CyberLaw Blog

Archive for June 11th, 2008

Secret terror files left on train: “An inquiry is underway into a ’serious’ security breach after top-secret documents on al-Qaeda are left on a train.”

(Via BBC News.)

Secret Spy Court Troubled by FBI Wiretap Network: The nation’s top-secret spy court repeatedly questioned the FBI in 2005 and 2006 about the operation of its sophisticated wiretapping network, raising questions about whether investigators exceeded their authority and infringed on Americans’ privacy, according to newly unclassified documents. One eavesdropping expert says the documents show the FBI clearly violated wiretapping law.

(Via Wired News.)

Interstate web host foils gonzo porn baron Max Hardcore:

California obscenity, Florida conviction

A federal jury in Tampa, Florida convicted a pioneer of gross-out ‘gonzo’ porn last week on obscenity charges stemming from the delivery of his movies over the Internet, despite the fact that he lives and works entirely in California.…

(Via The Register - Public Sector.)

Index on Censorship » Something must be done

The government’s latest legislation on ‘extreme pornography’ is based on ill-informed notions, writes
Julian Petley

Question: what do Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Last Exit to Brooklyn and Inside Linda Lovelace have in common? Answer: they were all subject to failed prosecutions under the Obscene Publications Act 1959 & 1964 (OPA). Next question: what do the Protection of Children Act 1978, the Video Recordings Act 1984, the Criminal Justice Act 1988 and the Criminal Justice Act 2008 have in common? Answer: they are all attempts to circumvent the OPA, whose provisions the censorious have long agitated against as overly liberal and ‘permissive’.

Communications Decency Act Tipping Under Cuomo Kid-Porn Accord: Sprint, Verizon and Time Warner are agreeing with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo to block and filter kiddie porn. Perhaps it’s a salvo to head off congressional action that might lead to even broader censorship. But the Cuomo deal, anounced Tuesday, is an indication that the dynamic that’s kept the internet largely free of government intrusion is beginning to crack.

(Via Wired News.)

Former Prosecutor: ISP Content Filtering Might be a ‘Five Year Felony’: By Ryan Singe, May 22, 2008

Internet service providers that monitor their networks for copyright infringement or bandwidth hogs may be committing felonies by breaking federal wiretapping laws, a panel said Thursday.

University of Colorado law professor Paul Ohm, a former federal computer crimes prosecutor, argues that ISPs such as Comcast, AT&T and Charter Communications that are or are contemplating ways to throttle bandwidth, police for copyright violations and serve targeted ads by examining their customers’ internet packets are putting themselves in criminal and civil jeopardy.”

France blocks online child porn, terrorism, racism - Yahoo! News: ARIS - France is joining at least five other countries where Internet service providers block access to child pornography and to content linked to terrorism and racial hatred, the French interior minister said Tuesday.

The agreement will take effect in September. A blacklist will be compiled based on input from Internet users who flag sites containing offensive material, Interior Minister Michel Alliot-Marie said.

All service providers in France have agreed to block offending sites, he said.

‘We can no longer tolerate the sexual exploitation of children in the form of child pornography,’ Alliot-Marie said. ‘We have come to an agreement: access to child pornography sites will be blocked in France. Other democracies have done it. France could wait no longer.’

Offensive sites will be referred to judicial authorities, the minister said.

A similar deal was announced Tuesday in New York, where Verizon, Sprint and Time Warner Cable agreed with New York state officials to block access to child porn.

Britain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Canada and New Zealand are among other countries that have already implemented similar measures.

Google supports US privacy law: “

If it stops stronger laws anyway

Google, under fire recently for not being open enough about its own privacy policies, supports a wide-ranging federal bill protecting privacy.…

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(Via The Register - Public Sector.)

Skype: We can’t comply with police wiretap requests:

One of the more interesting tidbits from News.com’s survey published this morning on instant messaging privacy came from Skype.

The eBay-owned company says it is unable to comply with court-authorized wiretap requests.

We asked Skype: ‘Have you ever received a subpoena, court order or other law enforcement request …

(Via The Iconoclast.)

Here is another review article this time from a UK perspective.

New York talks net giants into child pornography crackdown:

Time Warner torches newsgroups

After discussions with the New York Attorney General’s office, three big-name American ISPs - Time Warner Cable, Sprint, and Verizon - have agreed to a sweeping crackdown on child pornography.…

(Via The Register - Comms.)