Todays disturbing read, from The Daily Dot: Deleting your browser history could land you in prison »
Archive | US
TTIP — What to expect when it comes to Internet related issues
Just before summer recess the European Parliament adopted a resolution regarding the EU-US trade agreement, the TTIP. It was generally positive to an agreement — even though the actual content of the TTIP still is unknown, in large parts.
Free trade as in free trade is a positive thing. But is this what the TTIP is about? Some would say it’s more about regulations. But we cannot tell for sure. The negotiations are conducted behind closed doors and the legislators in the European Parliament will probably not be allowed to see the entire text until negotiations are over. And then it will be to late to change anything. At that point all they can do is to to adopt or reject the whole package.
That was what happened with the ACTA agreement. It was also negotiated in secret. And it was also a package deal, impossible to change. Due to (among other things) possible limitations to a free and open Internet — the European Parliament surprised everyone by rejecting the deal.
So what’s in store when it comes to “intellectual property” and the Internet in TTIP? We still don’t really know. Some documents have been released (link»). But they are of a rather general nature and reveal very little when it comes to Internet related issues. But we have some indications.
This spring the European Parliaments legal affairs committee made a strong recommendation to exclude Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) from the TTIP (link»). However, in its’ recent resolution the EP failed to follow up on this recommendation (link»).
And we have the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement, the TPP. One TPP document leaked by Wikileaks (link») suggests the following…
The 95-page, 30,000-word IP Chapter lays out provisions for instituting a far-reaching, transnational legal and enforcement regime, modifying or replacing existing laws in TPP member states. The Chapter’s subsections include agreements relating to patents (who may produce goods or drugs), copyright (who may transmit information), trademarks (who may describe information or goods as authentic) and industrial design.
The longest section of the Chapter – ’Enforcement’ – is devoted to detailing new policing measures, with far-reaching implications for individual rights, civil liberties, publishers, internet service providers and internet privacy, as well as for the creative, intellectual, biological and environmental commons. Particular measures proposed include supranational litigation tribunals to which sovereign national courts are expected to defer, but which have no human rights safeguards. The TPP IP Chapter states that these courts can conduct hearings with secret evidence. The IP Chapter also replicates many of the surveillance and enforcement provisions from the shelved SOPA and ACTA treaties.
It is expected that the TTIP will include something similar.
This suggests that TTIP will be ACTA all over again — when it comes to IPR, Internet related issues and civil rights.
The TTIP has already been heavily criticised when it comes to the “investor state dispute settlement” chapter, ISDS. But due to lack of substantial information civil society, activists and the media have yet not had any opportunity to react to any IPR and Internet related issues.
This might be a lesson the EU and US administrations have learned from ACTA — to play their cards close to their chest. The later this information is released, the harder it will be to build momentum for a campaign like the one that took down ACTA.
However, this is a weak plan. We know that there will be something. And we have some indications about what to expect. We are ready to take on the TTIP in full force and with short notice — to defend a free and open Internet. Like we did with ACTA.
I most strongly do recommend the EU and US administrations to follow the European Parliaments legal affairs committees recommendation to exclude IPR (and Internet related issues) from TTIP if they want this agreement to come true.
But they won’t.
/ HAX
EU & mass surveillance: Business as usual
By HAX on July 15, 2015 in Civil liberties, Data Protection, EU, Intelligence, NSA & Snowden, Privacy, Rule of law, US
I took some time looking trough some of my Youtube-clips on the European Parliaments hearings om mass surveillance during the last legislature (2009-14).
It’s amazing. Everything was laid out in front of the MEP:s. But all the EP could come up with was some half-lame resolution (an opinion, not legislation). And thats it. The new parliament (2014-19) has so far done nothing to follow up on this.
You really should look trough this hearing, with the late Caspar Bowden. He served the MEP:s everything on a silver plate. (If you don’t have the time, give it at least ten minutes.)
Did they read the paper? Nah. Did they act on the information? Not really. Did they care? I don’t think so.
Today it’s business as usual. Nothing of substance has been done when it comes to the EU acting on US mass surveillance. The British and the French (and many others) have — if anything — learned from NSA, now collecting everything. NSA partners (such as the Swedish FRA) carries on as usual. And the European Commission has failed to act on the few recommendations the EP actually gave.
Somehow, I get the impression that our political leaders don’t care. Or don’t want to know. Or maybe… they are not on our side.
We really should elect better politicians.
/ HAX
Experts: No to encryption back doors
From the New York Times…
“An elite group of security technologists has concluded that the American and British governments cannot demand special access to encrypted communications without putting the world’s most confidential data and critical infrastructure in danger.”
“Such access will open doors through which criminals and malicious nation-states can attack the very individuals law enforcement seeks to defend,” the report said. “The costs would be substantial, the damage to innovation severe and the consequences to economic growth hard to predict. The costs to the developed countries’ soft power and to our moral authority would also be considerable.”
Raed more:
Security Experts Oppose Government Access to Encrypted Communication »
Is the German government on Germanys side?
By HAX on July 4, 2015 in affairs, BND, Democracy, Germany, Intelligence, NSA & Snowden, Rule of law, US
The news that the American spy organisation NSA has targeted the major German magazine Der Spiegel are serious and disturbing. But it is just the tip of the iceberg.
As it turns out the German government knew. But it did nothing to stop it. It didn’t report the issue to relevant democratic oversight bodies. And even worse — it lied about the matter to the German parliament.
To make things even worse it’s still unclear if the NSA obtained it’s information by spying on the newspaper, the Chancellors Office or the entire German political apparatus.
Der Spiegel writes…
“It remains unclear just who US intelligence originally had in its scopes. The question is also unlikely to be answered by the parliamentary investigative committee, because the US appears to have withheld this information from the Chancellery. Theoretically, at least, there are three possibilities: The Chancellery — at least in the person of Hans Josef Vorbeck. SPIEGEL journalists. Or blanket surveillance of Berlin’s entire government quarter. The NSA is capable of any of the three options. And it is important to note that each of these acts would represent a violation of German law.”
In Germany the constitution and the freedom of the press is taken seriously. What has been going on is in direct conflict with principles clearly laid out by the German Constitutional Court in Karlsruhe.
“If it is true that a foreign intelligence agency spied on journalists as they conducted their reporting in Germany and then informed the Chancellery about it, then these actions would place a huge question mark over the notion of a free press in this country. Germany’s highest court ruled in 2007 that press freedom is a “constituent part of a free and democratic order.” The court held that reporting can no longer be considered free if it entails a risk that journalists will be spied on during their reporting and that the federal government will be informed of the people they speak to.”
This affair is now snowballing, putting the Chancellors Office under serious pressure. In a special editors note, Der Spiegel notes…
“The fact that the press no longer has a special protected status and can be spied upon in the same way as corporations, associations or government ministries, lends a new quality to the spying scandal. That the press appears to have been betrayed by its own government is outrageous. For this reason, SPIEGEL decided this week to file a complaint with the Federal Prosecutor’s Office on suspicion of intelligence agency activity.”
It seems that the German intelligence services and the Chancellors Office have neglected both democratic and judicial requirements to keep good working relations with the Americans.
This leading up to a situation where leading German officials appears to have sided with US intelligence services — rather than with the German constitution, German law, the German parliament and the German people.
Read more: An Attack on Press Freedom: SPIEGEL Targeted by US Intelligence »
/ HAX
Angry frogs
So, the NSA seems to have bugged the phones of the latest three French presidents.
The French are furious. Rightfully so. This is a serious breach of protocol. It is not a way to treat allies. It might even be in conflict with the Vienna Convention.
But, frankly — it’s a bit amusing.
Two years ago, the French daily Le Monde exposed the french surveillance apparatus. It seems that the French also “collects it all”. And they seem to be rather generous to share this information with all French authorities who ask for it.
And today French representatives adopted a new, draconian surveillance law. The irony.
In other words: It’s totally OK with the French elite to use mass surveillance against the people. But to bug the president, that’s a big non.
/ HAX
Abuse of power — a reason for a gag order?
Popehat: DoJ’s Gag Order On Reason Has Been Lifted — But The Real Story Is More Outrageous Than We Thought »
Is the NSA to shut down bulk surveillance programs? Maybe not.
By HAX on May 25, 2015 in Big Brother, Data Retention, NSA & Snowden, surveillance, US, War on Terror
The NSA bulk surveillance program is hanging by a thread — as the controversial Patriot Act expires and as US Senate did not manage to adopt a replacement bill (the USA Freedom Act) before its week-long recess.
The Associated Press reports…
“In a chaotic scene during the wee hours of Saturday, Senate Republicans blocked a bill known as the USA Freedom Act, which would have ended the NSA’s bulk collection but preserved its ability to search the records held by the phone companies on a case-by-case basis. The bill was backed by President Barack Obama, House Republicans and the nation’s top law enforcement and intelligence officials.”
There will be an emergency session scheduled for Sunday, May 31st.
This is a cliff hanger. But even if the replacement bill will be adopted, bulk mass surveillance will not end. It will only change form.
The USA Freedom Act obliges telecoms meta data to be kept by the phone companies. This is the same model as in the EU Data Retention Directive. Even though this directive has been invalidated by the European Court of Justice for breaching human rights, it is already implemented in most EU member states.
In many EU countries authorities use data retention on a massive scale and in a rather indiscriminate way. There are even attempts to give the police direct online access to meta data held by the telecoms, in some countries.
So even if the Freedom Act might be adopted it will not be the end of bulk collection of telecoms data in the US. It will not be as bad as the Patriot Act, but still it will be pretty bad.
However, it will be interesting to see what happens if the Freedom Act is not adopted before the Patriot Act expires. In that case the NSA might have to shut down parts of their operation. At least for some time. (For all the public is allowed to know…)
• NSA is getting ready to shut down bulk surveillance programs in response to failed Senate vote »
• NSA winds down once-secret phone-records collection program »
/ HAX
No shit, Sherlock…
Washington Times: FBI admits no major cases cracked with Patriot Act snooping powers »
Free speech vs. copyright
In the Garcia vs. Google case, the US Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals states “The appeal teaches a simple lesson—a weak copyright claim cannot justify censorship in the guise of authorship.”
Read more:
Finally! Victory for Free Speech in Garcia v. Google »
Court: Actor Can’t Force Removal of Innocence of Muslims Trailer »