Right now, the US Congress is debating a law that would give them the power to censor the world’s Internet — creating a blacklist that could target YouTube, WikiLeaks and even groups like Avaaz!

To all Members of the US Congress:

As concerned global citizens, we call on you to stand for a free and open Internet and vote against both the Protect IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act. The Internet is a crucial tool for people around the world to exchange ideas and work collectively to build the world we all want. We urge you to show true global leadership and do all you can to protect this basic pillar of our democracies worldwide.

Under the new law, the US could force Internet providers to block any website on suspicion of violating copyright or trademark legislation, or even failing to sufficiently police their users’ activities. And, because so much of the Internet’s hosts and hardware are located in the US, their blacklist would clamp down on the free web for all of us.

The vote could happen any day now, but we can help stop this — champions in Congress want to preserve free speech and tell us that an international outcry would strengthen their hand. Let’s urgently raise our voices from every corner of the world and build an unprecedented global petition calling on US decision makers to reject the bill and stop Internet censorship. Sign now and then forward as widely as possible — our message will be delivered directly to key members of the US Congress ahead of the crucial vote.

Sign the petition: http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet/

Link to article: Save the Internet

Copy/pasted from http://pastebin.com/RA15ix7S

Hello thar FBI and international law authorities,

We recently stumbled across the following article with amazement and a certain amount of amusement:

http://www.npr.org/2011/07/20/138555799/fbi-arrests-alleged-anonymous-hackers

The statements made by deputy assistant FBI director Steve Chabinsky in this
article clearly seem to be directed at Anonymous and Lulz Security, and we are
happy to provide you with a response.

You state:

“We want to send a message that chaos on the Internet is unacceptable,
[even if] hackers can be believed to have social causes, it’s entirely
unacceptable to break into websites and commit unlawful acts.”

Now let us be clear here, Mr. Chabinsky, while we understand that you and
your colleagues may find breaking into websites unacceptable, let us tell
you what WE find unacceptable:

* Governments lying to their citizens and inducing fear and terror to keep
them in control by dismantling their freedom piece by piece.

* Corporations aiding and conspiring with said governments while taking
advantage at the same time by collecting billions of funds for
federal contracts we all know they can’t fulfil.

* Lobby conglomerates who only follow their agenda to push the profits
higher, while at the same time being deeply involved in governments around
the world with the only goal to infiltrate and corrupt them enough
so the status quo will never change.

These governments and corporations are our enemy. And we will continue to
fight them, with all methods we have at our disposal, and that certainly
includes breaking into their websites and exposing their lies.

We are not scared any more. Your threats to arrest us are meaningless to
us as you cannot arrest an idea. Any attempt to do so will make your
citizens more angry until they will roar in one gigantic choir. It is our
mission to help these people and there is nothing – absolutely nothing – you
can possibly to do make us stop.

“The Internet has become so important to so many people that we have to
ensure that the World Wide Web does not become the Wild Wild West.”

Let me ask you, good sir, when was the Internet not the Wild Wild West? Do
you really believe you were in control of it at any point? You were not.

That does not mean that everyone behaves like an outlaw. You see, most
people do not behave like bandits if they have no reason to. We become bandits
on the Internet because you have forced our hand. The Anonymous bitchslap rings
through your ears like hacktivism movements of the 90s. We’re back – and we’re
not going anywhere. Expect us.

Link to article: Dear government

UK media cartels are trying to set up a great firewall of Britain against copyright infringement, according to a confidential document seen by Slightly Right of Centre (SROC).

The eight-page document, entitled “The Potential for a Voluntary Code”, reveals that the Premier League, the Publishers Association, the British Phonographic Institute, the Motion Picture Association and a number of other groups have formed a coalition to lobby minister for communications Ed Vaizey for changes to the UK’s copyright enforcement policies.

The most worrying thing about the proposed changes is that they call for a web site blocking scheme that is fast enough to deal with time sensitive copyrighted material, such as live events. The problem with this is that a faster process would mean circumvention of the standard practices of law and could lead to unfair action, without the proper protocols for allowing legal defence.

Another glaring issue is the fact that the proposals were discussed with Vaizey, copyright holders and ISPs last week in a closed-door meeting, to which rights groups were refused entry. The Open Rights Group (ORG) said that it knew of the event beforehand and applied to be present, but was rejected, despite calls in the document for a consumer representative to participate.

The executive director of ORG, Jim Killock, told SROC, “This is a dangerous and ill-thought out proposal. Worse still, rights holders have tried yet again to hide their ideas away from public scrutiny, in order to sneak them forward without democratic debate. We need to take action to protect ourselves from these destructive censorship plans.”

James Firth of SROC heavily criticised the document, saying it could inadvertently target legitimate web sites that do not facilitate piracy and that the proposals are anything but voluntary, since they would effectively force ISPs to cooperate.

He also slated the document for its vague wording and its lack of detail on costs associated with the project, highlighting the £6m set-up costs for the three strikes policy from the Digital Economy Act as an example of just how expensive the pursuit of potential copyright infringers could become.

Firth even revealed that Vaizey reportedly said, “If it’s a voluntary scheme, go and do it.” In other words, stop pestering the government and get the relevant bodies to agree on things between themselves. While that might be handy for the government in washing its hands of any involvement, it’s worrying that it would want to turn a blind eye to such proposals, which are unlikely to get voluntary support.

Link to article: UK media are trying to set up a copyright firewall

How well do your friends really know you? You can never be sure unless you distribute a questionnaire testing your friends knowledge of you. “5 Facts About Me” lets you do this in a very simple way.

5 Facts About Me is a free to use website that presents your friends with 5 facts about you. Your friends need to choose whether or not those facts are true or false. You can type in your own facts after creating an account on the site or connecting your Twitter or Facebook account. You get a public URL for your facts that can be shared on online social networks. Friends can easily take the 5-facts quiz and get their score.

Their score too, can be shared on social networks letting everybody know how well they know you.

Features:

• A user-friendly web service.
• Integrates with Twitter and Facebook.
• Lets you ask your friends 5 true/false questions about you.
• Helps determine how well your friends know you.
• Similar tool: Facto, BeenAsked and ToAnswer.
• Also read related article: 6 Twitter Web Apps to Ask Questions From a Twitter Crowd.

Check out “5 Facts About Me” @ www.5factsabout.me (by MOin from ThumbPress)

Link to article: 5FactsAboutMe: Find Out How Well Your Friends Know You

Our democracy is at risk. Media-mogul Rupert Murdoch wants to extend his massive political influence by taking over BSkyB and controlling nearly half the British media! We have just 24 hours to press the government to stand up for British media and democracy and stop Rupert Murdoch.

Dear friends across the UK,

In 24 hours, nearly half our mass media could be owned by Rupert Murdoch.

For four decades he has interfered with our democracy — determining election results, bolstering politicians in exchange for influence, and smearing others who refuse his orders. But he may have finally gone too far — with just 24 hours left before the decision, the coalition is still deeply divided on Murdoch’s bid for BSkyB.

The government is deciding right now whether Murdoch can gain control of one of Britain’s largest news corporations. Let’s tip the balance against Murdoch’s attempt to tighten his grip on our media. Click to send an urgent message directly to key decision makers on the BSkyB bid and send this on to everyone — let’s flood our politicians with tens of thousands of messages telling them we want Murdoch’s hands off our democracy:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_rupert_murdoch_uk/?vl

Murdoch has used his vast media empire to push war in Iraq, elect George W Bush, and block global action on climate change, and if he wins this week in Britain he will use his networks here to undermine all the issues that we care about. He has manipulated US, British and Australian democracy for years, but now he wants more complete control. In the US, most of the likely Republican presidential candidates are actually paid employees of Murdoch! When his Fox News Network was shunned by Barack Obama as a mere propaganda mouthpiece, it spawned the far right “tea party”and broadcast constant, often hate-filled attacks against Obama and his healthcare and peace agenda — resulting in a huge win for Republicans in the 2010 congressional elections.

Murdoch media staff have trampled laws and standards when gathering news. Several News Corporation executives approved phone hacking and, when a formal investigation began, they had regular secret meetings with senior police officers who then failed to investigate the full extent of the scandal. Our government should punish such an organisation, not allow it monopoly powers over our media. But if Rupert Murdoch is allowed to buy all of BSkyB this week, he will soon own half of our newspapers and television. This should not be allowed in any democracy.

We can turn the tide on this powerful threat to our democracy. In the end the News of the World phone hacking scandal forced David Cameron’s communications director to resign. And a mass outcry from Canadian Avaaz members recently prevented a Murdoch-style TV network from getting taxpayer funding and stopped the Canadian government from removing the journalistic standards that would prevent this new network from spreading lies to the public. The fight against Murdoch has just begun, but already we’ve begun to win. Let’s do the same in Britain! Click below to send an urgent message and send this on to everyone:

http://www.avaaz.org/en/stop_rupert_murdoch_uk/?vl

The power of Avaaz and of this moment in our world’s history, is the power of unity. Across the Arab world and beyond, people are coming together in common cause across all boundaries. Murdoch’s power is the ability to divide. His networks spew fear and misinformation, dividing left from right, citizens from foreigners, muslim from western, immigrants from non-immigrants, etc. Murdoch knows that democracy must be divided before it can be conquered. This week, let’s show him what unity looks like.

With hope,

Ricken, Alex, Emma, Sam, Milena, Alice, Iain, Morgan, Maria Paz and the whole Avaaz team

Sources:

Murdoch close to deal with regulators over Sky
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a40fc482-4060-11e0-9140-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1FHWHwqJE

If Murdoch gets BSkyB, it will be a victory for monopoly capitalism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/feb/27/rupert-murdoch-bskyb-monopolies

‘News of World’ bosses dined with Met chief
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/news-of-world-bosses-dined-with-met-chief-2222814.html

Who is Rupert Murdoch?
http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2004/07/b122948.html

Support the Avaaz community! We’re entirely funded by donations and receive no money from governments or corporations. Our dedicated team ensures even the smallest contributions go a long way — donate here

Link to article: Stop Rupert Murdoch

Biocaust is an instrumental music project for various metal covers. All instruments are software-generated, as this is an attempt to learn and perfect production techniques.

Everything is available for free download in 320kb/s MP3 from http://biocaust.eternalcode.com

Example song:

Link to article: Biocaust

Security researchers are warning of the newest Facebook threat, something they’re calling “likejacking,” a Facebook-enabled clickjacking attack that tricks users into clicking links that mark the clicked site as one of your Facebook “likes.” These likes then show up on your profile and, of course, in your Facebook News Feed where your friends can see the link and click it, allowing the vicious, viral cycle to continue.

According to security firm Sophos, hundreds of thousands of users have already fallen for this new “likejacking” trick thanks to the clever and tantalizing linkbait the spammers use to entice people to click their links. For example:

"LOL This girl gets OWNED after a POLICE OFFICER reads her STATUS MESSAGE."

"The Prom Dress That Got This Girl Suspended From School."

After clicking through on a link, victims don’t get to see the promised content, but rather a blank page reading “click here to continue.” This page contains the clickjacking worm (Troj/Iframe-ET) embedded via an invisible link. Click anywhere on the page and the message is posted to your profile and News Feed, allowing the worm to further its spread.

This particular exploit is made possible by way of Facebook’s new “like button” and its associated developer code. According to the Like Button documentation, the buttons can be customized with meta data that includes things like the title of the webpage, the name of the Web site and the URL of a picture for the page. By customizing these fields, spammers and hackers can easily create links that are, in fact, malicious “likes.”

Told You So

The popularity of this particular attack vector is not surprising. Soon after the launch of the Facebook like button, we reported on its potential as a threat, noting how incredibly easy it is to create like buttons that link to anything on the web – even pages you have never visited.

It was only a matter of time before spammers and hackers started exploiting this weakness for their own purposes. (Frankly, we’re surprised it took this long.)

The problem has to do with the overly simple way Facebook has implemented the “like button” feature. Non-developers can plug a URL into a wizard that generates code which can be copied and pasted anywhere on the Web. Like buttons created this way or manually, via handwritten code, will function properly even if they point to a webpage that’s on a different domain from the page where the button is being hosted.

Kyle Bragger, a Web entrepreneur who just launched Forrst, an online community for developers and designers, warned Facebook users of “like fraud” back in April by way of personal blog post. To circumvent potential likejacking attempts such as these, he created a Facebook “like” bookmarklet which safely “likes” the page you’re on, allowing you to feel secure that you’re actually liking the real thing and not some shady linkbait. (Or likebait, if you will).

If you’ve been hit with this likejacking attack, the best you can do is remove the like from your profile and delete the post from your News Feed. You might want to apologize to your friends with a Facebook status update, too.

Link to article: “Likejacking” Takes Off on Facebook

You didn’t think that just because Google started redirecting its Google.cn domain to its Hong Kong site, we were coming to a neat compromise to the big brouhaha between the search giant and China, did you? Oh no, brother, this thing is far from over.

China has now responded by whipping its state computers into a filtering frenzy, blocking and censoring out content it considers objectionable from Google’s HK-based search results. Adding to its show of strength, it’s expected the Chinese government’s influence will also result in China Mobile canceling a deal to have Google as its default search provider on mobile handsets.

We suppose it’s Google’s turn to respond now. How about offering a friendly game of badminton to settle their differences?

Link to article: China partially blocks Google search results from Hong Kong, the saga continues

The Mozilla Foundation has confirmed the existence of a critical zero-day vulnerability in its popular Firefox web-browser – but says a fix won’t arrive before the end of the month.

Posting on its official security blog, the Foundation confirmed a vulnerability which it has “determined to be critical and [which] could result in remote code execution by an attacker.”

The good news? The Foundation has already developed a fix, which is currently undergoing quality assurance testing prior to a general roll-out. The bad news? That roll-out isn’t due for at least a week, potentially leaving Firefox users vulnerable to attack.

The bug, originally discovered by security researcher Evgeny Legerov last month, was posted publicly but without the code required to carry out an attack. However, it appears that Legerov was reticent to provide detailed information to Mozilla – with ARN pointing to a now-deleted post on the researcher’s blog admitting to “ignoring e-mails” from the foundation and refusing to provide enough detail for the Foundation to reproduce the exploit.

Thankfully, the Foundation says that Legerov has now provided “sufficient details to reproduce and analyse the issue,” meaning the flaw can be fixed and the patch prepared for a planned 30th of March roll-out. Those who are itching for a fix and don’t mind running code that isn’t as well tested as a standard release are advised to grab a copy of the nightly build of Firefox 3.6.2, which contains the patch to prevent the exploit from running.

Link to article: Mozilla confirms 0-day Firefox flaw

This is a really quick blog post and it’s one which is only really going to be relevant to our readers in the UK, but it’s still something everyone should be aware of.

Basically, the UK government is in the process of passing a bill which would regulate how UK residents might be able to use the internet. It’s called the Digital Economy Bill and you don’t need to take a very close look at it to see that it’s full of problems – not least of which is the hazy language and poorly defined punishments suggested for alleged illegal downloaders within the UK.

Here’s an example. The bill proposes that if you download illegal, copyright infringing files then your internet will be cut off. How do the government know you are downloading illegal files? Because your ISP will be obligated to monitor everything you access and download, then share it with copyright holders. Clever people could probably find a way to avoid detection, but that only complicates things.

As RockPaperShotgun (who finally provoked me into writing about it) also point out, the bill is being pushed through parliament too quickly because of the impending general election. It’s hazy definitions would then allow the government to decide what constitutes filesharing exactly and to define what the responsibilities of ISPs and copyright holders would be after the bill has passed.

That’s not just silly, it’s completely wrong.

Don’t misunderstand me (and bit-tech/CustomPC). Everyone in the office is totally against copyright infringement. I work daily alongside people who are affected by game piracy and we’ve had our own content pilfered by others in the past too. I know that eventually steps must be taken to try and change the situation – but it’s important not to rush into things just because the country is in a tight spot financially and the entertainment industry is getting all huffy.

If you feel the same then there are things you can do. You can educate yourself – RPS point to this nice little summary from GameLaw and I’ll add in the official parliament website, which monitors the progress of the bill through government.

You can also petition against the bill via your local MP. There’s a quick online petition at 38Degrees that automatically finds the right person for you to nag and lets you send them a letter. That’s what I’ve done and it’s what I’d suggest you all do too – that, and let me know your thoughts in the forums, naturally.

Link to article: Act Now: The Digital Economy Bill Petition