Access Express | 04/25/13
U.S. gives big, secret push to private internet surveillance
Newly published documents show that the Justice Department promised to not prosecute companies for criminal violations of the Wiretap Act in exchange for cooperating with an expanded domestic surveillance program.
via cnet
Staff Picks
Google pushes back against rising removal requests
Google's semi-annual transparency report revealed a plateau in government requests for user data. For the first time, both the proportion and raw number of user accounts whose data was turned over in response to requests decreased.
via accessnow
E.U. Parliament says no to E.U. passenger name record system
The European Parliament took a stand for fundamental rights when the Civil Liberties Committee (LIBE) rejected a privacy-invasive European Commission proposal to allow the use of air travel Passenger Name Record (PNR) data.
via accessnow
Supreme Court decision leads U.S. away from global trends on accountability
The recent U.S. Supreme Court decision in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum constrains the jurisdiction of U.S. courts to hear claims regarding human rights abuses abroad and will lead US courts in the wrong direction on human rights law and standards.
via accessnow
From the Access Community
Police in Japan are asking ISPs to block Tor
The National Police Agency in Japan is apparently asking ISPs in that country to "voluntarily" block the use of Tor, the well-known and widely used system for anonymously surfing the internet.
via techdirt
Hong Kong Citizen Media Site Faces DDoS Attack From China
Hong Kong-based citizen media platform inmediahk.net was hit by a DDoS attack last week, coming mainly from China. Inmedia members believe that recent coverage of a dock workers’ strike in Hong Kong may have triggered the attack.
via globalvoicesonline
Online privacy worries increasing worldwide
Many private citizens are increasingly worried that businesses and regulators are not doing enough to protect the safety of their data online.
via informationweek
Google fined just $189,000 for 'one of the biggest' data protection violations in German history
Google has been fined €145,000 (around $189,000) for what a regulator called "one of the biggest data protection rules violations known." The fine comes after Google's Street View were found to have illegally collected data from open Wi-Fi networks.
via theverge
Will thousands of new top level domains change the internet?
We could have as many as 1,400 new general Top Level Domains (gTLDs) sometime this year. While the gTLDs may be "just code" - a set of internet protocols authorised by ICANN this development could radically change the architecture of the internet.
via aljazeera
Coalition campaign says data regulation changes would "strip citizens naked"
A coalition of consumer and digital rights groups has launched a campaign calling on the European Parliament to stop corporations from weakening regulations designed to protect online privacy.
via pcpro
Australia arrests and charges self-proclaimed LulzSec leader “Aush0k”
On Wednesday, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) arrested and charged a 24-year-old man from New South Wales who claims to be the leader of LulzSec.
via arstechnica
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