Technology in the News

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Cyberbullying law would let Canada cops 'remotely hack computers, mobile devices, cars'

thefreethoughtproject.com

June 11, 2014

New cyberbullying legislation introduced by the Canadian government is set to let police gain access to computers and remotely track cellphone users' movements and activities, privacy experts fear.

Bill C-13 Protecting Canadians from Online Crime Act, known as the cyberbullying bill, is currently being studied by a parliamentary committee. In fact, the term 'cyberbullying' may be a bit misleading: there are no mentions of 'cyber' or 'bully' in the document, despite the fact that the bill originated following several children committing suicide as a result of online bullying. Despite the bill introducing responsibility for sending nude photos, for instance, what the law mainly does is greatly expand police authority, giving officers powers to remotely hack into computers, mobile devices or cars in order to track location or record metadata, director of the Canadian Civil Liberties Association Cara Zwibel told Members of Parliament. She added that those changes were "inappropriate."

PINAC Reader Test-Flies Aerial Drone Camera Over DUI Checkpoint

photographyisnotacrime.com

by Andrew Meyer

June 11, 2014

The newest video on Daniel Saulmon's YouTube page is a preview of the near future, aptly titled "Flying Robots Filming Officers."

At a DUI checkpoint in Gardenia, California, Saulmon recently engaged in law enforcement monitoring using his DJI Phantom 2. Commonly known as a drone, the DJI Phantom is an unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV, that flies with little or no pilot input. Saulmon, who has flown his Phantom over "several local departments and one checkpoint so far," posted the video of his night video recoding a DUI checkpoint using his UAV.

THE MACHINE: HP Unveils Revolutionary Computer That Could Shrink A Data Center To The Size Of A Refrigerator

businessinsider.com

by Julie Bort

June 11, 2014

HP demonstrated on Wednesday a breakthrough computer project from HP Labs known internally as "The Machine."

The new computer was the highlight of a keynote speech by CEO Meg Whitman and CTO Martin Fink, the head of HP Labs, at the company's HP Discover customer conference being held this week in Las Vegas. The Machine is a project that, if successful, could replace a giant data center worth of gear with a computer the size of a refrigerator, reports Businessweek's Ashlee Vance. More importantly, it will instantly process mind-boggling amounts of data while sipping only a tiny bit of energy. Whitman says the machine will mean "energy consumption problems will virtually disappear" for data centers.

Forensic science is biased and inaccurate, but juries believe it and convict the innocent.

slate.com

by Mark Joseph Stern

June 11, 2014

Why juries hear-and trust-so much biased, unreliable, inaccurate evidence.

Nine days before death row inmate Earl Washington's scheduled execution, his lawyers informed the state of Virginia that it was about to murder an innocent man. Forensic analysis of semen introduced at trial had convinced the jury that Washington, whose mental abilities matched those of a 10-year-old, had brutally raped and murdered a young woman in 1982. Washington's lawyers uncovered evidence that the analysis was faulty. The state halted the impending execution, and following a gubernatorial pardon, Washington was released from prison in 2001. He had been there for 17 years. How could forensic evidence, widely seen as factual and unbiased, nearly send an innocent person to his death? The answer is profoundly disturbing-and suggests that for every Earl Washington freed, untold more are sent to their deaths.

How Amazon got a patent on white-background photography

arstechnica.com

by Charles Duan

June 10, 2014

A drama in five acts: bad laws, not bad examiners, create obvious patents.

The patent examiner sat down at her desk and pulled up the next item on her examination docket. Patent application 13/292,359. "Studio Arrangement." "Right in my area," she thought. She scanned the patent application text and flipped through the drawings. It seemed straightforward-a camera, a platform for holding an object, a couple of lamps, a backdrop. She'd seen all of this before. She typed in a few search terms, looking for the prior art that would show this invention to be old and well-known. She browsed through a few old patents. Something triggered a vague memory of an old application she had examined years ago. Bits and pieces surfaced in her mind-a name here, a classification number there. She knew that she could find it, and after half an hour she did.

Federal Court: Warrantless Cell Phone Tracking Is Unconstitutional

benswann.com

by Barry Donegan

June 10, 2014

On Wednesday, the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that police officers need a warrant before seizing cell phone tower data to track a suspect's movements.

Yesterday, the 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals made a landmark decision regarding police access to cell phone tower tracking data. The Guardian is reporting by way of the Associated Press that, while ruling on the Miami armed robbery case of Quartavious Davis, a panel of three judges from the court decided that law enforcement officers must attain a judge's warrant before seizing cell phone tower data that could be used to track a suspect's movements. The ruling however was not used to overturn Davis' conviction, as judges allowed a good faith exemption, since the ruling happened afterward, and law enforcement officers would not have been able to rely on it during the investigation. Attorneys at various levels of government have long argued that individuals surrender their privacy rights by using a cell phone provided by a third-party company. However, consumer cell phone agreements respect users' privacy in terms of the personal data stored through such services. The 11th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that warrantless cell phone tracking violates the Fourth Amendment, arguing that individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy with regard to the details of their movements from place to place.

The NSA Claims it is "Too Big to Comply" with a Court Order | Liberty Blitzkrieg

libertyblitzkrieg.com

by Michael Krieger

June 10, 2014

The fact that that the NSA is now claiming it is "Too Big to Comply" with a court order is an extremely important revelation since it further proves that the super rich and super powerful are not subject to the same laws as the rest of us.

The mega banks are "Too Big to Fail," multi-national corporations are "Too Big to Pay Taxes" and the government is just "Too Big to be Useful." The rule of law no longer exists in America (remember Jon Corzine), which in turn means there is no longer a functioning society. This may not be obvious to most people at the moment, but it will become painfully clear to everyone in time unless these trends are reversed. The specific incident I have chosen to highlight to demonstrate this point today relates to the NSA's claim that it cannot comply with a court order because it's essentially too complex and compliance will damage "national security."

Growing Backlash to Facebook's Ambient Sound Recording Feature

thenewamerican.com

by Joe Wolverton, Ii, J.D.

June 9, 2014

Seems not everybody is happy with Facebook's gift of a built-in ambient sound recorder.

An Australian news site reports that "the feature has sparked an online backlash, with users mobilising [sic] in an effort to get the social media giant to kill off the development." The petition has over half a million signatures as of press time. "Facebook just announced a new feature to its app, which will let it listen to our conversations and surroundings through our own phones' microphone. Talk about a Big Brother move," the petition reads.

Woman charged with wiretapping for filming cops wins $57,000 payout

arstechnica.com

by David Kravets

June 9, 2014

Settlement follows appeals court declaring "First Amendment" right to record.

A local New Hampshire police department agreed Thursday to pay a woman who was arrested and charged with wiretapping $57,000 to settle her civil rights lawsuit. The deal comes a week after a federal appeals court ruled that the public has a "First Amendment" right to film cops. The plaintiff in the case, Carla Gericke, was arrested on wiretapping allegations in 2010 for filming her friend being pulled over by the Weare Police Department during a late-night traffic stop. Although Gericke was never brought to trial, she sued, alleging that her arrest constituted retaliatory prosecution in breach of her constitutional rights. The department, without admitting wrongdoing, settled Thursday in a move that the woman's attorney speculated would deter future police "retaliation."

Raw Story Connects Las Vegas Shooters to Alex Jones

infowars.com

June 9, 2014

Liberal media issued retractions in previous attempt to link Jones to murder of cops

The emerging narrative in the Las Vegas shooting now includes Alex Jones. Raw Story, a liberal news blog, has placed Jones at the center of the controversy. "Jerad Miller outlined his political views, which were largely based on conspiracy theories promoted by Fox News and Alex Jones, in his social media postings, and he posted frequently about firearms and violent revolution," writes Travis Gettys. Jones and the liberty movement will now be implicated in the murder of police officers by way of insinuation. This is a repeated pattern.

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