FBI Agents Torrent Pirates Of The Caribbean (or they may as well)

With the help of ScanEye, a Bittorrent monitoring company, TorrentFreak has reported that a number of IP addresses for the popular file-sharing protocol come from non other than those registered to various FBI agencies. It is also likely that these would have been downloads for personal use, as they were spread across a number of months. This contrasts with their behaviour in undercover "entrapment".

Would people working for one of the biggest "intelligence" agencies in the world really be so careless? As one commenter points out:

At the end of the day, even the FBI's staff are just regular people like you and I who want to experience and share culture with everyone abroad.

It would certainly be ironic if the agency had to arrest its own staff as a result of RIAA/MPAA tracking.

Full Article at Torrentfreak: FBI Employees Download Pirated Movies and TV-Shows

Mega Content Taken Down

Kim Dotcom, former owner of MegaUpload and also owner of the newly created file locker website Mega, has revealed that the recent flurry of DCMA takedown notices originated from non other than the Mega site itself.  This was the result of an independent search engine for the site not having a valid takedown procedure for rights holders claiming ownership of files aggregated on the search page.

As a safety measure, the many hundreds of files already indexed by the search engine have been taken down on the Mega site, including many that are legally hosted. It looks like Dotcom is taking legal issues far more seriously in order to prevent a repeat of the shutdown of his MegaUpload site last year.

Full Article on TorrentFreak: https://torrentfreak.com/kim-dotcom-mega-search-engines-have-to-play-by-the-rules-130201/

Antigua To Launch "Legal" Piracy Site

The World Health Organisation in the last few days has approved Antigua's request to suspend the enforcements of US Copyrights in their country (a decision that any country can make regarding copyright law, including the United States itself). Local authorities are now preparing a new media portal offering millions of films, TV shows, albums and software. It is unsure exactly how the site will work at present.

This comes after years of negotiations regarding the business practices of the United States which resulted in the shut down of the Antigua online gambling industry.

As the goods and services of the website will be available worldwide, it raises an interesting question as to whether the authorities of other countries will pursue those who buy their media from the site. It is most likely that the goods will still be considered "pirate" in the other countries that continue to enforce US copyrights.

I will be interesting to see what affect this will have on the local economy; will it truly drive away investment from multinational businesses and bring the country further down, or will it enable it to create its own jobs and its own economy again?

Source Article:  Antigua’s Legal “Pirate Site” Authorized by the World Trade Organization

Hands off my phone!

The old technologies were always the best.
Photo by @mararie on Flickr

I believe my mobile has managed to make everything humanly possible to make life more difficult. The instant access to communication isn't always the best thing to have in a heated argument; I believe in arguments letters really were the better way to handle things, as you had at least one day between them to think things over and decide whether some things really are worth arguing over. In return the expectation from other users that one should be "always connected" is also rather frustrating.

One of the worst sins of mobile telecommunications, however, lie in the ease of procrastination. If it wasn't bad enough sitting in front of a blank essay whilst having 300 tabs open in Firefox about the philosophy of Bostrom's simulation argument of life, now I can also sync these tabs to my mobile so I can continue reading whilst I'm away at the expense of finding a loved one's Christmas present.

There is one area where my phone has helped immensely, however; an area that to be honest makes everything else in life work like clockwork. And that would be my calendar. Without it and the ability to sync it online everywhere, I would forget even about doctor's appointments I'd only booked hours ago, let alone important birthdays or anniversary's. And for that alone, the other sins of Web 2.0 can be forgiven.

Is "Crazy" An Offensive Word?

Nick Griffin Is Educated To Degree Level, So Of Course Never Uses Offensive Language. Image via Wikipedia

My partner bought a few books for the nursery she works at, and was absolutely disgusted by the use of the word "Crazy" in the book. Apparently in the book the dog gave some kind of "Crazy look" to his owner for throwing a stick, and Chloe didn't feel it was an appropriate use of the term for nursery age at all. So she took it back.

It most most likely because of the mental health activism (and issues) I have been through that she is so sensitive to the use of the word. But is it really that bad? Everyone says it!

Well, in my opinion, yes. By using the word Crazy, for example, it devalues the stress and agony a person who has ever been labelled as "crazy" or"mad" may have gone through. It also conjures up more disturbing images of Norwegian psychos murdering hundreds at youth camps.

Worryingly as well there is the continued misuse of words like "schizo" to suggest someone or something that is talking to themselves, or that someone's argument contradicts itself. A misuse because technically this is multiple personality disorder. I'm not trying to be pedantic, but rather that not only does the use of the word devalue and negatively portray the illness, but also shows a complete lack of understanding. Also tourrettes is regularly portrayed as a negative aspect of a person, when even people like politicians are using it to describe a person who won't let the speaker finish.

But will this ever change? Is this not just something that will stay a part of popular culture forever? I don't think so. A relatively short time ago racism was a natural part of day to day life, as well as sexism. And we have made amazing strides in moving to a place where, although it is still there, discrimination against someone of a different race or sex is illegal and seen by the majority as wrong.

Also there are more recent controversies such as with the toy based on a character called "spastic". Although not intended at all offensively, and being a word not used in it's home of the United States, it lead to the company removing from sale all of these toys because of the outcry from British society. And more recently there is the "Mong" scandal by Ricky Gervais, where despite him initially refusing to apologise because he thought it was no an acceptable term removed from it's initial meaning (debatable considering he was pulling the stereotypical face as well), he eventually backtracked as he learnt it was still something incredibly offensive to a large group of people.

But I'd like to be clear I don't think legislation should be the main answer. People should be free to say whatever they want- but also anyone or any organisation is free to challenge that opinion, as in the example with Gervais. Unless a person is inciting violence towards a particular group, I don't see a reason for a person to be arrested based on what they think. It also can lead to an increase of people who feel they are being forced to think a certain way by the "Politically Correct" police. I think seeing public figures apologise for their comments, like Ricky Gervais, Nick Clegg or even David Cameron is more powerful. And the best place to change views is to challenge them publicly, rather than allowing them no platform. Although certainly in institutions like the police and hospitals, the laws or rules they abide by must contain anti-discrimination clauses.

Education is an extremely important part of the answer. But remember, even Nick Griffin has a degree in Law.

Reposted on my technology and environmental political blog at http://greenpirateuk.blogspot.com

Related articles

• Megan Fox and Jeremy Clarkson make biggest mental health gaffes of the year (rethink.org)
• Forget the Ricky Gervais 'mong' row, disabled people need action (guardian.co.uk)
• Md. Lawmaker Proposes Gender Identity Anti-Discrimination Bill (baltimore.cbslocal.com)
• The culture of silence must end (mind.org.uk)