Showing posts with label censorship. Show all posts
Showing posts with label censorship. Show all posts

WikiLeaks Uncovered Secret Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), Incoming Threat For Internet

WikiLeaks Uncovered Secret Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP), Incoming Threat For Internet 
After SOPA, PIPA & ACTA now the Internet is about to face another ferocious challenge named Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPP). I am sure that many of you are unaware of this TPP, as it is still on process, but WikiLeaks have uncovered ad released secret negotiated draft text for the entire TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) which is a multilateral free-trade treaty currently being negotiated in secret by 12 Pacific Rim nations. The current TPP negotiation member states are the United States, Japan, Mexico, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Chile, Singapore, Peru, Vietnam, New Zealand and Brunei. "This Trans Pacific “Partnership” is really, really bad News. #WikiLeaks" -said the twitter feed of WikiLeaks. From the leaked draft we came to know that  TPP will take time for all the corporate rigging in this lengthy document to be understood, but already it is evident that Internet freedom will be curtailed, access to health care will become more expensive and access to information will be undermined. In short the more you know about the odious Trans-Pacific Partnership, the less you’ll like it. It’s made for corporate intellectual property and profits. According to WikiLeaks official website -"The TPP is the largest-ever economic treaty, encompassing nations representing more than 40 per cent of the world’s GDP. The WikiLeaks release of the text comes ahead of the decisive TPP Chief Negotiators summit in Salt Lake City, Utah, on 19-24 November 2013. The chapter published by WikiLeaks is perhaps the most controversial chapter of the TPP due to its wide-ranging effects on medicines, publishers, internet services, civil liberties and biological patents. Significantly, the released text includes the negotiation positions and disagreements between all 12 prospective member states." 

In the words of WikiLeaks’ Editor-in-Chief Julian Assange, “If instituted, the TPP’s IP regime would trample over individual rights and free expression, as well as ride roughshod over the intellectual and creative commons. If you read, write, publish, think, listen, dance, sing or invent; if you farm or consume food; if you’re ill now or might one day be ill, the TPP has you in its crosshairs.” To download the entire TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership) draft click here

While talking about Jullian Assange and WikiLeaksand this sensational leak of TPP, I would like to give you reminder that in this year we got several leaks from WikiLeaks, among them -'Detainee Policies' containing more than 100 classified or otherwise restricted files from the United States Department of Defense covering the rules and procedures for detainees in U.S. military custody. SpyFilesGI Files (Global Intelligence Files & Five Million E-mails From Stratfor) & The Syria Files Containing 2.5 Million Emails of Syrian Politicians, Govt, Ministries & Companies. 



SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-

Controversial Cyber Security Bill CISPA Passed Again By The US House

Controversial Cyber Security Bill CISPA Passed Again By The US House

Couple of months ago we reported that the White House is planning for an executive cyber security order, from some official sources it has also come to know that the U.S. President Mr. Barack Obama has a special plan to re-introduce the Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA). Today that deceleration get executed as the US House of Representatives has passed the controversial Cyber Information Sharing and Protection Act. This is the second time when CISPA have been passed by the White House, first it was rejected by the Senator while saying that the bill did not do enough to protect privacy. But yet again with the initiative of Obama and a substantial majority of politicians in the House backed the bill. Though there is a huge chance of getting rejected. According to some relevant sources it has been came to light that, this time also CISPA could fail again in the Senate after threats from President Obama to veto it over privacy concerns. Sources are saying that the main reason of re-introducing CISPA is the the President Barack Obama expressed concerns that it could pose a privacy risk. The White House wants amendments so more is done to ensure the minimum amount of data is handed over in investigations.  The law is passing through the US legislative system as American federal agencies warn that malicious hackers, motivated by money or acting on behalf of foreign governments, such as China, are one of the biggest threats facing the nation.  "If you want to take a shot across China's bow, this is the answer," said Mike Rogers, the Republican politician who co-wrote CISPA and chairs the House Intelligence Committee. 

On the other hand CISPA has also secured the backing of several technology firms, including the CTIA wireless industry group, as well as the TechNet computer industry lobby group, which has Google, Apple and Yahoo as members. By contrast, some other big names like Mozilla, Reddit has been vocal in its opposition to the bill. In the beginning the social networking giant Facebook supported CISPA but later they took back its support. The American Civil Liberties Union has also opposed CISPA, saying the bill was "fatally flawed". The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), Reporters Without Borders and the American Library Association have all voiced similar worries.


-Source (BBC)






SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-

#opSOTU By Anonymous To Oppose Executive Cyber Security Order (The Revised CISPA)

#opSOTU By Anonymous To Oppose Executive Cyber Security Order (The Revised CISPA)

Last year the Internet and its trillion of users across the globe has faced several barrier when, number of approach from Senate and government, along with few corporate and other organization were in the target to make the entire Internet censored. To engage this motive they have approached and introduced a number of regulations and act such as SOPA, PIPA, CISPA & ACTA. But to implement those enactment was not that easy, as huge number of organization (including White House, Wikipedia & so on), billions of mass people stand against those controversial act, and as expected those acts were ruled back, that said protest might not get the full success, if hackers around the globe did not take part in it. It was the hackers communities who forced the govt to roll back those rules. But the victory was not that easy to achieve, as the president of U.S. appeared before a joint session of Congress to deliver the State of the Union Address and he plans to sign an executive order for cyber-security as the House Intelligence committee reintroduces the defeated CISPA act which turns private companies into government informants. As soon as the deceleration of the executive order for cyber-security came, immediately protest came. Hacktivist group Anonymous yet against stand against the controversial CISPA, and called an operation dubbed Operation SOTU (#opSOTU). In the campaign the hacker group states a clear intent to obstruct Internet broadcasts of the president's State of the Union address, an action the group justifies by pointing to renewed interest in Congress to pass the Cybersecurity Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act (CISPA), a measure Anonymous has long opposed. 

Press Release of Anonymous (#opSOTU):- 
Citizens of the Internet,
Last year we faced our greatest threat from lawmakers. We faced down SOPA, PIPA, CISPA and ACTA.

And we won!

But that victory did not come easily. Nor did it come without a price.

Aaron Swartz was one of the leading voices in the fight against these idiotic and destructive efforts to control the last free space on Earth.

Aaron Swartz was persecuted. Now Aaron Swartz is dead.
Tonight, the President of the United States will appear before a joint session of Congress to deliver the State of the Union Address and tomorrow he plans to sign an executive order for cyber-security as the House Intelligence committee reintroduces the defeated CISPA act which turns private companies into government informants.

He will not be covering the NDAA, an act of outright tyrannical legislation allowing for indefinite detention of citizens completely outside due process and the rule of law. In fact, lawyers for the government have point-blank refused to state whether or not journalists who cover stories or groups the Government disfavors would be subject to this detention.

He will not be covering the extra-judicial and unregulated justifications for targeted killings of citizens by military drones within the borders of America, or the fact that Orwellian newspeak had to be used to make words like “imminent” mean their opposite.

He will not be covering Bradley Manning, 1000 days in detention with no trial for revealing military murders, told that his motive for leaking cannot be taken into consideration, that the Government does not have room for conscience.

He will not be covering the secret interpretations of law that allow for warrant-less wiretapping and surveillance of any US citizen without probably cause of criminal acts, or the use of Catch-22 logic where no-one can complain about being snooped on because the state won’t tell you who they’re snooping on, and if you don’t know you’re being snooped on, you don’t have a right to complain.

We reject the State of the Union. We reject the authority of the President to sign arbitrary orders and bring irresponsible and damaging controls to the Internet.
The President of the United States of America, and the Joint Session of Congress will face an Army tonight.
We will form a virtual blockade between Capitol Hill and the Internet. Armed with nothing more than Lulz, Nyancat and PEW-PEW-PEW! Lazers, we will face down the largest superpower on Earth.

And we will win!

There will be no State of the Union Address on the web tonight.

For freedom, for Aaron Swartz, for the Internet, and of course, for the lulz.

We Are Anonymous,
We Are Legion,
We Do Not forgive,
We Do Not forget,
Expect Us.

..."

But unlike last year, this time the approach of CISPA is more organized, as not only Congress but also the White House will also unveil President Barack Obama's long-awaited executive order on cyber security. So to stand against such an organized and well planned act, the protester need to be more decent and more united. As we all want and prefer freedom and privacy in our personal life as well as in the Internet, so we will fight and expect to win. So stay tuned with VOGH, and lets see what is coming for us. 




SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-

A Man From India Jailed For Posting "Communal & Inflammatory" Post on Facebook (#Censorship)

A Man From India Jailed For Posting "Communal & Inflammatory" Post on Facebook (#Censorship) 
Freedom of social media in India has been revoked, as the Indian govt has implemented several policy by which they made the social network completely censored. Though this step has been criticized randomly but the decisions has remain unchanged. And the result is in front of us; when a man from Agra get busted. The incident occurs immediately after he made a posts on social networking site Facebook targeting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, union Communications Minister Kapil Sibal and Uttar Pradesh's ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. According to police the post which the man from Agra made violated the policy of Indian govt and that's why it is taken as "communal and inflammatory." the man named Sanjay Chowdhary, a resident of the Dayalbagh suburb of Agra, was arrested late Monday and his laptop, sim card and data card impounded.
Police in Agra, about 360 km from here, said the arrest, which some see as an attempt to muzzle freedom of speech and expression on social networking sites, that the arrest was made on "specific information" about certain "communal and inflammatory" posts by Chowdhary. However, officials here admitted that the "case became hypersensitive after some remarks were made on the SP chief".
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Agra, Subhash Chandra Dubey said police had acted "purely on law and order basis" in the matter.
"We are not involved in the political angle of the whole issue, our concern were the inflammatory comments and posts on the Facebook wall of this man and we acted to prevent any communal flare up," Dubey told the media. Some officials, however, said the case was "fast tracked" once cartoons lampooning the three leaders were posted on his Facebook wall.
Soon after his arrest, the inflammatory posts were deleted from his Facebook profile and later his account was deactivated. Chowdhury, a civil engineer and chairman of a public school, was booked under sections 153 A of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 66 A of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
"We have arrested him and he is being sent to jail under the due process of law," a police official said.



-Source (Yahoo News)





SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-

US National Archives Has Blocked Search Containing 'WikiLeaks'

US National Archives Has Blocked Search Containing 'WikiLeaks'

The movement of WikiLeaks faced another bar, as the searches for “WikiLeaks” in the public search engine for the US National Archives have been blocked. Any search containing the word “WikiLeaks (like “Congress” and “WikiLeaks”; "Obama" and "WikiLeaks") turns up an error message saying "The page you have requested has been blocked, because the URL is banned" as shown the picture below.

The whistle blowing website of WikiLeaks already lashed out at the move, saying the Archives has  literally turned into “Orwell’s Ministry of Truth.” In a tweet the official twitter account of WikiLeaks said “The US state is literally eating its own brain by censoring its own collective memories about WikiLeaks.” And, in another tweet WikiLeaks said, “The US National Archives censoring searches for its records containing the word ‘WikiLeaks’ is absolutely absurd.” 
The block is likely to be in line with the “Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act,” a form of internet censorship the US adopted back in 2010. It did not become law, but it prompted various US government agencies such as the White House Office of Management and Budget and the US Air Force to advise their employees not to read or access classified documents being made available by sites like WikiLeaks. The Library of Congress went further by blocking access to WikiLeaks content from its server in 2010. According to the official blog post of  Library of Congress “The Library decided to block Wikileaks because applicable law obligates federal agencies to protect classified information.  Unauthorized disclosures of classified documents do not alter the documents’ classified status or automatically result in declassification of the documents.” The White House’s Office of Management and Budget today provided the guidance that “federal agencies collectively, and each federal employee and contractor individually, are obligated to protect classified information pursuant to all applicable laws, as well as to protect the integrity of government information technology systems.” -said Matt Raymond in the blog post of LOC. 
Though it is unknown when the Archives began blocking searches, but according to diplomatic cables released over the past months the US Justice Department’s investigation targeting of both Assange and WikiLeaks is real. So may be this block has connection or may be a return from the U.S. Govt of the last release of WikiLeaks that is  'Detainee Policies'  in what it said more than 100 classified or otherwise restricted files from the United States Department of Defense covering the rules and procedures for detainees in U.S. military custody. At the moment WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange is holed up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London as the UK has forcefully asserted that it will deny him safe passage to Ecuador. Ecuador granted Assange political asylum in August over fears that if extradited to Sweden, Assange could be transferred to the US and once there, face execution.



-Source (RT)





SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-

Anonymous Targets Australian Govt Sites Over Internet Privacy Laws

Anonymous Targets Australian Govt Sites Over Changes in Internet Privacy Laws

The Australian Government has became the latest victim of international hacker collective group Anonymous. At least 10 of the country's government websites were sent offline in a series of attacks over proposed changes to Internet privacy laws. The first attacks were conducted in conjunction with Prime Minister Julia Gillard's online Q&A session this weekend, Anonymous. So far, the only targeted sites are run by the Queensland State Government. 
Site List:- 


If an Australian online security bill gets passed into law, it could require ISPs to store user activity for a period of two years, allowing Web users' every online move to be watched by the government.
In response, the Australian arm of Anonymous threatened to continue its attacks on ".gov.au" sites until the bill is halted.
Anonymous said  the sites were specifically chosen because the group had “proof” that small to medium businesses, education departments, student and personal accounts had been tracked by the State Government. “The Australian Government is attempting to strip away its citizens’ internet rights by forcing them to surrender passwords and internet usage data,” Anonymous Australia said via email. “Unless the Government starts acting in the best interest of its people, it will continue to bring the noise.” The hackers said the attacks were in response to changes being discussed by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security (PJCIS). 
Not only Internet privacy but also Anonymous confirmed that its actions were also in response to recent denials of Australian-born WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange's extradition
A Department of Defence spokesperson said the department was aware of the reports of Australian attacks but did not publicly comment or discuss details of cyber incidents. "Defence, through the Cyber Security Operations Centre, works with affected government agencies, as required, to help mitigate threats to information security," the spokesperson said. A spokesperson for Federal Attorney-General Nicola Roxon said it was critical Australia's national security capability could keep up with technology and global security. "We must always stay a step ahead of terrorists, cyber criminals and organised criminals who threaten our national security," the spokesperson said.
This is not the first time, earlier the world have seen several protest generated from all over the world against Internet censorship. In case of SOPA, PIPA & ACTA hackers from different part generated massive cyber attack. Even Wikipedia go dark for 24 hrs. 







SHARE OUR NEWS DIRECTLY ON SOCIAL NETWORKS:-

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...