"Vietnam is planning for a one-metre (3.3 feet) rise in sea levels by 2100, which would inundate about 31,000 square kilometres (12,400 square miles) of land -- an area about the size of Belgium... The inundation threat is greatest in the Mekong Delta," (the country's main rice production and export area)
John Redwood describes four main groups of climate sceptics. One of those is the 'of course the climate is changing but it is too hard to stop it - we need to just adapt'.
What that line fails to trake account of is that we are talking about a moving target. Not acting means more and more emissions - and that means climate issues will continue to get worse.. The climate is changing, and we need to adapt to that. But giving up and saying let it happen is to me a hugely irresponsible way to react to what is a global issue. The meat eating, holiday in the sun, gas guzzling SUV driver is probably not the one if food supplies get scarcer that will face malnutrition or starvation.
Vietnam, as you of course know, is the world's second biggest exporter of rice....
Saturday, 5 December 2009
Friday, 4 December 2009
Iran targets activists on the web.
Read this disturbing account in the Wall Street Journal about Iran's tactics for tackling growing criticism of the state among the large global expatriate community - photographing demonstrators, logging people's Facebook activity, imitating dissidents on Facebook, and most chillingly threatening people's families in Iran to stop their activist relatives abroad.
If true it is intensely cynical and distasteful.. On the other hand, what better warning over state misuse of the internet for surveillance do you need? States do what they can.. not what they should.
If true it is intensely cynical and distasteful.. On the other hand, what better warning over state misuse of the internet for surveillance do you need? States do what they can.. not what they should.
Thursday, 3 December 2009
Blogging Swedish politics
A new site with hopefully a good future is Politometern. Basically a swedish political blog portal with great search functions and statistics. Over 130 pirate blogs listed - and all at the click of a link. (Knowing a bit of Swedish helps ;-)
Not surprisingly the site shows Pirate bloggers way out in front when it comes to covering rights, privacy, copyright, ACTA and the FRA.
Piratpartiet and The Pirate Party - Putting privacy first.
Not surprisingly the site shows Pirate bloggers way out in front when it comes to covering rights, privacy, copyright, ACTA and the FRA.
Piratpartiet and The Pirate Party - Putting privacy first.
A photographer's view of the Digital Economy Bill
Following this morning's post on the Digital Economy Bill I came across two sites of interest if you want to follow it's progress... The first is a twitter stream on the bill - clearly a good spot to head for for up to date comment.
The second is Pro-imaging - a site 'supporting professional image creators' who are following the bill's progress because online intellectual property is a clearly of interest for people making a living from photography. Apart from some useful links on submitting comments and following the bill's progress in the house they raise some points on what they see the bill misses.
The first is a proposal to add compulsory school education in Intellectual Property... I understand where they are coming from - but it's something I personally am against. Firstly if it's not already mandated after two hundred years of copyright it is hard to see it as a 'must have' - and secondly it's a topic that could easily turn into indoctrination rather than education. That's not to say that I don't think there is value in school students debating intellectual property issues - but since principles of intellectual property have a clear political dimension we should be very wary of mandating what students should be taught to believe..
The second though I do support - an artists right to attribution - in principle at least. Clearly passing someone else's work off as your own is fraud and shouldn't be condoned. On the other hand their proposal of making it an offence to tamper with metadata in a file...... sounds like a big sledgehammer for a pretty small nut. I'm not sure it's practical - how would you prove who made changes to the meta data on a file? And I have no idea what is lodged as meta data if I edit or crop a file and then save it. (When does it become a secondary work?). If I change format and the meta data is not transferred is that an offence.... Nya. Not such a great idea......
Piratpartiet and The Pirate Party - Working for copyright reform.
The second is Pro-imaging - a site 'supporting professional image creators' who are following the bill's progress because online intellectual property is a clearly of interest for people making a living from photography. Apart from some useful links on submitting comments and following the bill's progress in the house they raise some points on what they see the bill misses.
The first is a proposal to add compulsory school education in Intellectual Property... I understand where they are coming from - but it's something I personally am against. Firstly if it's not already mandated after two hundred years of copyright it is hard to see it as a 'must have' - and secondly it's a topic that could easily turn into indoctrination rather than education. That's not to say that I don't think there is value in school students debating intellectual property issues - but since principles of intellectual property have a clear political dimension we should be very wary of mandating what students should be taught to believe..
The second though I do support - an artists right to attribution - in principle at least. Clearly passing someone else's work off as your own is fraud and shouldn't be condoned. On the other hand their proposal of making it an offence to tamper with metadata in a file...... sounds like a big sledgehammer for a pretty small nut. I'm not sure it's practical - how would you prove who made changes to the meta data on a file? And I have no idea what is lodged as meta data if I edit or crop a file and then save it. (When does it become a secondary work?). If I change format and the meta data is not transferred is that an offence.... Nya. Not such a great idea......
Piratpartiet and The Pirate Party - Working for copyright reform.
Kill Bill: Stopping the Digital Economy Bill
You must have heard about the Digital Economy Bill... the UK government's proposals for regulating the Internet. It's been widely criticised - particularly for continuing to promote the governments line on excluding users from the Internet and for obscene new powers for ministers to make up copyright enforcement as they go along. The leaders in the digital economy are firmly against it - including both ISPs and industry heavyweights like Google, Yahoo and eBay. The EFF describes in no uncertain terms that this bill will fetter the digital economy and stifle innovation.
Don't like it? Then don't accept it. Here's some simple steps to take to help stop this unacceptable legislation.
More on the DEB:
Open Rights: The Digital Economy Bill - a first critical look
Liberty: Disconnection is disproportionate and indiscriminate
Mandy and Me: Some thoughts on the Digital Economy Bill
Britain's new Internet Law - as bad as everyone has been saying, and worse.
Piratpartiet and The Pirate Party - Working for copyright reform.
Don't like it? Then don't accept it. Here's some simple steps to take to help stop this unacceptable legislation.
- Write to your MP ... or visit them. Tell them in simple terms why this is a BAD proposal.
- Write to a Lord. The bill has to pass the Lords. Yesterday was the second reading but it will be back. Details here from the Open Rights group. Note - choose one of the Lords listed as a speaker in the debate (listed in the comments)
- Join the Open Rights Group. Strong membership (and financial support) help them to lobby on this and other digital rights issues.
- Join the Pirate Party. Britains only political party dedicated to protecting users rights on the Internet and creating a forward looking digital economy. Becoming a pirate shows that the digital economy matters to voters - and there is an election coming up.
- Sign the petition against the bill at Number10.gov (now almost 29 000 signatures)
- Join the Facebook group - I won’t vote for any MP who supports Mandelson’s Digital Economy Bill -and remember to tell your MP!
- Blog about it...
- Make sure all your friends do too (all of the above!)
More on the DEB:
Open Rights: The Digital Economy Bill - a first critical look
Liberty: Disconnection is disproportionate and indiscriminate
Mandy and Me: Some thoughts on the Digital Economy Bill
Britain's new Internet Law - as bad as everyone has been saying, and worse.
Piratpartiet and The Pirate Party - Working for copyright reform.
Wednesday, 2 December 2009
I wonder who's watching me now....?
"I'm just an average man with an average life
I work from nine to five, hey hell I pay the price
All I want is to be left alone in my average home
But why do I always feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone
I always feel like somebody's watchin' me
And I have no privacy
I always feel like somebody's watchin' me
Tell me, is it just a dream?"
Rockwell.. and the late Michael Jackson.
Hear it again here....
............or do I mean here?
"And I don't feel safe anymore, oh what a mess
I wonder who's watching me now?
Who?"
The FRA?
Piratpartiet and The Pirate Party - Putting privacy first.
I work from nine to five, hey hell I pay the price
All I want is to be left alone in my average home
But why do I always feel like I'm in the Twilight Zone
I always feel like somebody's watchin' me
And I have no privacy
I always feel like somebody's watchin' me
Tell me, is it just a dream?"
Rockwell.. and the late Michael Jackson.
Hear it again here....
............or do I mean here?
"And I don't feel safe anymore, oh what a mess
I wonder who's watching me now?
Who?"
The FRA?
Piratpartiet and The Pirate Party - Putting privacy first.
Tuesday, 1 December 2009
Swedish bloggers look to Telia to stand up for their rights
I don't usually blog in Swedish - not because I can't - but because I want the world to read about what is being done here in defending our rights. Right now though - all across Sweden bloggers are putting up this.. or words like it. (translated below). Read it please... and if you want to stand up for your rights and ours, blog it and spread it further. Join us too on Facebook..
Upprop: Telia – ta FRA-lagen till domstol
Från och med den första december 2009 är Sverige en övervakad nation. Det är då som FRA får tillgång till en stor del av vår Internet- och mobiltrafik.
Detta kommer att få ett antal konsekvenser. De mest påtagliga är att flera grundläggande rättigheter i praktiken kommer att sättas ur spel. En självklarhet som brevhemligheten kommer efter den första december 2009 inte att existera på Internet. Även andra grundlagsskyddade rättigheter som källskyddet är starkt hotat. Många organisationer har skarpt protesterat mot FRA-lagen, bland andra Journalistförbundet och Advokatsamfundet. En majoritet av svenska folket är emot FRAs avlyssning.
Flera juridiska experter uttrycker dessutom stor tveksamhet till om FRA-lagen är förenlig med Europakonventionen, dvs. den europeiska konventionen angående skydd för de mänskliga rättigheterna. Sverige har förbundit sig att följa den konventionen och rimligtvis bör lagen alltså prövas i Europeiska domstolen för de mänskliga rättigheterna. Telia ansvarar idag för en majoritet av den trafik som FRA kommer att vilja avlyssna. Därför uppmanar vi Telia: ta FRA-lagen till domstol.
Telia har nu en chans att vinna goodwill genom att stå upp för demokratin
Appeal: Telia – take the FRA-law to court!
"From the first of December 2009 Sweden is a nation under surveillance. It is then that the FRA has access to a large part of our Internet and mobile services.
This is going to have a number of consequences. The most notable is that several fundamental rights will in practice be eliminated. Obviously confidentiality of correspondence does not exist on the Internet after the first december 2009. Other constitutional rights such as protection of (journalistic) sources are highly threatened. Many organizations have strongly protested against the FRA law, including Journalists and the (Swedish) Bar Association. A majority of Swedish people are against FRA's interception.
Several legal experts also express considerable doubt whether the FRA law is compatible with the ECHR, ie. the European Convention on Human Rights. Sweden has undertaken to comply with the Convention, and the law ought therefore to be tested in the European Court of Human Rights. Telia is currently responsible for a majority of the traffic that FRA will want to listen to. We therefore call on Telia: take the FRA law to court.
Telia now has a chance to win goodwill by standing up for democracy."
This is an open and common blog entries - copy, enhance and publish to your blog....
Sweden's FRA are monitoring all traffic passing Sweden's borders and monitoring in particular international transit traffic. Lift this and copy it....
Bloggers making the call include....
Tantrikbloggen, Annarkia, Scaber Nestor, Sossar mot Storebror, Den Nya Medborgarrättsrörelsen, Archangel, Darkangel och Mumma, Signerat Kjellberg, Den digitala parkbänken, Sagor från livbåten, Piratpartisten, Thorlin, Sandrability, Bloggvärldsbloggen, Aspiebloggen, Farmorgun, Pesptraktelser, Humblebee.net, JensO, Beelzebjörn, Röd Libertarian, Calandrella, ProjO, Christian Engström, Webhackande, Liberal & Långsint, Osmidigt, Solid Block of Ise, Johan Ronström, Personlig Utveckling?, Bandhunden Skäller, Infallsvinkel, Hearts of Joy, Primarys Blog, Alliansupproret, Integritet & frihet, Tieowbeijas, The Pheleroxian Blog, Mattias Bjärnemalm, Skivad Lime, OlofB, OlofB, OlofB, Enligt min Humla, Daniel och de små tomtarna, hannes2peer, Beelzebjörn, Exiled Pirate, Henrik Alexandersson, Den Digitala Parkbänken
(this list mostly lifted from Tantrikbloggen..)
Piratpartiet & The Pirate Party - Putting privacy first.
Translated by Google.. with a little help from me...
,
Upprop: Telia – ta FRA-lagen till domstol
Från och med den första december 2009 är Sverige en övervakad nation. Det är då som FRA får tillgång till en stor del av vår Internet- och mobiltrafik.
Detta kommer att få ett antal konsekvenser. De mest påtagliga är att flera grundläggande rättigheter i praktiken kommer att sättas ur spel. En självklarhet som brevhemligheten kommer efter den första december 2009 inte att existera på Internet. Även andra grundlagsskyddade rättigheter som källskyddet är starkt hotat. Många organisationer har skarpt protesterat mot FRA-lagen, bland andra Journalistförbundet och Advokatsamfundet. En majoritet av svenska folket är emot FRAs avlyssning.
Flera juridiska experter uttrycker dessutom stor tveksamhet till om FRA-lagen är förenlig med Europakonventionen, dvs. den europeiska konventionen angående skydd för de mänskliga rättigheterna. Sverige har förbundit sig att följa den konventionen och rimligtvis bör lagen alltså prövas i Europeiska domstolen för de mänskliga rättigheterna. Telia ansvarar idag för en majoritet av den trafik som FRA kommer att vilja avlyssna. Därför uppmanar vi Telia: ta FRA-lagen till domstol.
Telia har nu en chans att vinna goodwill genom att stå upp för demokratin
Appeal: Telia – take the FRA-law to court!
"From the first of December 2009 Sweden is a nation under surveillance. It is then that the FRA has access to a large part of our Internet and mobile services.
This is going to have a number of consequences. The most notable is that several fundamental rights will in practice be eliminated. Obviously confidentiality of correspondence does not exist on the Internet after the first december 2009. Other constitutional rights such as protection of (journalistic) sources are highly threatened. Many organizations have strongly protested against the FRA law, including Journalists and the (Swedish) Bar Association. A majority of Swedish people are against FRA's interception.
Several legal experts also express considerable doubt whether the FRA law is compatible with the ECHR, ie. the European Convention on Human Rights. Sweden has undertaken to comply with the Convention, and the law ought therefore to be tested in the European Court of Human Rights. Telia is currently responsible for a majority of the traffic that FRA will want to listen to. We therefore call on Telia: take the FRA law to court.
Telia now has a chance to win goodwill by standing up for democracy."
This is an open and common blog entries - copy, enhance and publish to your blog....
Sweden's FRA are monitoring all traffic passing Sweden's borders and monitoring in particular international transit traffic. Lift this and copy it....
Bloggers making the call include....
Tantrikbloggen, Annarkia, Scaber Nestor, Sossar mot Storebror, Den Nya Medborgarrättsrörelsen, Archangel, Darkangel och Mumma, Signerat Kjellberg, Den digitala parkbänken, Sagor från livbåten, Piratpartisten, Thorlin, Sandrability, Bloggvärldsbloggen, Aspiebloggen, Farmorgun, Pesptraktelser, Humblebee.net, JensO, Beelzebjörn, Röd Libertarian, Calandrella, ProjO, Christian Engström, Webhackande, Liberal & Långsint, Osmidigt, Solid Block of Ise, Johan Ronström, Personlig Utveckling?, Bandhunden Skäller, Infallsvinkel, Hearts of Joy, Primarys Blog, Alliansupproret, Integritet & frihet, Tieowbeijas, The Pheleroxian Blog, Mattias Bjärnemalm, Skivad Lime, OlofB, OlofB, OlofB, Enligt min Humla, Daniel och de små tomtarna, hannes2peer, Beelzebjörn, Exiled Pirate, Henrik Alexandersson, Den Digitala Parkbänken
(this list mostly lifted from Tantrikbloggen..)
Piratpartiet & The Pirate Party - Putting privacy first.
Translated by Google.. with a little help from me...
,
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