When one hears the word "spy," one normally thinks of places like Moscow, London, and Washington rather than Rosemont, Pa. However, the controversy swirling around Rosemont's Harriton High School and the Lower Merion School District increasingly makes for bizarre reading. And even more bizarre thinking.
The school district has been accused of remote-controlled Webcam spying on its students. The student at the center of the allegations, Blake Robbins, claims the school, having produced a still photograph taken remotely by a school official, falsely accused him of selling drugs (I have embedded the video of CBS News interview with Robbins and his family).
One fact, though, has emerged that seems mystifying in the extreme.
According to the Washington Post, the school district has admitted activating students' laptop Webcams 42 times over a 14-month period. The district claims each activation was merely an attempt to locate a stolen or missing laptop.
However, district spokesman Doug Young told the Post that the documentation signed by students when they received the laptops did not make it clear the Webcams could be activated remotely.
"It's clear what was in place was insufficient, and that's unacceptable," he said.
While the school scrambles to defend itself against accusations of violating the Fourth Amendment, as well as transgressing the Electronic Communication Privacy Act, the Computer Fraud Abuse Act, the Stored Communications Act, Section 1983 of the Civil Rights Act, the Pennsylvania Wiretapping and Electronic Surveillance Act, and Pennsylvania common law, it becomes increasingly difficult to see how it will defend its actions.
It's one thing to attempt to install security procedures to protect against the loss of a laptop. It's quite another when those procedures appear to have been enacted without the knowledge of students or parents and leave the school open not only to all of the charges already leveled in the Robbins' lawsuit, but also--as in the case of a student who leaves her laptop open in the shower to listen to music--to charges of child pornography.
I might catch some flak for this one, but here I am advocating interruption as opposed to the typical discourse that I continually push for. In general, I still push for discussions that employ mutual respect, agreement and benefit however, Ive come to see a world where some of the largest players (the United States and Israel for example within this specific case, though there are a great many more players who enjoy the imposition of silence) claim to be discussing an issue under purview of the freedom of speech, but fail to award that very principle to those with deviant and/or opposing viewpoints. When the voice has been all but lost, save the chance thats been invited via a confrontation with an opposing view, a non-approved confrontation, one must take the shot. UC-Irvine students did, Rachel Corrie did, so many people have and there may come a moment where we have to too. As most people know, I refuse to literally take a shot (commit to violence), but my words, our words, may sometimes be explosive. In terms of finding it within myself, the ability to interrupt an individual or party with my particular and/or opposing view, I must rely on what skills I have readily available at the moment, I will speak up, I will promote a platform of peace, and if I have to, Ill do it when someone else expects and/or demands my silence. Perhaps someday, the discourse that I ultimately aim for will become the norm (talks built around mutually assured agreement and respect), but until that day, we must use the tools that we have, remain true to our own senses of integrity and stand up for what we believe in..
A little more info on how to support the students (thank you Rageunderground)
Israel's Ambassador to the United States, Michael Oren, at UC Irvine , February 8, 2010.
The UCI students might face suspension or expulsion. You can help by voicing your support.
Contact UCI Chancellor Michael Drake NOW to declare that it is unjust to arrest these students.
Ask to speak with Chancellor Drake or leave a message at: (949) 824 5011 and email him at: chancellor@uci.edu
Ask to speak to the Dean of Students office, who are handling the case at: (949) 824-5181 and email them at: deanstu@uci.edu
Here are some important points to bring up:
• It was unjust to arrest students for simply having the courage to stand up and speak out against a man responsible for propagating the deaths of thousands of innocent people.
• Civil disobedience has historically played an instrumental role in the civil rights movement in America that eventually ensured equality and human rights for all minorities.
• Michael Oren is a representative of a state that is condemned by more UN Human Rights Council resolutions than all other countries in the world and he should not be honored at UC Irvine.
• As concerned community members, we will not support an educational institution that threatens to punish its students with suspension and expulsion for standing up for their principles
You all know the drill, I cant be depressing all the time (at least with regard to my vids). So yesterday was the first day of the Chinese lunar new year, the year of the tiger! We thought we'd ring it in with some singing (though, this footage is from last year, the year of the cow - but it's all good).
Be prepared for a whole bunch of docu-vids! Behold the Chinese Spring Festival, a fun and wonderful adventure for sure!
"Under the Special 301 process the USTR seeks input from US copyright, trademark, and patent owners about whether policies and practices in foreign countries deny them adequate IP protection. The process has generally been used by IP holders to complain not only about lax enforcement in other countries, but also about limitations and exceptions in their laws that are beneficial to libraries, to education, to innovation, and to the public interest generally. The ability to comment in the Special 301 process is not limited to IP owners only. Any member of the public is free to file comments. If you believe in the importance of balanced copyright policies, file comments with the USTR and make your voice heard. Comments can be filed electronically via http://www.regulations.gov/ docket number USTR-2010-0003. You have to include the term '2010 Special 301 Review' in the 'Type Comment and Upload File' field. ... Deadline for filing is February 16 by 5 pm."
Weve seen where trade agreements can get us *cough* NAFTA
U.S. Congress bill threatens to crackdown on terror TV
Cari Machet, who has lived and worked as a multimedia producer throughout the Middle East, writes about a new House bill that could sanction satellite operators if they contract their services to TV stations classified as terrorist entities by Congress. She argues it may prove to be counterproductive.
Last month Congress passed H.R. 2278, which would label certain Middle Eastern satellite providers of incendiary television programming as terrorist organizations — in an effort to prevent radical anti-Americanism from hitting the airwaves.
Representative Gus Bilirakis (R-Florida) introduced the legislation that would label satellite TV channels and content providers as “Specially Designated Global Terrorists” or SDGTs.
The wording of the bill seems too broad to enact and as yet has not been pushed through the Senate.
This bill is almost a carbon copy of a bill passed by Congress in 2008, H.Res.1069, which condemned the use of television programming by Hamas to indoctrinate hatred, violence and Antisemitism.
The earlier bill mainly focused on al-Aqsa TV, the channel run by Palestinian militant organization Hamas. The bill particularly targeted children’s program Tomorrow’s Pioneers, which depicts a Bugs Bunny-like character declaring that he “will finish off the Jews and eat them.”
The station recently launched a new cartoon satirizing a Fatah soldier named Bahlul (Buffoon) and a “blood-drinking Jew.” The network also operates its own film studio where they shoot movies they call the “cinema of resistance.”
Al-Aqsa TV is currently transmitted by satellites owned by the French-based, privately owned Eutelsat and by the Saudi-based, Arab League-owned Arabsat.
The new bill mainly targets Lebanese Hezbollah’s al-Manar TV channel. The station is telecast throughout the Arab world via Arabsat and the Egyptian-based, state-owned Nilesat.
Hezbollah is a Shi’a Islamist political and paramilitary organization that provides social services and operates schools, hospitals and agricultural services for Lebanese Shiites. They hold 11 seats in the Lebanese parliament.
The United States designates Hezbollah a terrorist group, and its militant wing has been linked to several major terrorist attacks. But the E.U. has resisted the terrorist label, with some countries arguing that engagement is a better policy.
Some Lebanese object strenuously to the bill. Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri sent a letter to the U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi stating, “This bill represents bypassing the sovereign national laws of the targeted countries, among them Lebanon which is a free ‘Hyde Park’ for the Lebanese and Arab satellite ‘public opinion’ media channels.”
The passing of the bill prompted an Arab League meeting in Cairo on Jan 24th. The Arab information ministers released a statement after that meeting that censured the bill and called it “an interference in the internal affairs of Arab states who regulate their media affairs according to national legislation.”
“We insist on media freedom and reject any restrictions on it,” said Lebanese Information Minister Tareq Mitri.
During that meeting, participants discussed another proposal supported by the Egyptian and Saudi governments for the creation of a regional office to supervise Arab satellite TV stations — which might even impact the BBC Arabic (and BBC World) channels, or even the U.S.- government owned news channel Alhurra.
But the Lebanese government is against the idea of a pan-Arab media commission. Reporters Without Borders concurs: “The danger is that this super-police could be used to censor all TV stations that criticize the region’s governments. It could eventually be turned into a formidable weapon against freedom of information.”
Throughout the Mideast, mainstream American media saturates free satellite airwaves. Some is censored for content, but not always news content. There is a lack of knowledge among the bill’s supporters of the breadth and power of American culture, which blasts on radios, beams out of flat screen televisions and flashes on computers everywhere.
As President Obama said in his State of the Union speech: “Abroad, America’s greatest source of strength has always been our ideals.”
Of course the Senate is a far different body than the House. Also, the president would have to sign H.R. 2278 into law, but so far there is no comment from the White House regarding the bill.
In short, H.R. 2278 is a deeply irresponsible bill which sharply contradicts American support for media freedom and could not be implemented in the Middle East today as crafted without causing great damage. Even Arab governments who despise Hamas and Hezbollah and Qaradawi and al-Jazeera could not sign on to it…The last thing the Arab world needs right now is more state power of censorship over the media — whether the Arab League over satellite TV or the Jordanian government over the internet. Hillary Clinton just laid out a vision of an America committed to internet freedom, and that should be embraced as part of a broader commitment to free and open media. Nobody should be keen on restoring the power of authoritarian governments over one of the few zones of relative freedom which have evolved over the last decade.
- Cari Machet
Sorry if I seem angry and upset with this one. I made a video yesterday - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LzQq4h... wherein I am please by a U.S. Corporation that was no longer endorsing censorship in China via an internet search engine of its design. Today, I wake up, look at comments on that vid and see that my dear friend RageUnderground - http://www.youtube.com/user/rageunder... - has left a comment:
thanks for making this video, good on google for doing this, but i have some bad news for you that you may have missed.
As of today, congress passed a bill that lets them block videos from you that may be anti american. So from now on, a lot of videos from Al Jazeera and other middle eastern news channels are blocked from you if you live in the states.
you probably missed this news as you were in china.
feels like im in a damn Orwell movie sometimes.
peace brother.
One step forward, two steps back. Ho can we let our government demonize the actions of others we its just as guilty as the next? Instead of worrying over content, why not look at why that kind of content is being made in the first place!?! (Which will be the subject of a video Ill be having out soon).
My name is Kazuki in Japan, Yun in China, and Cloud among friends. Her's is Ling in China and Lindsay in the "States." We've been here, there and everywhere. There's so much more to learn of this world and this little old thing called "existence." But we make due with the "time" and help where we can...
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