:30 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - =?windows-1252?q?Apple=92s_=93warrant_canary=94_d?= =?windows-1252?q?isappears?= Message-ID: Apple?s ?warrant canary? disappears, suggesting new Patriot Act demands https://gigaom.com/2014/09/18/apples-warrant-canary-disappears-suggesting-new-patriot-act-demands/ --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Thu Sep 18 13:58:53 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 14:58:53 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - =?windows-1252?q?With_The_Copyright_Industry_Disl?= =?windows-1252?q?iking_VPNs_In_Public=2C_You_Know_They=92re_Doing_Good?= Message-ID: Posted on September 18, 2014 by Rick Falkvinge With The Copyright Industry Disliking VPNs In Public, You Know They?re Doing Good https://www.privateinternetaccess.com/blog/2014/09/with-the-copyright-industry-disliking-vpns-in-public-you-know-theyre-doing-good/ A lot of news popped up about VPNs this week, all of them concerning how the copyright industry doesn?t like them. That?s when you know VPNs are serving a good purpose in society. In the words of Galadriel, the world has changed. It used to be that the copyright industry could set different rules, different prices, different distributions for every country. They still pretend this is how the world works. It?s not that pirates mind paying for good services ? every pirate knows that, it?s just the copyright industry who don?t. I?m paying subscriber number #110 (one hundred and ten) to Pandora (the music player), for example, out of today?s over 150 million. See there? Pirates are early adopters, too, when it comes to services that provide value. It?s no wonder that the copyright industry has tried every trick in the book to shut down Pandora, since it doesn?t play by their rules. For example, from Sweden, I wasn?t allowed to access Pandora for a while. Then, the Internet community got fed up with all the silliness and pretending that country borders exist on the net, and developed a number of solutions to that. VPNs are one such solution. For Pandora, I?m using a plugin to Chrome called ?Hola Better Internet?. When I go to Pandora Internet Radio, the ?Get lost? page flickers briefly since I?m located in Europe. Then, Hola kicks in, and all of a sudden the Hola plugin tells me I?m now egressing somewhere in the United States for the purposes of accessing Pandora, and then Pandora loads fine. It all happens in a fraction of a second. It?s not even hard. (If I like, I could egress in any other country, too.) It?s no wonder the copyright industry is trying to crack down on this obvious technology. (Just like they cracked down on the self-playing piano, the gramophone, the loudspeaker, et cetera.) In the latest row, we can read on TorrentFreak that the copyright industry is pressuring Netflix to ban all users (paying users!) that are arriving at Netflix through a VPN. Apparently, Netflix? paying subscribers in Australia are so disappointed with the selection there, that they choose to egress in the United States and use Netflix from there instead. Let?s take that again: In Australia, Netflix? selection is so poor, that its paying users, keyword being paying, are choosing to use the service they pay for in another country instead. In any market principle, this is not just okay, this is expected and completely normal. But it disrupts the copyright industry?s fantasies of being able to corner, segment, and control the market ? in segments that don?t exist any longer. It?s obviously not in Netflix? interest to lock their customers out from a better offering, so it remains to be seen what the copyright industry is yapping about here. (Also, it should be noted that the Hulu service is already mistreating its customers in this way.) The next step is predictable from the SOPA debate ? it?s pressuring payment providers to refuse service to VPN services, in a blatant display of the cartelization of the few payment providers. (There?s a double reason to only use a VPN that accepts bitcoin, right there: try shutting off bitcoin payments.) It?s also interesting to see how effective VPNs are at protecting end-users who manufacture unlicensed copies of knowledge and culture from the monopolized copyright industry ? apparently, the people behind Expendables 3 are on a suing spree, but hitting a no-log VPN on an end-address is literally a dead end ? there?s nowhere to go from there. (Which is another reason to only use VPN services that a) create no logs, b) don?t demand personal information in the first place ? like allowing payment with bitcoin.) The copyright industry is starting to look displeased at VPN services, which is a technical measure that can guarantee civil liberties. That?s a sign they?re fulfilling an important function in society. Privacy remains your own responsibility. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Thu Sep 18 16:17:35 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 17:17:35 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Larry Ellison Stepping Down as Chief of Oracle Message-ID: Larry Ellison Stepping Down as Chief of Oracle By QUENTIN HARDY SEPT. 18, 2014 SAN FRANCISCO ? Lawrence J. Ellison is retiring as chief executive of Oracle Corporation, a company he founded in 1977 that has transformed the business world and made him one of the world?s richest people. His departure, announced on Thursday, is one of the last exits of the tech industry?s first generation of celebrity executives, who took computers from the back offices of a few big institutions and into the mainstream of everyday life. Mr. Ellison, who turned 70 last month, said he was leaving as a normal part of succession planning. Mr. Ellison will become executive chairman, and will continue to work on Oracle?s technology, the company said in a statement announcing the move. Oracle?s software and hardware is involved with the ways that companies and large organizations store and manage their data, as well as sophisticated applications for running things like international manufacture, nationwide retail and corporate financial systems. The current chairman, Jeffrey O. Henley, will become vice chairman. The chief executive job will be shared by Mark V. Hurd, currently co-president, and Safra A. Catz, who is co-president and chief financial officer. It is unusual for big technology firms to have split responsibilities at the top, but so far the two have split much of running Oracle, a company with over 120,000 employees. Mr. Hurd runs service and sales, while Ms. Catz oversees operations and finance. Neither has Mr. Ellison?s technological expertise, nor is likely to cast anything like the shadow that Mr. Ellison has over his 37-year career. Along with Bill Gates at Microsoft and Andy Grove at Intel, Mr. Ellison was one of the most important ? and flamboyant ? figures of tech?s early boom years. His personal fortune, estimated by Bloomberg at about $46 billion, has helped Mr. Ellison become one of the technology industry?s most recognizable individuals. He has been married four times, and in 2013 his sailboat racing team, Oracle Team USA, won the America?s Cup for the second time in San Francisco. A licensed pilot and collector of exotic aircraft, he lives on an estate in Woodside, Calif., valued at over $100 million, and maintains several other properties as well as a yacht nearly the length of a football field. He purchased the 141-square-mile Hawaiian island of Lanai in 2012 for a reported $300 million, and is in the process of turning the land into a technology-infused sustainable community. < - > http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/19/technology/larry-ellison-steps-down-as-chief-of-oracle.html?_r=0 --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Thu Sep 18 16:18:52 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 17:18:52 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Home Depot Breach Bigger Than Target's Message-ID: Home Depot Breach Bigger Than Target's Five-Month Attack on Terminals Put 56 Million Cards at Risk By Robin Sidel Sept. 18, 2014 4:52 p.m. ET http://online.wsj.com/articles/home-depot-breach-bigger-than-targets-1411073571 Home Depot Inc. HD +0.95% said 56 million cards may have been compromised in a five-month attack on its payment terminals, making the breach much bigger than the holiday attack at Target Corp. TGT +1.69% It was the first time the do-it-yourself retailer had defined the scale of a breach it said it was alerted to on Sept. 2. It also said for the first time that the malware has been eliminated from its systems. The attack further highlighted the vulnerability of U.S. retailers to hackers that have been targeting their payment systems. Home Depot began a project to fully encrypt its payment terminal data this year, but was outpaced by the hackers, people familiar with the matter have said. The company said Thursday that the project is now complete in the U.S. The breach at Target affected 40 million credit and debit cards. Write to Robin Sidel at robin.sidel at wsj.com --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Thu Sep 18 16:46:55 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2014 17:46:55 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Unraveling NSA's TURBULENCE Programs Message-ID: <2ABFD9AE-B384-4E4E-B92E-DF101F5129E3@infowarrior.org> Unraveling NSA's TURBULENCE Programs 15 September 2014 by Robert Sesek The NSA TURBULENCE program was first revealed in 2007 by the Baltimore Sun for being over-budget and poorly-managed [1][2]. Many documents from the Snowden trove from the past two years reference parts of this program, but no coherent story or overview of how these programs operate together has been described. This is an attempt to do so, using leaked and declassified documents. At the time the Sun reported on TURBULENCE in 2007, it had an annual cost approaching $500 million dollars, and it was comprised of nine smaller programs [1]; this article covers five of those that have been revealed to date. The predecessor program to TURBULENCE was called TRAILBLAZER, and it was shut down for cost overruns and mismanagement [3]. The TURBULENCE leadership chose to use ?several smaller programs [as] a way to hedge bets on uncertain technology? [2], unlike TRAILBLAZER which was a monolithic project. While TURBULENCE was reported to have had a rocky start, it is now clearly operational and central to NSA?s 21st century SIGINT mission. < - > https://robert.sesek.com/2014/9/unraveling_nsa_s_turbulence_programs.html --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Fri Sep 19 06:45:07 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 07:45:07 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Flying Blind Message-ID: <5F3E21DD-21FB-4498-8AC3-80FEECED96E9@infowarrior.org> HEART OF EMPIRE ? September 18, 2014, 2:55 pm Flying Blind The U.S. air-power lobby, botched bombing missions, and bootless combat. By Andrew Cockburn http://harpers.org/blog/2014/09/flying-blind/ President Obama?s war against the Islamic State will represent, by a rough count, the eighth time the U.S. air-power lobby has promised to crush a foe without setting boot or foot on the ground. Yet from World War II to Yemen, the record is clear: such promises have invariably been proven empty and worthless. Most recently, the drone campaign against the Yemeni jihadists has functioned mainly as an effective recruiting tool for the other side, now rapidly growing in strength (and pledging loyalty to the Islamic State). Such realities, however, are of little concern to the lobby, which measures success in terms of budgets and contracts. Therefore, in assessing progress in the anti-IS crusade, observers should be aware that the choice of weapons and associated equipment being deployed will be dictated by Pentagon politics, not the requirements of the battlefield. Hence the appearance, in late August, of the $300 million B-1 bomber in the skies over Iraq. Although its advertised function was to carry nuclear weapons to Moscow at supersonic speeds, the B-1 was developed principally to bolster Republican electoral fortunes in California, where it was built. Always a technical disappointment?with a full load of bombs, it cannot climb high enough to cross the Rockies?it has nonetheless been tenderly cherished by the Air Force brass. Like someone finding a job for a down-at-the-heels relative, the service has assigned the B-1 the task of attacking enemy troops and supporting friendly troops on the battlefield, a mission for which it is manifestly unsuited. Close air support, as it is called, has always been considered a lowly and demeaning task by the Air Force, since it involved cooperation with ground troops. Thus the service is striving mightily to discard the A-10, a plane developed specifically for the job (see my ?Tunnel Vision? report from the February issue), while insisting that the lumbering bomber is a perfectly adequate substitute. In contrast to the A-10, which can maneuver easily at low level, allowing pilots to see with their own eyes what they are shooting at, the B-1 flies high and relies instead on electronic images or map coordinates. Thanks to these and other limitations, B-1s have already left a trail of havoc in Afghanistan in the form of dead civilians and soldiers. As Obama prepares to sink more political capital into the Air Force?s promises, he might also ponder the deaths of five American servicemen and one Afghan soldier in the Gaza Valley, a few miles northeast of Kandahar, on June 9 of this year. The men were part of a team of U.S. and Afghan soldiers assigned to ?disrupt insurgent activity and improve security for local polling stations? in advance of the Afghan presidential runoff elections. Throughout the day, as they moved through the valley and searched farm compounds, they were intermittently sniped at without effect. By 7:00 p.m., the men moved to their helicopter pick-up points. Twelve thousand feet above, a B-1 with a load of satellite-guided bombs was flying five-mile circles: if the team encountered any difficulty, it was ready to provide support. At about ten minutes before eight, in the gathering dusk, one or two people began shooting at them. The Special Forces soldier assigned to coordinate air support, a so-called Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC), contacted the B-1 and reported the skirmish. Meanwhile, six members of the team climbed to a nearby ridgeline to outflank the enemy and began returning fire. Just over twenty minutes later, two 500-pound JDAM bombs launched from the B-1 landed in the midst of the little group. Five of the men were killed instantly, their bodies ripped apart by the blasts. The sixth died from his wounds shortly afterwards. This disaster occurred just as the fight in Congress over the plan to discard the A-10 was peaking, so the Air Force was bound to handle the mandatory investigation with the most delicate sensitivity. Just to make sure that the enquiry did not yield any unhelpful conclusions, it was assigned to a senior Air Force officer, Major General Jeffrey L. Harrigian. His report, largely declassified and released on September 4, did not disappoint, neatly apportioning blame among all involved?the B-1 crew, the JTAC, and the ground-force commander?for displaying ?poor situational awareness? and ?improper target identification.? With everyone blamed, the predictable consequence was that no one need take responsibility. Yet a close examination of Harrigian?s report reveals that these young men (the oldest was 28, the youngest 19) died because the Air Force insisted on entrusting their safety to a weapon system and crew unsuited for the task, yet cherished by the generals for their own peculiar ideological and political reasons. Most importantly: no one had bothered to inform the B-1 crew that their means for distinguishing friendly troops from enemies did not and could not work. Special Forces soldiers customarily wear ?firefly? strobes, which emit infrared light, on their helmets. These are designed to alert anyone using night-vision goggles (i.e., other U.S. troops) that the wearer is a ?friendly? without alerting the enemy. As night closed in on June 9, all the B-1 pilots could see of the firefight two and a half miles below were muzzle flashes. If those flashes were in close proximity to the blinking of a strobe, then they were friends. Otherwise, so far as the crew was concerned, they marked an enemy target. The copilot did periodically peer through a pair of night-vision goggles. A B-1 cockpit is ill-suited for their use, since the windows are especially thick?a legacy of the plane?s genesis as a supersonic nuclear bomber?while the instrument panel emits a glare that clouds the goggles? vision. Like most other planes assigned to such missions, the B-1 also carried a ?targeting pod? under its right wing, which transmitted an infrared image of the ground below onto a screen in the cockpit. But these pods, which use longer wavelengths of infrared light, cannot detect infrared strobes. Amazingly, the Air Force had thought it unnecessary to inform B-1 crews of this salient fact. So, looking at the screen and seeing no strobe lights close to the muzzle flashes on the ridgeline, the crew prepared to bomb. The atmosphere in the cockpit was growing fraught. As the U.S. war in Afghanistan winds down, there are decreasing opportunities for such crews to ?go kinetic.? (One of the pilots had not dropped a single bomb on his twenty-one previous missions.) The B-1 was also running low on fuel and would soon have to leave the scene, in which case the task would fall to another plane, an AC-130 gunship waiting nearby. Adding to the frustration was the fact that the radios on the $300 million bomber did not work very well due to poorly placed antennas, which meant that no less than twelve transmissions to and from the JTAC on the ground never got through. Matters got worse when the B-1?s weapons officer, who sits in a metal box with no view of the outside world whatsoever, attempted to load the target location information into the computer. The effort failed and the bombs did not drop. The pilot brought the plane around for a second pass, and again the system failed. The weapons officer now laboriously reprogrammed the computer to ?bomb on target,? which meant that he would manually aim the bombs by clicking the cursor on a video screen. This attempt failed as well. Finally, twenty-one minutes after the effort had begun, two bombs dropped, heading unerringly toward their unwitting victims. Four minutes after the explosion, the JTAC on the ground called anxiously to the B-1. ?That grid [target location] you passed me did not have any IR strobes at it, is that correct?? ?Affirm,? replied one of the pilots. ?And your sensor can pick up IR strobes?? ?Affirm.? When other members of the team reached the ridgeline, they found one badly wounded man who murmured, ?I can?t breathe,? and then died. The dismembered corpses of the others were littered over a wide area. All that could be located of one soldier, a 22-year-old corporal, was a small portion of a leg. Apart from shipping the bodies home and commissioning an enquiry, the most immediate response from the Air Force was to take a New York Times reporter for a joyride on a B-1. Helene Cooper duly turned in an upbeat dispatch, noting that the ?cockpit of a B-1 bomber in the middle of a fight?even a practice one?is a thing to behold.? She described the ?expansive? view from the pilot?s seat as ?nothing but sky.? Civilians in targeted areas of Iraq and Syria, not to mention any U.S. personnel assigned to guide the bombing, must wish the pilots, and the Washington officials who send them, had an equally expansive view of the ground. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Fri Sep 19 06:54:11 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 07:54:11 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - =?windows-1252?q?Russia_considering_separation_fr?= =?windows-1252?q?om_global_internet_in_=91emergencies=92=2C_report_says?= Message-ID: Russia considering separation from global internet in ?emergencies?, report says By David Meyer 4 hours ago https://gigaom.com/2014/09/19/russia-considering-separation-from-global-internet-in-emergencies-report-says/ Summary: A Friday report in Vedomosti suggests that, on 22 September, President Putin will meet with the country?s security council to discuss the possibility of cutting out the foreign internet in times of strife. The Kremlin is considering ways to cut the Russian internet off from the global internet, according to a Friday report in the business newspaper Vedomosti. The details are hazy and the Russian communications ministry apparently doesn?t know about the scheme, but Vedomosti claimed that on Monday the country?s security council and President Vladimir Putin will discuss emergency powers to cut out the rest of the world, perhaps by disabling non-Russian IP addresses. Under this plan, Russian ISPs would need to install equipment to allow this to be done in ?emergencies?, such as during war or heavy protests. Vedomosti said it had learned of the plans through telcos, ISPs and non-profit organizations, who said the security meeting will also evaluate the results of a recent test of the Russian internet?s stability. The practicality of such a move would be highly debatable, and of course contingent on the sort of mechanisms being discussed. However, a recent law forces web services to store Russians? personal data within the country ? not only does this make it easier for Russian spies to access this data, as it is supposed to be stored in Russian data centers using locally formulated, government-approved algorithms, but it could also be a mechanism to make the separation of the Russian internet more tenable. The U.S. has decried such local storage mandates, saying Edward Snowden?s NSA revelations should be no excuse for breaking up the internet. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Fri Sep 19 12:53:21 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 13:53:21 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - AP: 8 ways the Obama administration is blocking information Message-ID: <5D44438D-675E-4A38-9239-0C77A1044373@infowarrior.org> 8 ways the Obama administration is blocking information Posted on 09/19/2014 by Erin Madigan White http://blog.ap.org/2014/09/19/8-ways-the-obama-administration-is-blocking-information/ The fight for access to public information has never been harder, Associated Press Washington Bureau Chief Sally Buzbee said recently at a joint meeting of the American Society of News Editors, the Associated Press Media Editors and the Associated Press Photo Managers. The problem extends across the entire federal government and is now trickling down to state and local governments. Here is Buzbee?s list of eight ways the Obama administration is making it hard for journalists to find information and cover the news: 1) As the United States ramps up its fight against Islamic militants, the public can?t see any of it. News organizations can?t shoot photos or video of bombers as they take off ? there are no embeds. In fact, the administration won?t even say what country the S. bombers fly from. 2) The White House once fought to get cameramen, photographers and reporters into meetings the president had with foreign leaders overseas. That access has become much rarer. Think about the message that sends other nations about how the world?s leading democracy deals with the media: Keep them out and let them use handout photos. 3) Guantanamo: The big important 9/11 trial is finally coming up. But we aren?t allowed to see most court filings in real time ? even of nonclassified material. So at hearings, we can?t follow what?s happening. We don?t know what prosecutors are asking for, or what defense attorneys are arguing. 4) Information about Guantanamo that was routinely released under President George W. Bush is now kept secret. The military won?t release the number of prisoners on hunger strike or the number of assaults on guards. Photo and video coverage is virtually nonexistent. 5) Day-to-day intimidation of sources is chilling. AP?s transportation reporter?s sources say that if they are caught talking to her, they will be fired. Even if they just give her facts, about safety, for example. Government press officials say their orders are to squelch anything controversial or that makes the administration look bad. 6) One of the media ? and public?s ? most important legal tools, the Freedom of Information Act, is under siege. Requests for information under FOIA have become slow and expensive. Many federal agencies simply don?t respond at all in a timely manner, forcing news organizations to sue each time to force action. 7) The administration uses FOIAs as a tip service to uncover what news organizations are pursuing. Requests are now routinely forwarded to political appointees. At the agency that oversees the new health care law, for example, political appointees now handle the FOIA requests. 8) The administration is trying to control the information that state and local officials can give out. The FBI has directed local police not to disclose details about surveillance technology the police departments use to sweep up cellphone data. In some cases, federal officials have formally intervened in state open records cases, arguing for secrecy. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Fri Sep 19 13:39:03 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 14:39:03 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Bill would limit reach of US search warrants for data stored abroad Message-ID: Bill would limit reach of US search warrants for data stored abroad Bill cuts down Obama administration's position that the world's servers are ours. by David Kravets - Sept 19 2014, 1:50pm EDT http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/09/bill-would-limit-reach-of-us-search-warrants-for-data-stored-abroad/ Proposed legislation unveiled Thursday seeks to undermine the Obama administration's position that any company with operations in the United States must comply with valid warrants for data, even when that data is stored on overseas servers. The bipartisan Law Enforcement Access to Data Stored Abroad Act (LEADS Act) [PDF] comes in response to a federal judge's July decision ordering Microsoft to turn over e-mails stored on its Irish servers as part of a Department of Justice drug investigation. The Department of Justice argued that global jurisdiction is necessary in an age when "electronic communications are used extensively by criminals of all types in the United States and abroad, from fraudsters to hackers to drug dealers, in furtherance of violations of US law." New York US District Judge Loretta Preska agreed, ruling that "it is a question of control, not a question of the location of that information." The decision is stayed pending appeal. Microsoft, along with a slew of other companies, maintains that the Obama administration's position in the case puts US tech companies into conflict with foreign data protection laws. And it fears that if the court decision stands, foreigners could lose more confidence in US companies' cloud and tech offerings, especially in the wake of the Edward Snowden revelations. Under the new proposal by Senators Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Chris Coons (D-DE), and Dean Heller (R-NV), the US could still reach into global servers with a US search warrant, but it would be limited to obtaining Americans' data. If the US government wants a foreigner's data stored on foreign servers, it would have to follow the legal process of the nation where the servers reside. Sen. Coons said that the US government's position in the Microsoft case "hurts our businesses? competitiveness and costs American jobs." Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said the proposed legislation was a "key milestone" that would "strengthen the protection of Constitutional due process rights and limit the extraterritorial reach of search warrants." IBM echoed Smith in a statement, writing, "By introducing this legislation, Congress is taking a positive step to clarify and modernize the legal framework regarding government access to digital data." The legislation also seeks to strengthen cloud-storage privacy laws in the US. As it now stands, a Reagan-era law allows police to get your e-mail or other cloud-stored content without a warrant, so long as it has been stored on a third-party's servers for at least six months. E-mail left on servers was considered abandoned and ripe for the government's taking, a position that has now been extended to all types of data stored in the cloud. Adding to the complexity of the issue, a federal appeals court ruled in 2010 that warrants indeed were required for cloud content?prompting many, but not all, US service providers to demand them before releasing data to the authorities. "Law enforcement agencies wishing to access Americans' data in the cloud ought to get a warrant,? Sen. Coons said. Privacy advocates are less optimistic about the privacy protections of the LEADS Act, though. Greg Nojeim, a senior attorney with the Center for Democracy & Technology, said the measure was a step forward for US respect toward data storage laws in other countries. But he worries about how well the bill's ideas would work in practice. ?Despite the bill?s strong elements, we can?t support the LEADS Act because we are concerned about how the provision authorizing long-arm warrants for the accounts of US persons would be administered, and whether we could reasonably expect reciprocity from other nations on such an approach," Nojeim said. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Mon Sep 22 10:15:30 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 11:15:30 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Secret Service messes up and we pay the price? No way. Message-ID: Secret Service messes up and we pay the price? No way. By Petula Dvorak September 22 at 10:05 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/secret-service-messes-up-and-we-pay-the-price-no-way/2014/09/22/3c81ded0-4256-11e4-9a15-137aa0153527_story.html The Secret Service screwed up Friday night. In a mind-boggling breach of security, a troubled former Army sniper named Omar J. Gonzalez allegedly jumped the fence at the White House, sprinted to the front door and walked in. It wasn?t until he got inside that a Secret Service officer guarding the door stopped him. And now the Secret Service ? which hasn?t exactly covered itself in glory the past few years ? wants us to pay for its mistake, to once again intrude on more public space and make suspects out of millions of visitors, residents and office workers who come near the White House every day. To further encroach on the country?s most important values: our openness and our freedom. The security gurus think they might want to keep people off the sidewalks around the nation?s most famous residence. Or maybe screen tourists a block away from the White House. They want to Anschluss even more public space to expand The Perimeter around 1600 Pennsylvania, amping up the feeling of hostility, fear and paranoia that already pervades the heart of our nation. Given their druthers, of course, the security mafia would close downtown Washington entirely. Tourists could watch a slick ?Inside the White House? video clip (in HD) at Reagan National Airport and pose in front of a cardboard cutout of the White House. Same thing for the Capitol or the Supreme Court. All federal employees would telecommute. D.C. residents would be required to stay inside their homes. Toddlers would be banned from the city because one of them slipped through the bars of the White House fence last month, careening around the lawn a bit before being caught. Oh, and let?s close down Cartagena, too, because no one?s safety can be assured in that Colombian city, the Secret Service showed us a while ago. Even by Secret Service mess-up standards, this one was epic. On Friday night, the White House doors, which lead to a foyer not far from the first family?s living quarters, were unlocked and the snarling guard dog that officers have to take down intruders was never unleashed. Political Washington is in an uproar about it, especially because the Obamas had just left for Camp David about 10 minutes earlier. We?ve been doing this for years now, trying to solve our fear problems with fences, X-ray machines, magnometers, perimeters and dizzying traffic patterns. Have you taken a look at the bollard situation around the District? The bollards ? some cost thousands of dollars a pop ? are like rows of stone and steel corn growing all around the government buildings we believe are important, the bounty from a fertile valley of fear. When I covered federal park and land hearings in D.C., I watched architects, park rangers and museum curators regularly lose battles with the security experts, who closed off buildings, dehumanized visitors and cost taxpayers millions. And then they?d have reports showing that despite all the measures, threatening people still got past guards and checkpoints because of human error. Oops! Officer Jimmy Joe Smith was checking his e-mail, let?s build more walls! I have some ideas about how we can fix this before shutting down more public space, before frisking the law-abiding folks who only want a selfie in front of 1600 Pennsylvania, which, by the way, they own. Um, how about the Secret Service starts by doing what most other ordinary folks around the world do? Lock. The. Doors. Second, let?s do a better job of hiring and training Secret Service agents. And if you doubt that?s necessary, revisit that night in Cartegena two years ago when agents partied hard with prostitutes, then got caught because they tried to walk away without paying them. Or Amsterdam this past spring, when three Secret Service agents were sent home after one was found passed out and drunk in a hotel hallway. Agents are human. Some of them mess up. Let?s work on the professionalism of those without self-control. Finally, why aren?t we looking at the real problem highlighted by Gonzalez, an Army veteran who did three deployments in Iraq, earned medals and came home with post-traumatic stress disorder? The nation is losing at least 22 veterans a day to suicide. About 23 percent of veterans suffering from PTSD have been arrested since returning home. A veteran saluted the Capitol and immolated himself on the Mall a year ago. Gonzalez?s family members said he has been living in his car for two years and is mentally ill. The Secret Service would rather punish the public and cover the butts of the officials in charge of keeping the White House secure than see this veteran?s distress and help do something about it. Officials said Gonzalez was ?concerned that the atmosphere was collapsing? and needed to contact the president ?so he could get word out to the people.? Why can?t anyone see the real problems here? The president is often vulnerable. At basketball games, at H Street restaurants, in foreign countries. The job is for his protectors to do the best they can, then leave the rest up to the faith we have in humanity. Making a mockery of our freedom and suspects out of our citizens is not the answer. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Mon Sep 22 16:48:08 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 17:48:08 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - =?windows-1252?q?Australia=92s_Prime_Minister_giv?= =?windows-1252?q?es_a_master_class_in_exploiting_terrorism_fears_to_seize?= =?windows-1252?q?_new_powers?= Message-ID: Australia?s Prime Minister gives a master class in exploiting terrorism fears to seize new powers By Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald 13 minutes ago https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/22/australias-prime-minister-gives-master-class-exploiting-terrorism-fears-seize-new-powers/ If you?re an Australian citizen, you have a greater chance of being killed by the following causes than you do by a terrorist attack: slipping in the bathtub and hitting your head; contracting a lethal intestinal illness from the next dinner you eat at a restaurant; being struck by lightning. In the post-9/11 era, there has been no terrorist attack carried out on Australian soil: not one. The attack which most affected Australians was the 2002 bombing of a nightclub in Bali which killed 88 of its citizens; that was 12 years ago. Despite all that, Australia?s political class is in the midst of an increasingly unhinged fear-mongering orgy over terrorism. The campaign has two prongs: ISIS (needless to say: it?s now an all-purpose, global source of fear-manufacturing), and the weekend arrest of 15 people on charges that they planned to behead an unknown, random individual based on exhortations from an Australian member of ISIS. The Australian government wasted no time at all exploiting this event to demand ?broad new security powers to combat what it says is a rising threat from militant Islamists.? Even by the warped standards of the west?s 9/11 era liberty abridgments, these powers are extreme, including making it ?a crime for an Australian citizen to travel to any area overseas once the government has declared it off limits.? Already pending in that country is a proposal by the Attorney General to make it a criminal offense ?punishable by five years in jail for ?any person who disclosed information relating to ?special intelligence operations??; the bill is clearly intended to outright criminalize WikiLeaks-and-Snowden-type reporting and the government thus expressly refuses to exempt journalists. This morning, Australia?s Liberal Party Prime Minister, Tony Abbott (pictured above), delivered a speech to the nation?s Parliament that is a perfect distillation of the key post-911 pathologies of western democracies. It was a master class in how politicians shamelessly exploit terrorism fears to seize greater power. Abbott assumed the grave demeanor and resolute tone that politicians in these situations don to convince others that they?re the modern incarnation of Winston Churchill: purposeful, unyielding, and courageously ready for the fight. He depicted his fight as one of Pure Good v. Pure Evil, and vehemently denied that his nation?s 10-year support for the invasion and occupation of Iraq plays any role whatsoever in animosity toward his country in that region (perish the thought!) (?It?s our acceptance that people can live and worship in the way they choose that bothers them, not our foreign policy?). And, most impressively, he just came right out and candidly acknowledged his real purpose: to exploit the emotions surrounding the terrorist arrests to erode liberty and increase state power, telling citizens that they will die if they do not meekly acquiesce: Regrettably, for some time to come, Australians will have to endure more security than we?re used to, and more inconvenience than we?d like. Regrettably, for some time to come, the delicate balance between freedom and security may have to shift. There may be more restrictions on some so that there can be more protections for others. After all, the most basic freedom of all is the freedom to walk the streets unharmed and to sleep safe in our beds at night. With those scary premises in place, the Prime Minister proceeded to rattle off a laundry list of new legal powers and restraints on freedom that he craves. It begins with ?creating new offences that are harder to beat on a technicality?, which he said is ?a small price to pay for saving lives.? It includes brand new crimes and detention powers (?Legislation to create new terrorist offences and to extend existing powers to monitor or to detain terror suspects will be introduced this week?). There?s also this: ?it will be an offence to be in a designated area, for example Raqqa in Syria, without a good reason.? His Christmas list also (of course) entails vastly increased spending on security (?the government committed an additional $630 million to the Australian Federal Police, Customs and Border Protection, the Australian Security and Intelligence Organisation, the Australian Secret Intelligence Service and the Office of National Assessments. . . biometric screening will start to be introduced at international airports within 12 months?). And the government ? already a member of the sprawling Five Eyes spying alliance ? will vest itself with greater surveillance powers (?As well, legislation requiring telecommunications providers to keep the metadata they already create and to continue to make it available to police and security agencies will be introduced soon?). The ease with which terrorism is exploited by western governments ? a full 13 years after 9/11 ? is stunning. Americans now overwhelmingly favor military action against a group which, three months ago, almost none of them even knew existed, notwithstanding clear government admissions that the group poses no threat to the ?homeland.? When I was in New Zealand last week for a national debate over mass surveillance, the frequency with which the government and its supporters invoked the scary specter of the Muslim Terrorist to justify all of that was remarkable: it?s New Zealand. And now the Liberal Party?s Prime Minister of Australia barely bats an eye as he overtly squeezes every drop of fear he can to justify a wide array of new powers and spending splurges in the name of a risk that, mathematically speaking, is trivial to the average citizen. Political leaders love nothing more than when populations are put in fear of external threats. In that regard, these western leaders share exactly the same goal as ISIS: to terrorize their nation?s citizens by grossly exaggerating its power and reach. Any museum exhibit on the degradation of western behavior in the post-9/11 era would be well-advised to put Abbott?s full speech on the wall, as it illustrates the fear-mongering games and propagandistic tactics that have led to all of that. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images) Email the author: glenn.greenwald at theintercept.com --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Mon Sep 22 16:52:59 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Mon, 22 Sep 2014 17:52:59 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Before Using StingRays, Police Must Sign NDA With FBI Message-ID: Before Using StingRays, Police Must Sign NDA With FBI http://beta.slashdot.org/story/207555 --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Tue Sep 23 10:17:32 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 11:17:32 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - School Claims Teen's Writing About Marijuana Use Is 'Drug Possession' Message-ID: <0F3EC0DA-C3FD-4139-B1AA-E46EB2FB0E1B@infowarrior.org> School Claims Teen's Writing About Marijuana Use Is 'Drug Possession' https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140920/15132228590/school-claims-teens-writing-about-marijuana-use-is-drug-possession.shtml --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Tue Sep 23 13:51:53 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Tue, 23 Sep 2014 14:51:53 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Law Enforcement Freaks Out Over Apple & Google's Decision To Encrypt Phone Info By Default Message-ID: Law Enforcement Freaks Out Over Apple & Google's Decision To Encrypt Phone Info By Default https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140923/07120428605/law-enforcement-freaks-out-over-apple-googles-decision-to-encrypt-phone-info-default.shtml --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Wed Sep 24 06:10:07 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 07:10:07 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Mandating patriotism/conservatism in schools Message-ID: <1F3C2F51-F0B5-4E03-98F3-05310A724587@infowarrior.org> In Colorado, a Student Counterprotest to an Anti-Protest Curriculum By JACK HEALYSEPT. 23, 2014 ARVADA, Colo. ? A new conservative school board majority here in the Denver suburbs recently proposed a curriculum-review committee to promote patriotism, respect for authority and free enterprise and to guard against educational materials that ?encourage or condone civil disorder.? In response, hundreds of students, teachers and parents gave the board their own lesson in civil disobedience. On Tuesday, hundreds of students from high schools across the Jefferson County school district, the second largest in Colorado, streamed out of school and along busy thoroughfares, waving signs and championing the value of learning about the fractious and tumultuous chapters of American history. ?It?s gotten bad,? said Griffin Guttormsson, a junior at Arvada High School who wants to become a teacher and spent the school day soliciting honks from passing cars. ?The school board is insane. You can?t erase our history. It?s not patriotic. It?s stupid.? The student walkout came after a bitter school board election last year and months of acrimony over charter schools, teacher pay, kindergarten expansion and, now, the proposed review committee, which would evaluate Advanced Placement United States history and elementary school health classes. < -- > http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/24/us/in-colorado-a-student-counterprotest-to-an-anti-protest-curriculum.html --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Wed Sep 24 07:18:47 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Wed, 24 Sep 2014 08:18:47 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - The Dangers of Upgrading Your iPhone Message-ID: The Dangers of Upgrading Your iPhone By Ben Steverman Sep 24, 2014 7:29 AM ET http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-24/the-dangers-of-upgrading-your-iphone.html Unlike about 10 million other people, Paul Roberts isn't upgrading his iPhone. He's sticking to his two-and-a-half year old iPhone 4S as long as possible. It's not just that he's avoiding the fistfights and long lines. Roberts, 53, is the author of a new book, "The Impulse Society: America in the Age of Instant Gratification," that makes the case that buying a new phone is part of a broad and serious American affliction. Since the 1970s, individuals, companies and the government have become increasingly and dangerously focused on the short term, Roberts argues. Companies buy back their own stock rather than pursuing research and development. Families rack up debt rather than saving. And individuals drop everything to obsess over the phones buzzing and beeping in their pockets. While keeping us connected, these digital devices can also create new anxieties, bleed bank accounts and make it harder to focus on, you know, life. It's getting more expensive to keep up with the latest phone trends. Americans spent $75 billion on mobile phones last year, up 9.5 percent from the previous year, Bloomberg Industries estimates, and more than two-thirds of the 176 million phones sold were smartphones. The fastest-growing segment of smartphone buyers are low income, consulting firm NPD Group estimates. Consumers making less than $30,000 now make up 31 percent of all smartphone sales. Maybe these new and improved phones will make people more productive, if they make it easier to stay on top of work email or find the quickest way to Chipotle. But most of the time, Roberts says, the extra productivity of a new device is "in how many cat videos you can watch in an hour." Cat videos are fun, for cat lovers at least. But too often people get distracted from their priorities, writes Roberts. These distractions make parenting and teaching harder. "Every student should have the experience of struggling with a topic for hours," he says. When that effort pays off with an epiphany, students learn an important lesson about the rewards of hard work. Digital devices -- and much of the rest of the economy -- short-circuit that learning process by throwing up constant diversions and Google-able answers. What promises to make people more productive ends up making them more anxious. If a child or a romantic partner don't text back right away, Roberts notes, people assume the worst. Just a decade ago teenagers could spend all day out of touch without triggering a panic attack in their parents. While consumers may not benefit financially from an endless upgrade cycle, plenty of companies do. "Early upgrade plans" let smartphone buyers replace phones every year -- for an extra fee. In the past year, enrollment in those plans has more than quadrupled, NPD Group found, from 7 percent of phone owners last September to 31 percent in June. Falling for things that aren?t in our long-term best interest is an American tradition, from car dealers enticing buyers with next year?s model to fast food and no-money-down mortgages. Roberts isn't against the sale of new cell phones -- those bigger screens look cool to him, too. He's just trying to get people to think twice before they upgrade, or take out a loan. "The market's agenda is different than ours," he says, "and it helps to remind us of that from time to time." It's also worth noting: You can still watch cat videos on an iPhone 4S. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Thu Sep 25 08:59:15 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 09:59:15 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Miss a Payment? Good Luck Moving That Car Message-ID: <68B32F3C-7734-469B-A541-2B2A4DA2CED1@infowarrior.org> Miss a Payment? Good Luck Moving That Car By Michael Corkery and Jessica Silver-Greenberg September 24, 2014 9:33 pmSeptember 24, 2014 9:33 pm The thermometer showed a 103.5-degree fever, and her 10-year-old?s asthma was flaring up. Mary Bolender, who lives in Las Vegas, needed to get her daughter to an emergency room, but her 2005 Chrysler van would not start. The cause was not a mechanical problem ? it was her lender. Ms. Bolender was three days behind on her monthly car payment. Her lender, C.A.G. Acceptance of Mesa, Ariz., remotely activated a device in her car?s dashboard that prevented her car from starting. Before she could get back on the road, she had to pay more than $389, money she did not have that morning in March. ?I felt absolutely helpless,? said Ms. Bolender, a single mother who stopped working to care for her daughter. It was not the only time this happened: Her car was shut down that March, once in April and again in June. This new technology is bringing auto loans ? and Wall Street?s version of Big Brother ? into the lives of people with credit scores battered by the financial downturn. Auto loans to borrowers considered subprime, those with credit scores at or below 640, have spiked in the last five years. The jump has been driven in large part by the demand among investors for securities backed by the loans, which offer high returns at a time of low interest rates. Roughly 25 percent of all new auto loans made last year were subprime, and the volume of subprime auto loans reached more than $145 billion in the first three months of this year. But before they can drive off the lot, many subprime borrowers like Ms. Bolender must have their car outfitted with a so-called starter interrupt device, which allows lenders to remotely disable the ignition. Using the GPS technology on the devices, the lenders can also track the cars? location and movements. The devices, which have been installed in about two million vehicles, are helping feed the subprime boom by enabling more high-risk borrowers to get loans. But there is a big catch. By simply clicking a mouse or tapping a smartphone, lenders retain the ultimate control. Borrowers must stay current with their payments, or lose access to their vehicle. < - > http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2014/09/24/miss-a-payment-good-luck-moving-that-car/?src=twr --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Thu Sep 25 09:01:20 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 10:01:20 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - FBI Plans Rapid DNA Dragnets Message-ID: <9119421A-97AA-4C01-8E72-F250CD8DAEA3@infowarrior.org> FBI Plans Rapid DNA Dragnets Winfried Rothermel/AP File Photo By Aliya Sternstein September 23, 2014 http://www.nextgov.com/emerging-tech/2014/09/fbi-plans-rapid-dna-dragnets/94892/?oref=ng-HPriver The FBI is preparing to accelerate the collection of DNA profiles for the government's massive new biometric identification database. Developers of portable DNA analysis machines have been invited to a Nov. 13 presentation to learn about the bureau's vision for incorporating their technology into the FBI's new database. So-called rapid DNA systems can draw up a profile in about 90 minutes. The Next Generation Identification system, or NGI, the successor to the FBI's criminal fingerprint database, is designed to quickly ID crooks through facial recognition, iris matching, tattoo cross-checks and vocal recordings, among other unique traits. But critics say aggregating DNA along with all this other data makes it easier for authorities to track the general population. Various FBI divisions "are collaborating to develop and implement foundational efforts to streamline and automate law enforcement's DNA collection processes" including at arrest, booking and conviction, according to an Aug. 19 notice about the industry briefing. The ongoing groundwork is expected to facilitate the "integration of Rapid DNA Analysis into the FBI's Combined DNA Index (CODIS) and Next Generation Identification (NGI) systems from the booking environment." Rapid DNA Has Already Helped Cops Clinch Case Rapid DNA analysis can be performed by cops in less than two hours, rather than by technicians at a scientific lab over several days. The benefit for law enforcement is that an officer can run a cheek swab on the spot or while an arrestee is in temporary custody. If there is a database match, they can then move to lock up the suspect immediately. The Arizona Department of Public Safety uses $270,000 Rapid DNA machines developed by IntegenX and Morpho to develop investigative leads. Slides from a presentation reviewed by Nextgov indicate one potential application for the technology might include "Upload of Arrestee and Convicted Offender profiles at intake to a database (CODIS or other database).? Rapid DNA analysis this summer helped clinch a case in South Carolina. The Richland County Sheriff's Department identified and tracked down a suspect in an attempted murder by using a machine to process genetic material from the suspect?s discarded clothing, authorities announced. According to police, Brandon Berry brandished a gun and demanded money from a man on the sidewalk in the early morning hours of July 29. Police said Berry then wrestled the man, shot him in the lower body and fled. After Berry was apprehended around 11 a.m. that same morning, police said scans of Berry?s clothing contained both his and the victim's DNA. Booking Saliva Is Legal The Supreme Court ruled last year that analyzing DNA from saliva, for example, is a legal part of booking a suspect, just like fingerprinting. But Congress would have to intervene for rapid DNA results to be entered into the FBI?s databases. Current law states DNA in CODIS must be processed at an accredited laboratory. A legislative tweak is needed to allow DNA processed by a portable machine to be entered into the FBI's systems, bureau officials acknowledge. But some privacy advocates warn it's not a huge leap to go from using rapid DNA at the police station to using it out in the field on anyone's discarded DNA. Civil liberties groups were not invited to the November briefing, but the initiative has been discussed at various public conferences. ?The FBI invitation to vendors is essentially the same presentation with a focus on the technical specifications needed from the developers,? FBI spokeswoman Ann Todd said in an email. Privacy Groups Worried About Police Stop-and-Swabs Right now, congressional inaction and cost are the only difficulties standing in the way of pervasive use, said Jennifer Lynch, senior staff attorney for the Electronic Frontier Foundation. "If you leave something behind, let?s say your trash on the sidewalk out in front of your house, then you?ve abandoned any kind of privacy interest in the trash,? she explained. ?And so the cops can search through that trash without a warrant. That reasoning has been extended to DNA -- if you leave your DNA behind, then the cops could get it without a warrant and test it." "If you consider DNA to be a form of ID, and the Supreme Court has already upheld state laws that allow officers to stop someone and ask for their ID, then this is the logical next step," she added. The civil liberties of minority groups, in particular, could be threatened by stop-and-swabs. "If the cops are stopping more African Americans or Latinos and they have the ability to collect their DNA just at a stop, then it means that the DNA database is going to be even more heavily weighted with DNA from immigrant communities and different ethnic minorities," Lynch said. FBI officials say their program does not impact any laws currently governing the operation of CODIS. Rapid DNA techniques in booking stations, ?will simply expedite the analysis and submission of lawfully obtained samples to the state and national DNA databases,? Todd, the FBI spokeswoman, said. ?The FBI will continue to apply cutting-edge technology to combat crime and protect the United States,? she added. ?At the same time, the FBI remains vigilant in upholding the Constitution, the rule of law and protecting privacy rights and civil liberties.? Not Ready to Roll Out Yet In March, California Democratic Reps. Eric Swalwell, Mike Honda and Barbara Lee wrote a letter requesting the FBI test rapid DNA analysis at booking stations to ?assess its viability for broad deployment.? They argued the shift would help ID or clear suspects quickly and free up lab resources to reduce a multiyear rape kit backlog. FBI officials say there are multiple matters, including changing the accredited lab statute, that must be dealt with before rolling out rapid DNA matching. The machines would have to be certified, for instance, and police would have to be trained to handle the tools. ?Given the number of important issues that need to be addressed, coupled with the need for legislative changes, it is difficult to estimate when law enforcement agencies will be able to search DNA profiles developed by a rapid DNA instrument,? Todd said. In the meantime, the potential cataloging of hordes of DNA samples in a central government database is compounding concerns about domestic espionage. ?Your DNA data could be linked to all the other biometric and biographic information about you that is already in NGI," Lynch said. "Because we discard DNA wherever we go, this allows the government the ability to further surveil people without their knowledge.? --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Thu Sep 25 18:20:03 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Thu, 25 Sep 2014 19:20:03 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - FBI director says iOS and Android privacy features put users 'above the law' Message-ID: Thursday, September 25, 2014, 02:38 pm PT (05:38 pm ET) FBI director says iOS and Android privacy features put users 'above the law' By Mikey Campbell http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/09/25/fbi-director-says-ios-and-android-privacy-features-put-users-above-the-law FBI Director James Comey on Thursday responded to the latest attempts from Apple and Google to lock down their respective mobile operating systems, saying he is "very concerned" that the new systems limit or prohibit deemed lawful government access. In an interview with the Huffington Post, Comey revealed that he has discussed the matter with representatives from both Apple and Google, noting that while personal privacy is important, access to sensitive information may one day be vital to national security. "I am a huge believer in the rule of law, but I am also a believer that no one in this country is above the law," Comey said. "What concerns me about this is companies marketing something expressly to allow people to place themselves above the law." The statement comes on the heels of Apple's recent announcement that new security features in iOS 8 make it technically impossible for the company to decrypt on-device data, even if law enforcement agencies provide the proper warrants. "Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your passcode and therefore cannot access this data," Apple said on a webpage dedicated to privacy policies. "So it's not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS 8." The secure system is based on encryption keys, which are no longer stored by Apple off-site, meaning the only way to access an iPhone's contacts, photos, messages and more is by keying in the appropriate lock code. It should be noted that any information sent to iCloud or other servers are fair game for government data requests. Answering calls from privacy advocates ? and controversy surrounding the leak of nude celebrity photos stored on iCloud ? Apple recently modified its stance on personal device and services security. Initial indications that Apple was moving to a hardline position came last November when the company published a report outlining received government data requests. In May, Apple said it would routinely post similar reports throughout the year to keep customers up to date with the latest news. Part of the issue for Comey is how these new features are being marketed to consumers, which in the case of Apple specifically targets U.S. agency requests for data. "Google is marketing their Android the same way: Buy our phone and law-enforcement, even with legal process, can never get access to it," he said. For now, it appears that no action will be taken to retract Apple's iOS 8 strengthened security protocols, but Comey offers a warning that the new policy could result in dire repercussions for the public. "There will come a day ? well it comes every day in this business ? when it will matter a great, great deal to the lives of people of all kinds that we be able to with judicial authorization gain access to a kidnapper's or a terrorist or a criminal's device," Comey said. "I just want to make sure we have a good conversation in this country before that day comes. I'd hate to have people look at me and say, 'Well how come you can't save this kid,' 'how come you can't do this thing.'" --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Fri Sep 26 06:32:30 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 07:32:30 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Forest Service Wants To Require Permits For Photography Message-ID: Forest Service says media needs photography permit in wilderness areas, alarming First Amendment advocates http://www.oregonlive.com/environment/index.ssf/2014/09/forest_service_says_media_need.html --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Fri Sep 26 13:12:15 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 14:12:15 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Inside the New York Fed: Secret Recordings and a Culture Clash Message-ID: <846EE13A-5F79-4796-997A-62FDE0AC4F06@infowarrior.org> Inside the New York Fed: Secret Recordings and a Culture Clash A confidential report and a fired examiner?s hidden recorder penetrate the cloistered world of Wall Street?s top regulator?and its history of deference to banks. by Jake Bernstein ProPublica, Sep. 26, 2014, 5 a.m. http://www.propublica.org/article/carmen-segarras-secret-recordings-from-inside-new-york-fed --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Fri Sep 26 13:14:19 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Fri, 26 Sep 2014 14:14:19 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - 11th Circuit Court On TSA Search Methods: Compared To A Terrorist Attack, Invasive Searches Aren't Invasive Message-ID: 11th Circuit Court On TSA Search Methods: Compared To A Terrorist Attack, Invasive Searches Aren't Invasive https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140925/12085628641/11th-circuit-court-tsa-search-methods-compared-to-terrorist-attack-invasive-searches-arent-invasive.shtml --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Tue Sep 30 06:51:39 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 07:51:39 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - But it's all about safety, not revenue, right? Message-ID: (For those unaware, DC is like Hazard County from the 'Dukes of Hazard' when it comes to speed cameras/traps/enforcement measures. And like Kafka when trying to appeal a ticket. --rick) Declining traffic-camera revenue threatens to unbalance D.C.?s budget By Mike DeBonis September 29 at 10:20 PM http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/dc-politics/declining-traffic-camera-revenue-threatens-to-unbalance-dcs-budget/2014/09/29/245ce9aa-4821-11e4-b72e-d60a9229cc10_story.html Revenue from tickets issued by the District?s network of traffic cameras has declined dramatically over the past year, potentially throwing the city budget out of balance, the chief financial officer warned Monday. With less than two days left in the city?s fiscal year, CFO Jeffrey S. DeWitt said in a letter to District officials that revenue from fines and forfeitures may end up more than $70 million under projections if the trends hold ? a significant chunk of a $6.3 billion local budget. The bulk of the shortfall comes from fines issued through red-light and speeding cameras, which have been the subject of rancorous public debate as their use has proliferated in recent years. The city expected to collect $93.7 million through automated traffic enforcement in the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, but as of the end of August, the cameras had generated only $26.1 million, according to preliminary cash reports issued by DeWitt?s office. That is a drop-off of 62 percent from the nearly $70 million the city had collected by that point in 2013. DeWitt didn?t pinpoint a reason for the lagging revenue, noting only that fine revenue had been ?projected to increase because of the rollout of new automated enforcement equipment.? Doxie McCoy, a spokeswoman for Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D), said in an e-mail that fewer tickets have been issued this year for a variety of reasons, including delays in deploying some new devices, higher speed limits on some streets and more motorists obeying the law. ?And we don?t view any of this as a bad thing,? McCoy said. ?As we?ve said all along: the purpose of automated traffic enforcement is to improve public safety and save lives, not to raise money.? But the implications for the District?s budget are considerable: The city had projected it would collect $156 million in camera revenue in the coming fiscal year. Should final tallies expected in December confirm a precipitous decline this year, officials may have to cut $50 million to $70 million in spending from next year?s budget. The news prompted D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson (D) to take his fellow city leaders to task for being too dependent on ticket revenue in balancing the District?s budget. In a statement, Mendelson said the revenue projections ?add to the black eye? around the camera program delivered by a recent D.C. inspector general?s report that suggested it was more about filling city coffers than maintaining public safety. He noted that the council tried to lower camera fines in 2012 but ?couldn?t reduce the fines as much as we wanted because of the revenues that would be lost.? ?The District?s budget should not be dependent on the fines of speeders,? he said. Police Chief Cathy L. Lanier, an outspoken defender of camera enforcement, said in a statement that she saw in the new figures proof that the cameras are working: ?As I have said many times, we usually see significant reductions in citations issued in the first few months of deployment. This demonstrates that drivers are changing their behavior.? ?Our goal is traffic safety,? she continued. ?The fact that infractions are going down is a good thing in my view. Automated traffic enforcement is and always has been about safety. We deploy technology as needed.? News of the declining fine revenue came on the same day city leaders learned of a more welcome financial development: Two of three Wall Street bond-rating agencies said Monday that they were upgrading the city?s general obligation debt. Standard & Poor?s and Fitch both raised their ratings to the ?AA? level, matching the rating previously issued by the third firm, Moody?s. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Tue Sep 30 06:53:42 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 07:53:42 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - OT: Parenting as a Gen Xer Message-ID: <8E7357F5-83DE-4C95-BE9A-46D3CA4EF902@infowarrior.org> Parenting as a Gen Xer: We?re the first generation of parents in the age of iEverything By Allison Slater Tate September 29 at 11:53 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2014/09/29/parenting-as-a-gen-xer-what-its-like-to-be-the-first-generation-of-parents-in-the-age-of-ieverything/ On the days that I drive the middle school carpool, I purposely choose a route that takes us past a huge river. Some mornings, the water looks like glass; others, it reflects the moody clouds above with choppy waves ? either way, it?s gorgeous. Every time we drive past it, I point it out to my car full of 12-year-olds: ?Look at the water today. Isn?t it beautiful?? No one in the car looks up. They are all looking down at their phones, playing games with each other, texting a friend or watching a YouTube video. Sometimes, if I am lucky, I will get a mercy grunt out of one or two of them in reply. It struck me recently, after one of my quiet carpool rides, that my generation of parents ? we of the soon-to-be or recently 40 year old Gen X variety, the former latchkey children of the Cold War and an MTV that actually played videos, former Atari-owners who were raised by the the Cosby Show and John Hughes, graduated high school with the kids from 90210, then lumbered through our 20s with Rachel, Ross, Chandler, Monica, Phoebe, and Joey and flip phones ? is perhaps the last to straddle a life experience both with and without the Internet and all its social media marvels. After all, I didn?t even learn to use e-mail until I was 19 and a sophomore in college in 1993, and only for a slightly cringe-worthy reason: a cute boy at another college asked me to e-mail him. My generation, it seems, had the last of the truly low-tech childhoods, and now we are among the first of the truly high-tech parents. My mother, a Baby Boomer, gripes regularly that my friends and I ?put everything on The Facebook,? and though she and my grandparents both have accounts, they don?t really use them. My parents still receive a paper newspaper, still read books in hardback, and only relatively recently became comfortable with texting. My children show them how to use their iPhones, and I set up their iTunes accounts for them. On the flip side, the Internet seems intuitive to my children, who can make PowerPoint presentations as good as any professional, use Google when they are stuck on their math homework, and spend as many hours as I will let them watching YouTube videos of other people playing Minecraft, an activity I just cannot understand no matter how hard I try. I am very much standing in the middle between my parents and my children when it comes to technology, one foot dipped in the waters of Instagram and Twitter and the other still stuck in the luddite mud of ?In my day, we passed paper notes in class, sent real letters to penpals, and talked to each other?s faces!? When it comes to parenting, I find this middle place extremely uncomfortable, because I know what childhood and adolescence were like before the Internet, and my parenting models all came from that era. So even though I also understand the powerful draw of the World Wide Web and social media and I participate in it enthusiastically, it scares me when it comes to my children and how it will mold and change their experience from mine. Will my children ever have their own awkward but poignant, John Hughes-worthy moments when teenagers today can have entire relationships over text messages? Would the kids in The Breakfast Club even talk to each other if they found themselves in a Saturday morning detention today, or would they spend all their time on their phones, texting their friends and tweeting about how lame it was and never actually make eye contact with one another? Would anyone today even believe that Seinfeld and friends would spend that much time talking to each other out loud about nothing? I wrestle with demons far less First World Problematic than that of technology with my children, but I must admit that in its category, technology wins the prize for being the trickiest parenting challenge I have faced, right up there with infant sleep and potty training in terms of the feelings of desperation and hopelessness it can inspire at times. On the one hand, resistance is futile: this is my children?s brave new world, and they need to know and understand all the internet highways and byways to live in it. On the other hand, my children don?t have fully-developed frontal lobes yet. I have spent a lot of time beating myself up for letting them have screens or devices, or for afternoons when I didn?t have it in me to fight the mystifying addiction to Minecraft that all of my children have acquired. The question of managing screen time and who is on what screen and how to protect those in front of the screens from things they might not un-see or un-hear is a constant, exhausting issue that frankly makes me want to go full-on Amish on all of them and throw every last blinking screen away. But I try to be reasonable, even though I feel like I am parenting in the dark most of the time. So my husband and I set limits and negotiate them. We allow for Minecraft, because someone somewhere said it might be ?good for them,? and we debate how old is old enough to have a smartphone. We make the children sit in public places when they are on devices or laptops, we look over shoulders, we check text message histories and set parental controls. We worry about their cyber footprints. We beg them not to send naked pictures of themselves to anyone, for the love of Mike. And, at the end of the day, we pray to the powers of this ridiculous universe ? Zuckerberg? Gates? ? that our children won?t stumble too hard or fall too far when they inevitably trip into an Internet pothole. We wonder what a high-tech childhood will mean for our little people: will they know how to go on a first date without checking in on Facebook or posting a picture of their food on Instagram? Will it matter? My children might never understand why I talk about the river on our morning drives, but I have decided to be gentle with myself and with them on this issue ? to be okay not knowing exactly how to handle it. The truth is, my generation of parents are pioneers here, like it or not. We?re the last of the Mohicans. We can try as hard as we want to push back and to carve space into our children?s lives for treehouses and puzzles and Waldorf-style dolls, but in the end, our children will grow up with the whole world at their fingertips, courtesy of a touch screen, and they will have to learn how to find the balance between their cyber and real worlds. It is scary. I don?t think I even believe there is a ?right way? to parent with technology. But acknowledging that what we are doing is unprecedented ? that no study yet knows exactly what this iChildhood will look like when our children are full grown people ? feels like an exhale of sorts. I?ll keep pointing out the view, and I will hope that my children will be encouraged to look up. Maybe someday they will be moved to point it out to their own children too. Allison Slater Tate is the mother of four. Check out her blog and follow her on Twitter @AllisonState. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Tue Sep 30 06:56:07 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 07:56:07 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - EO 12333 Redefines 'Collection, ' Authorize Majority Of Dragnet Surveillance Programs Message-ID: <90D4B7CD-E258-4304-933E-C13425C100EE@infowarrior.org> Executive Order 12333 Documents Redefine 'Collection,' Authorize Majority Of Dragnet Surveillance Programs https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20140929/13451828665/executive-order-12333-documents-redefine-collection-authorize-majority-dragnet-surveillance-programs.shtml --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Tue Sep 30 06:58:34 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 07:58:34 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - =?windows-1252?q?Ferguson_officials_charging_=93e?= =?windows-1252?q?xorbitant=94_fees_to_provide_e-mails_to_press?= Message-ID: <38DBA756-A498-43E5-9325-C6C66B1E96D8@infowarrior.org> Ferguson officials charging ?exorbitant? fees to provide e-mails to press AP says the tactic keeps public-interest documents from seeing the light of day. http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2014/09/ferguson-officials-charging-exorbitant-fees-to-provide-e-mails-to-press/ --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Tue Sep 30 08:03:07 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 09:03:07 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - The Fake Terror Threat Used To Justify Bombing Syria Message-ID: The Fake Terror Threat Used To Justify Bombing Syria By Glenn Greenwald and Murtaza Hussain https://firstlook.org/theintercept/2014/09/28/u-s-officials-invented-terror-group-justify-bombing-syria/ As the Obama Administration prepared to bomb Syria without congressional or U.N. authorization, it faced two problems. The first was the difficulty of sustaining public support for a new years-long war against ISIS, a group that clearly posed no imminent threat to the ?homeland.? A second was the lack of legal justification for launching a new bombing campaign with no viable claim of self-defense or U.N. approval. The solution to both problems was found in the wholesale concoction of a brand new terror threat that was branded ?The Khorasan Group.? After spending weeks depicting ISIS as an unprecedented threat ? too radical even for Al Qaeda! ? administration officials suddenly began spoon-feeding their favorite media organizations and national security journalists tales of a secret group that was even scarier and more threatening than ISIS, one that posed a direct and immediate threat to the American Homeland. Seemingly out of nowhere, a new terror group was created in media lore. The unveiling of this new group was performed in a September 13 article by the Associated Press, who cited unnamed U.S. officials to warn of this new shadowy, worse-than-ISIS terror group: < -- > There are serious questions about whether the Khorasan Group even exists in any meaningful or identifiable manner. Aki Peritz, a CIA counterterrorism official until 2009, told Time: ?I?d certainly never heard of this group while working at the agency,? while Obama?s former U.S. ambassador to Syria Robert Ford said: ?We used the term [Khorasan] inside the government, we don?t know where it came from?.All I know is that they don?t call themselves that.? As The Intercept was finalizing this article, former terrorism federal prosecutor Andrew McCarthy wrote in National Review that the group was a scam: ?You haven?t heard of the Khorosan Group because there isn?t one. It is a name the administration came up with, calculating that Khorosan ? had sufficient connection to jihadist lore that no one would call the president on it.? What happened here is all-too-familiar. The Obama administration needed propagandistic and legal rationale for bombing yet another predominantly Muslim country. While emotions over the ISIS beheading videos were high, they were not enough to sustain a lengthy new war. So after spending weeks promoting ISIS as Worse Than Al Qaeda?, they unveiled a new, never-before-heard-of group that was Worse Than ISIS?. Overnight, as the first bombs on Syria fell, the endlessly helpful U.S. media mindlessly circulated the script they were given: this new group was composed of ?hardened terrorists,? posed an ?imminent? threat to the U.S. homeland, was in the ?final stages? of plots to take down U.S. civilian aircraft, and could ?launch more-coordinated and larger attacks on the West in the style of the 9/11 attacks from 2001.?" As usual, anonymity was granted to U.S. officials to make these claims. As usual, there was almost no evidence for any of this. Nonetheless, American media outlets ? eager, as always, to justify American wars ? spewed all of this with very little skepticism. Worse, they did it by pretending that the U.S. government was trying not to talk about all of this ? too secret! ? but they, as intrepid, digging journalists, managed to unearth it from their courageous ?sources.? Once the damage was done, the evidence quickly emerged about what a sham this all was. But, as always with these government/media propaganda campaigns, the truth emerges only when it?s impotent. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Tue Sep 30 11:46:51 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 12:46:51 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - The FCC just sacked the sports blackout rule Message-ID: <18CBCC91-E88C-4A66-8C98-E1BDE5DC6972@infowarrior.org> The FCC just sacked the sports blackout rule By Brian Fung September 30 at 11:32 AM http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/09/30/the-fcc-just-sacked-the-sports-blackout-rule/ Federal regulators have ended a longstanding rule that prevents certain sports games from being shown on TV. In a bipartisan vote Tuesday, the Federal Communications Commission unanimously agreed to do away with the sports blackout rule, a much-criticized 40-year-old ban on local broadcasts designed to force sports fans to their local stadiums rather than allowing them to watch poorly attended games from home. Under the blackout rule, games that failed to sell out could not be shown on free, over-the-air television. For decades, it also meant that cable companies and satellite TV providers were effectively forbidden from showing those games in the same market, as well. Now the FCC has signaled that it will no longer be backing the blackout rule, which the commission says mainly benefits team owners and sports leagues, such as the NFL, by driving ticket sales. "For 40 years, these teams have hidden behind a rule of the FCC," said FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. "No more. Everyone needs to be aware who allows blackouts to exist, and it is not the Federal Communications Commission." The rule was initially put in place in 1975 amid concerns of flagging attendance at sports games. At the time, said the FCC, almost 60 percent of NFL games were blacked out on broadcast TV because not enough fans showed up at the stadium. Today, that figure stands at less than one percent, and professional football is so popular on TV that programming contracts contribute "a substantial majority of the NFL's revenues nowadays," said FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai. The NFL has warned that ending the blackout rule would hurt consumers by encouraging leagues to move their programming exclusively to pay TV. But Pai pushed back against those claims Tuesday, saying teams can't afford not to air their games on broadcast TV. "By moving games to pay TV," said Pai, "the NFL would be cutting off its nose to spite its face." The cable industry welcomed the 5-0 vote. "We commend the commission?s unanimous decision to eliminate the antiquated sports blackout rule," said the National Cable and Telecommunications Association. "As the video marketplace continues to evolve and offers consumers more competition and a growing variety of new services, we encourage the FCC to continue its examination of outdated rules that no longer make sense." While the NFL can still write blackouts into its programming contracts despite the FCC's vote, the message from the agency Tuesday was clear: If you choose that path, you'll be the only ones bearing the brunt of consumer ire, particularly from low-income Americans and the disabled who can't make it or have a harder time getting to the games. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Tue Sep 30 11:49:26 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 12:49:26 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - U.S. Law Enforcement Seeks to Halt Apple-Google Encryption of Mobile Data Message-ID: U.S. Law Enforcement Seeks to Halt Apple-Google Encryption of Mobile Data By Del Quentin Wilber Sep 30, 2014 12:00 AM ET http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-30/u-s-seeks-to-reverse-apple-android-data-locking-decision.html U.S. law enforcement officials are urging Apple Inc. (AAPL) and Google Inc. (GOOG) to give authorities access to smartphone data that the companies have decided to block, and are weighing whether to appeal to executives or seek congressional legislation. The new privacy features, announced two weeks ago by the California-based companies, will stymie investigations into crimes ranging from drug dealing to terrorism, law enforcement officials said. ?This is a very bad idea,? said Cathy Lanier, chief of the Washington Metropolitan Police Department, in an interview. Smartphone communication is ?going to be the preferred method of the pedophile and the criminal. We are going to lose a lot of investigative opportunities.? The dispute is the latest flare-up that pits the federal government against the nation?s leading technology companies since National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden disclosed last year the extent of U.S. snooping on phone and Internet communications -- and how companies cooperated. U.S. Justice Department and FBI officials are trying to understand how the new Apple and Google Android systems work and how the companies could change the encryption to make it accessible when court ordered. Their requests to the companies may include letters, personal appeals or congressional legislation, said a federal law official who requested anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue. NSA Spying Beyond lobbying the companies, there is little law enforcement can do without congressional action. Technology companies have stepped up efforts to shield customer data from hackers -- and the government -- after the NSA spy revelations and the recent theft of celebrity nude photos from Apple?s iCloud service. ?These companies are trying to build products that people want to use,? said Carl Howe, a mobility analyst with 451 Research in Boston. ?They want to provide that feeling of privacy. Otherwise, people won?t use them.? Apple described the new measures on Sept. 17 on its website, noting that it can no longer bypass customers? passcodes and ?therefore cannot access this data.? Apple has in the past cooperated with court orders and unlocked phones for law enforcement or provided data from its systems. Apple?s message said in most cases law enforcement doesn?t ask for content such as e-mails, photos or data stored on its iCloud or iTunes accounts. Technical Feasibility ?It?s not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running? the latest version of the company?s operating system, iOS 8, the Cupertino, California-based company said. Evidence from mobile devices has provided critical help in solving crimes ranging from homicides to drug trafficking. Just as most people spend time on smartphones, so do criminals. Investigators routinely recover from the devices videos of crimes in progress, photos of drug gang members flashing weapons, text exchanges between conspirators, and child pornography. Federal Bureau of Investigation Director James Comey entered the debate last week, telling reporters that he opposed the companies? decision. He said the FBI was working to get them to change the policies. ?What concerns me about this is companies marketing something expressly to allow people to place themselves beyond the law,? Comey said. ?Fundamental Tension? Kristin Huguet, a spokeswoman for Apple, and Christopher Katsaros, a spokesman for Mountain View, California-based Google, declined to comment on the efforts by federal officials. ?This is a fundamental tension,? Howe said. The ?balance between how much privacy you?re allowed to have and how many rights the government has? is a question that has continued historically in the U.S., he said. A half-dozen police and federal officials interviewed said that Apple, in particular, was taking an aggressive posture on the issue. Law enforcement officials emphasized that they get court orders, and that they aren?t seeking to randomly root through phones. They said they were unsure whether the same encryption protocols would make it impossible to get data stored in cloud-based servers operated by the companies. Drug Investigations James Soiles, a deputy chief of operations at the Drug Enforcement Administration, said the stakes in resolving the dispute are high. ?It?s a significant issue for law enforcement,? Soiles said. ?As long as we are doing it with court orders, there shouldn?t be any reason to keep us from it. We want to attack command-and-control structures of drug organizations, and to do that we have to be able to exploit their communication devices.? Andrew Weissmann, the top lawyer at the FBI from 2011 through 2013, said the bureau was especially concerned that criminals could soon ?go dark? with the aid of encryption. Google and Apple faced a choice, Weissmann said: Creating vault-like systems that nobody could penetrate or ones that were less-secure and would permit authorities to investigate crimes. ?Balancing Act? ?They have created a system that is a free-for-all for criminals,? said Weissmann, a law professor at New York University. ?It?s the wrong balancing act. Having court-ordered access to telephones is essential to thwart criminal acts and terrorist acts.? Weissmann said there was little the Justice Department could do to stop the emerging policies. The companies are permitted to have encryption systems. The only way to ensure law enforcement access is for Congress to pass legislation, he said. Following the Snowden revelations over the National Security Agency?s data collection, Google, Apple and other tech giants in January got permission to disclose more about government orders for customer data. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT), Yahoo! Inc. (YHOO) and Facebook Inc. (FB), had filed motions with the secret court that oversees spying under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act asking to be able to publish details. Some tech companies, including Google and Facebook, are pushing for more help with disclosures. That includes support of legislation called the USA FREEDOM Act, which would allow the search-engine provider to be more clear about the volume, scope and type of national security demands the company receives. To contact the reporter on this story: Del Quentin Wilber in Washington at dwilber at bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Steven Komarow at skomarow1 at bloomberg.net Justin Blum --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it. From rforno at infowarrior.org Tue Sep 30 13:21:33 2014 From: rforno at infowarrior.org (Richard Forno) Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2014 14:21:33 -0400 Subject: [Infowarrior] - Latest proposed UK anti-terror ideas Message-ID: Extremists to have Facebook and Twitter vetted by anti-terror police Theresa May to announce new Extremist Disruption Orders to strengthen counter-terrorism if the Tories win the next general election By Holly Watt, Whitehall Editor 12:05AM BST 30 Sep 2014 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/terrorism-in-the-uk/11129474/Extremists-to-have-Facebook-and-Twitter-vetted-by-anti-terror-police.html Extremists will have to get posts on Facebook and Twitter approved in advance by the police under sweeping rules planned by the Conservatives. They will also be barred from speaking at public events if they represent a threat to ?the functioning of democracy?, under the new Extremist Disruption Orders. Theresa May, the Home Secretary, will lay out plans to allow judges to ban people from broadcasting or protesting in certain places, as well as associating with specific people. The plans ? to be brought in if the Conservatives win the election in May ? are part of a wide-ranging set of rules to strengthen the Government?s counter-terrorism strategy. The announcement at the annual party conference in Birmingham will come as the Conservatives position themselves as the party toughest on the terror threat. The UK?s terror threat level was raised from ?substantial? to ?severe? at the end of August in response to conflicts in Iraq and Syria. The Home Secretary will also introduce ?banning orders? for extremist groups, which would make it a criminal offence to be a member of or raise funds for a group that spreads or promotes hatred. The maximum sentence could be up to 10 years in prison. The new orders will be part of the Government?s ?Prevent? strategy, which tackles the ideology behind the terrorist threat. So-called hate preachers, who currently stay just within terrorism legislation, will be one of the targets of banning orders and Extremism Disruption Orders (EDOs). Earlier this month, David Cameron announced that the police would be given new powers to seize the passports of terrorist suspects and stop British jihadists from returning to the UK. The Prime Minister said it was ?abhorrent? that British citizens had ?declared their allegiance? to groups such as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil) and said the UK was looking at ?specific and discretionary? powers to bar suspects from returning home. Yvette Cooper, the shadow home secretary, has said the Government should take action to stop young Britons being drawn to extremist ideology, with tougher measures to prevent would-be jihadis travelling to join Isil fighters in Iraq and Syria. EDOs would apply if a judge is convinced that an individual is carrying out their activities for ?the purpose of overthrowing democracy?. Terrorism Investigation and Prevention Measures were introduced in 2012, shortly after control orders were scrapped for being too restrictive. They include electronic tagging, reporting regularly to the police and facing ?tightly defined exclusion from particular places and the prevention of travel overseas?. --- Just because i'm near the punchbowl doesn't mean I'm also drinking from it.