Apr 17, 20080
Apr 11, 20080
Since When The Canadian “Human Rights” Commission Is Permitted To Use Totalitarian Countries’ Tactics?
Next time someone tells you that “Canadians enjoy the highest level of free speech in the world” present him or her with this scenario :
On March 26th 2008, Maclean’s magazine reported that the Canadian Human Rights Commission (CHRC) investigators were trolling Canadian neighborhoods for unprotected wireless internet connections, to leech onto. Why do you think Canadian public servants would do such things? So they could post racist comments under assumed names on web sites and then charge the site’s owners with publishing hate speech.
That’s right, you’re not dreaming: the CHRC HACKS INTO CONTROVERSIAL BLOGS using what could be YOUR home wireless connection and YOUR home IP address to post racist comments on websites as if it was YOU posting them and then summons YOU to come in their kangaroo court to testify (to justify yourself) about these racist comment they assume YOU’VE made because your Internet Protocol Address corresponding to your home address was used. What do you think of that?
That’s how an innocent Canadian’s name and address got read aloud— in open court, as evidence in one of the CHRC’s most widely publicized cases. That is how CHRC actions could be a breach to your Privacy rights under the Federal Privacy Act. Ironically, this could be a matter of complaint to the Privacy Commissioner. I would like to see the Privacy Commisioner of Canada investigate the Canadian Human Rights Commision for alleged privacy breaches.
Can you imagine the face of your Kitsilano green activist and left-wing friend accused or suspected of being either a right wing extremist, a racist . All of that because a Human Rights Official stole his or her internet connection and IP address to post hate comments on some website with the goal to create evidences to prosecute that particular web site’s owner … and to make himself some work paid by our taxes.
On March 29th, 2008 Nigel Hannaford of the Calgary Herald wrote an article on the subject. Here is a snippet:
“[…]here the federal snivel servants were, logging onto Internet hate sites under assumed names, trying to conceal what they were up to by using the wireless Internet account belonging to a young woman who seems to be completely uninvolved in any of it and, according to Lemire, trying to entrap people who visited his site.
Only the unusual circumstance of these people being publicly cross-examined brought any of this to light.
Boy, did we ever not quite get it. We thought this was a high-minded disagreement over fundamental principles. Instead, we find the CHRC tolerates sleazy behaviours among its investigating officers that have no place in a free society.” [Calgary Herald]
Johnatan Kay of the National Post said in his column titled The CHRC’s entrapment chickens are coming home to roost (or has someone else already used that metaphor?), “Still, the fact that anyone takes that kind of idea seriously shows how thoroughly the CHRC has poisoned its own well with its over-the-top tactics in going after marginal Canadian hatemongers. This is one of the reasons why the recent Lemire hearings were such a disaster for the CHRC: From now on, every time anyone sees hate speech on the Internet — or some hysterical anti-racist claims to have found a Swastika scribbled on a bathroom wall — people are going to wonder who put it there: Was it a hatemonger, or was it someone whose livelihood is based on convincing others that hatemongers are rampant?” [National Post]
Read also Maclean’s Mark Steyn’s article titled Kangaroo Court in Session
… and more on the crushing of dissent in Canada, from Eric Scheie.
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Apr 6, 20080
Disney: A Pixar CARS Exhibit Opens At Petersen Museum
If you are car lover and and are in L.A between now and November 2, 2008, there is a cool exhibit titled “The Art of Cars” at the Petersen Automotive Museum. It includes, among other things, over 60 watercolor and pastel drawings, pencil and marker sketches, and a variety of three-dimensional pieces.
Bookmark this article:“Route 66 ends this year at Fairfax and Wilshire with the launch of a special exhibition “The Art of Cars,” the first-ever creative collaboration between Pixar Animation Studios and the Petersen Automotive Museum. “The Art of Cars” showcases the artistic process behind the creation of the animated feature film Cars. The exhibit will run from March 29 through November 2, 2008.” [Petersen Automotive Museum]
Apr 4, 20080
Are There Limits To Freedom Of Expression On The Net?
Posted by: Frederic Desjardins
Whether it is through the residents of a town who disagree with city officials or a group of citizens who feel abandoned by the traditional media or even the initiative of a Dutch elected official who wants to share his views, freedom of expression is a topic that resurfaces regularly on the mainstream media and the internet.
This is a fascinating question and, overall, a very interesting one for those who are involved in Civil Liberties on the internet. Because on the internet, international laws, national laws, good taste and censorship seem to coexist in harmony. However this harmony can be hard to achieve for those who want to promote a message that is outside the themes usually heard on mainstream media.
A Controversial initiative
One of the best examples these days, is the attempt of a right wing Member of the Dutch Parliament Geert Wilders to broadcast a 15 minute video. Wilders is known for his numerous anti-islam theses. The Dutch Government immediately dissociated itself from the Wilders initiative attempting to broadcast the video criticizing Islam and its sacred book the Koran.
After the Dutch National TV’s refusal to broadcast the documentary, Wilders decided to publish it on the internet. The problem is, in Holland, people are tolerant and are used to these types of discussions, but by promising to broadcast on the internet, Wilders exposes himself to the laws of all the countries and all interest groups in the world.
Of course his film will not be the first of this type to be broadcast on the net. We can already see numerous videos expressing anti-islam views on video portals. One of them is the video of Theo Van Gogh titled “Submission”, which covers violence made against muslim women. The movie abetted a muslim fanatic to murder Theo Van Gogh.
Afraid of being the victims of some islamic fatwa. Web Hosting providers such as Network Solutions, who first accepted to host the official video site Fitnathemovie.com, changed their minds and refused to host the Wilders video.
To explain its decision Network Solutions said that its terms of usage forbids hate propaganda and defamation. They also stated that the Web Hosting Service is commited to respect international and local legislations.
So even if the Dutch are a tolerant people and accept all online documents that serve the purpose of discussion, when another country or government finds the same document offensive, Network Solutions has the right, according to its terms of use, to remove the document and transfer all the legal costs to the web site editor who might have contravened some foreign national laws.
Network Solutions would probably not host websites or blogs describing what is happening in Tibet because it might be against Chinese laws or those criticizing Birmany to avoid displeasing the local administration.
That situation could convince web site editors to choose a local web host instead of Network Solutions. But the local Web Host could also take into account foreign laws, because the web sites of its clients would be accessible in other countries as well, where other laws could be in effect. This situation could be remedied if the web host used a controversial filtering service to prevent the viewers residing in those countries to access specific sites that might be offensive, by fear of lawsuits, just as Google has done in China.
Now, let’s see if the Wilders’ Documentary will be on the web next Sunday or Tuesday.
See also a related post about the muslims student who filed a complaint against Maclean’s Magazine
Apr 2, 20080
Google and Virgin Team Up To Build A Human Colony On Mars
Earth has issues, so Richard Branson and Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page think it’s time humanity got started on a Plan B.
Their plan B consist into leading hundreds of users on one of the “grandest adventures in human history: the first permanent human colony on Mars.”
Read Richard Branson’s post on the Google Blog
Mar 29, 20080
Star Trek Mark IX Science Tricorder Replica
For all of you trekkies out there here is the new Star Trek Mark IX Science Tricorder replica. If you’re ever in doubt about what’s going on, just consult your Tricorder. Is that object made of tungsten, or is it a hologram?
Description:
- Based on the prop from Deep Space Nine and Voyager!
- Electronic lights and sounds right from the show!
- Amazing bright, colorful graphics!
- Price: $349.99
Mar 29, 20085
Rogers Communication and Bell Want You To Think They Own The Internet
Matthew Coutts of the National Post reports, “Rogers Communications recently announced it will charge additional fees to customers who heavily download files such as movies and music. Those charges range as high as $5 per gigabyte transferred, depending on the users monthly subscription. One downloadable 90-minute movie can be as large as 1.3 gigabytes.”
For your information, your ISP does not own the Internet. No one owns the Internet, and no single person or organization controls it. There are, however, organizations that oversee and standardize what’s happening on the Internet and assign Internet Protocol addresses and domain names. The Internet Engineering Task Force, ICANN, InterNIC and the Internet Architecture Board are among these organizations.
ISP companies like Bell and Rogers charge a fee for the use of their servers that have access to the Internet, that’s all. They do not own the Internet. It’s certainly not Rogers Communication or Bell that have a right to charge fees to download content on the Internet. It would be similar to fraud because they would charge for something they do not own. Furthermore, they do not own the copyright of any digital or text content that is downloaded by their customers. They do not own the network through which it is downloaded.
“Increased congestion is affecting the networks of Internet carriers across North America,” said Bell spokesperson Jason Laszlo. “Like other carriers, we’re seeking to better balance the Internet traffic during the peak usage period so that all of the customers using the network receive the optimum level or service that they deserve and rightly demand.”
Dear Mr. Laszlo, Bell has no authority to manage increased congestion over something it does not own, in this case the Internet. I strongly suspect that what Bell and Rogers are trying to achieve here, is to increase the profitability of their business by charging money for something they do not own; In this case the internet and its content.
Read all about it on the National Post: CRTC urged to probe ‘discriminatory’ Internet traffic shaping
Boingboing has an interesting post titled Internet Bill Of Rights Kick Ass
Technorati Tags: ISP, internet, bell, rogers, crtc
Bookmark this article: Mar 28, 20080
MacBook Air Hacked In 2 Minutes
Martha Stewart’s favorite laptop may not be as safe as she thinks. The MacBook Air was hacked in 2 minutes by some hacker at this year CanSecWest conference in Vancouver.
Bookmark this article:“While Microsoft’s Windows OS has along been slammed as the hackers dream, it was a MacBook Air that broke down first under the hands of hackers at this year’s CanSecWest conference in Vancouver, B.C., according to TippingPoint, the contest’s sponsor. ” [ChannelWeb]
Mar 28, 20080
The Laptop’s Ancestor
After discussing the Apple MacBook Air, there are other portable computers “laptops” “we could be talking about, namely, the Osborne 1 and the TRS-80 Model 4P. The Osborne 1 was the word’s first self-contained portable personal computer. Many of the design decisions and innovations first seen in the Osborne 1 are still being used today some 25-plus years later. We could not resist taking a look inside this piece of computing history.” link
Bookmark this article: Mar 4, 20081
Futurist Ray Kurzweil Sees A Future In Games
Ray Kurzweil thinks in the future work will be like a video game and that humans will one day upload their brains and consciousness into computers. Kurzweil is an inventor and futurist. He has been a pioneer in the fields of optical character recognition (OCR), text-to-speech synthesis, speech recognition technology, and electronic keyboard instruments. He is the author of several books on health, artificial intelligence, transhumanism, technological singularity, and futurism.
Contents
“[…] his hypothesis of technological singularity, told a crowd of 2,000 video game developers last week at the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco that he thinks games are on the cutting edge.
“Games are a harbinger of everything,” said Mr. Kurzweil min his keynote address. “In twenty years, games will have taken over the world and everything will be virtual reality.”
By 2010, Kurzweil said, computers will begin to disappear. “They will disappear into our clothing and bodies,” he explained. Big screens will be replaced with personal monitors built into eyeglasses and even contact lenses. He expects “full-immersion” games early in the next decade which will take place in true virtual reality. The problem, said Kurzweil, is that we need to figure out how to make sure people in virtual worlds don’t forget that they are also interacting with the real world, something that is already a problem with some Wii games. We’ll have to “enforce reality,” maybe “by having a window to the real world in the virtual reality world.”
A more eloquent solution to that problem will come about by 2029, said Kurzweil, when nanotechnology will be able to shut down the signals our brain receives from the real environment to enable us to respond only to signals from the virtual reality of our choice. This will be possible because of what Kurzweil called “an intimate merger.” Computers will have human-level intelligence and the reverse engineering of the human brain will be complete. Game characters, said Kurzweil, will benefit from our having “complete models of all regions of the human brain and the means to simulate human intelligence.” [The Globe and Mail]
Technorati Tags: futurism
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