Tag Archives: rights

Live in PA? Stop Phone Spam NOW!

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State debuts its ‘do-not-call’ list
The aim is to provide protection from those pesky telemarketers

Linda Och of Knoxville was thrilled yesterday to put her name on the new statewide “do not call” list. It means that she no longer has to screen her telephone calls to avoid those annoying telemarketers. She had been getting as many as 30 calls a day. One came on Christmas Eve. She said a phone salesman lured her into a credit card scam that cost her $400. Never again. “We’re all victims of telemarketers, I think,” she said as she registered her phone number on the do-not-call list. “This is the best thing since sliced bread. I’m thrilled.”

To complement this wonderful service, we need the following:

  1. the other 49 states to follow suit
  2. a “Do Not Email” list to deter unsolicited email marketing spam
  3. a “Do Not Snail Mail” list – see above

Diversity My Foot

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It’s funny how diversity education never includes tolerance for orthodox religious views.

Bible-Reading Prison Workers Win Minnesota Lawsuit

“ST. PAUL, Minn. (Reuters) – Two prison employees reprimanded for reading their Bibles in silent protest of an employer-sponsored training session on homosexuality have been awarded $78,000 in damages by a federal jury, their attorney said on Friday. “

Save Our Stations

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!@#$% DMCA….!@#$% RIAA….

Web Radio Fights for Survival
Webcasters rally against royalty ruling they say will yank many off the Net.
Stuart J. Johnston

The 1970s classic hit “The Day the Music Died” referred to the death of rocker Buddy Holly, but for many Internet radio stations and their listeners, doomsday is October 20.

By then, tens of thousands of Webcasters must pay millions of dollars in back royalties for the songs they stream to listeners online. Already, hundreds of Webcasters are shutting down operations, complaining that the fees exceed their annual revenues. The rates, set by the Librarian of Congress and the Copyright Office, are higher than those assessed to standard broadcast radio. The music labels’ trade organization, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), is unsympathetic.

Piracy-Proof Music

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Here's a clever jab at RIAA's greedy, paranoid antics.

Music Industry Unveils New Piracy-Proof Format: A Black, Plastic Disc With Grooves On It

Music bosses have unveiled a revolutionary new recording format that they hope
will help win the war on illegal file sharing which is thought to be costing the
industry millions of dollars in lost revenue. Nicknamed the ‘Record’, the new format takes the form of a black, vinyl disc
measuring 12 inches in diameter, which must be played on a specially designed
‘turntable’.

“We can state with absolute certainty that no computer in the world can access
the data on this disc,” said spokesman Brett Campbell. “We are also confident
that no-one is going to be able to produce pirate copies in this format without
going to a heck of a lot of trouble. This is without doubt the best anti-piracy
invention the music industry has ever seen.”

Now You See It…

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…Now you don’t. I agree with the creators of this software. Thomas Jefferson said it well. (Paraphrased) Those who would give up freedom for security deserve neither.

Hackers Tackle Censorship With New Tool
By Kim Zetter

Camera/Shy encrypts messages into images, intended for political dissidents but useful for any secrets.

The steganography tool, to be released on Saturday at the H2K2 hacker convention in New York City, will let users hide encrypted text within any gif image placed on a Web page. But critics say the tool can also be used by criminals and terrorists to disguise communication or plans for illegal activity.