> I opened NewScientist, August 6-12 issue---a bored evening---only to
> find that world famous scientist, Annalee Newitz, was writing on `Why
> We All Need Pornography', under their Technology section. According
> to the leader, ``Porn fans are the driving force behind technologies
> that we might one day all rely on to protect our identity.''
>
> There is a court case in New York in which the US government argues
> that community standards of decency apply to the location of the
> surfer, which can be determined through geolocation software. The
> first court to hear the case failed to make a decision on the use of
> geolocation software to enforce community standards. The case is now
> on appeal.
>
> The basic alternative to these government efforts are a variety of
> software packages and ISP services to mask the user's IP
> address---hence the Technology lead.
>
> Annalee is footnoted as a `policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier
> Foundation'. Their web page has an interesting list of court cases on
> digital rights (http://www.eff.org/) including a few notes and
> recently released federal documents on the Indymedia servers at
> Rackspace that were closed down and seized last October.
>
>
>
> CG
>
Recieved this summation on indymedia' server seizure from the [CARR-L] list the other day:
"...the government never officially demanded the computer servers..."
Rackspace rolled over?
>
>Date: Sun, 07 Aug 2005 12:51:21 -0400
>To: elliott.s.parker at CMICH.EDU
>From: Pete Weiss <Pete-Weiss at psu.edu>
>Subject: fwd: US Government shuts down independent news: update
>
>[this is a forwarded item from the below blog ...]
>
>Description
>-----------
>Last November, we noted the story about the US Government seizing web
>servers in London (US Gov. says: "We seize servers, you can't complain").
>Now an update from the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF): Secret
>Documents About Indymedia Server Disappearance Unsealed EFF last week won
>a motion allowing it to access sealed court documents about the mysterious
>disappearance of two web servers used to host news websites for Indymedia,
>a global collective of Independent Media Centers (IMCs) and thousands of
>journalists. After six months of secret litigation, EFF obtained a copy of
>the federal court order that resulted in the October 2004 handover of
>copies of Indymedia servers to the government by Indymedia's web host.
>That handover resulted in the silencing of more than 20 news websites and
>radio feeds for nearly a week. However, the unsealed documents reveal that
>the government never officially demanded the computer servers - the
>subpoena to Rackspace only requested server log!
> files
>. This contradicts previous statements by the web host that it took the
>servers offline because the government had demanded the hardware. The
>documents also contradict Rackspace's claim that it had been ordered by
>the court not to discuss publicly the government's demand. It...
>
>Source: http://gort.ucsd.edu/mtdocs/archives/laz/002613.html
>---------------------------------------------------------------------
================================= Forwarded by List Owner: Elliott Parker elliott.s.parker at cmich.edu Journalism Dept. Central Michigan University Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859 <mailto:elliott.s.parker at cmich.edu
<...>
And this from NewScientist...
NewScientist.com - NEWSFLASH
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cord blood yields 'ethical' embryonic stem cells
Hopes for treating disease with stem cells from umbilical cord blood have received a major boost, following the discovery of primitive cells with clinical potential matching that of embryonic stem cells.
Embryonic stem cells are derived from human fetuses, which are then destroyed, and have become a major ethical issue, especially in the US. But umbilical cord blood can be saved, stored and multiplied without any of these ethical dilemmas.
Furthermore, the same team is applying new microgravity technology - originally developed by NASA for the International Space Station - to make large enough quantities of the stem cells to repair tissue damage in patients.
Click on the link below for the full story on NewScientist.com: http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7864
Science and technology news and features updated daily at: http://www.newscientist.com <...>
One less "...issue" for GW and the Christian Right to flame... I mean "frame"...
Leigh www.leighm.net