Posted by
Nexus – 08/06/2010
Right now European institutions are deciding on legislation that would ban illegal timber, which devastates forests and enriches organized crime. But certain member states with large timber industries are blocking negotiations.
Within days, the European Union could ban illegal timber from entering the market — but powerful companies are blocking discussions.
Forests are the habitat and life source of many peoples and are essential in preventing climate change, but while there is high demand for timber, illegal logging thrives, killing species, and fuelling corruption and organized crime.
Posted by
Nexus – 18/03/2010
[via bit-tech.net]
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.
Posted by
Nexus – 04/02/2010
[via boingboing.net]
The internet chapter of the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, a secret copyright treaty whose text Obama’s administration refused to disclose due to “national security” concerns, has leaked. It’s bad. It says:
That ISPs have to proactively police copyright on user-contributed material. This means that it will be impossible to run a service like Flickr or YouTube or Blogger, since hiring enough lawyers to ensure that the mountain of material uploaded every second isn’t infringing will exceed any hope of profitability.
Posted by
Nexus – 26/01/2010
[via consumerist.com]
Craig Cunningham has made $20,000 from 18 lawsuits he’s filed against debt collectors for violating the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). In fact, it’s something a part-time job/hobby for him. To ensnare his first FDCPA-violating collector, with voice recorder running, he called back the number they left on his answering machine, and asked:
“Can you garnish my wages if I don’t pay?”
“Yes,” said the debt collection rep.
“Can you put a lien on my house?”
“Yes,” they said.
Posted by
Nexus – 12/01/2010
[via consumerist.com]
Kerri (not her real name) says she was detained last week at a Walmart in Utah, after she declined to show the receipt checker her receipt on the way out. She says a police officer blocked her from leaving, told her to show the receipt checker more respect, and then had her go back inside and let Walmart examine her bags while he wrote down the info from her drivers license.
January 9th, 2010
Hello, my name is Kerri ___. I live in Genola, Utah. I am 44 years old.
