"Nobody's life, liberty or property is safe while Congress is in session"

[unixronin]

And heeeeeeeere’s ... the VP from the RIAA!  By way of Russia Today (or so I’m told), this alleges that Obama and friends are quietly working on a new international trade treaty which will give US and foreign governments sweeping powers to search computers and other digital devices without cause or warrant, and to confiscate any copyrighted digital media found therein, including music, movies, games and software, AND (according to the report) will criminalize copyright violations (which are now civil matters).

So what, now as if it’s not bad enough we’re throwing kids in jail for lighting up a joint or tagging teenage girls for life as sex offenders for sending their boyfriends risque photos, now we’re considering throwing them in jail for having an MP3 that they can’t prove they possess legally?  Like the jails aren’t overcrowded enough already?

(Oh, wait — I forgot:  In the eyes of the RIAA, there is no such thing as a legal MP3 file, is there?)

I find a lot of ground to disagree with Stallman, but he does have a point here:  If there’s nothing to hide here, why is it being hidden?

(Pointer from danjite)

Comments

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

"We never considered the possibility there wouldn't be a cover up."

[pernishus.livejournal.com]

I would suggest that the motivation for this news clip, taken from a media outlet in essence controlled by the Russian government, was to divert attention from the recent seizure of hard drives from the "Memorial" organization in Saint Petersburg. "You guys are at least planning to do it, too"...

On the seizure, see:

http://pernishus.livejournal.com/972980.html

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Entirely possible. Governments are well practiced at diverting their citizens' attention from what they're actually doing.
The other side of the coin, of course, is that our government is so furtive, and our news media often so complicit, that it's not the least unusual to have to read foreign news media to find out what's really going on.

[smandal.livejournal.com]

A trade treaty is a state secret? That's bullshit on its face.

More here (http://www.pcworld.com/article/161234/obama_administration_says_treaty_text_is_state_secret.html).

Maybe Scott McNealy was right -- privacy is over. Time to use encryption and deniability pervasively.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

So much for the "openness" of the Obama administration, huh...?

[smandal.livejournal.com]

Yup. That was one of the few things that one could count on the new administration to deliver, but in retrospect it was a hopeful wish indeed.

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

I have seen the ACTA come up in a few places. I think NZ broke the story first. It is a pity that only industry insider consultants have the security clearance to be included in the negotiations. I wish I could say I expected more transparency from a administration including Biden.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

What gets me is the howls of outrage and fury I'm conspicuously NOT hearing from the "But Obama will be different, he promised us change!" crowd as he systematically reneges on virtually every campaign promise he made, and continues or reinstates the vast majority of Bush's policies that they were all complaining so loudly about.

[ithildae.livejournal.com]

The ACTA is just a blatant example of the revocation of rights that are accelerating under the Obama administration. I wish I could say McCain would have been better.