Archive for Politics
02.28.07
Posted in World News, Politics at 8:53 pm by stark
Today, the Canadian parliament has voted to dismiss two anti-terror laws that were adopted in the country during the aftermath of September 11th. Considered the equivalent of the US Patriot Act (in spirit though, not in depth) the laws allowed terror suspects to be detained with charges for days and gave interrogators the ability to “compel” witnesses to testify. While the laws were technically in place, they were never actually used in even a single case since they were enacted. The laws were viewed by all political parties, except the Conservative Party which runs the minority government and opposed their rejection, as neither relevant or needed in dealing with terrorist plots. Hopefully more countries follow the Canadian lead and stop sacrificing the rights of their citizens purely on fear.
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02.23.07
Posted in Technology, Politics at 3:11 am by stark
Professional golfer, Fuzzy Zoeller, has filed a lawsuit over malicious entries in his Wikipedia entry that recently described him as a former wife and child abuser who was hooked on alcohol and drugs. While the invalid statements are no longer listed, Zoeller is seeking damages against the actual person who made the modifications to the popular community based encyclopedia. Seeking compensation for damaged reputation, mental anguish, and loss of Income, Zoeller is seeking out the user of an IP address he claims was tracked as the actual Wikipedia author responsible for the changes. It will be interesting to see the results of this case, and what exactly Zoeller receives as compensation, if anything.
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02.15.07
Posted in Technology, World, World News, Politics at 7:21 pm by stark
A coalition of U.S. software, music, and movie producers has urged the Bush administration to add Canada to the countries blacklist of intellectual property villains. The list is currently populated with countries such as China, Russia, and Belize. Citing Canada’s so-called chronic failure to modernize its copyright regime, the group contends that Canada has developed into an international hub for bootleg movies, software, and video game piracy.
While on one hand, this may seem like a stern warning from the U.S. to their largest trading partner, in reality it is clearly bulling tactics from a country who already feels its dated copyright laws losing ground around the world. Dr. Michael Geist, Canadian Research Chair of Internet and E-Commerce Law, points out that Canadians should not be fooled into thinking their laws are failing in any way to meet some kind of standard. In fact, the U.S. list includes blacklist recommendations for 23 of the world’s 30 most populous countries including Japan, Sweden, Italy, Spain, India, and Switzerland, to name a few. Dr. Geist even points out that this is merely an attempt by the U.S. to enforce a global agenda because it sees it’s own agenda failing both locally and abroad. If the international community is all on the same page, which is not the same one as the U.S., which country really deserves the blacklisting?
Personally, as a Canadian citizen, I am very disappointed in the Globe and Mail article. I expect more from my country and its media resources, and I expect them not to be mere puppets to another countries whims. Their article was very poor, to say the least, failing to mention any of the other large countries also indicated for blacklisting, and instead skewing the article to instill fear in our population. I think they need to step back a bit and look at the country they live in, not the one they apparently wish they did.
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02.11.07
Posted in Technology, World, Politics at 3:51 pm by stark
What do you do if your country is attacked on multiple fronts simultaneously, from a foreign or domestic group, where it’s very difficult to pinpoint exactly where it is originating from? This is the question the US Government and the National Cyber Response Coordination Group (NCRCG) is asking itself as it currently develops an official game plan for response to a cyber attack. Options currently under consideration include everything from launching a counter cyber attack to locating and bombing (KABOOM bombing not Google bombing) the source of the attack. While there is currently no official plan in place, the US Government is clearly taking this threat very seriously. Last November the Air Force added a Cyber Command group whose responsibilities include missions fought in Cyberspace.
“The preferred route would be warning the source to shut down the attack before a military response. If the United States found itself under a major cyberattack aimed at undermining the nations critical information infrastructure, the Department of Defense is prepared, based on the authority of the president, to launch a cyber counterattack or an actual bombing of an attack source.”
While it never hurts to prepare for something like this, I wonder if in all this planning they are considering the fact that these type of attacks can occur within the US borders and could originate from the basement of some house in a suburban neighborhood. In such a case, is the plan still to MOAB everything?
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