Author Archives: James Yardley

UN Says Cutting Off Your Internet Could Breach Human Rights

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Frank La Rue, the UN Rapporteur for the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of expression, has argued that removing somebody’s internet access deprives them of a basic right.

Mr La Rue presented his report, ‘on global access of the internet as a medium for freedom of expression, to the UN Human Rights Council this week.

In his report Mr La Rue condemned certain proposed and existing government legislation. In particular he singled out the UK’s Digital Economy Act which has a provision to restrict or remove internet access from those breaking copyright laws. His report was particularly concerned with ‘a centralised on/off control over the internet. He said, removing somebody’s internet access is to deprive them of a key component for the basic human right of freedom of expression.

The report comes in the wake of the e-G8 summit in Paris where Mr Sarkozy led discussions on proposals to regulate the internet. Governments worldwide have become increasingly fearful of the power of the internet, particularly in the wake of the Arab spring.

In his opening speech Sarkozy said, ‘the world you represent is not a parallel universe where legal and moral rules and more generally all the basic rules that govern society in democratic countries do not apply.’

But many internet entrepreneurs including Google chairman Eric Schmidt warned governments against attempts at legislation arguing, ‘technology will move faster than governments’.

Sarkozy has faced severe criticism for a recent internet law (the HADOPI law) which he has pushed forward. The law (to be enforced by a new government agency) could see those suspected of illegal file sharing brought before a judge.

Could these new government agencies precipitate a major government crackdown on the internet? While Mr La Rue’s report will be welcomed by many, it will take more than UN reports to ensure the freedom of the internet.

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G8: Governments Move To Crack Down on Internet Freedoms but Zuckerberg Issues Warning

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It was the opening day of the G8 summit today and one of the main issues on the agenda will be the future of the internet. Governments will discuss how and whether it’s possible to regulate and censor the internet.

Governments have become increasingly worried. China now operates a huge firewall which blocks any internet site with an anti-government line. The power of the internet was evidenced during the Arab spring, where social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, were major factors in causing uprisings and toppling regimes.

The talks also follow the super injunction scandal and British legal crisis. Thousands defied the law and defended the right to free speech using the websites twitter, including a many celebrities such as Dom Jolly, Piers Morgan and Boy George. Even now lawyers may seek to prosecute them. The situation has government’s worried and they may try and clamp down on internet freedoms in the future. This might start with certain regulations on companies such as Twitter, Google and Facebook.

Today Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg warned against any attempt to regulate the internet. He said any interference would damage the internet’s power to spread freedom.

Google leader Eric Schmidt said any regulation wouldn’t be able to keep up with the pace of technology, ‘Technology will move faster than governments, so don’t legislate until you understand the consequences.

J’s thoughts

Whatever the outcome, it is all our duty to defend the right to free speech. The internet is the defining feature of our generation. It is wonderful in many ways and it has done a great deal of good for democracy, knowledge and dare I say peace. It has its darker sides of course but so does any product of humanity.

At some point some our governments will try and control the internet. They will twist it, manipulate it and use it as means to control us. In some cases like China it is already too late. It is all our jobs to stop this from happening.

 

Next IMF Head – Brown vs Lagarde: Why We Should Stop Feeling Sorry For Brown

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As I came home on the train today, I found the Evening Standard filled with articles questioning why Gordon Brown hasn’t been put forward by Britain to be head of the IMF. http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23952636-we-have-muffed-our-chance-to-lead-the-world.do

George Osborne has now backed the French favourite to secure the job, Christine Lagarde.

The paper’s tone suggests we should be being more patriotic. ‘The French know how to look after their own,” it says, referring to Lagarde. I’m disappointed with the paper’s view and the justification for it. Trying to raise nationalist feelings is a low blow, particularly in this time of crisis.

The Eurozone debt crisis is once again rearing its ugly head. We can’t afford such petty nationalist feelings. It is in fact very much in the UK’s interest that a European candidate takes the top job.

Lagarde is now the overwhelming favourite precisely because Europe has united behind her, putting common interest first. Other economic regions have failed to unite behind one candidate.

As the Standard itself even highlights, Brown has a host of failings.

Brown was heavily responsible for the recession (despite his continued efforts to blame world markets). It was he who oversaw the nation’s finances for over a decade as a chancellor. He who oversaw the colossal rise in government spending and it was he who failed to properly regulate the banking industry.

You can blame the global markets all you want, but countries such as Germany, Australia and Canada have coped perfectly well with the crisis. There’s no doubt Britain was not alone in its mistakes and many other countries have suffered as well, but in my mind that does not excuse Brown, who, we should also remember, inherited a budget surplus when he came to power.

When it was convenient, Brown ditched his famous, ‘golden rules’. Why? Because Brown was always a politician. He did it for political reasons. People forget his role in helping take the UK into the European Exchange Rate Mechanism. Is he partly responsible for the previous recession as well?

It’s simple really. Brown would never get the post even if Britain did back him because he has a record of failure. We should take the best and only viable European candidate we have and support her all we can.

 

Super Injunctions: People Unite to Defend Free Speech: Sunday Herald Names Accused Footballer

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The last few weeks have seen the start of the next stage in the most important battle of our lifetimes.  The battle for the free speech of the internet.  Today a well-known British journalist faced jail as the attorney general considered whether to prosecute him, after he named a British footballer on Twitter, who has allegedly had an affair. The footballer had taken out a super injunction preventing his name being published in the press.

Already governments worldwide have been clamping down on free speech. Most notably China, where the great firewall constantly watches and monitors what people can see. Anything which goes against the government line is mercilessly blocked. This article will certainly not make it through. We have also seen in Egypt how the internet was switched off when its people went against the government.

Today saw people and journalists unite against the tyrannical super injunctions which seek to silence us. The day we start locking people up for telling the truth will be the end of our democracy. Thousands of people on Twitter named or re-tweeted the footballer who took out a super injunction to prevent his name being reported in the press.

Today his efforts failed. The Sunday Herald named the footballer and its front page printed his picture with a black bar across his eyes with the words censored.

Twitter users relentlessly used their accounts to put out as much information on the footballer as they could.The Herald hit out at what it called, ‘restrictive privacy laws’. They said this was an ‘issue of freedom of information’ and they expected no legal ramifications. Have these actions left the British judicial system in crisis?

The accused footballer is already seeking to sue reality TV star Imogen Thomas (the women he is accused of having the affair with), accusing her of blackmail. The footballer is also trying to sue the Sun newspaper. How many more can he sue though?

Free speech is the life blood of democracy. Without a free press there is no democracy. It was no surprise to me that the internet was nominated for the Nobel peace prize this year. I hope it wins the award in the future.

The internet allows the world to communicate. Wars happen when we’re afraid of people and things we don’t understand. The internet prevents that.

It is the greatest tool of freedom we have and we must preserve it.

 

IMF Chief Denied Bail: Second Woman Alleges Sex Assault

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IMF chief Dominque Strauss-Kahn has been remanded in custody on charges of sexual assault. He was arrested on Saturday after being accused of trying to rape a hotel maid.

Mr Strauss-Kahn, a presidential candidate for France’s 2012 elections, denies the allegations. He has been refused bail after a New York judge ruled he posed a ‘flight risk’.

If found guilty, Mr Strauss-Kahn could face up to 20 years in prison. Just today, (16th) another woman has come forward accusing him of sexual assault. Tristane Banon accused Mr Strauss-Kahn of trying to rape her, after luring her to a Paris flat on the pretence of a job interview back in 2002. She has described him as a ‘rutting chimpanzee’.

Until his arrest, Strauss-Kahn was considered the favourite to become the socialist candidate for the French presidential race next year.

The allegations have also had a detrimental effect on the world’s financial markets. Investors are concerned about a potential Greek default. Analysts had believed that Mr Kahn would lead the IMF in helping to support and stand by Europe. This has now been thrown into question following the allegations and it weighed heavily on European markets in early trading today.

 

Console Wars: Could Apple Buy Sony?

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OK,  so it’s probably a crazy idea and there’s no hint that it will happen, but it’s well worth taking a look at what would be an incredible business deal.

The idea came to me on the back of the recent PSN hack and Microsoft’s deal for Skype. Apple is sitting with an ever-growing amount of cash on its balance sheet. That and their short-term investments now total an enormous $29 billion. That’s money which is not doing a great deal and many analysts believe it could be put to better use by acquiring other companies.  Microsoft has made its move by buying Skype. Now its Apple’s turn.

Sony is currently valued at $27.7 billion (according to Google finance and not including options). Some believed Apple might acquire Sony back in October of last year (at that time Sony’s share price was around $32, more expensive than the $27.58 it is today).

Of course, the true cost of buying Sony would be a lot more. Apple would have to take on Sony’s colossal debts but Apple could afford to do it – if it wanted to.

The Console War

We all enjoy the rivalry between Sony and Microsoft as each company pushes the other onto greater and better things. But the truth is, Sony has been struggling. Its share price has collapsed from $149 a share in 1999 to just $27.58 today. Its rival Microsoft is valued at about eight times more.

Sony may be winning this round in the battle of the consoles (although many would disagree). However, it has made a loss the last two years. How much longer can it keep pace with its rival? Is it destined to follow Sega and, dare I say, Nintendo into mediocrity? Perhaps Sony needs to be bought out before this can happen.

Is it time Apple entered the console war? No doubt some Sony fans will baulk at the idea of an Apple takeover. But imagine the expertise Apple could bring to a console. The PSN network could be integrated with iTunes and Apple TV, and Apple could bring its brilliant design expertise to the PlayStation hardware and software. There would a whole of host of synergies.

The Brand

Imagine the power of the Sony and the Apple brand combined. Imagine the iPlaystation. We have iPad, iPods, so why not an iPlayStation?. Apple was already recently rated as the most valuable brand in the world (at a staggering $153bn). Picture what the addition of Sony could bring to it.

Would it Really Benefit Us?

A question worth asking as consumers is: Do we want to have to pay for this super brand? Would it work? Or would the strength of both brands work against each other?

The best thing for us, the consumer, would be if Apple entered the console war by itself. While we’d love it to happen, Apple is probably too far behind to do this. That said, who knows? If anyone could do it, it would be Apple.

The Microsoft and Apple History

The Microsoft/Apple History has been a very complex one. There has been mutual co-operation, contract deals, law suits against and investments in each other.

In the last 10 years, Apple has really taken the fight to its brother. In the last few days, Apple finally passed Microsoft in Profit ($6 billion to $5.2 billion for the quarter), having already passed it in revenue and market cap.

The Xbox is one of the last bastions of Microsoft not under attack by Apple. If Apple bought Sony, this would no longer be the case.

Other synergies

If Apple bought Sony, it would immediately mitigate much of the damage done to the Sony brand by the PSN hack. If Apple handled it properly, they could portray themselves as a rescuer. I believe Apple could add value just by stepping in. They could also bring their security experts to help shore up Sony’s system and prevent another attack.

An increasing presence in online gaming and entertainment could help Apple to challenge the likes of Facebook.

There would be many other savings as well, in the production process, purchasing of raw materials, marketing and distribution etc.

Could it Actually Happen?

Apple is probably far too sensible to consider such a deal. Part of the reason they have done so well at the moment is precisely because they have avoided getting distracted by the console war. Both Microsoft and Sony have sunk huge resources into their consoles for relatively little gain and it has shown in terms of profits and share price. Both have struggled in recent years partly as a result of this distraction.

However, Sony has previously been sighted as a potential Apple target and it is known they are in the market for acquisitions. On paper, the deal might make sense but that fails to consider the very different corporate cultures at Sony and Apple. Ultimately, this is probably the reason the deal will never happen. Mergers as big as this one have a poor record of success. Sony’s deeply ingrained corporate culture would be hard to overturn.

 

PSN Update 4: Network Not Up Until May 31st and new Xbox 360 Counter Update

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Update 5 (PSN is now back in parts of the US but not the UK yet)

The PSN Network won’t be up until the end of the month now. Sony is planning to have the system back online by May 31st. It had hoped to have at least partial service restored by the end of this week.  Gamers will now be wondering if they will ever get back online. The network has been down for almost three weeks now and many have been forced to find other activities. The attack is now thought to be one of the biggest in history.

Businesses reliant on the Sony network have lost millions of dollars. Capcom’s senior Vice president Christian Svensson said he was ‘frustrated and upset’. Many developers have felt paralysed by the outage.

It has now been 4 days without an update from Sony. Can they hold onto their fan base with the lack of information? There is only so long fans will wait.

In a further blow to Sony, leaked information from www.product-reviews.net has confirmed that rival Microsoft is planning to update its Xbox 360 dashboard later this month. The update will come out between Thursday 19th and May 30th. It will bring in a brand new disc format, known as XGD3, with anti-piracy measures designed to increase security.

Apparently the new update will support Paypal on the Xbox marketplace to further protect users against potential online fraud.

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Conspiracy Theories: A New Religion?

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In recent times conspiracy theories have become increasingly popular. We’ve heard a torrent of theories surrounding bin Laden’s death and questions over president Obamas birth.

As our society becomes increasingly secular, people are struggling to find the meaning religion previously provided. Some people are turning to the church of celebrity, others to virtual online games and some to the world of conspiracy theories.

The rise of the internet and poor communication from our governments is also to blame.
Are any conspiracy theories true? Are they a good or a bad thing?

Well first off there are some fools out there who instantly slam anything labeled a conspiracy theory. That is certainly not my philosophy. I believe in questioning anything and everything. It is only by doubting things that we can reveal the truth. People should never blindly accept what they are told, particularly by governments, most of whom have a history of lying.

This said there has been a worrying trend for conspiracy theories to become ever more wild and extreme. It is fine to question things but what worries me is when theories are presented as facts.

Part of the problem is that conspiracy theories have now become a multi-billion dollar industry led by the likes of Alex Jones. America still remains obsessed over the JFK killings for example. Too keep the industry going, Jones and others have to keep coming up with new and increasingly wild stories. Jones’s latest is that bin Laden has been ‘literally frozen’ for years to be rolled out by the US at a later date, this despite any evidence.

Fox news host Glenn Beck has also joined in. His latest that bin Laden was captured to stop him revealing the location of an al-Qaeda nuclear bomb. Why the US government would do this is anyone’s guess, Beck didn’t offer an explanation.

If we’re not careful we get into the realm of wild speculation and this is very dangerous. Firstly the more conspiracy theories, and ‘noise’ there is, the less credibility any of them have. If there ever was or is a real conspiracy theory it would be lost in the plethora of fake ones. It has been said bin Laden was given up by Pakistan to get the US out of Afghanistan and also that he was killed as a pretext for a war in Pakistan, it certainly can’t be both.

Secondly conspiracy theories have become a religion for some. Rather than questioning and doubting things rationally people are becoming obsessed with their ideas. Instead of critically evaluating their theories they obsessively defend them, much like in many religions. This is unhealthy and damages our democracy and freedoms.

‘Studies in psychology have demonstrated, among other things, a consistent pattern of avoiding evidence that contradicts an initial hypothesis; irrepressible overconfidence in one’s own judgment’. (http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture/why-bin-laden-death-photos-wont-change-minds-30966/)

Why? For many a conspiracy theory can be a means of giving one’s life meaning. It gives people something to fight against, an evil to be stopped. Sometimes, even unconsciously, we will fight against that thing being taken away.

Keep questioning and doubting. NEVER STOP. Don’t let your own theories enslave you. Conspiracy theories should never become a religion.