Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies today, CIA Director Mike Pompeo went off on WikiLeaks. Pompeo is pretty mad about that whole Vault 7 hacking tools data dump, it looks like. “WikiLeaks walks like a hostile intelligence service and talks like a hostile intelligence service,” he declared Thursday. I think he means that it’s a hostile intelligence service!
Techcrunch: The CIA is really, really mad at WikiLeaks »
German Member of the European Parliament Julia Reda has published an open-letter signed by UK MEP Lucy Anderson, raising alarm at the fact that the W3C is on the brink of finalising a DRM standard for web video, which — thanks to crazy laws protecting DRM — will leave users at risk of unreported security vulnerabilities, and also prevent third parties from adapting browsers for the needs of disabled people, archivists, and the wider public.
Boingboing » MEP to Commission: World Wide Web Consortium’s DRM is a danger to Europeans »
French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron has become the latest high-profile European politician to threaten U.S. tech companies over their use of end-to-end encryption, and for how digital platforms enable the spread of terrorist propaganda online.
Techcrunch: French presidential candidate Macron talks tough on tech firms over terrorism »
Once again, a senseless terror attack.
Once again, politicians are telling us that we must stand up for a free and open society.
Of course we must. But do they?
Western democracy is slowly being hollowed out. It’s getting ever more secretive and less transparent. Power is being centralized and is moving further away from the people. It is getting ever more difficult to participate in and to scrutinize the decision-making process. Free citizens are being reduced to subordinates.
Civil and human rights are being eroded – e.g. when it comes to the rule of law and the right to privacy.
Free speech is being curbed, the Internet is being censored and people are being told what to think. The so-called fake news is being fought by trying to limit free information instead of giving people more, different sources.
Of course, terrorists and religious fanatics are very real threats to a free and open society. But so are our politicians.
/ HAX
MEP Julia Reda: Copyright expansion plans would kill EU startups »
Germany has approved a draft law that will enable businesses to run open WiFi hotspots without being held liable for the copyright infringements of their customers. Copyright holders will still have the ability to request that certain sites are blocked to prevent repeat infringement.
Torrentfreak: Germany Approves Draft Law to Protect WiFi Operators From Piracy Liability »
New rules allowing the US National Security Agency (NSA) to share private data with other US agencies without court oversight, recent revelations about surveillance activities by a US electronic communications service provider and vacancies on US oversight bodies are among the concerns raised by MEPs in a resolution passed on Thursday.
In short, the EU-US Privacy Shield (replacing the »Safe Harbour«-agreement) falls short – especially considering the actions of the new US administration.
Data Privacy Shield: MEPs alarmed at undermining of privacy safeguards in the US »
Minister Maas has proposed the law which places a variety of obligations on the companies, in the apparent hope that this will lead profit-motivated companies to take over private censorship measures. Following years of deletions of perfectly legal content by, for example, Facebook, Minister Maas seems to believe that this will lead to outcomes that are appropriate in a democratic society based on the rule of law. (…)
Another addition to the draft law is a procedure to prohibit the distribution of pornography. The effects on group chats, such as WhatsApp which might also be affected by the law, depending on the scope, will be interesting as partially public exchanges of legal content such as pornography would suddenly become the focus of deletions. (…)
In total, 24 criminal offences have been added to the latest draft, including counterfeiting and fake news for the purpose of treason against the nation, defamation of the state and its symbols, as well as insults to the Federal President.
EDRi: Reckless social media law threatens freedom of expression in Germany »
Zerohedge: Germany Passes Bill To Fine FaceBook, Twitter Up To $50MM For “Fake News” »
Related, EU Observer: Germany calls for EU laws on hate speech and fake news »
