MC Hammer, rap phenomenon and self-confessed geek, has kicked the major music labels in their over-sized pants with regard to their anti-piracy strategy. Hammer said that the labels’ decision to go after individual filesharers and ISPs has failed, because it only alienated paying customers.
An 18-year Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism Manager for the FBI has called for a Special Counsel to be appointed to investigate the allegations of FBI translator-turned-whistleblower Sibel Edmonds. John M. Cole, who now works as an intelligence contractor for the Air Force, made his comments during an audio interview released late last week with radio journalist Peter B. Collins.
He also offered a detailed insider's look at the concerns among high-level officials inside the Bureau as Edmonds' disturbing allegations began coming to light back in 2002, before they would be quashed for seven long years by the Bush Administration's unprecedented use of the so-called "State Secrets Privilege" to gag her.
Earlier last week, following the publication of a remarkable American Conservative magazine cover story interview with Edmonds --- detailing a broad bribery, blackmail, and espionage conspiracy said to have been carried out between current and former members of the U.S. Congress, high-ranking State and Defense Department officials and covert operatives from Turkey and Israel, resulting in the theft and sale of nuclear weapons technology on the foreign black market --- Cole had been quoted by the magazine confirming one of Edmonds' key allegations.
"I am fully aware of the FBI's decade-long investigation of" Marc Grossman, he said in response to the AmCon article/interview. Grossman had served as the third-highest ranking official in the Bush State Department and was alleged by Edmonds in the interview, and in a sworn, video-taped deposition a month earlier, to have been the U.S. ringleader for a massive Turkish espionage scandal reaching through the halls of power and into top-secret nuclear facilities around the country to the benefit of allies and enemies alike. Cole said that the FBI's counterintelligence probe "ultimately was buried and covered up," and that he believes it is "long past time" for an investigation of the case to "bring about accountability."
In his subsequent interview with Collins last week (audio and text excerpts posted below) Cole elaborated on those comments in much greater detail, noting that Edmonds has been "one hundred percent right on the money, on the mark" and confirming the existence of an "ongoing and detailed effort by Turkey to develop influence in the United States" through various illegal activities.
"Yes, I can confirm that," Cole told Collins, "That's true."
The FBI veteran executive also offered an insider's account of the panic that ensued inside the highest echelons of the bureau following Edmonds' first disclosure of information in 2002, recounting how an executive assistant director admitted to him at the time, just after the story first broke, "Well, all I know is that everything that Sibel is stating is true. I read her file. Everything she stated is, in fact, accurate."
Cole further describes how the concerns about Edmonds ultimately led to the Bush Administration's two-time use of the Draconian "State Secrets Privilege" in hopes of keeping her extraordinary information from becoming public. "Everybody at headquarters level at the bureau knew that what she was saying was extremely accurate."
"I know they didn't want her to go out and speak about it at all," Cole revealed, "and I know they were trying to figure out ways of keeping this whole thing quiet, because they didn't want Sibel to come out."
He also offered information which directly counters one of the criticisms of Edmonds' allegations as frequently offered by skeptics. Namely, that as a short time FBI contract translator --- even though she was tasked to review some seven years of counterintelligence wiretaps made from 1996 to 2002 --- she couldn't have had enough understanding of the full scope of the investigations to understand what was really going on.
More...An 18-year Counterintelligence and Counterterrorism Manager for the FBI has called for... more
Unlike most people might think, piracy is not necessarily a bad thing for copyright holders. In fact, German pirate-tracking outfit DigiRights Solutions shows that copyright holders can earn 150 times more money from illicit downloads than from iTunes and other legal stores.Unlike most people might think, piracy is not necessarily a bad thing for copyright... more
The Pirate Bay is going on a road trip through Europe, one they hope to end today in a former NATO bunker. After a move from Sweden to the Ukraine, The Pirate Bay has now arrived at CyberBunker, an ISP that can provide them with a facility that can resist a nuclear attack as well as electromagnetic pulse bombs.The Pirate Bay is going on a road trip through Europe, one they hope to end today in a... more
Last Friday The Pirate Bay moved to Ukraine after its Swedish bandwidth supplier was forced to stop servicing the tracker. In the new setup, traffic to TPB is routed through The Netherlands, but anti-piracy outfit BREIN has now asked ISP NForce to stop handling TPB’s traffic. As a result the site is now down for most people.Last Friday The Pirate Bay moved to Ukraine after its Swedish bandwidth supplier was... more
...a proposal that would prevent cable, wireless and telecommunications companies from blocking certain information on the Internet. A panel of industry analysts then discussed the concept called “net neutrality,” along with their ideas for improving broadband access.
...Congress tasked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with developing a national broadband plan by February 17, 2010. On September 21, FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski delivered remarks on the national broadband plan and other communications issues.
(1 Hour, 48 Minutes)
Monday, September 21, 2009
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM
Falk Auditorium
The Brookings Institution
1775 Massachusetts Ave., NW
Washington, DC...a proposal that would prevent cable, wireless and telecommunications companies from... more
Dennis Hastert, Stephen Solarz, Bob Livingston, Tom Lantos, Roy Blunt, Dan Burton and an Unnamed Congresswoman ~ All Named IN MAJOR WASHINGTON DC SCANDAL
A long tale of massive corruption that has been hidden throughout the eight years of the Bush administration is finally surfacing. After years of Federal Gag Orders issued by the Department of Justice , the Obama White House has refused to continue the coverup and has opened the doors to criminal investigation.
What has surfaced, is a scandal that like no other. Showing clearly the selling of American influence and nuclear defense secrets to the highest bidder. The names that have floated to the surface are some of the most trusted highest ranking US government officials. Starting with The Ex-Speaker of the House; Republican, Dennis Hastert, then on to Stephen Solarz, Bob Livingston, Tom Lantos, Roy Blunt, Dan Burton and an (Unnamed Congresswoman) ~ All whom were named (Under Oath) as what appears to be the largest US Scandal of all time.
More will be surfacing as Pandora's box has just begun to open...
Gérartd Angé
------------------------------ Begin Quoted Text: ------------------------------
In this first break-down article, we'll look at the answers given by Edmonds during her deposition in regard to bribery and blackmail of current and former members of the U.S. Congress, including Dennis Hastert (R-IL), Bob Livingston (R-LA), Dan Burton (R-IN), Roy Blunt (R-MO), Stephen Solarz (D-NY), Tom Lantos (D-CA, deceased) and an unnamed, currently-serving, married Democratic Congresswoman said to have been video-taped in a Lesbian affair by Turkish agents for blackmail purposes.
Though Edmonds was careful to not "discuss the intelligence gathering method by the FBI," she notes in her deposition that her claims are "Based on documented and provable, tracked files and based on...100 percent, documented facts."
In further breakdown articles, we'll look at her disclosures concerning top State and Defense Department officials including Douglas Feith, Paul Wolfowitz and, perhaps most notably, the former Deputy Undersecretary of State, Marc Grossman, the third-highest ranking official in the State Department. Also, details on the theft of nuclear weapons technology; disclosures on Valerie Plame Wilson's CIA front company Brewster-Jennings; items related to U.S. knowledge of 9/11 and al-Qaeda prior to September 11, 2001; infiltration of the FBI translation department and more.
---------------------------------------------------------
Brad Friedman: Investigative journalist, broadcaster,
BradBlog.com creator,
Commonweal Institute Fellow.
Posted: September 5, 2009 03:14 PM
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Former FBI Language Specialist Sibel Edmonds finally gets to testify under oath, after being hit with a gag order.
Bombshells Under Oath: INCLUDE: CONGRESS MEMBERS NAMED IN ESPIONAGE, BRIBERY, SEXUAL BLACKMAIL SCHEMES; NEW BREWSTER JENNINGS / VALERIE PLAME DISCLOSURE...
Long gagged under the "state secrets" privilege by the Bush Administration, the Obama Administration's DoJ chose not to re-invoke privilege, paving the way for this information to finally make its way on to the unclassified public record.
An opensource BitTorrent tracker may be able to increase download speeds while reducing the strain on ISP networks. The new tracker will gather location data from various clients and direct each client to download from peers who are geographically close. This promises to reduce the strain on ISP networks, reducing their incentive to do away with BitTorrent.An opensource BitTorrent tracker may be able to increase download speeds while... more
Former FBI Language Specialist Sibel Edmonds finally gets to testify under oath, after being hit with a gag order. Bombshells Under Oath: INCLUDE: CONGRESS MEMBERS NAMED IN ESPIONAGE, BRIBERY, SEXUAL BLACKMAIL SCHEMES; NEW BREWSTER JENNINGS / VALERIE PLAME DISCLOSURE...
Long gagged under the "state secrets" privilege by the Bush Administration, the Obama Administration's DoJ chose not to re-invoke privilege, paving the way for this information to finally make its way on to the unclassified public record.
WHEN CORPORATIONS FOREIGN GOVERNMENTS CAN USE OUR COURTS AS A TOOL TO SUBVERT THE FABRIC OF OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS THAT PROTECT ALL CITIZENS. THEN... WE ALL LOSE.
IN A SURPRISE TWIST: Our Trial Judge was quickly switched from The Honorable Barbara Miller to: Judge John M. True III.
OUR FIRST HEARING BEFORE JUDGE JOHN M. TRUE III ~ We were Denied our Constitutional Right to equal justice under the law.
" I was ordered by Judge True to represent our corporate case in trial." " I told Judge True NO! That I couldn't do that because I am not an attorney and, I wasn't qualified and, that we already had an Attorney." Judge True III replied: [quote] "That if I SAID THAT YOU would have to represent yourself - Then... that's exactly what you will have to do!... So, Deal With It-!!!!" . [end quote].
By doing that Judge John M. True III first denied us our Constitutional Right to equal justice under the law and then soon after Judge John M. True III... denied our Second Constitutional Right... The Right to a Trial.
On August 04, 2009, Judge John M. True III on behalf of Gap International, a TurkishAmerican company based in Pennsylvania, with self-claimed
[ Deep Government Connections] dismissed our case against the Defendants,
After six years, a series of quick odd rulings a surprise hearing without our attorney present. Fabricated Phony charges of missing "Assignment of Claims" documents that were in fact... never missing at all.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iSvlwg3F6q0
Former FBI Language Specialist Sibel... more
This month Ireland’s largest ISP will assist with an anti-piracy campaign against its own customers. After making a deal with IRMA, Ireland’s answer to the RIAA, Eircom will first warn alleged copyright infringers before ultimately disconnecting them. Now, in what appears to be a leaked document, the entire groundbreaking deal is outlined.This month Ireland’s largest ISP will assist with an anti-piracy campaign against... more
Today more than ten major movie companies issued a subpoena to the Stockholm District Court demanding it put an end to the activities of The Pirate Bay. The companies, including Disney, Universal, Warner, Columbia, Sony, NBC and Paramount also want the court to force the site’s ISP to shut down the site.Today more than ten major movie companies issued a subpoena to the Stockholm District... more
As we keep hearing more and more the music and movie industries have cut back on suing individuals for file sharing and instead started putting pressure on ISPs to do the work for them.As we keep hearing more and more the music and movie industries have cut back on suing... more
"Eric Massa, a congressman representing a district in western New York, has a bill ready that would start treating Internet providers like a utility and stop the use of caps. Nearby locales have been used as test beds for the new caps, so this may have made the constituents raise the issue with their representative.""Eric Massa, a congressman representing a district in western New York, has a bill... more
"The NY Times has a piece about work being done by Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) and others to curb NSA efforts to read email and Internet traffic. Here's an excerpt: 'Since April, when it was disclosed that the intercepts of some private communications of Americans went beyond legal limits in late 2008 and early 2009, several Congressional committees have been investigating. Those inquiries have led to concerns in Congress about the agency's ability to collect and read domestic e-mail messages of Americans on a widespread basis, officials said. Supporting that conclusion is the account of a former NSA analyst who, in a series of interviews, described being trained in 2005 for a program in which the agency routinely examined large volumes of Americans' e-mail messages without court warrants. Two intelligence officials confirmed that the program was still in operation.'""The NY Times has a piece about work being done by Congressman Rush Holt (D-NJ) and... more
"This week, the two big political parties ruling Germany in a coalition held the final talks on their proposed Internet censorship scheme. DNS queries for sites on a list will be given fake answers that lead to a page with a stop sign. The list itself is maintained by the German federal police (Bundeskriminalamt). A protest movement has formed over the course of the last several months, and over 130K citizens have signed a petition protesting the law. Despite this, and despite criticism from all sides, the two parties sped up the process for the law to be signed on Thursday, June 18, 2009.""This week, the two big political parties ruling Germany in a coalition held the final... more
"The UK's Virgin Media could start suspending persistent file sharers on a temporary basis, using information provided to it by Universal Music. The ISP announced on Monday that it would, before Christmas, launch an all-you-can-eat music download service for its users, based on a monthly subscription fee. The tracks will all be DRM-free. 'In parallel, the two companies will be working together to protect Universal Music's intellectual property and drive a material reduction in the unauthorized distribution of its repertoire across Virgin Media's network,' a statement read. 'This will involve implementing a range of different strategies to educate file sharers about online piracy and to raise awareness of legal alternatives. They include, as a last resort for persistent offenders, a temporary suspension of internet access.' DTecNet has already been working with UK content companies for some time to do much the same thing, and is also working with RIAA in the United States.""The UK's Virgin Media could start suspending persistent file sharers on a temporary... more
There can be little doubt that the provision of an effective and free service for BitTorrent anonymity would prove hugely popular. Today we bring you a detailed report on BitBlinder - a brand new open source project which promises to cloak your torrents, hide your browsing and get round many obstructive filters.There can be little doubt that the provision of an effective and free service for... more
If politicians want to effect economic recovery, national competitiveness, good public health and high civic engagement, they have a duty to keep the internet free and open. But politicians around the world seem willing to sacrifice their national interest to keep a few powerful phone and telcoms companies happy.
Between filtering, fiddling connection speeds and capping usage, ISPs are pulling the rug out from under the nations that have sustained them with generous subsidies and regulation.
Between these three factors – reducing the perceived value of the net, reducing the ability of new entrants to disrupt incumbents, and penalizing those who explore new services on the net – we are at risk of scaring people away from the network, of giving competitive advantage to firms in better-regulated nations, of making it harder for people to use the net to weather disasters, to talk to their government and to each other.
Telcoms companies argue that their responsibility is to their shareholders, not the public interest, and that they are only taking the course of maximum profitability. It's not their business to ensure that the Googles of tomorrow attain liftoff from the garages in which they are born.
But telcoms firms are all recipients of invaluable public subsidy in the form of rights of way and other grants that allow them to string their wires over and under our streets and through our homes. You and I can't go spelunking in the sewers with a spool of cable to wire up our own alternative network. And if the phone companies had to negotiate for every pole, every sewer, every punch-down, every junction box, every road they get to tear up, they'd go broke. All the money in the world couldn't pay for the access they get for free every day.
If they don't like it, they don't have to do it. But we don't have to give them our sewers and streets and walls, either. Governments and regulators are in a position to demand that these recipients of public subsidy adhere to a minimum standard of public interest. If they don't like it, let them get into another line of work – give them 60 days to get their wires out of our dirt and then sell the franchise to provide network services to a competitor who will promise to give us a solid digital future in exchange for our generosity.If politicians want to effect economic recovery, national competitiveness, good public... more
President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday got his "three strikes" plan against Internet downloaders through the French National Assembly, in a surprise move, as the same legislation had failed to reach first base when introduced last month.
It's a law that prioritises the interests of the music and movie industries and disregards the rights of the ordinary Internet users. Fortunately it is also likely to be unworkable, and the European Parliament recently declared it illegal sever Internet access for a user in Europe without the approval of a court - as the French law would.
The UK has ruled out any similar legislation, preferring to take an approach involving co-operation between the entertainment industries and ISPs.President Nicolas Sarkozy on Tuesday got his "three strikes" plan against Internet... more
