“Google will have to turn over every record of every video watched by YouTube users, including users’ names and IP addresses, to Viacom, which is suing Google for allowing clips of its copyright videos to appear on YouTube, a judge ruled Wednesday.”- wired
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/07/judge-orders-yo.html
Nox Defense Manufactures RFID “Dust” as Part of Invisible Defense Perimeter
Another prime example of how miniaturized surveillance technology is becoming. Nox Intelligent Perimeter Defense has produced, as part of a larger facility surveillance system, the aptly called ID-Dust. In this particular aspect of the defense system, tiny RFID chips are sprinkled on the floor of an access-restricted area, where they can be easily picked up by a target’s shoes. Working in tandem with video surveillance and hidden RFID readers, the dust provides a detailed log of a tagged person’s movements within a facility fitted with Nox’s security measures. RFID tagging, coupled with high-resolution video surveillance, creates a near-invisible defensive perimeter. Nox’s ID-Dust and other equally covert tags can be used to track anything from valuable electronics, hard-copy documents, to personnel. The RFID readers are clandestinely installed behind walls, floors, ceilings, and other inconspicuous places. Tagged objects/personnel are overlaid in real time on a map of the facility. The tags can be used to automatically prompt video cameras to begin recording when someone enters a monitored area, as well as to send alerts to security personnel. The system is currently being marketed to both government agencies and commercial companies. At least one report names the FBI as an “early adopter” of the system. Critics of such “Big Brother” surveillance methods are rightly startled. Nox’s grain-fine ID chips have the potential to turn any structure into a veritable surveillance sandbox. –Hooded Soldier
http://www.net-security.org/secworld.php?id=5911
http://industrywizards.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id…
Firearms Training Systems Company Proposes Shock Bracelets for Airline Security
From the patent:
“A method of providing air travel security for passengers traveling via an aircraft comprises situating a remotely activatable electric shock device on each of the passengers in position to deliver a disabling electrical shock when activated; and arming the electric shock devices for subsequent selective activation by a selectively operable remote control disposed within the aircraft. The remotely activatable electric shock devices each have activation circuitry responsive to the activating signal transmitted from the selectively operable remote control means. The activated electric shock device is operable to deliver the disabling electrical shock to that passenger. ”
read the full text of the patent here:
http://patft. uspto. gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO1=HITOFF=PALL=1=%2Fnetahtml%
2FPTO%2Fsrchnum. htm=1=G=50=6,933,851. PN. =PN/6,933,851=PN/6,933,851
Lamperd Firearms Training Systems has proposed a wrist-worn electric shock device to be worn by “predetermined passengers” on commercial air flights. The device would enable authorized personnel to remotely administer a disabling shock to passengers who pose an imminent security threat. I take great issue with this; namely, I can’t rightly apprehend why anyone would think it a good idea to turn a plane into an airborne invisible dog fence. Security should provide just that: security. It should not foster fear and operate under the assumption that anyone and everyone is a potential threat that must be tagged and collared. The patent states that the device will be worn by “predetermined passengers. ” What information will be used to determine who will be fitted with the device? Our faulty terror watch lists, which contain thousands of innocent names? These databases have already resulted in countless unnecessary detentions and interrogations. I find it hard to believe that the TSA would adopt such a ridiculous measure, but given their habitual amateurism in the realm of airport security, anything’s possible. –Hooded Soldier
http://www. boingboing. net/2008/03/20/air-safety-proposal. html
March has provided a glut of updates regarding America’s domestic spying and surveillance activities. Recent inquiries have given startling insight into the NSA’s and other agencies’ methods, while newly proposed legislation put forth by Democratic lawmakers seems intent on watchdogging warrantless wiretapping and other questionable (read:unconstitutional) intelligence gathering techniques. This revised version of a Senate passed version of the bill would no longer provide telecommunications companies with legal immunity. While the legislation would not directly interrupt surveillance operations, it would at least help to instill a sense of accountability on the part of telecommunications companies who agreed to cooperate with national security agencies after 9/11. Perhaps this recent development is an indication of things to come, and the coming weeks may bring official opposition towards this rampant disregard for privacy and civil liberties; I ,for one, won’t hold my breath. —Hooded Soldier
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/11/fisa.democrats/index.html
“House Democratic leaders unveiled legislation Tuesday to update the nation’s wiretapping program, rejecting a Senate-passed version of the bill that would give telecommunications companies legal immunity for agreeing to participate in the program after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. ”
http://www. usatoday. com/news/nation/2008-03-05-mail_N. htm
“U. S. postal authorities have approved more than 10,000 law enforcement requests to record names, addresses and other information from the outside of letters and packages of suspected criminals every year since 1998, according to U. S. Postal Inspection Service data. ”
http://blog. wired. com/27bstroke6/2008/03/whistleblower-f. html
“A U. S. government office in Quantico, Virginia, has direct, high-speed access to a major wireless carrier’s systems, exposing customers’ voice calls, data packets and physical movements to uncontrolled surveillance, according to a computer security consultant who says he worked for the carrier in late 2003. ”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120511973377523845.html?mod=hps_us_whats_news
“The central role the NSA has come to occupy in domestic intelligence gathering has never been publicly disclosed. But an inquiry reveals that its efforts have evolved to reach more broadly into data about people’s communications, travel and finances in the U. S. than the domestic surveillance programs brought to light since the 2001 terrorist attacks. ”
In response to instances of so-called online “bullying”, Kentucky Representative Tim Couch has filed a bill that would make anonymous posting online illegal. The law would require posters to submit and use their real names when posting, rather than self-selected, anonymous handles. Furthermore, posters would be required to provide their email and home addresses. Failure to maintain this policy would result in steep fines for the website operator. Logistically, Couch’s idea is completely moronic and nonsensical. Such a policy would be impossible to enforce, as there is no simple way to confirm that the information users are providing is accurate. Furthermore, Couch’s desire for the removal of this essential protection of privacy is in complete opposition to one of the internet’s greatest strengths. This bill spits upon the very spirit of the First Amendment. If you have any doubt of this, investigate the 1960’s case Talley v. California, in which the Supreme Court ruled against a local ordinance that would make the distribution of anonymously authored pamphlets illegal.
There have already been stories of employers accessing and making use of compromising information made available on social networking sites like Facebook and Myspace. Linking forum posts to actual names would further amplify this habit of civilian spying and background checking. Forums are meant to provide a relatively safe medium in which to discuss topics of interest with like-minded people; they were not meant to give businesses and government officials another means to data-mine the population. As Americans, we have a right to put forth information without stating who we are. Ever hear of a pen name? The dangers of this breech of privacy and its potential abuses far outweigh any potential benefits. —-Hooded Soldier
http://www.wtvq.com/content/midatlantic/tvq/video.apx.-content-articles-TVQ-2008-03-05-0011.html
A Taser Epidemic?
In light of last week’s taser incident at the University of Florida, Farewell Freedom felt it appropriate to provide a prompt and concise response to this and other current taser-related information.
more…
