26 Jul 2010 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
BlackBerrys could be banned or monitored in the UAE after officials announced on 26 July, that they do not conform with national laws. The region’s Telecommunications Regulatory Authority said that “BlackBerry operates beyond the jurisdiction of national legislation” and warned that its misuse could cause “serious social, judicial and national security repercussions.” The Blackberry smart phone, developed by Research in Motion, was released prior to the enactment of safety emergency and national security legislation in 2007. Particular concern relates to the use of internal encrypted networks for email and instant message services, making it difficult for the authorities to track. In 2009, the government was subjected to widespread criticism after encouraging Blackberry customers to download an “upgrade”, which transpired to be surveillance software enabling officials to read and store user’s emails.
26 Jul 2010 | Uncategorized
I’ve just got back from the Frontline Club, where Julian Assange of WikiLeaks launched the whistleblowing site’s new “war diary” database.
The database is a remarkable piece of work, allowing people to track six years of the Afghan conflict in astounding detail.
But it should be approached with caution. As Assange acknowledged, the incident reports in the database come from US military sources. They are the day-to-day reports that soldiers send back. As such, they may have a distorted view.
Nonetheless, Assange did say today that he felt the database contained evidence of possible war crimes by US forces, though he was keen to point out that the Taliban did not come up “smelling of roses” from the evidence compiled.
I don’t think, as some (such as Index contributor Leah Borromeo) have claimed, this site “smashes open the doors of what journalism is all about.
But it is a different kind of information. Rather than the “big events” what we have here is the everyday drudge and cruelty of war. And presentation of information in this way, Assange suggested, might force armies to behave better in the field.
26 Jul 2010 | Index Index, minipost
On Sunday (25 July) whistleblower website Wikileaks made public over 90,000 classified US military files on the war in Afghanistan, making it one of the biggest leaks in US history. The documents give a real time account of the conflict between January 2004 and December 2009 from the perspective of US personnel. Amongst other things they reveal that coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, that a secret “black” unit exists to kill or capture Taliban leaders without trial and that NATO officers fear Iranian and Pakistani intelligence are providing support for insurgents. The documents were released to the Guardian, New York Times and German magazine Der Spiegel for analysis several weeks ago and whilst Wikileaks did impose a publishing embargo until July 25, they did not influence how the news reports were formulated and did not reveal the source of the leak to the news organisations. The White House has not disputed the accuracy of the reports but “strongly condemned” the disclosure, believing that it could “threaten national security”.
23 Jul 2010 | News and features
Blogger and political activist Johanna Kaschke has had her libel case against fellow blogger’s John Gray and Alex Hilton struck out today
(more…)
