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U.S. government develops way to evade web censorship

donal brown February 10, 2011

Using new technology, the U.S. government recently conducted tests in Chinese cities transmitting feeds from outlets currently censored by the Chinese government including Voice of America and China Weekly. Instead of sending text-only e-mails, the new technology “decompresses and decodes messages and presents the data in the form of RSS feeds, downloaded files, and applications, or in the form of a proxy server address.” -db From InformationWeek , February 7, 2011 by Elizabeth Montalbano. Full

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Former conservative talk show host sues for solitary confinement in federal prison

donal brown February 10, 2011

A former conservative radio talk show host sentenced to four years in federal prison for laundering drug money is suing the U.S. government. He claims he was put into solitary without due process, learning incidentally that he was punished for unauthorized contact with the media. While in prison, the man wrote a letter to a publication asking to write a column after his release. He also claimed the prison authorities were retaliating against him for

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Democrats challenge new FOIA oversight intended to increase transparency

donal brown February 10, 2011

To enforce transparency, Darrell Issa (R- Ca), the new chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, asked a number of government agencies to submit records of Freedom of Information Act requests over the last five years. But House Democrats said the request would take too many hours of agency time, making it even  more difficult to honor current FOIA requests. They also said that the move would chill the public’s inclination to make

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Georgia: High school administrators cite federal privacy act in censoring interview with minor

donal brown February 10, 2011

A Georgia high school principal confiscated the January issue of their school newspaper and declared the newspaper under prior review in response to a story about eligibility rules for athletes. The district spokesperson Susan Hale cited the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act, maintaining that the newspaper story contained confidential information about a minor. Hale held that the newspaper needed to get parent permission for reporting the student’s interview in which he said he was ineligible

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Two civil liberties groups file motion to challenge WikiLeaks probe

donal brown February 9, 2011

The Electronic Freedom Foundation and the American Civil Liberties Union filed a motion to challenge the Justice Department’s  attempt to obtain the Twitter records of a former WikiLeaks associate. Among others, the U.S. government is is targeting Birgitta Jonsdottir, a member of Iceland’s parliament. Jonsdottir was one of two people who helped Wikileaks prepare a classified military video published last April by the site. -db From Wired, February 8, 2011, By Kim Zetter. Full Story

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