Protesters against New Zealand govt snooping ‘misinformed’ – PM
Published time: July 28, 2013 12:23
Photo from Twitter/@DarienFenton
The thousands of people who marched in protest of a new bill that would grant the New Zealand’s government sweeping spy powers, were misinformed, Prime Minister John Key has said playing down the nationwide protests.
The thousands of people who marched in protest of a new bill that would grant the New Zealand’s government sweeping spy powers, were misinformed, Prime Minister John Key has said playing down the nationwide protests.
The surveillance bill, which is expected to be passed in parliament, would allow New Zealand’s Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) free rein to listen in on citizens’ phone conversations.
Kiwis took to the streets on Saturday in 11 cities and towns in what has been dubbed as an “uphill battle” to stop the bill from going through.
Key, however, argued on Sunday that the turnout was “quite light” and insisting that those involved in the mass demonstrations were ill-informed or had a political agenda.
“At the risk of encouraging them to have more protests, I would have actually said those numbers were quite light – it wasn’t anything like what we saw for mining or anything else,” he told TVNZ’s Q&A program on Sunday.
THOUSANDS of people who took to the streets in 11 centres around New Zealand to protest against new spy agency powers are either politically aligned or misinformed, Prime Minister John Key says.
A march down Auckland’s Queen Street on Saturday attracted an estimated 2000 people, while in Wellington more than 500 people walked to parliament to protest against the spy bill.
The bill will make it legal for the foreign-focused Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB)to spy on New Zealanders on behalf of the Security Intelligence Service (SIS), police and Defence Force.
“At the risk of encouraging them to have more protests, I would have actually said those numbers were quite light – it wasn’t anything like what we saw for mining or anything else,” he told TVNZ’s Q&A programme on Sunday.
“Secondly, a lot of people that would go along would be either A, politically aligned, or B, with the greatest of respect, misinformed.”
Independent MP Peter Dunne has agreed to support the bill in exchange for changes, giving the government the one-vote majority it needs to pass.
‘Imaginary threats’ justify New Zealand spy bill – Dotcom
Published time: July 26, 2013 10:53
Edited time: July 27, 2013 08:47
Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom.(AFP Photo / Marty Melvlle)
New Zealand Prime Minister John Key is infringing on basic rights with a new spy bill, MegaUpload founder Kim Dotcom has claimed. He alleged the government is in cahoots with the NSA and justifies the legislation with an “imaginary threat.”
The internet tycoon spoke out against the new surveillance bill that would grant the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), new powers to eavesdrop on telephone conversations. He made a speech at a meeting of hundreds of academics, civil libertarians and lawyers opposing the legislation.
In a fiery critique of the proposed law, he questioned why it was necessary and how it could be justified given the violation of citizens’ rights.
“What is the imaginary threat to New Zealand that is keeping Prime Minister John Key awake at night? What is the emergency that should necessitate such a radical termination of our basic rights and grant the government more powers to spy on us?” said Dotcom in footage of the meeting on Thursday obtained by RT’s video agency Ruptly.
He went on to claim that NSA Director General Keith Alexander came to New Zealand after it came to light that the GCSB were spying on Dotcom.
“During his stay here in New Zealand he brainstormed with the GCSB what to do about the scandal. I assume that only an American general could have had the idea to push for new spy legislation granting incredible new powers to the GCSB under such circumstances,” he posited.
Dotcom accused the government of dishonesty and attempting to cover-up the surveillance of his family when the reports went public.
“What can New Zealanders expect from the GCSB when rules are broken without any penalty or consequence?”
Last January New Zealand police stormed Dotcom’s mansion in Auckland, seizing digital material and other assets. A judge later ruled that the raid was illegal. Since then Dotcom has accused the New Zealand government of collaborating with the US secret services.
Washington has issued an extradition order for German-born Dotcom on charges of racketeering, fraud, money laundering and copyright theft in connection with video-streaming site MegaUpload. Dotcom is adamant he is innocent.
Apple’s co-founder fears that freedom of information is under attack, with the internet controlled and regulated in unnecessary and harmful ways. RT talked to Steve Wozniak on a range of topics, from Wikileaks to Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom.
Kim Dotcom, the founder of the shuttered file-sharing site that housed everything from family photos to blockbuster films, on Thursday announced a new online storage service called Mega that will give users direct control – and responsibility – over their files.
Mega will launch in January 2013, just before the internet entrepreneur is scheduled to face an extradition hearing to the United States where he and other Megaupload operators face charges of online piracy, fraud and money laundering.
In a snub to U.S. prosecutors, the site will not utilize U.S.-based hosting companies as partners in order to avoid being shut down by U.S. authorities.
The U.S. government alleges that Megaupload, once one of the world’s most popular websites, was directly responsible for illegally uploaded content on the site and that it netted $175 million from unlawful activities.
“The new Mega will not be threatened by U.S. prosecutors,” Dotcom told Reuters in an interview, adding that he was confident Mega would avoid violating U.S. law.
“The new Mega avoids any dealings with U.S. hosters, U.S. domains and U.S. backbone providers and has changed the way it operates to avoid another takedown,” he said.
ENCRYPTION KEYS
Mega is the follow-up to Megaupload, which was shut down in January this year when New Zealand police helicopters swooped into the flamboyant Dotcom’s mansion outside Auckland to seize computers and other evidence at the request of U.S. authorities.
Users of the new cloud-based service will be able to upload, store and share photos, text files, music and films, encrypt those files and grant access using unique decryption keys.
“You hold the keys to what you store in the cloud, not us,” a statement on the Mega website said.
While the new site will operate faster and boast a bigger storage capacity, the encryption technology marks a major change from Megaupload as Mega operators will not have access to files and will therefore be immune to content liability.
Ensuring that files are not pirated will be the job of content owners, a major change from Megaupload, which the U.S. film industry says was directly responsible for taking down illegally uploaded content.
“Content owners can still remove infringing material and they will even get direct delete access if they agree not to make us responsible for actions of users,” Dotcom said.
Dotcom’s announcement comes just weeks after a U.S. federal judge ruled that Washington’s criminal case against Megaupload will go forward for now.
Dotcom, a German national who holds New Zealand residency, faces an extradition hearing in March even though a New Zealand court ruled that the January raid and seizure were unlawful, while the nation’s spy agency was found to have illegally spied on Dotcom.
Thursday’s announcement was delayed for about one hour after the website was overloaded by users. According to Dotcom, much of the traffic was driven by U.S. authorities.
“FBI agents pressing reload…We see their IP addresses,” he said on his Twitter feed.
(Reporting by Naomi Tajitsu; Editing by Matt Driskill)
MEGACOMEBACK: Screencap from Kim Dotcom’s preview video for a resurgent Megaupload.
A teaser page forKim Dotcom’s new file sharing site almost stalled at its launch, but anticipation is high to see the site he’s created nearly a year after the highly publicised FBI raids which saw his assets frozen and file sharing behemoth Megaupload shut down.
In a move bound to draw the ire of prosecutors in the United States, Dotcom is launching his new site – Megabox – and today unveiled a splash page called Mega.
But the launch was not without its teething problems after a surge of activity overloaded the site’s servers.
The new site was expected sometime this year, but a tweet from Kim Dotcom at 12.03 this afternoon began an hour countdown.
“Countdown on Kim.com ends in 1 hour. Expect our new Mega domain and a splash page with information.”
At 1.03 however overloading had caused the Kim.com site to shut down. Dotcom tweeted FBI agents were among those trying to get on his site at its launch.
“All FBI agents pressing reload hahaha….. We see their IP addresses. LOL!!!, ” he said.
Today’s launch will give Dotcom a good indication of his new venture’s popularity when it finally does go live.
“This must be the biggest launch of a splash page ever. It’s not even the final site yet. Just a new domain & info :)” Dotcom tweeted.
On the new Megabox site, it is understood uploaded files will be encrypted using the advanced encryption standard (AES).
Files fed through AES can only be viewed by using a supplied key. Users could then see the files content, but outside parties and more importantly, the file’s host, couldn’t.
Dotcom remains on bail at his $30 million Coatesville mansion since his arrest back in January. While his assets remain frozen, there are no restrictions to him starting any new file sharing sites or web ventures.
He has always maintained he was not aware of any illegal file sharing on his Megaupload site. The level of encryption used on Mega however, would ensure he could not be aware of any illegal activity on the new site.
Dotcom has said to media, the new encryption standard would mean the site could not be shut down in the same way Megaupload was. Megabox would be protected by virtue of ignorance, with no possible idea of what’s on its servers.
Online pundits however are predicting AES could make individual users more accountable. If a user shares licensed content online it would be far more easily tracked through the encryption standard.
Before US prosecutors shut down Mega Upload in January, it held dominance as one of the most popular online sites world wide since Dotcom started it in 2005.
Racketeering charges have now been filed against Dotcom and six of his Megaupload associates, in relation to what US authorities say was massive copyright piracy by users of his site. They are now trying to extradite him and three others from New Zealand.
Prosecutors say Dotcom pocketed tens of millions of dollars while movie makers and songwriters lost some US$500 million in copyright revenue.
The case however, has unravelled somewhat since revelations the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB) was spying on Dotcom illegally.
Questions also remain over the length of time Dotcom was being spied on, with the GCSB maintaining surveillance began in December last year but it is understood internet traffic out of Dotcom’s Coatesville mansion was being monitored as early as November.
An independent lawyer is now assisting the High Court in deciding what evidence of the spying is to be handed over to his Dotcom’s legal team.
Alright it’s Thursday, which means that it’s time to talk some tech. First, a report on the Music Industry’s global anti-piracy strategy was leaked and put up on Torrent Freak. And let’s just say it tells us a thing or two about the MegaUpload case. Then, something good actually came of out Washington DC. The Police Chief reminded officers that they actually have to respect citizens constructional rights. And can Twitter predict when people will get sick? And if so, what’s next? Global weather trends? Maybe even Armageddon? Here to give us some details on all of it and Talk Tech To Me is RT Web Producer Andrew Blake.
Hollywood film industry bosses are dismissing claims they pressured the US Government to shut down Kim Dotcom’s internet filesharing site Megaupload.
Publicly released White House logs show meetings between studio executives and US Vice President Joe Biden about six months before the January raids that saw Dotcom and three Megaupload colleagues arrested and facing the threat of extradition.
“I do know from a credible source that it was Joe Biden, the best friend of former Senator and MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) boss Chris Dodd, who ordered his former lawyer and now state attorney Neil MacBride to take Mega down,” Dotcom told the TorrentFreak website.
“It is interesting that a man by the name of Mike Ellis of MPA Asia, an extradition expert and former superintendent of the Hong Kong police, was also at a meeting with Dodd, all studio bosses and Joe Biden. The same Mike Ellis met with the Minister of Justice Simon Power in New Zealand.”
However, in a statement to technology media website Cnet, the MPAA said Megaupload wasn’t even discussed in the meeting.
“The purpose of this meeting with the vice president was to discuss his [then] upcoming trip to China last August and the importance of reaching a settlement, with the Chinese Government, of the United States World Trade Organisation complaint against China, which would increase the number of foreign films permitted into that country and provide a better share of box office revenues,” the statement said.
“The eventual agreement announced in February was a major step forward in spurring the growth of U.S. exports to China and was tremendous news for the millions of American workers and businesses whose jobs depend on the entertainment industry.”
In a High Court decision released last week, Justice Helen Winkelmann found that search warrants used in the raid on Dotcom’s $30 million Auckland mansion were invalid because they did not adequately describe the allegations against him.
Dotcom, Finn Batato, Mathias Ortmann and Bram van der Kolk were arrested after the FBI asked for help.
US officials claim the men were behind the world’s biggest criminal copyright violation through Megaupload, which carried about 4 per cent of the world’s internet traffic. The men deny the charges.
Tennessee Lawmakers Pass Resolution Blasting UN Agenda 21
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New Obama Executive Order Seizes U.S. Infrastructure and Citizens for Military Preparedness
Brandon Turbeville
BlacklistedNews.com
In a stunning move, on March 16, 2012, Barack Obama signed an Executive Order stating that the President and his specifically designated Secretaries now have the authority to commandeer all domestic U.S. resources including food and water. The EO also states that the President and his Secretaries have the authority to seize all transportation, energy, and infrastructure inside the United States as well as forcibly induct/draft American citizens into the military. The EO also contains a vague reference in regards to harnessing American citizens to fulfill “labor requirements” for the purposes of national defense.
The Vetting – Holder 1995: We Must ‘Brainwash’ People on Guns
by Joel B. Pollak
Breitbart.com has uncovered video from 1995 of then-U.S. Attorney Eric Holder announcing a public campaign to “really brainwash people into thinking about guns in a vastly different way.”
Holder was addressing the Woman’s National Democratic Club. In his remarks, broadcast by CSPAN 2, he explained that he intended to use anti-smoking campaigns as his model to “change the hearts and minds of people in Washington, DC” about guns.
Holder’s Brainwashing Against Guns Foreshadowed Operation Fast and Furious
Yesterday, Breitbart.com revealed exclusive video of then-U.S. Attorney Eric Holder speaking to the Woman’s National Democratic Club, stating that he wanted to “brainwash” people against gun ownership.
The video reveals Attorney General Holder’s early, consistent, and strident enthusiasm for gun control legislation. He wanted schools to talk about anti-gun propaganda “every day, every school, and every level.”
Operation Fast and Furious — in which Holder’s Department of Justice (DOJ) smuggled guns illegally to Mexican drug cartels — could finally have provided Holder the material for that anti-gun curriculum.
Forecasting Wilting Government and Growing Economies
Wars and Rumors of War
SYRIA: Media Accuses Syrian Government of Collaborating with Al Qaeda. How the Media Refutes its own Lies…
The latest terrorist attack in Damascus is described by the media as yet another government sponsored initiative geared towards killing Syrian civilians.
The CTV-AP report of this tragic event resulting in 27 deaths and some 140 wounded is riddled with contradictions. First it acknowledges that the target of the attacks was government buildings including Air Force Intelligence and National Security buildings in Damascus:
Two explosions rocked the Syrian capital of Damascus Saturday … The twin suicide car bombs were aimed at intelligence and security buildings in the capital. (CTV, March 17, 2012, emphasis added)
Treasury submits report showing it has frozen $21.1 billion of terror organizations’ assets in 2011, including $12 million of al-Qaeda’s, $55 million of Iran’s accounts
Narcotic task force and child services steal children from California medical marijuana patients
On the morning of September 29, 2011, around 8 AM, the Butte Interagency Narcotic Task Force (BINTF) out of Butte, California, forced their way into the home of Jayme Walsh and his wife Daisy Bram.
The officers then arrested the two parents and with the help of Child Protective Services (CPS) and the Child Services Division of Butte County, seized their children.
WAR PLAN IRAN: Dispelling the Lies, Telling the Truth about Western Aggression in the Persian Gulf
GR ONLINE NEWS READER
by Finian Cunningham and Michel Chossudovsky
The year 2012 may become known as a watershed for humanity – the year when mankind was precipitated into a global conflagration involving nuclear weapons. The signs are indeed grimly ominous as formidable military forces converge on the Persian Gulf in the long-running stand-off between the United States and Iran.
On side with the US are its European allies in NATO, primarily Britain, Washington’s Middle East client states: Israel and the Arab monarchies of the Persian Gulf – all bristling with weapons of mass destruction. Recent naval exercises by Iran in the Strait of Hormuz have also displayed a fierce arsenal of missiles and military capability, and Iran has strategic alliances with Russia and China, both of whom will not stand idly by if their Persian partner is attacked.
As we have consistently analysed on Global Research, the conflict between the US-led powers and Iran has wider ramifications. It is part and parcel of Washington’s bid to engineer the social and political upheavals across the Arab World in order to redraw the region in its strategic interests. It is no coincidence that fresh from NATO’s conquest of and regime change in Libya, the focus has quickly shifted to Syria – a key regional ally of Iran. As Michel Chossudovsky has pointed out “the road to Tehran goes through to Damascus”. Regime change in Syria would serve to isolate Iran. Subjugating Iran and returning it to Western tutelage is the prize that Washington and its allies have been seeking for the past 33 years ever since their client the Shah, Mohammad Rezā Pahlavi, was deposed by the Islamic Revolution in 1979.
5 Politicians Pushing the US Closer to a Disastrous War With Iran
President Obama may be pushing back against the “loose talk of war,” but Congress sure isn’t.
Republican candidates for president have made Iran a top issue in their attacks on President Barack Obama. While US and Israeli intelligence have concluded that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapon, Rick Santorum recently suggested that “the issue of the day come this fall” could be the existence of a “nuclear Iran,”
Global arms trade growth by a quarter is spurred by India
Fears of arms race in Asia as Stockholm peace institute data shows India is now biggest importer
The global arms trade has grown by nearly a quarter over the last four years, with new growth mainly in poorer countries and India now officially the world’s biggest importer of arms, research has revealed.
Statistics published on Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute show that demand from emerging economies – in particular India – drove the volume of worldwide arms transfers between 2007 and 2011 to a level 24% higher than in the previous four years.
The Syrian regime has pointed the finger at Saudi Arabia and Qatar, saying the Arab states were involved in the chain of weekend terror blasts in Syria’s largest cities. The Gulf nations have been accused by Assad’s government of arming whoever carried out the attacks, which left around thirty people dead and dozens injured.
Sara Marusek, a Beirut-based researcher from Syracuse University talks to RT. She says the Syrian people are falling victim to Saudi Arabi and Qatar’s brutal tactics, to push their political agenda.
Environmental
France Bans GM Corn Amid Mass US Protests against Monsanto
by Rady Ananda
Amid mass US protests against Monsanto in mid-March, France imposed a temporary moratorium on the planting of Monsanto’s genetically modified corn, MON810.
“Due to the proximity of the planting season,” said Agriculture Minister Bruno Le Maire along with Francois Fillon, Minister for Ecology and Sustainable Development, in a press release on Friday, authorities “decided to take a precautionary measure to temporarily prohibit the cultivation of maize MON810 on the national territory to protect the environment.”
RIAA chief: ISPs to start policing copyright by July 1
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Megaupload Seizure Order “Null and Void” Says High Court
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Just when it seemed that the handling of the Megaupload case couldn’t get any more controversial, a development from New Zealand has taken things to the next level.
Texas Mayor Officially Cancels Agenda 21 Membership
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One year on from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster in Japan’s northeast, details continue to emerge about how the crisis was much worse than the government and TEPCO originally let on.
Joining us to discuss the legacy of Fukushima is Helen Caldicott, a physician, author and radio host who has spoken out for decades about the deadly effects of nuclear radiation.
Midnight Climax: CIA’s MK-ULTRA LSD experiments in San Francisco
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Spies could use your TV to snoop on you, according to CIA director David Petraeus
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Don’t want to be groped by the TSA or go through a body scanner? Just pay $100!
With their thoroughly reprehensible “grope-down” procedure, not to mention reportedly strip searching multiple elderly women, harassment of elderly terminal cancer patients and the severely mentally challenged, and the potentially dangerous and ludicrously costly naked body scanners (which can be circumvented with shocking ease), the TSA has become a bit of a joke in the United States.
Not to be outdone, they have now introduced a program which allows travelers to pay $100 to take part in a program where they are able to skip the degrading, dehumanizing procedures the rest of us are subjected to every time we’re unfortunate enough to travel by plane.
The State Integrity Investigation, a partnership between the Center for Public Integrity, Global Integrity and Public Radio International to measure the risk of corruption in every state, released full state report cards today. They include letter grades, reporter comments and research details, as well as each state’s rank among all 50 states.
See How Your State Ranks
The State Integrity Investigation is an unprecedented, data-driven analysis of each state’s laws and practices that deter corruption and promote accountability and openness. Experienced journalists graded each state government on its corruption risk using 330 specific integrity indicators. The Investigation ranked every state from one to 50. Each state received a report card with letter grades in 14 categories, including campaign finance, ethics laws, lobbying regulations, and management of state pension funds.
In Person: Former Reagan aide Stockman fears another collapse
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Asian stock markets fell Monday as tough talk by President Barack Obama over Iran’s nuclear program and uncertainty over Greece’s ability to clear the next hurdle in its debt reduction plan unnerved investors.
Israel delivers ultimatum to Barack Obama on Iran’s nuclear plans
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