Saturday, December 27, 2008

Sex is illegal on Cape Cod? Only the unnatural kind practiced in the nature preserve.

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20081226140906788

MA: Yarmouth destroys intimate surveillance photos

Friday, December 26 2008 @ 02:09 PM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews

Hundreds of pictures of people — mostly men — walking, meeting and in some instances engaging in intimate contact along nature trails in the Dennis Pond Conservation were destroyed by town officials earlier this month.

That might lead some people who frequented the area for sex to breathe a sigh of relief.

Those pictures were public information and therefore accessible to anyone who wanted to peruse them, according to some privacy experts.

Source - Cape Cod Times

[From the article:

The cameras were placed in trees last year by the town's Division of Natural Resources as part of an investigation by that office and the police into complaints about people engaging in sex in the conservation area, within view of the walking trails, said Karl vonHone, director of the Yarmouth Division of Natural Resources.

No signs were posted warning people of the surveillance.



I'm seeing more articles like this one. Isn't that a good sign?

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/security/65620.html

Ask for Too Much Information, Watch Customers Flee

By Fran Maier E-Commerce Times 12/27/08 4:00 AM PT

... According to a recent survey from JupiterResearch, sharing personal information is the No. 1 reason consumers do not complete their online purchases. Consumers are increasingly protective of their privacy, and subsequently, they are concerned about how companies handle their personal information.



For my antitrust lawyer friends...

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08%2F12%2F27%2F046235&from=rss

Comcast Facing Lawsuit Over Set-Top Box Rentals

Posted by Soulskill on Saturday December 27, @08:19AM from the fighting-the-good-fight dept.

Multichannel News reports that a woman from California has initiated a potential class-action lawsuit against Comcast for making customers rent a set-top box without giving them the option to buy it outright. Quoting:

"The action, on behalf of Comcast Corp. customer Cheryl Corralejo, alleges that the set-top rental practice represents an 'unlawful tying arrangement resulting in an impermissible restraint of trade.' In addition to violating the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, the suit alleges the practice violates business and professions codes. ... [It also notes] that premium video and the set-top descramblers are two distinct products, yet the cable providers require that the hardware be rented from cable companies, rather than permitting consumers to purchase the set-top hardware in the open market.



It's useful to see how the truly repressive regimes do it...

http://yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08%2F12%2F26%2F197212&from=rss

Vietnam Imposes New Blogging Restrictions

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Friday December 26, @04:12PM from the people-never-learn dept.

GMAW is one of many to mention that the Vietnam government has approved a new set of regulations aimed at bloggers. The new restrictions ban bloggers from discussing certain subjects that the government deems sensitive or inappropriate. Not only are the topics limited, but bloggers are being directed to only write about issues that directly impact their personal lives.

"The rules, which were approved Dec. 18, attempt to rein in Vietnam's booming blogosphere. It has become an alternative source of news for many in the communist country, where the media is state-controlled. The new rules require Internet companies that provide blogging platforms to report to the government every six months and provide information about bloggers on request."


...so you can recognize it wherever it appears.

http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=20081226111422646

Uproar in Australia over plan to block websites

Friday, December 26 2008 @ 11:14 AM EST Contributed by: PrivacyNews

A proposed Internet filter dubbed the "Great Aussie Firewall" is promising to make Australia one of the strictest Internet regulators among democratic countries.

Consumers, civil-rights activists, engineers, Internet providers and politicians from opposition parties are among the critics of a mandatory Internet filter that would block at least 1,300 websites prohibited by the government — mostly child pornography, excessive violence, instructions in crime or drug use and advocacy of terrorism.

Source - USA Today

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