CyberLaw Blog

Archive for June 20th, 2008

Secure-Tunnel Announces Release of ST Xpress, A Free Anonymous Web Proxy

Secure-Tunnel.com announced the release of a free anonymous proxy service to combat internet censorship. The new service dubbed Secure-Tunnel Xpress requires no installation and can be used from anywhere internet access is available. The new service can be found at https://www.secure-tunnel.com.

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EU Commission plots to end rip-off Britain online: “

One consumer law regime to rule them all

The EU will impose a single system of consumer laws across the bloc in a bid to encourage cross-border shopping online, Commissioner Meglena Kuneva said today.…

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(Via The Register - Public Sector.)

BBC NEWS | Magazine | What is obscene these days?: “What is obscene these days? “

It’s 2008 and sex seems to be everywhere. So who holds the line between permissiveness and obscenity? What is obscene these days? And how do those people entrusted to make these calls cope with the harrowing work?

Virgin Media burns customer banking details to CD, then loses it: “

If only they had some sort of network instead…

Virgin Media is conducting an internal inquiry into why 3,000 customers’ bank details were burned to a CD which was then lost, it emerged today.…

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(Via The Register - Comms.)

Comment: France’s anti-piracy law is like holding a tissue up to the breeze: “From Times Online, June 18, 2008, by Jonathan Richards: Using heavy-handed tactics with ISPs is only latest in a line of tactics to defeat online piracy - and it won’t work “

Oh dear. It feels like the year 2000.

Once again the music industry is resolved to protect its property against the threat of illegal downloads - this time with the help of ISPs and some prodding from the French Government.

At the turn of the century it was Napster, the file-sharing site set up by Shawn Fanning, 19. The culprit of choice these days tends to be BitTorrent. There have been dozens in between - Kazaa, Limewire, and Grokster, to name a few. There will be countless more in the future.

But the record industry’s attempts to prevent online piracy seem like holding a tissue up to the breeze. Technology called peer-to-peer file-sharing has decentralised the whole process of distributing files - legally or illegally. There is no central server on whose door the authorities can knock. The task is shared between the myriad computers - all connected to the internet - that share content between themselves.

France to ban illegal downloaders from using the internet under three-strikes rule: “From The Times
June 19, 2008″

Anyone who persists in illicit downloading of music or films will be barred from broadband access under a controversial new law that makes France a pioneer in combating internet piracy.

“There is no reason that the internet should be a lawless zone,” President Sarkozy told his Cabinet yesterday as it endorsed the “three-strikes-and-you’re-out” scheme that from next January will hit illegal downloaders where it hurts.

Under a cross-industry agreement, internet service providers (ISPs) must cut off access for up to a year for third-time offenders.

In a classical French approach the scheme will be enforced by a new £15 million a year state agency, to be called Hadopi (high authority for copyright protection and dissemination of works on the internet).

Snoop bill opponents post Swedish spy IDs on net: “

Even Google condemns eavesdropping bill

The chief of Sweden’s defense intelligence agency admitted Thursday that about 20 of its staff members have had personal information about themselves posted on the internet as part of a mud-slinging campaign. According to Swedish blog Politikerbloggen the information included addresses, phone numbers and even credit card numbers.…

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(Via The Register - Public Sector.)

Objectionable Atatürk Videos Keep YouTube Inaccessible: “Turkey is not one of hostile countries to the internet, but it has kept YouTube, the biggest video sharing site, inaccessible for two months because of insulting videos to Atatürk. The prosecutor says it is not enough to remove them from the Turkish database.”

(Via Latest Bianet/English News.)

Flirty texting could land Scots in jail for 10 years: “

Go too far and you’re nicked

Scots face up to 10 years in jail for sending text messages or emails with sexual content. Scotland’s just-published Sexual Offences Bill contains stiff penalties for any sexual messages whose intent is to humiliate the recipient.…

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(Via The Register - Comms.)

Deal Is Struck to Overhaul Wiretap Law: “The deal reached by leaders in Congress overhauls the rules on the government’s wiretapping powers and provides some immunity to the phone companies.”

(Via NYT > Technology.)