CyberVigilantes

UK slipping further into Orwellian totalitarian destopic big brother nightmare

2008-05-16T14:27:00.001+04:00

If you are not alarmed and outraged by the recent news coming out of the UK in it's crack down on civil liberties then you need your head checked. Just this week the UK Government has announced it will back a Big Brother approach to pulling a 'sickie' at work:

Lie detectors could soon be used to deter workers from pulling sickies, after trials of the technology were backed by the government last week.The controversial Voice Risk Analysis (VRA) system, which can tell when a person is lying on the phone about being too ill to work, has already been trialed successfully in a number of pilot projects within the benefits system.

That certainly takes the fun out of the sick note phone call. I suppose the simple solution is to email or text message your duvet day notifications.

There are also fears of 'Orwellian dystopia' as councils, police and fire chiefs agree to share sensitive private information:

A campaign group today expressed fears of an "Orwellian dystopia" after councils, police and fire chiefs signed the first information-sharing agreement of its kind in the UK. The Dorset Over-Arching Information Sharing Protocol allows data to be passed faster and easier between the county's public sector bodies including the police, fire service, education chiefs, social workers and housing staff.

It is the first generic agreement of its kind in the country and was signed by bosses from six district and borough councils, the two unitary authorities of Bournemouth and Poole, Dorset County Council, Dorset Police and Dorset Fire and Rescue Service on May 8.

If that isn't enough for you Police in London are now using Airport-style scanners on London streets in their efforts to curb nife crime:

A surge in violent knife crimes has prompted London police to introduce a new program that will rely on mobile, airport-style scanners and hand-held metal detectors for use against people suspected of carrying concealed weapons.

A similar scheme was introduced in the northern city of Liverpool last year.The new program, called Blunt 2, started this week in one borough and should be in place in all 32 London boroughs within the next few months, said a Metropolitan Police spokesman, who asked not to be identified in line with police rules.

Are these developments going to make you feel safer?

London Olympics terror threat used to vastly increase surveillance powers

2008-05-10T22:02:00.001+04:00

The threat of terrorism at the 2012 London Olympics is being hyped up in order to justify a vast increase in the surveillance powers of the British state.

According to a memo leaked to the Daily Telegraph, Home Office officials are planning to expand the police DNA database to identify suspects and use greater powers to track individuals through advanced closed circuit television (CCTV) technology and the Oyster card used by millions of people on London’s bus and rail network.

The memo discusses different means the government could use to persuade the British public to accept these measures. It asks, “To what extent should the expectation of liberty be eroded by legitimate intrusions in the interests of security of the wider public?” and concludes, “Increasing [public] support could be possible through the piloting of certain approaches in high-profile ways such as the London Olympics.”[...]

"Odd" news site slaps back at lawsuit

2008-05-06T00:22:00.001+04:00

By Egan Orion: Monday, 05 May 2008, 3:41 AM - The inquirer

IN OUR QUEST for IT news to interest you, our readers, we often trawl some of the more obscure nooks and crannies of the web, so you don't have to do so.

One of the websites we visit because it's a veritable magnet for odd technology news is Signs of the Times, so we couldn't help but notice when it was sued for Internet defamation. The INQUIRER takes a rather keen interest when other news sites are sued for libel, for reasons that might be obvious to our readers.

In February, Eric Pepin of Beaverton, Oregon and his company, Higher Balance Institute, filed an Internet defamation lawsuit against the California non-profit organisation Quantum Future Group, which operates the Signs of the Times news and analysis website, and Laura Knight-Jadczyk, who resides in France and is the chief webmistress of Signs of the Times.
Pepin's complaint (pdf) alleged that comments that appeared on the Signs of the Times reader forum were libelous, and it sought damages of $4.47 million.

Signs of the Times has only a relatively small readership, but it's a loyal group. When the website was sued it appealed for donations to cover its legal defence costs. Within just a few weeks its readers donated £65,000 (about $128,000).
On Saturday, Signs of the Times announced through its attorneys that on April 25 it filed motions challenging Pepin's lawsuit in US District Court in Portland, Oregon. In a statement, defendant Quantum Future Group (QFG) said it asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit and further asked to recover its attorneys fees.

In its legal briefs, QFG cited Oregon's anti-SLAPP ("Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation") statute to claim that its statements about New-Age "guru" Pepin and Higher Balance Institute (HBI) are constitutionally protected speech.
Under the anti-SLAPP law, QFG argues, if the plaintiffs cannot show that they will probably prevail on the merits, the lawsuit must be dismissed before QFG and other defendants have to incur high attorneys fees to defend themselves.

QFG contends that Pepin and HBI can't show they will probably prevail on the merits because, "Without exception, the statements are all constitutionally protected expressions of opinion rather than verifiable assertions of fact."

Since the statements to which Pepin and HBI object are opinions, QFG argues, "HBI cannot meet its burden to prove, by clear and convincing evidence, that the statements are false, let alone that Defendants knew that they were false or had serious doubts as to their truth."
Signs of the Times reader forum comments that Pepin and HBI alleged were defamatory included some posts questioning Pepin's meditative techniques and commenting on Pepin's 2007 trial on multiple alleged sexual offences involving his behaviour with a 17-year old follower.
"These are exactly the sort of statements that the First Amendment and recent statutes protect as free speech," said QFG attorney Stephen Kaus. "People are entitled to believe in gurus such as Pepin and buy their books and courses for hundreds of dollars or more, but people are also entitled to point out their view that the techniques of telepathy and development of a sixth eye promoted by Pepin are nonsense."

QFG maintains that the forum comments were opinions in reaction to matters of fact reported by mainstream news sources, including The Oregonian, a daily newspaper published in Portland, Oregon, and the Associated Press, and are therefore protected by both the US Constitution and the Oregon Constitution.

An article in The Oregonian reported on Pepin's 2007 court trial on charges of sexual misconduct with a minor. Pepin was acquitted because the judge did not believe that the state's allegations had been proven beyond a reasonable doubt.

Washington County Circuit Court Judge Steven L. Price reportedly said it was "'probable that the conduct alleged in all counts occurred,' but [that] he wasn't convinced beyond a reasonable doubt." According to The Oregonian, Judge Price "called the leader of a metaphysical Internet sales company manipulative and controlling and his testimony unbelievable, even as he acquitted him... of charges that he had sex with an underage boy."
Signs of the Times readers pointed out on its forum that being found "not guilty beyond a reasonable doubt" is not the same thing as being found " innocent of all charges."

QFG's motion also argues that, under the US Communications Decency Act of 1996, Signs of the Times, as the operator of an Internet forum, is not liable for third-party comments posted on its website. It also questions the Oregon based federal court's jurisdiction over QFG, a California non-profit organisation with its primary place of business in France.

QFG attorney Walter Hansell stated in an earlier press release, "HBI's lawsuit is a frontal assault on free speech, and on the free global flow of information and opinion on the Internet. It is a blunt force attack on the discussion of sincere opinions among people sharing common interests."
Following QFG's April 25th motions filing, Hansell said, "The intent of this suit by HBI is to stifle free speech, but luckily the anti-SLAPP statute allows us to nip the matter in the bud before the cost is out of hand."

Hopefully the court will order Pepin to pay the attorneys fees incurred by QFG and Signs of the Times to defend themselves as well.
http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2008/05/04/odd-news-site-slaps-back

Wash your hands - the future's in your hands

2008-04-26T15:45:00.001+04:00

Internet Free Speech Under Threat! Eric Pepin - Higher Balance Institute Sue SOTT for 4.47 Million Over SOTT Forum Comments!

2008-03-11T13:17:00.001+04:00

Internet Free Speech Under Threat! Eric Pepin - Higher Balance Institute Sue SOTT for 4.47 Million Over SOTT Forum Comments!

Yesterday, as I was working on finishing up the next installment of
the Comet Series of Articles, FedEx delivered a packet of mail from our
corporate registered agent in the U.S. It was "Complaint and Demand for
Jury Trial" filed in the State of Oregon by Eric Pepin's Higher Balance
Institute, LLC. The reason? A discussion on the SOTT Forum that begins HERE.

Well, that was entertaining enough when you think about the fact
that the discussion that he objects to was centered on several
newspaper articles that describe his close calls with the legal system
in Oregon over charges of sex abuse.

The legal document I received is 10 pages long so I'm just going to
summarize it here. If you want to read the whole thing (it's hilarious
beyond belief!) go HERE for the pdf.

Human ID Chips Get Under My Skin

2008-02-27T19:06:00.001+04:00

The technology is available, but the potential for misuse is almost limitless. Our columnist takes you through the dangers of this futuristic process
Editor's note: This is the second in a series of perspectives on implantable microchips. The first appeared on Jan. 30.

While it's easy to reject the notion of placing little ID chips inside humans as an ominous Orwellian invasion of individual rights, I suspect it's inevitable that in my lifetime we will all have some kind of computerized implants. My problem is not with the technology, known as chipping, or with the companies that sell it. My concern stems from my lack of trust in institutions and lack of belief that the technology will be forever restricted to beneficial, socially acceptable uses.

Chipping involves implanting a transponder chip below the skin for identification purposes. VeriChip (CHIP), the one company that has gained FDA clearance to perform this procedure, has emerged as the process's leading advocate. The implant procedure itself is simple and mostly painless, accomplished in a doctor's office in a matter of seconds.

Generally speaking, the only data stored on the chip is a 16-digit ID number that cross-references to a record in VeriChip's database. Nevertheless the chip raises a number of troubling concerns:
Health. Before diving into privacy and security concerns, it is worth noting recent reports indicate implanted chips may have caused tumors in small lab animals, and therefore may be equally dangerous for humans. I am not qualified to express an opinion on the subject other than to note the FDA has approved the device as safe. Evidence to the contrary will probably take years to accumulate, and at that point, a debate would be useless to those already afflicted.

Privacy. Advocates of chipping often downplay privacy and security worries by stressing the chips merely contain a number rather than any actual personal information. However, that may be dangerous enough. A centralized numeric database storing information on a significant number of Americans begins to look a lot like a national ID card. But unlike an ID card safely stowed in a wallet, the numbers on these chips can potentially be read wirelessly by someone standing near you with an inexpensive handheld reader. Legislative attempts to establish a national ID, such as the REAL ID Act, have proven to be highly controversial. It would be a shame to have human chipping effectively short-circuit that debate and create a de facto national identification system.

Hacking and Misuse. I trust VeriChip, I guess. At least I have no reason not to trust them. But what about someone hacking into their databases? (Please don't tell me their security is absolutely foolproof - thanks to all the credit-card system breaches, we all know better.) All it would take is a careless employee to accidentally expose everyone's numbers to an ill-intentioned hacker. Since you can't reprogram chips already implanted, would we all need to have them physically swapped out whenever VeriChip's database was compromised? I also suspect it wouldn't be too hard to execute "man-in-the-middle" attacks that snag an individual's chip number for malicious use.

Consent. The leading candidates proposed for the initial rounds of chipping are people who are either unwilling or unable to give informed consent. While there have been a few actual instances of mandatory chipping - the Attorney General of Mexico forced his staff to get implants to gain access to a sensitive document room - most uses remain theoretical. For example, VeriChip has advocated chipping Alzheimer's patients as a way to help families find those sufferers who get lost.

Scott Silverman, VeriChip's chairman, has proposed mandatory chipping of guest workers and immigrants. A hospital in Ontario plans to implant the chips in babies, and the U.S. Army is mulling a requirement for enlisted personnel.

The elderly, immigrants, babies, low-ranking soldiers...these are not exactly the most powerful segments of U.S. society. Compare this to new technologies such as laser eye surgery and non-invasive heart procedures, where the wealthy and powerful typically benefit well before the lower rungs of the social ladder. I am inherently distrustful of technologies that start deployment at the bottom of the power pyramid.

Unintended Consequences. Once implanted, these chips, and the associated network of chip readers deployed to work with them, will be around for a long time. Let's give VeriChip, participating hospitals, and government agencies the benefit of the doubt about being ethical and well-intentioned organizations. But who knows which agencies might be given access to the database down the road as part of new policy initiatives. Congressmen are notorious for passing legislation requiring the government to exploit existing databases for new endeavors, such as targeting deadbeat dads or delinquent student loan holders through the IRS tax refund system.

I can think of countless initiatives that could be launched to make use of a sufficiently large group of chipped people: a universal college student ID system; chip readers in cars that would block drivers with unpaid parking tickets from using their vehicles; tracking people with a history of emotional disturbances; court-ordered chipping tied to domestic restraining orders; government monitoring of people found to have a high-risk profile through computer profiling; outfitting firearms with a radio-frequency identification (RFID) reader and requiring gun owners to be chipped to fire their weapon (like existing thumbprint locks).

Once a sufficient number of humans have had chips implanted, for whatever the reason, all bets on containing the technology are off. A responsible debate on human chipping would consider the extreme scenario - widespread mandatory implants - and not just focus on the initial "socially acceptable" proposals that target specific populations such as Alzheimer's patients, children, or convicts on work release programs.

Reduced Expectations. Although there is no guarantee of privacy written explicitly into the Constitution, a century of court rulings has carved out some tenuous protections for Americans, most of which are based on the concept of "expectation of privacy." A widely deployed system of human ID chips might very well erode that expectation, weakening everyone's shield against privacy intrusions.
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/feb2008/tc20080211_165324.htm?campaign_id=rss_daily

The Killing Game: How the US Army uses video games to train killer American children

2008-02-08T15:47:00.001+04:00

For young men, first-person shooters are the hottest computer games around. That's why the Army spent $10 million developing its own. But there's a catch. Big Brother gets to watch you play.

©Larry Dalton

Clan warfare: LANatomas guns down members of a Seattle clan during a round of league play. Carson Loane, foreground, patrols the left flank while clan leader Jeff Muramoto, center, calls out strategies to his squad.

For gamers, the attraction of online play is obvious. In the cyberworld, you're not hunting down slow computer-generated Nazis. You're matching wits with real humans (sometimes real Germans), which somehow makes a kill all the more satisfying.

Moreover, computer graphics and sound have evolved to the point that it is easy to think you're in a tangible world. Your immediate surroundings vanish. Crickets chirp, bushes rustle, bullets whiz by your head and shower you with chips of concrete. Shell casings clatter to the floor. Mortars crump in the distance, and grenades send up gouts of rock and dirt. It's a loud, bloody, violent and altogether alarming world. Yet it is oddly exhilarating.

"I have to laugh when someone says, 'Oh, the people playing these games know it's not real,' " said Dr. Peter Vorberer, a clinical psychologist and head of the University of Southern California's computer game research group. "Of course they think it's real! That's why people play them for hours and hours. They're designed to make you believe it's real. Games are probably the purest example yet of the Internet melding with reality."

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/148541-The-Killing-Game-How-the-US-Army-uses-video-games-to-train-killer-American-children

Microsoft seeks patent for psycho-physiological spying on employees

2008-02-03T22:54:00.001+04:00

Microsoft is developing Big Brother-style software capable of remotely monitoring a worker's productivity, physical wellbeing and competence.

The Times has seen a patent application filed by the company for a computer system that links workers to their computers via wireless sensors that measure their metabolism. The system would allow managers to monitor employees' performance by measuring their heart rate, body temperature, movement, facial expression and blood pressure. Unions said they fear that employees could be dismissed on the basis of a computer's assessment of their physiological state.

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/147286-Microsoft-seeks-patent-for-psycho-physiological-spying-on-employees

British government to take over, control entire web

2008-02-03T22:52:00.001+04:00

'I will remove illegal material from internet'

UK Home Secretary Jacqui Smith has decided to mount a push against cyber terror, in which the internet itself will somehow be modified to prevent people using it for terrorist purposes.

Today, Ms Smith addressed an international conference on radicalisation and political violence. Much of the speech was about engagement with the Muslim community, preventing the use of schools and prisons for jihadi propaganda etc. There was also some suggestion that "dirty bombs" are jolly dangerous, and that this shows how serious the domestic terror threat is*.
However, the Home Secretary also reiterated the Brown government's promise of technical measures against web terror:

The internet is a key tool for the propagandists for violent extremism... Let me be clear. The internet is not a no-go area for Government. We are already working closely with the communications industry to take action against paedophiles... we should also take action against those who groom vulnerable people for the purposes of violent extremism... I will be talking to industry... about how best to do this. Where there is illegal material on the net, I want it removed.

http://www.sott.net/articles/show/147387-British-government-to-take-over-control-entire-web

Leaked Government Doc Reveals UK ID "Coercion" Plans

2008-02-03T22:45:00.001+04:00

BoingBoing is relating a hair-raising tale from the UK anti-ID-register group 'NO2ID' that claims to have a leaked government document [PDF] detailing how the UK government plans to "coerce" citizens into a national ID register.

"UK campaigners NO2ID this morning enlisted the help of bloggers across the world to spread a leaked government document describing how the British government intends to go about "coercing" its citizens onto a National Identity Register. The 'ID card' is revealed as little more than a cover to create a official dossier and trackable ID for every UK resident - creating what NO2ID calls 'the database state'."

http://yro.slashdot.org/yro/08/02/01/1730247.shtml

Technorati Tags: liberty, privacy, bigbrother

Israel developing autonomous "digital general"

2008-01-25T13:56:00.000+04:00

Israel is reportedly developing a sophisticated piece of software meant to help troops make quick decisions during battle and, under the right conditions, autonomously manipulate the nation's defense systems.

First reported in Defense News (subscription required), the unnamed system would primarily be used for tactical decisions during periods of heavy bombardment, although in a worst-case scenario, the complex algorithm would supposedly be capable of taking over total military control. Yes, we know what you're thinking, but don't worry: Israeli officials have already sworn up and down that "there's no way we're letting this thing go Terminator on us -- no freakin' way."

Comment: Unfortunately the worst case scenario is where we are heading and this gadget gives the psychopaths in power a way to make sure that soldiers endowed with conscience won't get in the way of their murderous rampage.

Coincidence that it is being developed by Israel?

Technorati categories: News, technology, Politics internet, digg, wired

Individual privacy under threat in Europe and U.S., report says -- Signs of the Times News

2007-12-31T09:58:00.000+04:00

Individual privacy under threat in Europe and U.S., report says -- Signs of the Times News: "http://www.sott.net/articles/show/146394-Individual-privacy-under-threat-in-Europe-and-U-S-report-says"

LONDON: Individual privacy is under threat in the United States and across the European Union as governments introduce sweeping surveillance and information-gathering measures in the name of security and controlling borders, an international rights group has said in a report.

Greece, Romania and Canada had the best privacy records of 47 countries surveyed by Privacy International, which is based in London. Malaysia, Russia and China were ranked worst.

Both Britain and the United States fell into the lowest-performing group of "endemic surveillance societies."

"The general trend is that privacy is being extinguished in country after country," said Simon Davies, director of Privacy International. "Even those countries where we expected ongoing strong privacy protection, like Germany and Canada, are sinking into the mire."

Technorati categories: News, technology, Politics internet, digg, wired

FBI aims for world's largest biometrics database -- Signs of the Times News

2007-12-24T15:40:00.000+04:00

FBI aims for world's largest biometrics database -- Signs of the Times News: "http://www.sott.net/articles/show/145866-FBI-aims-for-world-s-largest-biometrics-database"

The FBI is embarking on a $1 billion project to build the world's largest computer database of biometrics to give the U.S. government more ways to identify people at home and abroad, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

The FBI, the main investigative arm of the Department of Justice, has already started compiling digital images of faces, fingerprints and palm patterns in its systems, the paper said.

In January, the agency -- which focuses on violations of federal law, espionage by foreigners and terrorist activities -- expects to award a 10-year contract to expand the amount and kinds of biometric information it receives, it said.

At an employer's request, the FBI will also retain the fingerprints of employees who have undergone criminal background checks, the paper said.

If successful, the system, called Next Generation Identification, will collect the biometric information in one place for identification and forensic purposes, the Post said.

Technorati categories: News, technology, Politics internet, digg, wired

The US, UK and China Cybercrime Conspiracy

2007-12-07T17:46:00.000+04:00

There has been much China-bashing in the main-stream-media (MSM) of late. Whether it be financial underhand practices threatening dollar hegemony, recalling of lead-contaminated toys (followed later by apologies to China from Matel), toxic food from China, Chinese surveillance of foreign journalists, Their Crackdown on the media, China saying ties with US are damaged amid Navel row , China accused of monopolistic practice in search engine re-routing to Baidu, Chinese censorship - the great firewall of china and the latest Cybercrime attacks: China and Russia accused of switching to electronic hacking into government computers to gain Britain's military secrets, cyber attacks on the Pentagon from China, and comments from Washington - that Chinese espionage in the United States is the largest threat to US military technology.

One of the most recent stories is from the BBC Business news: MI5 warns over China spy threat

Leading British firms and government agencies have been warned Chinese state organisations may be spying on them.

UK intelligence network MI5 has contacted 300 chief executives and security experts at banks and financial institutions to raise the concerns. It is alleged that UK organisations may suffer a concerted cyber attack to gain commercially-sensitive data.

Zhao Shangse, an official from the Chinese embassy in London, has denied the allegations.

Is there any truth it this new terror threatl? I doubt Craig Murry would think so, in response to MI5's pre-Christmas warning of an impending dirty bomb attack, he writes: UK Media Hype: Terror Scare Early for Christmas:

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith made today the most cynical - and least convincing - move yet to exploit "terror" politically in the UK. On the day that New Labour hit a twenty year low in the opinion polls and Harriet Harman blamed Gordon Brown's office for her dodgy donations, we now have the first headline on the television news as a government announcement of the threat of a "Dirty Bomb" over Christmas.

I cannot say this loudly enough. I have checked with my own contacts and there is NO specific or new intelligence indicating a threat of a terrorist dirty bomb - or any other terrorist threat - this Christmas. Doubtless that will not stop Frank "Goebbels" Gardner appearing any minute now nobly to warn us of the grave danger we face.

Interestingly, even my friends in the Security Services - who normally are pretty happy to see the threat exaggerated, thus adding to their ever increasing budgets and career prospects - this time are sickened by the cynicism of the timing of this "Christmas Warning".

An article last year entitled "Crying Wolf: Terror Alerts based on Fabricated Intelligence" Michel Chossudovsky highlights the lack of evidence on no less than 5 of these alleged terror attacks. In a response to the August 2006 'foiled terror plot' to blow up transatlantic jets, he writes:

This is certainly not the first time that brash and unsubstantiated statements have been made regarding an impending terror attack, which have proven to be based on "faulty intelligence".

Back to the impending cyberwar about to be launched by those pesky Chinese hackers, the most interesting part of the article on the MI5 warning about the China cyberthreat is at the end:

Earlier this week, China said that it too had been attacked by computer hackers. Meanwhile, other experts say that hackers outside of China may be using the country's many insecure computers and networks to disguise their locations.

Speculating here, where would they originate from if not from China? qui bono? who would benefit from stealing wealth from UK and US businesses and individuals and scaring them s***less in the process? Who has the means, the know how, the resources, the expertise and the motivation? who would want to paint China as the enemy to blame for a nations pending economic collapse?hmmm... let me think about it while I buy new firewall protection and a dirty-bomb suit.

For related information on the mind games played by covert agents see: the art of mental warfare, confessions of a covert agent

Technorati categories: News, technology, Politics internet, digg, wired

Are you living in a computer simulation?

2007-12-05T21:49:00.000+04:00

The simulation argumentimage from sims2

Nick Bostrom
Director, Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford University:

On this website you can peruse the debate that followed the paper presenting the Simulation argument. The original paper is here, as are popular synopses, scholarly papers commenting on the first paper, and a reply to these comments.

ABSTRACT. The paper argues that at least one of the following propositions is true: (1) the human species is very likely to go extinct before reaching a “posthuman” stage; (2) any posthuman civilization is extremely unlikely to run a significant number of simulations of their evolutionary history (or variations thereof); (3) we are almost certainly living in a computer simulation. It follows that the belief that there is a significant chance that we will one day become posthumans who run ancestor-simulations is false, unless we are currently living in a simulation. A number of other consequences of this result are also discussed.

Interesting...

Technorati categories: News, technology, Politics internet, digg, wired

BBC News: There is no longer any privacy

2007-12-04T22:18:00.000+04:00

'There is no longer any privacy'

                                                                                                             By David Calder                     a                                                 
                                        BBC Radio Scotland's The Investigation

There are estimated to be up to 10 million CCTV cameras in the UK

Not so long ago, the Information Commissioner warned that we were "sleep-walking our way into a surveillance society".

At the time, a lot of people assumed he was talking about CCTV cameras. But it's now clear he was more concerned about the amount of data held on each and every one of us which, if all brought together, would give the government an incredibly detailed view of our lives.

It was brought home all too clearly when Alistair Darling stood up in the House of Commons last month and admitted the loss of those CDs by HM Revenue and Customs. You may have thought we had some protection from the Data Protection Act.

But Dr David Murakami Wood, a surveillance specialist from Newcastle University, believes it was out of date even before it came into force. "It's based on a 1970s conception of computing," he explained. "It came long before the networking of computers. You could now argue that how we exist in databases is as important as how we exist in the real world."

We should be trying to stop the unthinking proliferation of surveillance systems before it's too late

John Scott
Human rights lawyer

He edited a report on the surveillance society for the Information Commissioner. It makes quite disturbing reading, especially when you think about the plans for a national ID card.

"The National Identity Register will hold up to 50 pieces of information," he said.

"Everything from your national insurance number to your health record to the number of penalty points on your driving licence will be stored there, even information about when you buy a mobile phone."

That mobile phone is also storing a surprising amount of information about you.

From the start of October, the mobile phone companies will have to retain data about who you were calling, when you made the call and where you were when you made it.

And that information won't just be available to the police.

'No privacy'

According to Geraint Bevan of No2ID, 650 other organisations will be able to see it as well, from the Gaming Commission to local authorities.

"This data will be logged for a year," he said, "and every minor official could be able to have access to your phone records.

There's no privacy anymore."

Then there's data from CCTV systems. There have been various estimates of how many of these there are in the UK. But Camera Watch, the industry body set up to ensure that systems are compliant with data protection, believes it's largely educated guesswork.

The numbers range from about four million to 10 million - no-one actually knows.

On top of all this, there's the data collected on you by the private sector.

Dr Murakami Wood said people are putting too much data on sites

If you use a loyalty card in a shop, that information is stored to build up a picture of your preferences.

Even more is gathered when you shop online. Banks and insurance companies also gather data about you and not everyone is convinced that it's all strictly necessary.

The human rights lawyer, John Scott, is worried by the way it's monitoring our lives but acknowledges that "you can't turn back the tide of technology".

He said: "We should stop and think about where we'll be in five or 10 years time. We should be trying to stop the unthinking proliferation of surveillance systems before it's too late."

Dr Murakami Wood, however, thinks we've brought a lot of this on our own heads by "putting so much of our own personal data up on Facebook or MySpace".

He added: "It's made officials think we don't value privacy any more."

He believes it's time for the country to have a serious national debate about our surveillance society before it goes any further.

Technorati categories: News, technology, Politics internet, digg, wired

Homegrown Terror Bill is a declaration of War vs The people

2007-12-02T18:15:00.001+04:00

Today I stumbled upon a well-written reaction to the Homegrown terror bill. It is good to see many others are aware of the simple fact that this bill is a Deceleration of War against the American people!

On October 23, 2007 the U.S. Government declared War on the American People. HR 1955: The Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act designates every American who acts against the U.S. Government to be a Homegrown Terrorist. If you've ever said that George W. Bush should be hanged as a war criminal, you sir, are a Terrorist.
The Author concurs with the many opponents to this bill who recognise it's true implications:

Once this bill passes through the Senate and is signed into Law by the President, it will no longer be safe to speak out against the Government. Any word spoken across telephone lines, or written and recorded on the Internet, could potentially be scrutinized by the Department of Homeland Security, and lead more innocent victims to secret prisons to be subjected to violent acts of torture.

But this has been the plan all along and it will require every single person to stand up against tyranny. As quoted in the movie V for Vendetta,

"The truth is there is something terribly wrong with this country"

This excerpt is cleverly interlaced with current footage of global events, this film represents a depiction of the very real horror facing all of us:

Who is to blame for letting Governments pass laws that give them the write to send someone to Gitmo because they disagree with Governement policy?

"If you're looking for the guilty, you need only look into the mirror!"

We are ALL guilty if we continue to support companies and Government representatives who do not have our best interests at heart. To fight back it is time to support websites that really DO give it's readers objective news, views and solutions like SOTT.net.

What will make more difference to the world? receiving a cheap plastic tacky gift made in a Chinese sweatshop or contributing a small amount to helping bring about change? Read more here: V-for-Vendetta - give a penny for the guy

Technorati categories: News, technology, Politics internet, digg, wired

Facebook, Advertising, the CIA, Microchip implants and the end of Privacy

2007-12-01T16:53:00.001+04:00

Protests force Facebook to change its new beacon advertising program so that it is now an opt-in rather than an opt-out system. A mild victory to the many users of the social networking site rightly concerned that Facebook Beacon was going to be a Privacy nightmare. However the public terms and conditions are presented, it still is a privacy nightmare. One only has to investigate the Murky history of Facebook and it's links to the CIA: Facebook the CIA conspiracy:

Facebook has 20 million users worldwide, is worth billions of dollars and, if internet sources are to be believed, was started by the CIA. The social networking phenomenon started as a way of American college students to keep in touch. It is rapidly catching up with MySpace, and has left others like Bebo in its wake.

But there is a dark side to the success story that's been spreading across the blogosphere. A complex but riveting Big Brother-type conspiracy theory which links Facebook to the CIA and the US Department of Defenc e .

Facebook Shatters dreams

There are many real life stories how Facebook has had a negative impact on the lives of individuals:

Halloween Fallout: 'Fairy tale' ruined by Facebook A US man (see Kevin below) who lied to his boss about a family emergency has been caught out after a photograph of him dressed as a fairy in a tutu at a Halloween party appeared online.
instances of employers rejecting candidates or firing employees based on information obtained from social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook
Ruined Christmases. Yes it is serious to some people!!!:
"I saw my girlfriend bought an item i had been saying i wanted...so now part of my christmas gift has been ruined. Facebook is ruining christmas!"

The dangers of a Centralised Database

The beacon advertising system is just one way in which consumer purchases are traced and utilised to influence and target individuals. A description is given in the Huffington post:

The new ad infrastructure enables Facebook to extend their reach onto other companies' sites. For example, if you rent a copy of "Biodome" from Blockbuster.com, Blockbuster will look for a Facebook cookie on your computer. If it finds one, it will send a ping to Facebook. The Blockbuster site will pop up a "toast" (= popup) asking if you want to let your friends at Facebook know that you rented "Biodome." If you say yes, next time you log into Facebook, Facebook will ask you to confirm that you want to let your friends know of your recent rental. If you say yes, that becomes an event that's propagated in the news feed going to your friends.

As the data net becomes larger, with more companies and Government agencies involved in farming data from social networking sites, the following Satire entitled 'pizza palace' is perfectly believable. It highlights some of the privacy issues should (or should I say 'when' or even 'now that') individual data becomes centralised.

The extended version below is in the context of this data being linked to a microchip implant. It comes from the film, America from Freedom to Fascism by Russo. It presents the scenario of companies being able to determine who buys what and where they take those things using microchips. Currently these chips are used in Kraft cheese and Gillette razors without consumer knowledge but soon they'll be put into passports, into cash and under your skin!

The danger with any data is who controls it and what they do with it. Who can we trust if we cannot even trust ourselves to keep potentially self-destructive information to ourselves? We are not that far away from having no Privacy whatsoever and the sad thing is it is us who are letting it happen.

Technorati categories: News, technology, Facebook, internet,

10 reasons I'll NEVER marry a robot

2007-11-30T15:34:00.000+04:00

10 Reasons I'd Never Marry a Robot

On her wired blog Regina Lynn posted the article 10 reasons I'd rather marry a robot. It is a rather glib presentation on what will present some serious ethical issues regarding the interaction of human beings with artificial intelligence and what it really means to BE a human BEing.

Artificial-intelligence expert David Levy's new book, Love + Sex With Robots: The Evolution of Human-Robot Relationships, makes a compelling case for the development of real human-robot partnerships -- by 2050.

Using Lynn's headings, here are 10 reasons I would NEVER consider a robo-marriage:

Robots are more than sex machines.

Yes, they can dance, play drum and bass and move heavy furniture at your command. But if you take a moment out to look at what a miraculous sensing, living, breathing, feeling, moving structure that a human being is no amount of metal can compare to the ultimate perfection and combination of tissue, nerves, skeleton, muscle and tendons that we take for granted. The warm, friendly, loving touch of a caring hand can lift our spirits and make us feel alive. How can a synthetic counterpart every fill us with so much feeling of what it means to be ALIVE?
Artificial intelligence is still intelligence.

It is intelligence but not empathy. It is empathy that separates humans from psychopaths. How can a robot ever understand what it really feels like to be human? In his fascinating book 'without concience' Robert Hare writes:
In many respects they [psycopaths] are like the emotionless androids dipicted in science fiction, unable to imagine what real humans experience. One rapist, high on the Psychopathy checklist, commented that he found it hard to empathize with his victims. "They are frightened, right? But, you see, I don't really understand it. I've been scared myself, and it wasn't unpleasant."
The biggest danger to society actually comes from the 'white collar' Psychopath: From The Mask of Sanity:
If you are born at the right time, with some access to family fortune, and you have a special talent for whipping up other people's hatred and sense of deprivation, you can arrange to kill large numbers of unsuspecting people. With enough money, you can accomplish this from far away, and you can sit back safely and watch in satisfaction. [...]

Crazy and frightening - and real, in about 4 percent of the population..
It is 'white collar' psychopaths that by their lack of conscience are able to rise to the top of government and corporations and make the rest us humans lives intolerable and cruel. To see how their pathological ideals of empire building wars and fascism filter down through all aspects of society you need to read: PONEROLOGY: A NEW SCIENCE:
Ponerology describes the genesis, existence, and spread of the macrosocial disease called evil. Its causes are traceable and can be repeatedly observed and analyzed. When humanity manages to incorporate this knowledge into its natural worldview, it will have defensive potential as yet unrealized
Robots are sensitive and responsive.

But only in the same way a psychopath is.
A robot will only create drama if I want it to.

It is the drama in human relationships that really makes them worthwhile. By making us realise what our own faults are we can change ourselves to become better people. By realising how our actions impact on others we can take more control our own lives instead of merely responding automatically to our own desires and emotional mechanisms. Most of the drama in our lives is caused by external forces created by pathologically deviant and evil World leaders.
Robots have off switches.

But life doesn't have off switches. Life is a continual journey of discovery and learning, by having the option to turn off the things we are emotionally illequiped to deal with surely we will not make any personal development necessary to live a full and rewarding life.
Accessories.

The robot could hoover the floor, granted. But with population sizes exploding, jobs becoming scarce do we actually need or desire inaminate lumps of metal to perform labour that can provide a living, food and shelter for real human beings with concience?
Robots are available for sexual adventure without elaborate discussions, permissions or restrictions.

Communications is one of the most important skills a human being has and through discussing our fears, feelings and phobia's with someone who truly cares about you brings a great deal of satisfaction and fulfilment. A hedonistic approach to life may be fine and dandy for some but for me I know deep inside the short term chemical release of climax is insignificant to long term fulfilment of living a life based on making ones own decisions, not simply reacting to chemical impulses that only have short-term gains.
The safest sex on the planet.

The safest sex is none at all or sex as a true expression of love between two individuals who know themselves and each other. Anything else is simply emotionally destructive, short-term, narcissistic, self-serving and ultimately unfulfiling.
A robot can be a personal trainer for sex.

yes, it can mechanically condition, train you into a soulless existence, in very much the same way we are culturally deteriorating under a psychopathic leadership hell-bent on creating obedient, non-questioning human slaves
A robot is forever -- at least until the warranty runs out.

A robot will last much longer than our own fragile human existence. Most Eastern religion's and philosophies revolve around the importance of accepting our own mortality as a basis for living each day to the full. Never forget today maybe your last. Are you going to spend it browsing through the latest gadget catalogue or spending time with your loved ones or networking with like-minded people who care about you and the true state of our world today?

Lynn concludes correctly:

It's the occasional wobbliness that provides the challenges that keep a relationship interesting and real.

We should become more in touch with our own humanness and do everything in our power to prevent us being robotic slaves ourselves. In the magnificent book, "in search of the miraculous" Gurdjieff writes:

"Contemporary culture requires automatons. And people are undoubtedly losing their acquired habits of independence and turning into automatons, into parts of machines. It is impossible to say where is the end of all this and where the way out— or whether there is an end and a way out. One thing alone is certain, that man's slavery grows and increases. Man is becoming a willing slave. He no longer needs chains. He begins to grow fond of his slavery, to be proud of it. And this is the most terrible thing that can happen to a man."

But this is what is happening. we have a society obsessed with materialism and consumerism. People are proud of their shiny new cars bought on credit and excited by a job title in a company that produces nothing or things no one really needs. Until we break free from the illusions that keep us trapped in a soulless society then we are contributing to the deaths and destruction of our fellow humans. Who will be left to marry the robots?

Technorati categories: News, technology, Politics, internet

Homegrown Terror Bill - Update - 4 incorrect assumptions and a truth

2007-11-30T01:41:00.000+04:00

The 'right wing monkey poo' Technology site (see assumption 3 for clarification) 'arts technica' just published the following article entitled:Congress to examine "the Internet" as a tool for homegrown terrorism. There is nothing remarkable or particulary interesting about the article other than a few incorrect assumptions the author makes to essentially say, "nothing to worry about here folks, go back to sleep, it's for your own good anyway" Let me show you why.

Assumption one:

"The section quoted above is, in fact, the only specific mention of the Internet in the bill."

So what? - The bill only mentions the internet specifically once therefore it isn't really too much to worry about???? let's say I've decided that your Grandmother's personal internet communications are deemed offensive and she's marked as a dissident, it's declared that she's a homegrown terrorist and she's sent to a detention centre without trial, but there is only one picture of her, does that mean it didn't happen? clearly not!Assumption two:

"The remainder of the "findings" only vaguely address a need to understand, prevent, and combat homegrown terrorism in the US—all of which are noble goals—with the Internet being the only tool singled out."

The author is already 'sold' on the idea that clamping down on privacy is for your benefit and these methods are 'noble goals'.

Truth one: Anyone is a potential target:

"Because the bill leaves all definitions up to the committee, critics like Philip Giraldi worry that it will be used to target just about everyone who dislikes some aspect of government policy."

Assumption three:

"Writing for the left-leaning Huffington Post, Giraldi argues that the act "could easily be abused to define any group that is pressuring the political system as 'terrorist,' ranging from polygamists, to second amendment rights supporters, anti-abortion protesters, anti-tax agitators, immigration activists, and peace demonstrators. "

The author feels compelled to point out the Huffington post 'leans to the left' so of course the only truthful opinion presented in this article can be dismissed. They are liberals - they probably eat monkey poo too, so ignore them.

Assumption four:

"In reality, of course, it will be primarily directed against Muslims and Muslim organizations."

Will it? This is certainly not the reality you or I live in. This is just wishful thinking, based on no fact what so ever. Believe what they tell you obedient citizen. go back to sleep!

Technorati categories: News, technology, Politics , internet, digg, wired

Attack on alternative news sites - the Pentagon's WAR against free speech

2007-11-29T10:44:00.000+04:00

" People are using sophisticated techniques attacking Web sites, and it's not just the PayPals and Yahoos being attacked. "
Brian Chess Chief Scientist, Fortify Software

SOTT.net is the one news and commentary source that gets hit regularly and taken down. WHY?

What does one do when the only news source you trust for objective reporting is taken down for 2 days? Take some time looking on bias Mainstream news reporting?
Start believing:

the economy is doing fine
the planet is in better shape than ever
wars responsible for killing a million iraqi civillians are an excellent use of US tax payer money
we need more wars so a new one should be started against Iran.
Britney Spears is your girlfriend

Or try and find out why websites that question what THEY want us to believe are frequently the targets of attack.

Is Velcom just a bunch of cowboys?

SOTT.net uses a hosing company called Velcom. Many have lodged complaints at www.velcom.com/contacts only to recieve an automated message. It is difficult to find objective reviews of this host provider, on one forum a customer was very clear about how they felt:

IF YOU WANT A RELIABLE AND DECENT SERVICE, STAY AWAY FROM THIS HORRIBLE VELCOM.

Is this just a case of a badly performing outfit of cowboys or is it part of the sinister campaign that is being waged against EVERYONE who dares to question official government or mainstream news sources?

"War against the net"

In 2003 The Pentagon declared war against the net . Their Operations Roadmap was released to the public after a Freedom of Information Request by the National Security Archive at George Washington University in 2006:

The Pentagon's Information Operations Roadmap is blunt about the fact that an internet, with the potential for free speech, is in direct opposition to their goals. The internet needs to be dealt with as if it were an enemy "weapons system".

"We Must Fight the Net. DoD [Department of Defense] is building an information-centric force. Networks are increasingly the operational center of gravity, and the Department must be prepared to "fight the net." " [emphasis mine] - 6

The form of this 'war against the net' could take the form of gradual corporatisation of existing internet infrastructure at the detriment of existing channels of free speech. The evidence for this is already evident:

In an article by Paul Joseph Watson of Prison Planet.com, he describes the emergence of Internet 2.

"The development of "Internet 2" is also designed to create an online caste system whereby the old Internet hubs would be allowed to break down and die, forcing people to use the new taxable, censored and regulated world wide web. If you're struggling to comprehend exactly what the Internet will look like in five years unless we resist this, just look at China and their latest efforts to completely eliminate dissent and anonymity on the web."

COINTELPRO

So is SOTT.net down as part of the bigger plan to eliminate free speech on the web or is this web-attack a far more targeted and deliberate action by cointelpro - the US Government's Counter Intelligence Programs?

COINTELPRO began in the 1960's before the Department of Defence through DARPA gave us the internet in the first place) How did it work?: (warning this website is garish, badly designd but has nice music)

1. Infiltration: Agents and informers did not merely spy on political activists. Their main function was to discredit and disrupt.
2. Other forms of deception: The FBI and police also waged psychological warfare from the outside through bogus publications, forged correspondence, anonymous letters and telephone calls, and similar forms of deceit.
3. Harassment, intimidation and violence: Eviction, job loss, break ins, vandalism, grand jury subpoenas, false arrests, frame- ups, and physical violence were threatened, instigated or directly employed, in an effort to frighten activists and disrupt their movements. Government agents either concealed their involvement or fabricated a legal pretext. In the case of the Black and Native American movements, these assaults including outright political assassinations were so extensive and vicious that they amounted to terrorism on the part of the government.

It seems a logical development that these programs would be extended to curbing dissent on the internet and this has been the case. The FBI are keen to show-off their skills:

At a recent ISSA (Information Systems Security Association) meeting in Los Angeles, a team of FBI agents demonstrated current WEP-cracking techniques and broke a 128 bit WEP key in about three minutes. Special Agent Geoff Bickers ran the Powerpoint presentation and explained the attack, while the other agents (who did not want to be named or photographed) did the dirty work of sniffing wireless traffic and breaking the WEP keys. This article will be a general overview of the procedures used by the FBI team.."

Ron Paul under cyber attack

For examples of cyber attacks, one only has to look at the disinformation surrounding Ron Paul's campaign (a critical and outspoken Republican presidential candidate with huge public support). Technology is used to launch attacks and then reported by the main stream media to shape public opinion. see this article:

There was an article on foxnews.com yesterday (10/31) which referenced an original article on wired.com regarding the use of botnets or open mail relays in the dissemination of email messages that were supportive of Rep. Ron Paul’s campaign. Apparently, the original wired.com article did not originally clearly specify that there is no evidence that the Ron Paul campaign was involved. I say ‘apparently’ since at the bottom of the article one finds this line: “This article has been modified to clarify that Warner has seen no evidence suggesting that the Paul campaign is responsible for the spam.”

In his article with the inverse headline "Ron Paul under cyber attack" Michael McDonnough writes that:

"The recently reported spam emails that are believed to originate from a botnet do the Ron Paul campaign direct harm not good" "There has been a recent flurry of news articles that have made the conjecture that the Ron Paul campaign or his supporters are in possession of a botnet and are using it to generate spam emails for the candidate. I have been in the business of computer technology for a long time and have good friends in the IT security business and we have discussed this at length. Cui-bono (who benefits)"

Social networking or social net-censoring?

Wired (it's owner Conde Naste is in turned owned by the wealthy Newhouse family) and FOX have a political agenda in line with the Neocon and Zionist campaigns of Imperialist Wars. They both have connections to the CFR - As I wrote in a previous article on the influence of media companies on military recruitment:

Watch the video to see how the role CFR plays in one aspect of
controlling the American media: CFR controls American media. The CFR was formally established in 1921, it is one of the most powerful private organizations with influence on U.S. foreign policy. It has about 4,000 members, including former national security officers, professors, former CIA members, elected politicians, and media figures. It essentially dictates foreign policy and promotes their hidden agenda to the public by maximising the number of media companies they control or influence through mergers, acquisitions and change of editorial staff.

DIGG maintains it is a free agent and are the innocent victim of attacks as a result of wired.com's acquisition of their competitor reddit:

Wired Magazine seems hell bent on convincing the world that Digg is falling apart. I have a problem with that because Wired Magazine’s parent company, Condé Nast, owns Digg competitor Reddit. And because Wired isn’t just reporting Digg news - they are actively engaged in using Wired to undermine Digg.

DIGG however, is not an innocent party according to an article on November 7th 2007, DIGG Banned Ron Paul Nation!

According to our sources at Ron Paul Nation, a popular online social news networking site has banned this site’s official Digg account. With no warnings or stated reasons, DIGG arbitrarily banned the account from posting any new articles. Apparently after posting a record amount of Positive Ron Paul mainstream media news coverage and digging each relevant and news worthy post, this pro-Ron Paul site has been cut off from sharing our positive news with the rest of the Digg culture.

While I am not suggesting that all social networking and bookmarking sites have been set up to stifle debate, it should be clear that many of them are answerable to the media giants that own them, hence the political agenda's they follow and use to censor free speech. You should be wary that COINTELPRO will have a web presence and millions of dollars at its disposal to influence what information is channelled where.

What do you do about it?

You can stumble and digg this article for a start and if you dont think corporate media is controlled watch this demonstration of blatent myspace censorship.

The controls on the internet are getting tighter, objective news sites that are essential in providing alternative views to main stream media. Social networking sites are increasingly censored and owned by large media companies. Independent sites are facing increasing pressures and are under concerted attacks to silence them.

It is up to you to support and defend websites such as SOTT.net. Your liberty (and your brain) is at stake and you are running out of time...

Oh, - and don't use Velcom to host your website, They're crap!

Adding stumble upon button for your blogger blog

2007-11-28T13:02:00.000+04:00

How do you increase traffic to your blog? is Digg it the answer? - having it tried posting a few of my articles I find that unless 100 or so people digg it immediately it becomes buried and lost in the digg it electron grave yard. This site explains more and my own experience would confirm that.

It seems stumble upon is far more effective for establishing your blog. See their tutorial to put a stumble upon button on your posts.

Alternatively add the addthis bookmarking button to give readers the option of bookmarking your site or post on one of the many social bookmarking websites - I put mine in the side bar and one at the end of this post- go on click - you know you want to!

Happy stumbling!

Robot killing machines or Psycopathic Law enforcement officers?

2007-11-08T15:03:00.000+04:00

Do you remember this scene from the 1984 film Robocop?

You have 20 seconds to comply!

[Mr. Kinney points a pistol at ED-209]
ED-209: [menacingly] Please put down your weapon. You have 20 seconds to comply.
Dick Jones: I think you better do as he says, Mr. Kinney.
[Mr. Kinney drops the pistol on the floor]
Dick Jones: [Mr. Kinney drops the pistol on the floor, but ED-209 advances, growling]
ED-209: You now have 15 seconds to comply.
[Mr. Kinney turns to Dick Jones, who looks nervous]
ED-209: You have 10 seconds to comply.
[Entire room of people in full panic trying to stay out of the line of fire, especially Mr. Kinney]
Kinney: Help me!
ED-209: You have 5 seconds to comply... four... three... two... one... I am now authorized to use physical force!
[ED-209 opens fire and shreds Mr. Kinney]

At least Mr Kinney had 20 seconds warning. The 9 military personnel recently slaughtered by an out of control robot had no warning Robotic Cannon Mysteriously Kills 9 Soldiers.

“it is assumed that there was a mechanical problem, which led to the accident. The gun, which was fully loaded, did not fire as it normally should have," he said. "It appears as though the gun, which is computerised, jammed before there was some sort of explosion, and then it opened fire uncontrollably, killing and injuring the soldiers."

Young says he was also told at the time that the gun's original equipment manufacturer, Oerlikon, had warned that the GDF Mk V twin 35mm cannon system was not designed for fully automatic control. Yet the guns were automated. At the time, SA was still subject to an arms embargo and Oerlikon played no role in the upgrade.

Young says in the 1990s the defence force's acquisitions agency, Armscor, allocated project money on a year-by-year basis, meaning programmes were often rushed. "It would not surprise me if major shortcuts were taken in the qualification of the upgrades"

The questionable reliability and safety of robotic weapons is clearly an important issue and likely to be one that is going to come up again: according to the Pentagon: Our new robot army will be controlled by malware

"A US defence department advisory board has warned of the danger that American war robots scheduled for delivery within a decade might be riddled with malicious code. The kill machines will use software largely written overseas, and it is feared that sinister forces might meddle with it in production, thus gaining control of the future mechanoid military.
Apparently the FCS programme office has admitted that there is a "low to moderate risk that malicious code could be inserted... and exploited.""

So in the same way that your computer frequently crashes due to the incompatibility of hardware and software, inevitably from time to time robotic weapons developed under FCS projects are going to make mistakes.

The US Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) programme

The FCS project website tells us that it is the Army's modernization program consisting of a family of manned and unmanned systems, connected by a common network, that enables the modular force, providing our Soldiers and leaders with leading-edge technologies and capabilities allowing them to dominate in complex environments.

The first barrier to a fully functional robot army is technical -- no one has created a reliable, effective way to make robots truly autonomous.[…]

The DoD estimated in 2006 that the total investment in robotic research from 2006 to 2012 would be $1.7 billion [source: Development and Utilization of Robotics and Unmanned Ground Vehicles].[…]

A major goal of the FCS project is to create a universal platform that the Army and other forces can incorporate into military systems from now on. One of the challenges the military has faced over the years is that it relies on a mix of equipment, vehicles and software that aren't integrated with one another, making battle coordination and tactical discussions difficult.
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/robot-armies2.htm

If you are a front line soldier and your survival is dependent on the performance of an unmanned drone ahead of you would you feel safe knowing there was a moderate risk of the drone malfunctioning? The answer is no. But why is unreliable technology being put into the theatre of war?

The answer must be to do with cutting costs. Suppliers such as iRobot corp are in the business of making weapons for profit, as with any business, their interest is in increasing sales and profits for shareholders. So if it is cheaper for the programming to be outsourced to a sweat shop in India, with all the communication problems that might arise, then that is what is done.

So what if soldiers die at the hands of misfiring automated weaponry? or the elderly, disabled and children die from the use of a taser-wielding robot? It won't affect the profits of the company if there are a few casualties...

Then there are the Ethical issues:

Would a country with an armed robotic force be more likely to invade another country, knowing the invasion would likely result in very few casualties? By removing the human element from war, do we make it even more inhumane? When a robot breaks down during a mission, do we risk sending humans in to retrieve and repair it? Can we be sure that robots will know when to stop attacking when an enemy surrenders?
http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/robot-armies4.htm

Coming to a street corner near you...

The US military has deployed robotic weapons in it’s current empire building campaign: Gun Toting Robots See Action in Iraq but how long is it before armed robots are in place in civilian areas? It won't be too long before we see the Rise of the Machines: Military robots to be armed with Tasers:

RoboCops and robot soldiers got a little closer to reality Thursday as a maker of floor-cleaning automatons teamed up with a stun-gun manufacturer to arm track-wheeled 'bots for police and the Pentagon.

By adding Tasers to robots it already makes for the military, iRobot Corp. says it hopes to give soldiers and law enforcement a defensive, non-lethal tool.

Non-leathal tool? Amnesty International reports 152 taser-related deaths in the US

The article continues:

"I could see rent-a-cop companies wanting to buy it, I can see corrections departments wanting to buy it, because it might be seen as a cost-effective alternative to having a human guard patrolling a perimeter," Pike said.

"For now, as soon as you let go of the joystick, the robot just sits there," Pike said. "So questions of moral agency don't arise - that is to say, whose finger is on the trigger. But a little further down the road, when these ground vehicles do achieve greater autonomy, there may be no human finger on the trigger."

As commented on SOTT.net:

"questions of moral agency DO arise.- What is the difference between a robot and a psychopath taking life or death decisions over others if they are both equally heartless?"

You only have to read the news to see how psychopaths in the Police force may just as well be conscienceless robots:
Chicago Cop Being Investigated for Tasering an 82-Year Old Woman

Wheelchair-Bound Woman Dies After Being Shocked With Taser 10 Times

UK police are told they can use Taser guns on children

If our current law enforcement officials have no regard for human life then will an expensive lump of metal with faulty-software-controlled-weapons make you feel any safer? The answer is no. Will Police officers be free from incrimination and instead the blame shifted onto the technology manufacturers? The manufacturers will no doubt be able to negate any liability under corporate protection laws. Will we see more reports on software malfunctions ending in bloodshed? Will US, NATO or Israeli air strikes that kill civilians no longer be accompanied with the claim that human error was to blame but computer malfunction?

It is convenient to put the blame of loss of life onto someone or something else rather than face up to the truth. The fact is that the powers that be are spending billions of dollars on technology that is answerable to no one. Blame shifting is one of many tactics used by psychopaths who will do whatever it takes to fulfil their own political agendas and create as fruits of their labour, the psychopathic (Ponerised) societies in which we are now living.

The reader is invited to read Ponerology of Apathy and War:

” Understanding the science of ponerology presents a real and viable opportunity to create a life affirming world rather than the current world ruled by the inhuman laws of war and apathy.”

You have 20 seconds to comply!

Homegrown Terror Bill and bogus Terrorist Websites

2007-10-31T20:49:00.000+04:00

It is disturbing reading that the Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terror Bill Passes House. Clink the link to read thought provoking editorial on the implications of this bill of what is essentially a fascist bill that gives the green light to target ANYONE: an extract:

"By all appearances the bill is designed to label those who speak out against the government's proven lies, deceit and ever increasing fascist tendencies and allows the government and law enforcement agencies to strongly and rapidly stifle any and all dissent. Said otherwise, the bill - should it become law - removes your right to disagree with anything the government says or does and places you at extreme risk of becoming arrested and possibly "disappeared", or to use the Bush government's euphemism, "rendered"."

US intelligence spent $43.5 Billion in 2007, how much specifically on the war in cyberspace isn't clear, however, The bill deemed the internet to be a key threat:

"SEC. 899B. FINDINGS.
(3) The Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process in the United States by providing access to broad and constant streams of terrorist-related propaganda to United States citizens."An image from Jihadunspun.net, It supports a holy war against the West but is created by who?.

The methods used so far by counter terrorism units have been deemed creative. an AFP article in May 2007 entitled US gets creative in online battle against Al-Qaeda is quite revealing: It begins:

"US officials championing freedom and democracy are well aware that they cannot try to silence Islamist militants by censoring or blocking the burgeoning number of Al-Qaeda related web sites."

Are there any US officials championing freedom and democracy? Only 6 out of Some 432 representatives voted against the bill which seems to be aimed at eliminating freedom and democracy! Surely censoring and blocking websites would be an effective method of diluting their impact?

"Lieutenant Colonel Joseph Felter, director of the Combating Terrorism Center at the United States military academy at West Point said that attempts to close down the sites have proven futile. "Attempts to shut down websites have proven as fruitless as a game of whack-a-mole.""

But at least you end up with one less mole each time, so instead:

Frank Cilluffo, director of the Homeland Security Policy Institute at George Washington University outlined a number of tactics for tapping into the online community and using its very nature to US advantage.

For one, "it is possible that an intelligence officer posing as a sympathizer could infiltrate an online extremist community," he said.

"Seeds of confusion, doubt and distrust could then be planted in order to chip away at the ties that bind individual extremists into a cohesive and dangerous group."

If you come home from work and find that someone has laid a turd in your living room wouldn't the most sensible response be to scoop it up and flush it down the loo? Then secure the locks and tighten the windows to make sure that the offender doesn't revisit. The 'creative' solution of fighting like with like, seems to be to akin to laying your own turd next to the unwanted guest in the vague hope that you might defeat it by rendering it 'confused'. Felter continued:

"Exploit enemy vulnerabilities made publicly available on the Internet. One of the most effective ways to hurt the jihadis is to use their own writings, discourse and web postings against them,"

"We can monitor them ... follow the networks and assess their operational capacity. We can sabotage them by infiltrating their networks and flooding the web with bogus information."

So not just one turd, a whole sewer in your own living room to solve the problem! in researching this it was reported that over 75% of alleged terrorist websites were registered in US. To account for this anomaly it was suggested that proxy's were used. Is it possible that many of these websites are in fact the products of the creative war of terror?

How many so called "terrorist websites" are actually in fact the product of US intelligence agencies? Flooding the web with bogus information to perpetuate the necessity for The Mega Lie called the war on terror?

Video games kill children - Military recruitment, the media and War

2007-10-29T22:46:00.000+04:00

He didn’t find his dreams…NewsCorp found him!

Sott.net recently carried an article that appeared in The Times: British intelligence is recruiting adrenaline-addicted video games junkies. In the article it is reported:

"Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ), the surveillance arm of the intelligence services, will this month become the first spy agency to embed adverts for new recruits inside computer games.[…] The advertisements will appear as billboards in the fictional landscapes of games including Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Double Agent. They will not be written into the games themselves but will be fed into games when they are played on personal computers and Microsoft Xbox 360 consoles that are connected to the internet. GCHQ hopes to "plant the idea in the heads of younger players" of pursuing a career in the secret services.”

The emphasised sentences imply that they will be able to modify the adverts/programming to fit any need they want - even customizing it to a single individual. Scary don't you think?

He didn't find his dreams...his dreams found him

The last Starfighter was a 1984 science fiction movie, A teenager living in a trailer park becomes the best player ever at Starfighter, a stand-up arcade game that has him "defend the Frontier against Xur and the Ko-Dan armada." The night he gets best score ever in the game, he is approached by the game's fast-talking inventor, Centauri in his human form. Stepping into Centauri's vehicle (a "starcar"), Alex is horrified to find that not only is the car actually a spaceship, but Centauri is a disguised alien, who whisks him off to another planet. (not an office in Whitehall)

Essentially Alex lives up to his high-score reputation, kills the baddies and saves the planet…a true hero. The story ends with Alex's younger brother Louis preparing to play the Starfighter game, hoping to join Alex one day in the Star League. The movie had the tagline: “He didn't find his dreams...his dreams found him” and if you think for a second that future Tom Clancy’s will have the same romantic ending then you must be one of the owners of a 'starcar'!

This is not the first time that video games have been used as a military recruitment tool. “In 2002, The United States Army, released a free-share online game called America's Army. Players that register, and who agree to certain conditions, are allowed to have their play performance reviewed by real-life recruiters looking for potential enlistees. The game, however, was mainly designed to convince possible recruits to join the U.S. Army, not test them. America's Army is the first computer and video game to make recruitment an explicit goal and the first well-known overt use of computer gaming for political aims.

America’s Army used the services of GameSpy: also known as GameSpy Industries, is a division of IGN Entertainment, which operates a network of game Web sites and provides online video game-related services and software. GameSpy dates back to the 1996 release of an internet Quake server search program named QSpy. The current company is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California. It is currently controlled by News Corporation (a company chaired by mass-media mogul Rupert Murdoch.

Rupert Murdoch’s media empire includes the FOX television networks, British SKY broadcasting, The Sun and Times newspapers and consequently have a undeniable influence in the way that information is presented to the general public. Rupert Murdoch is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, watch the video to see how the role CFR plays in one aspect of
controlling the American media: CFR controls American media. The CFR was formally established in 1921, it is one of the most powerful private organizations with influence on U.S. foreign policy. It has about 4,000 members, including former national security officers, professors, former CIA members, elected politicians, and media figures. It essentially dictates foreign policy and promotes their hidden agenda to the public by maximising the number of media companies they control or influence through mergers, acquisitions and change of editorial staff.

In July 2007 the UK guardian reported that Blair and Murdoch spoke days before Iraq war:

“Tony Blair spoke to the media mogul Rupert Murdoch three times in the 10 days before the outbreak of the Iraq war - once on the eve of the US-led invasion - it was disclosed yesterday.
The telephone conversations were among six calls between the two men detailed by the cabinet office in response to a freedom of information request by the Liberal Democrat peer Lord Avebury. […] Lord Avebury said: "Rupert Murdoch has exerted his influence behind the scenes on a range of policies on which he is known to have strong views,the Iraq war. including the regulation of broadcasting and The public can now scrutinise the timing of his contacts with the former prime minister, to see whether they can be linked to events in the outside world."

Further examples of this media bias can be seen here: Fox Does Unto Iran As It Did Unto Iraq or this youtube video: George Galloway Confronts Sky News over its bias towards Israel - Video

It is clear from the above that Rupert Murdoch has a vested interest in promoting the war agenda, is influential in the way that news stories are presented in order to win over support from the public for that agenda. It is also clear that his corporation’s activities reach as far as using the latest technology to assist in military recruitment.

A person would be naïve to think that this is just one man on a crusade for world domination, he is of course accompanied, influenced and cajoled through membership of elitist organisations such as the CFR. It should be clear to all by now that the way these organisations show little regard for the welfare of normal rational human beings. In the book Political Ponerology: A science on the nature of evil adjusted for political purposes. Dr. Łobaczewski theorizes that:

The effects of the psychopath on the fabric of human society, especially when acting as a group, can be likened to the effects of disease on the physical body. This disease manifests as a gradual but fundamental re-structure of the social heirarchy until, in extreme cases, a pathocracy is formed: a society ruled and motivated by purely pathological values. He further asserts that the close, careful study of these effects will help man understand the cause, which can then lead to a cure for this affliction of society.

One could argue that video games are creating a generation of young people with highly tuned motor skills: there is research that suggests that Gun-firing video games improve eyesight. perhaps this is an undeclared aim. That "aim" is possibly to create individuals that will be used as controllers of a robot army or at the very least it is an effective method of desensitizing individuals to war, killing and bloodshed that occurs in unnecessary wars. The overwhelming evidence is that the negative effects far outweigh any positive benefits. You can see why those groups and individuals who promote and support wars of aggression would benefit from our children to learning to become psychopathic killers: The article:"Many Killed Or Maimed" by Video Games reports:

“One expert, Pat Brown, a national top criminal profiler and parent, said that these video games are causing our children to become psychopathic killers by 9 years old. Others, such as Dr. Phil McGraw (psychologist), Bill O'Reilley (Fox news), professor James Alan Fox (criminal justice expert) and Candice DeLong (retired FBI profiler) echoed similar sentiments.”

In April 2007 ISU psychologists published three new studies on violent video game effects on youths.The Iowa State Universities key findings were:

Exposure to cartoonish children's violent video games had the same short-term effects on increasing aggressive behavior as the more graphic teen (T-rated) violent games.
High school students who had more exposure to violent video games held more pro-violent attitudes, had more hostile personalities, were less forgiving, believed violence to be more typical, and behaved more aggressively in their everyday lives.
Children who played more violent video games early in the school year changed to see the world in a more aggressive way, and became more verbally and physically aggressive later in the school year

So are our generation of Last Starfighter’s intentionally being trained, turned into psychopaths and then recruited by the military by video games? I would say yes! Video games and what was
considered harmless entertainment for children has come along way since pacman! Does the fact that GCHQ is placing virtual adverts in these games disturb you at all? It should!

One has to wonder whether their involvement stops at the use of video games and technology
for control and other purposes. Technology certainly exists for sophisticated psychological profiling: In May 2007 the UK guardian reported that Google may use games to psycho-analyse net users. From the article: “The patent says: "User dialogue (eg from role playing games, simulation games, etc) may be used to characterise the user (eg literate, profane, blunt or polite, quiet etc). Also, user play may be used to characterise the user (eg cautious, risk-taker, aggressive, non-confrontational, stealthy, honest, cooperative, uncooperative, etc)."

What is to stop military recruiters from building up psychological profiles of all young online gamers? Before the first interview, a recruiter would know how the individual reacts under stress or what is the best way to influence the individual to get the desired reaction and result. Scenarios and situations could be personally created and targeted to influence certain psychological conditions. Mix this with data-mining software currently used to monitor searches, email and browsing history and the recruiter would have all the information and tools necessary to manipulate and assess an individual, make his… but at what price to personal privacy?

Reality or fantasy?

The increasing use of all senses in video game technology, high definition TV and sound blurs the distinction between reality and fantasy. Our last Starfighter is already distanced from the reality of war, starved of objective reporting on the humanitarian disasters that the current War campaign is creating. He would be aware of who won the last series of Celebrity Big Brother but would he know that 2 million Iraqis have been killed since 2003 and a further 2 million destitute refugees?

battlefield of the future

Video game training is producing the ideal candidates for the battlefield of the future. The increasing technological advancements of weaponry further distances the operator from the target. In Mar 2007, Science Daily reports in The Most Realistic Virtual Battlefield In The World how Iowa State University [while also researching the detrimental effects of video games!]:

"is developing a control interface for the militaries next generation of unmanned aerial vehicles. The researchers are building a virtual environment that allows operators to see the vehicles, the surrounding airspace, the terrain they're flying over as well as information from instruments, cameras, radar and weapons systems. The system would allow a single operator to control many vehicles."

©Kevin Teske

Muthukkumar Kadavasal, an Iowa State doctoral student in human computer interaction, demonstrates how improvements to Iowa State's C6 provide virtual reality at the world's highest resolution.

It seems we are certainly producing a generation of young people well suited to this task: Lightening responses and no conscience. Would they be aware it is real people that get blown to pieces in wars or would they be too conditioned and focused on the bottom right hand side of the screen’s flashing body-count?

As parents we need to try and minimise our children’s exposure to the negative impact of violent computer games and media. We need to be aware just how interconnected technology companies, Media corporations and politicians actually are. We need to also be aware that these organisations do not have our best interests at heart. Will this story end just like the last Starfighter: Our children following the next into the cannon-fodder league?

We need to give our children the opportunity for them to create their own ‘tag lines’ otherwise it will be given for them:

He didn't find his nightmares...his nightmares found him!

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