The Latest from Boing Boing

Diary of a UK journalist being hassled by goons at the Bilderberg conference

Posted: 18 May 2009 02:05 AM PDT

Alan sez, "Charlie Skelton, reporting for the Guardian from outside the apparent location of this year's Bilderberg Conference [ed: s33kr1t high-powered meeting of financial leaders and politicos], has been intimidated out of the area and is still being hassled on the Athens subway - series of reports and photos of the goons, who are by turns terrifying and comically incompetent."

In comes the chief. Bossios Hoggios. "What the problem?" I tell him that I am being followed by the police, and that I would like it to stop, or be told the reason. "Why you here?" he barks. I tell him I am here for the Bilderberg conference at the Astir Palace. "Well, that is the reason! That is why! We are finished!" And he washes his hands of me, dismissing me with a gesture, striding back to his office. "Idiot," I mutter, unheard.
Back to the photograph.
"How you know he is a policeman?"
"I know that he is, I've seen him talking to your colleagues at the checkpoint."
"You are not allowed to take photos of policemen."
"So I am being followed by policemen?"
He gestures out of the window.
"Where is he now, this man you say following you? Show me him."
I'm standing in a police station. I don't know what to say. They tell me to ring the police if I see them again. To ring the police if I see the police following me.

Charlie Skelton's Bilderberg files (Thanks, Alan!)

Video explains fair use for video (video video)

Posted: 17 May 2009 10:03 PM PDT

Making a video and hoping not to get sued? Check out American University's Center for Social Media Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video, now with video explanation:

American University's Center for Social Media and AU Washington College of Law's Program on Information Justice and Intellectual Property, in collaboration with Stanford Law School's Fair Use Project, are launching a new video explaining how online video creators can make remixes, mashups, and other common online video genres with the knowledge that they are staying within copyright law.
The video, titled Remix Culture: Fair Use Is Your Friend , explains the Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video , a first of its kind document--coordinated by AU professors Pat Aufderheide and Peter Jaszi--outlining what constitutes fair use in online video. The code was released July 2008.
"This video lets people know about the code, an essential creative tool, in the natural language of online video. The code protects this emerging zone from censorship and self-censorship," said Aufderheide, director of the Center for Social Media and a professor in AU's School of Communication. "Creators, online video providers, and copyright holders will be able to know when copying is stealing and when it's legal."

Fair Use and Online Video

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for Online Video

Previously:

HOWTO Make online videos without getting sued - Boing Boing

Gigantic study of UK CCTVs find that they should be used in parking lots, scrapped elsewhere

Posted: 17 May 2009 10:00 PM PDT

The UK may have deployed 14 CCTV cameras per red blood cell, but a meta-review of 44 studies on crime and CCTV find that ubiquitous surveillance is useful in late night parking lots, and that's about it.

The authors, who include Cambridge University criminologist, David Farrington, say while their results lend support for the continued use of CCTV, schemes should be far more narrowly targeted at reducing vehicle crime in car parks.
Results from a 2007 study in Cambridge which looked at the impact of 30 cameras in the city centre showed that they had no effect on crime but led to an increase in the reporting of assault, robbery and other violent crimes to the police...
The Campbell Collaboration report says that CCTV is now the single most heavily-funded crime prevention measure operating outside the criminal justice system and its rapid growth has come with a huge price tag. It adds that £170m was spent on CCTV schemes in town and city centres, car parks and residential areas between 1999 and 2001 alone. "Over the last decade, CCTV accounted for more than threequarters of total spending on crime prevention by the British Home Office," the report says.
The Lords report said that £500 million was spent in Britain on CCTV in the decade up to 2006, money which in the past would have gone on street lighting or neighbourhood crime prevention initiatives.

CCTV schemes in city and town centres have little effect on crime, says report

NYPD directive on the legality of public photography to print and carry

Posted: 17 May 2009 09:58 PM PDT

Here's a scan of the NYPD Operations Order "Investigation of Individuals Engaged In Suspicious Photography and Video Surveillance," a document issued last month by the Department telling cops in no uncertain terms to stop hassling photographers who shoot in public places, and to get a warrant before searching a camera. Good one to print and carry in the Big Apple.

"Photography and the videotaping of public places, buildings and structures are common activities within New York City . . . and is rarely unlawful," the NYPD operations order begins.
It acknowledges that the city is a terrorist target, but since it's a prominent "tourist destination, practically all such photography will have no connection to terrorism or unlawful conduct."
The department directive -- titled "Investigation of Individuals Engaged in Suspicious Photography and Video Surveillance" -- makes it clear that cops cannot "demand to view photographs taken by a person . . . or direct them to delete or destroy images" in a camera.

Operations Order Investigation of Individuals Engaged In Suspicious Photography and Video Surveillance

SHUTTERBUGGED (Thanks, Fipi Lele!)

Throbbing Gristle poster by Dave Hunter

Posted: 17 May 2009 09:53 PM PDT

Hangar18 Wp-Content Uploads 2009 04 Dh-Tgf

Poster artist Dave Hunter (AKA Gammalyte) created this stunning concert poster for the Throbbing Gristle show in San Francisco last month. It has a wonderful '60s cartoon occult vibe to it. The seven color silkscreened print, approximately 20" x 26", is available in an edition of 250 for $50 each.
Throbbing Gristle SF poster

Previously:

Convention on Modern Liberty: final panel with me, Billy Bragg, Lisa Appignanesi, Feargal Sharkey, Paul Gilroy and Henry Porter

Posted: 17 May 2009 11:24 AM PDT

Earlier this year, I had the privilege of participating in the closing panel at the Convention on Modern Liberty with Billy Bragg, Lisa Appignanesi, Feargal Sharkey, Paul Gilroy and Henry Porter. The Convention was a whole-day event in which activists, scholars, Parliamentarians, regulators, teachers, cryptographers and others. On the closing panel, we were asked to give closing thoughts on the event -- I talked about the fact that British authoritarians have promised us security in exchange for taking away our liberty, but have not delivered; we've lost our freedom and been made less secure.

The Convention's just uploaded the videos from the event, and I really enjoyed watching it from the other side of the stage, especially Billy Bragg's talk. The last question -- "What has moved our rights forward?" -- was especially good.

Evening Plenary: Pen Session

Cory Doctorow at Convention on Modern Liberty

Final thoughts at Convention on Modern Liberty

Strange, but Never Strangers

Posted: 17 May 2009 10:12 AM PDT

Douglas Rushkoff was a guest blogger.

Thanks for having me aboard these past two weeks, engaging with me so honestly and provocatively, and for quickly scrolling past my posts if they just strayed too far from what it is you know and love about BoingBoing. The beauty of guest bloggers is that we are temporary. And no matter how combative we get in these spaces, sometimes it's good to remember we're all on the same side.

I do hope I get to meet a lot of the people I engaged with in the comments sections, here. I'll be touring - both for my Life Inc book and, more importantly, to promote ideas for DIY commerce. I really do believe the BoingBoing ethos of open source and cyberpunk (make) culture dovetail perfectly with those of complementary currencies, peer-to-peer lending, and other non-outsourced finance. And I look forward to taking what I've learned into the field and into the media.

There's two more excerpts coming up to finish the serialization on BB, too - this Monday and next.

For those of you who may want to catch up or meet up, here's where I'll be the next few weeks. You can always find out where I'm going to be via http://rushkoff.com - and I'll be on the MediaSquat via WFMU every week, as well, so call in. Please don't be strangers.

Thanks again. Your humble but happy mutant,
Douglas

Upcoming gigs:
NY: May 26th: Reading in Irvington, 8pm-9pm Chutney Masala 4 West Main Street in Irvington, NY

NY: May 31st: Comp Currency panel, 1-5PM St. Marks Church 2nd Ave & 10th St

Boston: June 2. Boston Public Library, book reading, 6pm 700 Boylston St.

NY: June 7th: Life Inc. Book Party, open to public Comfort Restaurant 583 Warburton Ave, Hasting-on-Hudson, NY 10706

SF: June 9th: Booksmith, reading and signing, 7pm - 8pm PST 1644 Haight St,

Seattle, June 10th: HL2.com, Seattle talk and signing, 7pm PST www.hl2.com/

Redmond: June 11th: Lecture at Microsoft, 10:30 am - 11:30 am PST

NY: June 16th McNally Jackson Books, book reading and signing, 7pm - 8pm 52 Prince Street,

NY: June 18th: Blue Stockings, book party and talk, 7pm 172 Allen St

NY: June 29th: Personal Democracy Forum www.personaldemocracy.com/

Guatemala: Largest Protests Yet in Assassination and Corruption Scandal, Web-televised and Twittered from Streets

Posted: 17 May 2009 12:46 PM PDT

(Photo: prensalibre.com/Hugo Navarro)

* "¡Esta revolución será tuiteada!," they're saying -- "This revolution will be tweeted." Massive demonstrations are taking place in Guatemala today, organized, amplified, and documented by social media networks -- namely, Ustream, Twitter, and Facebook.

* The independent Guatemalan online media organization Libertopolis is streaming live video of the massive pro- and anti-government demonstrations taking place in Guatemala. The Guatemalan newspaper Prensa Libre also has a live video stream (both on Ustream.tv). All of this media is in Spanish.

* Twitter is exploding with on-the-scene reports. As of ~~9am PT, some 5,000~~ 10am PT, 50,000 people gathered in the Plaza Italia area of the capital (photo/via washwash, another here.) Most of the demonstrators wore white to symbolize peace.

* Where to find on-the-scene reports via twitter: El Periodico, Noticias Guatemala, Prensa Libre. Also, follow #escandalogt. Some Guatemalan twitterers were saying last night they planned to print out "V for Vendetta" masks and wear them en masse to the demonstrations today. Organizers on Twitter urged all who planned to participate to report anomalies or rights abuses by authorities, and observe cautionary guidelines to avoid violence.

* Online reports are coming in that governors, under duress from the state, have used public funds to ship busloads of primarily poor, indigenous citizens from the interior and north of the country to participate in government-planned pro-Colom demonstrations. Twitterers on the scene say the government-organized, pro-Colom demonstrations number about 2,500 participants as of 10am PT and include a patriotic musical performance.

* Last night, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala ruled that law enforcement must not take sides in today's demonstrations, and must preserve and uphold the citizens' right to free expression. Police in the capital are on "maximum alert" today.

* President Colom: "They don't know who they're messing with."

* Update, 1230pm PT: The demonstrations ended peacefully. Organizers collected approximately 30,000 signatures on-site, demanding Guatemalan president Álvaro Colom temporarily step down so that a judicial inquiry into his alleged involvement in the assassination of attorney Rodrigo Rosenberg may proceed without interference. Many who texted updates from the streets spoke of a moment during the anti-Colom demonstration when the entire crowd spontaneously sang Guatemala's national anthem in unison. "Over 50,000 people singing the anthem was epic," tweeted one participant.

Previously:

Pirate Bay anthem for your remixing pleasure

Posted: 17 May 2009 07:54 AM PDT

Jason sez, "The Swedish artist Montt Mardié thought The Pirate Bay needed an theme song, an anthem. So he created one! We like it a lot and hope you like it too. You can download the torrent here, and watch the video as well. We also got the audio files so all you TPB fans can make your own version, your own remix! It would also be cool if you did your own version of the video and post as a video response on youtube. As Montt Mardié put it: 'To show the world, that we're all The Pirate Bay...'"

WE'RE ALL THE PIRATE BAY (Thanks, Jason!)

Montreal cop cuffs, busts and fines student $450 for not holding escalator rail in subway

Posted: 17 May 2009 07:52 AM PDT

A Montreal/Laval cop cuffed and dragged a university student away, throwing her in a holding cell and writing her a ticket for CDN$420 ...for failing to hold the handrail while she dug in her bag for her subway fare.

Bela Kosoian, a 38-year-old mother of two, says when she didn't hold the handrail Wednesday she was cuffed, dragged into a small holding cell and fined.
"It was horrible, disgusting behaviour [by police]," said Ms. Kosoian, a 38-year-old student of international law. "I did nothing wrong. They should go find the guys who stole my tires off the balcony."
Ms. Kosoian, who studies at the Université du Québec à Montreal, was riding an escalator down to catch a 5:30 p.m. subway from the suburb of Laval to an evening class downtown when she started rifling through her backpack looking for a fare.
Ms. Kosoian, who grew up in Georgia when it was still part of the Soviet Union, says she didn't catch the officer's instruction to hold the rail when he first approached.
When he told her again to hang on, she says she replied, "I don't have three hands." Besides, she had been sick and feared catching a new bug.