Weev, iPad Hack Statement of Responsibilty, TechCrunch

Andrew Auernheimer, grey-hat hacker, troll - and yet another victim of politically-motivated prosecutions against tech activists who have caused no harm - only embarrassed the powers that be.

Reminds me of the Alfie Meadows case: the young student who was beaten and nearly killed by police during the 2010 student protests - then charged with assault himself. Alfie was a friend of friends, someone I’d met at the Middlesex occupation against the closure of their philosophy department. The prosecution was a turning point for me - it scared me; I had thought I (and the people around me) were part of the special class of people this didn’t happen to. It was the first time I really confronted the reality of state power backed up by violence, and repression of dissent, and the police as a gang who would flout justice (who would mete out summary injustice) to serve their own, political ends.

I know, from where I stood before, that statements like Weev’s above sound like hyperbole - until it happens to you, or near to you, and you see they’re really not. I still don’t know what I should - or can - be doing in response.

protoslacker:

 Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a multilateral agreement which  proposes international standards for enforcement of intellectual property rights.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) opposes ACTA, calling for more public spotlight on the proposed treaty.

The Free Software Foundation (FSF) has published “Speak out against ACTA”, stating that the ACTA threatens free software by creating a culture “in which the freedom that is required to produce free software is seen as dangerous and threatening rather than creative, innovative, and exciting.

Europe: this is our SOPA, our PIPA. Time to get hasslin’ our representatives (inasmuch as the EU is representative or democratic…)

Poland’s politicians don Anonymous-style Guy Fawkes masks in anti-piracy protest [Slashgear]

Maintaining Olympic advertisers’ expensively-purchased monopolies of signification is a legal requirement for host cities. This means new laws:

Section 19: Advertising Regulations.

(4)The regulations may apply in respect of advertising of any kind including, in particular—
(a)advertising of a non-commercial nature, and
(b)announcements or notices of any kind.

(5)The regulations may apply in respect of advertising in any form including, in particular—
(a)the distribution or provision of documents or articles,
(b)the display or projection of words, images, lights or sounds, and
(c)things done with or in relation to material which has or may have purposes or uses other than as an advertisement.

Yay democracy.

Found via @DSG_DSG, 10 Growth Markets for Crisis