Archive for June 8th, 2009
There comes a time when despite the allure of the market, Western industry should band together and turn its back on China. A time when the computer and Internet industry realizes that the censorship-and-repression tax the government is intent on levying is too high a price to pay.
Is this, at long last, that moment? Well, it’s doubtful. But it should be.
Starting July 1, computers sold in China must include government-provided spyware that blocks pornography and political dissent from Chinese citizens’ view, The New York Times reports, following up a Wall Street Journal report.
Called “Green Dam” — green being a foil to the yellow smut of pornography — the software is designed to filter out sexually explicit images and words, according to the company that designed it. Computer experts, however, warn that once installed, the software could be directed to block all manner of content or allow the government to monitor Internet use and collect personal information.
PC makers are said to be irritated with the new rules but presumably not enough to buck the government. The major irritation seems to be that July 1 isn’t enough time to add the software to massive production lines.
Beyond the nettlesome issue of abetting government censorship, they said six weeks was not enough time to shift production on such a large scale. “Many of us are going to take it in the neck with this mandate,” said one executive. “It has put people into five-alarm mode.”
Still executives met with the U.S. Embassy to express displeasure. If they’re serious, though, they need to do this, says Rebecca McKinnon:
- Provide the software on disk rather than pre-installed.
- Include clear information to the user about what the software does, the nature and range of content it filters, how the user’s personal information is collected and transmitted, where it is stored and who has access to it.
- Explain what the software does differently from existing parental controls already included in the operating system.
- Include further information about any further vulnerabilities the software contains which could open the user’s computer to attack or snooping.
- Provide clear instructions on how to deactivate or uninstall the software along with the installation guidelines.
It’s pretty clear that’s not how China wants this to go down. This little anecdote from the Times says it all.
On Monday, Green Dam’s own website offered a hint of discontent over the filtering software. On the bulletin board section of the site, several users complained that pornographic images slipped through or that their computers had become painfully slow. “It seems pretty lousy so far,” read one posting. “It’s not very powerful, I can’t surf the Internet normally and it’s affecting the operation of other software.”
By Monday night, however, most of the comments had been deleted.
Found on Infowars
Deidra Dukes
MyFox Atlanta
Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport is one of just two airports in the U.S. that are serving as testing grounds for a new Department of Homeland Security program. The program checks the identities of non-U.S. citizens against a terror watch list.
The Department of Homeland Security is cracking down on foreigners who overstay their visas in the pilot program at airports in Detroit and Atlanta.
“It is really about bringing integrity back to the immigrant system and making sure we know who’s here legally, who’s here illegally and we can take appropriate actions,” said Robert Mocny of the Department of Homeland Security.
In Atlanta, departing foreign nationals are directed to separate security lines where their fingerprints are scanned and verified.
In Detroit, the program is done at departure gates.
Cops pocketing drug money, cops ripping off drug dealers, cops protecting drug dealers, cops stealing dope, and, of course, another dope-smuggling jail guard. Let’s get to it:
In South Memphis, Tennessee, a Shelby County sheriff’s deputy was arrested last Friday for pocketing money seized in a drug arrest. Deputy Jeff McCall, who worked for the Shelby County Narcotics Unit, went down in a sting after the sheriff’s office received tips he was stealing drug money he confiscated on the streets. The sheriff’s office and the FBI set up a phony traffic stop where it was McCall’s job to inventory the $4,200 in cash and marijuana seized. Only $3,800 made it to the evidence room. When confronted later that same night, McCall admitted he had taken the money, left work, gone to a local mall, and used the money to buy a Playstation 3. Officers found the game in his work vehicle. He is currently facing state charges of official misconduct and theft of under $500, but federal charges could follow.
In West Manchester Township, Pennsylvania, a former West Manchester Township police detective was charged May 27 with stealing drugs from the department evidence room. Former Det. Steven Crider, 54, has admitted to state police that he stole and ingested cocaine, heroin, and marijuana from more than a hundred cases since 2001. He allegedly replaced some of the stolen drugs with chalk and tampered with records to cover it up. The 32-year veteran was fired last month.
In Texarkana, Arkansas, a former Miller County jail guard was arraigned May 28 on charges he smuggled marijuana into the jail for inmates. Adrian Trevone Tate, 24, was arrested after another guard saw pot inside a soda cup from a convenience store that Tate had brought into the jail. He has pleaded not guilty to two felony counts: furnishing a prohibited item into a correctional facility and possession with intent to deliver marijuana into a jail. Tate is free on $50,000 bond.
In Los Angeles, a former Huntington Park police officer was found guilty May 27 of ripping off cocaine and methamphetamine from drug dealers. Former Sgt. Alvaro Murillo was convicted of two counts of drug conspiracy, one count of extortion, and one count of submitting a false tax return. Murillo was a member of a multi-agency federal drug task force and used his job to recruit informants, then used them to help steal dope from dealers and traffickers. He and his informants formed what they called the “black tactic group” to identify dealers they could rob. Among the thefts were five kilograms of cocaine in 2002 and two kilos of methamphetamine in 2006. Murillo went down after attempting to steal cocaine from a dealer who turned out to be an undercover DEA agent. He faces a mandatory minimum 10-year federal prison sentence.
In Lake City, South Carolina, a former Lake City police officer was sentenced May 27 to 20 years in federal prison for conspiring with drug dealers to help them avoid getting busted. Shanita McKnight had been convicted in October of drug conspiracy and extortion, tipping off local dealers to impending police actions. McKnight must also do five years of supervised release after finishing her prison sentence.
In Charlotte, North Carolina, two former Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers were sentenced May 27 to nine years in prison for conspiring to distribute cocaine. Former officers Gerald Holas and Jason Ross admitted they protected a cocaine dealer’s operation, but claimed to no avail that they did so in an effort to gain information they could use to arrest his suppliers and customers. Holas tipped off the dealer about police activities, and both officers helped him get revenge on a rival whose home was firebombed. Some 50 criminal cases in which the pair were involved had to be dismissed after they were arrested.
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