Hollywood wants Congress to give it new super powers over your TV, radio, and computer. Find out more in this animation, and write to stop the Broadcast Flag, Audio Flag, and Analog Hole laws.

If the EFF server is too slow, you can also download the files directly from this archive.org server:
The_Corruptibles-xvid.avi
The_Corruptibles.m4v
The_Corruptibles.swf

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The settlement process has begun in EFF’s class action lawsuit
against Sony BMG for the flawed digital rights management (DRM)
that Sony BMG released in millions of CDs over the last several years.
Music fans who bought the affected CDs can submit claims for clean music.
Many customers are also eligible for extra downloads or a small cash settlement.

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Professor E. Dommering of the University of Amsterdam opened with a review of the current situation of censorship on the internet, with the most recent example of Google’s decision to launch a special google.cn service in China. Next the Tibet Support Groep Nederland explained how the Chinese regime uses internet censorship to block access to information about the situation and history of Tibet, its ongoing occupation and the Dalai Lama. In December Margot Wallström, Vice-President of the European Commission had already criticized Google, Yahoo and Microsoft in her weblog and hoped that these companies one day will understand that to endorse democracy and corporate responsibility is a prerequisite for “smart” growth.

That internet control and censorship also happens in eastern Europe was the subject of the next presentation. Aleksander Parfentsov, director of the Informational Development Promotion Foundation (IDOF) and of the TV-production Studio 42 in Minsk, Belarus, gave an overview of the current social and political situation in Belarus and the creative ways in which young people exercise their right to free opinion.

As a positive example for free information and communication, the videoletters project was presented next by Katarina Rejger. In Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Monte Negro and Kosovo Videoletters reconnects former friends who stopped talking to one another since the war.

The video webcast of this even will soon be online on Fabchannel.

Technorati Tags: google, belarus, videoletters

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The winners are:

• Minister Rita Verdonk
• Sony BMG
• Flevo hospital
• the proposal for central data biometric retention

Minister Verdonk is awarded the price because she handed-over the status of asylum seeker of rejected applicants to their country of origin, denied it repeatedly in parliament and later minimised the impact of this information. Though much media attention was devoted to the credibility of the minister, the gravity of the privacy violation remained underexposed, according to the jury. The information about their attempt to seek asylum might very well cause life threatening situations for the applicants in their country of origin. Thus the case provides a perfect illustration how important privacy is for the security of people.

Sony BMG has won the award in the category Companies. The company installed spyware on 2.6 million audio cds, intended as copyright protection. When the rootkit was discovered, the company issued a patch. But that made matters even worse. People interested in the patch had to provide many personal details and after the installation the patch secretly set up encrypted communication with Sony BMG.

In the category government institutions, the Flevo hospital earned an award with very poor security of personal data about patients. Subsidised amongst others by the European Commission, the hospital embarked on a project to disclose appointments with patients via the Internet, but failed to put adequate access control into place.

In the category ‘proposals’, the government idea is crowned to put a central database into place with biometric data, data every Dutchman will have to provide soon to obtain a new passport. From August 2006 a picture will be included on the chip, later on fingerprints of both index fingers will be added. The jury is deeply concerned about the surveillance possibilities of such a central database, for example when facial recognition tools are linked to the omnipresent camera surveillance.

As a special price Prof. Mr. Hans Franken, professor in Law and Information Science at the University of Leiden and member of the Senate for the christian-democrat party received the newly created Winston Award to honor his consistent resistance in the Senate against mandatory data retention.

These images are published under a Creative Commons License.

Technorati Tags: bof, big brother, verdonk, sony, root kit

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The internet search engine Google is resisting efforts by the US Department of Justice to force it to hand over data about what people are looking for.

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1. category: People

• Rita Verdonk
• Peter R. de Vries
• Gerrit Zalm

2. category: Companies

• Brein
• Sony BMG
• Translink

3. category: Government & organizations

• Flevoziekenhuis
• Police Limburg-Zuid
• Police Rotterdam-Rijnmond

4. category: Proposals

• central data biometric retention
• central data retention of traffic data
• Virtual moat

The winners will be announced on January 28th at the Paradiso in Amsterdam. Entrance to the event is free.

Technorati Tags: bof, big brother

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Technorati Tags: ACLU, NSA, EFF

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The legal battle that the Church of Scientology has conducted against XS4ALL and Karin Spaink reached its grand finale today. The Dutch Supreme court dismissed Scientology’s claims, which means that a decade of legal skirmishes has finally come to an end. The Supreme Court decided that the previous ruling, which was in favour of XS4ALL and Spaink, still holds. Scientology lost again. Freedom of speech prevailed over the alleged copyright of the Scientology Church, and Spaink can quote from Scientology’s higher – and supposedly secret – course levels.

In July this year, a few days before the Supreme Court was to rule upon the case, Scientology suddenly dropped its appeal. XS4ALL and Spaink formally objected this withdrawal: it is a known Scientology tactic to draw out its legal battles, and to suddenly drop them when it appears that they will lose the case. The Supreme Court accepts the cult’s withdrawal, thereby pre-empting the need for a legal evaluation of the case. Attorney-general Verkade had advised a different strategy: he had wanted the Supreme Court to accept Scientology’s withdrawal while still judging the merits of the case. Earlier, Verkade had advised the Supreme Court to dismiss all Scientology’s claims against XS4ALL and Spaink. Apparently, the Supreme Court thinks that it needn’t add its own assessment to that of previous courts.

All in all, XS4ALL and Spaink have gained four victories (summary proceedings, full proceedings, appeal, dismissal of appeal). After more than ten years of legal battling, freedom of speech has finally prevailed. Criticism on the internet cannot be quenched by appealing to copyright.

Because the Supreme Court has accepted Scientology’s withdrawal, the Church cannot turn to the European Court. The European Court is only a recourse when all national means have been explored, and Scientology was too afraid to do so. That means that the battle is over and has been won by XS4ALL and Spaink.

XS4ALL and Spaink will celebrate this victory during the XS4ALL festival on freedom of speech on the internet on the afternoon of Saturday, 28 January in the Melkweg. For more information on the festival see: http://www.leidsepleintheaters.nl/xs4all.html (NL)

There is a special victory t-shirt available to customers, and can be ordered via:
http://www.sml-x.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=16

Source: XS4ALL press release

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