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Censorship

Submission + - Pirate Party Members Kidnapped by Tunisia Police (facebook.com) 1

Submitted by juicegg
juicegg writes: Currently the government of Tunisia, a small country on the north coast of Africa, is facing intense protests against corruption, lack of freedom and unemployment. The government has responded by tightening it's censorship of the Internet and with repression against the protesters. Yesterday, three member of Tunisian Pirate Party, which is currently fighting to circumvent censorship, were arrested without a warrant and their computers were confiscated. No one, including their families, knows where they are being held and there are reasons to believe they could be tortured.

More information about Tunisian protests can be found here.
Science

Submission + - Replicability of science declining? (newyorker.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: Scientists are finding that the replicability of findings in biological and psychological experiments is, in at least some cases, in a state of decline, thus casting doubt on certain things we think we know. The New Yorker article about the decline effect suggests publication bias and selective reporting as significant contributors to this effect, coupled with sheer "randomness". No examples are given from the hard sciences.

Submission + - Love it or hate it, we must defend Wikileaks (computerworlduk.com)

Submitted by
WebMink
WebMink writes: "Whether you approve of Wikileaks or not (and the author clearly isn't a fan), the weakness it exposes in web and cloud service provision and the reaction it will provoke from legislators must concern us all. Despite the writer's distaste for Wikileaks (and The Pirate Bay) themselves, the article calls on us to defend their ability to exist against the coming onslaught of Internet-toxic legislation."
Facebook

Submission + - WikiLeaks Twitter, Facebook Accounts Next To Go? (itworld.com)

Submitted by itwbennett
itwbennett writes: Hounded by DDOS attacks and the U.S. government (well, Joe Lieberman anyway), WikiLeaks has run off to Switzerland (or at least a Swiss domain), but it's Facebook page and Twitter account stand proud ... at least for now. What kind of pressure do you suppose the Feds are putting on those sites? Will they cave? And when?

Submission + - WikiLeaks Under Denial of Service Attack (securityweek.com)

Submitted by wiredmikey
wiredmikey writes: WikiLeaks has reported that its Web site is currently under a mass distributed denial of service attack. The attack comes around the time of an expected release of classified State Department documents, which the Obama administration says will put "countless" lives at risk, threaten global counterterrorism operations and jeopardize U.S. relations with its allies.

Submission + - Writing helps women overcome sexist stereotypes 1

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: According to a new study, a brief writing exercise can help women in college physics classes improve their academic performance and reduce some of the well-documented differences between male and female science students. The writing exercise seems particularly beneficial to female students who tend to subscribe to the negative stereotype that males perform better in physics, the researchers say. Apparently, awareness of this so-called gender gap can negatively affect women's performance on their physics exams. But, this rather simple writing exercise—aimed at re-affirming an individual's core values—appears to narrow the gap and level the playing field for women who find themselves in this frequently stereotyped demographic.
Security

Submission + - Another triumph over 'terrorists' (nytimes.com)

Submitted by schodackwm
schodackwm writes: The NYTimes (firstborn required) reports Saturday "the Web addresses of a number of sites that facilitate illegal file-sharing were seized this week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, a division of the Department of Homeland Security." Seems that DHS has gotten into the anti-piracy game, perhaps at the behest of the music and movie industries.

Oops. Not even an allegedly facilitate?

Vistors to those sites are reportedly greeted with this news: “This domain name has been seized by ICE — Homeland Security Investigations, pursuant to a seizure warrant issued by a United States District Court.”

So now illegal aliens (AKA "terrorists" who are within the ambit of DHS responsibilities) are sneaking into the US via http or FP? Or is this a Customs case... no duty paid on downloads?

... or maybe they have new evidence that Al Queda or the Taliban is financing explosive underwear and plane tickets by selling pirated movies?

Now, maybe I need a tinfoil hat, but it does seem to me that DHS would do well to figure out how to handle actual security issues and to leave anti-piracy to traditional law enforcement... or civil action. And maybe those of us who have representation in Washington would do well to read more about this snippet in the NYT story:

"The new seizures also come as a new bill, the Combating Online Infringements and Counterfeits Act, is making its way through Congress. The bill, which was approved by a Senate committee last week, would allow the government to shut down sites that are “dedicated to infringing activities.”

Submission + - DHS Seizes 75+ Domain Names (torrentfreak.com) 2

Submitted by PatPending
PatPending writes: FTFA: The investigative arm of the Homeland Security Department appears to be shutting down websites that facilitate copyright infringement. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has seized dozens of domain names over the past few days, according to TorrentFreak. ICE appears to be targeting sites that help Internet users download copyrighted music, as well as sites that sell bootleg goods, such as fake designer handbags. The sites are replaced with a note from the government: "This domain named has been seized by ICE, Homeland Security Investigations."
The Internet

Submission + - UK Police to get major new powers to seize domains (thinq.co.uk) 1

Submitted by Stoobalou
Stoobalou writes: British Police forces could soon have the power to seize any domain associated with criminal activity, under new proposals published today by UK domain registrar Nominet.

At present, Nominet has no clear legal obligation to ensure that .uk domains are not used for criminal activities. That situation may soon change, if proposals from the Serious and Organised Crime Agency (SOCA) are accepted.

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