EZSPK

EU suspends ACTA ratification, refers treaty to court:

Ally Hart — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 14:55:39 +0000

The EU has suspended the ratification of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) and referred the text to the European Court of Justice to investigate possible rights breaches.

The European Commission decided on Wednesday to ask the EU’s top court “to clarify that the ACTA agreement and its implementation must be fully compatible with freedom of expression and freedom of the internet.”

The ACTA debate “must be based upon facts and not upon the misinformation or rumor that has dominated social media sites and blogs,” says EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Guch. The EU will not ratify the international treaty until the court delivers its ruling, he added.

De Guch insists the treaty will change nothing in the bloc, but help protect the creative economy.

European countries were quick to sign US- and Japan-lobbied ACTA agreement in Tokyo just a month ago. Ratification of the controversial agreement, however, is not going so smoothly.

ACTA faced fierce opposition by the Europeans, who saw it as an anti-democratic move.

People took their anger to the streets in a synchronized protest, saying it violates their rights. About 200 cities participated in an anti-ACTA march on February 11.

Kennedy Space Centre boldly goes where Nasa has never gone before: on a ‘to let’ list .

Ally Hart — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 09:56:02 +0000

Fifty years after John Glenn ushered in an era of American supremacy in space by orbiting the Earth, Nasa is fishing for tenants to rent disused facilities at its Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.

The admission by Nasa that it has hung a “for rent” sign over much of what it owns at the storied launch campus on Cape Canaveral is only the latest symbol of the vanishing of its glory days made most obvious by the mothballing of its shuttle fleet last year. Today it must beg for seats on the Russian Soyuz to put astronauts aloft. Also celebrating its 50th anniversary, the Space Centre now has only 7,500 Nasa employees, compared to the 18,000 at its peak. Facilities now being offered for rent include its 457-metre (15,000ft) runway, one of its two launch pads, the giant caterpillar crawler that was used to move the shuttles back and forth, numerous hangars and the iconic and extremely large Vehicle Assembly Building with the Nasa badge on its side.

“I have a lot of facilities that we, Nasa, no longer need,” Robert Cabana, Kennedy’s director told the Washington Post. “I don’t have the money to maintain them, I don’t have the money to tear them down.

Man drowned in shallow lake after firefighters ‘not allowed’ to rescue him:

Ally Hart — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:46:19 +0000

A man who fell into a lake drowned after firefighters called to the scene said they could not enter the water if it was higher than ankle deep for health and safety reasons, an inquest has been told.

Simon Burgess, a 41-year-old charity shop worker died at Walpole Park, in Gosport, Hampshire, on 10 March. He is believed to have had an epileptic seizure either before or after falling into the water while feeding swans.

Witnesses raised the alarm, but the hearing was told on Tuesday that members of a fire crew refused to get to him because the water was more than ankle deep. Instead, they waited for a specialist water rescue team and Burgess was only taken out of the lake 28 minutes after the alarm was raised.

Gillian Hughes, 53, told the inquest, at Portsmouth coroners court, that she had phoned emergency services and urged them to rescue Burgess when they arrived. She said: “The firemen arrived with the police, and I said: ‘He’s only been there five or 10 minutes, so if you hurry you might save him.’

“He just said: ‘We’re not allowed’, and I said: ‘But that’s your job.’

Hughes added: “I said to one of the firemen: Why don’t you go in?’ and he said they couldn’t if the water was higher than ankle deep. I said: ‘You’re having a laugh’. He said: ‘No, that’s health and safety’ – but I thought that was their job.”

She said that another fire crew arrived and started walking around the lake, putting in a pole and measuring the depth but, by this time, Burgess had drifted from one side of the lake to the other.

Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom granted bail:

Ally Hart — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:34:12 +0000

The founder of file-sharing site Megaupload has been granted bail by a New Zealand court.

Kim Dotcom, 38, has been in prison since 20 January at the request of the US authorities.

He faces charges in the US for one of the biggest copyright infringement cases in the country’s history.

The site is accused of costing copyright holders more than $500m (£320m) in lost revenue.

Flight risk

North Shore District Court Judge Nevin Dawson overturned two previous rulings that the millionaire, who is a German national, was an “extreme flight risk” because he had the money and connections to get out of the country.

The judge said the risk had diminished because all his funds were seized and no new assets or bank accounts had been uncovered.

Speaking to reporters in Auckland, Mr Dotcom said he was “relieved to go home to see my family, my three little kids and my pregnant wife”.

On 17 February Mr Dotcom was charged with three new criminal copyright counts and five new wire fraud counts.

“Brits” pic graphically shows poverty caused by pirate downloads.

Ally Hart — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 08:12:25 +0000

Stars line up in their ragged clothes clearly showing the widespread poverty caused by illegal downloads.

Pic courtecy of Daily Mail

Nipples are rude but crushed limbs are OK –

Ally Hart — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 07:54:09 +0000

Facebook’s nudity and violence guidelines are laid bare, a document leak has revealed the social network’s attitudes to sex and violence.

Facebook bans images of breastfeeding if nipples are exposed – but allows “graphic images” of animals if shown “in the context of food processing or hunting as it occurs in nature”. Equally, pictures of bodily fluids – except semen – are allowed as long as no human is included in the picture; but “deep flesh wounds” and “crushed heads, limbs” are OK (“as long as no insides are showing”), as are images of people using marijuana but not those of “drunk or unconscious” people.

The strange world of Facebook’s image and post approval system has been laid bare by a document leaked from the outsourcing company oDesk to the Gawker website, which indicates that the sometimes arbitrary nature of picture and post approval actually has a meticulous – if faintly gore-friendly and nipple-unfriendly – approach.

For the giant social network, which has 800 million users worldwide and recently set out plans for a stock market flotation which could value it at up to $100bn (£63bn), it is a glimpse of its inner workings – and odd prejudices about sex – that emphasise its American origins.

Facebook has previously faced an outcry from breastfeeding mothers over its treatment of images showing them with their babies. The issue has rumbled on, and now seems to have been embedded in its “Abuse Standards Violations”, which states that banned items include “breastfeeding photos showing other nudity, or nipple clearly exposed”. It also bans “naked private parts” including “female nipple bulges and naked butt cracks” – though “male nipples are OK”.

Strauss-Kahn ‘a suspect’ in prostitution ring inquiry:

Ally Hart — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 10:16:26 +0000

Former IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn is being questioned by French police as a suspect in a prostitution ring inquiry, a prosecutor says.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, once a front-runner for the French presidency, is being held in custody at a police station in Lille, northern France.

Police have questioned a number of prostitutes who have admitted having sex with Mr Strauss-Kahn.

He insists he did not know that the women were prostitutes.

“I challenge you to distinguish a naked prostitute from any other naked woman,” his lawyer has told French television.

An eyewitness report from Tibet says monks planning hunger strike:

Ally Hart — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 09:28:33 +0000

Phayul[Tuesday, February 21, 2012 11:17]

DHARAMSHALA, February 21: “Tibetans are disappearing,” “Tibetan living areas have been enclosed with walls and barbed wires,” “Military drill songs can be heard throughout the day,” “Armored vehicles have machine guns aimed at Tibetans,” “All Tibetans are required to carry identification at all times,” “7000 Tibetans pilgrims sent to three months of reeducation camps, lose their jobs and pension,” “Soldiers living in the rooms at the Potala Palace,” “Monks planning hunger strike.”

These are some of the startling revelations that a foreigner who recently visited Tibet has made in a report sent to Phayul.

This eyewitness account could be the last unbiased report by a foreigner on Tibet for the next couple of months, as Tibet will remain cut off from the outside world following a government decree. The duration of the ban encompasses two important national events: the Tibetan new year on February 22 and the anniversary of the Tibetan National Uprising Day on March 10.

In order to protect the identity of the friends of the writer in Tibet, the name of the author is not revealed.

Below is a slightly edited version of the report.

Report from Lhasa: February 18, 2012

I have just returned from Lhasa. Tibetans are disappearing; everyone is terrified about the bloodshed which seems inevitable.

Lhasa consists of approximately 1.2 million Han Chinese and approximately 200,000 Tibetans. The majority of these Tibetans live in an area which is now almost entirely enclosed by military compounds with walls between 10-16 feet; some with barbed wire. This isolation gives the impression of what the Warsaw Ghetto was like. Inside the “enclosed” area groups of armed soldiers, S.W.A.T. teams, and police patrol the streets 24 hours a day. Military drill songs can be heard throughout the day. S.W.A.T trucks and rows of 6 to 15 armored vehicles (tanks?) come through the area on a daily basis. Each vehicle has 3 to 4 soldiers at the opening turret, armed with assault rifles or machine guns aimed at the Tibetans.
Read More:

Britain’s ‘Mickey Mouse’ border controls let 500,000 into the country without any checks

Ally Hart — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:40:28 +0000

Report shows thousands of Eurostar passengers were let in unchecked
Millions wasted on schemes that didn’t work
Reveals immigration minister Damian Green did downgrade border checks
Wiltshire Police chief to take charge of one part of new border agency

Britain’s shambolic Border Agency has routinely dropped or downgraded major immigration controls for the past five years without ministerial approval, a devastating report revealed last night.

It found up to half a million Eurostar passengers arriving from French tourist resorts, including Disneyland Paris, were waved into Britain without facing any anti-terror checks.

The European nationals were not examined against the Home Office’s so-called Warnings Index, which contains details of terrorists and dangerous criminals who must be refused entry to keep the public safe.

Groupon Is Selling ‘VIP’ Memberships for $29.99:

Ally Hart — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:15:00 +0000

It’s hard to escape the flood of daily deal offers in pop-up ads and your e-mail in-box. You can’t swing a mouse without hitting a daily deal from Groupon, LivingSocial, or one of hundreds of other sites. Millions of consumers see these deals every day, and they don’t pay a dime unless they decide to buy the offer. So why would anyone pay $30 a year for access to such deals?

Groupon’s theory is that there are consumers who want to be treated special, who don’t want to be lumped in with the millions, and who are willing to pay for it. A new Groupon VIP service is currently being tested in a handful of markets, including Tampa, Fla., and Hampton Roads, Va. Select Groupon subscribers in these communities have received a message offering the service for free for three months. After that, it’ll cost $29.99 per year.

What do you get for the money? There are three key components to Groupon VIP membership:

• Early access to deals: VIP members can see (and buy) deals 12 hours before the non-VIP (unimportant?) masses do.
• Access to a “Deal Vault”: VIP members will be able to buy certain deals even after they’re sold out, and after the normal purchase-by date has expired.
• Easy refunds: VIP members can trade in unused daily deals for Groupon Bucks (credits for other deals) at any time, even after the deal’s use-by date has expired.
Read more: http://moneyland.time.com/2012/02/20/groupon-is-selling-vip-memberships-for-29-99/#ixzz1n0By3s97