No career fallback with Nicolas Sarkozy, either

Summary : The latest messages about Battistelli’s regime at the EPO, which faces growing opposition from more directions than ever before

T HE EPO seems to be reaching another tipping point, where not only ILO and politicians take the side of EPO staff but a lot of the British media too ( definitely not the German media, which seems to enjoy the EPO as a local …

Summary: The backlash against Battistelli spills well outside the EPO and is now apparent even at the French National Assembly

THE EPO may not be the only casualty of the rather psychopathic (with God complex) Benoît Battistelli, the man who was somehow put in charge of the EPO only to destroy the institution Europe once took pride in.

Battistelli is certainly one for the history books; he does enormous damage not just to the EPO technically (bad patents, brain drain etc.) but also to its reputation. Moreover, he spoils the reputation of France and creates/reinforces an antipathy stigma that’s hard(er) to shake off, even though some of Battistelli’s victims are French.

Repeating what was said before by a female French politician (arguing Battistelli is “extremely damaging to the image of France”), Philip Cordery now tells the French National Assembly that Battistelli is a “disgrace to France”, according to this new article from The Register (published on a Saturday, their third article about the EPO this past week). To quote:

President of the European Patent Office (EPO) Benoit Battistelli is a disgrace to his country, the French National Assembly heard Wednesday.

“La présence du Français Benoît Battistelli à la tête de l’Office nuit aujourd’hui gravement à l’image de notre pays,” stated MP Philip Cordery in an address to the secretary of state for industry, Christophe Sirugue.

The extraordinary personal attack comes as a number of politicians, media organizations and staff unions across Europe have joined a growing chorus of criticism against the civil servant for continued attacks on his own workers.

For over a year, Battistelli has held several key members of the EPO staff union in disciplinary hearings and on restricted pay, claiming that they had been intimidating other employees. Last month, he took the momentous decision to fire the union’s former secretary, Laurent Prunier, despite an explicit resolution of the EPO’s governing Administrative Council telling him not to do so.

Comments in IP Kat (right now/this past week) aren’t much more flattering and some some of them blame more than just Battistelli; blame is put also on the Council for refusing or failing to fire Battistelli and his ilk.

To quote one comment:

You may well be right. Perhaps this is why Monsieur le President feels so secure, despite conducting himself in a manner that would land him in civil court (and perhaps also in criminal court) in any EU country.

This does beg the question: if EU leaders wanted to achieve certain goals that would currently be illegal due to some irksome EU law or other, could they set up an international organisation in order to effectively bypass those laws?

For example, in order to deal with troublesome political enemies, could one or more EU Member States set up an international organisation (with the usual privileges and immunities granted to its staff) with a name such as “Totalitarian Organisation for the Re-education of Those Undeserving of Rights in Europe” – or “TORTURE” for short? I would like to think not, but what would stop it?

If there are mechanisms that would stop the creation of a hypothetical organisation such as TORTURE, what are they? Would any of them be applicable to the EPO? If they would, is it too late to trigger them now? If not, how can they be triggered?

It is clear that the President and his cronies have taken actions that are not “strictly necessary for its [the EPO's] administrative and technical operation”. I mean, at what point could it ever be argued that it is “strictly necessary” to fire a staff representative when your governing body has explicitly told you not to? Thus, due to the limitations of immunity under Article 3 PPI, the Organisation, if not any of its individual staff, ought to be liable for suit in a national court. Such suit might raise interesting questions of the duty of the President under Article 19(2) PPI.

I do hope that there is a way out of this mess for the EPO. However, I fear that only legal action at a national court will be the answer: as what is to stop another clique of self-serving, money-grabbing, sociopathic “politicians” taking over the management of the EPO once the current President finally leaves?

In reference to the Dutch Supreme Court:

I suspect the Dutch Supreme Court Appeal might answer your question. It seems the court will find in favour of the EPO but, of course, the decision may well say a lot more about whether the EPO is morally wrong but technically safe. In doing so it should define the boundaries since that is the crux of the matter – where does immunity start. Don’t be surprised if the court is very direct and critical.

The discussion about the Dutch Supreme Court continues as follows:

Despite the AG’s opinion, I can’t see any reason to believe that it is likely that the Dutch Supreme Court will find in the EPO’s favour. This is because the AG’s opinion is so demonstrably full of holes that it is embarrassing. ILO-AT’s remit simply does not cover complaints relating to the rights at issue, and so to point to the possibility of complaining to ILO-AT is no answer to the plaintiff’s arguments.

But perhaps you know something about the Supreme Court’s decision-making process that I do not.

I would rather have expected that the government of the Netherlands (as well as all other national governments and/or heads of international organisations) would be at pains to avoid any suggestion of “political” interference in the Dutch judiciary. The independence of the judiciary is, after all, one of the cornerstones of democracy in Europe.

Eponia does not need to obey anyone though, as it even openly brags about ignoring the Dutch Supreme Court if found guilty. As one person put it:

The independence of the judiciary is, after all, one of the cornerstones of democracy in Europe.

What century are you living in ?
Certainly not the 21st century in Eponia !

What a load of quaint antiquated Montesquieuesque nonsense !

ILO’s ruling too can probably be ignored by Battistelli’s EPO and here is one comment about ILOAT, citing a PDF that we uploaded about a week ago.

One of the two decisions which had been announced for exceptional public delivery by the ILOAT is now available here:

http://techrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/ilo-3785.pdf

It doesn´t seem extraordinary, but it is, and it might have serious implications for other appellants as well: the ILOAT refused to examine the case before it on its merits, but sent it back right away to the EPO for reconsideration by an Appeals Committe “composed in accordance with the applicable rules” (!!!)
By analogy it must be expected that the numerous cases pending before the ILOAT concerning e.g. the disciplinary measures taken against staff mambers, or the contested guidelines relating to investigations, data protection, right to strike, etc … will be remitted to the EPO in the same way. It is a pity, and clear evidence that the EPO administration does not even abide to the most elementary statutory rules.

“Facts are opinions,” one person wrote. “This is what EPO communication is about now. Facts are opinions…”

EPO announcements/interviews/messages to media are also filled with lies these days. Lies have become the norm; it’s a post-truth era for the EPO.

Battistelli, a Republican, does not seem to care what’s true, much like Donald Trump with his utterly bizarre opinions on climate. Only says ago Trump’s spokesperson Scottie Nell Hughes said “there’s no such thing as facts” and she earned many headlines for that outlandish remark.

Here is the full comment about the EPO:

Facts are opinions. This is what EPO communication is about now. Facts are opinions, firing staff representatives is not what it looks like, it is based on individual circumstances, it so happens that 100% of dismissals target senior union members. And opinions are facts: really, yes, the unnamed board member hid nazi memorabilia and weapons in his office, after all who are you to disagree, I am the one controlling communication here. All of this is a matter of degrees in a scale with no beginning and no end.

So of course no definitive action need be taken by the administrative council. We are all still talking and arguing, you see. Let us put things in perspective.

From my perspective, the time for talking is long gone; communication has become corrupted and dangerous. The rule of law has become an esoteric detail standing in the way of “modernisation” and “reforms”.

Do not ever take BB and his cronies for anything other than what they are.

The authoritarian style of management championed by the likes of Putin and Battistelli does no favrour to France ahead of increasingly worrisome elections. Battistelli’s political party seems to be having issues and a reader told us that “Sarkozy got sodded at the first round! Bastardelli’s caring daddy won’t get upped!! Yuk yuk!!!”

Well, maybe he’ll stay around at the EPO even longer than his current term, or work at some capacity to fulfill his horrible UPC fantasies (he has done this for more than half a decade).

Here is one more comment:

It is a pity, and clear evidence that the EPO administration does not even abide to the most elementary statutory rules.

That is only the tip of the iceberg.

The real problem is that the AC will not demand any consequences or call those responsible for the mess to account, in particular DG5 legal services dilettantes who have created the problem with their anticipatory obedience to the forces of tyranny.

You really have to wonder whether the AC will even realise the significance of this judgement.

We won’t be quoting any more comments because many of them merely give a platform to trolls. The economics of Internet trolling are spectacular. One provocative comment is enough to cause a storm and take everything off topic. Readers of ours who also read IP Kat comments (especially over the past fortnight) will know what we mean. █

Summary: New problems for the EPO, another new example of EPO defying Parliamentary instructions and laws, and an update about the UPC, which makes progress nowhere but countries that recently received ‘gifts’ from Battistelli

THE situation at the EPO is growingly chaotic (whereas the USPTO is rather stable). It’s not because of an erratic workforce but because of an insane management style. “Fired?” one person asks about the President of the EPO today. “If the article is correct, he should be imprisoned.” Well, Battistelli won’t be imprisoned, not just because the EPO is effectively above the law but because rich and well-connected people tend to be exempted from such laws. As we noted here before, Battistelli is close to Nicolas Sarkozy, who got away with corruption and has thankfully just lost the opportunity to seize power again. Some readers wrote to us about it.

The article from which we extract this comment was published this morning and said:

Fallout from Euro Patent Office meltdown reaches Dutch parliament

The extraordinary meltdown at the European Patent Office (EPO) has started to draw political attention, with the Dutch parliament planning a debate on the organization and its ongoing problems.

Socialist member of the Netherlands Parliament, MP Sharon Gesthuizen, received strong backing to her request for the debate following the dismissal of a key EPO staff member earlier this month by EPO president Benoit Battistelli, and a majority of MPs have now supported the motion.

As a result, the Dutch government is expected to draw up a formal response about the EPO and its view on recent events.

The debate is an escalation of a long-running battle at the patent office that has seen Battistelli suspend several prominent members of its staff union, as well as a member of the Boards of Appeal, for blocking his reform efforts and for criticizing his heavy-handed efforts to force them through.

This has been known for a while and it was possibly Techrights which was first to report it about a week ago. “It’s hard to believe this is still on-going,” one person wrote. “This is well past the stage of “He might be doing the right thing”. Now, he’s taking the piss. Batelli needs fired imo.”

The thugs who run the EPO already give the EU a bad name and one commenter weighed in to point out the same old fact: “Please note that the EPO is quite separate from the EU. Different organisation, different treaties, some differences in member states.”

Does the EU/EC realise just how much damage the EPO is doing to it?

According to this new observation from Benjamin Henrion (FFII), “EPO explains how they keep granting software patents with their “further technical effect”” (link to new PDF from the EPO omitted for privacy reasons).

Indeed, based on our fast assessment, in page 22 and thereabouts the EPO makes it abundantly clear that it snubs the EU Parliament on the subject of software patents, which are supposed to be banned in Europe.

Earlier today the EPO promoted its pro-software patents event in another country where software patents are not even legal. How crooked does the EPO hope to appear worldwide? Also today the EPO pushed out there what it called “facts”. These are not “facts” but disgusting propaganda and lies from the EPO and EUIPO, as foreseen as long as a month ago and debunked repeatedly since.

As I pointed out to Henrion the other day, when the EPO says “no comment” these days it’s actually an improvement because whenever it makes a statement this year it’s almost always filled with lies. Distortion of the truth has become the norm at the EPO (management) and reports of cosmetic changes at the EPO this week overlook the fact that not many stakeholders will still pursue EPs after the current crisis (not at these prices/fees anyway).

Speaking of crookedness under Battistelli, recall what happens in Lithuania when it comes to patents and what Battistelli did in Lithuania at a very strategic time. According to this new update on the UPC (going nowhere without the UK), Lithuania is still acting like a Battistelli “yes man”:

A bill on ratification of the UPC Agreement and a bill on the establishment of a Nordic-Baltic regional division of the UPC were approved on 3 Novermber 2017. They will enter into force on 1 July 2017, according to the website of the Lithuanian IPO. Before that time, amendments to the patent law of Lithuania will have to be adopted. These have already been submitted to the parliament.

What a total waste of time. The UPC in its current form isn’t going to happen. But if one believes the lies from Battistelli and the EPO, then it looks achievable. █

YouTube version

Transcript:

Fake TV interview with the fake President of the EPO, Benoît Hernandez

I’m the President

They call me Blatter, they think that’s clever and they think that I care

Well done, idiots, but let me tell you something

I do whatever the f*** I want

One way or another I’ll get my chinchillas at the Council to do what I tell them

I got myself total immunity

It’s great, isn’t it?

Seriously

I can even punish innocent people

F*** em!

And I do it all the time, even yesterday with that French dude, you should have seen that look on his face when he packed his things

I wrote an internal announcement and said “sniper” again

Some people actually believe all this bullshit and join FFPE afterwards

Some bloody idiots

They actually believe I ride a bicycle

Like I’m some friggin’ peasant

They don’t know I’m trying to get an EPO limo

You can’t make this s*** up

I can say anything I want

I lie several times a day and the media repeats the lies

Bloody bloody stupid media, they don’t even fact-check before publishing their s***

I got them by the balls

Some of them became media partners of the EPO

See, that’s the media, that’s how it operates

Throw some money at FTI Consulting and it’s done

My nose doesn’t even grow any longer

Imagine if they checked the facts

I’d look like a crook

Even Jesper would poke fun at me

He knows me, even my salary and my contractual increases

It’s massive!

Elodie signed it all off!

Even VP4′s

We told the chinchillas he’s awesome

And law-abiding despite all that c*** in Croatia

You should have seen what he did in Croatia to his staff, one person even committed suicide

And that’s actually funny?

Yes, I killed 5 in my Office

It doesn’t get any better than this

I’ve ruined entire families

You start with a disciplinary action

And they never know what’s gonna hit them?

I tell them perception of justice and all that nonsense about appeals and ILO

Little do they know I’ll be back with Sarkozy in my mid-seventies by the time ILO touches the darn thing

I actually find it very amusing

Did I tell you about my Willy?

He told Dutch television their High Court is rubbish

You should have seen Raimund, he wanted to hug him

Reference: Yes man

Summary: Crushing of highly-skilled staff, propaganda in the form of new press releases, and recruitment attempts that won’t succeed because the world now knows what goes on inside the European Patent Office

THIS WOULD take a miracle not to happen, given everything we’ve seen so far at the European Patent Office (EPO). This would be almost unthinkable and irrational to suggest that the Administrative Council can say “no” to Battistelli. At best they say nothing and indeed that’s what just happened.

According to this new comment: “Latest news from is that the Budget & Finance Committee of the Admin Council has approved the “resettlement” of the Boards of Appeal to Haar.”

Another person told us [1, 2, 3]: “European Patent Office-BFC meeting: BoA removal/relocation to Haar – Munich Approved! Italy, Switzerland, Ireland, Netherlands, Austria, Poland, Norway, France voted against, 13 voted for and 15 abstained! It’s a shame that 15 (yeah read fifteen) countries abstained!!! BIG FAIL! Gruss an Frau Merkel, wir schaffen das!”

Again, we cannot honestly say that we’re surprised. But now it’s confirmed. The future of the boards does not look independent or even promising. Quite the contrary is true…

At the EPO, as another new comment put it today, “most of the people being fired joined long before these new rules” created by Battistelli. This means that some of the experienced and better paid workers and being let go. Here is the full comment:

1. Now you are beginning to understand the problem. To be fair most of the people being fired joined long before these new rules applied so I don’t think you can call them stupid.

2. Don’t forget that this largesse is in the hands of the President. So… Bonuses to the wonderful senior management to start. National offices will be able to find something to do with what is left over.

“Don’t forget that there’s an election campaign coming up in France,” another person added. Remember that Battistelli is Sarkozy-connected and mind this new comment from Benjamin Henrion, who today said that the “EPO is a political animal.” It really is, but it oughtn’t have been. In fact, Battistelli’s involvement in politics should have immediately disqualified him; he should never have worked at the EPO — an unaccountable institution where he pulls political tricks and brings the world of political corruption to an inherently scientific working place. The EPO, working with a secretive budget, is now pushing PRESS RELEASES (i.e. paid-for ‘articles’) into various sites across Europe in order to promote its so-called ‘study’ (self-promotional, paid-for fiction). Here is the latest example of that. Yesterday we wrote about yet another puff piece from the EUIPO and EPO [1, 2]. It smacks of marketing, it’s not a study at all (we rebutted parts of the whole). Is this intended to help recruitment, which is in a very sad state?

As one more comment put it earlier today, “only stupid people would chose to work for the EPO today.” Here is the full comment:

1: I am not saying the people already in are stupid, but that only stupid people would chose to work for the EPO today. Who is going to apply for a job under these conditions? Besides, there are plenty of “normal” employers looking for engineers in Munich, BMW for example. Don’t you think it is a much smarter move to work for BMW, which will pay your pensions and where any experience you get will be valuable in your career than for the EPO? The pay is not that different, especially if one has a few years experience, which the EPO will not take into account. The question is therefore: how can the EPO expect to recruit?

2: “largesses and election campaign”: the EPO is a public administration. That would be embezzlement. Surely, there must be some rules and controls of the finances?

Here is a new comment about the lack of supervision or oversight at the EPO, by Battistelli’s own making (he eliminated the Audit Committee shortly after he had gained/seized power):

“largesses and election campaign”: the EPO is a public administration. That would be embezzlement. Surely, there must be some rules and controls of the finances?

Dream on. The Administrative Council abolished its Audit Committee back in 2011 (about a year or so after it had been set up …).
http://techrights.org/2014/10/31/brimelow-and-battistelli/

But yes, there are “rules and controls of the finances”.
There’s even an “internal audit” department (which is mostly occupied with investigations against staff reps these days).

And just for good measure, all internal audit functions are under the control of the President …

Honi soit qui mal y pense.

The EPO is in a very bad state, even "a crisis" by the Board's private admission. Right now they do everything to just deepen this crisis. It’s painful to watch. █

Summary: Why the Boards of Appeal Committee has begun showing prominent signs that it is anything but independent and capable of standing up to Battistelli (or his circle at the Office, which includes the “Iberian Connection”)

THE closer we look at the EPO, the more we uncover political scandals. The two (EPO and EU/national politics) are inherently inseparable because politicians and bureaucrats are joining the EPO (key positions in particular). There’s plenty of politics at play and in fact, more so than ever before, some supporters and critics of the EPO do so for political reasons (gains or losses). We have been told so for a while, with examples from Belgium, France, etc. Battistelli himself, for example, is a politician who has not left his political life behind.

Editorial Notes

Today we shall look a little deeper into Iberian/Spanish politics. In part one and its addendum we wrote about one of the EPO’s Vice-Presidents — the only one who comes from Spain. In the teaser of this part we shared 13 photos which relate to today’s coverage but are not essential enough for in-line inclusion.

“García-Escudero is the current Director General of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM) and head of the Spanish delegation to the EPO’s Administrative Council.”Without further ado, here’s the next part, the one about the “Iberian connection” and the connections to Pío García-Escudero Márquez, Count of Badarán. It makes it easier to digest when separated into parts as readers tend to have limited attention spans. Some more information/photos will follow by separate post/article (addendum) as they are less crucial and more peripheral to the substance of this article. The final article, probably to be ready later this week, will be an update about the “Balkan Express” which is still chugging along despite expectations that it was about to be derailed.

García-Escudero Márquez

A previous posting referred to Patricia García-Escudero Márquez and her recent appointment to the new supervisory body of the EPO Boards of Appeal which is known as the Boards of Appeal Committee (or “BOAC”) in EPO jargon. García-Escudero is the current Director General of the Spanish Patent and Trademark Office (OEPM) and head of the Spanish delegation to the EPO’s Administrative Council.

“Following her most recent appointment to the new supervisory body of the EPO Boards of Appeal questions are already being asked inside the EPO about whether or not her close links to the Vice-President Casado and Battistelli’s “UIMP club” (whose members include Casado and Campinos) might be an indication that she is destined to be Battistelli’s pet chinchilla on the BOAC.”Her appointment as Director General of the OEPM was shrouded in controversy and rumours of procedural irregularities.

Following her most recent appointment to the new supervisory body of the EPO Boards of Appeal questions are already being asked inside the EPO about whether or not her close links to the Vice-President Casado and Battistelli’s “UIMP club” (whose members include Casado and Campinos) might be an indication that she is destined to be Battistelli’s pet chinchilla on the BOAC.

The connection between EPO Vice-President Casado and the Spanish Administrative Council delegate García-Escudero bears an uncanny resemblance to the link between EPO Vice-President Željko Topić and the Croatian Administrative Council delegate Ljiljana Kuterovac which we will examine in more detail in a separate article.

In both cases a former head of an Administrative Council delegation got appointed to a position as EPO Vice-President and the successor as head of delegation was his former subordinate and deputy. This creates the suspicion that these EPO Vice-Presidents might now be in a position to exert an inappropriate level of influence on individual members of their oversight body in view of the previous professional relationship. Some people see this as a potential conflict of interest situation which doesn’t seem to have attracted much attention so far but it might be worth looking into it. EPO insiders reckon that it could give a clue as to how Battistelli has been able to influence at least some of the Council delegations by “parachuting” Council delegates into key positions as EPO Vice-Presidents.

Iberian Connection

“Battistelli’s close connections to the French party “Les Républicains” (formerly the UIMP) and the as yet unsubstantiated rumours which have been floating around for some time about EPO monies being diverted to finance Sarkozy’s election campaign.”With the help of his “Iberian connection” via the “UIMP club” it is seems likely that Battistelli can rely on the support of the Spanish and Portuguese delegations and perhaps also Monaco which seems to be on his side most of the time. According to EPO insiders, the “Balkan connection” via Željko Topić and the Croatian delegation is relied on for drumming up support amongst the south-eastern European delegations from the territory of the former Yugoslavia and its neighbouring states.

But the reason for concern here is not just the risk of undue influence being exerted over some Council delegations by EPO Vice-Presidents.

The “Iberian connection” is sometimes spoken about inside the EPO in the context of the allegations about Battistelli’s close connections to the French party “Les Républicains” (formerly the UIMP) and the as yet unsubstantiated rumours which have been floating around for some time about EPO monies being diverted to finance Sarkozy’s election campaign. This is because Vice-President Casado is reputed to be politically close to the Spanish conservative party Partido Popular although it is currently not known if he is actually a party member. The Administrative Council delegate García-Escudero, who is a former subordinate and close professional associate of Casado and a member of the “UIMP club”, is known to have a close family connection to the upper echelons of the party.

“The Partido Popular is the Spanish equivalent of the French “Les Républicains” and it has been implicated in a number of recent scandals in Spain which have centred around allegations of wide-scale bribery and corruption and the use of secret “slush funds”.”To be more precise, Patricia García-Escudero Márquez is the sister of Pío García-Escudero Márquez, Count of Badarán, a scion of the Spanish aristocracy and a leading figure in the Partido Popular who has been the Chairman of the Spanish Senate since 2011. Details can be found in the English or Spanish Wikipedia pages.

Spanish-French Connections

The Partido Popular is the Spanish equivalent of the French “Les Républicains” and it has been implicated in a number of recent scandals in Spain which have centred around allegations of wide-scale bribery and corruption and the use of secret “slush funds”. These revelations have caused some EPO insiders to speculate that EPO cash surpluses might be under risk of diversion not only to “deserving causes” in France but also in other parts of Europe including the Iberian peninsula and perhaps even the Balkans. It is easy to discount such speculation as the paranoid ramblings of the “tinfoil hat brigade” but the lack of any effective independent oversight at the EPO raises the awkward question as to who — if anybody — would be in a position to uncover such irregularities if they were in fact to take place.

Spanish Corruption

For the moment there is no answer to this question but the recent political scandals surrounding the Partido Popular in Spain suggest that Battistelli’s “Iberian connection” deserves to be kept under careful observation.

“The name of Pío García-Escudero Márquez who is a leading figure in the Partido Popular and the Chairman of the Spanish Senate since 2011 has cropped up at various times in connection with the investigations into some of these affairs, in particular the Bárcenas affair where he admitted to receiving one of the payments detailed in the secret accounting records known as the “Bárcenas Papers”.”The political landscape of Spain was shaken in recent years by a series of corruption scandals beginning with the Bárcenas affair which broke in January 2013 when the Spanish daily El Mundo revealed that the former treasurer of the Partido Popular Luis Bárcenas had, up until 2009, used a slush fund to pay out monthly amounts, ranging from €5,000 to €15,000, to leading members of the party. Soon afterwards the Spanish daily El País published what became known as the “Bárcenas’ Papers”, facsimile excerpts from handwritten ledgers in Bárcenas’ hand. Among the recipients were the party leader and Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy and Secretary General María Dolores de Cospedal.

At around the same time a corruption scandal involving the Duke of Palma resulted in his spouse Cristina de Borbón, the sister of King Felipe VI, being charged for tax fraud and money laundering. These corruption allegations severely eroded the Spanish Royal Family’s popularity within Spain; according to an opinion poll by the CIS, between 1995 and 2013 the Spanish monarchy’s approval rating dropped sharply amongst Spaniards.

As a result of these scandals Spain’s position in the annual global corruption ranking published by Transparency International, the Corruption Perception Index (CPI), plummeted sharply in 2013.

The emergence in 2014 of further episodes of corruption that had taken place over the course of the past years and decades was compared to the Italian Tangentopoli episode in the 1990s leading to the episode being dubbed by some media as ‘the Spanish Tangentopoli’ or ‘Black October’.

“Although some of his political associates have not been so fortunate, it seems that Mr. García-Escudero has so far emerged with only a few minor scratches from the various political scandals which have seriously tarnished the public image of the Partido Popular.”In October 2014, the judge Pablo Ruz charged a former Partido Popular Secretary General and Minister, Ángel Acebes, with a possible misappropriation of public funds as a result of the Barcenas affair. A few days later, an inquiry led by Ruz unveiled that the Partido Popular could have spent as much as €1.7 million of undeclared money on works of its national headquarters in Madrid between 2006 and 2008. On 27 October, a large anti-corruption operation, Operation Punica, resulted in 51 people arrested because of their involvement in a major scandal of public work contract kickbacks, amounting at least €250 million. Among those arrested were notable municipal and regional figures, many from the Partido Popular, as well as a large number of politicians, councilors, officials and businessmen in Madrid, Murcia, Castile and León and Valencia.

Sources:

• Spanish general election, 2015: Corruption scandals
• Bárcenas affair
• Gürtel case
• Rajoy battles to save position amid corruption scandal
• Another blow
• Spanish prime minister Rajoy accused of hiding secret income
• Rajoy drawn into corruption scandal
• The perfect storm
• After five years, judge wraps up portion of huge Gürtel corruption investigation
• Púnica corruption investigation extended to 12 city governments
• Corruption scandal in Spanish Government

By 2016 Spain had dropped even further in the Transparency International CPI and is currently ranked 36th out of 168 countries.

Ana García-Escudero

The name of Pío García-Escudero Márquez who is a leading figure in the Partido Popular and the Chairman of the Spanish Senate since 2011 has cropped up at various times in connection with the investigations into some of these affairs, in particular the Bárcenas affair where he admitted to receiving one of the payments detailed in the secret accounting records known as the “Bárcenas Papers”. He said the figure matched a loan of €24,000 Euros which he was given to repair bomb damage to his home after a terrorist attack in 2001 and which he later repaid. However, in 2013 during court proceedings he admitted to the judge that he had not declared the loan to the tax authorities and claimed that this was because he did not know he that he was required to declare it. Details can be found here.

“Considered in the light of the more recent Bárcenas affair and the related cases of “the Spanish Tangentopoli” this was a comparatively minor affair which involved the alleged waste of public funds as a result of the payment of €218,000 in software licensing fees in connection with the official website of the Spanish Senate.”Although some of his political associates have not been so fortunate, it seems that Mr. García-Escudero has so far emerged with only a few minor scratches from the various political scandals which have seriously tarnished the public image of the Partido Popular. He is still very much active in Spanish politics and is frequently seen in the company of the party leader and acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. He also appears to enjoy the favour of the Royal Family and regularly appears in photo-ops with King Felipe and his consort Queen Letizia (see our teaser for this article).

The name of a further member of the García-Escudero family has cropped up in relation to another scandal which dates back to 2012. Considered in the light of the more recent Bárcenas affair and the related cases of “the Spanish Tangentopoli” this was a comparatively minor affair which involved the alleged waste of public funds as a result of the payment of €218,000 in software licensing fees in connection with the official website of the Spanish Senate. It turned out that the beneficiary of the Senate’s largess was the software company Oracle and that the paperwork for the deal was signed off by Jose Angel Alonso Lopez, director of Information Technology and Communications of the Senate and former president of Oracle Users Circle of Spain.

“The only reason for mentioning these matters is to create public awareness of the political context in which certain members of Battistelli’s inner circle operate and to encourage observers of the EPO to keep a vigilant and watchful eye on the “Iberian connection”.”Although the Spanish media reported critically on this affair at the time, it failed to mention one small but potentially interesting detail which was subsequently spotted by an observant reader of a Spanish political discussion forum, namely that one of the principal sales consultants at Oracle’s Madrid office at the time was a person by the name of Ana García-Escudero who coincidentally happens to be another sister of the Senate Chairman. The details can be found here.

It is important to emphasise that none of the above is intended to indicate that the Spanish delegate to the Administrative Council and recent BOAC appointee, Patricia García-Escudero Márquez, has been in any way involved in any of the aforementioned political scandals or that any allegation of corruption has been brought against her in Spain or elsewhere in this regard.

The only reason for mentioning these matters is to create public awareness of the political context in which certain members of Battistelli’s inner circle operate and to encourage observers of the EPO to keep a vigilant and watchful eye on the “Iberian connection”. █

Summary: Interesting updates from the European Patent Office (EPO), where things have taken a turn for the worse for Battistelli while Željko Topić secures an extension of his notorious contract

Another EPO demonstration has ended (there were two last week) and more news is starting to trickle in (during the weekend and the start of this week). This is a roundup of items sent to us by readers.

No Right to Remain Silent in Eponia?

“God complex has no place in such an institution.”“The document CA/52/16 Rev. 1 (page 5/20, 27.),” according to a reader remarking on this post of ours, “reveals part of the reasoning ‘Blatterstelli’ used to defend his position that EPO staff should not have the right to remain silent when being investigated. The reasoning is indeed plain wrong. See the 2^nd but last comment…”

“Battistelli Into a Corner”

“We followed the recent series of TechRights postings about the October meeting of the EPO Administrative Council with interest,” another reader told us.

“There were some hopeful signs during that meeting,” the reader continued. “The Administrative Council more or less pushed Battistelli into a corner with his latest “reform” proposals for the internal EPO Stasi causing him to throw a “hissy fit” and withdraw these proposals for amendment until December.

The overall sentiment we have come across (based on information we could not publish either way, for safety of our sources) is that the meeting was one Battistelli would rather forget. God complex has no place in such an institution.

“Rumours that Battistelli Has Made Unsuccessful Approaches to the Swiss Government to Have Grossenbacher Removed as Head of the Swiss Delegation.”

Last night we wrote about Roland Grossenbacher, who we understand has historically been close to Battistelli. Well, that may no longer be the case.

“Predictable behaviour from a Nicolas Sarkozy ally?”“It is even reported that his longtime ally Grossenbacher turned against him during this debate,” a source told us. “In fact some reliable internal sources claim that Grossenbacher has become openly critical of Battistelli in recent times and that relations between the two have soured to the point where Battistelli regrets having declared Grossenbacher as “honorary Chairman” of the Council back in 2009 when Battistelli himself was the Chairman. There are even rumours that Battistelli has made unsuccessful approaches to the Swiss government to have Grossenbacher removed as head of the Swiss delegation. Grossenbacher is officially retired as Director of the Swiss national IP Office but he still continues as head of the Swiss delegation to the EPO. If the rumours that Grossenbacher has really has turned against Battistelli are true then we could be in for a duel of the silverback “alpha males” at the next meeting of the Administrative Council in December.”

We previously heard of Battistelli trying to remove other heads of delegations and reportedly 'buying' them too. Predictable behaviour from a Nicolas Sarkozy ally? Do we want a patent office that’s as stigmatised (or corrupt) as political parties?

Željko Topić Gets Awarded

“Despite the hopeful signs which emerged during the last meeting,” a source told us, “there were also some details which are likely to have escaped the casual observer but which EPO insiders have seen as a signal that Battistelli is still able to get his way with Council on personnel issues. Although not yet officially announced, it has been reported by sources close to several delegations that two key members of Team Battistelli managed to get their contracts renewed due to persistent and intense lobbying by “Il Duce”. These were the Vice-Presidents Alberto Casado Cerviño and Željko Topić.

“Do we want a patent office that’s as stigmatised (or corrupt) as political parties?”“After the Council meeting finished the Presidential getaway car with its CD “Corps Diplomatique” plate was seen parked in the Baaderstrasse just around the corner from the EPO headquarters (see photo above) where the chauffeur patiently waited for his master who was rumoured to have gone for a slap-up meal with his Vice-Presidents to celebrate the prolongation of their terms.

“The reported extension of the contracts for the Vice-Presidents seems to be a good occasion for an update about the beneficiaries, Alberto Casado Cerviño and Željko Topić.”

We wrote about this back in May. It sure looks as though EPO management isn’t genuinely interested in repairing its reputation. █

Summary: The highly corrosive and destructive nature of Battistelli’s EPO presidency is demonstrated by his latest moves, which he foolishly advertises in the EPO’s Web site today (both the so-called ‘news’ section and his so-called ‘blog’)

WHETHER or not the EPO is becoming 'French' (i.e. no patent examination) it might be too early to tell, but in a matter of 2-3 years the stock will have run out and EPO examiners can expect massive layoffs. Insiders too tell us so.

“Battistelli is causing irreparable damage and people are seeing that.”The very low quality of patents in China (granted by SIPO, not the Croatian one) may be a sign of things to come at the EPO, under the leadership of Battistelli and the people he brought to the EPO (mostly from France, usually former colleagues from INPI where there’s no quality control). It’s all about quantity, not quality. Apparently, as I was told this earlier today by a university professor, Saudi Arabia had been pursing a similar strategy. They just use patents as trophies (false surrogate for innovation) and provide incentives — sometimes huge financial awards — for people to pursue the dumbest of patents just to increase the number of patents and give the illusion of scientific advancement/leadership. If this sounds like what the EPO is becoming, then it’s probably because it’s true.

“Dusting off some old files (some as old as 18 years ago we’re told!) and rubberstamping them is not “production” but a shoddy job, a cheat, and a rapid destruction of everything that the EPO stands for.”In my daily life I happen to speak to various academics and people who work in my domain. A lot of companies in Europe — as today I’ve learned — are reassessing the value of EPs (European patents) after the EPO descended to the gutter of patent quality. Dutch attorneys too are receiving queries to that effect, based on their letter which we published last week. Battistelli is causing irreparable damage and people are seeing that. Dusting off some old files (some as old as 18 years ago we’re told!) and rubberstamping them is not “production” but a shoddy job, a cheat, and a rapid destruction of everything that the EPO stands for.

Based on this tweet from earlier today and the Battistelli brain fart it links to (warning: epo.org address), the very low-quality patents of China are now common grounds for Battistelli. Is this what he strives for now? Attracting all the rejects, even from other countries, in order to just rubberstamp their rubbish? Is this the future of the EPO? It’s spelling doom for the EPO’s reputation and value. How much would people pay for EPs? 500 Euros apiece? What would that mean to existing grantees of EPs? How can one separate the wheat from the chaff or the noise from the signal? Battistelli, in our view, finds friends only in authoritarian regimes these days (including China) because no honourable politicians in Europe would associate with such a thug (they do their homework or have it done for them by their PAs). Here is the bogus ‘news’ from today (warning: epo.org address), complete with a photo op and glamourisation of the thug, Battistelli. To quote: “On Friday 30 September, President Benoît Battistelli welcomed Commissioner Shen of the State Intellectual Property Office of the People’s Republic of China (SIPO) to Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France. The visit was held on the occasion of the annual EPO-SIPO Heads of Offices meeting, this year hosted by the EPO in Europe. The meeting is an annual fixture for the two offices and offered a valuable opportunity to discuss strategic topics of mutual interest and to take stock of the results achieved within the framework of both IP5 and bilateral co-operation.”

“Battistelli, in our view, finds friends only in authoritarian regimes these days (including China) because no honourable politicians in Europe would associate with such a thug (they do their homework or have it done for them by their PAs).”Worth noting: this meeting took place in France. Saint-Germain-en-Laye even (Battistelli was the mayor of the Paris suburb of Saint-Germain-en-Laye). The EPO has no branches/office in France. France is not a host country and France’s patent system is mostly a joke (some say because language barriers discourage applications from being sent there).

Battistelli has made the EPO look like something worse than a joke. It’s a banana republic!

And speaking of bananas, watch today’s news headlines to find “Seedy business: Patent war looms over Europe’s crop diversity”

Well, how far should patent scope go? Under Battistelli, anything goes…

Patents on seeds and plants are supporting a monopoly’s business model, not innovation or common interests. Here is what the article says:

An imminent EU legal opinion on food patents has raised fears among smaller businesses that agrichemical giants such as Monsanto and Syngenta will be able to monopolize varieties of staples like carrots and broccoli.

The European Commission is expected to issue an opinion before the end of the year to clarify ambiguities in EU law over the extent to which food products can be patented. The forthcoming decision has sparked a flurry of 11th-hour lobbying from industry and green campaigners.

The debate hinges on the nature of the innovation and whether the plant breeding techniques constitute genetic modification, or involve processes that are seen as altered or accelerated versions of more natural, biological processes.

Big companies argue that the ability to patent foods and seeds is critical to their business model, which involves pouring millions of euros into engineering bio-tech crops that they say are healthier for consumers and more resistant to pests. Their opponents say biological processes and their products should not be allowed to become exclusive to individual companies. They complain that food security and the environment could be at risk if crop diversity is reduced, with the most common vegetables being controlled by a handful of deep-pocketed companies.

In other news from today, the EPO has granted another crappy patent, this time on a thing that can prevent access to life-saving treatment. The patent is now partly revoked [1, 2, 3, 4]. How many people need to die from Hepatitis C because the EPO under Battistelli continues to fail to actually do the job properly^*? Verging endorsement of software patents again, today the EPO links to a notorious page that we wrote about before and soon enough the Office is going south (not just literally), to a country where software patents sort of exist.

“How many people need to die from Hepatitis C because the EPO under Battistelli continues to fail to actually do the job properly?”If the EPO does not sort out its patent quality, for which it earned reputation in the first place, then it will lose everything. Battistelli doesn’t need to care because he can always go back to his political career in Saint-Germain-en-Laye. Politicians needn’t retire in their 60s and Nicolas Sarkozy, Battistelli's political ally, is reportedly running for leadership again. █
_____
^* Like organising stupid and self-aggrandising festivals for lobbying purposes at the expense of millions of Euros while buying the media — all this instead of focusing on actually examining patents, then granting or rejecting them based on their merit.

Contents

• GNU/Linux
  • Distributions
  • Devices/Embedded
• Free Software/Open Source
• Leftovers

GNU/Linux

• Linux Users v Windows Users, Debian Mourns Another

  The Debian project today shared the news of the passing of a long time contributor on September 17. In other news, the Linux Journal offered a free digital copy of their September 2016 magazine. Bruce Byfield compared Linux users to Windows users and My Linux Rig spoke to elementary OS founder Daniel Foré about his “Linux Setup.”

• Asian Penguins turn failed program into a Linux success

  The Community School of Excellence (CSE) Asian Penguins are the world’s first and only Linux user group based in a Hmong charter school. A failed Windows laptop program at the school was turned by the Asian Penguins into a Linux success.

  Stu Keroff is the technology coordinator at the Community School of Excellence, a middle school located in St. Paul, Minnesota. He is a licensed elementary education and middle school social studies teacher, and a long-time Linux enthusiast. Stu founded and advises the Asian Penguins.

• Free Today: September Issue of Linux Journal (Retail value: $5.99)

• Desktop

  • 7 Ways Linux Users Differ from Windows Users

    To casual users, one person at a keyboard looks much the same as any other. Watch for a while, however, and the differences start to emerge — and whether they are using Linux or Windows is the least of them.

    The fact is, Linux users are different from Windows users in attitude as much as their choice of operating system. Originating as a Unix-type operating system and in opposition to Windows, Linux has developed an expectation and a philosophy in direct opposition to those promoted by Windows. Although many new Linux users have come directly from Windows, average Linux users simply do not react in the same way as Windows users.

  • Microsoft paid me $650 to scrub Windows 10 from my grandpa’s PC, says man

    Microsoft has paid the relative of an Alzheimer’s patient for having to scrub his PC clean of Windows 10.

    Jesse Worley said he’d received a cheque for $650 from Microsoft – seen by The Register – which he told us he’d received after threatening the giant with court action over an unwanted Windows 10 upgrade.

    Tech consultant Worley sought payment from the vendor for the 10 hours it took to rebuild his grandfather’s custom-build PC, re-installing Windows 7 to resemble Windows XP, in order to banish Windows 10.

    However, Worley – inspired by the case of a Californian woman over the unauthorised upgrade of her PC to Windows 10 – told The Reg he wasn’t interested in the money.

    He’d wanted to Microsoft to acknowledge it had slipped up with its notorious Get Windows 10 (GWX) nagware notifications, which he branded “deliberately misleading”.

    “Had Microsoft not gone out of their way to be deceptive, my grandfather pretty clearly wouldn’t have been updated to Windows 10,” he said.

  • Why kid hackers should have a Linux computer

    Kids these days are quite amazing in how fast they learn how to use computers. And what better system for a young hacker than a Linux computer? A writer at Medium recently shared the story of how his young nephew got his very own Linux computer.

• Server

  • ​Kubernetes 1.4: One DevOps tool to rule all the containers

  • Kubernetes 1.4 promises to make container orchestration easier, more powerful

  • Canonical Releases ‘Core’ Kubernetes Container Distribution

  • Canonical launches Kubernetes public beta distribution

  • Canonical steps up enterprise courtship with Kubernetes bundle

  • Kubernetes 1.4 makes container orchestration bigger — and simpler

  • Canonical Expands Enterprise Container Portfolio with Commercially Supported Distribution of Kubernetes

  • Strategies for Running Stateful Applications in Kubernetes: Volumes

    Mesosphere DC/OS emphasizes running transactional workloads alongside cloud-native applications. Robin Systems, one of the container management companies, is aiming to containerize Oracle and other enterprise databases. The Kubernetes container orchestration engine is gearing up to run stateful workloads through a new concept called Pet Sets, which is a pod of stateful containers. Pet Sets was introduced as an alpha feature in Kubernetes 1.3, released in July.

    Kubernetes abstracts the underlying infrastructure building blocks into compute, storage and networking. When developers and operations teams get started with Kubernetes, they typically get exposed to objects such as pods, labels, services, deployments and replica sets, which provide a mechanism to deal with compute and networking. When it comes to persistence in Kubernetes, users should get familiar with the concepts of volumes, persistent volumes, persistent volume claims (PVC) and the upcoming Pet Sets.

    This article will be a first in a series that discusses the strategies and use cases for each of the storage choices available in Kubernetes. In this chapter, we will take a closer look at volumes, that provide the easiest migration path to Kubernetes.

  • Docker Doubles Down on Microsoft Windows Server [Ed: recall “DockerCon 2015 Infiltrated by Microsoft”]

    Docker for Windows debuts alongside a new commercial support relationship with Microsoft.
    For the most part, the Docker container phenomenon has been about Linux, with the majority of all deployments on Linux servers. But that could soon be changing as Docker Inc. today is announcing the general availability of Docker Engine on Windows Server 2016, alongside a new commercial support and distribution agreement with Microsoft.

    Docker containers rely on the host operating system for certain isolation and process elements in order to run. On Linux, those elements have always been present as part of the operating system, but the same was not true for Windows, which has required several years of joint engineering effort between Docker Inc. and Microsoft.

  • Hadoop Sandboxes and Trials Spread Out

    We all know that there is a skills gap when it comes to Hadoop in the Big Data market. In fact, Gartner Inc.’s 2015 Hadoop Adoption Study, involving 284 Gartner Research Circle members, found that only 125 respondents who completed the whole survey had already invested in Hadoop or had plans to do so within the next two years. The study found that there are difficulties in implementing Hadoop, including hardship in finding skilled Hadoop professionals.

  • Use models to measure cloud performance

    When I was young, I made three plastic models. One was of a car—a ’57 Chevy. Another was of a plane—a Spitfire. And a third was of the Darth Vader TIE Fighter. I was so proud of them. Each one was just like the real thing. The wheels turned on the car, and the plane’s propeller moved when you blew on it. And of course, the TIE Fighter had Darth Vader inside.

    When I went to work on the internet, I had to measure things. As I discussed in my last post, Measure cloud performance like a customer, when you measure on the internet you need to measure in ways that are representative of your customers’ experiences. This affects how you measure in two ways. The first is the perspective you take when measuring, which I talked about last time. The second way is the techniques you use to perform those measurements. And those techniques are, in effect, how you make a model of what you want to know. Those childhood plastic models turn out to offer some solid guidance after all.

  • ODPi Adds Apache Hive to Runtime Specification 2.0

    Today, ODPi announced that the ODPi Runtime Specification 2.0 will add Apache Hive and Hadoop Compatible File System support (HCFS). These components join YARN, MapReduce and HDFS from ODPi Runtime Specification 1.0

    With the addition of Apache Hive to the Runtime specification, I thought it would be a good time to share why we added Apache Hive and how we are strategically expanding the Runtime specification.

  • Ubuntu’s OpenStack on IBM’s Big Iron

    If I were Red Hat I would be looking over my shoulder right now; it appears that Ubuntu might be gaining. In just a few years the Linux distribution has gone from being non-existent in the enterprise to being a powerhouse. This is especially true in the cloud, where it’s a dominant force on both sides of the aisle. Not only is it the most deployed operating system on public clouds, its version of OpenStack accounts for over half of OpenStack cloud deployments, used by the likes of Deutsche Telekom, Bloomberg and Time Warner Cable.

• Kernel Space

  • Soramitsu Open Sources Blockchain Platform “Iroha” – Offers Code to Linux Foundation’s Hyperledger Project

  • Soramitsu contributes code to Hyperledger

    Soramitsu Co., Ltd. (CEOs : Makoto Takemiya and Ryu Okada; hereafter, “Soramitsu”) has announced today the open sourcing and proposal of a distributed ledger technology (blockchain) platform called “Iroha” to the Hyperledger Project, an open source Linux Foundation collaborative project for the enhancement of blockchain and distributed ledger technology.

  • Congressional Blockchain Caucus Formed

  • The US is looking to formalise policy around blockchain technology

  • U.S. Congress Sees a Bipartisan Caucus for Bitcoin and Blockchain

  • Lawmakers announce new bipartisan Congressional Blockchain Caucus

  • SC Republican among founders of congressional Bitcoin caucus

  • US forms caucus to shape policies related to digital currency

  • Blockchain Now Has Own Congressional Caucus

  • Lawmakers announce blockchain technology caucus

  • New Congressional Caucus Seeks Favorable Laws for Blockchain

  • Polis, Mulvaney Launch ‘Blockchain Caucus’

  • Blockchain gains congressional support

  • Tech-savvy lawmakers found blockchain caucus

  • US Politicians Form Blockchain Caucus to Create Sound Bitcoin Policies

  • The US Congress now has a caucus dedicated to bitcoin and blockchain

  • Blockchain Just Made Some New Friends in Congress

    Boy, has blockchain become respectable. It wasn’t long ago that the face of the technology, which powers the crypto-currency bitcoin, was libertarians and drug dealers. Today, it’s the banking industry and members of Congress.

    On Monday, Rep. Jared Polis (D-Co) and Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-SC) announced the creation of a “Blockchain Caucus” to promote laws and policies to encourage the development of crypto-currencies and other blockchain-related tools.

  • Unsafe at any clock speed: Linux kernel security needs a rethink

    The Linux kernel today faces an unprecedented safety crisis. Much like when Ralph Nader famously told the American public that their cars were “unsafe at any speed” back in 1965, numerous security developers told the 2016 Linux Security Summit in Toronto that the operating system needs a total rethink to keep it fit for purpose.

    No longer the niche concern of years past, Linux today underpins the server farms that run the cloud, more than a billion Android phones, and not to mention the coming tsunami of grossly insecure devices that will be hitched to the Internet of Things. Today’s world runs on Linux, and the security of its kernel is a single point of failure that will affect the safety and well-being of almost every human being on the planet in one way or another.

  • Is the Linux kernel a security problem?

    Security is an ongoing issue for all operating systems, including Linux. While Linux has generally had a good reputation compared to Windows when it comes to security, no operating system is perfect. A writer at Ars Technica recently examined the issue of security and the Linux kernel.

  • security things in Linux v4.4

    Continuing with interesting security things in the Linux kernel, here’s v4.4. As before, if you think there’s stuff I missed that should get some attention, please let me know.

  • Graphics Stack

    • Mesa Preps For Landing The On-Disk Shader Cache

    • Performance-Boosting HiZ Patches Revised For Intel’s Vulkan Linux Driver

  • Benchmarks

    • Testing The BCache SSD Cache For HDDs On Linux 4.8

      It has been over one year since last testing the mainline Linux kernel’s BCache support for this block cache that allows solid-state drives to act as a cache for slower hard disk drives. Here are some fresh benchmarks of a SATA 3.0 SSD+HDD with BCache from the Linux 4.8 Git kernel.

• Applications

  • Linux and Open Source Hardware for IoT

    Most of the new 21 open source software projects for IoT that we examined last week listed Linux hacker boards as their prime development platforms. This week, we’ll look at open source and developer-friendly Linux hardware for building Internet of Things devices, from simple microcontroller-based technology to Linux-based boards.

    In recent years, it’s become hard to find an embedded board that isn’t marketing with the IoT label. Yet, the overused term is best suited for boards with low prices, small footprints, low power consumption, and support for wireless communications and industrial interfaces. Camera support is useful for some IoT applications, but high-end multimedia is usually counterproductive to attributes like low cost and power consumption.

  • nginx

    Case in point: I’ve been using the Apache HTTP server for many years now. Indeed, you could say that I’ve been using Apache since before it was even called “Apache”—what started as the original NCSA HTTP server, and then the patched server that some enterprising open-source developers distributed, and finally the Apache Foundation-backed open-source colossus that everyone recognizes, and even relies on, today—doing much more than just producing HTTP servers.

    Apache’s genius was its modularity. You could, with minimal effort, configure Apache to use a custom configuration of modules. If you wanted to have a full-featured server with tons of debugging and diagnostics, you could do that. If you wanted to have high-level languages, such as Perl and Tcl, embedded inside your server for high-speed Web applications, you could do that. If you needed the ability to match, analyze and rewrite every part of an HTTP transaction, you could do that, with mod_rewrite. And of course, there were third-party modules as well.

  • Etcher Image Writer Is Now Better Than Ever

    Back in may we spotlighted Etcher, a stylish open-source USB image writer app for Windows, macOS and Linux.

    In the months since our feature the app has released a over 10 small beta updates, with Etcher 1.5 Beta being the most recent release at the time of writing.

  • Audacious 3.8 released

    Audacious 3.8 was released on September 21, 2016.

  • New Version of Audacious Music Player Released

    A new version of Audacious, a popular lightweight audio player, is now available for download.

    Audacious 3.8 introduces a small set of features, including the ability to run more than one instance of the app at the same time. Quite why… no idea.

    New audtool commands have been added, including stream recording toggles, and cue sheet support is said to be “more seamless”.

  • Rambox Puts All Your Favorite Messaging Services In One App

    Rambox is a free, open-source messaging and email app that groups all your favourite web apps into one easy-to-manage window.

    Sound familiar?

    We’ve highlighted apps like Rambox before, with Franz and the Gmail-specific Wmail being but two.

  • Stylish Markdown Editor ‘Typora’ Is Now Available for Ubuntu

    In the market for a desktop markdown editor for Linux? You may have helped but notice that you’re rather spoilt for choice. From Abricotine and Scratch to Simplenote, Springseed and Remarkable. Even Gedit can render markdown with the right plugin! With so much choice it can be difficult to know which app to pick.

  • YoutPlayer Floats Your Fave YouTube Videos on The Desktop [Ed: just an Electron app]

    Looking for a neat-o way to play YouTube playlists on your desktop, outside your browser? Take a looksie at Yout, an Electron app that lets you add and watch YouTube playlists on your desktop, floating window stylee. Yout is not the most user-friendly of apps.

  • Instructionals/Technical

    • Learn How to Speed Up Websites Using Nginx and Gzip Module

    • How to install WooCommerce plugin on an Ubuntu 16.04 VPS

    • 10 tips for DIY IoT home automation

    • How to Set Legacy Bios in HP ProLiant GEN9 Server

    • Setup Docker storage to use LVM thin pool

    • Deploy an OpenShift test cluster

    • Deploying Kubernetes using Ansible

  • Games

    • Avoid the pile-up in ‘Clustertruck’, a first-person platformer with day-1 Linux support, it’s great

      We have been steadily getting more 3D “beat the timer” games where you’re up against others times, which is great because they really can be fun. I do love getting competitive in certain games, especially with some of my Steam friends and friends in the wider community. Games like this recently have been something I’ve been repeatedly going back to for a break from life.

      Clustertruck is not only about beating the times of other people, but it’s also a “the floor is lava” game, so if you touch the floor you have to start again. The really funny thing is that the safe pads are moving trucks you have to keep up with. You can at least grab onto the back of a truck if you just about touch it, so it’s not always instant death.

    • Fusion 3, the next generation game engine and editor from Clickteam will support Linux

      The difference between their tools and others, is the event system. Instead of needing to program every single line, you can stack up events and link them together to create a game. It works quite well and I’m pretty excited to give Fusion 3 a go on Linux myself to see what random games I can create for fun.

    • SteamOS 2.93 Brewmaster Beta Adds New Security Fixes from Debian GNU/Linux 8.6

      Valve’s SteamOS 2 gaming operating system is still getting goodies, and it looks like a new Beta update has been pushed on September 26, 2016, to the brewmaster_beta channel for public beta testers.

      That’s right, SteamOS 2.93 Brewmaster Beta is here to replace the previous build announced earlier this month, SteamOS 2.91 Brewmaster Beta, and add the latest security fixes and updates from upstream. This means that SteamOS is now officially based on the recently released Debian GNU/Linux 8.6 “Jessie” operating system.

      “SteamOS brewmaster update 2.93 pushed to brewmaster_beta. Corrects a build issue where the last kernel updates were not actually included. Also updates from the Debian 8.6 release[www.debian.org] and the usual security fixes,” says John Vert, Valve engineer, in the release announcement.

    • There Are Around 2,000 Steam Linux Games Available

    • Steam now has above 2,500 Linux & SteamOS games available

      I’ve seen some posts on reddit and across the wider net about Steam hitting around 2,000 games for Linux. The truth is the number is actually quite a lot higher.

      People seem to be using SteamDB numbers which aren’t up to date. The problem here is that SteamDB is unofficial and a manual process for people to let them know a game works. So you need to own the game and manually tell them, which makes their numbers rather different to the reality.
      Note: SteamDB do truly excellent work, this isn’t a bash attempt, but to let people know how they work and how their list is different.

      The other problem is that the Steam Search when filtering only for Games and only for Linux is still incorrect. It actually lists games that are due soon, or due this month and haven’t released yet. It also still lists games that haven’t updated their release date that were supposed to release before today, but didn’t actually release yet.

    • ‘Farabel’, a turn based strategy game is officially coming to Linux after a days work

      The developers of Farabel [Official Site, Steam, itch] sent word that their game is now officially coming to Linux. They asked for testers and in a single day got the game working properly on Linux and it’s now official.

    • RADV Vulkan Driver Can Now Correctly Render Talos Principle

    • The Talos Principle now renders correctly in ‘radv’, the open source AMD Vulkan driver

      Good news for Vulkan and AMD GPU fans, as David Airlie has put up a new blog post letting us know that The Talos Principle now renders correctly in this new open source AMD Vulkan driver.

• Desktop Environments/WMs

  • K Desktop Environment/KDE SC/Qt

    • KDE’s Kirigami UI Framework for Mobile and Convergent Apps Hits 1.1 Milestone

      On September 26, 2016, the KDE developers proudly announced the availability of the first point release for their recently introduced Kirigami UI framework to create mobile and convergent applications.

    • KDE Kirigami 1.1 UI Framework Released

  • GNOME Desktop/GTK

    • GNOME 3.22 Supports Flatpak Cross-Linux Distribution Framework

      GNOME 3.22, the second major update this year to the GNOME desktop environment, debuted Sept. 21—and since then, has made its way into the repositories of Linux distributions, including Fedora and openSUSE. Much as was the case with the GNOME 3.20 update earlier this year, many of the changes in the latest iteration of the popular open-source desktop environment are incremental. Among the most significant capabilities in GNOME 3.22 is support for the Flatpak framework, which is designed to allow an application to be installed on various Linux distributions. The GNOME Builder integrated development environment (IDE) can now also be used by developers to build Flatpak-compatible applications. Flatpak is an alternative approach to Snappy, which provides similar capabilities and was originally developed by Ubuntu. The GNOME Files application continues to evolve and, in this release, adds new capabilities that enable users to open compressed files automatically. Files also enables users to compress files easily in common compression formats. Additionally, Files gained the ability to batch rename files and folders on a user’s system. Here’s a look at the key features of the GNOME 3.20 desktop update.

    • [GNOME Maps:] Planning a trip

• Distributions

  • The Linux Setup – Daniel Foré, elementary OS

    Daniel is the founder of elementary OS, the distribution that’s famous for its own look. Daniel came to Linux through a love of customizing Windows XP, so it’s no surprise he also came to appreciate the flexibility of Linux. Interestingly, especially given the strong visual aesthetic of elementary, Daniel’s favorite app is the Scratch text editor!

  • New Releases

    • Solus Gets MATE 1.16 Desktop Environment and Linux Kernel 4.7.5, Up-to-Date Apps

      Joshua Strobl from the Solus Project published a new installation of the distribution’s weekly newsletter, This Week in Solus 36, to inform Solus users about the latest software updates and other important changes in the Linux OS.

    • Proxmox VE 4.3 released

      Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH today announced the general availability of Proxmox Virtual Environment 4.3. The hyper-converged open source server virtualization solution enables users to create and manage LXC containers and KVM virtual machines on the same host, and makes it easy to set up highly available clusters as well as to manage network and storage via an integrated web-based management interface.

      The new version of Proxmox VE 4.3 comes with a completely new comprehensive reference documentation. The new docu framework allows a global as well as contextual help function. Proxmox users can access and download the technical documentation via the central help-button (available in various formats like html, pdf and epub). A main asset of the new documentation is that it is always version specific to the current user’s software version. Opposed to the global help, the contextual help-button shows the user the documentation part he currently needs.

    • Proxmox VE 4.3 Officially Released with New Reference Documentation, Updated GUI

      Today, September 27, 2016, Proxmox Server Solutions GmbH proudly announced the immediate availability of the Proxmox VE (Virtual Environment) 4.3 open source, Linux-based hyper-converged server virtualization solution.

      The biggest new feature of the Proxmox VE 4.3 release appears to be a new reference documentation that users can download in various formats, including as EPUB, PDF or HTML, helping newcomers get started with Proxmox much faster. However, it looks like it is based on the Debian GNU/Linux 8.6 “Jessie” and Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating systems, running LXC 2.0 and Linux kernel 4.4 LTS.

  • OpenSUSE/SUSE

    • SUSE among those choosing to enhance partner programmes

    • New SUSE program focuses on enterprise Linux, software-defined storage, OpenStack cloud for channel partners

    • Suse scraps revenue targets in partner shake-up

    • SUSE Helps Channel Better Meet Customer Needs with Open Source Technology

    • SUSE Overhauls Partner Program for Linux, Storage, OpenStack Cloud, Management

      SUSE is launching an overhauled channel partner program to address four key customer needs: Enterprise Linux, software-defined storage (SDS), OpenStack cloud and systems management. The bolstered partner efforts comes only a few weeks after HP Enterprise (HPE) named SUSE as its preferred Linux distribution.

  • Red Hat Family

    • How Red Hat is making money on the public cloud with a hybrid approach

      Red Hat hasn’t traditionally played much of a part in public clouds, a fact its CEO Jim Whitehurst underscored in Red Hat’s recent earnings call. Though the company is now dabbling in a true elastic/consumption-based delivery and pricing model via OpenShift, Red Hat remains a primarily on-premises business that only feints toward a true cloud model in terms of service delivery.

      Ironically, the hybrid cloud may be the trend that gets Red Hat fully planted in the public cloud.

    • Red Hat Software Adding Fort Point Offices

      The new location will include an immersive briefing center for visiting executives, the first East Coast location for the company’s innovation labs and a new engineering lab, which will augment Red Hat’s 175,000-square-foot engineering and product headquarters in Westford. The engineering lab will provide collaborative space to take advantage of Boston’s tech ecosystem, Raleigh, North Carolina-based Red Hat said in a statement.

    • Finance

      • Red Hat Inc. (RHT) Receives “Buy” Rating from Credit Agricole SA

      • Red Hat Inc. (RHT) Rating Reiterated by William Blair

      • Drexel Hamilton Reiterates Buy Rating for Red Hat Inc. (RHT)

      • Red Hat Inc. (RHT) Stock Rating Reaffirmed by Credit Agricole SA

      • Red Hat Inc (NYSE:RHT) approaching 52-week high, short interest down

      • Raymond James Financial Inc. Reiterates Outperform Rating for Red Hat Inc. (RHT)

    • Fedora

      • Fedora Join meetings to begin this week

        We’ve had the Fedora Join SIG around for a bit now, but we haven’t been very active. Recently we’ve seen an increase in community members willing to participate in the SIG, and in combination with the work that CommOps is doing to improve the “joining experience” for newbies, we thought that it’s a good time to gain some traction.

      • Fedora 25 Alpha and processing.

        Is simple to use. You can used with java also with python and android mode.
        Come with many examples and tutorials.
        Today I tested with Fedora 25 alpha.

      • Fedora 24 — The Best Distro for DevOps?

        If you have been to any DevOps-focused conferences — whether it’s OpenStack Summit or DockerCon — you will see a sea of MacBooks. Thanks to its UNIX base, availability of Terminal app and Homebrew, Apple hardware is extremely popular among DevOps professionals.

        What about Linux? Can it be used as a platform by developers, operations, and DevOps pros? Absolutely, says Major Hayden, Principal Architect at Rackspace, who used to be a Mac OS user and has switched to Fedora. Hayden used Mac OS for everything: software development and operations. Mac OS has all the bells and whistles that you need on a consumer operating system; it also allows software professionals to get the job done. But developers are not the target audience of Mac OS. They have to make compromises. “It seemed like I had to have one app that would do one little thing and this other app would do another little thing,” said Hayden.

      • Fedora 25 Goes Into Beta Freeze Today, New Features Need To Be Completed

        Today is a big day along the Fedora 25 schedule and stepping towards its official debut in November.

        The Fedora 25 Beta freeze is today ahead of the planned beta release on 11 October. Also very important is today’s the 100% code complete deadline for Fedora 25 changes.

      • Fedora 25 Beta Freeze

      • Fedora 25 Linux Beta Might Land on October 11, 2016, Beta Freeze Now in Effect

        Fedora Project’s Mohan Boddu announced on September 26, 2016, that the upcoming Fedora 25 Beta milestone, which is scheduled for release next month on the 11th, is now officially in freeze stage.

        Fedora 25 is the next major release of the Red Hat-sponsored computer operating system for power users and anyone else who wants a well-designed Linux-based OS. It has been in development since July 2016, and the Alpha snapshot has hit the streets on August 30, after being delayed by a week due to some nasty regressions and bugs that have been patched quickly.

        The next stop in the Fedora 25 Linux development cycle is the Beta, which, according to the official release schedule, is now in freeze state. The Beta Freeze stage means that developers won’t be allowed to add any other features to the upcoming Beta release, but only to fix blockers and other annoyances that might not offer users a quality product.

  • Debian Family

    • Debian Project mourns the loss of Kristoffer H. Rose

      Kristoffer was a Debian contributor from the very early days of the project, and the upstream author of several packages that are still in the Debian archive nowadays, such as the LaTeX package Xy-pic and FlexML. On his return to the project after several years’ absence, many of us had the pleasure of meeting Kristoffer during DebConf15 in Heidelberg.

    • Derivatives

      • Parsix GNU/Linux 8.5 “Atticus” to Reach End of Life on September 30, 2016

        The Parsix GNU/Linux developers announced that the end-of-life status is approaching fast for the Parsix GNU/Linux 8.5 “Atticus” operating system, urging users to upgrade to the latest release immediately.

        Dubbed Atticus and based on the Debian GNU/Linux 8.5 “Jessie” operating system, Parsix GNU/Linux 8.5 was unveiled seven months ago, on February 14, 2016. Running the long-term supported Linux 4.1.17 kernel injected with TuxOnIce 3.3 and BFS patches, it was built around the GNOME 3.18 desktop environment with the GNOME Shell 3.18.3 user interface.

        The end of life (EOL) will be officially reached on September 30, 2016, which means that users of the Parsix GNU/Linux 8.5 “Atticus” operating system will no longer receive security and software updates. Therefore, they are urged today to upgrade to the latest, most recent version of the Debian-based distribution, Parsix GNU/Linux 8.10 “Erik.”

      • Canonical/Ubuntu

        • Ubuntu 16.10 Final Beta Officially Released with Linux Kernel 4.8, Download Now

          Delayed six days, the Final Beta release of the upcoming Ubuntu 16.10 (Yakkety Yak) operating system launched today, September 28, 2016, as the final development snapshot in the series.

          Today’s Final Beta is in fact the first Beta pre-release version of Ubuntu 16.10, and the only development milestone that you’ll be able to test if you want to see what’s coming to the next major release of Ubuntu Linux. However, we can tell you that it is powered by Linux kernel 4.8, contains up-to-date applications, and still uses the Unity 7 UI.

          “The Ubuntu team is pleased to announce the final beta release of Ubuntu 16.10 Desktop, Server, and Cloud products. Codenamed “Yakkety Yak”, 16.10 continues Ubuntu’s proud tradition of integrating the latest and greatest open source technologies into a high-quality, easy-to-use Linux distribution. The team has been hard at work through this cycle, introducing new features and fixing bugs,” reads the announcement.

• Devices/Embedded

  • Ofcom blesses Linux-powered, open source DIY radio ‘revolution’

    Small scale DAB radio was (quite literally) conceived in an Ofcom engineer’s garden shed in Brighton, on a Raspberry Pi, running a full open source stack, in his spare time. Four years later, Ofcom has given the thumbs up to small scale DAB after concluding that trials in 10 UK cities were judged to be a hit.

    We gave you an exclusive glimpse into the trials last year, where you could compare the specialised proprietary encoders with the Raspberry Pi-powered encoders.

    “We believe that there is a significant level of demand from smaller radio stations for small scale DAB, and that a wider roll-out of additional small scale services into more geographic areas would be both technically possible and commercially sustainable,” notes Ofcom.

  • 96Boards.org goes Cortex-M4 with IoT Edition and Carbon SBC

    Linaro, 96Boards.org, and SeeedStudio have launched the first 96Boards IoT Edition SBC — a $28 BLE-ready “BLE Carbon” that runs Zephyr on an ST Cortex-M4.

    Linaro Ltd and its 96Boards.org open hardware standardization group announced the first non-Linux and MCU based 96Boards single board computer, and the first to comply with a new 96Boards IoT Edition (IE) spec. Built by SeeedStudio, and designed with the help of Linaro, the flagship IE board is called “Carbon” by Linaro and 96Boards, and is called “BLE Carbon” by SeeedStudio. This suggests there might be other Carbon variants in the offing that could feature other radios in addition to, or in place of, the Carbon BLE’s Bluetooth Low Energy function.

  • Onion Creates a $5 Linux Computer with Wi-Fi, Designed for IoT Applications

    Onion has produced a $5 tiny Linux computer that supports JavaScript, Python, PHP and more. In its KickStarter campaign, Onion calls the Omega2 the “World’s smallest Linux server, with Wi-Fi built-in.”

  • Phones

    • Android

      • Andromeda? Making sense of an Android-Chrome OS marriage

      • Chromebooks get stable Android apps as Andromeda rumors swirl

        Andromeda may be the future, but Android and Chrome OS are already merging. Google just made Android apps available on the stable version of Chrome OS for the first time, and organizations can now centrally manage Android apps on their Chromebooks.

      • Mediatek’s developer board features a 10-core chip and Android 6.0

        Like PCs, developer boards like Raspberry Pi are getting more horsepower to run faster applications and 4K graphics.

        Take the Mediatek X20 Development Board, which started shipping for US$199 this week. It is crammed with the latest mobile chips that give the developer board PC-like computing power.

      • Motorola Android 7.0 Nougat Update Details

        Just as expected Google released Android 7.0 Nougat on August 22nd and quickly delivered it to Nexus devices. Now, other smartphone owners are now wondering when they’ll get the update. Motorola has always been quick to release the latest version of Android, and here’s what we know about Motorola Android 7.0 Nougat updates.

      • Chromebook Pixel 2 gets Android apps on the Chrome OS stable channel

        A few days ago, Google released Android apps to two Chromebooks: the Acer Chromebook R11 and the ASUS Chromebook Flip. These arrived version 53 of Chrome OS, on the stable channel. However, the Chromebook Pixel 2, which has had Android apps in beta up until now, has been waiting for the stable release. This painful period is over, Pixel 2 owners, because you too can now join in on the Android fun with the release of stable Chrome OS 53 to last year’s flagship Chromebook.

      • New Galaxy Note 7 sales begin October 28 in Europe

      • BlackBerry’s next rumored Android phone, the DTEK60, passed through the FCC

      • Android 7.0 Nougat Crashes Way More Than iOS 10

      • Google News & Weather 2.8 adds Lite mode, optimizes pages for slow connections

      • [Update: Pixel XL too] Google Pixel press shot leaked, shows new home button and round icons

      • Lenovo lays off hundreds of Motorola employees

        Lenovo has announced a new round of layoffs. Globally, the layoffs impact “less than 2 percent of its 55,000 employees,” with a majority of the job cuts targeted at Motorola employees in the U.S. According to Droid-Life, over 50% of Motorola’s workforce in the U.S. is being let go, affecting over 700 jobs out of the remaining 1,200. That’s a reduction of over 95% from the 20,000 employees Motorola had when Google acquired the company in 2011.

      • Chrome for Android will let you download entire web pages and use less data for video

      • BlackBerry’s Unannounced DTEK60 Android Smartphone Surfaced In FCC Filing

      • Telegram adds photo masks, GIF creation, and trending stickers

      • Images of Chromecast Ultra leak ahead of October 4th unveiling

Free Software/Open Source

• GitHub open-sources internal load-balancing software

  GitHub will release as open source the GitHub Load Balancer (GLB), its internally developed load balancer.

  GLB was originally built to accommodate GitHub’s need to serve billions of HTTP, Git, and SSH connections daily. Now the company will release components of GLB via open source, and it will share design details.

• GE, Bosch and open source could bring more IoT tools

  Partnerships that could shape the internet of things for years are being forged just as enterprises fit IoT into their long-term plans.

  A majority of organizations have included IoT as part of their strategic plans for the next two to three years, IDC said last week. No one vendor can meet the diverse IoT needs of all those users, so they’re joining forces and also trying to foster broader ecosystems. General Electric and Germany’s Bosch did both on Monday.

  The two companies, both big players in industrial IoT, said they will establish a core IoT software stack based on open-source software. They plan to integrate parts of GE’s Predix operating system with the Bosch IoT Suite in ways that will make complementary software services from each available on the other.

• Industrial IoT leaders work towards interoperability and open source collaboration

• GE and Bosch Sign Agreement for Interoperability and Open Source Collaboration

• Free PPMP from Bosch makes Industry 4.0 open for all

• Open source tools can help small businesses cut costs and save time

  Imagine if there was a global community of tech experts who were independently building and improving digital tools that you could use for free. Tools that could help you provide a service for, and communicate with, your customers.

  Well, there is. The open source community is made up of amateur and professional computer coders who work on publicly available computer code. Businesses can then take these lines of code from websites such as Github, to use in their software, products and services.

  Open source projects are helping small businesses all over the world to save time and money.

• OPNFV Colorado platform bolsters open source NFV efforts

  The Linux Foundation’s Open Platform for NFV project claims its third platform release targets accelerating development of NFV apps and services

  The telecom market’s continued move towards integrating network functions virtualization received a boost as the Linux Foundation’s Open Platform for NFV project released its latest Colorado platform release, the third from the open source-based organization.

• Open-source NFV Project delivers third platform release

  The OPNFV Project, an open source project that facilitates the development and evolution of Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) components across various open source ecosystems through integration, deployment, and testing today announced the availability of OPNFV Colorado, the project’s third platform release.

• Inocybe Technologies Launches Community Version of their Open Networking Platform

• Open Source Getting on My Nerves

  Open source people are generally not dirt dishers, however. Take Phil Robb of OpenDaylight , where he is senior technical director. Robb was on that MANO panel in Denver, and he spoke to me shortly afterward in an interview on ODL’s new Boron software release. I specifically asked him about the “messy MANO situation” right now.

  His response was frustratingly calm. “I would equate the MANO space with where the controller space was three years ago,” he says. “One of the great things about open source is that real code is going to be up, going to be used, stuff will work or it will fall over. But we’ll fail fast and move on.” (See Carriers Driving ODL’s Boron Release.)

  So having multiple versions in process isn’t a bad thing, Robb says, because it might be that one approach works better for a set of use cases than another. What the industry will come around to “sooner rather than later” is that one approach likely addresses the broadest set of use cases and will be more widely adopted, while others address niches and either are used alongside the major approach or incorporated into it.

• GENIVI Alliance launches new open source vehicle simulator project

• Choosing the right metrics for your project

  Last month we discussed setting goals for your community metrics program. These goals serve as a constant reminder of what you want to achieve in the program and should be used as metrics themselves when deciding exactly what you are going to measure.

  This month we’ll document a basic strategy for deciding what to measure, and give examples of specific community metrics we’ve used in practice. Using our knowledge of our community and the goals we previously came up with, we’ll make sure the metrics we choose are relevant.

• An Open Source Shopping Cart Can Boost Your Online Commerce Efforts

• Open Source Projects Must Work Together to Survive

  Open source software is in danger of being beaten at its own game by upstart services that are tightly integrated, less complex, and easier to use. That message was at the heart of the cautionary tale told by Stephen O’Grady in his keynote at this year’s ApacheCon North America in May.

  O’Grady, Principal Analyst & Cofounder of RedMonk, recalled his years as a systems integrator, pointing out that open source software took a big bite out of the enterprise software market when it became more accessible and easier to use.

• Contributing to an Open Source Project

  If you’re interested gaining some tips and insights into how to contribute to open source, this video of a presentation given on September 19 at the JavaOne conference in San Francisco by Gunnar Wagenknecht, a software engineer at Salesforce, and Wayne Beaton, director at the Eclipse Foundation, might be useful to you.

• Facebook Debuts Open Source Detection Tool for Windows

  Facebook debuted the open source tool in 2014 as cross-platform, but for the last two years it was only supported on Ubuntu, CentOS, and Mac OS X operating systems. Facebook isn’t the biggest Windows shop, but the company confirmed in March that because so many users were asking for it, it was building a version of the tool for Windows 10.

• Events

  • Report for Software Freedom Day 2016 – China Academy Science

    This year I am asked to present SFD in China Academy Science by the company, so unlucky I am not proper to deliver a Fedora talk then. I bring some DVDs and stickers there, as well as a roll up poster. However there are people asking questions about Fedora so finally I still do some Q&A after the event.

    SFD in China Academy Science this year is hold in Huairou Campus, suburbs of Beijing. So with another Red Hatter, Shiyang, we took train there. Their campus is not easy to find and by the time we arrived at the event it’s 10 minutes before the start of the event.

    Talks started on 2:00 PM. After the hostess introduced the event, Shiyang is the first to talk. He introduces the basic usage of Git and Github. During the Q&A part of his talk, I found that in fact most students not paying much attention to distributions already. They are just users of Linux.

  • OpenDaylight Symposium 2016

  • Keynote: Join or Die! – Stephen O’Grady, Principal Analyst & Cofounder, RedMonk

• Web Browsers

  • Mozilla

    • B2G OS and Gecko Annoucement from Ari Jaaksi & David Bryant

      In the spring and summer of 2016 the Connected Devices team dug deeper into opportunities for Firefox OS. They concluded that Firefox OS TV was a project to be run by our commercial partner and not a project to be led by Mozilla. Further, Firefox OS was determined to not be sufficiently useful for ongoing Connected Devices work to justify the effort to maintain it. This meant that development of the Firefox OS stack was no longer a part of Connected Devices, or Mozilla at all. Firefox OS 2.6 would be the last release from Mozilla. Today we are announcing the next phase in that evolution. While work at Mozilla on Firefox OS has ceased, we very much need to continue to evolve the underlying code that comprises Gecko, our web platform engine, as part of the ongoing development of Firefox. In order to evolve quickly and enable substantial new architectural changes in Gecko, Mozilla’s Platform Engineering organization needs to remove all B2G-related code from mozilla-central. This certainly has consequences for B2G OS. For the community to continue working on B2G OS they will have to maintain a code base that includes a full version of Gecko, so will need to fork Gecko and proceed with development on their own, separate branch.

    • Firefox 53 Will Drop Support for Windows XP and Windows Vista

      Software companies are one by one giving up on Windows XP support for their products, and now it appears that it’s Mozilla’s turn to switch the focus to newer versions of Windows.

      Firefox 53 will be the first version of the browser which will no longer support Windows XP and Windows Vista, so users who haven’t yet upgraded to Windows 7 or newer will have to either stick with Firefox 52 or move to a different browser.

    • Boot 2 Gecko Being Stripped From Mozilla’s Codebase

      At the end of 2015 Mozilla effectively put an end to Firefox OS / Boot 2 Gecko by concluding things weren’t working out for Mozilla Corp and their commercial partners to ship Firefox OS smartphones. All commercial development around it has since stopped and they are now preparing to strip B2G from the mozilla-central code-base.

      The news to report on now is that Ari Jaaksi and David Bryant have announced, “Today we are announcing the next phase in that evolution. While work at Mozilla on Firefox OS has ceased, we very much need to continue to evolve the underlying code that comprises Gecko, our web platform engine, as part of the ongoing development of Firefox. In order to evolve quickly and enable substantial new architectural changes in Gecko, Mozilla’s Platform Engineering organization needs to remove all B2G-related code from mozilla-central. This certainly has consequences for B2G OS. For the community to continue working on B2G OS they will have to maintain a code base that includes a full version of Gecko, so will need to fork Gecko and proceed with development on their own, separate branch.”

• SaaS/Back End

  • Pentaho aims to alleviate big data pains

    Seemingly retaining its original name, technology stack and altogether vibe-ness with competancy over a year now since being acquired by Hitachi Data Systems, Pentaho is putting out the ‘data developer/analyst’ messages and tuning up its own integration prowess in the process.

  • The broken promise of open-source Big Data software – and what might fix it

• CMS

  • Open source application portal adds new ITS applications for download

    The Open Source Application Development Portal (OSADP) web-based portal provides access to and supports the collaboration, development, and use of open-source ITS-related applications. The OSADP has added a number of new ITS-related applications that are available free to the public, including:

• Public Services/Government

  • Wyoming’s open source enterprise code library a secret no more

    Wyoming’s 250-person Enterprise Technology Services (ETS) group knew it had a good thing in its Enterprise Extensible Code Library, but it chose to keep things under wraps outside of the state until last week when members of that team attended an annual confab for state government CIOs.

    It was at the National Association of State Chief Information Officers (NASCIO) convention in Orlando that the ETS code library project was honored with a Recognition Award for Enterprise IT Management Initiatives, and the inquiries from other states and organizations started streaming in.

• Openness/Sharing/Collaboration

  • Inside the Drone Journalism Lab’s open source operations manual

    Across the world, journalists are increasingly using drone technology to augment their reporting at a fairly inexpensive price.

    In order to help journalists become more adept drone users, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Drone Journalism Lab recently released a free operations manual online.

    The manual, produced by Matt Waite, founder of the Drone Journalism Lab, is open source and Creative Commons licensed.

  • Open Source Malaria’s First Paper

    Open Source Malaria (OSM) publishes its first paper today. The project was a real thrill, because of the contributors. I’d like to thank them.

    Skepticism about open source research is often based on assumptions: that people will be too busy or insufficiently motivated to participate, or that there will be a cacophony of garbage contributions if a project is open to anyone. I’m not sure where such assumptions come from – perhaps people look first for ways that things might fail. We can draw upon many experiences of the open source software movement that would suggest such assumptions are poor. We can draw on successful examples of open collaboration in other areas of science, such as the Human Genome Project and the projects it has spawned, as well as examples in mathematics and astrophysics. This OSM paper addresses open source as applied to drug discovery, i.e. experimental, wet lab science in an area where we normally expect to need secrecy, for patents. It is based on the experience of 4-5 years of work and describes the first series examined by OSM.

  • Open Access/Content

    • The crazy price of college textbooks is pushing more US universities to adopt an “open-source” solution

      Seven Rhode Island universities, including Brown and Rhode Island College, will move to open-license textbooks in a bid to save students $5 million over the next five years, the governor announced Tuesday (Sept. 27).

      The initiative is meant to put a dent in the exorbitant cost of college and, more specifically, college textbooks. Mark Perry, a professor of economics and finance at the University of Michigan Flint, and a writer at the American Enterprise Institute, estimated last year that college textbook prices rose 945% between 1978 and 2014, compared to an overall inflation rate of 262% and a 604% rise in the cost of medical care.

    • Gov. Raimondo announces plan to ease college textbook burden

    • Textbook plan hopes to save RI college students $5 million

    • Governor says open-text initiative will save RI college students $5 million each year

    • Rhode Island aims to put $5 million in textbooks savings back in students’ pockets

Leftovers

• Video claiming drilling into iPhone 7 will reveal hidden headphone port goes viral

  A video claiming that users can add a headphone socket to the iPhone 7, which only has a Lightning port, by drilling into the bottom of their phone has been watched almost 10m times.

  The prank video shows a man drilling a 3.5mm hole into the bottom left edge of the iPhone 7 held in a vice. It points to the row of small holes on the left side that replaced the headphone socket present on the iPhone 6S and claims that drilling into the second hole on the left reveals a hidden socket.

  Once the hole has been drilled the video shows an iPhone 7 playing music, although the sound comes out of the speakers, not the white headphones now inserted in the DIY hole.

• Tempers flare in Venice as angry protesters block cruise ships

  Hundreds of demonstrators have taken to the water in Venice to protest against visiting cruise ships, as relations between tourists and locals reach a new nadir.

  Flare-waving protestors used gondolas and small boats to prevent cruise ships, including a vessel belonging to Thomson, from passing through the lagoon on Sunday.

  During peak season some 30,000 cruise ship passengers disembark in Venice every day, which locals claim is ruining their city, both environmentally and culturally.

• Disney Is Working With an Adviser on Potential Twitter Bid

  Walt Disney Co. is working with a financial adviser to evaluate a possible bid for Twitter Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.

  After receiving interest in discussing a deal, Twitter has started a process to evaluate a potential sale. Salesforce.com Inc. is also considering a bid and is working with Bank of America on the process, according to other people, who asked not to be named because the matter is private.

  Representatives for Twitter and Disney didn’t respond to requests for comment.

  Speculation that Twitter will be sold has been gathering steam in recent months, including last week’s news of Salesforce’s interest, given the social-media company’s slumping stock and difficulties in attracting new users and advertising revenue. Disney, the owner of ABC and ESPN, could obtain a new online outlet for entertainment, sports and news. Jack Dorsey, chief executive officer of Twitter, is on the board of Disney.

• Science

  • Archaelogists discover 200-year-old underground pub in Manchester

    Archaelogists have discovered a 200-year-old underground pub during building work on a office building in central Manchester.

    Excavators discovered untouched bottles full of of brandy and crockery branded with the 18th-century landlord of the Astley Arms.

    Archaelogists were brought to the site of a future 13-storey skyscraper as part the planning process and found the remains of houses as well as the pub.

• Security

  • Tuesday’s security updates

  • New Open Source Linux Ransomware Divides Infosec Community

    Following our investigation into this matter, and seeing the vitriol-filled reaction from some people in the infosec community, Zaitsev has told Softpedia that he decided to remove the project from GitHub, shortly after this article’s publication. The original, unedited article is below.

  • Fax machines’ custom Linux allows dial-up hack

    Party like it’s 1999, phreakers: a bug in Epson multifunction printer firmware creates a vector to networks that don’t have their own Internet connection.

    The exploit requirements are that an attacker can trick the victim into installing malicious firmware, and that the victim is using the device’s fax line.

    The firmware is custom Linux, giving the printers a familiar networking environment for bad actors looking to exploit the fax line as an attack vector. Once they’re in that ancient environment, it’s possible to then move onto the network to which the the printer’s connected.

    Yves-Noel Weweler, Ralf Spenneberg and Hendrik Schwartke of Open Source Training in Germany discovered the bug, which occurs because Epson WorkForce multifunction printers don’t demand signed firmware images.

  • Google just saved the journalist who was hit by a ‘record’ cyberattack

    Google just stepped in with its massive server infrastructure to run interference for journalist Brian Krebs.

    Last week, Krebs’ site, Krebs On Security, was hit by a massive distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attack that took it offline, the likes of which was a “record” that was nearly double the traffic his host Akamai had previously seen in cyberattacks.

    Now just days later, Krebs is back online behind the protection of Google, which offers a little-known program called Project Shield to help protect independent journalists and activists’ websites from censorship. And in the case of Krebs, the DDoS attack was certainly that: The attempt to take his site down was in response to his recent reporting on a website called vDOS, a service allegedly created by two Israeli men that would carry out cyberattacks on behalf of paying customers.

  • Krebs DDoS aftermath: industry in shock at size, depth and complexity of attack

    “This attack didn’t stop, it came in wave after wave, hundreds of millions of packets per second,” says Josh Shaul, Akamai’s vice president of product management, when Techworld spoke to him.

    “This was different from anything we’ve ever seen before in our history of DDoS attacks. They hit our systems pretty hard.”

    Clearly still a bit stunned, Shaul describes the Krebs DDoS as unprecedented. Unlike previous large DDoS attacks such as the infamous one carried out on cyber-campaign group Spamhaus in 2013, this one did not use fancy amplification or reflection to muster its traffic. It was straight packet assault from the old school.

  • iOS 10 makes it easier to crack iPhone back-ups, says security firm

    INSECURITY FIRM Elcomsoft has measured the security of iOS 10 and found that the software is easier to hack than ever before.

    Elcomsoft is not doing Apple any favours here. The fruity firm has just launched the iPhone 7, which has as many problems as it has good things. Of course, there are no circumstances when vulnerable software is a good thing, but when you have just launched that version of the software, it is really bad timing.

    Don’t hate the player, though, as this is what Elcomsoft, and what Apple, are supposed to be doing right.

    “We discovered a major security flaw in the iOS 10 back-up protection mechanism. This security flaw allowed us to develop a new attack that is able to bypass certain security checks when enumerating passwords protecting local (iTunes) back-ups made by iOS 10 devices,” said Elcomsoft’s Oleg Afonin in a blog post.

  • After Tesla: why cybersecurity is central to the car industry’s future

    The news that a Tesla car was hacked from 12 miles away tells us that the explosive growth in automotive connectivity may be rapidly outpacing automotive security.

    This story is illustrative of two persistent problems afflicting many connected industries: the continuing proliferation of vulnerabilities in new software, and the misguided view that cybersecurity is separate from concept, design, engineering and production.

    This leads to a ‘fire brigade approach’ to cybersecurity where security is not baked in at the design stage for either hardware or software but added in after vulnerabilities are discovered by cybersecurity specialists once the product is already on the market.

  • Sloppy programming leads to OpenSSL woes

  • OpenSSL Fixes Critical Bug Introduced by Latest Update

    OpenSSL today released an emergency security update after a patch in its most recent update issued last week introduced a critical vulnerability in the cryptographic library.

  • The Internet Of Poorly Secured Things Is Fueling Unprecedented, Massive New DDoS Attacks

    Last week, an absolutely mammoth distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack brought down the website of security researcher Brian Krebs. His website, hosted by Akamai pro bono, was pulled offline after it was inundated with 620Gbps of malicious traffic, nearly double the size of the biggest attack Akamai (which tracks such things via their quarterly state of the internet report) has ever recorded. Krebs was ultimately able to get his website back online after Google stepped in to provide DDoS mitigation through its Project Shield service.

  • Trump Offers More Insight On His Cybersecurity Plans: 10-Year-Old Relatives Vs. 400-lb Bedroom Dwellers

    Look, anyone who refers to cybersecurity or cyberwarfare as “the cyber” is probably better off not discussing this. But Donald Trump, in last night’s debate, felt compelled to further prove why he’s in no position to be offering guidance on technological issues. And anyone who feels compelled to portray hackers as 400-lb bedroom dwellers probably shouldn’t be opening their mouth in public at all.

    With this mindset, discussions about what “the Google” and “the Facebook” are doing about trimming back ISIS’s social media presence can’t be far behind. Trump did note that ISIS is “beating us at our game” when it comes to utilizing social media. Fair enough.

  • New, stronger crypto standard lacks backward compatibility

    The Internet Engineering Task Force is on the verge of approving a new standard for encrypted internet traffic that will make the web a safer place to shop, bank and browse — but it could also break a lot of stuff for people who don’t update their browsers. Transport Layer Security, or TLS, is an encryption protocol that works with web browsers. It’s the math, and the shared standards, that underlie the green padlock users see — the symbol which gives users the confidence that they are connected to the right site and is private enough to share personal or financial data. TLS supersedes SSL, or Secure Sockets Layer — a protocol dating back to 1995 that has proven to be thoroughly broken. But the latest TLS version was finalized in 2008 and in recent years has been the subject of many high profile attacks and newly discovered bugs.

• Defence/Aggression

  • Duterte ‘about to cross the Rubicon’ with US, wants alliances with Russia & China

    Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has reiterated his intention to distance his country from the US, its former colonial master, saying he is about to pass “the point of no return” with the US.

    “I am about to cross the Rubicon between me and the US,” the controversial Pacific leader told reporters, without elaborating.

    Duterte reiterated that the Philippines would seek closer ties with Russia and China, the two nations that challenged American ambition for global leadership. But, he added, the ties with the US would not be broken completely, only driven to a point that would allow Manila to have an independent policy.

  • Carter: Afghanistan War Supplemental Request Coming in November

    Defense Secretary Ash Carter plans to present Congress with a request for a supplemental spending measure to fund US troops in Afghanistan come November, he said Monday.

    However, Carter would not give a sense of how large the monetary request may be, saying only that there is a “range” that the department’s budgetary experts are considering.

  • Jordanian writer on trial for ‘anti-Islam’ cartoon shot dead outside court

    A gunman on Sunday killed prominent Jordanian writer Nahed Hattar outside a court where he was facing charges for sharing a cartoon deemed offensive to Islam, state news agency Petra reported.

    Hattar was struck by three bullets before the assailant was arrested, said Petra. Witnesses told AFP that a man had opened fire in front of the court in Amman’s Abdali district.

    The 56-year-old Christian was arrested on August 13 after posting a cartoon mocking jihadists on his Facebook account.

    He was charged with inciting sectarian strife and insulting Islam before being released on bail in early September.

  • Writer Charged With Insulting Islam Is Killed as Extremism Boils Over in Jordan

    Some of the most extreme elements in Jordan made clear in recent weeks that Nahed Hattar should pay for a provocative cartoon he posted online depicting a bearded man in bed with two women ordering God to bring him cashews and wine.

    So when Mr. Hattar, 56, a prominent writer from a Christian family, showed up at a court on Sunday to face criminal charges of insulting Islam, at least one man with a gun decided a trial was not enough. As three bullets ripped through the writer in front of the courthouse, Jordan’s simmering tensions boiled over.

  • France: What Is Hidden Behind the “Burkini Ban”

    In Sisco, Corsica, on August 13, a group of Muslim men arrived on a beach in the company of women wearing “burkinis” (full-body bathing costumes). The Muslim men firmly asked the tourists on the beach to leave and posted signs saying “No Entry”. When a few teenagers resisted, the Muslim men responded with a harpoon and baseball bats. The police intervened — but it was just the beginning.

    In the following days, on beaches all over France, Muslim men showed up, accompanied by women in burkinis, and asking beachgoers to leave. Tourists packed up and fled. Several mayors of seaside resorts decided to ban the bathing costume, and the “burkini ban” scandal was born.

    Some politicians said that banning the burkini “stigmatized” Muslims and infringed on their “human rights” to wear whatever they liked. Other politicians, including Prime Minister Manuel Valls and former President Nicolas Sarkozy, called the burkini a “provocation”, and asked for a law to ban it. The Council of State, the highest legal institution, eventually declared that banning the burkini was against the law; the ban was lifted.

    What is important to explain is what lies behind the “burkini ban.”

    Thirty years ago, France was a country where Islam was present but where Islamic demands were virtually absent and Islamic veils were rare.

    Then, in September, 1989, in a northern suburb of Paris, three female students decided to attend high school with their heads covered by a scarf. When the dean refused, the parents, with the support of newly created Muslim associations, filed a complaint. The parents won.

  • One dead and three injured in Malmo shooting as bomb found outside primary school

    Witnesses reported hearing 20 gunshots fired in bursts of three during a football derby at around 7pm local time between Malmö FF and Helsingborgs IF on Sunday.

    One eyewitness claimed the shots were fired by people in an Audi which drove off at high speed.

    Police found shell casings at the scene in Censorgatan and say the suspects may have escaped by moped – four people were injured, including one who was shot in the head.

  • Liberals’ MP hit by hate messages

  • India Says Pakistan Believes Terror Will Bring Territory

    Pakistan continues to believe terrorist attacks will allow it to obtain territory it covets in Jammu and Kashmir, India’s foreign minister said Monday.

    In her speech before the U.N. General Assembly, Sushma Swaraj also rejected accusations made by Pakistan’s prime minister from the same podium last week that India violates human rights, calling them “baseless.”

    She said India has a man in custody “whose confession is a living proof of Pakistan’s complicity in cross-border terror. But when confronted with such evidence, Pakistan remains in denial.”

    “It persists in the belief that such attacks will enable it to obtain the territory it covets,” Swaraj said. “My firm advice to Pakistan is: abandon this dream. Let me state unequivocally that Jammu and Kashmir is an integral part of India and will always remain so.”

  • Pakistani journalist suing US for killing his son, brother in drone attack

    A Pakistani journalist has sued the United States government in Pakistani courts alleging that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) had killed his brother and a son in a drone strike in the tribal region of the country in 2009.

    According to Karim Khan, his brother and the son were innocent and had no terror links at all. His brother Asif Iqbal had Masters degree in Modern Languages and was a teacher at a local school. The 16-year-old son, Zahinullah, was a student of grade 10.

    In an interview with Al Jazeera, Khan vowed to pursue the case against the CIA and the US government. “We would show their tyrannous face to the whole world…that’s all. They cannot bring back my brother or my son…but I will fight against them as far as I can,” he said.

    Since 2004, the Central Intelligence Agency has conducted over 400 drone attacks in Pakistan, killing about 3,000 people. The London-based Bureau of Investigative Journalism claims that at least 966 civilians, including 207 children were also among those killed by the drones.

• Environment/Energy/Wildlife/Nature

  • Evolution of global temperature over the past two million years

    Reconstructions of Earth’s past climate strongly influence our understanding of the dynamics and sensitivity of the climate system. Yet global temperature has been reconstructed for only a few isolated windows of time, and continuous reconstructions across glacial cycles remain elusive. Here I present a spatially weighted proxy reconstruction of global temperature over the past 2 million years estimated from a multi-proxy database of over 20,000 sea surface temperature point reconstructions. Global temperature gradually cooled until roughly 1.2 million years ago and cooling then stalled until the present. The cooling trend probably stalled before the beginning of the mid-Pleistocene transition3, and pre-dated the increase in the maximum size of ice sheets around 0.9 million years ago. Thus, global cooling may have been a pre-condition for, but probably is not the sole causal mechanism of, the shift to quasi-100,000-year glacial cycles at the mid-Pleistocene transition. Over the past 800,000 years, polar amplification (the amplification of temperature change at the poles relative to global temperature change) has been stable over time, and global temperature and atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations have been closely coupled across glacial cycles. A comparison of the new temperature reconstruction with radiative forcing from greenhouse gases estimates an Earth system sensitivity of 9 degrees Celsius (range 7 to 13 degrees Celsius, 95 per cent credible interval) change in global average surface temperature per doubling of atmospheric carbon dioxide over millennium timescales. This result suggests that stabilization at today’s greenhouse gas levels may already commit Earth to an eventual total warming of 5 degrees Celsius (range 3 to 7 degrees Celsius, 95 per cent credible interval) over the next few millennia as ice sheets, vegetation and atmospheric dust continue to respond to global warming.

  • Singaporeans are choking on smoke floating over from Indonesia – here’s why this is happening

    Every year, forest fires from Indonesia choke a swathe of Southeast Asia with a smoky haze for weeks. This phenomenon harms the planet and angers neighbors. It is also a health hazard.

    So what is fueling this? The world’s desire for palm oil.

    The edible oil is used in cookies, noodles and other packaged foods as well as soaps, shampoos, lipsticks and many other consumer goods.

    Farmers in Indonesia, the world’s biggest supplier of the commodity, often illegally burn the world’s oldest rainforest or use fire to clear old oil palms on existing plantations, and the smoke from the flames drifts across Singapore and Malaysia.

• Finance

  • Dingell seeks transparency in trade deal negotiations

    Automakers such as Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler oppose the deal, in part because it doesn’t go far enough in addressing currency manipulation by other nations. Michigan lawmakers have suggested the state has lost tens of thousands of jobs in part because of currency manipulation by China, Japan and other countries.

    The office of U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman declined to comment on Dingell’s bill.

    Froman’s office has highlighted its transparency efforts regarding TPP, including the publication of detailed summaries of U.S. objectives in negotiating the agreement; the solicitation of public input on negotiating priorities; and the holding of public hearings to gather input on the negotiations.

  • TTIP: Negotiations ‘in the void’

    Negotiations on the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) are forging ahead, despite opposition from a number of countries. And the American elections are almost certain to compromise the deal. EurActiv France reports.

    Despite attempts by citizens and several governments to derail TTIP, EU member states have confirmed their aim of finalising the free trade deal with Canada (CETA) and pushing ahead with talks with the United States, despite the approaching elections.

  • Ministers aim to wrap up services trade deal in early December

    Countries negotiating an international agreement on trade in services plan to meet in early December to try to finalize the deal, U.S. Ambassador to the World Trade Organization Michael Punke told reporters on Monday.

    The Trade in Services Agreement (TiSA), which would provide stronger international rules for sectors such as communications and banking, is being negotiated among 23 WTO members, including the 28-country European Union, that account for 70 percent of global services trade.

    “The TiSA ambassadors met today and agreed to a ministers’ meeting on Dec. 5 and 6 in Geneva to conclude TiSA,” Punke said, adding: “Establishing 21st century trade rules for services, for 70 percent of the globe’s services economy, is a big deal.”

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Asymmetry between the major parties fries the circuits of the mainstream press

    On the eve of the first debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, I thought I would write down some of the precepts and maxims I have used to understand press behavior during this long and startling campaign season. If I have done this right, you should be able to test the usefulness of my list in the final six weeks of the U.S. election. (And during coverage of the debates!)

    A word on how I came up with this list. I’ve been a close reader and critic of campaign coverage American-style since 1988. That’s eight “cycles,” as people in the industry say. After I started PressThink in 2003, I could write about the gatekeepers without their permission — hurray for blogging! — and so my pace increased during the 2004, 2008, and 2012 elections. This year I have done a little less at my blog (eight pieces since May 2015, plus one for the Washington Post) and put more into the real time conversation on Twitter, which includes most of the people doing campaign coverage, as well as the heaviest users of it.

  • Fact Check: Has Trump declared bankruptcy four or six times?

    Trump’s companies have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, which means a company can remain in business while wiping away many of its debts. The bankruptcy court ultimately approves a corporate budget and a plan to repay remaining debts; often shareholders lose much of their equity.

    Trump’s Taj Mahal opened in April 1990 in Atlantic City, but six months later, “defaulted on interest payments to bondholders as his finances went into a tailspin,” The Washington Post’s Robert O’Harrow found. In July 1991, Trump’s Taj Mahal filed for bankruptcy. He could not keep up with debts on two other Atlantic City casinos, and those two properties declared bankruptcy in 1992. A fourth property, the Plaza Hotel in New York, declared bankruptcy in 1992 after amassing debt.

    PolitiFact uncovered two more bankruptcies filed after 1992, totaling six. Trump Hotels and Casinos Resorts filed for bankruptcy again in 2004, after accruing about $1.8 billion in debt. Trump Entertainment Resorts also declared bankruptcy in 2009, after being hit hard during the 2008 recession.

  • 24 Arrested Outside Hofstra University While Demanding An Open Presidential Debate

    Hundreds protested the exclusion of alternative ideas and candidates from the first presidential debate

  • Colin Kaepernick: ‘Embarrassing’ that Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton are candidates

    Colin Kaepernick watched “a little bit” of Monday’s presidential debate, and he didn’t come away impressed with either candidate.

    [...]

    “It was embarrassing to watch that these are our two candidates,” Kaepernick told reporters Tuesday. “Both are proven liars and it almost seems like they’re trying to debate who’s less racist.

    “And at this point … you have to pick the lesser of two evils. But in the end, it’s still evil.”

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Nude Portraits Without Nipples Challenge Sexist Censorship Policies

    Artist Sasha Frolova’s dreamlike series “Busts” was inspired by an occurrence familiar to many women online: the internet tried to police her body.

    Around a year and a half ago, Frolova took a self-portrait in the bathtub shortly after suffering a panic attack. Although the image wasn’t in any way sexual or suggestive ― to Frolova, the image was one of vulnerability and strength ― Facebook (and Instagram) censored it. Because Frolova’s nipples were visible, the platforms deemed the photo inappropriate and promptly took it down.

    After taking a hiatus from photography, Frolova wanted to address the complex network of eroticization, judgement, censorship and disempowerment women face simply for living in the bodies they were born with. The resulting images combine photography and painting to challenge social media’s loaded censorship policy, which, according to Frolova, “does not delineate pornography from anatomy.”

  • #Zuxit: 100 Facebook meme pages are going dark tomorrow to protest censorship

    Facebook could be about to get a bit less, well, dank this week – as a meme shortage strikes the network.

    From Wednesday, at least 100 of Facebook’s biggest meme artistes are going ‘on strike’ – with a three-day blackout in protest at random censorship on the platform.

    It’s called #Zuxit (and in other news, calling things -xit, seems to be the new -gate).

    Facebook has recently faced controversy over its censorship policies – including deleting a Pulitzer-prize winning Vietnam war photo for being ‘child porn’.

  • Nigerian Government Officials Abusing Cybercrime Law To Silence Critical Journalists

    There’s just something about adding the word “cyber” to “crime” that brings out the worst in legislators. A host a badly-written laws have been crafted to address everything from cyberbullying to hacking. These tend to be abused first by those in positions of power.

    Nigeria’s government recently enacted a cybercrime law which is, of course, being wielded by thin-skinned government officials to silence critics. The cyberstalking provision is the preferred attack vector, placing those targeted by unhappy government leaders at risk of being hit with a $22,000 fine and three years in prison.

  • Some content on TV needs censorship: HC

    The High Court on Tuesday said there are certain programmes and advertisements aired on television channels which need serious censorship.

  • Michael Savage is censored during LIVE show after questioning Hillary’s health. Censorship is alive and well in America

  • Michael Savage Shut Down From Radio Nationwide For Discussing Hillary Clinton Health

  • Michael Savage Cut From Airwaves For Controversial Hillary Statements

  • Was Michael Savage Censored For Discussing Hillary’s Health?

  • EXCLUSIVE – Michael Savage Reacts to Being Pulled From Radio Following Hillary Health Segment: ‘Pure Sabotage’

  • Savage Says Show Pulled For Hillary Supporters

  • Famed Talk Show Host Michael Savage Removed From Most Listened To Station In Country; Minutes Later Pulled From 400 Stations

  • Filmmakers cry hoarse over censorship

  • Change Cinematograph Act, 1952: Benegal

  • Rights to ‘cut’ a film should belong to the makers: Benegal

  • Theatre & Censorship: Challenges Playwrights Face in Maharashtra

    The biggest concern of any playwright is to find a producer who would embrace his play. But when renowned writer Premanand Gajvi finished writing his play in May 2015, little did he know that dealing with the censor board would consume most of his energy.

    He submitted the script on 5 May last year, and received a clearance only in September this year – 15 months after submission, which means nine months more than what the board can legally take.

    On 20 September, veteran actor and filmmaker Amol Palekar filed a petition in the Bombay High Court, challenging the censorship of theatre performances, conducted by the Maharashtra State Performance Scrutiny Board under various provisions of the Bombay Police Act, 1951. A procedure theatre artists have to undergo only in Maharashtra and Gujarat.

  • Banned Books Week sheds light on freedom of speech, censorship

  • ‘Stand up to censorship’ at VU read-out

  • Libraries raise awareness of Banned Books Week

  • The big bad book

    Granted, not all books that get removed from library shelves are classics. E.L. James’s softcore porn novel, “Fifty Shades of Grey,” has been on and off the ALA’s “most frequently challenged” list ever since it was published. But that’s the other problem with censorship: it doesn’t work. Most of the books on the list are bestsellers, and will probably continue to be so. Many people, especially children and teenagers, are more likely to read a book they’ve been told is “forbidden” than otherwise. And some books, like “Fifty Shades,” frankly don’t deserve that kind of attention.

• Privacy/Surveillance

  • When cyber gets physical: why we need the NSA [Ed: This shallow article (must enable JS) conflates cyberdefence with mass surveillance (which is what NSA does)]

  • Kuwait lawyers fight world’s first mandatory DNA sampling law

    Lawyers in Kuwait have issued a legal challenge to the only law in the world forcing citizens and visitors to give samples of their DNA to the government.

    The Kuwait government has said that the law is needed to combat terrorism. DNA testing is reportedly due to begin within weeks.

    When the law was passed in July last year, Adel AbdulHadi of the Kuwaiti law firm Adel AbdulHadi & Partners and his colleagues began researching and drafting their challenge to it. Their principal argument is that the law violates privacy and human rights provisions in the country’s own constitution, as well as those enshrined in international treaties to which Kuwait is a signatory.

  • Local Lawyers Challenge New Kuwaiti Law Creating Mandatory DNA Database Of All Citizens And Visitors

  • Snowden movie ‘preposterous’, says former NSA deputy director

    The former deputy director of the National Security Agency has taken issue with Oliver Stone’s biopic of one-time NSA employee Edward Snowden.

    Speaking to National Public Radio, Chris Inglis, who retired in 2014 after 28 years at the agency, said the film’s narrative “was a gross mischaracterisation of what NSA’s purposes are. And a gross exaggeration of Edward Snowden’s own particular role in that. To the point where you could come away from looking at that movie, saying, ‘Why are 50,000 people at the NSA dead wrong? And one is absolutely correct?’”

    An NSA deputy director does feature in the film, played by Patrick Joseph Byrnes, and commissions Snowden to lead an important project in Hawaii.

  • Military pressing for broader surveillance mandate

    New legislation is being prepared at the Ministry of Defense for inclusion in a broader package of laws aimed at upgrading surveillance by security officials that would include the possibility of monitoring data carried by cables crossing the country.

    At present, Finland does not have a law providing the military with a mandate to carry out these kinds of intelligence operations. The new legislation in the works will include this, and spell out oversight of intelligence gathering and the division of duties among various officials and agencies.

    The Finnish military has a signals intelligence unit known as the Finnish Intelligence Research Establishment which organizationally falls under the Air Force.

    The head of Finnish military intelligence services, Major General Harri Ohra-aho told Yle that operations are not only concerned with information gathering about the military picture in the region, but also with assessing social developments.

    “We don’t count tanks, rather create a broad analysis of the situation in our vicinity. Technological advances are changing the security environment,” said Ohra-aho.

  • Swiss endorse new surveillance powers

    Swiss voters have given a strong approval to a law on new surveillance powers for the intelligence agencies.

    The new law would allow the authorities to tap phones, snoop on email and deploy hidden cameras and bugs.

    It would help Switzerland catch up with other countries, supporters say.

    Opponents have feared it could erode civil liberties and put Swiss neutrality at risk by requiring closer co-operation with foreign intelligence agencies.

    Some 65.5% of voters agreed to accept the proposal. It will allow the Federal Intelligence Service and other agencies to put suspects under electronic surveillance if authorised by a court, the defence ministry and the cabinet.

  • Microsoft goes AI crazy: Now Office 365 can track what you really get up to in meetings

    At its annual Ignite conference this week in Atlanta, GA, Microsoft is showing off new AI features across its core products for the enterprise. According to CEO Satya Nadella, this AI-everywhere strategy amounts to Microsoft “democratizing AI” for everyone to solve the world’s most pressing challenges.

    “To do this, we’re infusing intelligence into everything we deliver, from the agent to applications, services and infrastructure,” said Nadella.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • A New Intelligence Award for “Reporting Wrongdoing” [Ed: this is a trap]

    Professional integrity may be welcome everywhere, but “speaking truth to power” is rarely welcomed by “power.” Often it is not even acknowledged as “truth.” (Apparently, the IC envisions itself here as the domain of truth, and not of power. Or will those who challenge the IC leadership itself be eligible for the new award?) Meanwhile, “reporting wrongdoing” often seems to end badly for the reporter, as the frequency of whistleblower reprisal claims indicates.

  • House Intelligence Panel Gets Dozens of Whistleblower Complaints Every Year

    Critics of leakers have often argued that whistleblowers have legitimate channels through which they can report their grievances, but in the murky world of intelligence, it’s hard to know how many complaints are filed, and what, if anything, happens as a result. Now, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence says it sees “dozens” of such complaints every year.

    The committee will not disclose details on individual cases, however.

    “We receive whistleblower-type complaints both through the [Intelligence Community inspector general] — which includes complaints filed through the Intelligence Community Whistleblower Protection Act — and via individuals who approach the committee directly,” said Jack Langer, communications director for Committee Chair Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif. Those complaints number in the “dozens” each year, he added.

    The legal process for whistleblowing has been at the center of renewed debate following public disclosures made by Edward Snowden in 2013. Snowden, who worked as an NSA contractor, insists he tried to raise complaints internally, but eventually gave up on the system, for fear of reprisal or dismissal.

  • Torture and False Testimony Leaves Mexico on a Journey to Nowhere

    For many in Mexico, the disappearance of 43 young students from the Ayotzinapa teaching college two years ago remains a painful emblem of a profound national failure—the failure of the state to protect its own people. Among other things, the case highlighted collusion among drug gangs, local politicians, and police, the failure of federal authorities to carry out a credible investigation, and—glaringly—the degree to which torture remains part of the standard operating procedure of criminal investigation.

    Take the case of Patricio Reyes Landa, an alleged member of the Guerrero Unidos criminal gang. Two years ago, Mexico’s attorney general called a press conference and showed a video in which Reyes Landa and three other suspects demonstrated how they supposedly threw the students’ ashes in a river, after incinerating their bodies at a garbage dump. Now, Reyes Landa and some 90 other suspects detained during the investigation say they were tortured into making false confessions about what they did or saw.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Verizon Claims Nobody Wants Unlimited Data, Wouldn’t Be Profitable Anyway

    Back in 2011, Verizon and AT&T eliminated unlimited wireless data plans, instead pushing users toward share data allotments and overage fees as high as $15 per gigabyte. And while the companies did “grandfather” many of these unlimited users at the time, both companies have made at art form out of harassing or otherwise annoying these customers until they convert to costlier shared plans. And despite the fact that such overage-fee-based plans confuse the living hell out of most customers (who have no idea what a gigabyte is), both companies continue to insist that customers don’t actually want unlimited data.

• DRM

  • EFF calls on HP to disable printer ink self-destruct sequence

    HP Inc. should apologize to customers and restore the ability of printers to use third-party ink cartridges, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) said in a letter to the company’s CEO yesterday.

    HP has been sabotaging OfficeJet printers with firmware that prevents use of non-HP ink cartridges and even HP cartridges that have been refilled, forcing customers to buy more expensive ink directly from HP. The self-destruct mechanism informs customers that their ink cartridges are “damaged” and must be replaced.

  • Demand that HP make amends for its self-destructing printers [SIGN AND SHARE!]

    I’ve written an open letter to HP CEO Dion Weisler on behalf of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, asking him to make amends for his company’s bizarre decision to hide a self-destruct sequence in a printer update that went off earlier this month, breaking them so that they would no longer use third-party ink cartridges.

    The letter points out that this is bad business — and it’s also bad for security. HP printers have previously been shown to be vulnerable to malware that spreads through sneaky codes in documents you print, that can steal your private data, raid your network, and become part of website-killing botnets.

    HP hid its self-destruct sequence in a software update, making future updates — like those that patch this kind of defect — suspect, and decreasing the likelihood that HP’s customers will install them.

    Worse still: HP can use Section 1201 of the DMCA to threaten security researchers who reveal similar defects, and to attack competitors who restore full functionality to your printer.

  • Capcom Releases DRM For Street Fighter 5, Promptly Rolls It Back When It Screws Legitimate Customers

    It should be quite clear by now that DRM is a fantastic way for video game makers to keep people from playing their games. Not pirates, though. No, those folks can play games with DRM just fine, because DRM doesn’t actually keep piracy from being a thing. No, I’m talking about legitimate buyers of games, who in example after example after example suddenly find that the games they bought are unplayable thanks to DRM tools that work about as well as the American political system. And yet DRM still exists for some reason, as game makers look for some kind of holy grail piece of software that will turn every past pirate into a future dollar sign.

    This search for the perfect DRM continues, as we have just the latest story of DRM gone wrong. This story of the Street Fighter V DRM, though, is a special kind of stupid because it was put in place via a software update release, meaning that a game that worked perfectly one day was bricked the next.

• Intellectual Monopolies

  • Copyrights

    • Copyright Theft Is Grounds For Deportation, Board Says

    • Immigration Board Says You Can Be Deported For Copyright Infringement

      While we still wait to see if Kim Dotcom can be taken against his will from another country into the US for “copyright infringement” claims, apparently the DOJ has also decided that it can work the other way. The Justice Department’s Board of Immigration Appeals has said that people can be deported for copyright infringement. Apparently the law (the Immigration and Nationality Act) says that non-citizens can be deported if they commit crimes “involving moral turpitude” but had never weighed in on whether or not copyright infringement counted.

      [...]

      To be fair, this was a case of criminal copyright infringement, and not civil copyright infringement — and the board noted that because criminal copyright infringement requires the showing of “willfulness,” it suffices for the “moral turpitude” question. The person in question, Raul Zaragoza-Vaquero, had been arrested for selling 800 copied CDs to an RIAA investigator. He received 33 months in prison and had to pay $36,000… and was then told he had to leave the country.

    • EFF White Paper Hopes To Educate Cops On The Difference Between An IP Address And A Person

      Judges have pointed out to copyright trolls on multiple occasions that an IP address is not a person. Trolls still labor under this convenient misconception because they have little else in the way of “proof” of someone’s alleged infringement.

      Unfortunately, law enforcement agencies also seem to feel an IP address is a person — or at least a good indicator of where this person might be found. This assumption leads to blunders like ICE raiding a Tor exit node because it thought an IP address was some sort of unique identifier. After having IP addresses explained to it by the EFF, ICE returned the seized hard drives and promised to make the same mistake in the future.

      In another case, the Seattle PD raided a Tor exit node in search of a person downloading child porn. It didn’t find the target it was looking for, but went ahead and demanded passwords so it could search files and logs at the unfortunate citizen’s home before realizing it had the wrong person.

      The EFF is kind of sick of having to explain the difference between an IP address and a person to government entities. It has put together a white paper [PDF] that should be required reading anywhere government employees feel compelled to act on “evidence” as useless as IP addresses.

    • The EU’s Proposed Copyright Directive Is Likely To Be A Wonderful Gift — For US Internet Giants

      Even if the Copyright Directive manages to pass through the EU legislative system without any changes — which seems unlikely — Google would be in a strong position, because it already has the content ID technology in place that will allow it to comply. Although McNamee suggests that as a result Google would be “uniquely placed to license such software to European internet providers,” it’s more likely that it would keep it for its own exclusive use. However, the US company Audible Magic would doubtless be more than happy to license its widely-used content identification system as an alternative. And irrespective of whether it’s based on technology from Google or from Audible Magic, it’s hard to see how this outcome helps the European tech industry.

Summary: A survey/review (or an overview) of recent articles about the EPO and why they’re wrong (mostly because they parrot the official lies from Battistelli’s department)

THE Battistelli campaign (or coup d’état) recently entered a new phase. A year ago we noted that the EPO had begun deliberately lying both to journalists and to staff. It’s inexcusable and it causes irreparable damage to the EPO both as a service and as an employer (or prospective employer). Battistelli appears to have become a man without accountability; he’s liable to nobody, except Sarkozy perhaps. What a joke the EPO has become under this man’s so-called ‘leadership’. Even IP-centric circles lost respect for him, but they have to keep pretending that he’s President even when the staff pretty much disowned him and Board 28 views him as a liability. How this man managed to maintain his position might one day become the subject of some incredible book! Eponia is an autocrat’s fantasy land.

Today we would like to counter or respond to several reports we saw. Some of them are so shallow that one starts to wonder if the EPO directly paid for them (we already know that the EPO pays publications to print out puff pieces).

Façade of Independence

A couple of months ago we wrote about how Battistelli (in part) would be appointing another one of his cronies, in order for this crony to be framed as "independence" for the appeal boards. Earlier this week we found this article titled “EPO seeks to allay independence fears with new appointment”; problem is, they don’t mention who makes this appointment and why it’s merely an illusion of independence, as explicitly pointed out by AMBA. To quote this report:

The European Patent Office is seeking to appoint a president of its boards of appeal, a newly created post aimed at addressing longstanding independence concerns.

In a notice published on its website, the EPO said the appointment would ‘foster autonomy and efficiency’ at the appeal boards, which are responsible for hearing appeals against examination decisions.

Under the European Patent Convention, the framework that instituted the European Patent Office, the 28 boards of appeal are supposed to be independent from the rest of the office and only answer to the EPO’s supervisory body the Administrative Council.

But in 2014, their autonomy was thrown into doubt when EPO president Benoit Battistelli (pictured) placed a ‘house ban’ on the then head of the enlarged board of appeal.

Those who have paid close enough attention know that by various means Battistelli is crushing these boards while merely maintaining the illusion that he is not doing so (maybe because of the EPC).

Repeating EPO sound bites like “foster autonomy and efficiency” is a disservice to truth. It’s the repetition of lies. We’re not sure why the Law Gazette decided to issue such a shallow piece while neglecting to highlight the other side of the story — the side which is not merely lying to save face.

Façade of Patent Quality

Patent quality will certainly be a big topic in the Administrative Council’s next meeting which is only a month away (based on document we saw), so Battistelli and his cronies have begun lying about it and planting puff pieces in the media (whether by collusion or by finding ‘useful idiots’ who would play along for free we are not sure).

This new article, like many others, compared EPO to the USPTO, quite frankly as usual. It’s not as though the USPTO has high patent quality. “This is part of what the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and European Patent Office (EPO) have to consider in order to determine” who will sink to the bottom of the barrel and accept widely-rejected patent applications. We heard theories about how Battistelli was trying to attract really bad applications by lowering the acceptance bar. That would be a terrible mistake which drains or squeezes out everything that’s left of the EPO’s 40+-year reputation.

James Nurton, the favourite poodle of Battistelli (doing so-called ‘interviews’ to prepare puff pieces with him), repeats the EPO’s lies this week. It’s not journalism but churnalism and it does nothing to highlight the terrible patent quality we have been hearing about and writing about. Low patent quality might be fine for attorneys in the short term (more business), but what happens to society as a whole?

Yesterday we found this new article about the “English approach to obviousness” of patents and the comments were revealing. To quote both of them:

For some time it has seemed to me that the UK courts’ approach to obviousness makes little overall commercial sense. Obviousness is a difficult, fairly subjective question, based on a number of legal fictions. The UK court approach leads to massive expense in terms of gathering evidence to try to definitively demonstrate points that are not real but are wrapped up in the legal fictions.

So is the current UK approach in fact causing massive expense to arrive at a fairly artificial, one might say arbitrary result?

It seems that the current approach leaves little certainty and it is hard to advise (especially without all the evidence that the current approach seems to demand) – as this case/blog suggests.

To me adopting, say (or whisper..) an EPO style approach might make more sense. Yes justice might be rougher. But it would be much easier to know the likely outcome, and the cost of litigation could be massively reduced.

Wouldn’t better certainty, reasonable cost and a likelihood of a reasonable result (most of the time) be attractive to business?

Hear him, hear him. well said Herr Faulkner.

Given that, for determination of obviousness objectively, the addressee is the hypothetical skilled person, it is well to set up his or her hypothetical task to match. The EPO PSA rubric does that. The skilled person is given the objective technical problem (OTP), and required to scroll through the state of the art for a hint or suggestion how to crack it. Isn’t that what real researchers do, in real life?

As to the OTP, that is determined by Applicant. Full faith and credit for what the application as filed states to be the technical field and the technical problem solved by the invention. Nothing fairer, than that, or simpler to explain to the patent litigation community.

When granting a patent an office (or examiners) doesn’t need to consider business needs of the applicant and his/her lawyer but rather the inventiveness. Battistelli, being a business type rather than a scientist, is turning the Office into a production line. Examiners don’t benefit from it, specialist patent judges (like those at the boards) certainly don’t benefit from it, and the whole spirit/principles that made the EPO a world leader become just history.

It’s truly a problem that Battistelli and his loyalists now frequently resort to lying (to the public and staff) about what they do. It’s costly in the long run because trust is eroded and applicants will sooner or later find out that the EPO is just an expensive (overpriced) rubberstamping exercise/operation. Battistelli will soon find out that his chronic lying needs to stop. Even when he and his cronies say the truth people won’t believe the EPO anymore.

“They don’t care about costs,” one insider told us. “Obviously Battistelli is ready to reach his goals by any means necessary. SUEPO dismissal=collateral damage [...] Someone should tell IAM that there are also dodgy social studies initiated by the EPO to mislead the press and politicians ;)” (comment regarding the upcoming ‘Social Conference’).

“We shall see if IAM has the integrity to engage in journalism when the EPO lies about the social climate,” I told them, after IAM slagged off Professor Bessen, saying: “Someone should tell Mr Bessen there are academics who’ll take cash to produce dodgy studies for corporates seeking to change patent laws ;-)” (says the site that takes money from the EPO's PR agency that receives over a million Euros per year from the EPO).

“For what it’s worth,” the insider added, “they don’t have the guts to object King Battistelli and his thugs. Fear of repercussions?”

He or she later explained: “Distraction form actual problems and distortion of the truth and the facts is Battistelli’s footprint and tactics in this dirty game!”

“As a former EPO examiner, and current practicing attorney, I had to bite my tongue not to scream a nasty expletive when I read that.”
      –AnonymousBattistelli is trying to appeal to US businesses by rubberstamping almost everything while his friends at IAM propagate his talking points, namely: “Battistelli told the audience that this was “a clear sign that there is a growing interest from you in the EPO and the European innovation market”. To help manage that growing interest the EPO has appointed its first attaché to the US, hiring Albert Keyack who previously served as the USPTO’s attaché for South America.”

We wrote about Keyack before [1, 2] and explained why it’s rather alarming. Quality control before Battistelli was reasonably OK, but EPO insiders tell us they’re mortified at how sharp a decline they’re seeing. We shall cover this in depth another day. Battistelli basically exploits the image created or defended by his predecessors while shifting policy in the opposite direction.

“The European Patent Office (EPO) has argued that Berkeley’s initial, provisional application does not adequately describe the invention because it fails to mention the importance of certain DNA sequences, called PAM sequences,” according to this new article from Nature. It’s an article about patents on life and the outline/outset says:

Geneticist George Church has pioneered methods for sequencing and altering genomes. He has been called a founding father of synthetic biology, and is probably the world’s leading authority on efforts to resurrect the extinct woolly mammoth.

Now, a battle over who owns the patent rights to a revolutionary gene-editing technique could hinge, in part, on whether Church’s scientific skill could be considered ‘ordinary’.

Such are the arcane and often bizarre issues the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) must consider in the fight over CRISPR–Cas9 gene editing. But the proceedings, which could drag out for years, have taken an ugly turn from scientific minutiae to accusations of impropriety. “There seem to be a number of allegations of bad actors and bad faith,” says Jacob Sherkow, a legal scholar at New York Law School in New York City. “It’s aggressive.”

Once upon a time it was really hard to be granted an EPO patent, but now it’s somewhat of a joke (even to insiders who are patent examiners). They’re rightly concerned because a shoddy (rushed) job would cost them their job in the long run.

“Well, the UPC Preparatory Committee is the very core of Team UPC and it’s basically a bunch of self-serving propagandists and lobbyists.”“As a former EPO examiner,” wrote this one person the other say, “and current practicing attorney, I had to bite my tongue not to scream” (at EPO lies).

The specific part which angered this person was: “Alfred Spigarelli, European Patent Office (EPO), disagreed with the trade-off premise, and stated that at the EPO, a focus on quality results in productivity.”

Complete nonsense. A symptom of what the EPO has become under Battistelli.

Façade of UPC as Inevitable

Based on this tweet from yesterday, CIPA and the EPO will soon converge in London (we’re guessing to push and lobby some more for the UPC after Brexit, among other things). We previously explained the role of CIPA in all this, including the push for the UPC.

Here come some alarmists from Team UPC. Cohen & Gresser LLP say “Brain Drain? How Brexit may affect intellectual property rights in Europe” (hardly a problem as long as the UK has its own office, UK-IPO).

Another new article asks (in the headline), “Where Next For Patents In Europe?”

It’s actually UPC promotion by proxy (embedded in the article), as for patents in Europe the British people can still use the EPO, albeit the EPO hardly hired any Brits anymore (maybe they don’t even bother applying, as we showed last month). Here is what the article says:

An experienced patent lawyer, commenting on the basis of anonymity, believes the UK patent landscape has changed decisively post Brexit: “The Unified Patent Court [in the UK] and Unitary Patent [in the UK] will almost certainly now not go ahead. There is some talk of them still happening, with various permutations being suggested, but I think it is unlikely as it would be politically odd to sign up to a European court with such wide powers so soon after the vote”.

Alexander Ramsay, Chairman of the UPC Preparatory Committee is slightly more optimistic “For the time being the United Kingdom remains a Member State of the European Union and a Signatory State of the Unified Patent Court Agreement and an integral player in its preparation”. However he concedes, the referendum result raises questions “…in particular as regards its possible impact on the UK participation and on the UK ratification of the Agreement”.

“They built their portfolio or career on the premise that the UPC would become a reality, so they’re pushing for it by all means possible, even if everyone but Team UPC antagonises the UPC (most people know nothing about it, but they would be harmed by it).”Well, the UPC Preparatory Committee is the very core of Team UPC and it’s basically a bunch of self-serving propagandists and lobbyists. They built their portfolio or career on the premise that the UPC would become a reality, so they’re pushing for it by all means possible, even if everyone but Team UPC antagonises the UPC (most people know nothing about it, but they would be harmed by it).

The “consequences of Brexit on the UPC amongst many in the patent community (especially by the EPO) is naïve at best,” says the following new comment, which also notes that any “attempt [to] proceed with UPC also ignores a critical voice which is that of the user”. Here is the comment in full:

I agree with the previous post. Unfortunately the reaction to the consequences of Brexit on the UPC amongst many in the patent community (especially by the EPO) is naïve at best and wilfully blind at worse. To be clear UK participation in the UPC is dead, and the UPC itself is seriously wounded -perhaps fatally so. UPC will not happen any time soon. I appreciate this is frustrating given it came so close. But it does not serve the interests of UK based applicants or those who desire UK patents to pretend otherwise and to do so is in danger of making a bad situation much worse.
I comment as a passionate European and patent attorney who has worked in house for many multi-national patentees. I have spent many years living in the EU as a UK ex Pat. After recently returning to live in the UK, I was bitterly disappointed by Brexit, which I believe will be a disaster. However UK ratifying the UPC notwithstanding the June result (even if possible) would simply play into the hands of those who voted to leave as it would be an illustration of elitist arrogance which rather makes their point for them.
UPC won’t happen with the UK as the political obstacles to UK participation in UPC are insurmountable. The patent community just doesn’t have the political clout to persuade the UK government to take the political risks and use up their limited political capital in Europe by doing so.
For the UK to attempt proceed with UPC also ignores a critical voice which is that of the user. The UPC was always a solution looking for a problem. Even before Brexit, despite the EPO propaganda, I did not sense a large push for industry to use the UPC, who were largely ambivalent at best. Indeed the risk of pan EU injunctions was as much a potential huge downside for EU industry from UPC as it was an opportunity.
The present post grant arrangements have largely worked well for 40 years. As a very low proportion of EU patents are ever litigated, I always felt UPC was a post grant tail wagging a pre-grant dog. The UPC has always been a political not economic project based on questionable assumptions and statistics from EPO, and did not properly reflect what industry or most users wanted.
The critical risk from Brexit (and for that matter the UPC) is prolonged uncertainty. For the UK to ratify UPC now will merely heap yet more legal uncertainty on top of a massive post Brexit legal black hole. Who is to say that any fudge that allows UK to join UPC, however cleverly thought through, would be confirmed by the CJEU, given their intense suspicion of the whole endeavour? Why would any applicant take the risk of obtaining UPC patents, if their UK patent rights may be at risk at some unknown point in the future?
For UK to ratify UPC now could drive applicants who desire UK protection away from the EPO to file direct at the UKIPO. It may even put at risk EU patents outside the UK thus making the UPC even less attractive for all users. Worse case it might deter all applicants from using the EPO at all, if they are forced into a system based on legally shaky foundations.
The only sensible option is to pause, wait until the UK leaves the EU and then introduce a revised UPC to cover the remaining EU states who still wish it. Of course a UPC without the UK is less attractive to applicants and a disaster for the UK patent profession. It means no UK based court. But that is one of the very many unfortunate consequences of a poor decision to leave the EU. Revision of the UPC agreement may indeed open up debate that will question the merits of the UPC at all – no bad thing given the rushed and poor quality debate in the EU parliament. However the UK is on our way out, that is no longer our concern and we can have no say on this. Again this is the harsh reality of what leaving the EU means, a lack of influence of UK stakeholders in EU affairs.
But to follow the UPC to the bitter end without pause could seriously weaken a supranational patent granting system in Europe that has worked effectively and served applicants well for many years.

Dr Ingve Björn Stjerna, a longtime antagonist of the UPC, has a new paper about the UPC in light (or shadow) of Brexit. His summary says: “The majority vote of the British electorate in favor of leaving the European Union has delivered a serious blow to the European patent reform. The usual protagonists nonetheless immediately started advocating for an instant ratification of the Agreement on a Unified Patent Court (“UPCA”) by the UK, now even deeming possible the participation of a non-EU member which so far, due to CJEU opinion 1/09, was held to be excluded by the same people. When looking at the situation from a less biased perspective, a UPCA with the UK may only be possible after a structural revision of the Agreement.”

In our next post we shall tackle some more of the EPO’s lies. █

The Leader of the Luddites, engraving of 1812

Summary: Battistelli, who tries to automate and streamline everything so as to maximise patent grants rather than examine applications properly, is making incredible claims that will almost certainly backfire on him

AMID EPO crisis, which undoubtedly continues to deepen, more and more people start to compare it to the USPTO, where patent quality has been rather notorious for quite some time (they almost just rubberstamp applications, with a 92% acceptance rate).

For weeks now (if not a whole month and a half!) the EPO has been 'spamming' universities in Europe on a daily basis, in order to help Battistelli's lobbying campaign (today was no exception [1, 2]). Both time and money may be running out. Talented workers are already leaving, causing brain drain that’s unprecedented in the EPO’s history. What will perhaps be left is just the job skill of using a rubber stamp, causing a copious lump of patents to come through with no quality assessment/control. That’s a nightmare scenario for the EPO’s reputation, on which has been based for decades. For the third time in one week the EPO does the unthinkable by inviting software patents. “At the EPO,” it wrote today, computer-implemented inventions must fulfil special patentability criteria. Learn more here!”

This is the third time in just a few days that the EPO tacitly promotes software patents in Europe. Remember that these are not legal in Europe (political decisions were made on patent scope more than a decade ago), but then again, under Battistelli the EPO is above the law anyway. Or so it claims. It just ignores court decisions against it, flaunting immunity. Is there any credibility left to lose? Is the EPO’s Twitter account signaling that the EPO will likely rubberstamp just about anything, including software patents (provided they’re written in some misleading fashion, as per the EPO’s advice)? This could become a threat to the very existence of the EPO. People won’t pay to receive (or renew) patents. The demand may go down. Prices (fees) likewise. What might be the impact on salaries?

“You should see the new issue of the Gazette,” one person told us, “a piece of Pravda-type propaganda…. interview with Battistelli, Lisbon with Battistelli… what is also interesting is that they have employed two more “investigators”…” (a subject we shall expand on another day).

So the EPO is apparently the embodiment of just one person, Battistelli, examiners that are treated like machine operators in an assembly line, and daily propaganda to keep those operators chugging along. No wonder a lot of smart people have decided to leave or retire early. They see the writings on the wall. Battistelli is just a liquidator, not a leader.

A new article by Andrew Chung, who wrote a highly misleading headline (unless his editor types the headlines, as is quite common) that we noted last night using a screenshot, is repeating Battistelli’s latest propaganda in a new puff piece (published 24 hours ago). It’s again misleading and we can’t help but wonder what Chung has been drinking (maybe more of that aforementioned Kool-Aid). Basically, Battistelli is riding the coattails of older patents. He ruins EP (European Patent) quality while hiding it using the accomplishment of his predecessors. This guy is so clueless about patents (his workers know far more than he will ever know), but Chung acts like some kind of Battistelli stenographer (reposted in other news sites) and the editor went with the headline “Europe issues better patents than U.S. – Europe patent boss” (as if the US is a good yardstick these days).

As realised by EPO insiders, Battistelli is demolishing the EPO as they once know it and he now lies to everyone, much to the pleasure of those who lie for him (here he is propped up by CIPA and other interest groups or publishers that are in bed with the EPO [1, 2, 3, 4]).

The article itself will probably help Battistelli’s lobbying (he likes to cite his paid “media partners” for support of his claims) and here is what it says:

Amid growing concerns by some U.S. lawmakers that federal officials may be granting patents that fuel abusive litigation, the head of the European Patent Office says his agency is producing better-quality patents than its American counterpart.

EPO President Benoît Battistelli said his office scrutinizes patent applications more closely than the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, which he said results in patents that are more legally sound going out the door.

[...]

Battistelli, a French national who has led the EPO since 2010, said his agency has developed databases and search engines that allow it to perform the most comprehensive research on prior inventions that could lead to a rejection of a patent.

Unlike in the United States, he added, all patent applications are scrutinized by three officials, known as patent examiners, rather than just one.

This leads to a lower rate of granted patents, he said, but they are legally solid.

On the other hand, it costs roughly twice as much to obtain a patent in Europe, around 5,000 euros ($5,625), than in the United States.

Fact-checking Battistelli’s claims? Not needed. Just write down what a chronic liar says and call yourself a “Reuters journalist”.

This article was sent to us by several EPO insiders although we actually noticed it an hour after it had been published (we have an alerting system for all things EPO). Here is what a patent attorney wrote in response to a related discussion today:

On how to trade off quality and productivity, the USPTO and the EPO cannot meaningfully be compared. That’s because the EPO is master of its own house and the USPTO is not. Who makes the law of patent validity in Europe? The EPO’s Enlarged Board of Appeal. Who in the USA? The Supreme Court of the USA and it makes law that i) frustrates any USPTO drive towards productivity and quality and ii) encourages Applicants and their lawyers to obfuscate and work diligently away from clarity in the claims.

So of course Mr Spigarelli sees it all as very simple. Pure self-interest drives Applicants at the EPO to draft clearly. EPO separation of search and examination, and strict enforcement of EPC Rules by DG1, makes it imperative that i) from the outset, Applicant presents an exhaustive set of dependent claims and ii) DG1 searches them all, at the outset, exhaustively. That way lies both quality and productivity. Simples. But not yet at the USPTO.

Now that the USA is on a First to File system however, Applicant self-interest in that country will kick in, gradually to improve drafting in the USA and, in its wake, will come better quality and productivity. How so? Because the US will now find it has to ratchet up its “written description” requirement to somewhere near the EPO’s exacting Gold Standard for disclosure, in order fairly to judge issues of novelty, priority and added matter.

In response to this, one person wrote:

Improving patent quality flows both ways, with the quality of the drafted claims submitted for examination being an equally important aspect in the equation. The article mentioned situations where the examiners don’t understand the invention – that’s a clear indictment of the patent attorney who drafted the claims, isn’t it? A strategy of drafting overly broad claims and seeing what sticks is not helpful for anyone (other than the attorney charging fees to his client).

The examiners in the USPTO need more time, better IT support and investment to help improve the quality of their work. They are working hard in less than perfect circumstances and we should all support them. Sharing lessons learned with the EPO is a good start, but attorneys need to do their part too, IMHO.

Also in response to the above:

“The U.S. speakers mostly assumed a trade-off between the two goals of productivity and quality…snip…Alfred Spigarelli, European Patent Office (EPO), disagreed with the trade-off premise, and stated that at the EPO, a focus on quality results in productivity. He argued the ultimate goal is always quality, from which productivity flows.”

At the EPO, “Early Certainty” equals quality with timeliness. And timeliness increases productivity, since examiners are given targets on that. The trade-off is merely hidden and fully loaded onto the individual examiners’ shoulders.

“Professors Melissa Wasserman and Michael D. Frakes discussed their study which indicates that promoted USPTO examiners may generally grant more patents because of less examination time as they are promoted.”

At the the EPO, promoted and non-promoted examiners have the same examination time, but promoted examiners likely grant more.

Same here, same there, same everywhere …

Looking at another thread, this one new comment on “Early Certainty” reveals how insiders feel about the patent quality and overcapacity:

- Overrecruitment is discussed in internal FAQ’s on Early Certainty, but not in the external one, of course.

- Production demands for newcomers have always been inflating, as they doe for all other examiners on a yearly basis.

- Contracts for examiners: the numbers are in the Social Report published by the EPO.

We shall expand on that another day, possibly this weekend, due to lack of time. The above comments (the first three) were posted in response to coverage from an event that was mentioned here a few days ago. David Kappos, as we expected, used it to lobby for software patents again (he’d paid for that lobbying). Being like a corrupt official-turned-lobbyist, here is what he did: “Finally, David Kappos, former head of USPTO and current partner at Cravath, Swain and Moore, reviewed how the USPTO has historically worked on patent quality. He pointed out that the USPTO has been applying the changing standards and rules set by the courts. He stated that the U.S. Supreme Court’s Alice test is not a helpful flexible rule, but arbitrary and vague. He believes that the courts and USPTO are placed in a position of having to apply an impossible standard and should not be blamed for their application of said standard.”

This utter nonsense from Kappos, calling for decline in patent quality (like it was under his reign), comes at an interesting/strategic time when software patents are pretty much dead. There are few exceptions to that, as we mentioned here before, but in the vast majority of cases software patents drop like flies, even in bulk. Last night we mentioned articles like this one (cherry-picking of cases by the patent microcosm) and here we have a Microsoft advocacy site, citing Microsoft’s lobbying site, showing that Microsoft props up illusions of software patents resurgence, pretending they’re fine (they’re not). Remember that Microsoft is among the companies that pay Kappos to lobby along those lines. Here is what Microsoft has to say: “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit yesterday issued an important decision strengthening the law related to software patent eligibility under Section 101 of the Patent Act. This ruling gives us useful guidance for determining which software innovations qualify for protection and helping provide greater stability to the U.S. patent system, a foundation for our digital economy. Erich Andersen, vice president and deputy general counsel of Microsoft’s IP (Intellectual Property) Group wrote a blog post expressing his views on this ruling.”

Well, as expected right from the start, patent law firms yank out their misleading jubilations because of McRO (one single patent!) [1, 2] and Gene Quinn generalises at Watchtroll, having ignored pretty much all the recent decisions which invalidated software patents (the cherry-picking or selective coverage tactic).

“What we see in the US is a dodgy system wherein the patent office is inclined to just grant everything, courts reject a lot of patents, and if Battistelli gets his way the EPO will be the same, inviting a lot of patent trolls, software patents that hamper innovation, and a lot more money for the patent microcosm.”In other news regarding patent scope in the US, “patented software” became the subject of an antitrust lawsuit, a drug patent of Teva got invalidated by PTAB [1, 2, 3], and USPTO examiners awarded another software patent (which courts would likely invalidate if ever scrutinised properly).

What we see in the US is a dodgy system wherein the patent office is inclined to just grant everything, courts reject a lot of patents, and if Battistelli gets his way the EPO will be the same, inviting a lot of patent trolls, software patents that hamper innovation, and a lot more money for the patent microcosm. So, are EPO patents better than US patents? Well, the old ones probably are, but Battistelli is going to change that. As a Conservative Neo-liberal he’s likely to just abuse science, just like his 'master' Sarkozy, who is now publicly denying climate science. █

Summary: The latest farcical behaviour from the European Patent Office (EPO), where Battistelli has enacted some kind of Martial Law in the face of resistance to his utter elimination of everything the Office stands for

“As uncertainty lingers in US patent system,” wrote the EPO’s mouthpiece, “clearly a big push by EPO to target US filers. Appointed first EPO attache based in the US…”

In other words, the EPO races to the bottom of patent quality. “Battistelli,” continued the mouthpiece, had said “EPO patent grants projected to jump by more than 30% in 2016″ (as if that’s a good thing, it only reinforces the greatest worries that the EPO as an examination office is dying).

“More software patents advocacy (ish) could be found today in the EPO’s own mouth.”“Another job vacancy at the EPO,” one person meanwhile writes in a comment, linking to “President of the Boards of Appeal (INT/EXT/2141)” from the EPO’s Web site. “Will be interesting to see if it goes to an EPO “insider” or whether the successful candidate will be an “external”.”

Well, maybe some French dude (yes, male) from INPI. Yet another one… not only will Bergot (wife of Battistelli’s friend from INPI) be involved in this appointment but also Battistelli himself, as independence of the boards is now just an illusion (being sent to exile in Haar in itself says how much independence and self-determination they have, while AMBA’s input gets altogether ignored in decision-making). Some other day (probably soon) we’ll write about people whom Battistelli has ejected from the boards. It’s really quite a farce!

The EPO, in the mean time, promotes this upcoming event titled “Boards of appeal and key decisions 2016″ (does not cover the decision to send it to exile as part of the malicious plans).

“This event is tailored to patent attorneys, judges & NPO staff with 3 to 4 years’ experience in patents,” the EPO wrote.

“Battistelli is totally killing the EPO. He throws over 40 years of reputation down the drain and he will soon thereafter probably return to a political career in France (his ally Sarkozy pursues power again) because the UPC isn’t going to happen.”More software patents advocacy (ish) could be found today in the EPO’s own mouth. “This e-learning module,” the EPO wrote, “presents the patentability requirements for computer-implemented inventions at the EPO” even though these are not legal. Rules and laws be damned! Battistelli insists he’s above the law anyway. Well, this is the second time in less than a week that the EPO does this kind of software patents advocacy, reinforcing the belief that racing to the bottom (or expanding patent scope in an ad hoc fashion) is Battistelli’s suicidal spiel in Munich. It’s suicidal for the Office, not for him.

As an aside, when the EPO does not address all followers in oder to promote Battistelli’s next lobbying event it is still 'spamming' universities this week [1, 2, 3]. Is this like the fiftieth university yet? We have lost count quite frankly.

The EPO isn’t a joke because of sites like Techrights but because of what the Office says and does. Techrights just gives a platform and a voice to EPO insiders, stakeholders, and various observers.

Battistelli is totally killing the EPO. He throws over 40 years of reputation down the drain and he will soon thereafter probably return to a political career in France (his ally Sarkozy pursues power again) because the UPC isn’t going to happen. █

Contents

• GNU/Linux
  • Distributions
  • Devices/Embedded
• Free Software/Open Source
• Leftovers

GNU/Linux

• Desktop

  • Are You a Linux Expert?

  • Common hardware causes Windows 10 Anniversary Update crashes, again

    Microsoft’s Anniversary Update is causing headaches yet again, this time for owners of Kindle e-readers. Some Kindle Paperwhite and Voyager devices are causing PCs running the Anniversary update to lock up and display the dreaded blue screen of death (BSOD) whenever the e-readers are connected via USB, as first reported by The Guardian.

    The reason for this odd behavior is unclear, but Microsoft says it’s working on it.

    “We are aware of an issue with a small number of Kindle Voyager and Paperwhite e-Readers causing an unexpected behavior when plugged into Windows 10 devices after installing the Anniversary Update,” Microsoft said on its support forums.

    The impact on you at home: For now, there isn’t a solid workaround for anyone who’s experiencing this problem. Some users are reporting, however, that leaving the Kindle plugged in to the PC while rebooting will allow them to use the Kindle normally and transfer files. Rebooting the PC and plugging the Kindle back in again just causes another lock-up.

• Kernel Space

  • World Wide Web became what it is thanks to Linux

    Linux is used to power the largest websites on the Internet, including Google, Facebook, Amazon, eBay, and Wikipedia.

  • SFC’s Kuhn in firing line as Linus Torvalds takes aim

    A few days after he mused that there had been no reason for him to blow his stack recently, Linux creator Linus Torvalds has directed a blast at the Software Freedom Conservancy and its distinguished technologist Bradley Kuhn over the question of enforcing compliance of the GNU General Public Licence.

    Torvalds’ rant came on Friday, as usual on a mailing list and on a thread which was started by Software Freedom Conservancy head Karen Sandler on Wednesday last week. She suggested that Linuxcon in Toronto, held from Monday to Thursday, also include a session on GPL enforcement.

  • Linux at 25: A pictorial history

    Aug. 25 marks the 25th anniversary of Linux, the free and open source operating system that’s used around the globe in smarphones, tablets, desktop PCs, servers, supercomputers, and more. Though its beginnings were humble, Linux has become the world’s largest and most pervasive open source software project in history. How did it get here? Read on for a look at some of the notable events along the way.

  • Microsoft at LinuxCon: Building Open Source Cred One Conference at a Time [Ed: Wim Coekaerts received just one salary from Microsoft and now he’s being painted as “Microsoft”, which still attacks Linux. Microsoft is just purchasing the illusion that it is loved by Linux and vice versa.]

    Coekaerts came to Microsoft after some off campus meetings at a Redmond area Starbucks with Scott Guthrie and Mike Neil, two vice presidents with the cloud and enterprise group, who convinced him that “open source is very important to Microsoft.”

  • How Cloud Native Computing Is Evolving

    “Cloud native” is a relatively new term that isn’t particularly well understood, but the Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) aims to change that.

    At the Cloud Native Day here following LinuxCon, Dan Kohn, CNCF executive director (pictured), detailed what his organization does and how the cloud native approach is now evolving.

    The CNCF was formed in July 2015, as an effort to help unify and define the Cloud Native era. Kohn started off his keynote with a brief history of the cloud and the movement of workloads from physical servers.

  • Making Use Of eBPF In The Mainline Linux Kernel

    One of the exciting innovations within the Linux kernel in the past few years has been extending the Berkeley Packet Filter (BPF) to become a more generalized in-kernel virtual machine. The eBPF work with recent versions of the Linux kernel allow it to be used by more than just networking so that these programs can be used for tracing, security, and more.

  • Linux turns 25 with a brilliant history

    Chances are, you use it every day. Linux runs every Android phone and tablet on Earth. And even if you’re on an iPhone or a Mac or a Windows machine, Linux is working behind the scenes, across the Internet, serving up most of the webpages you view and powering most of the apps you use. Facebook, Google, Pinterest, Wikipedia—it’s all running on Linux.

    Now, Linux is finding its way onto televisions, thermostats, and even cars. As software creeps into practically every aspect of our lives, so does the OS designed by Linus Torvalds.

  • Linus Torvalds says GPL was defining factor in Linux’s success

    Linus Torvalds and Dirk Hohndel, vice president and chief of open source at VMware, discussed the role that GNU GPL played in the success of Linux during a keynote conversation this week at LinuxCon NA in Toronto.

    Hohndel, who has been involved with the kernel for a very long time, said that during the past 25 years there have been many challenges, and one of the biggest challenges was the possibility of fragmentation. “How do we keep one single kernel?” he asked.

    “I used to be worried about fragmentation, and I used to think that it was inevitable at some point,” said Torvalds. “Everyone was looking at the history of Linux and comparing it with UNIX. People would say that it’s going to fail because it’s going to fragment. That’s what happened before, so why even bother?”

    What made the difference was the license. “FSF [Free Software Foundation] and I don’t have a loving relationship, but I love GPL v2,” said Torvalds. “I really think the license has been one of the defining factors in the success of Linux because it enforced that you have to give back, which meant that the fragmentation has never been something that has been viable from a technical standpoint.”

  • Graphics Stack

    • Intel Lost Another Open-Source Driver Developer To Google Earlier This Summer

      There was another long-time Intel open-source Linux graphics driver developer that left the company earlier this summer and is now working at Google on the Chrome/Chromium OS graphics stack.

      Among the notable departures in the past few months from Intel’s Open-Source Technology Center were Jesse Barnes, Wayland-founder Kristian Høgsberg, and Dirk Hohndel and apparently others that went under the radar or outside of our area of focus. Another graphics driver developer no longer at Intel is Chad Versace.

    • OpenGL ES 3.1 For Haswell Lands With Intel’s Mesa Driver

• Applications

  • Glances (All in one Place)– An Advanced Real Time System Performance Monitoring Tool for Linux

    Glances is a cross-platform curses-based system monitoring tool written in Python. We can say all in one place, like maximum of information in a minimum of space. It uses psutil library to get information from your system.

  • RcppCNPy 0.2.5

  • Instructionals/Technical

    • Using fedmsg to send more fedmsg

    • StrongSwan based IPsec VPN using certificates and pre shared key on Ubuntu 16.04

    • Install PostgreSQL with phpPgAdmin on Ubuntu 16.04

    • Configuring Gitab on Ubuntu Linux

    • How to Install nginx and google PageSpeed on Ubuntu 16.04 (Xenial Xerus)

    • Quickly scripting a grid-search for parameter tuning

• Desktop Environments/WMs

  • Bellissim, a Light Blue Folder Icon Theme for Linux

  • GNOME Desktop/GTK

    • GNOME usability test analysis

    • GNOME Usability Test Results (Part 2)

      Later we took a closer look on how testers performed on every task given, using a heat map.

    • GNOME Keysign – GSoC 2016 Final Report

    • GSK Demystified (III) — Interlude

      There have been multiple reports after GUADEC about the state of GSK, so let’s recap a bit by upholding the-long standing tradition of using a FAQ format as a rhetorical device.

• Distributions

  • New Releases

    • Bodhi Updates, KaOS & Antergos Reviews, Another 25?

      Today in Linux news, Jeff Hoogland posted a short update on the progress of Bodhi Linux 4.0 and reported on the updates to the project’s donations page. In other news, An Everyday Linux User reviewed Arch-based Antergos Linux saying it was “decent” and Ubuntu-fan Jack Wallen reviewed “beautiful” KDE-centric KaOS. makeuseof.com has five reasons to switch to the Ubuntu phone and Brian Fagioli asked if Linux can survive another 25 years.

    • Rescatux 0.40 beta 9 released

      Many code in the grub side and in the windows registry side has been rewritten so that these new features could be rewritten. As a consequence it will be easier to maintain Rescapp.

      Finally the chntpw based options which modify the Windows registry now perform a backup of the Windows registry files in the unlikely case you want to undo some of the changes that Rescapp performs.

      I guess that in the future there will be a feature to be able to restore such backups from Rescapp itself, but, let’s focus on releasing an stable release. It’s been a while since the last one.

      UEFI feedback is still welcome. Specially if the Debian installation disks work for you but not the Rescatux ones.

    • Bodhi 4.0.0 Updates and July Donation Totals

      Late last month I posted a first alpha look at Bodhi 4.0.0. Work since then has been coming along slowly due to a few unpredictable issues and my own work schedule outside of Bodhi being hectic over the summer. Bodhi 4.0.0 will be happening, but likely not with a stable release until September. I am traveling again this weekend, but am hoping to get out a full alpha release with 32bit and non-PAE discs next week.

  • Screenshots/Screencasts

    • LinuxConsole 2.5 Screenshot Tour

  • OpenSUSE/SUSE

    • openSUSE Tumbleweed – Review of the Weeks 2016/34

      Time seems to be flying, it feels like I only just wrote review of week 33 and now week 34 is already over again. A perfect moment to look back what the three snapshots (0818, 0820 and 0822) offered us.

  • Red Hat Family

    • Red Hat Virtualisation 4 woos VMware faithful

      It is easy for a virtual machine user to feel left out these days, what with containers dominating the discussion of how to run applications at scale. But take heart, VM fans: Red Hat hasn’t forgotten about you.

      Red Hat Virtualisation (RHV) 4.0 refreshes Red Hat’s open source virtualisation platform with new technologies from the rest of Red Hat’s product line. It is a twofold strategy to consolidate Red Hat’s virtualisation efforts across its various products and to ramp up the company’s intention to woo VMware customers.

    • Forbes Names Red Hat One of the World’s Most Innovative Companies

      Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE: RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced it has been named to Forbes’ “World’s Most Innovative Companies” list. Red Hat was ranked as the 25th most innovative company in the world, marking the company’s fourth appearance on the list (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016). Red Hat was named to Forbes’ “World’s Most Innovative Growth Companies” list in 2011.

    • Finance

      • Is this Large Market Cap Stock target price reasonable for Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE:RHT)?

      • 2 Earnings Of $0.35 Expected For Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE:RHT)

    • Fedora

      • When creating updates remember to build for rawhide and Fedora 25 (devel)

        When ever we branch for a new release of Fedora I, and others, end up spending a non trivial amount of time ensuring that there’s a clean upgrade path for packages. From the moment we branch you need to build new versions and bug fixes of packages for rawhide (currently what will become Fedora 26), for the current stabilising release (what will become Fedora 25) as well as what ever stable releases you need to push the fix for. For rawhide you don’t need to submit it as an update but for the current release that’s stabilising you do need to submit it as an update as it won’t just automagically get tagged into the release.

        As a packager you should know this, it’s been like it for a VERY LONG TIME! Yet each cycle from the moment of branching right through to when a new release goes GA I still end up having to fix packages that “get downgraded” when people upgrade between releases!!

  • Debian Family

    • Derivatives

      • Canonical/Ubuntu

        • 5 Reasons to Switch to Ubuntu Phone

          You’ve had Android phones, and you’ve had iPhones. Buying a smartphone for most people is a polarized, A/B choice. And for some, the experience of choosing a new phone is becoming… jaded.

          You might think that Android and iOS have the mobile market sewn up, but what if I was to tell you that you don’t need to look at Windows 10 Mobile or BlackBerry as alternatives? Various others are available, but perhaps the most impressive of them all is the Ubuntu Phone, which uses the Ubuntu Touch platform, and can be found on devices such as the Meizu Pro 5.

        • Ubuntu Linux 16.10 (Yakkety Yak) Beta 1 now available for download (don’t talk back)

          Linux celebrated a 25th birthday yesterday — a spectacular open source milestone. For some folks, rather than eat cake, they reflected on how the kernel impacted their lives. For many, Ubuntu would be a big part of the picture — the desktop OS is wildly popular in the Linux community.

          Today, the first beta of Ubuntu Linux 16.10 sees release. Once again, a silly animal name is assigned, this time being the letter “Y” for the horned mammal, “Yakkety Yak”. This is obviously a play on the classic song “Yakety Yak” by The Coasters. Please be sure not to “talk back” while testing this beta operating system!

          “Pre-releases of the Yakkety Yak are not encouraged for anyone needing a stable system or anyone who is not comfortable running into occasional, even frequent breakage. They are, however, recommended for Ubuntu flavor developers and those who want to help in testing, reporting and fixing bugs as we work towards getting this bos grunniens ready. Beta 1 includes a number of software updates that are ready for wider testing. These images are still under development, so you should expect some bugs”, says Set Hallström, Ubuntu Studio project lead.

• Devices/Embedded

  • High-end music player has a Raspberry Pi running Raspbian inside

    Bryston has launched a high-end, compact “BDP-π” digital music player built on a Raspberry Pi running Raspbian, plus a HifiBerry “Digi+” audio HAT add-on.

    Bryston’s new Raspberry Pi-based BDP-π digital music player costs a hefty $1,295. Yet that’s less than half the cost of the highly acclaimed Bryston BDP-2 player, while offering many of these same features and much of the same high-end sound quality. The BDP-π is faster and more capable than the BDP-1, says the company.

  • The EOMA68 Upgradeable ARM Board/Computer Passed Its Funding Goal

    The open, upgradeable ARM development board that traces back to the failed KDE Vivaldi project managed to pass its funding goal just in time. This open-source hardware project currently powered by some older Allwinner hardware managed to raise more than $170k.

    It looked unlikely up until the very end that they would pass the $150,000 USD goal for this EOMA69 project that makes it easy to upgrade ARM boards (assuming newer and compatible ARM boards/cards do indeed get rolled out) and even an interchangeable laptop. However, on the final days they managed to beat their goal and raise a total of $171,000 from 2,306 individuals. Less than one month ago they were just at $50k.

  • Vale, LOGO creator Seymour Papert, who taught us that code can be creative play

    Back when dinosaurs ruled the Earth and I was a kid, I received the gift of a “100-in-1 Electronics Kit” that taught me the basics of electrical circuit design as I strung pre-cut wires between springy posts. At the very centre of this kit – its beating heart – a single transistor could be wired to work in an amplifier, or AM radio, or tone generator.

    All of these projects, detailed in the accompanying instructional guide, really only served to whet my appetite. I quickly ditched that book because I’d learned enough to be dangerous and try wiring my own circuits.

  • Phones

    • Android

      • Android Marshmallow also comes to the AT&T Galaxy S5 Active

      • Taskbar lets you enable Freeform mode on Android Nougat without root or adb

      • Android Circuit: Galaxy Note 7 Love And Hate, Microsoft’s Sneaky Strategy, Android Beats iPhone

      • Google’s Fuchsia OS Isn’t Linux Based

      • Android Nougat Update Schedule & Release Date: When’s It Coming To Your Android Phone?

      • How to Customize the Android Quick Settings Menu

      • Android Nougat: Here’s where to get the upgrade for your Nexus

      • Android 7 Nougat: New Emojis, Split-Screen Apps

      • Samsung Cloud is Android device backup done right, launching with Galaxy Note7 and coming to S7 series

      • Google shuts down its Device Assist Android app

      • The 7 Most Useful Features Coming to Your Android Phone

        Google’s new version of Android, which was released for certain Nexus devices this week, comes with more than 250 new features. Some of them are under-the-hood changes that improve overall performance and security, like file-based encryption and direct boot, while others will be more immediately noticeable.

        There are plenty of new tricks baked into Android 7.0 Nougat that you’ll want to try out as soon as you upgrade. Here are the ones I’ve found to be the most useful so far.

      • How to stop getting malware on Android

      • SpyNote malware: One more reason to never sideload Android apps

        On a semi-regular basis, I receive emails from users who have Android devices that show all the signs of being infected by malware. Without fail and without question, I quickly discover the user installed an application from a third-party, untrusted source.

        The user wanted an app, so they googled the app, and clicked on the first search result. Under normal circumstances, that first result is the Google Play Store. But when the app is not free, some users will turn to sites that promise to hand out that same application, sans cost.

      • Hacking the climate while using Android Nougat

        This week on Vergecast, it’s Wilderness Week! Nilay, Paul, and Dieter welcome video director James Temple to the show to talk about his new Verge series, Climate Hackers, which features scientists set on trying to reverse the effects of climate change.

      • CrossOver for Android promises Windows app compatibility, but only on Intel

        At the heart of CrossOver is the Wine project, an emulation layer for Linux that translates Windows system calls into their Linux equivalents. Windows does the same in reverse — maps Linux calls to Windows — for its new Linux subsystem. Wine has been in development since 1993 and has been kept up-to-date to support such items as 64-bit applications.

      • ‘It Just Works?’ Not quite: iPhones crash more than Android phones, study finds

        One of Apple’s catchphrases for its devices in years past was “It just works.” That might not be as accurate anymore, according to a new study by Blancco Technology Group. In its latest quarterly “State of Mobile Device and Performance” report, the company claims crash reports have nearly doubled quarter over quarter, suggesting that Apple has its work cut out to improve its software.

        Blancco says 58 percent of all Apple devices with its mobile diagnostic tools installed failed at some point during the quarter, compared to only 35 percent of all Android devices, up from just 25 percent last quarter. Sixty-five percent of the crashes on iPhones were due to apps, while Wi-Fi issues accounted for 11 percent of crashes. Headset or data connectivity issues crashed four percent of devices each.

      • Android Wear Will Crowdsource Its Next Watch Face Designs from the Internet

        In the past, Google has collaborated with top fashion designers, including Zoe Jordan, Rebecca Minkoff and Ted Baker, to create exclusive watch faces for Android Wear smartwatches.

        This year, Google is asking the creative denizens of the Internet to design its new Fall Android Wear watch face collection.

Free Software/Open Source

• How Google Does Open Source

  Marc Merlin has been working as an engineer at Google since 2002 and has seen (and done) a lot of open source and Linux work during that time. Speaking at the LinuxCon North America event this week, Merlin provided a standing room only audience with an overview how Google uses and contributes to open source.

  “Google wouldn’t be around today without open source software,” Merlin said.

• ownCloud-Forked Nextcloud 10 Now Available

• Secure, Monitor and Control your data with Nextcloud 10 – get it now!

  Nextcloud 10 is now available with many new features for system administrators to control and direct the flow of data between users on a Nextcloud server. Rule based file tagging and responding to these tags as well as other triggers like physical location, user group, file properties and request type enables administrators to specifically deny access to, convert, delete or retain data following business or legal requirements. Monitoring, security, performance and usability improvements complement this release, enabling larger and more efficient Nextcloud installations. You can get it on our install page or read on for details.

• What makes a great Open Source project?

  Recently the Document Foundation has published its annual report for the year 2015. You can download it as a pdf by following this link, and you can now even purchase a paper copy of the report. This publication gives me the opportunity to talk a bit about what I think makes a great FOSS project and what I understand may be a great community.

  If it is possible to see this topic as something many people already went over and over again, think again: Free & Open Source Software is seen as having kept and even increased its momentum these past few years, with many innovative companies developing and distributing software licensed under a Free & Open Source license from the very beginning. This trend indicates two important points: FOSS is no longer something you can automagically use as a nice tag slapped on a commodity software; and FOSS projects cannot really be treated as afterthoughts or “nice-to-haves”. Gone are the days where many vendors could claim to be sympathetic and even supportive to FOSS but only insofar as their double-digits forecasted new software solution would not be affected by a cumbersome “community of developers”. Innovation relies on, starts with, runs thanks to FOSS technologies and practices. One question is to wonder what comes next. Another one is to wonder why Open Source is still seen as a complex maze of concepts and practices by so many in the IT industry. This post will try to address one major difficulty of FOSS: why do some projects fail while others succeed.

• Events

  • First FSFE Summit Will Focus on Social Issues and Strategies

    Free Software advocates from all over Europe will be meeting in Berlin Sept. 2-4 at the first ever Free Software Foundation Europe’s summit.

    This 2016 event, besides being long overdue, also marks 15 years since the creation of the FSFE. Throughout its history, the FSFE has had its fair share of landmark achievements. It has been instrumental in a successful antitrust-case against a big software corporation that intended to dominate the market of personal computers. It managed to keep software patents unenforceable in Europe, thereby avoiding a veritable apocalypse for European small and medium-sized tech companies. And, it worked alongside gpl-violations.org to get free licenses vindicated in German courts, setting ground-breaking precedents for the whole of the EU.

    One of the main missions of the Free Software community in general, and the FSFE in particular, is to put users back into the driver’s seat, so that people control technology and not the other way around. This may seem like a lofty goal, but it would likely not be an exaggeration to say that the FSFE has transformed the foundations of IT in Europe and that it has had a deep impact on anybody who has used a computer, a smartphone, or a tablet in the last decade or so.

• BSD

  • LLVM Clang vs. GCC Compiler Benchmarks On FreeBSD 11.0

    For those interested in C/C++ compiler performance, for some fun numbers to dive into this weekend are LLVM Clang vs. GCC benchmarks atop FreeBSD 11.0 RC1 AMD64 on an Intel Xeon Haswell system.

  • LLVM 3.9 RC3 Released, Final Coming Out Soon

• Public Services/Government

  • Report: DOD must embrace open-source software

    The Defense Department increasingly relies on software for everything from weapons systems to accounting, but it is failing to capitalize on the power of open-source software, according to a report from the Center for a New American Security.

    In “Open Source Software and the Department of Defense,” CNAS argues that a number of cultural factors, biases and regulatory barriers are keeping DOD from embracing open-source options.

    “Unfortunately, software development is not currently a high-profile, high-priority topic in the discussion about diminishing U.S. military technical superiority,” the report states. “It should be.”

    Industry relies heavily on open-source software with great success, and DOD’s continued reliance on proprietary code is more expensive, slows innovation and puts America’s warfighters at greater risk, according to CNAS.

• Openness/Sharing/Collaboration

  • Facebook’s computer vision tool, Linux at 25, and more news

  • Open Data

    • Is energy industry ready to join open source world?

      Halliburton is moving to foster cooperation in processing of data

Leftovers

• Health/Nutrition

  • Black Women Do Breastfeed, Despite Intense Systemic Barriers in the US

    The movement to normalize breastfeeding in this country has generated positive results, but a racial gap in breastfeeding rates persists. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 79 percent of all newborn infants in the US started out breastfeeding in 2011. That is good news for both babies and mothers, as breastfeeding yields significant health benefits, such as a lower risk of asthma and childhood leukemia for children, and a lower risk of gynecological cancers and osteoporosis for mothers. But the data suggest that US mothers require more support in order to continue breastfeeding. Among US-born children in 2011, only 49 percent were still breastfeeding at six months; and at 12 months, only 27 percent of those babies were still breastfeeding. For Black mothers and their babies, support needs are greater, as Black women’s rates of breastfeeding initiation and duration are significantly lower than the US average.

  • EPA’s Inaction Made Way for Lead Poisoning in Children, Lawsuit Claims

    Environmental justice and public health groups are demanding that the federal government update regulations and expand efforts to protect young children from lead poisoning, which can cause irreversible cognitive and behavioral problems and tends to be more common in low-income neighborhoods and communities of color.

    In a lawsuit filed on Wednesday, a coalition of groups asked a federal court in California to mandate that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) update its standards for assessing dangerous levels of lead dust on surfaces in homes and residential buildings, especially those built before 1978, when regulators began restricting the amount of lead in lead-based paints.

    In 2009, the EPA granted a citizens’ petition to update its lead dust standards and agreed to initiate rulemaking proceedings, after new scientific evidence showed that existing standards were inadequate for protecting children from lead poisoning. However, seven years have passed and the agency has yet to set new rules.

  • Slamming ‘Absurd’ US Healthcare, Sanders Backs Single-Payer in Colorado

    Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) this week endorsed a Colorado ballot measure that would create single-payer healthcare in the state, urging his supporters to rally around the amendment and stating, “If that proposal can win in Colorado, I believe that idea will spread around the country.”

    “It is absurd, it is beyond belief, that here in America we remain the only major country on earth not to guarantee healthcare to all people,” Sanders said at an event in Vermont on Wednesday, where he offered his official endorsement.

    As the Denver Post reports, Colorado Amendment 69—known colloquially as ColoradoCare—would create a universal healthcare system funded by payroll taxes that would largely replace private health insurance. People could still choose to keep their own, although they would still be required to pay the tax.

  • Bernie Sanders endorses ColoradoCare universal health care measure

    Former Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has formally endorsed the Colorado ballot measure to create a universal health care system in the state.

    At an event in Vermont on Wednesday launching his new political organization, called Our Revolution, Sanders singled out Colorado’s Amendment 69 — also known as ColoradoCare — as something his supporters should rally behind.

  • In Zika-Gripped Florida, Concerns Mount Over Insecticide Use—and Efficacy

    Not only is the anti-Zika aerial insecticide spraying program raising health concerns in Florida and beyond, but the high-rise landscape in Miami Beach may be making such campaigns ineffective, to boot.

    Weeks ago, as mosquitoes carrying the disease became resistant to a less-potent pesticide, Miami-Dade County turned to the more controversial naled, which the Miami Herald noted is “toxic not just to the noxious flying parasites, but also to beneficial insects like honey bees, as well as birds, some fish—and people.”

  • Is insecticide sprayed to fight Zika a risk for people and wildlife?

    Faced with the need to quickly kill hard-to-reach mosquitoes spreading the Zika virus through Wynwood, Miami-Dade County has turned to a controversial pesticide that’s toxic not just to the noxious flying parasites, but also to beneficial insects like honey bees, as well as birds, some fish — and people.

  • The ADHD Epidemic: Smart Drugs and the Control of Bodies and Minds

    Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), which has seen massive recent increases in diagnosis since 2000, is defined as a difficulty in paying attention, restlessness, and hyperactivity. By 2010, nearly one in three US children age 2-17 had been diagnosed as suffering ADHD, and by 2012, diagnoses of ADHD had risen 66% in the prior decade. Ballooning rates of diagnosis for ADHD have been met with unprecedented levels of medical prescriptions principally for the amphetamine pharmaceutical drugs Adderall and Ritalin. By 2011 11% of all US children 4-17 were diagnosed with ADHD and 6.1% were taking ADHD drugs and an estimated 8% to 35% of university students in the US using cognitive stimulants. Boys are diagnosed at nearly three times the rate as girls. About 80% of those children diagnosed with ADHD are using these medications. Children below the poverty line are diagnosed at higher rates especially poor toddlers.

• Security

  • OpenSSL 1.1.0 released

  • Security advisories for Friday

  • Openwall 3.1-20160824 is out

    New Openwall GNU/*/Linux ISO images and OpenVZ container templates are out.

  • Scorpene Leak Could Be Part Of ‘Economic War,’ Says French Maker: 10 Facts

    The leak, was first reported in The Australian newspaper. Ship maker DCNS has a nearly 38 billion dollar contract with Australia, but the leak has no mention of the 12 vessels being designed for Australia.

  • Homeland Security has ‘open investigation’ into Leslie Jones hacking

    The Department of Homeland Security is investigating the cyberattack against Ghostbusters actor Leslie Jones one day after her personal information and explicit images were leaked online.

    In a short statement on Thursday, a spokesperson for the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said that the Homeland Security investigations unit in New York “has an open investigation into this matter”.

    “As a matter of agency policy and in order to protect the integrity of an ongoing investigation, we will not disclose any details,” the statement said.

    “As a matter of agency policy, we are unable to disclose any information related to an active investigation,” a spokeswoman said.

• Defence/Aggression

  • The US: A Dead Nation Walking

    It is my conclusion that Washington is aware of the constraint that the desire for Western acceptance puts on the Russian government and that this is why Washington, in a direct thrust at Russia, was comfortable orchestrating the coup that overthrew the elected Ukrainian government. I believe that this constraint also explains the mistakes the Russian government made by refusing the requests of the Donetsk and Luhansk republics to be reincorporated as parts of Russia, where the territories formerly resided, and by the premature withdrawal from Syria that allowed Washington to resupply the jihadists and to insert US forces into the conflict, thus complicating the situation for Russia and Syria.

  • The Broken Chessboard: Brzezinski Gives up on Empire

    The main architect of Washington’s plan to rule the world has abandoned the scheme and called for the forging of ties with Russia and China. While Zbigniew Brzezinski’s article in The American Interest titled “Towards a Global Realignment” has largely been ignored by the media, it shows that powerful members of the policymaking establishment no longer believe that Washington will prevail in its quest to extent US hegemony across the Middle East and Asia.

  • Russia’s Misplayed Hand with Iran

    Iran’s annoyance that Russia over-played its hand in going public about its use of an Iranian airbase shows the risk of offending potential allies, a lesson that U.S. officials also need to learn, says ex-CIA analyst Paul R. Pillar.

  • The High Cost of American Hubris

    Although renowned political scientist John Mearsheimer does not consider himself to be an isolationist – a term which has acquired a negative connotation since WWII – his definition is illuminating as much for clarifying what the term does not mean as for what it does.

    In America Unhinged, Mearsheimer writes: “Isolationism rests on the assumption that no region of the world outside of the Western Hemisphere is of vital strategic importance to the United States. Isolationists do not argue that America has no interests in the wider world, just that they are not important enough to justify deploying military force to defend them. They are fully in favor of engaging with the rest of the world economically as well as diplomatically, but they view all foreign wars as unnecessary.”

  • Naomi Klein, Oliver Stone, Noam Chomsky, Others Condemn ‘Coup’ in Brazil

    Naomi Klein, Oliver Stone, Noam Chomsky, Susan Sarandon, Arundhati Roy, and 17 other human rights activists, intellectuals, and public figures on Wednesday sent a letter to the Brazilian government condemning the impeachment of the country’s President Dilma Rousseff, and demanding that Brazil’s senate “respect the October 2014 electoral process which over 100 million people took part in.”

    [...]

    “The impeachment—labeled a coup by many Brazilians—has generated outrage and frequent protests in Brazil,” Mendonça adds.

    “We stand in solidarity with our fellow artists and with all those fighting for democracy and justice throughout Brazil,” the letter says, adding that “Brazil has only emerged from dictatorship some 30 years ago and these events could set back the country’s progress towards social and economic inclusion by decades.”

    Rousseff’s removal would end 13 years of Workers’ Party rule, as Common Dreams reported, and bring about the confirmation of “the unelected, right-of-center Temer” as president until 2018, the rest of Rousseff’s term.

  • Saudi-Led Bombing Kills 11 Civilians in Yemen, While Kerry Ignores US ‘Complicity’

    Another Saudi-led coalition airstrike in northern Yemen killed 11 civilians on Friday—only one day after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Saudi Arabia, purportedly to urge Saudi King Salman to seek a “political solution” to the Saudi-led coalition’s bombing campaign in Yemen.

    And despite Kerry’s words about seeking peace in Yemen, the U.S. continues to supply Saudi Arabia with weapons that have been used to kill civilians in that country.

  • Saudi-Led Airstrikes Reportedly Kill 11 Civilians in Yemen

    Airstrikes by a Saudi-led coalition in northern Yemen killed 11 civilians, including women and children, Yemen’s rebel-run news agency said Friday.

    The overnight attack in the city of Saada, a stronghold of the Shiite rebels known as Houthis, came as Iran’s foreign minister dismissed claims from Saudi Arabia that his country had supplied Yemen’s rebels with missiles.

    U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, on a visit to Saudi Arabia the previous day, said he was “deeply troubled” over Saudi photographs showing Iranian-supplied missiles being positioned along the Saudi-Yemeni border. Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said such statements were “baseless accusations.”

  • What Makes a Hate Group?

    “As a matter of fact, you have had a person attend your protests in Camp Douglas who has threatened to kill our Deputies.” This piece of startling news was revealed to me in a letter from Juneau County, Wisconsin, Undersheriff Craig Stuchlik dated July 25.

    I had written to the sheriff’s department requesting documents under the Open Records Law and for an explanation of the department’s response to a demonstration at Volk Field, a Wisconsin Air National Guard base near the town of Camp Douglas, where my colleague at Voices for Creative Nonviolence Kathy Kelly and I had been arrested onFebruary 23, carrying a loaf of bread and a letter for the base commander. There is a facility at this base where military personnel are trained in the operation of remotely controlled Shadow Drones that have been instrumental in the targeted assassination program that legal experts label war crimes and that military experts say recruit more enemies for our country than they kill.

    Undersheriff Stuchlik put this purported threat into a broader context that suggests that the sheriff’s department views Voices for Creative Nonviolence and the Wisconsin Coalition to Ground the Drones and End the Wars that organizes these demonstrations as hate groups: “Law Enforcement Officers are being targeted in the United States by hate groups because they stand for law and order. Law Enforcement Officers are being executed by these hate groups at an alarming rate and it does not appear to be slowing down.”

  • Pundits, Decrying the Horrors of War in Aleppo, Demand Expanded War

    The devastating photo of 5-year-old Omran Daqneesh sitting in an ambulance after his home was bombed in Syrian or Russian air strikes has amped up calls for direct US military intervention against the Syrian government. The now-viral photo of Omran—and the broader siege of east Aleppo—was prominently featured in most major newspapers, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, and several other publications. CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News all ran stories on the photo, and editorial boards and pundits weighed in as well, with several insisting that President Obama must “do something” to stop the suffering of the Syrian people.

    According to the Chicago Tribune editorial board, State Department officials “sent a cable to Obama, urging stronger military action against Syrian government forces. They suggested that could include cruise missiles and ‘targeted airstrikes.’ That’s what we mean by leverage, of a sort Putin would comprehend.”

    In The New York Times, Nicholas Kristof wrote (in response to the siege of Aleppo, but before the photo went viral): “Many experts recommend trying to ground Syria’s Air Force so it can no longer drop barrel bombs on hospitals and civilians. One oft-heard idea is to fire missiles from outside Syria to crater military runways to make them unusable.”

    And on Morning Joe, host Joe Scarborough proclaimed: “Inaction by the United States and the West and the world is not only responsible for this [holding up the Omran image] and 500,000 deaths, it’s responsible for those images of those Syrian refugees, the little boy we saw washed up on the beach…. The world will look back. Save your hand-wringing…you can still do something right now. But nothing’s been done.”

  • How Veterans Are Losing the War at Home

    Among the prime movers in our corporatized politics are undoubtedly the two billionaire Koch brothers, Charles and David, and their cozy network of secret donors. It’s hard to grasp how rich they really are: they rank fifth (David) and sixth (Charles) on Business Insider’s list of the 50 richest people in the world, but if you pool their wealth they become by far the single richest “individual” on the planet. And they have pals. For decades now they’ve hosted top-secret gatherings of their richest collaborators that sometimes also feature dignitaries like Clarence Thomas or the late Antonin Scalia, two of the Supreme Court Justices who gave them the Citizens United decision, suffocating American democracy in plutocratic dollars. That select donor group had reportedly planned to spend at least $889 million on this year’s elections and related political projects, but recent reports note a scaling back and redirection of resources.

    While the contest between Trump and Clinton fills the media, the big money is evidently going to be aimed at selected states and municipalities to aid right-wing governors, Senate candidates, congressional representatives, and in some cities, ominously enough, school board candidates. The Koch brothers need not openly support the embarrassing Trump, for they’ve already proved that, by controlling Congress, they can significantly control the president, as they have already done in the Obama era.

    Yet for all their influence, the Koch name means nothing, pollsters report, to more than half of the U.S. population. In fact, the brothers Koch largely stayed under the radar until recent years when their roles as polluters, campaigners against the environment, and funders of a new politics came into view. Thanks to Robert Greenwald’s film Koch Brothers Exposed and Jane Mayer’s book Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right, we now know a lot more about them, but not enough.

    They’ve always been ready to profit off America’s wars. Despite their extreme neo-libertarian goal of demonizing and demolishing government, they reportedly didn’t hesitate to pocket about $170 million as contractors for George W. Bush’s wars. They sold fuel (oil is their principal business) to the Defense Department, and after they bought Georgia Pacific, maker of paper products, they supplied that military essential: toilet paper.

    But that was small potatoes compared to what happened when soldiers came home from the wars and fell victim to the profiteering of corporate America. Dig in to the scams exploiting veterans, and once again you’ll run into the Koch brothers.

  • Colombia: Peace in the Shadow of the Death Squads

    As the Colombian government and left-wing FARC rebels near the signing of a comprehensive peace accord, and though they have already signed a bi-lateral ceasefire which is largely holding, Colombia is still suffering from the worst human rights abuses in the Western Hemisphere. These abuses are being carried out by right-wing paramilitary groups (aka, death squads), which the U.S. and Colombian governments conveniently deny even exist.

    These paramilitary groups, in accord with their long-time friend and ally, former President Alvaro Uribe, are openly and aggressively opposed to the peace accords, and will most certainly escalate their violence as a national referendum which will be held to ratify, or reject, these accords draws near. Thus, as Insight Crime recently reported, the Colombian Electoral Observation Mission (MOE) estimates that nearly 250 municipalities (or more than 25% of the 1,105 municipalities in all of Colombia) “are at risk of violence or fraud affecting the referendum on an anticipated peace deal” with the FARC. The departments of Choco, Arauca, Cauca and Putumayo – that is, departments with heavy concentrations of Afro-Colombians and indigenous – are among the departments with the greatest risk. Antioquia, the department of Alvaro Uribe who was governor there, has the greatest number of municipalities at risk.

    [...]

    Father Giraldo then expresses a seldom-uttered truth which I have certainly learned upon my numerous trips to Colombia in the past 17 years – that while the paramilitaries oppose the peace process because it will grant some immunity for rebels, the “popular movements feel more fear of the impunity of the powerful and of the paramilitaries and the agents of the government, whose war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide greatly exceed, both in quality and in cruelty, the crimes of the insurgency.”

  • ‘It Is Time to Give Peace a Chance’: Historic FARC Peace Deal Achieved

    After almost four years of negotiations and over 50 years of war, Colombia’s rebel FARC group and the government finally signed a peace accord in Havana, Cuba, late Wednesday.

    “We won the most beautiful of all battles: Peace,” said the rebel group’s top negotiator, Iván Márquez.

    “The war is over,” the Guardian quotes Humberto de la Calle, chief government negotiator, as saying after signing the deal. “It is the time to give peace a chance.”

    “Today marks the beginning of the end of the suffering, the pain and the tragedy of the war,” Colombia President Juan Manuel Santos said in an address to the nation after the announcement in Havana.

    Colombia’s government will hold a plebiscite on October 2 for citizens to either accept or reject the agreement.

  • Colombia’s president rushing vote on deal with rebels

    Colombia’s president is moving quickly to hold a national referendum on a peace deal meant to end a half-century of bloody conflict with leftist rebels, delivering the final text of the deal to congress on Thursday and declaring a definitive cease-fire with the guerrillas.

  • Pentagon Has No Idea Where Hundreds of Thousands of Guns Went in Iraq and Afghanistan

    The U.S. government has shipped over 1.4 million guns to Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11, according a new analysis by the U.K.-based watchdog Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), but the Pentagon is only able to account for fewer than half of them.

    AOAV released its analysis of publicly available data on U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) contracts on Wednesday, and added that when requested to provide its own accounting for the small arms provided to the war-torn nations, “the DoD data shows that over 700,000 small arms were sent from the U.S. to Iraq and Afghanistan within these periods. However, this amount only accounts for 48 percent of the total small arms supplied by the U.S. government that can be found in open source government reports.”

    AOAV also noted that the total number of small weapons the U.S. provided to Iraq and Afghanistan is likely to be far higher than even the group’s count, as the Pentagon kept such shoddy records of the planeloads of weapons it dispatched to those countries—if it kept any records at all.

  • Afghanistan, dynamic of war

    Afghanistan has somewhat fallen off the radar of western media, even though violent conflict there continues unabated. An exception is major incidents such as the ten-hour attack and siege against the American University in Kabul on 24 August, which killed fourteen people and injured many more. This rightly attracted attention as a grim indicator of continued Taliban activity, as did the bombing of a Hazara protest march on 23 July, also in the capital, when eighty people died and 250 were wounded.

    But other developments in the Afghan conflict, which are barely reported or even ignored by establishment media in the west, can carry much greater significance. So it was this week with a report at the bottom of an inside page of a leading military journal: “B-52 bombers rejoin US campaign in Afghanistan”.

  • Is the U.S. Finally Ending the Toxic Practice of Burning Old Munitions in Open Pits?

    By the year 2020, the U.S. is expected to have on its hands a growing stockpile of munitions nearing 1.1 million tons that are no longer considered useful to the military. As a means of disposal, these munitions, including small arms cartridges, rockets, mortars, artillery shells, tactical missiles and other wastes, have for decades been burned or detonated on large trays out in the open at military bases across the country.

    Canada and a number of European countries like Germany and the Netherlands have banned the practice, for good reason. Plumes of toxic smoke from burn pits have been documented drifting over surrounding communities, while the destroyed munitions expel pollutants that leach into the soil and groundwater. These pollutants include an array of highly toxic chemicals such as dioxins and furans, PCBs, chromium, dinitrotoluene (DNT), and perchlorate. Many of these toxic chemicals are known carcinogens, while all of them can cause chronic illnesses in humans and wildlife.

  • Is Turkey’s incursion into Syria about Daesh, or about the Kurds?

    Turkish military sources told the Anadol news agency that Wednesday’s military attack on the Syrian border town of Jarabulus, held for years by Daesh (ISIS, ISIL), involved hitting 82 targets. The objective, Ankara said, was to secure the Turkish border and to support the US-led Coalition in its war on Daesh and guarantee the unity of Syrian territory.

    The Turkish military chief of staff and his deputy said they followed the course of the operation from their operations room in Ankara.

    Daesh fighters withdrew from much of Jarabulus and surrounding villages, heading south to al-Bab, now the northernmost Daesh outpost in Syria.

  • Hillary Clinton Shows Dangerous Tendency to Go to War No Matter the Consequences

    In our extended interview with scholar Vijay Prashad, he discusses the U.S. presidential election and notes that while President Obama was reticent, then-Secretary of State “Hillary Clinton led the charge against Libya. This shows, to my mind, a profound dangerous tendency to go into wars overseas, damn the consequences. If you’re looking at this from outside the United States, there’s a real reason to be terrified.”

  • War ‘Has Become a Permanent Condition’ for the United States

    Did you know that Oliver Stone was a Vietnam vet? That explains a lot. No wonder he has come out so strongly against all the various American “war” fiascos since then. If you had suffered through all the shite that he did while fighting in Vietnam, you would most likely be anti-war as well.

    Stone recently spoke at the annual Veterans For Peace convention here in Berkeley—and he had a lot to say too. “America’s crackpot realists create the terror for which they then provide the antidote.” Apparently it’s the American thing to do.

    “In Vietnam, every time we took fire, we went berserk. We’d blow up everything. The mentality of absolute destruction. But when I came back from Vietnam, I thought that intelligence would finally start to reign. Didn’t happen. Reagan’s warning to the world was that Americans could be truly barbaric. That was the lesson of Hiroshima too—to let the Soviet Union know that America was capable of anything.”

  • Acceptable Losses

    Just a few short years ago, Yemen was judged to be among the poorest countries in the world, ranking 154th out of the 187 nations on the U.N.’s Human Development Index. One in every five Yemenis went hungry. Almost one in three was unemployed. Every year, 40,000 children died before their fifth birthday, and experts predicted the country would soon run out of water.

    Such was the dire condition of the country before Saudi Arabia unleashed a bombing campaign in March 2015, which has destroyed warehouses, factories, power plants, ports, hospitals, water tanks, gas stations, and bridges, along with miscellaneous targets ranging from donkey carts to wedding parties to archaeological monuments. Thousands of civilians — no one knows how many — have been killed or wounded. Along with the bombing, the Saudis have enforced a blockade, cutting off supplies of food, fuel, and medicine. A year and a half into the war, the health system has largely broken down, and much of the country is on the brink of starvation.

  • Mainstream Media Are Ignoring U.S. Accountability in Saudi Arabia’s Destruction of Yemen

    Many Americans were shaken last week after a picture of a stunned Syrian child, whose home had just been bombed into rubble, went viral. Time magazine noted that “[d]evastating pictures and footage from Syria are common now.” But what about children in other war-torn countries?

  • “This is Our War & It is Shameful:” Journalist Andrew Cockburn on the U.S. Role in the War in Yemen

    Even before the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen began more than a year ago, Yemen was ranked as one of the poorest countries in the world. But now, a year and a half into the war, Yemen’s health system has broken down, and the population is facing the threat of starvation. For more, we’re joined by Andrew Cockburn, the Washington editor for Harper’s magazine. His latest piece for Harper’s is headlined “Acceptable Losses: Aiding and Abetting the Saudi Slaughter in Yemen.” He is author of “Kill Chain: The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins.”

• Environment/Energy/Wildlife/Nature

  • “The Hunt”: Colonial Conservation, Caught on Film

    Over the last few weeks, BBC America has broadcast “The Hunt,” the latest offering from world-renowned natural history broadcaster David Attenborough. The formula is familiar: gorgeous photography, silky smooth voiceovers and tear-jerking narratives about the animals on screen. The series has profiled the world’s most “charismatic” predators — big cats, birds of prey, wolves, bears — and the ways in which they dominate their environment. The final episode focused on conservation and the threats faced by many of these species, which are unquestionably very serious.

    Sadly, rather than critiquing poaching or industrialization, the program placed most of the blame for endangering species like the lion and the tiger on the shoulders of the tribal people who live in the so-called “wildernesses” that had been photographed. The narrative was full of distortion and misrepresentation and seemed to support an essentially colonial form of conservation that is deeply problematic.

  • Waste Not, Save More

    On average, each person in the U.S. throws away five pounds of solid waste each day. While many eco–conscious citizens do their due diligence to recycle, compost, and reduce waste, others remain apathetic about preserving the environment.

    Wherever you might land on the eco-friendly scale, innovative “Pay As You Throw” (PAYT) programs are incentivizing people nationwide to increase (or start) recycling and composting through a usage-pricing model.

    Basically, the less trash you send to a landfill, the less you pay.

    Over 7,000 communities in the U.S. report using this green solution, with cities seeing an average of 45 percent less trash.

  • Day After Obama Tours Louisiana Flood Damage, Gov’t Holds Massive Gulf Oil & Gas Lease Auction

    On Tuesday, President Obama visited Louisiana for the first time since the devastating floods that killed 13 people and damaged 60,000 homes. The Red Cross has called it the worst natural disaster in the United States since Hurricane Sandy. While many climate scientists have tied the historic floods in Louisiana to climate change, President Obama made no link during his remarks. However, on Tuesday, four environmental activists were arrested in New Orleans protesting the Interior Department’s decision to go ahead with a lease sale of up to 24 million acres in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas exploration and development. The sale is being held today in the Superdome—the very building where thousands of displaced residents of New Orleans sought refuge during Hurricane Katrina 11 years ago. We speak to Antonia Juhasz, an oil and energy analyst, author of “Black Tide: The Devastating Impact of the Gulf Oil Spill.” She joins us from San Francisco.

  • Flood-Ravaged Gulf Coast Residents Ask President Obama To Cancel Federal Offshore Drilling Lease Auction

    During President Obama’s visit to a flood-ravaged area near Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this week, a group of environmental activists delivered a petition to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) protesting the planned leasing of more of the Gulf of Mexico for oll and gas drilling.

    They gathered 184,000 electronic signatures over just six days calling for the President and BOEM to cancel its lease auction — scheduled to take place today, August 24.

    Four members of the group told police on the scene they planned to stay until either they got a response from President Obama or they were arrested.

  • Climate Change and the 1,000-Year Flood in Baton Rouge: When Will We Learn?

    The floodwaters are receding in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and the scale of the damage is revealing itself. It has been described as a 1,000-year flood, leaving at least 13 people dead and close to 60,000 homes ruined. According to Weather Underground meteorologists Jeff Masters and Bob Henson, August has been the wettest month in Baton Rouge in 174 years, when records were first kept. They added, “Since June 1, Baton Rouge has picked up an amazing 40.95 inches—more rain in three months than downtown Los Angeles has recorded over the last five years (38.79 inches)!”

    President Barack Obama traveled there Tuesday. “I think anybody who can see just the streets, much less the inside of the homes here, people’s lives have been upended by this flood,” he said after walking through part of the devastated city. While Obama was criticized by his political opponents for not visiting Baton Rouge earlier, it’s what happened one day later, in nearby New Orleans, that should have everyone concerned.

    The Obama administration conducted a massive auction of offshore oil and gas drilling leases in the Gulf of Mexico. The irony was not lost on Antonia Juhasz. She is a journalist and energy analyst who has long tracked the multinational petroleum corporations engaged in deep-water oil extraction. “Following Obama #LouisianaFlood visit, Interior Dept to auction offshore drilling leases to 24 million acres in Gulf on 8/24 at Superdome,” she tweeted, followed by, “After protests nearly shut down lease sale in March at Superdome, for first time, BOEM closes sale to public, makes viewing available online.” The BOEM is the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management. The agency was auctioning 23.8 million acres in the western section of the Gulf of Mexico, for deep-water oil and gas exploration and extraction.

  • 3 Reasons the Standing Rock Sioux Can Stop the Dakota Access Pipeline

    America has more than 2.5 million miles of oil and gas pipelines crossing the country in every direction. So plans to construct the 1,172-mile Dakota Access pipeline from oil fields in North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to Patoka, Illinois, were supposed to be a nonevent. The regulatory process was largely through state commissions and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and far less stringent than the successfully opposed Keystone XL pipeline.

  • From #NoDAPL to #FreedomSquare: A Tale of Two Occupations

    On the Standing Rock Sioux reservation in North Dakota, Natives have been encamped for 146 days, in an ongoing effort to thwart construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. In Chicago, Black organizers with the #LetUsBreathe collective have created a living, breathing community space in the shadow of the infamous Homan Square police compound — a facility that some call a “black site,” where people have been held for days on end without being able to contact loved ones or an attorney and where some have been tortured.

  • Kandi Mossett on Native American Pipeline Protests

    This week on CounterSpin: For months now, hundreds and then thousands of indigenous people have been taking part in peaceful protests at the Sacred Stones camp in North Dakota. They’re protesting the construction of what’s called the Dakota Access pipeline, slated to carry fracked oil across the state and across the Missouri River. The Standing Rock Sioux say the Army Corps of Engineers approved the pipeline without their consent. For many people, what’s happening right now in North Dakota is a crucial story of a frontline fight of indigenous people against extractive industry—and on behalf of humanity, really, and the planet.

  • The American Petroleum Institute’s Desperate PR is Failing

    If you’ve watched any political coverage on television in the last few months, or the Olympics, or really anything on TV, you’re bound to have seen some pretty ridiculous advertising coming from the oil and gas industry.

    The American Petroleum Institute in particular has been putting out some pretty desperate stuff. Did you know that “A Vote for [Fossil Fuel] Energy is a Vote for Cheesesteaks?” That’s actually the title of one ad put out during the Democratic Convention, which was held in Philadelphia (Get it? Cheesesteaks!).

  • Win for Climate Protection as Obama Creates World’s Biggest Marine Sanctuary

    President Barack Obama’s creation on Friday of the world’s largest marine protected area drew praise from lawmakers, Hawaiian community members, and environmental groups alike, who say it will help protect biodiversity and increase resilience in the face of climate change.

    Obama is expanding the Papahānaumokuākea Marine National Monument off the coast of Hawaii, more than quadrupling it in size to 582,578 square miles.

    A White House fact sheet says the expansion, which also bans commercial resource extraction, will afford “critical protections for more than 7,000 marine species,” “improve ocean resilience,” and help preserve “resources of great historical and cultural significance.”

    Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), who was among those who had proposed the expansion to the president, praised the move, calling it “one of the most important actions an American president has ever taken for the health of the oceans.” He noted, however, that it was “only beginning” because “management, research, educational opportunities, and enforcement” need to follow.

    Similarly welcoming the move was Sen. Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii), who said the expansion “will help to combat climate change, preserve biodiversity, and honor cultural traditions.”

  • New Study Warns Biofuels May Be Worse for Climate Than Gas

    A new study finds that biofuels—which are derived from plants like corn or soybeans and sometimes considered to be carbon-neutral—may actually be worse for the climate than gas.

    University of Michigan (UM) Energy Institute research professor John DeCicco analyzed all the greenhouse gas emissions created in the supply chains of various fuel types. For gas, that meant starting with extraction and transportation, among other parts of the process; for biofuels, it was farming and fertilizer use, but not tailpipe pollution, due to the presumed carbon dioxide offset, the Detroit Free Press explains.

  • Biofuels worse for climate change than gas, U-M study says

    The multi-billion-dollar U.S. biofuels industry — promoted and expanded for more than a decade by the federal government — may be built on a false assumption, according to a University of Michigan study published Thursday that is sure to stir all sides in the contentious debate over the industry.

    Despite their purported advantages, biofuels — created from crops such as corn or soybeans — cause more emissions of climate change-causing carbon dioxide than gasoline, according to the study from U-M Energy Institute research professor John DeCicco.

    The study is the latest salvo in the expanding battle over whether biofuels, and the farmland increasingly devoted to them, are actually providing the environmental and climate benefits many expected.

    [...]

    As for the petroleum industry funding, DeCicco said that years ago, he reached out to other more environmentally oriented funding sources that he declined to specify, who weren’t interested in funding his examination of life-cycle analysis.

  • Dakota Access Pipeline Protests Recall America’s Historical Shame

    Until a few years ago, the word “occupation” was synonymous with power, imperialism and foreign invasion. Today, in the post-Occupy Wall Street era, more and more activists are using their physical presence to make demands. From Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park to Tahrir Square in Cairo, occupation has become a powerful method of organizing.

    One of the most dramatic such occupations is occurring in the form of a growing encampment at the Cannonball River in North Dakota, where indigenous tribes are leading a coalition of environmental activists in protest over the building of a new crude oil pipeline.

  • We’ve always “Occupied the Prarie” and We’re Not Going Anywhere

    In Occupying the Prairie: Tensions Rise as Tribes Move to Block a Pipeline by Jack Healy, New York Times, Aug. 23, 2016 we see and hear about Indians in paint on horseback, in “procession” out of their “tepee-dotted camp.” Who writes like that?

    While the almost 500 Nations of our indigenous brothers and sisters (over 80 are represented in the Sacred Stones Camp) are proud of the heritage of our peoples, it’s important to keep the focus on today and why we are here. This is our land, as defined in our times as the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, a Sovereign Nation.

    In fact, what we call the United States is really comprised of Nations, it is a “united” Nations, of relationships formed by diplomacy.

    The Greater Sioux Nations predated the United States, so as the newly minted USA acquired more territory, agreements were sought in many cases with the existing nations of the Plains and elsewhere. One such Treaty, the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851), matters now. The Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851 was signed on September 17, 1851 between United States treaty commissioners and representatives of the Cheyenne, Sioux, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara nations.

  • In Effort to Kill Pipeline, Groups Call Directly on Obama to Oppose Permits

    As Indigenous activists maintained resistance to a proposed oil pipeline in North Dakota this week, allied groups on Thursday sent an open letter to President Barack Obama asking him to urge the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to pull its permits for the project.

    “After years of pipeline disasters—from the massive tar sands oil spill in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2010, to the recent oil pipeline spills in the San Joaquin Valley and Ventura, CA—our organizations and our millions of members and supporters are concerned about the threat these projects pose to our safety, our health, and the environment,” reads the letter (pdf), signed by groups such as the Indigenous Environmental Network, the Sierra Club, and 350.org.

    The letter was published as a federal judge delayed a decision on allowing the construction to continue.

  • Fatigue, Migraines Linked to Fracking as Case Builds for National Ban

    New research published Thursday links severe fatigue and migraine headaches to hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, leading to renewed calls for a ban on the controversial oil and gas extraction method.

    Researchers from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health reported their findings online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, saying their research adds to “a growing body of evidence linking the fracking industry to health problems.”

  • Study: Fracking associated with migraines, fatigue, chronic nasal and sinus symptoms

    New research suggests that Pennsylvania residents with the highest exposure to active natural gas wells operated by the hydraulic fracturing—or fracking—industry are nearly twice as likely to suffer from a combination of migraine headaches, chronic nasal and sinus symptoms, and severe fatigue.

• Finance

  • Median Income Is Down, But Public College Tuition Is Way Up

    Public colleges play a special role in making higher education affordable, but in recent years, soaring tuition is pushing that dream out of reach. From 2000 to 2014, the average cost of in-state tuition and fees for public colleges in America rose 80 percent. During that same time period, the median American household income dropped by 7 percent.

  • ‘Good News,’ Says Sanders, as McConnell Signals No Lame-Duck Vote on TPP

    Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that the U.S. Senate will not vote on the 12-nation, corporate-friendly Trans Pacific Partnership (TPP) this year, buoying progressive hopes that the trade deal will never come to fruition.

    Responding to the news, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)—whose opposition to the TPP was a hallmark of his presidential campaign—said: “This is good news for American workers, for the environment, and for the ability to protect public health.”

    McConnell told a Kentucky State Farm Bureau breakfast in Louisville that the agreement, “which has some serious flaws, will not be acted upon this year.”

    Grassroots groups have led a concerted campaign to prevent a vote during the so-called “lame-duck” session of Congress, after the November election and before President Barack Obama leaves office in January. The White House recently vowed to wage an “all-out push” in favor of such a vote.

    “We never thought we would agree with Mitch McConnell on something, but we do agree on not bringing the TPP to a vote in the lame-duck session,” said Adam Green, Progressive Change Campaign Committee co-founder, on Friday. “There’s widespread, bipartisan opposition to the corporate-written TPP and an unaccountable, lame-duck Congress voting on it.”

  • Sanders Welcomes McConnell Decision to Block TPP

    A leading opponent of the proposed Pacific rim trade pact, Sanders welcomed McConnell’s turnaround on the measure. The Republican leader on Thursday told an audience in Kentucky that he won’t bring the pact to the Senate floor for a vote this year because it “has some serious flaws.” Last June 23, McConnell engineered congressional passage of a measure that gave President Barack Obama and future presidents power to “fast-track” negotiations with the 11 other countries which are parties to the deal. He called it “a very important accomplishment for our country.”

  • Groups Demand Clinton Publicly Oppose Lame-Duck TPP Vote—Now

    Heavy-hitting progressive groups have sent a letter to Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, urging her to make “a clear, public, and unequivocal statement opposing any vote on the disastrous Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) in the post-election, ‘lame-duck’ session of Congress.”

  • How Small Donors Are Giving Super PACs a Run for Their Money

    Election reform advocates are closely watching Seattle to see whether it becomes a viable model for getting big money out of local politics. Last year the city approved a “democracy vouchers” program, which will publicly fund local candidates through small donors, requiring limits on campaign spending.

    Starting in 2017, all registered voters will receive $100 in vouchers from the city government to spend in $25 parcels on their preferred candidates for city office.

  • Debt Collectors Get Away With Daylight Robbery

    I thought Donnie Trump and his fellow Republicans were big law ‘n order politicians. So, why are they trying to scrap the sheriff and unleash thousands of robbers to run wild across America?

    The sheriff they want to nix is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

    The thieves they’re out to help are corporate debt collectors who pay pennies on the dollar for huge databases of overdue bills, then hound the borrowers to pay up.

    Debt collectors profit from weak regulations that let them bully, harass, and run roughshod over tens of thousands of consumers every year—including people who’ve already paid off their debt or never even incurred it.

  • Please Write and Tweet John Oliver to Thank Him for His Program Revealing Charter Fraud

    As readers of this blog know, deregulation of charters leads to fraud, graft, and abuse. On this site, I have documented scores of examples of fraudsters and grifters who take advantage of weak (or no) oversight to enrich themselves and to strand children in bad schools.

    A few days ago, John Oliver ran an excellent segment about charter schools and the fraud associated with them. He barely scratched the surface. Charter supporters are furious and are saying that he “hurt” children, he savaged children, etc. (This is a familiar tactic; when I criticized the improbable test scores in New York City almost a decade ago, I was told that I was “hurting children and their teachers” by questioning the validity of the dramatic rise in scores.)

    Fraud is a feature of deregulation, not a bug. When no one is looking, some people steal. Not everyone steals, but many do. That is why Ohio, Florida, Michigan, and California are scamming taxpayers. No one is demanding accountability. Politicians get paid off by charter friends, then cripple any effort to oversee them Ohio and Michigan spend $1 billion a year to subsidize charter schools, which are lower-performing than public schools.

  • Diane Ravitch to Readers: Don’t Let Charter Industry Silence John Oliver

    Shared opposition to the fraud and abuse associated with charter schools and other privatization efforts, of course.

    On Thursday, longtime educator and activist Diane Ravitch encouraged her readers to start a campaign of thanks to comedian John Oliver, who devoted a segment of his HBO show Last Week Tonight on Sunday to charter schools and fraud—and is now being targeted by privatizers and other corporate propagandists on Twitter.

    Charter supporters are “saying that he ‘hurt’ children, he savaged children,” she wrote, noting that this is “a familiar tactic” of intimidation that she faced after writing about dubious test-scoring methods in New York City school a decade ago.

  • John Oliver Slams Charter Schools And His Critics Totally Miss The Point

    Sometimes it takes a funnyman to make sense.

    Earlier this week, British comedian John Oliver devoted a “Back to School” segment on his HBO program Last Week Tonight to examining the rapidly growing charter school industry and what these schools are doing with our tax dollars.

    The Washington Post’s education blogger Valerie Strauss watched the segment and reports that while Oliver declined to address whether or not charters provide high quality education, he focused mostly on how often these schools are “terribly – and sometimes criminally – operated.” (You can see Oliver’s entire sketch here.)

    Editors at Rolling Stone watched Oliver’s broadcast as well and report Oliver focused much of his attention on three states – Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio – that have “especially depressing charter track records – including negligence in the approval process and school executives embezzling funds.”

  • Progressive Activists Take A Seat For The People At Federal Reserve Retreat

    Two years ago this week, the nonprofit Center for Popular Democracy and allied groups launched the Fed Up campaign, aimed at making the Federal Reserve more accountable to workers and communities of color. They converged then on the Jackson Lake Lodge in Wyoming, where Fed officials decamp every year to discuss policy and hobnob with the economic elite.

    How much political headway has the campaign made since then? This year, Fed Up activists were essentially put on the schedule for senior Federal Reserve officials, with a major meeting at the Jackson Hole summit.

    The group met Thursday, the first day of the summit, with eight of the 12 presidents of the regional Federal Reserve banks and two members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors.

    Fed Up activists have met individually with the governors and regional bank presidents before; they spoke with some Fed officials less formally at the past two Jackson Hole gatherings. This is the first time, however, that their delegation of some 120 rank-and-file activists had met with so many of the central bank’s decision-makers in one place.

  • Day Laborers Leader on Right-Wing Hostility: “So Far, We Have Won This Fight”

    Pablo Alvarado is executive director of the Los Angeles-based National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON)—a group dedicated to building a movement among low-wage workers, most of them immigrants and many of them undocumented. The 49-year old Alvarado, who came to the United States in 1990 from El Salvador, views NDLON as both a workers’ rights and an immigrants’ rights organization. It has been an important player in campaigns to win local minimum wage laws and to stop the exploitation of immigrant workers, many of whom survive in the shadow economy as day laborers, housekeepers, gardeners, restaurant workers and janitors.

    We recently spoke with Alvarado in his small office at the Pasadena Community Job Center in Pasadena, California, one of some 70 worker centers in 21 states connected with NDLON. He is a whirlwind of activity, typically working 12 hours a day, running a national organization while engaged in the daily activities of the Pasadena center—counseling workers, organizing demonstrations, negotiating with city officials, raising money and supervising staff.

    This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

  • The Tax Evasion Double Standard: How US CEOs Are Withholding Revenue

    If I refused to pay any taxes until the US government lowered my taxes to a so-called “fair rate,” I’d almost certainly be arrested for tax evasion. But when The Washington Post asked Apple CEO Tim Cook about the billions that his company has stashed in tax havens around the world, Cook declared: “We’re not going to bring it back until there’s a fair rate. There’s no debate about it.”

    And nothing happened, either to Cook or to Apple. Because when it comes to taxes, it’s truer today than ever that only the little people pay.

    Apparently though, that’s not enough for the CEOs of multinational corporations, like Tim Cook. He doesn’t just want to avoid taxes, he wants Americans to know that Congress isn’t writing the rules; Apple is.

  • Meet the Swedish politician ready to play hardball with the UK on Brexit

    During the febrile, topsy-turvy days after Britain voted to leave the European Union, there were plenty of tough messages from European leaders. But few sounded more uncompromising than the EU trade commissioner.

    A week after the result, Cecilia Malmström, Europe’s lead trade negotiator, stated that the UK could not even begin discussing a trade deal until it had left the bloc. “First you exit and then you negotiate the terms of the relationship,” she told Newsnight, opening up the prospect of the world’s sixth-largest economy being left dangling for years. When the BBC interviewer suggested this would damage businesses in Britain and on the continent, her response was straightforward: “Yes, but the vote was very clear.”

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • Another Fly In The SugarMan Lemonade

    Recently Rudy Giuliani said if you want to find dirt on Hillary Clinton, just go on the Internet and google “Hillary Clinton”. Apparently he got that idea from out own Google master, the Sugarman (Remember that moniker? That’s the nickname given to him by some servers in a local eatery for his knack of ordering lemon water and sugar to make his own lemonade). The Sugarman actually said Lemon Water is only served in “High-Class” restaurants, I assume he thinks Chiles or Applebees are “High-Class”… Anyway, the Sugarman has been doing exactly what Giuliani suggested since day one. He scratches around Right Wing blogs until he finds something that he can use. In his last letter he found Democratic Convention goodies, never mind that they were mostly just made up. Things like, foreign flags like N. Korean, Soviet, Plastinian and Hamas but NO American flags. Really Sugarman? That was just one, he had a whole list of made-up stuff to share, he always does…

  • Donald Trump: The NSA Is ‘Coddling’ Hillary Clinton

  • Trump thinks NSA has Clinton’s deleted emails

  • Hillary Clinton Used BleachBit To Wipe Emails

    Have any Slashdotters had any experience with BleachBit? Specifically, have you used it for erasing “yoga emails” or “bridesmaids emails?”

  • In Defending His Support of Trump, Sean Hannity Says He ‘Never Claimed to Be a Journalist’

  • Sean Hannity Turns Adviser in the Service of Donald Trump

    During major inflection points in Donald J. Trump’s campaign, the advisers, family members and friends who make up his kitchen cabinet burn up their email accounts and phone lines gaming out how to get his candidacy on track (and what counsel he might go along with).

    But one person in the mix brings more than just his political advice. He also happens to control an hour of prime time on the Fox News Channel.

  • US: Clinton calendars won’t be released until after election

    Seven months after a federal judge ordered the State Department to begin releasing monthly batches of the detailed daily schedules showing meetings by Hillary Clinton during her time as secretary of state, the government told The Associated Press it won’t finish the job before Election Day.

  • From Booster to Adviser: Sean Hannity Has Erased His Final, Albeit Microscopic, Sliver of Impartiality

    Today in Austin, Texas, Republican presidential nominee – it still feels weird to type this – Donald Trump will tape a two-hour interview with his trained news poodle Sean Hannity. The event will likely entail 120 minutes of the Fox News host offering the sentient tangelo peel open-ended softball questions from which Trump can spin out extended rants about every conspiracy theory and nasty, subversive rumor he has ever heard about Hillary Clinton, egged on by the chuckles of the live audience brought in for the private, closed-to-the-press affair.

  • Embracing the Alt-Right: New Trump Campaign Chief “Created an Online Haven for White Nationalists”

    Last week, Donald Trump once again upended his campaign team and named Stephen Bannon, the head of Breitbart Media, to be his campaign chief. Breitbart regularly sparks controversy with headlines such as “Birth Control Makes Women Unattractive and Crazy,” “Trannies Whine About Hilarious Bruce Jenner Billboard” and “Bill Kristol: Republican Spoiler, Renegade Jew.” In a new article published by Mother Jones, investigative journalist Sarah Posner writes, “By bringing on Stephen Bannon, Trump was signaling a wholehearted embrace of the ‘alt-right,’ a once-motley assemblage of anti-immigrant, anti-Muslim, ethno-nationalistic provocateurs who have coalesced behind Trump and curried the GOP nominee’s favor on social media.” For more, we speak to Sarah Posner and Heather McGhee of Demos.

  • Weapons, Pipelines & Wall St: Did Clinton Foundation Donations Impact Clinton State Dept. Decisions?

    New questions have arisen this week over Hillary Clinton and the Clinton Foundation. On Tuesday, the Associated Press published a new investigation revealing that while Hillary Clinton served as secretary of state, more than half of the private citizens she met with had donated to the Clinton Foundation. The AP investigation comes after a three-year battle to gain access to State Department calendars. The analysis shows that at least 85 of 154 people Hillary Clinton had scheduled phone or in-person meetings with were foundation donors. This does not include meetings Clinton held with U.S. or foreign government workers or representatives, only private citizens. We speak to David Sirota of the International Business Times and Paul Glastris, editor-in-chief of the Washington Monthly. He was President Bill Clinton’s chief speechwriter from 1998 to 2001.

  • “Our Revolution”? Bernie Sanders Launches New Organization, But Key Staffers Quit in Protest

    Bernie Sanders and his supporters have launched a new political organization called Our Revolution. It seeks to support the next generation of progressive leaders, empower millions to fight for progressive change and elevate the nation’s overall political consciousness. More than 2,600 watch parties were held across the country last night to witness Sanders launch the new organization. But reports have emerged of political tumult within Bernie Sanders’s own team. Over the weekend, eight key staffers abruptly resigned in a dispute over the group’s leadership and legal structure. For more, we speak with Larry Cohen, incoming board chair of Our Revolution, and with Claire Sandberg, former digital organizing director for Bernie Sanders’s campaign, who resigned as the organizing director for Our Revolution.

  • Is Trump-Bashing Good for the Media?

    Just about everyone now concedes that the media have it in for Donald Trump. A survey of eight major news organs during the primaries, conducted by Harvard’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy — one I cited in a previous post — showed that the press grew increasingly hostile to Trump, peaking at 61 percent negative to 39 percent positive at the end of the primary season. Even the conservative, Murdoch-owned Wall Street Journal editorialized that he should consider quitting the race, and the normally cautious NBC Nightly News has turned reporter Katy Tur into a one-woman truth squad, correcting Trump whoppers.

  • Troglodyte Vs. Goebbelean Fascism: The 2016 Presidential Race

    Alienation is built into the societal edifice, a known factor long before Marx’s Economic-Philosophical Manuscripts of 1844, which enabled him to write as presciently as he did. The commodity becomes engrained in the human psyche, and from there the merry race commences, codified in the institutions and culture of property, for superiority one over another fellow human being. Is it too late for systemic rectification of what should be regarded as the political culture of oppression and evil? That would make for an interesting starting point for discussion and possible action, not the mealy-mouthed platitudes offered by the candidates, their respective parties, and America as a whole.

  • Trump Illegally Pumped Up His Own Book Sales With Campaign Donations

    Now we know how Donald Trump manages to write so-called bestsellers. He buys up thousands of copies himself.

    The newest wrinkle in the Republican nominee for president’s con artistry is that he used campaign donations — to the tune of about $55,000 — to buy up approximately “3,500 copies of the hardcover version of Crippled America: How to Make America Great Again, or just over 5,000 copies of the renamed paperback release, Great Again: How to Fix Our Crippled America,” the Daily Beast reported Wednesday morning.

    According to a Federal Election Commission filing, the Trump campaign paid $55,055 to Barnes & Noble for the books in May. While it’s not illegal to buy thousands of copies of your own book to artificially boost your sales, it is when you use campaign donations to do so, while also lining your own pockets.

  • Internet blind spot highlighted in Trump’s $8.4 million digital expenditure

    Since internet advertisements are usually targeted to a specific demographic, only the people who are targeted by the ad will know it is out there. The only way to tell if campaigns are getting what they paid for in terms of this digital marketing is if those targeted people show up to the polls and vote.

  • Reporter Tweets From Trump Rally: “His Supporters Are Ready for Violence”

    Since Donald Trump’s presidential campaign took off, there have been numerous reports of the sometimes violent nature of the crowds attending his massive rallies, including tales of pushing, shoving and other physical altercations instigated by attendees pumped up by Trump’s hateful rhetoric. “I can’t vote for Trump after that way I was treated,” said one student who was kicked out of a rally.

    Trump’s angry speeches at these rallies are nothing new, but the targets of his vitriol keep changing. In recent weeks, Trump has narrowed his focus to one enemy: the mainstream media.

  • The Independent “Women’s” Voice? Most Known Donors Are Men

    The Independent Women’s Voice touts its “independent” brand in reaching potential voters.

    But is it even women’s voices it is throwing? Let alone independent women?

    The reported data from the Federal Election Commission data says no.

    New research shows that the overwhelming majority of its known donors are men.

    Very rich men.

    Yes, men have provided most of the disclosed donations to fund election-related expenditures under the name of the “Independent Women’s Voice.”

  • How the Washington Post Sells the Politics of Fear

    Dana Milbank, a columnist for the paper, popped up at Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein’s news conference that focused on climate change. After Stein noted that Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have gotten billions in free media, he chimed in: “Dana Milbank with the Washington Post segment of the corporate media. I have a conundrum I want to present to you. I could write about today and others could report here about what an important issue climate change is. And we would publish it or broadcast it. The fact is very few people will read it. They will go read or view stories about Trump’s staff machinations or Clinton’s e-mails. I’m not sure the issue is necessarily a corporate media but what people are demanding. Why is that? What is the way around that if there is one?”

    Milbank is pretending to be so concerned about what it is people want. What came to mind for me was John Milton’s aphorism: “They who have put out the people’s eyes reproach them of their blindness.”

    Stein was more diplomatic: “Right now so many people are tuned out [of] the election and out of the political system in general because they are accustomed to being ignored by that system. Was Bernie Sanders tuned out? I don’t think so. I think he had more attention from the American public than just about anyone at least from my point of view. It looks to me like he was the guy saying that the emperor had no clothes and everyone was agreeing with him. Even Trump supporters were agreeing with him. Polls showed that the majority of Trump supporters are not motivated by supporting Trump. They are motivated by not liking Hillary Clinton. Let’s give them another choice besides Donald Trump as an alternative to Hillary Clinton.”

    Having been deftly rebuffed, Milbank didn’t note his own question in his column in the Post.

  • Jill Stein: Majority of Americans Want Another Choice

    Green Party Presidential Candidate Jill Stein discusses the 2016 U.S. presidential elections and her campaign. She speaks on “Bloomberg Surveillance.”

  • Tech Giants Go to Washington

    As they try to gain more influence with regulators and policymakers, several of the top technology companies are increasing the amount of money they spend on lobbying.

  • A Guided Tour of the ‘Alt-Right,’ by the Trump Campaign Chief’s Website

    And the “alt-right”? Well, Breitbart (3/29/16) tried to explain what that is in a 5,000-word piece last spring, written by Breitbart tech editor Milo Yiannopoulos—perhaps best-known for being banned from Twitter for harassing actress Leslie Jones—and Allum Bokhari, who describes himself as the “resident kebab at Breitbart Tech” and “Milo’s deputy.”

  • Will Debates Inject Ideas Into Election Coverage? That’s Debatable

    After weeks of watching media rehash Clinton and Trump campaign talking points of the day, Americans can be forgiven for wanting to see some ideas injected into coverage of the presidential election. For some, debates are a natural opportunity to possibly pull candidates off script, force them to answer questions they didn’t write themselves. But, activists are saying, debates that include only the two major party candidates are far less likely to do that.

    As FAIR founder Jeff Cohen notes in a recent column, the Commission for Presidential Debates that runs the show, though sometimes mistakenly described as “nonpartisan,” is in fact vehemently bipartisan—really a sort of corporation run by the two major parties, and funded by powerful interests like oil and gas, pharmaceuticals and finance. CPD rules, Cohen says, don’t aim so much at eliminating “nonviable” candidates as preventing outsiders from ever becoming viable.

    In charge of debates since the 1980s, the CPD makes no bones about its intent to use its role to secure a Republican/Democrat duopoly. So much so that when they took over fully in 1988, the League of Women Voters, which had been running debates, pulled its sponsorship, saying, “The demands of the two campaign organizations would perpetrate a fraud on the American voter.”

  • ‘Good Riddance’: Canada’s Stephen Harper Bids Adieu to Politics, Hello to Consulting

    As expected, former Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper has announced his resignation from Parliament, saying that he’s now gearing up for “for the next chapter of my life.”

    That chapter, as the Toronto Star reports, includes “launching a global consulting business.”

    Harper posted the news Friday on his social media accounts, saying, “I leave elected office proud of what our team accomplished together.”

    For the 57-year-old, the resignation marks the end of “nearly two often-tumultuous decades in public office,” Mississauga News reports.

    Harper lost power in October in a “devastating election defeat” when his Conservative Party lost to the Justin Trudeau-led Liberal Party.

    Since then, the Star adds, he “has only appeared in the Commons for votes since he lost power last fall, and has never spoken in debate as the MP for Calgary Heritage.”

  • Former Canadian prime minister Harper leaves politics

    Harper served as prime minister for almost a decade. Canada shifted to the center-right under Harper, who lowered sales and corporate taxes, avoided climate change legislation, strongly supported the oil and gas extraction industry and backed the right-wing government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. His legacy includes merging two conservative parties in Canada.

    Harper now plans to consult on international issues.

  • American white nationalism isn’t isolationist #USA!USA!USA!

    Alt-right white nationalism is an apt term for a campaign that has electrified white supremacists so it makes sense that most people would focus on the racial angle. According to this analysis in the Guardian, the rising right wing ethno-nationalist movement in Europe is the progenitor of this American version, which adheres to its basic premise but brings its own special brand of deep-fried racism. Both share a belief that the white race is under siege and that “demands for diversity in the workplace which means less white males in particular forms the foundation for the movement.” So it stands to reason that Trump’s border wall, Muslim ban and bellicose appeals for “law and order” (along with his overt misogyny) is a clarion call to this faction.

  • Here’s a Bold Idea for Hillary’s Troubled Campaign

    3. Eliminate tax shelters and loopholes for 1-percenter households and businesses. The loopholes crying out for elimination include capital gains and other types of investment income, such as ‘carried interest’ and the truly outrageous ‘step-up in basis,’ which exclusively benefits inherited wealth. These function as direct federal subsidies to mostly affluent Americans. And they cost the national treasury some $250 billion per year, with the Congressional Budget Office estimating that a whopping 70 percent of this subsidy is hoovered by Americans in the top 1 percent income bracket (and nearly 93 percent by the top 20 percent bracket).

  • Maryland redistricting lawsuit can go forward, federal judges rule

    A lawsuit challenging Maryland’s contorted congressional district map on First Amendment grounds has merit and should go forward, a three-judge federal panel ruled Wednesday.

    The map, drawn by Maryland’s Democratic lawmakers following the 2010 Census, essentially ensured that seven of the state’s eight congressional seats would be under their party’s control.

    According to the lawsuit, the redistricting specifically targeted western Maryland’s 6th District, where lines were altered to help unseat 10-term incumbent Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (R). Bartlett was defeated by John Delaney (D) in 2012.

  • Democracy Wins as ‘Biggest Gerrymandering Case in Generation’ Moves Forward

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Facebook Reduces Human Involvement in Selection of Trending Topics

    Facebook Inc. is reducing human involvement in how it displays its Trending Topics after a controversy earlier this year over whether editors working for the social network operator silenced conservative news.

    After conducting an internal investigation and saying it found no bias, Facebook is still retooling the trending news section to rely more on computers than humans. Instead of showing a headline and a summary, the trending topics will instead show an algorithmically selected topic, like “Olympics,” as well as the number of people talking about it, the company said Friday in a blog post.

  • How I Was Blacklisted at CNN, and How Easily America Goes to War Now

    It was about two years ago to the day I was blacklisted at CNN.

    I don’t want to remind them they were sadly wrong, but they were. So write this off however you prefer, but understand that we were lied to again to drag us again into an open-ended war in Iraq-Syria. Last time it was Bush and those missing Weapons of Mass Destruction. This time is was Obama and saving the Yazidi people from genocide.

    Wait, what? Who are the Yazidis? How they get us back into Iraq?

    Ah, how fast time flies.

    Two years ago a group of Yazidis, a minority spread across Iran, Iraq and Turkey, were being threatened by a group called ISIS few American were focused on. Obama declared a genocide was about to happen, and the U.S. had to act. U.S. officials said they believed that some type of ground force would be necessary to secure the safety of the stranded members of the Yazidi group. The military drew up plans for limited airstrikes and the deployment of 150 ground troops.

  • Why There’s a Media Blackout on the Native American Oil Pipeline Blockade

    As the Lakota Sioux continue their peaceful blockade of the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline, the story’s absence from the national media narrative is palpable. Considering the corporate media’s chronic quest for controversial stories on government versus public standoffs, you’d think this situation would garner the typical media frenzy invoked during a right-wing militia occupation of a federal building, for example, or a tense standoff between the Black Lives Matter movement and police. But it’s not.

    As of late, the media has faced criticism for its selective coverage of certain events — like, say, focusing on single terror attacks in Western Europe that garner thousands of headlines while basically ignoring similar or worse attacks that occur on a constant basis in Muslim-majority countries.

  • Melania Trump threatens to sue news outlets

    Melania Trump has threatened to sue The Daily Mail, Politico and at least eight other news outlets for defamation, her lawyer says.

    Trump, the wife of the Republican presidential nominee, has placed The Daily Mail and other news organizations “on notice… for making false and defamatory statements about her supposedly having been an ‘escort’ in the 1990s,” Charles Harder, a lawyer for Trump, said in a statement.

    In addition, Harder said that he had put Politico on notice for “false and defamatory statements” regarding its reporting on Trump’s immigration history. Politico confirmed that its reporters had been sent notices.

  • Lawsuit Over Facebook Post Raises Fears of Online Censorship in Bhutan

    Bhutanese journalist Namgay Zam is facing defamation charges over a Facebook post, marking the first time that anyone in the Himalayan country has been taken to court over their social media activities. Official statements surrounding the case indicate that social media users in Bhutan may soon be restricted in what they can say online.

    The suit against Zam revolves around a family that is fighting a property dispute against well-connected business man Ap Sonam Phuntsho, who is also father-in-law to the Chief Justice of Bhutan.

    In an online appeal posted by Namgay on Facebook, Dr. Sacha Wangmo explains how Phuntsho attempted to seize her family’s home when an estranged family member could not repay Phuntsho a debt of Nu 0.7 million. Wangmo says that Phuntsho forged documents to show that they sold their house to repay debts to him, something to which the family says they never agreed. The documents also indicated that their debts had compounded, rising from Nu 0.7 million to Nu 3 million.

  • Pakistani law could enable sweeping internet censorship

    Bangkok, August 26, 2016 – Pakistani President Mamnoon Hussain should veto a bill that could allow for sweeping censorship of the internet and the prosecution of journalists, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Pakistan’s National Assembly approved the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill 2015 last week and sent it to Hussain to sign into law, according to press reports.

    Ambiguous language in the bill, which the Pakistani Senate approved in July and the National Assembly approved on August 11, would give state regulators sweeping powers to censor the internet, including material posted to social media platforms, in the name of upholding stability, security, and “the glory of Islam,” news reports said. Penalties under the law include three years in prison and fines for “spoofing,” defined as creating a website or disseminating information online using a “counterfeit” identity with “dishonest” intent, a provision that could apply to satirical websites. Judges could also sentence those found guilty of publishing material deemed to “harm the reputation” of someone, reports said.

  • Israel’s war on open discourse: State censorship now reaches into international news sources and social media

    Since the beginning of this year, Israel’s attempts to control what people can read and write within the country and in occupied Palestinian territories have increased, reaching into new areas in ways that are of concern.

    Of course, all states carefully monitor information, and Israel is not the only country that advertises itself as being an “open democracy” while imposing strict kinds of censorship. But recent developments in Israel signal not only the kinds of things it wishes to censor beyond its borders, but also how it is systematically censoring political dissent and monitoring social media.

    Israel’s authority to carry out such monitoring and censorship still largely derive from measures called the “Defense (Emergency) Regulations,” which were put in place in 1945 during the British Mandate. These have been adapted to the present day in three problematic manners. First, Israel is imposing gag orders on international journalists. In some cases, this holds true even if the information included in an international report is already available in Israel itself. This puts international journalists and editors in the difficult position of determining how much information is worth fighting for.

    Second, Israel is using a vague and broad notion of “incitement” to arrest and detain individuals for things they post on Facebook and Twitter, and requiring that certain individuals gain the State’s approval before posting. Furthermore, Israel has publicly shamed Facebook for not catching certain posts in time — in effect, Israel is asking Facebook to adopt the State’s criteria for what is to be censored. Finally, Israel has also tried to enlist Facebook and Twitter to its cause, and recruited other countries to form a consortium of watchdogs.

  • Who is Nabeel Rajab?

    Have you expressed disapproval of your government? Called for more democratic decision-making in your country? Criticised prison conditions or criticised a country allied with your government? Retweeted a comment that included #opinionsarenotcrimes?

    You are a criminal. You could be facing up to 15 years in prison for simply expressing your point of view, if you lived in Bahrain.

    Nabeel Rajab, just like you, thinks his country could be better. And he has made those views public. He speaks out against poor prison conditions, and argues for more freedom of speech in Bahrain.

    On 5 September Rajab is due in court accused of spreading “false or malicious news, statements, or rumours”, evidence of which includes a retweet of an Index tweet; “offending a foreign country” through tweeted criticism of Saudi Arabia’s involvement in Yemen; and “offending a statutory body” by condemning conditions in the country’s notorious Jau prison.

    What’s worse, it’s just the latest in a long line of actions taken by the Bahraini government against Rajab, one of the Middle East’s most prominent human rights defenders.

  • Shrinking space for journalism in Russia and Ukraine

    The conflict over Crimea between Ukraine and Russia is having a direct impact on journalists. Though the tactics have differed, each country has been narrowing the space for reporting information on events.

    “A review of incidents reported to the database show that increasingly — in both Russia and Ukraine — the public’s right to information is being jeopardised by the blocking of journalists’ professional duties. The long-term implications, reinforced by polarised viewpoints, are hardened by a lack of a free media,” Hannah Machlin, project officer of Index on Censorship’s Mapping Media Freedom platform, said.

  • Brazilian students return to the streets over classroom censorship laws

  • Social media throttling in Turkey points to wartime censorship efforts

  • Telemundo Responds To SAG-AFTRA’s Accusation Of Censorship For Not Airing Ad Critical Of NBCUniversal

  • Telemundo Refuses to Air SAG-AFTRA Ad About Language Equity

  • Telemundo refuses to air ad from SAG-AFTRA calling for pay uniformity

  • US Latin TV Network Underpaying Spanish Speakers

  • SAG-AFTRA Blasts Telemundo’s ‘Double Standard’ Treatment of Talent in TV Spot

  • Clinton’s Censorship Tactics Aren’t Working Against Trump

  • Journalists resort to self-censorship after Maldives passes draconian defamation law

  • Former President of Maldives Mohammed Nasheed flies secretly to Sri Lanka to unseat President Abdullah Yameen

  • Facebook Censors Video Exposing PBS Cutting Hillary/TPP Criticism From Jill Stein Interview

    Facebook is censoring a video created by Green candidate Dr. Jill Stein supporter Matt Orfalea that exposes PBS Newshour cutting Stein’s criticism of Hillary Clinton, the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), and Obamacare.

    Breitbart News reported on the Orfalea’s video exposing the Hillary bias and now it appears Facebook is censoring the exposure of censorship. Orfalea told Breitbart News: “It’s insane.”

  • PBS NewsHour Cuts Anti-Hillary Portions of Judy Woodruff’s Jill Stein Interview

  • Criticism of Clinton Edited from Jill Stein’s Answer During PBS Interview

  • Jill Stein Reportedly Censored In PBS Interview

  • PBS Gets Caught Cutting Criticism Of Hillary, TPP, and Obamacare From Jill Stein Interview

  • Just What Clinton Doesn’t Need: An Attack From the Left by Jill Stein

  • Extensive Criticism of Clinton Edited Out of Green Party Nominee’s Answer During PBS Interview

• Privacy/Surveillance

  • Secret Cameras Record Baltimore’s Every Move From Above

    The sky over the Circuit Court for Baltimore City on June 23 was the color of a dull nickel, and a broad deck of lowering clouds threatened rain. A couple dozen people with signs—“Justice 4 Freddie Gray” and “The whole damn system is guilty as hell”—lingered by the corner of the courthouse, watching the network TV crews rehearse their standups. Sheriff’s officers in bulletproof vests clustered around the building’s doors, gripping clubs with both hands.

    Inside, a judge was delivering the verdict in the case of Caesar Goodson, the only Baltimore police officer facing a murder charge for the death of Freddie Gray. In April 2015, Gray’s neck was broken in the back of a police van, and prosecutors had argued that Goodson purposefully drove the vehicle recklessly, careening through the city, to toss Gray around.

  • Cisco starts patching firewall devices against NSA-linked exploit [Ed: Cisco should not deliver patches. It should liberate all the code, make it FOSS so that trust can be established]

    Cisco Systems has started releasing security patches for a critical flaw in Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) firewalls targeted by an exploit linked to the U.S. National Security Agency.

    The exploit, dubbed ExtraBacon, is one of the tools used by a group that the security industry calls the Equation, believed to be a cyberespionage team tied to the NSA.

    ExtraBacon was released earlier this month together with other exploits by one or more individuals who use the name Shadow Brokers. The files were provided as a sample of a larger Equation group toolset the Shadow Brokers outfit has put up for auction.

  • Cisco Takes Measures Against NSA Exploit Cyberweapon

    On Wednesday, Aug. 24, Cisco Systems has released some security patches for a critical flaw in Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) firewalls found to be the target of an exploit cyberweapon linked to the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). Security analysts expect that the networking company will soon release more fixes.

  • NSA cyber weapons ‘hacked’ by mysterious Shadow Brokers

    According to another expert, Matt Suiche, co-founder of security start-up Comae Technologies, the stolen sample also shows that network security equipment from different manufacturers and brands – including Cisco Systems, Juniper, Fortigate and Chinese industrial giant Topse – are targeted by Equation.

  • Hacker Group to Auction Off Supposed NSA Data From Breached Computer Systems

    The hacking group who perpetrated the cyber attack call themselves “The Shadow Brokers” and much speculation surrounds their origin.

    How sure are we that these tools actually belonged to the NSA?

    This code similarity makes us believe with a high degree of confidence that the tools from the ShadowBrokers leak are related to the malware from the Equation group.

  • Untangling the NSA’s latest alleged embarrassment

  • Should the NSA Reveal Leaked Exploits?

    The outing of the NSA-linked framework is the latest in a series of leaks of cyber toolsets that highlight that many governments are active in cyber operations against rival nations, non-governmental groups and even individuals. Mobile security firm Lookout and the University of Toronto’s Citizen Lab revealed on Aug. 25, for example, that an attacker, likely a nation, had used espionage tools allegedly created by the NSO Group—including exploits for three previously unknown iOS vulnerabilities—against a well-known Middle Eastern activist, Ahmed Mansoor. Mansoor had been targeted by similar attempts twice before.

  • Cisco updates advisory: “We have started publishing fixes” for NSA-linked exploits

    Cisco Wednesday updated a security advisory for a remote code execution vulnerability affecting the SNMP application-layer protocol. The vulnerability was discovered after the Shadow Brokers release of exploits believed to have been used by the Equation Group loosely tied to the National Security Agency (NSA).

    Omar Santos, principal engineer of Cisco’s product security incident response team (PSIRT), wrote in the advisory that the SNMP vulnerability (CVE-2016-6366) is related to the ExtraBacon exploit. “We have started publishing fixes for affected versions, and will continue to publish additional fixes for supported releases as they become available in the coming days,” Santos wrote.

  • Cisco, Huawei and Juniper play down NSA attack reports

    The reports emerged after a group called Shadow Brokers released files that seemed to show the NSA was targeting not only US companies such as Cisco and Juniper but also Chinese vendor Huawei.

    A Huawei spokesperson said: “We do view this as a bit of an old story”, but gave an official statement: “Huawei is aware of allegations of past government attempts to exploit commercial networking gear. We know that networks and related ICT product are under regular and widespread attack and we make significant investments in innovative technologies, processes and security assurance procedures to better secure them, as well as the networks and data of our customers.

  • Is There Another Edward Snowden Leaking NSA Info?

    After news that a cache of proprietary and powerful hacking tools had been stolen from the National Security Agency, the government suggested Russian hackers were to blame.

    But intelligence expert and former NSA whistleblower James Bamford writes that the theft probably isn’t the work of the Russians, and was more likely carried out by an insider, similar to famed NSA leak source, Edward Snowden.

    “If Russia had stolen the hacking tools, it would be senseless to publicize the theft, let alone put them up for sale,” Bamford wrote for Reuters. “It would be like a safecracker stealing the combination to a bank vault and putting it on Facebook.”

    On the weekend of Aug. 13 and 14, a hacker group calling itself the Shadow Brokers placed the stolen tools online. They consist of what The Washington Post called “a sophisticated cyber arsenal” capable of smashing through firewalls and exploiting weaknesses in network security.

  • Politicians renew call to bring Snowden to Germany

    The Green and Die Linke politicians wrote a letter to the Federal Court of Justice, asking that Snowden be allowed to be questioned in Germany for an ongoing inquiry into NSA surveillance.

    According to DPA sources, they want to break a blockade by the coalition government against having Snowden come for questioning about surveillance by the US National Security Agency (NSA).

    “Neither a questioning by video nor a hearing of Edward Snowden in Moscow are the same as a questioning in Berlin,” said Linke politician Martina Renner.

    “A testimony in Moscow or by video still would entail significant problems for security and the protection of information about the relevant concerns.”

    The German parliament set up an investigatory committee after Snowden leaked information that revealed the scale of the NSA’s spying, including claims that American agents had tapped into Chancellor Angela Merkel’s cell phone.

    The information from Snowden also led to the emergence of information about Germany helping the NSA to spy on German companies and European politicians.

  • Letter: Liberals twist ‘hacks’ and ‘leaks’ [Ed: Whistleblowers need to defy rules in order to demonstrate misconduct and avoid cover-up. This letter ignores that.]

    What if the leaker signed a confidentially agreement not to share any information, as Manning and Snowden did? Did they not then break the law to obtain the information? What if someone physically enters into a restricted area at work and leaks this data to the media? Is this not theft?

  • NSA has a Most Skillfully Developed Hackers’ Team

    It’s presumed that Equation Group is a contractor that provides service to the NSA. To describe it differently it would be USA’s very own hackers’ team. Cyber Security Company Kaspersky Lab based in Moscow analyzed Equation Group as an extremely skilled hacking group equipped with resources and sophisticated techniques.

  • Were Stolen NSA Codes Leaked by ‘Another Snowden?’

    Top secret tools used by the National Security Agency are believed to be have been leaked by a group calling itself the “Shadow Brokers.”

    The “Shadow Factory” author James Bamford said he wouldn’t be surprise if the hack was caused by someone within the NSA.

    “All indications are that this probably came from somebody from the inside, not somebody from the outside, and certainly not the Russians,” Bamford said during an interview on the FOX Business Network’s Cavuto: Coast-to-Coast.

    The leaked toolkits, believed to be authentic, provided an inside look at the hacking toolkit of the NSA’s hacker unit from 2013. Bamford is convinced someone from within the agency is responsible for the security breach – an incident similar to the one in which Edward Snowden walked away with 1.7 million NSA documents.

  • If You’re Learning About It From Slate, Running Your Own Email Server Is A Horrendously Bad Idea

    And for what tradeoff? Well, there are some pretty big ones. If you’re not particularly skilled and experienced with online security issues, your personal email server is almost certainly significantly less secure than the big companies that have strong security teams and are constantly making it stronger and on the lookout for attacks. If you’re that good, you’re not learning about the issue of hosting your own email server for the first time in… Slate.

    The article insists that it’s a myth that running your own server is a security nightmare, but I’ve yet to see an online security expert who agrees with that even remotely. Even the comments to the Slate piece are filled with IT folks screaming about what a bad idea this is.

    In the end, this seems to be an issue of tradeoffs and skills. If you’re quite skilled with online security and you think the government might want secret access to your email, then maybe in some limited cases, it might make more sense for you to run your own server — though, even then you’re exposing yourself to being hacked by the government too, because, you know, they do that kind of thing also in some cases. Otherwise, you’re almost certainly opening yourself up to a home IT nightmare and a lot more trouble than it’s worth for significantly less security.

    In short, even if you’re not Hillary Clinton, running your own email server is a bad idea. And if you’re just now getting the idea from Slate… then it’s a really bad idea.

  • Privacy-Preserving Abuse Detection in Future Decentralised Online Social Networks

  • WhatsApp and Facebook to share data – even more snooping

    WhatsApp is an encrypted mobile messaging service. It was purchased by Facebook in February 2014 with the implication that its users’ data would never be shared. It is still saying that despite its latest blog indicating otherwise.

    WhatsApp’s latest blog “Looking ahead for WhatsApp” reveals changes to allow it to share user data with its parent Facebook for highly targeted advertising.

    The blog says, “By connecting your phone number with Facebook’s systems, Facebook can offer better friend suggestions and show you more relevant ads if you have an account with them. For example, you might see an ad from a company you already work with, rather than one from someone you’ve never heard of. You can learn more, including how to control the use of your data, here.”

    The updated privacy policy, however, is a wordy document but essentially says, “We may provide you marketing for our Services and those of the Facebook family of companies, of which we are now a part.”

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Sheriff’s Raid to Find Blogger Who Criticized Him Was Unconstitutional, Court Rules

    An appellate court in Baton Rouge ruled Thursday that a raid on a police officer’s house in search of the blogger who had accused the sheriff of corruption was unconstitutional.

    The Louisiana First Circuit Court of Appeals argued that Sheriff Jerry Larpenter’s investigation into the blog ExposeDAT had flawed rationale: the alleged defamation was not actually a crime as applied to a public official.

    The unanimous ruling from the three-judge panel comes after police officer Wayne Anderson and his wife Jennifer Anderson were denied assistance in local and federal court.

    “I love it when justice is tangible,” Jerri Smitko, one of the Andersons’ laywers, told The Intercept.

    “With that piece of paper it says that what they did was unconstitutional — that’s a great feeling because you’re holding it in your hand and it’s vindication for people that they intended to oppress,” she added.

    The raid was sparked by the sheriff’s investigation into who was behind the anonymous blog that accused local officials, including him, of corruption and fraud. Through a blog and a Facebook page called “John Turner,” ExposeDAT used public records to show conflicts of interest.

    The sheriff sought warrants when Tony Alford, a local business owner, filed a criminal complaint about the blog. On August 2, Larpenter and his deputies raided the Andersons’ house after they traced the IP address of the John Turner Facebook page through a warrant to AT&T.

    The information AT&T provided, according to an affidavit, gave the sheriff an address and a name: Wayne Anderson.

  • Patients violated, doctors rehabilitated

    Doctors who sexually abuse patients go to therapy and then return to practice

  • The Battle Over the Burkini

    There are at least two ways of looking at this: one from the perspective of much of the Muslim world, the other from the perspective of Western countries. The main difference here is this: Westerners or others have of course right to express personal opinions on this issue, but have no authority overseas to decide on the issues that essentially affect Muslim women and local practices in the Muslim world. (Unless we are talking about gross violations of human rights which this is not.)

    It is Muslim men and women who have to decide for themselves what norms they seek on social dress codes for their own countries and cultures. In the Muslim world there is no unanimity, and furthermore the issue is evolving with time.

    Let’s be clear — I’m talking about here the wearing of full face and body covering (burka), not about women’s modest Islamic dress such as the hijab — more like a nun’s habit — that covers the hair but not the face.

    I happen to personally believe that women’s place in society is basically held back by the wearing of the full body and face covering (burka). That is indisputably the case in the West, but even in the East as well. But that is just my personal opinion.

  • The Deep Colonial Roots of France’s Unveiling of Muslim Women

    Throughout the summer, as a growing number of southern French municipalities banned burkinis on their beaches, the measure was widely decried as Islamophobic, counter-productive and oppressive to women. While it would be easy to reduce it to a misled, demagogue measure by right-wing mayors attempting to appear ‘tough on extremism’ in the aftermath of the Nice attack and in a national climate of rising Islamophobia, the bans are only the latest development in a long history of state-led oppression of Muslim women. In fact, the French State has been unveiling Muslim women for decades.

    During colonial rule in Algeria and the Algerian War of Independence, French military propaganda enjoined women to unveil themselves as acts of allegiance to both the French state and “civilization” itself. In turn, remaining veiled was an act of cultural and national resistance. Following years of controversy on the subject, France passed a law to ban headscarves in schools in 2004, and in 2010 Nicolas Sarkozy’s government banned the burqa in all public spaces.

  • ‘Line in the Sand’: Court Halts Burkini Ban on French Beaches

    France’s highest administrative court halted the controversial ban on full-body “burkinis” imposed by the town of Villeneuve-Loubet on the grounds that it “seriously and clearly illegally breached fundamental freedoms.”

    The court said a final decision on the legality of the ban—which is similar to those also in place in some 30 French towns, mostly on the Riviera—would be made later. If Villeneuve-Loubet’s ban is found to be illegal, that ruling could set a precedent for the others, the BBC reports. Correspondents said the court’s action makes it likely that the other bans will also be overturned.

    The ban on the full-body swimsuits has engendered widespread criticism from those who say it uses the language of human rights to impose discriminatory rules on Muslim women.

  • France: Reaction to court decision to overturn burkini ban

    Responding to the decision of France’s highest administrative court to overturn the ban on the burkini on a French beach, John Dalhuisen, Amnesty International’s Europe Director said:

    “By overturning a discriminatory ban that is fuelled by and is fuelling prejudice and intolerance, today’s decision has drawn an important line in the sand.”

    “French authorities must now drop the pretence that these measures do anything to protect the rights of women. Rather, invasive and discriminatory measures such as these restrict women’s choices and are an assault on their freedoms of expression, religion and right to non-discrimination.”

  • When Police Body Cameras Aren’t The Answer

    Earlier this month, a too familiar tragedy unfolded in East Los Angeles when Los Angeles police officers shot and killed 14-year-old Jesse Romero. Witness accounts vary — the police department says Romero fled when officers approached him on suspicion of scrawling graffiti in his neighborhood, then fired at officers. Some civilians say he had a gun but tossed it away.

    As is increasingly common, the incident was captured on officers’ body cameras.

    Los Angeles officials have touted body cameras as a way to provide transparency and accountability and build trust between police and the public in moments of crisis. But that’s not how it has played out because the LAPD’s policies for body cameras don’t provide transparency or assure the public that officers will be held accountable.

    Instead, the department has stated that it generally holds videos from public view unless ordered by a court to release them. Romero’s family has called for the footage to be released.

    According to LAPD policy, officers are able to review body cam footage before talking to investigators. Instead of promoting transparency and trust, LAPD’s body camera program has resulted in more questions than answers.

  • NYPD Ignored Court-Imposed Rules While Spying on American Muslims

    A new report from the NYPD Inspector General provides more fodder for critics of the department’s discredited practices.

    The New York Police Department repeatedly violated important court-imposed safeguards when it secretly investigated American Muslims for years, according to a new report released this week by the police’s own watchdog.

    The report, issued by the Office of the Inspector General for the NYPD, examined the department’s compliance with the Handschu Guidelines, which protect New Yorkers’ lawful political and religious activities from unwarranted surveillance, and are incorporated into the NYPD’s Patrol Guide. The investigation focused on a sample of cases closed between 2010 and 2015 that largely involved American Muslims. The report found that the NYPD failed to follow important safeguards in place to protect people’s rights and the integrity of police investigations.

    In perhaps its most damning finding, the inspector general said that in more than half the cases reviewed, both NYPD investigations and their use of informants and undercover officers continued after approval expired. In some cases, the inspector general found the department failed to document any actual reason for extending investigations in which there was no reasonable indication of wrongdoing. This is just more proof that the NYPD’s surveillance of American Muslims was highly irregular and disturbing.

    In the cases reviewed, according to the inspector general, the NYPD always met the “informational threshold” required to open cases. That plainly does not jibe with what the ACLU and NYCLU discovered when looking at NYPD records. Our lawyers have said there were often no valid reasons for the NYPD to open or extend investigations of American Muslims.

  • Justice Department Pressed to Intervene When Police Arrest Grassroots Journalists

    Across the country, civilian journalists have documented government violence using cell phones to record police activities, forcing a much-needed national discourse. But in case after case after case after case, the people who face penalties in the wake of police violence are the courageous and quick-witted residents who use technology to enable transparency.

    Earlier this month, the International Documentary Association launched an online petition to the Department of Justice asking the federal government to intervene when local police arrest or otherwise harass civilians who document and record police violence. EFF was proud to sign the petition, since this is an issue on which we have been increasingly active.

    Led by film makers Laura Poitras and David Felix Sutcliffe, the petition also calls for an official investigation exploring “the larger pattern of abuse that has emerged on a federal, state, and local level, and the threat it poses to free speech and a free press.” Finally, the petition urges “our peers in the journalistic community to investigate and report on these abuses.”

    Poitras’ film Citizenfour, documenting the Edward Snowden revelations, won the 2015 Oscar award for Best Documentary. Sutcliffe directed (T)error, which is the first film ever to document an FBI sting operation as it unfolds (and in the interest of full disclosure, briefly features the author of this post).

  • Illinois Achieved Important Bipartisan Criminal Justice Reforms. But Those Reforms Represent Only A Fraction of What Must Be Done.

    While Illinois embraced some bipartisan criminal justice reform, the battle for systemic change has just begun.

    Earlier this week, Illinois’ Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner and leaders from the Democratic-controlled legislature took a break from campaigning and gathered together at a ceremony in Chicago to smile for cameras and extol the spirit of compromise as the governor signed legislation aimed at reforming the state’s broken criminal justice system.

    To an observer outside Illinois politics, the significance of this show of bipartisanship might not be readily apparent. Election year politics aside, cooperation between Rauner and the General Assembly has been almost nonexistent since the governor took office in 2015. The two sides have been locked in a bitter and protracted budget battle, with the government operating on stopgap and court-ordered funding, while each side accuses the other of holding the state hostage.

    No one should expect that the recent bill signing represents a break in the impasse that has paralyzed government in Illinois. However, it does demonstrate that the growing consensus that Illinois’ criminal justice system is broken and in need of immediate reform has the power to transcend even the unprecedented partisan distrust and hostility that exists in Springfield today.

    The current state of Illinois’ criminal justice system is the product of a familiar story that is playing out in cities all across the country. Although crime rates have been on a steady decline for decades, our prisons are severely overcrowded as a result of “tough on crime” sentencing laws passed in the 1980s and 1990s, and the destructive impact of over-incarceration has fallen disproportionately upon communities of color and the poor. There is also a profound shortage of rehabilitative services to address behavioral health disorders that can thrust people into crisis and lead to negative interactions with law enforcement.

    Those released from prison face barriers to employment, education, and housing years after paying their debts to society. Not surprisingly, recidivism among those released from prison remains high. Meanwhile, relations between police and the community are at a tipping point, and our draconian drug sentencing laws have done nothing to stave off an epidemic of addiction and overdose.

    As the governor himself acknowledged, the five bills enacted into law on Monday are the first tiny steps in a long process of reform. Gov. Rauner created the Illinois State Commission on Criminal Justice and Sentencing Reform in early 2015, and he tasked it with recommending specific reforms which, if implemented, will enable the state to safely reduce its incarcerated population by 25 percent over 10 years.

  • Federal police raids over NBN leak should ring alarm bells for journalists

    The last two people who were successfully prosecuted in Australia for receiving and disclosing an “official secret” were a former intelligence officer and the prostitute he gave classified documents to for the purposes of selling them on to a foreign government.

    But now, for the first time in decades, the Australian federal police has dusted off this rarely used law. There are no prostitutes this time, and no sordid allegations of espionage or intrigue.

    Instead, there’s a Labor staffer who is under investigation for allegedly receiving documents tantamount to an “official secret” from an anonymous source. The documents, according to Labor, are nothing to do with national security but do show failings and cost blowouts in the construction of Australia’s highly politicised national broadband network.

  • Administration Creates A Hack For A Entrepreneur’s Immigration Visa

    For many, many years we’ve talked about why the US should have an entrepreneur’s visa to let in smart entrepreneurs who are able to build companies and create jobs in the US, rather than kicking out the very people who are helping to build out the US economy. However, because immigration is such a touchy issue, attempts to do so via Congress have gone nowhere. And while we’ve had some concerns about the actual implementation (in particular the focus on requiring the entrepreneurs to raise a fair amount of venture capital), the general concept is a good one.

    [...]

    This does seem better than some of the earlier proposals, which included requirements after receiving the visa to have to raise upwards of $1 million from investors. We were worried that this would basically force entrepreneurs to take money from VCs when they might not otherwise need to. This parole system still has raising money as a criteria, but the amount is significantly lower and DHS also has the flexibility to still grant the parole without the investment if there is “other reliable and compelling evidence of the startup entity’s substantial potential for rapid growth and job creation.”

  • Challenged Over ‘Racist’ Remarks, Maine Governor Leaves Unhinged Voicemail

    Maine’s Donald Trump-supporting, race-baiting, Republican Governor Paul LePage has gotten into hot water—again—after leaving a state lawmaker an expletive-laced and threatening voicemail on Thursday.

    In the phone message, LePage—who was elected in 2010 and re-elected in 2014—demands that Democratic Rep. Drew Gattine “prove” that he’s a racist, calls him a “son-of-a-bitch, socialist cocksucker,” and says: “I am after you.”

    Gattine has denied that he called the governor racist after his latest diatribe on the racial background of drug dealers in the state. LePage on Wednesday said that “90 percent of drug dealers coming into Maine are black or Hispanic.”

  • ‘Prove I’m a racist’: LePage challenges Westbrook lawmaker in obscenity-laced voice mail

    Gov. Paul LePage left a state lawmaker from Westbrook an expletive-laden phone message Thursday in which he accused the legislator of calling him a racist, encouraged him to make the message public and said, “I’m after you.”

    LePage sent the message Thursday morning after a television reporter appeared to suggest that Democratic Rep. Drew Gattine was among several people who had called the governor a racist, which Gattine later denied. The exchange followed remarks the governor made in North Berwick on Wednesday night about the racial makeup of suspects arrested on drug trafficking charges in Maine.

  • Rights Advocates Slam Baltimore’s “Incomprehensible” Police Spying

    “The fact that the BPD has been engaged in a secret program of mass surveillance is both incomprehensible and unacceptable. It is even more astounding that this could be done during a Justice Department investigation into the BPD that found pervasive racial bias and lack of accountability,” Rocah said in a statement Wednesday.

  • Match the Fine For Palestine: The Higher You Build Your Barriers, the Taller We Become

    In what one admirer calls “a brilliant generous gesture… telling Palestinians they have not been forgotten,” activist fans of Scotland’s Celtics soccer team – the working-class, historically progressive community already facing punishment for flying Palestinian flags at a recent game against Israel to protest the Occupation – have launched a defiant fundraiser to match their likely upcoming fine, thus “hugging tighter” an oppressed population with which they’ve long felt a kinship. The Celtics plan to give the proceeds – their original goal of $20,000 quickly grew to a flood of about $200,000 – to two Palestinian charitable groups.

    Europe’s ruling soccer body UEFA has already announced disciplinary proceedings against Celtic for its display of an “illicit banner” at a game against Israel’s Hapoel Be’er Sheva team a couple of weeks ago. The act of solidarity was one of many over the years by a largely Irish Catholic community with a strong sense of affinity for the Palestinian struggle against colonization. With over 1,200 Scots of Palestinian origin, their own history of occupation and an ongoing sense of being underdogs in Scotland, says historian Tom Devine, “Part of their sense of communal identity is that sense of grievance about what was done in the past. People who are Irish nationalists will always tend to support independence movements they believe to be based on historical justice.”

  • Death to the Death Penalty in California

    On Election Day, California voters will make a monumental moral and financial decision. Proposition 62—the Justice That Works Act—is on the Nov. 8 ballot, and if the initiative passes, it will replace the death penalty with life in prison without parole. It will also require convicted murderers to work and pay restitution to their victims’ families. And it will save taxpayers $150 million a year, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

    Among the states still part of the U.S. death penalty system, California has the most people on death row—746. Florida is next, with 388 according to the Yes on 62 campaign. Overall, 2,943 people are on death row in the United States (as of Jan. 1)—meaning almost one in four people waiting to be executed are in the California penal system. The elderly make up 11 percent, and the oldest condemned inmate is 86. The average stay on death row is 18 years.

    Although California has spent about $5 billion administering the death penalty, it has executed just 13 people since 1978. This means taxpayers have spent about $384 million per execution.

    There is no evidence demonstrating that the death penalty deters crime, according to a 2012 National Academy of Sciences study. Capital punishment has been applied arbitrarily due to inherent bias, local political pressures on prosecutors and judges, and lack of access to quality defense attorneys by those convicted. According to Death Penalty Focus, the race of the victim and the race of the defendant are major determinants in who is sentenced to death in this country.

    [...]

    And look at the company we keep. Only China, Iran, Iraq and Saudi Arabia execute more people than the United States.

  • Where Is Our Martin Luther King Jr.?

  • Apple is the source of mistreatment of Chinese workers

  • iPhone or iExploit? Rampant Labor Violations in Apple’s Supply Chain

    A new report published August 24 by China Labor Watch (CLW) demonstrates that the same legal and ethical violations that attracted media attention in 2012 continue unabated at Apple supplier factories today. In the case of Pegatron, CLW reports that conditions have actually worsened since 2015, despite years of audits commissioned by Apple, a membership in the Fair Labor Association, and promises from the company that it is committed to ensuring the safety and dignity of those who make its lucrative products.

  • Why Walmart Matters to 21st Century Working-Class Struggle

    Service jobs as a share of US working hours increased 30 percent between 1980 and 2005, and their prevalence has only grown since the Great Recession. One 2012 study found that although two-thirds of the jobs lost during the recession were mid-wage jobs, 58 percent of the jobs regained by the time of the study were instead low-wage, paying less than $13.84 per hour. Retail sales alone added well over 300,000 jobs in this period, at an average wage of $10.97 an hour; just behind was food prep, paying an average of just over $9 an hour. The trend had begun before the crisis, but after the crisis hit, it was impossible to pretend that something fundamental hadn’t changed.

  • Temp Organizing Gets Big Boost from NLRB

    Thanks to a National Labor Relations Board decision, workers employed by temporary staffing agencies may find it easier to organize and bargain.

    The Board issued its long-awaited ruling last August in the case of Browning-Ferris Industries (BFI). The decision revamped the Board’s test for what’s considered a “joint employer,” imposing new legal obligations on employers who hire through temp agencies and potentially also on giant corporate franchisors.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • How the father of the World Wide Web plans to reclaim it from Facebook and Google

    When the World Wide Web first took off in the mid 1990s, the dream wasn’t just big, it was distributed: Everyone would have their own home page, everyone would post their thoughts – they weren’t called “blogs” until 1999 – and everyone would own their own data, for there was no one around offering to own it for us. The web consisted of nodes joined by links, with no center.

    Oh, how times have changed.

    Now a handful of companies own vast swaths of web activity – Facebook for social networking, Google for searching, eBay for auctions – and quite literally own the data their users have provided and generated. This gives these companies unprecedented power over us, and gives them such a competitive advantage that it’s pretty silly to think you’re going to start up a business that’s going to beat them at their own game. The fact that Facebook already has the data in 1.7 billion users’ profiles and, more important, the history of its users’ interactions means that you’re probably not going to attract a lot of savvy investors. Plus that’s where all your friend are already. Vendor lock-in is real.

  • How Is This Not A Net Neutrality Violation, Sprint?

    While the United States’ net neutrality rules are certainly better than nothing, we’ve noted a few times how they contain enough loopholes (and ignore enough hot button topics) as to be more than a little problematic. More specifically, they contain so much wiggle room they let ISPs of all stripes violate net neutrality — just so long as they’re a bit more creative about it. Verizon and Comcast were quick to highlight this when they began cap-exempting their own content, while still penalizing their competitors (without so much as a real peep from the FCC).

    T-Mobile pushed these creative barriers further with Binge On, which exempts only the biggest and most popular video services from the company’s usage caps (aka “zero rating”). This automatically puts thousands of smaller video providers, non-profits, educational institutions and startups at a notable market disadvantage, but by and large nobody outside of the EFF and academia seems to give much of a damn because a: ill-informed consumers are happy laboring under the illusion that they’re getting something for free and b: the public (and by proxy media) is lazy and tired of debating net neutrality.

    But the door being opened here leads to a monumental, potentially dangerous shift not only in how broadband service is purchased and sold, but in just how open the internet of the future is going to be.

• DRM

  • Remember When Cracking Groups Said Denuvo Would End Game Piracy? Yeah, Didn’t Happen

    As you may recall, earlier this year a well-known hacking group that specializes in cracking PC games made the bold prediction that cracking games would no longer be a thing in another year or two. Contrasting with what seems like the neverending trend concerning DRM in software, 3DM stated that the software industry had apparently found its unicorn in a DRM called Denuvo, which was increasingly elongating the time between a game hitting the market and the crack for it becoming available. A practice that usually took days or weeks was suddenly being measured in months, pushing to a year. 3DM made the case that this amount of time and effort to crack a Denuvo-protected game made the practice too costly and, more importantly, that the DRM software was being updated and getting so good that it might essentially become uncrackable.

    This prediction, of course, flew in the face of the history of DRM and the speed with which it has always been defeated, leading me to be more than a bit skeptical of the prediction. Skepticism well-founded, it appears, now that Denuvo appears to have been neutered in the days since.

• Intellectual Monopolies

  • Copyrights

    • France Passes Copyright Law Demanding Royalties For Every Image Search Engines Index Online

      The Disruptive Competition Project is detailing yet another bad copyright law change in Europe — France, in particular, this time. Called the Freedom of Creation Act, it actually passed a few months ago, but people are just beginning to understand and comprehend the full horror of what’s happening. Basically, it will now require any site that indexes images on the internet (i.e., any image search engine) to pay royalties for each image to a collection society.

    • Do passive hosting providers commit acts of communication to the public in relation to third-party content?

      The document is extremely interesting for various reasons. Among the things, the Commission addresses the problem of right holders facing great difficulties, or being unable, “to negotiate with online service providers that store and give access to large amounts of protected content uploaded by their users. This results in right holders having limited control over the use and the remuneration for the use of their content.” [p 124, the so called 'value gap'].

    • European Copyright Leak Exposes Plans to Force the Internet to Subsidize Publishers

      A just-leaked draft impact assessment on the modernization of European copyright rules could spell the end for many online services in Europe as we know them. The document’s recommendations foreshadow new a EU Directive on copyright to be introduced later this year, that will ultimately bind each of the European Union’s 28 member states. If these recommendations by the European Commission are put in place, Europe’s Internet will never be the same, and these impacts are likely to reverberate around the world.

      The 182-page document identifies three general objectives—ensuring wider access to content, adapting copyright exceptions to the digital and cross-border environment, and achieving a well-functioning marketplace for copyright. In this initial article we examine the recommendations that fall under the third of these three objectives, which are amongst the most alarming proposals, including new obligations on Internet platforms, and new copyright-like powers for news publishers.

      More specifically, this article will look at two of the proposals for what the Commission calls “upstream” problems, or difficulties faced by copyright owners in extracting value from the use of content online. We’ll deal with other parts of the document in later posts.

    • FBI-Controlled Megaupload Domain Now Features Soft Porn

      As part of its criminal case against Megaupload, the U.S. Government seized several domain names belonging to Kim Dotcom’s file-hosting service. Nearly five years later the authorities still control the domains but they haven’t done a very good job of securing them. Megaupload.org now links to a soft porn portal.

IN our only article about the EPO yesterday we mentioned the RFPSS meeting. Things are eroding if not disintegrating at the EPO and it’s taking its toll on staff while no effective oversight exists anymore. Someone in IP Kat‘s comments remarked on the contents of yesterday’s material as follows:

On the subject of pensions, there is some interesting commentary from the CSC on the latest RFPSS meeting.

http://techrights.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/sc16129cp.pdf

“The Office thus unnecessarily lowers the probability of reaching our long-term objective for the return on investment, thereby deliberately creating a situation that could be used to trigger further major reforms.

The governance in terms of risk monitoring is still unclear through inadequate role clarity, while such governance deficiencies are recognised as often leading to under performance”.

If one were inclined to believe in conspiracies, the actions of the Office (including eliminating independent oversight of finances, and seemingly ensuring “underperformance” of the pension reserve fund) could all be interpreted as preparation for an attempt to sequester the approx. EUR7,000 million in the reserve fund.

In such a hypothetical conspiracy, the Office would “manufacture” excuses to cut / eliminate pension benefits to those who should be the beneficiaries of the RFPSS fund, only to then conduct a new study that miraculously discovers a massive surplus in that fund. The conspiracy would then conclude with the pension fund surplus being “liberated” by the Office.

Of course, this is all very far-fetched and so ought to easy to dismiss as nothing more than pure speculation. Indeed, a far more plausible explanation is that there is no plan for a cash-grab, just an attempt to deal with the pension liability issue that I have discussed before. Still, the effectively lawless behaviour of the Office in recent years (especially when it comes to matters of staff rights / benefits) does make one wonder…

Someone then responded to that as follows:

I have been entertaining similar suspicions since before Mr. Battistelli’s too office, when his immediate predecessor generously spouted expressions like “fit for the future”, “doing nothing is not an option” (in other words: TINA — but what is the problem in the first place?) and imposing the IFRS charade. I would however employ a much stronger word than “sequester”.

The questions are IMO: who would be the happy beneficiaries of that heist, how would the loot be split among them, and how would it be transferred out of the EPOrg while maintaining appearances?

As we stated yesterday, we have no accounting expertise here (not even in our IRC channels), so we need to rely on input from those who understand such matters and can interpret the financial reports of the EPO. The following remark bemoans Battistelli's political background, which basically makes him unfit (as per qualifications) for the post he has held for over half a decade. To quote:

Don’t forget that there is a French Presidential election campaign coming up in 2017.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_presidential_election,_2017

“Primaire à droite : les Amis de Sarkozy lancent un appel aux dons”

http://www.leparisien.fr/politique/primaire-a-droite-les-amis-de-sarkozy-lancent-un-appel-aux-dons-11-04-2016-5704991.php

This is why people who hold elected office for political parties should never be put in change of international organisations with large cash surpluses and no effective oversight.

Right now at the EPO there is virtually no accountability, as pointed out in another thread in relation to a subject we first covered here 2 years ago:

Perhaps we will never know. With the full knowledge and approval of the AC, one of BB’s first actions as president was to disband the only body (the Audit Committee) that could have provided transparency / independent oversight in connection with the EPO’s finances.

The ILOAT also placed its seal of approval on this dastardly act in Judgment 3698:

http://www.ilo.org/dyn/triblex/triblexmain.detail?p_lang=en&p_judgment_no=3698&p_session_id=122&p_language_code=EN

“The authority to establish or abolish the Audit Committee was vested in the Administrative Council alone, and these decisions did not infringe the complainant’s rights in any way, regardless of his role in the EPO.”

Judgment No. 3698 (originally in French) is dated a month ago (when many decisions came out, more than 80% of which rules against the EPO's management) and it relates to a decision we covered here last month. It’s Bernard Paye's complaint to ILO, which gave him a Pyrrhic victory many years too late. Here is the text of this decision with highlights in yellow. The complaint was made by “the principal author of the proposal to establish [the A]udit [C]ommittee,” based on the text:

Organisation internationale du Travail
Tribunal administratif

International Labour Organization
Administrative Tribunal

Registry’s translation,
the French text alone
being authoritative.

P.
v.
EPO

122nd Session
Judgment No. 3698

THE ADMINISTRATIVE TRIBUNAL ,

Considering the complaint filed by Mr B. Y. P. against the European Patent Organisation (EPO) on 15 March 2013 and corrected on 7 May 2013, the EPO’s reply of 5 March 2015, the complainant’s rejoinder of 24 April and the EPO’s surrejoinder of 31 July 2015;

Considering Article II, paragraph 5, of the Statute of the Tribunal; Having examined the written submissions and decided not to hold oral proceedings, for which neither party has applied;

Considering that the facts of the case may be summed up as follows: The complainant challenges the abolition of the Audit Committee of the EPO’s Administrative Council.

On 30 June 2011, following a proposal by the President of the European Patent Office, the Administrative Council adopted decision CA/D 4/11 abolishing the Audit Committee, one of its subsidiary bodies, with immediate effect. On 28 September 2011 the complainant, who was then Head of Internal Audit (Principal Directorate 0.6 of the European Patent Office), and Ms H., who chaired the Staff Committee, filed an internal appeal against this decision. They complained, inter alia, that the General Advisory Committee had not been consulted prior to the adoption of the challenged decision. In November 2012 Ms H. withdrew her appeal. Having heard the complainant, the Appeals Committee of the Administrative Council unanimously recommended on 11 December 2012 that his appeal be dismissed, considering, in particular, that the challenged decision had not been taken in breach of any “applicable legal provision”. By a letter of 20 December 2012, which constitutes the impugned decision, the complainant was notified that the Administrative Council had decided to dismiss his appeal.

In his complaint filed on 15 March 2013, the complainant asks the Tribunal to quash the impugned decision as well as decision CA/D 4/11 and to order the EPO to submit the initial proposal of the President of the Office to the General Advisory Committee. He also seeks compensation in the amount of 30,000 euros for the moral injury that he considers he has suffered and an award of costs.

The EPO submits that the complaint is irreceivable, in particular on the grounds that the complainant is impugning a general decision that does not adversely affect him. In the alternative, it asks the Tribunal to dismiss the complaint as unfounded.

CONSIDERATIONS

1. The Tribunal has jurisdiction under Article II, paragraph 5, of its Statute to hear complaints alleging “non-observance, in substance or in form, of the terms of appointment of officials and of provisions of the Staff Regulations”. In consequence, when “[t]he complainant does not allege the non-observance of any of the terms of his appointment or of any of the Staff Regulations applicable to him”, his complaint must be held to be irreceivable (see Judgment 2952, under 3).

2. The Tribunal observes that the complainant does not allege any violation of the terms of his appointment or of staff regulations that are applicable to him. His case does not relate to his administrative status but rather to the organisation of the EPO, his employer, for which he is plainly not responsible. The fact cited by the complainant that he was “the principal author of the proposal to establish [the A]udit [C]ommittee” that was subsequently abolished does not grant him any right to intervene in a decision to maintain that subsidiary body or not.

The authority to establish or abolish the Audit Committee was vested in the Administrative Council alone, and these decisions did not infringe the complainant’s rights in any way, regardless of his role in the EPO.

3. It ensues from the foregoing that the complaint, which the Tribunal is not competent to hear, is irreceivable and must be dismissed.

DECISION

For the above reasons,
The complaint is dismissed.

In witness of this judgment, adopted on 28 April 2016, Mr Claude Rouiller, President of the Tribunal, Mr Patrick Frydman, Judge, and Ms Fatoumata Diakité, Judge, sign below, as do I, Dražen Petrović, Registrar.

Delivered in public in Geneva on 6 July 2016.

(Signed)

CLAUDE ROUILLER
PATRICK FRYDMAN
FATOUMATA DIAKITÉ
DRAŽEN PETROVIĆ

The above relates to our previous post about complicity of the Administrative Council, in this particular case actively removing accountability or oversight from Battistelli, which the Council appears to be in bed with.

Citing another case, we have already shown how Battistelli worked against the European Patent Convention (EPC). How Battistelli can get away with all this isn’t something we can now defer to the Founding Fathers of the EPO anymore (most of them are deceased by now). █

Summary: A recollection of events prior to the latest Administrative Council meeting, where Benoît Battistelli’s failings and accountability for failing to correct them never even came up

“COMPLICITY” is increasingly becoming the correct term by which to describe the Administrative Council with its national delegations (who are supposed, at least in principle and in theory, to hold the EPO accountable). Disinterested or self-interested would be a more polite way to put/frame it. If they cared, they would have fired Battistelli already. Even if they kept their word or promise, he would be sacked by now. No secret endowments to this autocrat.

“Watch what Erdoğan is doing in Turkey right now (against military generals, judges, journalists etc.) to better understand how Battistellites (Benoît along with his largely French circle) are running the EPO.”Like in most autocratic regimes, control is exerted through fear and the Erdoğan- or Duterte-like Battistelli scares people at all levels, including delegates whom he bullies in plain sight (maybe to make an example). No wonder some top managers are leaving and others, who reportedly (based on rumours) thought about leaving, say the darnest things on TV in order to cover Battistelli's back.

Watch what Erdoğan is doing in Turkey right now (against military generals, judges, journalists etc.) to better understand how Battistellites (Benoît along with his largely French circle) are running the EPO. It’s something to be expected from third-world nations, but it’s happening in Bavaria, traditionally known for class and sophistication. Fear of Battistelli, including fear of firing him (long overdue), is apparent. Developments prior the latest Administrative Council meeting suggest that there was not a reversal of their position but rather abstinence from the topic of Battistelli’s abuses (breaking rules, including his own).

“The last B28 [Board 28, which privately admits there's an EPO crisis] meeting took place just ahead of the BFC meeting at the end of May,” we learned. “The B28 focused once again on following-up on the consequences of the resolution adopted by the Administrative Council on 16 March 2016. Of particular interest and importance for staff was whether there was any progress in the disciplinary matters, which should be fair and seen to be fair. According to the summary of conclusions of this meeting (B28/8/16), no tangible progress could be reported on then. In June, the President rejected the requests for review of Malika Weaver and Ion Brumme and thereby reconfirmed their disciplinary sanctions. Later the same month, the President apparently interfered with the independence of the Enlarged Board of Appeal proceedings, thereby preventing them from ruling on the merits in the case of the Judge accused of misconduct. Just a few days ahead of the Council meeting, the President suspended Laurent Prunier in The Hague, a further staff representative and SUEPO official to be sanctioned.”

“How convenient for Battistelli, who is no longer so far from his retirement anyway (maybe he will join Sarkozy with his political career thereafter).”One might expect, based on any of the above actions, that Battistelli would be considered in violation/deviance from the requirement set to him by the overseers. How can they possibly reconcile all this? Simple; just don’t mention any of that at all. That is precisely what happened at the meeting, as we wrote at the time. Based on text that was shown to us: “During the AC [Administrative Council] meeting, the Council was informed by both internal and external stakeholders on the flawed consultation process leading to the documents presented for their approval. As for the proposals themselves, among the more obvious deficiencies in the Boards of Appeal reform, the theme had been expanded to include post service employment restrictions and relocation and, according to the President, to be treated as a package. Finally, a review of the Investigation and Disciplinary Procedures which were originally on the agenda were postponed.”

That’s right. Postponed. 3 months! How convenient for Battistelli, who is no longer so far from his retirement anyway (maybe he will join Sarkozy with his political career thereafter). To quote further: “The circumstances leading to the disciplinary cases against staff representatives and Union Officials have been repeatedly raised with the delegations before and after the confidential Council session. [...] The only mention made in the summary of the C-session was that “the Council resolution will be followed up in one of the next meetings”.

This incredible procrastination shows that the Council is not at all interested in restoring stability to the Office. Put another way, the delegates are complicit; they’re a bunch of obedient cowards, maybe some of them paid for it.

In the mean time, judging by the spammy activity of the Twitter account this summer^* (the PR team just keeps spamming for EIA 2017 e.g. [1, 2, 3, 4]), there is the assumption that Battistelli will survive another year. If that actually happens, how many workers will even stay at the Office now that resignations and early retirements skyrocket? Rumours we heard say that Battistelli wants to extend the term of Topić’s EPO appointment in spite of the criminal charges against him (not to mention extreme unpopularity among staff, whom he attacks like he attacked staff in Croatia). █
_____
^* Or just talking to everyone in general, e.g. [1, 2].

Contents

• GNU/Linux
  • Distributions
  • Devices/Embedded
• Free Software/Open Source
• Leftovers

GNU/Linux

• Middle School Students Aim to Change the World With Linux

  The end of March of 2016 had arrived, and parent teacher conferences were in full swing at Community School of Excellence in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Parents came into the school for their appointments with their children’s teachers, and they sat down and discussed grades, behavior, and classroom activities. This time, however, was a little different. While the teachers were talking with the parents, one additional question was asked by teachers of parents: Do they need a computer at home for their children to use for school work? Parents who said “yes” were then sent down to talk to our school’s Linux club, the CSE Asian Penguins.

• 10 reasons you shouldn’t upgrade to Windows 10 [iophk: "Mentions Chrome/Linux and Android/Linux but could have used a mention of GNU/Linux too"]

• August 2016 Issue of Linux Journal

• Desktop

  • Enough About The Free Windows Upgrades Already, These Alternate Operating Systems Are Always Free

• Server

  • Container adoption remains in its infancy – but businesses should get ready for the next wave of virtualisation

    There has been a surge of interest in containers in recent years, particularly in the wake of Docker’s popularity among developers. Many are now suggesting that the virtualisation technology could eventually replace the hypervisors which have become near-ubiquitous in enterprise data centres.

    Simply put, containers offer a lightweight alternative to virtual machines, offering even greater resource utilisation, simplified management and the ability to quickly move applications betwee servers.

• Kernel Space

  • OrangeFS Picks Up Kernel-Side Caching

  • Raspberry Pi 3′s BCM2837 SoC Now Supported By Mainline Linux 4.8

    ARM platform enablement continues in Linux 4.8 with several new targets being supported by the mainline Linux kernel.

  • The Big DRM Graphics Pull For Linux 4.8: AMDGPU OverDrive, Nouveau Pascal, ARM Mali Driver

  • Linux Kernel 3.18.38 LTS Ships with Minor MIPS, PowerPC, x86, and eCryptfs Fixes

    Immediately after announcing the release of Linux kernel 4.1.29 LTS, developer Alexander Levin informed the community about the general availability of the thirty-eighth maintenance update for the Linux 3.18 LTS kernel series.

    Linux kernel 3.18.38 LTS is a small update, and according to the diff from the previous point release, version 3.18.37, we can notice that only a total of 17 files have been changed, with 51 insertions and 70 deletions. The Linux 3.18 kernel branch is a long-term supported one, which will receive security fixes and updated drivers for six more months, until January 2017.

  • The Features So Far To The Linux 4.8 Kernel: ACPI LPI, Security, Btrfs ENOSPC, HDMI CEC

  • Networking Updates For Linux 4.8, QCA9888 Added To ath10k

    David Miller submitted the networking subsystem updates last week for the Linux 4.8 kernel.

    The networking updates for Linux 4.8 add many features including:

    - XDGP — eXpress Data Path — as described in the PR, “essentially running BPF programs on RX packets as soon as the device sees them, with the option to mirror the packet on TX via the same interface.”

  • Benchmarks

    • NVIDIA 367.27 vs. 367.35 Linux Driver Benchmarks With GTX 1060/1070/1080

      Released two weeks ago was the NVIDIA 367.35 Linux driver as the latest stable binary driver for NVIDIA hardware. Here are some performance tests to see if it upped the NVIDIA Pascal Linux performance at all.

      This 367 series driver updated added VDPAU Featur Set H support for Pascal GPUs and some other Pascal-related improvements. It also added a change to potentially boost performance, “Improved buffer write performance of the nvidia-drm DRM KMS driver by using write-combined DRM Dumb Buffers where available.” With that change plus general post-launch Pascal improvements, many Phoronix readers have been interested in seeing comparison benchmarks.

• Applications

  • Which apps do you wish were available on Linux?

    Linux offers thousands of different apps, for many different purposes. But even Linux doesn’t have every app a user might need or want. There are definitely some very useful apps that just aren’t available on Linux.

    A writer at OMG Ubuntu recently explored the topic of apps that users might want to be available on Linux.

  • Customise The GIMP Loading Screen Using These Colorful Splashes

    Want to replace the GIMP’s loading screen with something more stylish? You can, and in this post we show you how.Want to replace the GIMP’s loading screen with something more stylish? You can, and in this post we show you how.

  • Docker 1.12 debuts, bringing Windows, Mac desktop editions

    Docker unveiled version 1.12 of its core software-containerization system today, along with the first full desktop editions of the software for development on Mac and Windows machines.

    Docker for Mac and Docker for Windows, which debuted as beta products earlier this year, provide developers on those platforms with something that had always seemed out of reach: the ability to do container work with Docker as a native application.

  • Kodi v17 “Krypton” Alpha 3

    With this announcement we’re happy to release v17 alpha 3. This v17 release which the users have named Krypton features a huge amount of rework in various areas like video playback, live TV & PVR, music library, skinning and more. All these areas underwent heavy changes which are now coming to an end and ready for the masses. This means this will be the last alpha and we’ll soon be pumping out beta builds at a steady rate so the broader audience can give Kodi v17 a try. However let’s first focus on what changed this past month.

  • Kodi 17 “Krypton” Alpha 3 Brings Live TV and PVR Improvements, New Skin Features

    Today, August 1, 2016, Kodi’s Martijn Kaijser informs us on the availability of the third Alpha development milestone of the upcoming cross-platform and open-source Kodi 17 “Krypton” media center.

    Kodi 17 Alpha 3 comes exactly one month after the release of the second Alpha build, which in fact was the first one to be made available for public testing. During the entire month of July, the Kodi development team managed to squash more of those nasty bugs reported by users since Kodi 17 Alpha 2, as well as to add some new exciting features.

  • Kodi 17 Alpha 3 Released With New Skins, Improved Music Library & PVR

    The third alpha release of Kodi 17 “Krypton” is now available and it has continued landing new/improved functionality.

  • Atom 1.9 Hackable Text Editor Out Now with Display Layers, Electron 0.37.8

    The Atom hackable text editor just got a new stable build today, August 1, 2016, version 1.9, which brings you the latest goodies the development had implemented since the public beta release two months ago.

    Yes, that’s right, Atom 1.9 was in development since June 6, 2016, when the stable Atom 1.8 release was announced, along with the first Beta of Atom 1.9. According to today’s release notes, there are quite some nice features added to Atom 1.9 since then, such as more speed improvements thanks to the implementation of Display Layers.

  • FreeIPMI 1.5.3 Released

  • Corebird 1.3 Native Linux Twitter Client Released with Self-Retweeting Support

    A new stable release of the Corebird native GTK+ Twitter client for the Linux desktop, version 1.3, has been made available on the project’s homepage for various GNU/Linux operating systems.

    Corebird is currently the most full-featured native Twitter client for Linux distributions. Its modern design, support for multiple Twitter accounts, ease of use, and unique features make it the best and most advanced Twitter client you can install on a Linux kernel-based operating system.

  • 4 open source alternatives to Evernote

    Information: Whether we realize it or not, we collect a lot of it—interesting snippets, links, research for school or work, recipes, quotes, and a whole lot more.

    Millions of people turn to Evernote to organize all that information. There’s no denying that Evernote is a useful and powerful tool. But it’s also a closed source one.

    Maybe you want to take control of your information and move away from a closed, proprietary tool. Maybe you’re disgruntled about the recent changes to Evernote’s services. Maybe you just want to take notes the open source way. Whatever your reasons for moving away from Evernote, there are open source alternatives out there.

    Let’s take a look at four of those alternatives.

    Before we begin, I need to point out that the four applications I look at in this article aren’t feature-for-feature replacements for Evernote. They do lack some of what Evernote offers, especially mobile and desktop clients. Don’t discount these applications for what they lack. Instead, look deeper and see what they can offer you.

  • Instructionals/Technical

    • How To See Firefox Download Progress on the Unity Launcher

    • How To Enable Work Offline Mode In Firefox? How To Use A Website Without Internet?

    • Stable Mitaka HA instack-virt-setup on CentOS 7.2 VIRTHOST

    • Create a Bootable USB Flash Drive in GNU/Linux OS

    • XenServer 7 – Pool Upgrade via CLI and XenCenter Web Interface

    • Quest to enable hotkeys on ASUS laptops

    • Haynes Raspberry Pi Manual competition winners announced

    • Improved HTML Navigation – Behind the Scenes

      Last week we wrote about the new GUI of Machinery, which integrates all views in one consistent navigation scheme. How did we get there? This post gives some insight into the design process we went through to create the new interface.

    • Howdy, Ubuntu on Windows! Write and Execute Your First Program

    • Scheduling Your Kubernetes Pods With Elixir

    • How to back up over a network using rsync

  • Games

    • Steam Survey For July 2016: Linux +0.02%

    • Parkitect alpha 4 released with significant performance improvements and new rides

      Parkitect is such a cute park building sim that I have seriously high hopes for, it’s in Early Access, but don’t let that put you off.

      The developers have continued their regular updates for a while now and this latest alpha sounds pretty awesome.

      What I am looking forward to most of all is the single-player campaign they have planned for it.

    • Metamorphic, a puzzle game inspired by Portal, Minecraft and Mirror’s Edge now on Linux

      Metamorphic was sent in by the developer for me to check out, they claim it’s inspired by games like Portal, Minecraft and Mirror’s Edge.

      I had some initial weirdness with the game starting on the wrong screen and not being able to use the mouse, but after relaunching it was fine. Typical Unity engine weirdness I’m putting it down to. It doesn’t seem to have any resolution options in-game, and the only graphical option is picking how much anti-aliasing you can have. So options are limited.

    • Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight, highly rated 2D platformer coming to Linux

      Momodora: Reverie Under the Moonlight is a rather highly rated platformer and it looks like it will come to Linux.

    • SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell, the heavy metal first-person platformer is now officially out

      Heavy Metal music mixed with fast paced 3D platforming, what’s not to love about it? SEUM: Speedrunners from Hell is now out and features day-1 Linux support.

• Desktop Environments/WMs

  • GNOME Desktop/GTK

    • GNOME Logs Search Provider

      In this post I will be telling you about the search provider for the GNOME Logs as implemented by me in the last two weeks.

    • Looking forward to GUADEC

      GUADEC is approaching quickly and we just spend a whole day finalizing the planning so that everything will go smoothly during the conference. A few announcements for the conference are still in the pipeline including the social events and the complete talk schedule. So watch out for more announcements during the next two weeks.

    • Days Grid

      This is for the progress on the calendar. So far, you have seen a zoomed in version of the header of the calendar. So let’s zoom it out a bit.

    • Rejoice! Arc GTK Theme Will Be Available in Ubuntu 16.10

      If you love the Arc GTK theme, but don’t love needing to hunt down an install package every time you perform a fresh install, you’re going to love Ubuntu 16.10.

    • Beautiful Arc GTK Theme Now Available in the Ubuntu 16.10 (Yakkety Yak) Repos

      It would appear that the popular and beautiful Arc GTK Theme created by Horst3180 has finally landed in the software repositories of the Ubuntu Linux operating system.

• Distributions

  • Submit Your Top 5 Linux Distributions

    Last week I wrote a list of the 5 Linux distributions I recommend for the everyday linux user.

    As expected I am receiving comments asking why I didn’t include this distribution or that distribution.

    I am therefore opening the floor to you guys and girls.

  • New Releases

    • 4MRecover 19.0 Data Recovery Live CD Enters Beta, Includes TestDisk 7.0

      Today, August 1, 2016, 4MLinux developer Zbigniew Konojacki informs Softpedia about the availability of the Beta milestone of the upcoming 4MRecover 19.0 data recovery Live CD.

      Based on the latest Beta release of the 4MLinux 19.0 GNU/Linux operating system, 4MRecover 19.0 is now ready for public testing and it appears to include the usual TestDisk 7.0 and PhotoRec 7.0 utilities for recovering lost partitions and files from damaged disks and removable drives.

    • Simplicity Linux 16.07 out now

      Simplicity Linux is well know for it’s lightweight nature and support for netbooks. The team behind this wonderful distribution has annonced the release of Simplicity 16.07. This distribution is based on Puppy Linux but this time there is a little twist. This time Simplicity Linux is avaialble in Debian based version too. Simplicity 16.07 is released in dektop and mini editions which are based on Puppy Linux and it uses LXDE as default desktop environment. As we said earlier there is X version of Simplicity 16.07 which is based on Debian via AntiX distribution.

  • Arch Family

    • Arch Linux 2016.08.01 Is Now Available for Download, Ships with Kernel 4.6.4

      It’s the first day of August 2016, and, for us, Arch Linux users, it means that we can get our hands on a new ISO respin that can be used to deploy the popular GNU/Linux operating system on PCs without going to all the trouble of downloading lots of updates.

      Yes, you’re reading it right, Arch Linux 2016.08.01 is now available for download today, August 1, 2016, distributed as a dual-arch, bootable ISO image that supports installations on 64-bit and 32-bit computers and includes all the up-to-date core components that have been pushed to the distro’s main software repositories since July 1.

      However, Arch Linux 2016.08.01 ships with a kernel from the Linux 4.6 series, as the distribution’s maintainers have not yet moved to the latest Linux 4.7 kernel branch. Linux kernel 4.6.4 powers the Arch Linux 2016.08.01 ISO image, despite that fact that the latest release from the series is Linux kernel 4.6.5.

  • Red Hat Family

    • Microsoft’s recent partnership with Red Hat may help secure US government contracts[Ed: both already help the NSA spy. Wanting more money now.]

    • Microsoft and Red Hat position themselves to expand federal presence

  • Finance

    • Investor Watch: Earnings and Street Rating Review for Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE:RHT)

    • Friday Session Wrap for Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE:RHT)

    • Institutions Holding on to Shares of Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE:RHT)

    • Earnings Review: Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE:RHT), Prudential Financial, Inc. (NYSE:PRU)

    • Two Tech Stocks Are Just So Hot Right Now: Microsemi Corporation (MSCC), Red Hat, Inc. (RHT)

    • Fedora

      • Luis Motta: How Do You Fedora?

        Luis Motta was born in 1963 on the same day as Mick Jagger, which may explain why he has been a rock and roll guitar player since 1982. Motta plays in three different bands. He and his friends play gigs at local bars with a preference for heavy rock. Motta says, “Louder is better!” His favorite music groups are Rush, System of a Down, and Red Fang. As a guitarist, he likes Alex Lifeson. “Today, me and a friend, Jesiel Rocha, give lectures on the use of free software for music recording,” said Luis.

      • Modem support in Fedora 25: a call for testing

        The central component of good modem support on Linux is ModemManager. The components, such as NetworkManager, that make use of modems in Linux would typically use the convenient D-Bus interface ModemManager provides.

      • Flock – Fedora contributor conference.

        Being part of the Fedora community, then you’ll be aware that Flock is almost upon us. If you’re unsure what that is, then this site tells you all about it – https://flocktofedora.org/

      • Flock 2016 – krakow – day -1 or -2 (sunday/monday)

        Sunday started my travels to flock 2016. First up, a flight from Denver to Munich. 10 hours in the air, but at least fewer hops. Things started out on a troubling note as the flight was already delayed ~20min before I even left for the airport, which would cut my time between flights in Munich to just ~45min.

      • Fedora Inactive/Disabled Accounts

  • Debian Family

    • Retiring as a Debian developer

      This is a repost and update of my retirement letter sent privately to Debian last month, July 10, 2016. At that time I received many notes of appreciation and good wishes which I treasure. Now, I’d like to say goodbye to the broader Debian community and, as well, indicate which of the cleanup items have since been addressed in strikethrough style and with annotations.

    • Debian and Tor Services available as Onion Services

      We, the Debian project and the Tor project are enabling Tor onion services for several of our sites. These sites can now be reached without leaving the Tor network, providing a new option for securely connecting to resources provided by Debian and Tor.

      The freedom to use open source software may be compromised when access to that software is monitored, logged, limited, prevented, or prohibited. As a community, we acknowledge that users should not feel that their every action is trackable or observable by others. Consequently, we are pleased to announce that we have started making several of the various web services provided by both Debian and Tor available via onion services.

    • Doha and the past year in APT

      One of the more interesting topics that I attended was the ‘apt’ talk . There are 3-4 tools in the Debian world i.e. apt, aptitude, apt-get, dpkg and dselect. More often than not people know aptitude and apt-get whereas the rest of the packages are not thought so much about. What I somewhat suspected about the history of apt was revealed to be true today, courtesy David K.

    • Reproducible builds: week 65 in Stretch cycle

    • Free software activities in July 2016

    • Techno TV broadcasting live across Norway and the Internet (#debconf16, #nuug) on @frikanalen

      Did you know there is a TV channel broadcasting talks from DebConf 16 across an entire country? Or that there is a TV channel broadcasting talks by or about Linus Torvalds, Tor, OpenID, Common Lisp, Civic Tech, EFF founder John Barlow, how to make 3D printer electronics and many more fascinating topics? It works using only free software (all of it available from Github), and is administrated using a web browser and a web API.

    • AppRecommender: A package recommender system

      Hello, my name is Lucas Moura and this post will present AppRecommender. This project is a package recommender system for Debian systems. The intent of this application is to look for packages that users have already installed in their system and recommend new useful packages based on them. This approach is similar as the one seen on Netflix or Amazon, where the movies or goods that a user has already seen determine other items that will be recommended.

    • AppRecommender: My Google Summer of Code project

      AppRecommender is a package recommender system for Debian.

    • Derivatives

      • Parsix GNU/Linux 8.5 “Atticus” Gets the Latest Debian Security Fixes, Update Now

        The Parsix GNU/Linux development team informs the community about the availability of new security updates for their Parsix GNU/Linux 8.5 “Atticus” operating system.

        There’s been a lot of updates released upstream, on the Debian GNU/Linux 8.5 “Jessie” software repositories during the month of July 2016, and Parsix GNU/Linux 8.5 “Atticus” users have now received them all, starting with the massive Linux 4.1.28 LTS kernel update.

        Among the packages that received security fixes during the month of July, we can mention Apache2, MariaDB 10.0, PHP5, collectd, Xen, libgd2, libdbd-mysql-perl, NTP, Perl, phpMyAdmin, OpenSSH, Squid3, MySQL 5.5, Pidgin, Horizon, python-django, and mysql-connector-java.

      • Canonical/Ubuntu

        • BQ’s Aquaris M10 Ubuntu Edition is an underwhelming tablet [Review]

          The Aquaris M10 is very much a first attempt for BQ and you would expect future iterations to have some significant improvements. It’s also hard to find compelling reasons why iOS or Android fans would want to switch over to an Ubuntu tablet, but those familiar with the operating system should be excited to finally have their needs met in the tablet market.

          One positive factor is that switching between tablet and desktop mode works very well for the most part, so can definitely fulfill professional needs as much as casual ones. This could be a viable option for someone who wants that flexibility and isn’t too fussed about some of the more superficial features.

          Aspects such as the cameras, display and build quality could all be improved, but are about right for the price point in this unspectacular but solid device.

          With the HD version costing €229.90 (£187) and the full HD tablet coming in at €279.90 (£227), the M10 offers decent value for money and provides a solid platform for BQ to build on in the future.

        • So Far Ubuntu Phone Hasn’t Tempted Me, But Would Highly Consider A Tizen Device

          With writing this weekend about switching to an S7 Edge powered by Android as my primary smartphone, it generated a flurry of comments in the forums and elsewhere with people wanting to share their two cents.

        • Win an Ubuntu Linux laptop in the System76 ‘Pop Quiz’ giveaway

          The upcoming school year is quickly approaching, meaning many parents and students are busy shopping. While some kids still need old-school things like pens and paper, the really fun thing to buy is a new laptop.

          Understandably, money is tight for many folks, meaning a quality computer might not be in the budget. Luckily, System76 is giving away one of its most popular Linux-based laptops — the Lemur. The pre-installed Ubuntu operating system is absolutely brilliant for education, making it a sweet prize for the winner. If you are interested in entering, you can find out the details below.

        • Flavours and Variants

          • Review: Linux Mint 18 “Sarah” MATE

            That is where my time with Linux Mint 18 “Sarah” MATE ended. Overall, I can still give this a good recommendation for people who have at least a tiny bit of experience with Linux and may be looking for a stable, easy-to-use system. However, the usability issues I encountered, while each fairly minor, added up to the extent that I don’t feel as confident recommending this to total newbies (because while I would be able to work through these issues easily by myself, I don’t expect the same of a newbie), unless they have a more experienced friend helping them to install this (though after that, they should be OK on their own). To be able to retake the newbie demographic, I think this distribution needs just a bit more polish; I’d be excited to see what the future point releases hold, and I hope that these issues do get addressed.

• Devices/Embedded

  • PocketCHIP quick review

    PocketCHIP is the pocket sized Linux terminal I always used to want. Which is to say, it runs (nearly) stock Debian, X, etc, it has a physical keyboard, and the hardware and software is (nearly) non-proprietary and very hackable. Best of all, it’s fun and it encourages playful learning.

    It’s also clunky and flawed and constructed out of cheap components. This keeps it from being something I’d actually carry around in my pocket and use regularly. The smart thing they’ve done though is embrace these limitations, targeting it at the hobbiest, and not trying to compete with smart phones. The PocketCHIP is its own little device in its own little niche.

  • OpenWrt router card plugs into a mini-PCIe socket

  • Skylake taken to EPIC proportions

    IEI’s “Nano-ULT3” is an EPIC SBC with 6th Gen Core “Skylake” U-Series CPUs, up to 32GB DDR4 RAM, and coastline ports for 2x GbE, 2x HDMI, and 4x USB 3.0.

    One of the nice things about backward compatibility is that you can take a legacy form-factor like EPIC and match it with one of the latest, fastest embedded-ready processors around, thereby injecting new life into aging equipment. We’ve seen some EPIC single board computers with Intel 5th Gen Core “Broadwell” CPUs, like Perfectron’s OXY5638A or Aaeon’s EPIC-BDU7, but IEI’s Nano-ULT3 is the first 6th Gen “Skylake” EPIC board we’ve encountered.

  • Phones

    • Android

      • How to turn an Android smartphone into a PC

        Could your smartphone be the only computer you need? That’s the dream pitched by a new Kickstarter campaign, but it’s not a new dream.

        Motorola tried it back 2011 with its Webtop software and Lapdock hardware, but it died within 18 months. Microsoft struck on a similar idea with its Continuum feature for Windows 10 Mobile smartphones, but the Microsoft’s declining mobile fortunes don’t bode well for its future.

        You can forget Apple trying something this radical, too, so it’s left to Android to pick up the slack. Enter Andronium OS and its Superbook.

      • August’s Android Security Update Kicks Off Today With Factory Image Files, OTA Files

      • August security update for Android is out, factory images and OTA files available for Nexus devices

      • Superbook Turns Your Android Phone Into A Laptop

        Want a low-cost laptop solution powered by your Android phone? The Superbook may be just the ticket

      • IDC: Tablet shipments decline for seventh straight quarter, Android dominates with 65% share

        The tablet market has now been in decline for seven quarters in a row. Q2 2016 saw a 12.3 percent year-over-year decline: 38.7 million units shipped worldwide, compared to 44.1 million units in the same quarter last year, according to market research firm IDC. The numbers include both slate and detachable form factors, meaning tablets with keyboards are counted.

        Android dominated with 65 percent share, followed by iOS, which captured 26 percent. That left just 9 percent for Windows devices shipped during the quarter, though IDC pointed to “early signs of change, as the Android vendor list has contracted, and champions of the OS have begun to offer Windows-based products, hedging against the decline of Android slates.”

      • Android Nougat may arrive in August with manual camera exposure

        Manual exposure control is reportedly coming back to stock Android, and we’re expecting it to drop sometime in August.

      • Google Will Bring Back Manual Exposure Control To Android 7.0 Nougat’s Camera App

      • Official: LG V20 Arrives in September with Android 7.0 Nougat (Updated)

      • BlackBerry’s security-focused Android identity crisis

      • A year after discovery, Android malware Stagefright continues to be a frightening reality

      • Android 7.0 Nougat could arrive August 5

      • Marshmallow update coming to first-gen Galaxy A5

      • Samsung Galaxy A5 Now Getting Android Marshmallow Update

      • LG says the V20 will be released in September with Android 7.0 Nougat [Update]

      • Five tips to soup up Chrome for Android

        For the first few years of Android’s existence, the stock browser was a WebKit-based affair that was only updated when the OS was. Now, Chrome ships on nearly all Android phones and tablets, and it’s updated at near light speed via the Play Store. It’s gotten a lot better over the years, but many of the best features are not immediately apparent, and a few need to be toggled on. Here’s what you need to know to get the most out of Chrome on Android.

Free Software/Open Source

• Become a Better Open Source Advocate by Becoming a Better Human Being

  The best role models for any cause, open source or otherwise, are people you would admire even if they didn’t support your cause. In other words, your support of open source will be more meaningful if you strive to be a good person.

• How Open Source is Shaping the Future of Wireless

  Most developers aren’t impressed by the ease of use of wireless protocols – they were originally invented by large corporations and heavily patented, which blocked individual developers from innovation. You had to have very deep pockets to bring any alternative to market.

• FCC forces TP-Link to support open source firmware on routers

  Networking hardware vendor TP-Link today admitted violating US radio frequency rules by selling routers that could operate at power levels higher than their approved limits. In a settlement with the Federal Communications Commission, TP-Link agreed to pay a $200,000 fine, comply with the rules going forward, and to let customers install open source firmware on routers.

  The open source requirement is a unique one, as it isn’t directly related to TP-Link’s violation. Moreover, FCC rules don’t require router makers to allow loading of third-party, open source firmware. In fact, recent changes to FCC rules made it more difficult for router makers to allow open source software.

• FCC settlement with Wi-Fi router maker a win for open source advocates

• TP-Link fined $200k, told to be nice to wireless router tinkers after throwing a hissy fit

• FCC Demands TP-Link Support Third-Party Router Firmware

• TP-Link settles with the FCC over risky WiFi router power levels

• FCC settlement means TP-Link routers might support third-party firmware after all

• FCC Settles WiFi Router Power Investigation

• TP-Link to allow third-party firmware on routers

• TP-Link To Pay Up In Wi-Fi Router Settlement With FCC

• Apache Mesos turns 1.0, but it’s no Kubernetes clone

• Events

  • Top Reasons The Open Source Community Attends Events

    It should go without saying that there is no substitute for face to face collaboration. And what is open source if not the ultimate example of collaboration? Open source events provide a wide range of opportunities for the community to connect, and the end result of all of this is good for the community and good for business.

  • 2nd annual Open Source Open Society

    Using open source to improve how business and Government work at 2nd annual Open Source Open Society

  • Last day for SeaGL talk submission

    SeaGL conference in Seattle in November is still looking for speakers and today is the last day to submit talks. This is an all inclusive conference, featuring Allison Randal, President of the Open Source Initiative as the keynote speaker.

  • Last chance to submit linux.conf.au talks

• Web Browsers

  • Chrome

    • In the browser election, Chrome leads by a landslide

      Chrome reached a major milestone last month when it was used by more than half of those browsing from a personal computer, data published Monday showed.

      According to U.S. analytics vendor Net Applications, Chrome’s user share grew by more than 2 percentage points in July, the fourth time in the last six months that its gains were of that size, to end the month at 51%.

      In the last 12 months, Chrome has added 23.1 percentage points to its user share, starting that stretch with less than 30% and ending by owning a majority of the worldwide desktop browser market. Only two browsers have controlled more than half of the global browser share this century: Microsoft’s Internet Explorer (IE), which held a majority until December 2015, and now Chrome.

      As throughout 2016, most of Chrome’s July gains came at the expense of Microsoft’s browsers. IE and the newer Edge collectively lost 2.1 percentage points, dropping to 34.7%, a record low. Apple’s Safari shed one-tenth of a point, falling to 4.5%, its lowest level since November 2015.

  • Mozilla

    • Working for Women’s Economic Empowerment with the United Nations High Level Panel

      Mozilla Foundation Webmaker Program, Indonesia (photo credit: Laura de Reynal)

      It is critical to ensure that women are active participants in digital life. Without this we won’t reach full economic empowerment. An explicit focus on women and digital life is necessary for economic empowerment because the statistics are striking: over 1.7 billion women in low- and middle-income countries do not own mobile phones. Women in South Asia are 38 percent less likely to own a phone than men; in Africa, they are 50 percent less likely to use the internet.

      This is the perspective and focus I bring to the UN High Level Panel for Women’s Economic Empowerment, an initiative of the United Nations that aims at unlocking the power of women to work and achieve their financial independence. You can read here about my participation to the Panel.

      I joined fellow Panel members in Costa Rica a few weeks ago for a meeting hosted by Costa Rica President, Luis Guillermo Solis. Many thanks to President Solis for leading the meeting with both commitment and authenticity!

• SaaS/Back End

  • ​Google, Intel, and Mirantis rewrite OpenStack’s life-cycle management tool

    Fuel, OpenStack’s management tool, is being recreated to use Kubernetes as its foundation.

• CMS

  • Govstrap.io enables rapid deployment of UK government websites

    United Kingdom government websites can now be deployed within minutes by re-using the familiar theme produced by Government Digital Services (GDS) in combination with the Bootstrap framework.

    The open source software specialist OpusVL has made it possible to take the official Gov.UK website theme, which is under the MIT license, and reproduce it quickly and easily using Bootstrap, which originated from Twitter. Bootstrap is an HTML, CSS, and JavaScript framework for creating front end websites and applications. With an increase in the variety of devices used to view websites, Bootstrap is a standard tool kit for building responsive design, and enabling websites to be mobile- and tablet-friendly.

  • Concrete5 Releases Version 8 Beta, More Open Source CMS News

    Portland, Ore.-based concrete5 released its version 8 beta for testing and feedback. It’s good for site builders who are comfortable reporting and fixing bugs, and who are prepared to build their test sites from scratch. Just remember: Beta releases are never recommended for production websites.

    Technology evangelist Jessica Dunbar called it “a key milestone and is the work of more than 230 contributors.” To find out about the new features, see what’s in store for version 8.

• Pseudo-Open Source (Openwashing)

  • “Incubator” On GitHub — Facebook’s Open Source Gift To Programmers [Ed: Spies, censors and propagandists from Facebook busy 'planting' self-openwashing puff pieces]

  • Facebook Incubator Will Steward Promising Open Source Applications

• OpenSSH

  • OpenSSH 7.3 Released, Adds ProxyJump & IdentityAgent Options

    OpenSSH 7.3 was released today by the OpenBSD camp with some security fixes while also providing a few new options and other features.

  • OpenSSH 7.3 released

    OpenSSH is a 100% complete SSH protocol 2.0 implementation and includes sftp client and server support. OpenSSH also includes transitional support for the legacy SSH 1.3 and 1.5 protocols that may be enabled at compile-time.

  • OpenSSH 7.3

    OpenSSH 7.3 has just been released. It will be available from the mirrors listed at http://www.openssh.com/ shortly.

  • OpenSSH 7.3 Officially Released, Now Refuses RSA Keys Smaller Than 1024 Bits

    On August 1, 2016, the OpenBSD project proudly announced the availability for download of the OpenSSH 7.3 and Portable OpenSSH 7.3p1 open source software projects.

    OpenSSH is a 100% complete, freely distributed, and open-source Secure Shell (SSH) 2.0 protocol implementation for GNU/Linux and UNIX-like operating systems. It comes pre-installed with SFTP client and server support, as well as transitional support for the legacy SSH 1.3 and SSH 1.5 protocols, which can be enabled during compilation.

• Public Services/Government

  • France pilots open source-based cloud services

    The French government is trying out various open source-based alternatives for building its own cloud computing infrastructure, writes SGMAP. “Free software enables modernisation of IT systems, including its most important new projects”, writes the government modernisation unit.

• Openness/Sharing/Collaboration

  • SoldiPubblici one of OGP showcases awarded star status

    SoldiPubblici, an open data portal providing the public with information on Italian government expenditure, has been acknowledged as a “star” commitment by the Open Government Partnership (OGP). In the evaluation report ‘Star Reforms in the Open Government Partnership’ star status is given to a selection of commitments from OGP Action Plans to which the Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM) awarded star status in their latest reporting cycle. “These showcases represent exemplary reforms that have a potentially transformative impact on citizens in the country of implementation.”

  • UK and Finland Europe’s eGovernment leaders – UNPAN

    The United Kingdom and Finland are Europe’s eGovernment leaders, according to the United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN) 2016 UN eGovernment Survey. The list of top 10 eGovernment countries is completed by Sweden, the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Estonia, Germany, Austria, and Spain.

  • UNPAN reports improvements for most EU countries

    The United Nations Public Administration Network (UNPAN) 2016 UN eGovernment Survey shows improvements in most of the lower ranking EU Member States. While in Bulgaria, the Czech Republic and Romania, eGovernment services improved, these were lower than the European average.

• Programming/Development

  • Parallel Programming: July 2016 Update

Leftovers

• Health/Nutrition

  • Obama Signed Into Law Controversial GMO Labeling Bill. Now What?

    What’s an advocate of clear GMO labeling to do now that President Barack Obama has signed into law the food industry-supported measure dubbed the DARK Act?

    One option, according to the Organic Consumers Association (OCA), is to join roughly half a million people who’ve said they will boycott brands that won’t label their products—in a clear way for everyone to see—that have been produced with genetic engineering.

    When Obama on Friday signed the measure “paid for and written by corporations who clearly have something to hide,” said Ronnie Cummins, international director of OCA, the president “succumbed to industry pressure to betray the 90 percent of Americans who want GMOs labeled.”

    Congress passed the measure, which supercedes Vermont’s historic labeling law, last month, and now, as the Associated Press reports, the “Agriculture Department has two years to write the rules.”

  • Rural counties across the US becoming a powder keg for HIV outbreak

    A man was lying sedate after injecting drugs. His fellow users, to amuse themselves, threw needles at him like a human dartboard to see if they would stick, according to a recent police report in Wolfe County, Kentucky.

    “Back in the day, all we had to worry about was people drinking or smoking weed,” said special deputy Gary Smith, who is entering his 25th year with the Wolfe County sheriff’s department.

    But with a growing US opioid epidemic that has escalated the number of injection drug users, the bucolic county has become acutely at risk from another public health problem.

    Wolfe County tops the list of places that are most vulnerable to an HIV outbreak.

    A new alarm for the HIV epidemic sounded early last year when a small, rural town in Indiana was beset with a staggering 188 cases of the hard-to-control disease – and the sirens have been heard in similar towns across the country.

  • New Cold War at the Olympics

    The Western media’s Russia-bashing has become epidemic, creating a dangerous dynamic as the world plunges into a new Cold War, with even sports becoming a propaganda arena, as Rick Sterling explains.

  • Superbugs, Sewage, and Scandal: Are Rio Olympics Poised for Disaster?

    A biology professor has simple advice for athletes and tourists descending on Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the Olympics’ start on Friday: “Don’t put your head underwater.”

    Dr. Valerie Harwood, chair of the Department of Integrative Biology at the University of South Florida, remarked on the dangers posed by Rio’s water to AP, which reported Monday that a 16-months-long study revealed that “the waterways of Rio de Janeiro are as filthy as ever, contaminated with raw human sewage teeming with dangerous viruses and bacteria.”

  • Rio 2016: Swimmers need to ingest only three teaspoons of water to be almost certain of contracting a virus

    A report commisioned by the Associated Press has revealed that water in Rio’s Olympic and Paralympic venues holds viral levels 1.7m times what would be considered alarming in the United States and Europe just five days before the Games get underway

  • 40 now hospitalised after anthrax outbreak in Yamal, more than half are children

    The concern among experts is that global warming thawed a diseased animal carcass at least 75 years old, buried in the melting permafrost, so unleashing the disease.

    A total of 40 people, the majority of them children, from nomadic herder families in northern Siberia are under observation in hospital amid fears they may have contracted the anthrax. Doctors stress that so far there are NO confirmed cases.

    Up to 1,200 reindeer were killed either by anthrax or a heatwave in the Arctic district where the infection spread.

    Specialists from the Chemical, Radioactive and Biological Protection Corps were rushed to regional capital Salekhard on a military Il-76 aircraft.

    They were deployed by Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to carry laboratory tests on the ground, detect and eliminate the focal point of the infection, and to dispose safely of dead animals.

  • Use of Dicamba-Resistant Monsanto Crops Leads to Soybean Death

  • Crime In The Fields: How Monsanto And Scofflaw Farmers Hurt Soybeans In Arkansas

    The story starts with Monsanto because the St. Louis-based biotech giant launched, this year, an updated version of its herbicide-tolerant soybean seeds. This new version, which Monsanto calls “Xtend,” isn’t just engineered to tolerate sprays of glyphosate, aka Roundup. It’s also immune to dicamba.

    Monsanto created dicamba-resistant soybeans (and cotton) in an effort to stay a step ahead of the weeds. The strategy of planting Roundup-resistant crops and spraying Roundup to kill weeds isn’t working so well anymore, because weeds have evolved resistance to glyphosate. Adding genes for dicamba resistance, so the thinking went, would give farmers the option of spraying dicamba as well, which would clear out the weeds that survive glyphosate.

    There was just one hitch in the plan. A very big hitch, as it turned out. The Environmental Protection Agency has not yet approved the new dicamba weedkiller that Monsanto created for farmers to spray on its new dicamba-resistant crops. That new formulation of dicamba, according to Monsanto, has been formulated so that it won’t vaporize as easily, and won’t be as likely to harm neighboring crops. If the EPA approves the new weedkiller, it may impose restrictions on how and when the chemical may be used.

    But, Monsanto went ahead and started selling its dicamba-resistant soybeans before this herbicide was approved. It gave farmers a new weed-killing tool that they couldn’t legally use.

    Monsanto says it did so because these seeds weren’t just resistant to dicamba; they also offered higher yields, which farmers wanted. In an email to The Salt, Phil Miller, Monsanto’s vice president for global regulatory and government affairs, wrote that “there’s incredible value in the Xtend technology independent of herbicide applications: There is great demand for strong yield performance and our latest industry leading genetics.” Monsanto says it also made it clear to farmers that they were not allowed to spray dicamba on these dicamba-resistant beans.

    Farmers themselves, however, may have had other ideas. Robert Goodson, an agricultural extension agent in Phillips County, Ark., believes that some farmers were hoping that the EPA would approve the new dicamba weedkiller in the course of the growing season, so they’d get to spray it over their crops.

• Security

  • Securing Embedded Linux

    Until fairly recently, Linux developers have been spared many of the security threats that have bedeviled the Windows world. Yet, when moving from desktops and servers to the embedded Internet of Things, a much higher threat level awaits.

    “The basic rules for Linux security are the same whether it’s desktop, server, or embedded, but because IoT devices are typically on all the time, they pose some unique challenges,” said Mike Anderson, CTO and Chief Scientist for The PTR Group, Inc. during an Embedded Linux Conference talk called “Securing Embedded Linux.”

  • Security updates for Monday

  • Packt security bundle winner announced!

  • Everyone has been hacked

    Unless you live in a cave (if you do, I’m pretty jealous) you’ve heard about all the political hacking going on. I don’t like to take sides, so let’s put aside who is right or wrong and use it as a lesson in thinking about how we have to operate in what is the new world.

    In the past, there were ways to communicate that one could be relatively certain was secure and/or private. Long ago you didn’t write everything down. There was a lot of verbal communication. When things were written down there was generally only one copy. Making copies of things was hard. Recording communications was hard. Even viewing or hearing many of these conversations if you weren’t supposed to was hard. None of this is true anymore, it hasn’t been true for a long time, yet we still act like what we do is just fine.

  • Android Security Bulletin—July 2016

  • The July 2016 Android security bulletin

  • How To Use Google For Hacking?

  • Securing Embedded Linux by Michael E. Anderson

  • Botnet DDoS attacks in Q2: Linux Botnets on the rise, length of attacks increase

    Kaspersky Lab has released its report on botnet-assisted DDoS attacks for the second quarter of 2016 based on data provided by Kaspersky DDoS Intelligence*. The number of attacks on resources located on Chinese servers grew considerably, while Brazil, Italy and Israel all appeared among the leading countries hosting C&C servers.

  • Cisco Cybersecurity Report Warns of Serious Ransomware Dangers

• Defence/Aggression

  • MH370 flight was deliberately flown into ocean, crash expert says

    Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 was deliberately flown into the sea, an expert air crash investigator has claimed.

    Larry Vance said photos of the plane’s flaperon found on a beach 2,500 miles from the search area show “definite evidence” it was extended at the time of the crash, suggesting the pilot brought the plane down in the ocean.

    “Somebody was flying the airplane at the end of its flight,” Mr Vance told Australia’s 60 Minutes programme.

  • MH370 was flown into water ‘deliberately’, says senior crash expert

    One of the world’s leading air crash investigators says he believes flight MH370 was “deliberately” crashed into the sea by a rogue pilot in a possible murder-suicide bid.

    Larry Vance said erosion on the edges of recovered wing parts suggested the plane was lowered to its doom in a controlled fashion.

    The erosion was caused by a part of the plane’s wing – called a flaperon – being exposed to the elements when it was extended.

  • U.S. Says New Bombing Campaign Against ISIS in Libya Has No “End Point at This Particular Moment”

    The U.S. launched a major new military campaign against ISIS on Monday when U.S. planes bombed targets in Libya, responding to requests from the U.N.-backed Libyan government. Strikes took place in the coastal town of Sirte, which ISIS took in June of last year.

    The strikes represent a significant escalation in the U.S. war against ISIS, spreading the conflict thousands of miles from the warzones in Syria and Iraq.

    All of these attacks took place without Congressional authorization or even debate.

    “We want to strike at ISIL anywhere it raises its head,” said Pentagon Press Secretary Peter Cook. “Libya is one of those places.” He said the airstrikes “would continue as long as [the Libyan government] is requesting them,” and that they do not have “an end point at this particular moment in time.”

  • US Launches Airstrikes in Libya in ‘Deeply Concerning’ New Offensive

    The U.S. on Monday launched airstrikes against the Islamic State (ISIS) in Libya, expanding its war in the region in what the Pentagon indicated will be a long-term offensive against the militant group and what critics said was a “deeply” concerning move.

    Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said Monday that she was “deeply concerned about the expansion of U.S. airstrikes in Libya. The U.S. military continues to become more engaged in the Middle East, despite the lack of a Congressional debate or specific authorization.”

  • US Airstrikes Hit Libya To Bolster UN-Created Government

    The Pentagon has announced today that the US has begun conducting military airstrikes against Libya with the stated intent of defeating ISIS in that country. According to the Pentagon spokesman, the Libyan “Government of National Accord” requested that the US begin airstrikes against what they claim is an ISIS stronghold in the Libyan town of Sirte, the birthplace of murdered Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

  • Empire’s Chain Reaction

    Donald Trump suggested that his campaign may take away press credentials from The New York Times, his latest attack on the media over the course of his presidential campaign.

    At a campaign event in Columbus, Ohio, Monday, the Republican presidential nominee called the Times’ coverage of him “very dishonest” and suggested adopting the same ban on the newspaper as he has on The Washington Post. Trump revoked the Post’s press credentials in June after the newspaper published an article critical of Trump’s statements about a mass shooting in Orlando, Florida.

    “It’s gotten a little better,” he said about the Post’s coverage. “I should do it with the Times.”

    Over the course of the election, Trump’s campaign has banned nearly two dozen news organizations from campaign events, including POLITICO, BuzzFeed, The Huffington Post, Univision and The Des Moines Register. The bans, which have been criticized on First Amendment grounds, have been enforced unevenly. Trump has told CNN that, if elected president, he would not interfere with the White House press credentialing process.

  • Past Time To Rethink NATO

    On bringing Estonia into NATO, no Cold War president would have dreamed of issuing so insane a war guarantee.

  • “Pow, Pow, Yous Are Dead!”

    And then, of course, there were my kids, my husband, and those “guns.” As a boy, Patrick wasn’t allowed to play with toy guns. Instead, he, his parents, and their friends would go to the mall during the Christmas buying spree to put “Stop War Toys” stickers on Rambo and G.I. Joe action figures. When he went to his friends’ houses, he had to tell them that war toys were verboten.

    I grew up in a similar family of activists. We, too, were forbidden toy guns and other war toys. My brother and I were more likely to play games like “protester at the Pentagon” than cops and robbers. I’ve been thinking recently about why toy guns didn’t have a grip on our imaginations as kids. I suspect it was because we understood — were made to understand — what the big gun of U.S. militarism had done in Hiroshima, Nagasaki, Indochina, and throughout Central America. Our dad had seen the big gun of war up close and personal. His finger — the same one he pointed at us when we were in trouble — had pulled the trigger again and again in France during World War II. He was decorated there, but had zero nostalgia for the experience. He was, in fact, deeply ashamed of the dashing figure he had once cut when home from the front. And so, dad screwed up a new kind of courage to say no to war and violence, to killing of any kind. His knowledge of war imbued his nonviolent peace activist mission with a genuine, badass, superhero style swagger.

    Our parents — our community of ragtag, countercultural Catholic peace activists — made that no-violence, no-killing, no-matter-what point again and again. In fact, my early experience of guns was the chilling fear of knowing that, in protest, my father, mother, and their friends were walking into what they called “free fire zones” on military bases, where well-armed, well-trained soldiers were licensed to kill intruders. So we didn’t point toy guns at each other. We didn’t pow-pow with our fingers or sticks. We crossed those fingers and hoped that the people we loved would be safe.

    Our inner city Baltimore neighborhood, where crack cocaine madness was just taking hold, drove that point home on a micro level. Our house was robbed at gunpoint more than once — and we had so little worth taking. We watched a man across the street bleed to death after being stabbed repeatedly in a fight over nothing. People from our house ran to help and were there for far too long before an ambulance even arrived. We knew as little kids that violence was no laughing matter, nor child’s play. It was serious business and was to be resisted.

  • Russian & Iranian Press deplore Hillary Clinton Hawkishness; Israelis complain she’s Dove

    How is the international press responding to the Democratic National Convention and the formalization of Hillary Clinton’s status as the party’s standard-bearer in the presidential campaign?

    BBC Monitoring helped me find these reports, which I’m paraphrasing or quoting from their translation:

    Boaz Bismuth in the Hebrew edition of Yisrael Hayom (Israel Today), which is pro-Netanyahu, criticized the Democrats for their message that the US is unprecedentedly strong. He wrote that polls show Americans to be concerned about terrorism and rising crime. Then he pointed to the Syrian government siege of east Aleppo (with Russian aerial help) as another thing the US has to worry about.

    This newspaper is given away free and is owned by allegedly corrupt US casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, so its talking points are Republican ones. Actually, crime is not rising in the US; violent crime is at historic low. And, while the siege of east Aleppo is troubling from the point of view of human rights (you’re not allowed to starve out civilians), it is hard to imagine most Americans caring, one way or another.

  • Pope and French Muslims try Muslim-Christian outreach instead of ‘War on Terror’ Polarization

    AFP reported from the papal airplane on Pope Francis’s remarks about Islam in the wake of the brutal murder of an elderly priest by two teenagers of North African heritage in Normandy last Tuesday. Daesh (ISIS, ISIL) claimed responsibility.

  • We Can’t Bomb Our Way to Better Schools

    From the left and the right, policy proposals are flying fast and furious. It is an election year, after all. But one topic is completely off the agenda from both sides of the party line: decreasing military spending.

    Today’s political candidates are universally unwilling to discuss the military budget, overseas aggression, nuclear weapons, militarism, or imperialism—except to recommend more of it.

    The problem is, we can’t bomb our way into better schools.

    Year after year, we continue to pour our tax dollars into the war budget at the expense of other social programs. And, even as we overfund the military contractors, we also fail to care for our veterans and renege on our recruitment promises of education and jobs for the youth. Neither of the two major-party presidential candidates will discuss ending the endless war, bringing our troops home, or investing in improving the infrastructure, education, and opportunities here at home.

• Environment/Energy/Wildlife/Nature

  • 15 fire-linked firms escape prosecution in Indonesia’s Riau

    On July 23 the local police headquarters in the Sumatran province of Riau released SP3 notices related to 15 companies that the Ministry of Environment and Forestry had listed in connection with last year’s fires. A SP3 is an official police document that confirms a case has been closed. No charges will be brought against any of the 15 firms.

    “We are very disappointed with the issuance of the SP3,” said Riko Kurniawan, the executive director of the Indonesian Forum for the Environment (Walhi) in Riau province. It showed the police “lacked seriousness” in their pursuit of errant companies, he told Mongabay.

    “This is one of the indicators to show how serious the government is — particularly law enforcement — to tackle forest fires,” added Greenpeace Indonesia forest campaigner Teguh Surya.

    The El Nino weather event in 2015 prolonged the dry season and fueled annual fires that incinerated more than 2 million hectares in Indonesia. Much of what went up in smoke was highly combustible peat stored within marshes near the coastal areas of Riau, South Sumatra and West Kalimantan provinces.

    The result was a national health emergency and a disastrous spike in Indonesia’s greenhouse gas emissions. At one point Indonesia’s chief security minister said Indonesia would commandeer ships from the state ferry company to evacuate the helpless in their thousands.

  • NOAA helps save nearly 100 wetland acres for Michigan restoration

    The Great Lakes hold 20 percent of the world’s fresh surface water, making habitat restoration critically important for severely degraded industrial areas near their shores. In Michigan, NOAA has moved that goal forward by supporting the recent purchase of 98.8 wetland acres near Muskegon Lake, which feeds directly into Lake Michigan.

  • Forest restoration gets a cutting edge

    Research by scientists from the UK and Tanzania has revealed that assisted ecological restoration can lead to dramatic increases in growth of new and established trees – helping to mitigate climate change and boost biodiversity.

    All that is required, they say, is effective control of lianas, the fast-growing, woody climbing vines that, left to their own devices, quickly take over forest in which most or all of the merchantable timber has been cut, and crowd out emerging tree seedlings.

  • Melting Permafrost Releases Deadly, Long-Dormant Anthrax in Siberia

    A Russian heatwave has activated long-dormant anthrax bacteria in Siberia, sickening at least 13 people and killing one boy and more than 2,300 reindeer.

  • Child, 12, died from anthrax, as nine cases confirmed of the deadly disease

    The boy, Denis, died on Saturday from the virulent intestinal form of anthrax after eating infected venison. His grandmother died a day earlier, but as yet the cause is not established.

    Eight other people are now confirmed to be suffering from anthrax, including three children, according to preliminary diagnoses in the outbreak on the Yamal Peninsula in northern Siberia.

    The dead boy was a member of a reindeer herding family.

    A total of 72 people are now in hospital, a rise of 32 since Friday, under close observation amid fears of a major outbreak. 41 of those hospitalised are children as Russia copes with a full scale health emergency above the polar circle which has also killed thousands of reindeer.

  • Once-in-a-Millenium Rainfall Descends on Maryland, Killing 2

    An entire month’s worth of rain fell on Ellicott City, in Howard County, Maryland, within two hours late Saturday evening, causing catastrophic flash floods that killed two people and forced over 100 others to be rescued.

    The local Patapsco River rose more than 13 feet, according to The Weather Channel. A state of emergency was declared Sunday in Howard County, where the community of 65,000 is located.

    Local resident Joyce Healy told NBC that she was driving on Ellicott City’s Main Street when she saw a Mercedes-Benz “floating back down the road.”

    “I’ve never seen anything like this, ever—the devastation down here,” Healy said.

    Howard County executive Allan Kittleman characterized the flooding as “a terrible, terrible, horrific incident” in comments made to NBC on Sunday afternoon, adding that “it looks like a war zone.”

• Finance

  • Facebook May Owe $5 Billion to the Internal Revenue Service

  • Donald Trump Ducks Tax Disclosure

    As Donald Trump’s tweets pile one atop another, generating sensational headlines, issues of true substance are tending to get lost in the shuffle. None is more important for voters to keep in mind than the failure of Mr. Trump to disclose his full income tax returns, something he is not likely to do by Election Day.

    He is the first major party candidate since 1976 — since Watergate, essentially — to deny voters that vital measure of credibility. It is not required by law that candidates furnish their returns. But Americans have come to expect it.

    The interest in Mr. Trump’s case is particularly high. He is running for the White House partly as a business wizard, but is he really as rich and talented as he boasts? Is he as philanthropic as he claims with his reputed billions? Has he truly no conflicts of interest in Russia, whose computer hackers he has bizarrely invited to spy on Hillary Clinton, his campaign rival?

    These questions are of Mr. Trump’s own making, and a timely release of his tax returns would provide some answers. “There’s nothing to learn from them,” he tried to insist in May, arguing that he would not make the returns public until after an Internal Revenue Service audit is complete.

    But the I.R.S. says Mr. Trump is free to release the returns at any time and to defend their accuracy, just as President Richard Nixon did while he was undergoing an audit. In the past, Mr. Trump has not hesitated to attack the I.R.S. as “very unfair,” but now he stands before the voters using the agency as a shield against disclosure.

  • Theresa May’s Brexit shake-up of Whitehall sending “mixed messages” to the EU

    Institute for Government says Department for International Trade’s remit is at odds with comments from new prime minister Theresa May

  • Nothing simple about UK regaining WTO status post-Brexit

    In the weeks that preceded the UK’s EU referendum, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo broke his silence over the UK leaving the EU (Brexit), first with the Financial Times, followed by Reuters, the Guardian, and others. One of his key points was that the UK would face complex talks in the World Trade Organization. What did he mean?

  • Return to the Commonwealth? UK-Africa trade after Brexit will not be straightforward

    In a speech to the Institute of Chartered Engineers in February, David Davis MP – now Secretary of State for Exiting the EU – told the audience: ‘The only Commonwealth country to enjoy a free trade agreement with the EU so far is South Africa.’ In fact, there are free trade agreements either awaiting adoption or in force between the EU and 32 Commonwealth countries. Regardless of its accuracy, Davis’s assertion reflects a broader narrative put forward by the ‘liberal leavers’ in the Brexit campaign. Their argument was that membership of the‘protectionist’ EU constrains the UK’s ability to make trade links with the wider world – and particularly with Britain’s apparently natural partners in the Commonwealth.

  • Leaving the EU customs union: what is involved?

    A key issue from a trade perspective will be whether or not the UK stays in the EU customs union when it leaves the European Union (EU).

    The customs union is an important element of the EU Single Market. Under its rules, the EU operates as a trade bloc, operating common external tariffs and customs barriers, and negotiating trade deals as one. As a member of the customs union, the UK is not allowed to negotiate other bilateral trade deals – which is why Liam Fox has argued that it needs to leave.

  • Don’t listen to the fearmongers: our Brexit negotiations are in safe hands

    When Michel Barnier was appointed EU commissioner for financial services in 2009, I admit I was worried. After all, President Sarkozy could not hide his satisfaction that a Frenchman would be in charge of the City of London, ready to launch an onslaught of new financial regulation. Some of our newspapers called Barnier the “most dangerous man in Europe”.

  • Lords could delay Brexit decision, says Tory peer

    The House of Lords could halt or delay an attempt to activate Article 50 and enact Brexit, a Tory peer has said.

    Baroness Wheatcroft said she felt it was “imperative” to not activate Article 50.

    Speaking to The Times, she said she hoped that delays in the Lords of any potential Brexit legislation would result in a second referendum.

    A legal challenge as to whether the government can trigger Article 50 without the authorisation of Parliament will be heard in the autumn.

  • CNN and Fox News Are Finally Covering the TPP After Ignoring It for Two Years

    Up until recently, cable news outlets almost completely ignored the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) — the 12-nation government agreement that would dramatically expand corporate and investor rights at the expense of medical affordability, the environment, and labor rights.

    The impact of this news blackout was devastating on Americans’ ability to understand what the agreement entailed. A June 2015 New York Times poll found that 78 percent of Americans said they had heard or read “not much” or “nothing at all” about the TPP.

  • Is Hillary Double-Talking on Trade Deals?

    Hillary Clinton is promising to take a tougher stand on U.S. trade deals, but is that just campaign talk to appease supporters of Bernie Sanders and steal some backing away from Donald Trump, asks JP Sottile.

  • We need to reach out

    Like many campaigners in Scotland, and up and down the length of the UK, I’m shattered. Exhausted after years of pounding pavements delivering leaflets; spending every waking minute organising meetings; writing post after post trying to persuade friends, colleagues and twitter trolls of the rights and wrongs of our respective positions; even standing for election. Exhausted because after all these years of work, at times I find myself wondering whether any of it was worth it.

    In the Brexit-destined Britain of today, it feels impossible to be inspired and hopeful about the better future we’ve been working for. But whilst giving up and stepping back is as tempting as lying on a beach in the sun for a month, there is a way to build that future without destroying ourselves in the process.

  • Washington State: Charter School Backers Want to Oust Judge Who Authored Anti-Charter Decision

    Voters of Washington State, wake up!

    The billionaires who have been trying to privatize your public schools are up to their old tricks.

    Bill Gates and his pals have been pushing charters schools since the late 1990s. There have been four referenda on charter schools in Washington State. The privatizers lost the first three, but swamped the race with millions in their 2012 campaign and won by a razor-thin margin, defeating the NAACP, teachers, parents, the League of Women Voters, and school board members.

    Defenders of public schools sued to stop public money from going to privately managed charter schools. In 2015, Washington’s highest court agreed with them that charters are not common schools, as required by the state constitution, because their boards are not elected. Funding charter schools with public money, the high court ruled, was unconstitutional.

• AstroTurf/Lobbying/Politics

  • The Clinton Foundation, State and Kremlin Connections

    Hillary Clinton touts her tenure as secretary of state as a time of hardheaded realism and “commercial diplomacy” that advanced American national and commercial interests. But her handling of a major technology transfer initiative at the heart of Washington’s effort to “reset” relations with Russia raises serious questions about her record. Far from enhancing American national interests, Mrs. Clinton’s efforts in this area may have substantially undermined U.S. national security.

  • How Paul Manafort Wielded Power in Ukraine Before Advising Donald Trump

    Few political consultants have had a client fail quite as spectacularly as Paul Manafort’s did in Ukraine in the winter of 2014.

    President Viktor F. Yanukovych, who owed his election to, as an American diplomat put it, an “extreme makeover” Mr. Manafort oversaw, bolted the country in the face of violent street protests. He found sanctuary in Russia and never returned, as his patron, President Vladimir V. Putin, proceeded to dismember Ukraine, annexing Crimea and fomenting a war in two other provinces that continues.

    Mr. Manafort was undaunted.

    Within months of his client’s political demise, he went to work seeking to bring his disgraced party back to power, much as he had Mr. Yanukovych himself nearly a decade earlier. Mr. Manafort has already had some success, with former Yanukovych loyalists — and some Communists — forming a new bloc opposing Ukraine’s struggling pro-Western government.

  • Paris strikes astonishing partnership with secret Isis sponsor tied to Hillary Clinton [EXCLUSIVE]

    The City of Paris has struck a corporate partnership with French industrial giant, Lafarge, recently accused of secretly sponsoring the Islamic State (Isis or Daesh) for profit.

    Documents obtained by several journalistic investigations reveal that Lafarge has paid taxes to the terror group to operate its cement plant in Syria, and even bought Isis oil for years.

    Yet according to the campaign group, SumOfUs, Lafarge is the corporate partner and sand provider to the City of Paris for this summer’s Paris-Plages urban beach event. The project run by Office of the Mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, will create artificial beaches along the river Seine in the centre and northeast of Paris.

    Lafarge also has close ties to Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Apart from being a regular donor to the Clinton Foundation, Clinton herself was a director of Lafarge in the early 1990s, and did legal work for the firm in the 1980s. During her connection to Lafarge, the firm was implicated in facilitating a CIA-backed covert arms export network to Saddam Hussein.

  • Killary

  • DNC Breach extended to systems used by Clinton campaign

    An analytical system hosted by the Democratic National Committee and used by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign team was accessed by hackers. In a statement issued by the Clinton campaign, a spokesperson said that a network intrusion had exposed data on the system maintained by the DNC, but that the campaign organizations’s own systems did not appear to have been breached. No financial or personal identifying data other than voter information was stored on the analytical system.

  • How Hillary Clinton helped create Donald Trump – and how he could destroy her

    Hillary Clinton should have been a safe bet for President. Yet now she is fighting her own shadowy reflection in Donald Trump – a spectre she and her party helped create. With just 100 days until the vote, how did we get here? What happens next? And what does this election show us about America today?

  • NSA whistleblower: The agency has all of Hillary’s deleted emails

  • Did “Another Snowden” Leak Hillary Clinton’s Emails?

  • Former NSA analyst: Clinton email leak may have come from the U.S.

  • Blaming Russia For the DNC Hack Is Almost Too Easy

    A critical look exposes the significant flaws in the attribution. First, all of the technical evidence can be spoofed. Although some argue that spoofing the mound of uncovered evidence is too much work, it can easily be done by a small team of good attackers in three or four days. Second, the tools used by Cozy Bear appeared on the black market when they were first discovered years ago and have been recycled and used against many other targets, including against German industry. The reuse and fine-tuning of existing malware happens all the time. Third, the language, location settings, and compilation metadata can easily be altered by changing basic settings on the attacker’s computer in five minutes without the need of special knowledge. None of technical evidence is convincing. It would only be convincing if the attackers used entirely novel, unique, and sophisticated tools with unmistakable indicators pointing to Russia supported by human intelligence, not by malware analysis.

    The DNC attackers also had very poor, almost comical, operational security (OPSEC). State actors tend to have a quality assurance review when developing cyberattack tools to minimize the risk of discovery and leaving obvious crumbs behind. Russian intelligence services are especially good. They are highly capable, tactically and strategically agile, and rational. They ensure that offensive tools are tailored and proportionate to the signal they want to send, the possibility of disclosure and public perception, and the odds of escalation. The shoddy OPSEC just doesn’t fit what we know about Russian intelligence.

    The claim that Guccifer 2.0 is a Russian false flag operation may not hold up either. If Russia wanted to cover up the fact it had hacked the DNC, why create a pseudonym that could only attract more attention and publish emails? Dumping a trove of documents all at once is less valuable than cherry picking the most damaging information and strategically leaking it in a crafted and targeted fashion, as the FSB, SVR or GRU have probably done in the past. Also, leaking to Wikileaks isn’t hard. They have a submission form.

    Given these arguments, blaming Russia is not a slam dunk. Why would a country with some of the best intelligence services in the world commit a whole series of really stupid mistakes in a highly sensitive operation?

  • Hillary Clinton Lies About Emails, Again

    In one of her first post-convention interviews, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Fox News Anchor Chris Wallace that “[FBI] Director Comey said my answers [regarding the email scandal] were truthful, and what I’ve said is consistent with what I have told the American people, that there were decisions discussed and made to classify retroactively certain of the emails.”

    This is flatly not true and, more to the point, Hillary Clinton knows it is flatly not true.

  • Campaign says Clinton didn’t mean to mislead with her various email explanations

    Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign struggled Monday to square her claims that she told the truth about her secret email account with the sworn testimony of the FBI director last month, as top Clinton aides insisted that Mrs. Clinton didn’t mean to mislead voters with her various explanations.

    [...]

    Media fact-checkers rejected Mrs. Clinton’s explanation Monday. PolitiFact rated it a “Pants on Fire,” and The Washington Post gave it “four pinocchios.” Both of those are the worst ratings on their respective scales.

  • Who Should Bernie Voters Support Now? Robert Reich vs. Chris Hedges on Tackling the Neoliberal Order

    The day after Senator Bernie Sanders spoke at the Democratic National Convention and urged his supporters to work to ensure his former rival wins the presidential race, we host a debate between Clinton supporter Robert Reich, who served as labor secretary under President Clinton, and Chris Hedges, a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who backs Sanders.

  • The Audacity of Hope and Hacks

    The conventions underscore that both parties’ identities are shifting rapidly.

  • 20 Reasons Black Women & Men Should Consider #JillNotHill This November

  • Green Party candidate Jill Stein announces VP running mate

    Dr. Stein made it official Monday on Twitter, saying she was “Honored to announce human rights champion Ajamu Baraka as my VP running mate!”

    On Baraka’s personal website, he is described as having “roots” in “the Black Liberation Movement and anti-apartheid and Central American solidarity struggles.” He was, until 2011, the Founding Executive Director of the US Human Rights Network. His work has been primarily in the humanitarian sector, and he has partnered with Amnesty International in the past. He is an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC.

  • Jill Stein Picks Long-Time CounterPuncher Ajamu Baraka as Her VP Running Mate

    Green Party presumptive Presidential nominee Jill Stein has offered her vice-presidential bid to international human rights scholar and activist Ajamu Baraka.

    “I am honored and excited to announce that my running mate in the 2016 presidential election will be Ajamu Baraka, activist, writer, intellectual and organizer with a powerful voice, vision, and lifelong commitment to building true political revolution,” Stein announced.

    “Ajamu Baraka is a powerful, eloquent spokesperson for the transformative, radical agenda whose time has come – an agenda of economic, social, racial, gender, climate, indigenous and immigrant justice. Ajamu’s life’s work has embodied the immortal words of Dr. Martin Luther King: Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” Stein continued. “In this hour of unprecedented crisis, we are honored to lift up a unified movement for justice in the only national political party that is not held hostage by corporate money, lobbyists and super-PACs. We look forward to bringing this agenda for justice to the American people in the exciting race ahead.”

  • After Reports to the Contrary, Tim Kaine Says He Still Supports the Hyde Amendment

    In an interview Friday morning with CNN, Vice Presidential candidate Tim Kaine said that he still supports the Hyde Amendment. Kaine said that, despite reports, “I have not changed my position,” on the bill which bans the use of federal money on abortion services.

    At the beginning of the Democratic National Convention, spokespeople for both Clinton and Kaine said that he would support a repeal of the Hyde Amendment. Clinton committed to repealing Hyde early in her campaign, and the Democratic platform reiterated that position. The amendment, which primarily impacts Medicaid recipients, has long been the target of pro-choice activists who argue that it targets the reproductive health care of poor women.

    Kaine has long been vocal about his personal reservations on abortion, but as NARAL, Planned Parenthood, and other pro-choice groups have stressed, his voting record in the Senate is “100 percent pro-choice.” Yet Kaine’s nomination concerned some activists who pointed to his time as Virginia governor. During his tenure, Kaine signed a handful of anti-abortion bills, many of which, as Think Progress notes, are still in effect today. Among other things, Kaine signed a law that provided funding for so-called crisis clinics.

  • No Matter Who Our Next President Is, They Won’t Understand Technology

    Politico has an article with a misleading title — the return of the Luddite president — which discusses how neither of the two major party Presidential candidates are even remotely tech savvy. The headline is an unfortunate oversell. Luddites aren’t just people who don’t know anything about technology. They’re people who actively dislike certain technologies, in the belief that such advances will harm their own livelihoods. In a broader sense, the term is used to discuss people who generally dislike the march of technological progress. Again, that does not appear to be the case with either of the two candidates, who (at best) might just be described as agnostic to/indifferent to new technologies and somewhat ignorant on what that might mean from a policy perspective.

  • Meet Trump’s latest political enemy: Fire marshals

    Even before Donald Trump kicked off his town hall event Monday he gathered reporters to decry “politics at its lowest” — but he wasn’t talking about Hillary Clinton or the latest controversy swirling around his campaign, his feud with the parents of a slain Muslim US soldier.

    Instead, Trump was unleashing on the local fire marshal, accusing the city official of turning away thousands of Trump supporters without cause. It was the second time in three days Trump has lambasted a local fire marshal during a campaign rally.

    “He ought to be ashamed of himself. They turned away thousands of people,” Trump told supporters when he kicked off his rally.

  • Media’s political influence: We can bash Trump and his supporters all we want — but will it work?

    Did the media grasp the importance of the moment Thursday night as the Democratic National Convention concluded? I don’t mean the importance of the first woman major-party candidate being nominated for the presidency. On that score, I think they did pretty well.

    I mean the moment of rescue that the convention constituted — the moment at which this country, now on a fulcrum, could either tip toward authoritarianism, hopeless division and chaos, or toward a more charitable and hopeful vision of the future.

    Did the media understand what’s at stake? As Vox’s Ezra Klein bluntly put it, “This campaign is not merely a choice between the Democratic and Republican parties, but between a normal political party and an abnormal one.”

    The media, like the country itself, have a challenge, and it would not be an easy one even if they wanted to face up to it — which most in the mainstream media do not. They seem perfectly content to broadcast The Donald Trump Show, with all its wild careening and boastful bigotry, because it makes for good entertainment, as well as high ratings and readership. And while the TV convention pundits were quick to comment about how unusual this election is likely to be, they have been slow to point out that the surreal Trump is a threat to this country and to the world — an egocentric charlatan who wallows in his ignorance. We are all at risk.

  • Can mythbusters like Snopes.com keep up in a post-truth era?

    The most scenic way to find truth on the internet is to drive north of Los Angeles on the Pacific Coast Highway, blue ocean foaming to the left, sunlit hills cresting to the right, until Malibu Canyon Road, where you take a sharp right and wind for a few miles through the oak-lined knolls and dips of Calabasas, past gated estates that are home to the likes of Justin Bieber, Kim Kardashian and Mel Gibson, and keep going until you reach an odd-looking wood-and-brick house with a US flag on the porch: the home of David Mikkelson.

    It feels like a good jumping off point for a hike, or a pony trek. But really it is the ideal place to explore fibs like whether Hillary Clinton stole $200,000 in White House furnishings, or whether Donald Trump called Republicans the “dumbest group of voters”, or whether Black Lives Matter protesters chanted for dead cops, or whether Nicolas Cage died in a motorcycle accident, or whether chewing gum takes seven years to pass through the digestive system, or whether hair grows back thicker after being shaved, or, if you really, really must know, whether Richard Gere had an emergency “gerbilectomy” at Cedars-Sinai hospital.

    Mikkelson owns and runs Snopes.com, a hugely popular fact-checking site which debunks urban legends, old wives’ tales, fake news, shoddy journalism and political spin. It started as a hobby in the internet’s Pleistocene epoch two decades ago and evolved into a professional site that millions now rely on as a lie-detector. Every day its team of writers and editors interrogate claims ricocheting around the internet to determine if they are false, true or somewhere in the middle – a cleaning of the Augean stables for the digital era.

  • Only 9% of America Chose Trump and Clinton as the Nominees

  • American Horror Story: How the Democrats found a boogeyman in Hillary’s Emails

    Bernie Sanders won the presidential nomination, but he was cheated out of it by the Democratic National Committee which is the operating body for the Democratic Party. They helped Hillary win the nomination by combining vote miscounts and appointing super delegates whom no one elected to vote for Hillary. So, she won this nomination illegitimately. All of Bernie Sanders’ supporters know that. They have turned against Hillary, and it is unlikely that many of them will vote for Clinton. The Democratic National Committee said: “Who do they dislike more than Hillary? The Russians”, as they’ve been demonizing the Russians for the last 3-4 years. So, the Americans are told to dislike the Russians. That’s why they blame Putin for WikiLeaks’ release of the emails that showed how the Democrats were cheating with votes. Hillary is a crook in many ways. But she has escaped prosecution because she is too useful for the oligarchs. So they shift all the blame onto Putin, saying that this is all a Russian plot to get Donald Trump elected. Is that what this is? I don’t think this will fool many people. It will be played with in the media because the media is not honest, not independent. It’s like the old Soviet media – it has to answer to the master and can’t say much independently. It’s not going to fool the American people that all this email thing was done by Putin.

  • NYT Leads With Russia Hack Conspiracy–Despite ‘No Evidence’ (in Next-to-Last Paragraph)

    The 11th-hour detail might send readers, scratching their heads, back to the beginning.

    “Clinton campaign officials have suggested that Russia might be trying to sway the outcome of the election,” Times reporter Eric Lichtblau writes in the second paragraph. Here, one would think, would have been the place to mention that those officials have no evidence for their claim.

    Instead this fact in consigned to the penultimate paragraph—a lonely wilderness where the vast majority of readers don’t tread—of a piece filled with weasel words and caveats like “said to,” “appears to,” “apparently,” etc. The headline of the digital version has two: “Computer Systems Used by Clinton Campaign Are Said to Be Hacked, Apparently by Russians.”

  • The Convention Film on Hillary Clinton Lied to America

    Follow the money and it is obvious that the Democratic Party as much as the GOP is now the plaything of the super-rich. GOP nominee Trump is one of the few egomaniacal outliers who think they can game the system on their own. But in this election, for the multinational corporate hustlers who view governance as a means of establishing a convenient world order supportive of their plunder, Clinton triangulation best fits the bill.

  • Election mailouts under censorship as fourth candidate barred from running

    Election mailouts submitted by two different lists containing words such as “self-determination” are being delayed by the election regulatory body. The news came as a fourth candidate was disqualified for the September election.

    Nathan Law Kwun-chung of Demosisto and Eddie Chu Hoi-dick both said the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC) was consulting the Department of Justice before it can confirm whether any of the mailouts would be allowed to be sent to households for free – a privilege given to candidates.

    Law’s mailouts contained phrases like “civil referendum,” “self-determination movement,” and “autonomy is difficult under Chinese economic pressure.” Those of Chu included policies promoting the idea that Hong Kong people should determine their own political system in a democratic fashion.

  • Government condemns personal attacks against officers responsible for electoral matters

    A spokesman for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Government said today (August 1) that the Electoral Affairs Commission (EAC), the Returning Officers (ROs), the Registration and Electoral Office and all officers responsible for electoral affairs have been handling election-related matters in strict accordance with the Basic Law and relevant legislation. This is to ensure that elections are conducted in an open, fair and honest manner.

  • Donald Trump Unleashes More Outrages and Lies at Bizarre News Conference

    Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump—I can’t believe I wrote those words—gave a news conference Wednesday. Shall we first count the outrages or the lies?

    I think we need to start at the top of the outrage column. Asked about the hacking of Democratic National Committee emails, which many experts believe was carried out by agents of the Russian government, Trump speculated that Russia might also have hacked into Hillary Clinton’s private email server. Then he asked the Russians to release any deleted emails they might have found there.

  • Occupying the DNC

    In an unusual move for a reclusive layabout, last week I took a bus to Philly to advocate for peace, justice and what I supposed was the American Way, and do my little part to make the Democratic National Convention less of a coronation for the Queen of Chaos.

    Of course, now we know—thanks to anonymous sources on wikileaks—that the DNC rigged the whole campaign in her favor, just as Bernie had been saying. She and they quickly intimated that the Rooskies were behind the hack, but they’re just sayin’ because nobody really knows except them what did it. And now we’re starting to learn how they rigged the convention for her highness too, even though they really didn’t need to.

  • Fast-Growing Corporate Evils That Should Be Media Issues…and Campaign Issues

    Corporations are viewed as untouchable by big business media giants like the Wall Street Journal, which blurts out inanities like “Income inequality is simply not a significant problem.” and “Middle-class Americans have more buying power than ever before.”

    In the real world, inequality is destroying the middle class. The following four issues, all part of the cancer of corporatocracy, have grown in intensity and destructiveness in just the last few years. They should be campaign issues, given more than just lip service from corporation-funded candidates like Hillary Clinton, and given more than just passing reference in the news reports of an unresponsive, irresponsible mainstream media.

  • It’s as If They’re Trying to Lose: Democrats’ Optimism Ignores the Struggles of Millions

    Writing in 2008, months before the year’s presidential election, Ezra Klein — an ostensibly clear-headed, data-driven policy wonk — lavished effusive praise upon Barack Obama, praise that verged on the metaphysical.

    “Obama’s finest speeches do not excite. They do not inform. They don’t even really inspire. They elevate,” Klein informed readers of The American Prospect. “He is not the Word made flesh, but the triumph of word over flesh, over color, over despair. The other great leaders I’ve heard guide us towards a better politics, but Obama is, at his best, able to call us back to our highest selves, to the place where America exists as a glittering ideal, and where we, its honored inhabitants, seem capable of achieving it, and thus of sharing in its meaning and transcendence.”

    Though they so frequently congratulate themselves for their ability to jettison emotion and opinion in the service of objectivity and respectability, mainstream analysts often, as Klein did above, forget their self-professed role precisely when it would best serve the country.

    For the eventual victory of Obama in 2008 was also — as Noam Chomsky, Adolph Reed, and others noted at the time — a victory for the advertising industry: Obama’s success represented an astounding achievement for the politics of imagery and personality, for a political message that provides a kind of blank slate onto which voters can project their ideological preferences.

  • Sanders Surrogate Nina Turner Considering Green Party’s VP Offer

  • Amid DNC Scandal, Wasserman Schultz Losing Grip on House Race

    The hits keep coming for Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.), the disgraced former chair of the Democratic National Committee, as new polling released on Sunday found that her once-longshot challenger Tim Canova is swiftly closing the gap in the primary race for her House seat.

    According to FloridaPolitics.com, the survey released by the Canova campaign found Wasserman Schultz leading her opponent 46 percent to 38 percent in Florida’s 23rd Congressional District. However, after the pollsters provided more information about the outsider candidate—who has been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders—to likely voters, Wasserman Schultz’s lead plummeted to just three points, 43 percent to 40 percent.

    What’s more, the survey found that 35 percent of district voters regard her unfavorably, which represents “a staggering decline from her popularity in past campaigns,” the pollsters noted. For Canova, the numbers show that he has a “real chance to win” in the August 30th Democratic primary.

    The survey of 400 random voters in Florida’s 23rd district was conducted late last week, amid the Democratic National Convention and in the immediate aftermath of Wasserman Schultz’s resignation as party chair following the damning WikiLeaks revelations that the Democratic party actively worked to undermine Sanders’ bid for the nomination.

    Wasserman Schultz, a longtime friend and ally of Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, was accused throughout the primary campaign of tipping the scales in her favor.

  • Populism Even Republicans Can Get Behind

    A new campaign aims to oust every single member of Congress — from either party — who’s backed by Big Money.

  • An open letter to Hillary from a Bernie delegate

    Like most of the other Bernie Sanders delegates at the national convention last week, I don’t trust you. At the same time, we have a common interest in defeating Donald Trump. That ought to be the basis for a tactical alliance during the next 99 days — but you need to make a major course correction.

    The problem can’t be solved by staying on message and telling your pal Terry McAuliffe to keep quiet. (Have you considered gifting him a vacation to a deserted island for the next hundred days?) He let slip what so many Bernie delegates and supporters around the country already figured — we’d be fools, given your record, to believe that your conversion to oppose the Trans-Pacific Partnership is genuine.

    But here’s my point: Complacency about getting the votes of people who went for Bernie in the primaries is dangerous, wishful thinking. Many of the same pundits who, two weeks ago, were predicting a Democratic convention of tranquility and unity, are still citing polls that say 85 or 90 percent of Bernie voters will go for you in November. Such assessments are dubious.
    You’re in danger of a steep falloff of turnout from Bernie’s primary voters. And crucially, in swing states, turnout will make all the difference. If an appreciable number of those Bernie voters opt to stay home or vote for a third-party candidate in the fall, here comes President Trump.

    A week ago, polling analysts at FiveThirtyEight concluded that you were coming into the convention “with a real problem.” Even before the release of Democratic National Committee emails showing that the supposedly evenhanded DNC was aiding your campaign, “Clinton had about a third of Sanders supporters left to try to win over.” That’s easily a million swing-state voters.

  • Green Party Gains Ballot Access in Six More States as Signature Counts More than Double State Requirements

    Voters will have a chance to cast their ballot for Green Party presumptive Presidential nominee Jill Stein, as well as several local- and state-level Green Party candidates, in six more states as of today. Green Party ballot-access signature drives in Kansas, Pennsylvania, Nebraska, New Jersey, Vermont, and Missouri easily surpassed, and in most cases more than doubled, the required number of signatures to secure a ballot line.

    In Kansas, 10,908 signatures were submitted, double the required threshhold of 5,000 signatures. This is the first time the Green Party will be on the ballot in Kansas since 2000.

    In Pennsylvania, around 22,000 signatures were submitted, several times over the current requirement of 5,000, which had been lowered through a successful court challenge last month.

  • Society Is Failing Our Families: Sister Simone Campbell on Inequality, Donald Trump & Women’s Health

    Last week in Philadelphia, a caravan of Nuns on the Bus pulled up to the Democratic National Convention after visiting 13 states, where they hosted conversations with ordinary Americans on both sides of the political spectrum in an effort to bridge the divide. To learn more about their journey, we sat down with the caravan’s leader, Sister Simone Campbell. She’s a lawyer and poet and the executive director of NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice.

  • Popular delusions: Corbynism constructs its people

    The idea of the people is now as pervasive on the left as the idea of class once was. Its pervasiveness owes to a surge in left populism. With Corbynism, the UK caught what swept Europe post-crisis. But continental populism’s successes highlight the divergence. Syriza carefully constructed a popular platform through practical solidarity work. Podemos harnessed media messaging to articulate a popular project around points of popular grievance. Insofar as people power is possible within capitalism at all, these interventions worked.

• Censorship/Free Speech

  • Donald Trump signs pledge to crack down on Internet porn

    Donald Trump has pledged to crack down on Internet pornography via corporate partnerships and possibly establishing a federal commission on the harmful effects of pornography, a nonprofit said Monday.

    While it appears to be coincidental, Trump’s pledge comes a day after the New York Post’s Sunday edition included a full-page nude photo of Melania Trump, his wife, on its cover.

    Enough is Enough, a nonprofit dedicated to confronting online pornography, child pornography, child stalking and sexual predation, published Trump’s signed pledge on Monday. Trump’s opponent Hillary Clinton refused to sign the pledge, Enough is Enough said, though her campaign told EiE that she supported its goals.

  • This Week in Unnecessary Censorship

  • Fearing Islamist reprisal, French publisher revises decision to publish book critical of Islam

    A Paris-based publishing house has revised its decision to publish a French version of the German bestseller “Der Islamische Faschismus” (The Islamic Fascism). Written by German-Egyptian author Hamed Abdel-Samad, the book was due to hit the French bookstores in September. Piranha Edition reportedly changed its mind after this month’s ISIS-inspired terror attack in Nice that killed 84 people and injured more than 300.

    If the objective of Islamist violence in Europe had been to force the continent into submission, it is well on its way to achieving them.

    Piranha Edition justified the decision of not going ahead with the publication by citing the threat of Radical Islam as well its desire of not wanting to strengthen the right-wing French groups critical of Islam. Interestingly, the head office of the Piranha Edition is just within a few minutes of walk from Bataclan, the theatre where 89 people were murdered by Islamic terrorists in November 2016.

  • Yavuz Baydar: Six more journalists jailed in Turkey

    It was a long Saturday night for all of us, at home and abroad, monitoring the worrisome developments around media freedom in Turkey. As if to confirm our fears, the night ended with the detention of six more journalists.

    Defence lawyers expected the cases to be handled first thing Monday 1 August. But in a hasty move, journalists who wrote for the opinion section of Zaman — which stands at the epicenter of accusations of being part of the so-called “media leg of FETO terror organisation” — were taken to the Istanbul courthouse. After a long process, all were sent to jail.

    The ruling, written under the extraordinary circumstances of emergency rule, reads like a severe restriction of the free word in particular and journalism in general.

  • Quantitative Medicine Targeted by Google Censorship

    Quantitative Medicine (QuantitativeMedicine.net) had been found in violation of Google AdWord’s guidelines. Ads will no longer be allowed unless the site is substantially revised as dictated by Google. Quantitative Medicine is a health improvement website offering health recommendations through targeted diet and exercise adjustments.

  • Donald Trump suggests he may revoke New York Times’ press credentials

    Donald Trump suggested that his campaign may take away press credentials from The New York Times, his latest attack on the media over the course of his presidential campaign.

    At a campaign event in Columbus, Ohio, Monday, the Republican presidential nominee called the Times’ coverage of him “very dishonest” and suggested adopting the same ban on the newspaper as he has on The Washington Post. Trump revoked the Post’s press credentials in June after the newspaper published an article critical of Trump’s statements about a mass shooting in Orlando, Florida.

    “It’s gotten a little better,” he said about the Post’s coverage. “I should do it with the Times.”

    Over the course of the election, Trump’s campaign has banned nearly two dozen news organizations from campaign events, including POLITICO, BuzzFeed, The Huffington Post, Univision and The Des Moines Register. The bans, which have been criticized on First Amendment grounds, have been enforced unevenly. Trump has told CNN that, if elected president, he would not interfere with the White House press credentialing process.

  • Coinbase CEO Objects Reddit Bitcoin Censorship, Decides to Censor Moderators

    Brian Armstrong, the CEO of Coinbase, recently hosted a firechat with Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, to discuss the seriousness of the censorship in /r/Bitcoin, a subreddit moderated and curated by Bitcointalk administrator Theymos.

    The long-lasting feud between Armstrong and Theymos began on June 6, 2015, when Theymos threatened to ban Coinbase and any Coinbase related content from /r/Bitcoin, for promoting a project called Bitcoin XT, a hard fork designed to increase the Bitcoin block size.

  • Melbourne graffiti artist Lushsux’s Instagram account deleted in ‘politically-motivated censorship’

  • Graffiti artist says Instagram deleted account over Hillary Clinton mural

  • The Artist Behind Taylor Swift’s Memorial Has Had Their Instagram Account Deleted

  • Artist Behind Melbourne’s ‘RIP Taylor Swift’ Mural Has Instagram Account Mysteriously Deleted

  • SWIMSUIT CONTROVERSY Raunchy Hillary Clinton mural may get Muslim makeover after graffiti artist Lushsux was ‘censored’ for creating the unflattering painting

  • Hillary Clinton mural may get Muslim makeover

  • Street Artist Censors ‘Offensive’ Hillary Clinton Mural By Dressing Her In Niqab

  • Instagram Blocks Graffiti Artist for Image of Hillary Clinton in Bathing Suit

  • Street artist paints over Hillary Clinton mural after council fine threat

  • Swimsuit Mural Of Hillary Clinton Creates A Stir In Australia

  • Serbia, censorship according to Aleksandar Vučić

• Privacy/Surveillance

  • What to Do About Lawless Government Hacking and the Weakening of Digital Security

    In our society, the rule of law sets limits on what government can and cannot do, no matter how important its goals. To give a simple example, even when chasing a fleeing murder suspect, the police have a duty not to endanger bystanders. The government should pay the same care to our safety in pursuing threats online, but right now we don’t have clear, enforceable rules for government activities like hacking and “digital sabotage.” And this is no abstract question—these actions increasingly endanger everyone’s security.

  • Japan’s top court has approved blanket surveillance of the country’s Muslims

    Japan’s Supreme Court has upheld the government’s blanket surveillance of the country’s Muslim community.

    The court struck down the second appeal by Japanese Muslim plaintiffs against what they perceive as an unconstitutional invasion of their privacy and freedom of religion, reports Al Jazeera.

    A 2010 leak of 114 police files revealed nationwide surveillance of Japanese Muslims. The files revealed that Muslim places of worship, halal restaurants and Islam-related organisations across the capital, Tokyo, were being monitored.

  • UK spies tracked Middle East activists with a web link shortener

  • GCHQ used URL tool to monitor Middle East groups

  • GCHQ used ‘lurl.me’ URL shortening service to attack and track targets in the Middle East

  • British spooks used in-house ‘lurl.me’ URL shortener to track targets and attack hackers

  • Director Of National Intelligence ‘Celebrates’ National Whistleblower Day… Without Mentioning Snowden Once

    There’s also the matter of the elephant (who was once) in the room (but now resides somewhere in Russia). Despite there being widespread acknowledgment that Edward Snowden’s leaks have been responsible for the first meaningful surveillance reforms in years, Snowden’s name is nowhere to be found in the ODNI’s celebratory post.

    Maybe that’s because the Presidential Policy Directive instituting better protections for intelligence community whistleblowers was issued in October 2012, well ahead of the initial Snowden leak. Maybe that’s why the ODNI is completely restrained in its celebration of its most famous whistleblower. Then again, the PPD gave agencies 270 days to comply, which means most of them were forced to put this policy into effect just one month after Snowden’s first leak, at the latest. That has to sting a little.

    Whatever the case is — whether it’s a lack of actual wrongdoing or a system that still doesn’t do quite enough to protect whistleblowers against reprisals — the low number of complaints currently making their way through the system are being handled “lawfully,” according to ODNI. This would put policy compliance in line with its multiple bulk interception/metadata programs, which have always been referred to as “lawful” during multiple “no comments” delivered in response to multiple leaks.

    For all intents and purposes, it is Snowden Day, which now comes twice a year — and will never be officially acknowledged once.

  • Manhattan DA Continues To Claim ‘We Don’t Want Crypto Backdoors…’ By Which He Means He Wants Crypto Backdoors

    First of all, criminals have always had ways to conduct business with the knowledge that law enforcement can’t listen to them. It’s called meeting in person with people. Or using code words and phrases. Encryption doesn’t change that. And, of course, using encryption properly isn’t easy, and it still leaves plenty of other clues. Law enforcement is never supposed to be able to get absolutely everything already. And these days, there’s so much more data available to law enforcement than ever before — things like location data from mobile phones, or information from other connected devices. The idea that his job has become more difficult is complete hogwash.

    Vance’s speech seems to be a repeat of what he’s said before, but it’s been debunked before and he just keeps making it. It’s difficult to take him seriously when he keeps being so ridiculously wrong.

  • Intelligence Community’s Top Whistleblower Protector In Need Of Some Whistleblower Protection

    Meyer has multiple beefs with multiple powerful people, all lodged through the proper channels — which has apparently done very little to protect him from retaliation. Meyer has accused top Pentagon officials of altering a report that originally found Leon Panetta had engaged in wrongdoing when he leaked classified information to the producers of “Zero Dark Thirty.” This conclusion was nowhere to be found when the report was officially released.

    That claim put him in the same boat as an assistant Inspector General, who also noted some impropriety surrounding the CIA’s close relationship with the “Zero Dark Thirty” team.

  • FBI’s Hacking Tool Found To Have Compromised Dozens Of Computers In Austria

  • Public safety increased with the ability to remotely disable vehicles [Ed: It’s how government can remotely kill. Cars with microphones, cameras, always-on GPS, kill switches and back doors. What could POSSIBLY go wrong? Here.

    To increase public security, the EU SAVELEC project has demonstrated a prototype device that can stop non-cooperative vehicles, both safely and at distance.

    In its endeavour to keep the public safe, one of the key challenges facing European security services is the ability to control and stop, at distance, non-cooperative vehicles posing a threat. However, this ability presents more than a technical challenge. To comply with EU legislation, as well as adhere to ethical concerns, the technology would also have to be safe for the user, the driver (and passengers), as well as members of the public and the material infrastructure of the surrounding environment.

  • Meet Moxie Marlinspike, the Anarchist Bringing Encryption to All of Us

    Signal, widely considered the most secure and easiest-to-use free encrypted messaging and voice-calling app, is the reason he’s been invited to speak as part of the very same crypto Jedi Council he had worshipped as a teenager. Marlinspike designed Signal to bring uncrackable encryp­tion to regular ­people. And though he hadn’t yet revealed it at the time of the conference in March, Signal’s encryption protocol had been integrated into WhatsApp, the world’s most popular messaging app, with over a billion users.

  • Got a visit from the police this morning..

    I never thought I would be one of those operators who had to deal with the police or anything like that. I’ve done all I can to set things up so that it’s easy to see that I run a exit node.

    I have a disclaimer on my website :

    https://stigatle.no/index.php/tor-exit-node/

    and if you go to the ip of the node, you’ll see the same info:

    https://185.97.32.18/

    I run this node – which is no secret:

    https://atlas.torproject.org/#details/04250C3835019B26AA6764E85D836088BE441088

    So, back to earlier this morning.
    Suddenly got a hard knock on my door, I was surprised because we never get visitors. I saw it was the police (2 officers), and they asked if we could talk in private, because they heard my kids (2 and 4) and my wife upstairs, I said yes, no problem, let them in.

  • I know why you’ve come – to radicalise me, Snowden said: Arundhati Roy

    It’s described in the book. It was John Cusack’s idea…but we never went to Moscow intending to do a book – we really just went in solidarity with Ed Snowden. I thought we’d meet him for a couple of hours, but we hung out the whole day, until late into the night. He showed up again the next day again, so really we spent two days together. In Room 1001 at the Ritz Carlton! He and Dan were delighted to see each other. Dan said he’d been waiting for someone like Ed for forty years. Snowden laughed when he met me and said “I know why you’ve come – to radicalise me!” He told me that all those days he was stuck in Moscow airport with Sarah Harrison of Wikileaks—until Putin let him in to the country—she was exasperated with him for not being “radical” enough and kept saying “Why don’t you read Arundhati Roy?”

  • We’ve been hacked too, says Russia

  • Huge Cyber-Spy Attack Hits Russian Government

  • Cyberwar: National Security Agency (NSA) likely to ‘hack back’ Russian cyber groups, experts claim

  • Russian government admits agencies were hacked

  • Russia Uncovers Major APT-style Cyber Attack

  • Spies planted malware on critical infrastructure, Russian security service says

  • Russia reports hack on its federal agencies

  • Russian gov spots cyberespionage malware on 20 networks systems

  • Spyware found on state computer networks: Russia

  • Spyware uncovered in govt computer networks: Russia

  • FSB discovers cyber-spying virus in 20 Russian government agencies

  • NSA Hackers Believed to Be Attacking Russian Computer Networks

  • US counter-attacks Russian cyber efforts

  • Russian government ‘targeted by spyware’

  • US Cyberwar on Russia?

  • Talk about the Russian bear in the room

  • Russia Uncovers Cyber Attack Plan Against Government Agencies

  • Russia Was Hacked, Too, Says Russia

  • Russia cyber attack: Large hack ‘hits government’

  • Russia Says It Detected Malware on PCs at 20 Government Organizations

  • Hack infects Russian government computers – New York Post

  • Russia claims to uncover planned cyberattack on key institutions

  • Russia says spyware found in state computer networks

  • Russian government computers found infected with spyware, Federal Security Service says

  • Cyber security: Russia’s FSB says many organisations hacked

  • FSB finds cyber-spying virus in computers of defense industry companies

  • Vladimir Putin webcam spy scandal as government suffers massive cyber attack

  • Russia Says Malware Found in 20 of Country’s Computer Networks

  • Russian government hit by major cyber attack

  • FSB Detects Cyberattacks on 20 Russian Organizations, Including Military Targets

  • Most recent: Russia says spyware found in state computer networks

  • FBI Agent Pleads Guilty to Acting as China Agent

  • Protecting the Fourth Amendment in the Information Age: A Response to Robert Litt

  • How the FBI and NSA investigate breaches

  • Oliver Stone headed to Zurich Film Festival with ‘Snowden’

  • The gift of privacy: How Edward Snowden changed the way I parent

    My son is 14 today and for his birthday—in addition to a bicycle, a basketball, and a T-shirt with an obscurely offensive image—I am giving him the gift of privacy. And I am giving him this gift because of Snowden.

    That’s right. Edward Snowden, NSA whistleblower and hero to some, traitor to others, has changed not only the way I view privacy but also the way I view my teen’s privacy and the way I safeguard it—from myself.

    When Snowden’s revelations about mass government surveillance made headlines in 2013, I—like many other Americans—was shocked and disturbed. The PRISM program, in which the communications of millions of Americans were collected and stored by the government, without warrant or probable cause, seemed to violate the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, which prohibits warrantless search and seizure. The argument that the innocent should have nothing to fear from such programs rang hollow to me and many others in post-McCarthy-era America.

    Then in March, as part of research on another story I am writing, I listened to a live conversation on privacy between Snowden, constitutional lawyer and co-founder of The Intercept Glen Greenwald and historian and linguist Noam Chomsky.

• Civil Rights/Policing

  • Black, White, and Blue: Working Class Self-Defeat in Somerville

    According to the Associated Press, roughly 50 police officers and their supporters rallied to protest a Black Lives Matter (BLM) banner that has been hanging outside City Hall in the predominantly white and historically working class Boston suburb of Somerville for a year. The primarily Caucasian haters of the banner chanted “All lives matter!,” “Take it down!,” and “Cops lives matter!” It was part of the “Blue Lives Matter” movement.

    According to the president of the Somerville Police Employees Association, the banner sends an “exclusionary message” and “implies that Somerville police officers are somehow responsible for racially motivated decision-making against minorities.”

    A local white firefighter claimed that BLM had become “almost synonymous with killing cops.” He’s talking the line taken by the decrepit white supremacist Rudolph Guliani (a close Donald Trump ally and adviser) on FOX News.

    But BLM is “almost synonymous with killing cops” only in the minds of people who can’t differentiate between a civil rights movement two lone gunmen. Yes, two mentally unhinged Black military veterans – one in Dallas and one in Baton Rouge – got pushed over the edge by recent videos of Black men being senselessly killed by white police officers. And yes, the ongoing epidemic of such shootings is what drove the rise of BLM. But, no, BLM activists have never advocated “killing cops.” They have gone to great lengths to distance themselves from such actions.

  • Chelsea Manning faces punishment for suicide attempt, highlighting injustice of US prison system

    The ALCU have announced that Chelsea Manning is facing disciplinary action at the military prison where she is serving her 35 year sentence. Incredibly, the military is seeking to punish Chelsea in connection with her attempt to take her own life on 5 July this year. We have written previously about how officials at Fort Leavenworth abused Chelsea’s rights by informing the media about her medical issues before her family, friends or legal team.

    Chelsea has dictated details of her charge sheet to a supporter over the phone. If convicted of these administrative charges, Chelsea potentially faces penalties including indefinite solitary confinement and reclassification out of general population, with all of the social and communicative restrictions that implies. Her chances of being granted parole may also be impacted.

  • Sadly, The Deceased Muslim Army Captain’s Mother Is Wrong: Women Are Anything But Men’s Equals Under Islam

    Sadly, women are anything but “equal” under Islam — and the Quran is supposed to be the words of Allah, brought by the Angel Gabriel to Mohammed. It is thus to be followed unquestioningly and not interpreted as a historical document. (Christians are not going around slaughtering their neighbors for adultery.)

  • Shooting of 76-year-old man by State Police a ‘tragic mistake,’ family friend says

    Sykes’ wife woke him up and he went into the living room. At that point, according to longtime family friend and attorney Rich Kaser, Sykes looked out through the French doors leading to a deck where he saw the shadow of a person outside.

    Kaser said Sykes went back into his bedroom and got his shotgun.

    Sykes “felt intruders were trying to get in and he was yelling to his wife to call 911,” Kaser said.

    What happened next is subject of investigation. Authorities say two state troopers had come to the home after mistakenly being told it was the location of a 911 hang-up call.

    According to authorities, shots were exchanged. One trooper fired four times and Sykes fired his shotgun once.

  • Wife of Raif Badawi, Imprisoned Saudi Blogger, Feels Pain From Afar

    The story of how Ensaf Haidar first encountered her husband, Raif Badawi, is an unusual version of “meeting cute.”

    In 2000, Ms. Haidar was a cloistered young woman studying the Quran in a small town in Saudi Arabia, where she lived with her family and rarely interacted with men.

    It all started with an accidental meeting. Ms. Haidar was using a borrowed phone and mistakenly returned a call from Mr. Badawi. At first she hung up, but he called back, and kept calling.

    Over time she gave in, leading to a secret, phone-based romance and eventually, marriage. Now, 16 years later, the couple’s romance endures under extraordinary circumstances — across thousands of miles, through prison walls and against the backdrop of an international fight over freedom of expression.

    Mr. Badawi, 32, has been in prison in Saudi Arabia since 2012, serving a 10-year sentence for creating and posting in an online forum called Free Saudi Liberals Network. He was also sentenced to 1,000 lashes, delivered 50 at a time.

    The first flogging was carried out in a public square in January 2015, provoking an international outcry. A despondent Ms. Haidar watched a cellphone video of the flogging that circulated online. The second one has been postponed many times.

  • Hungary’s Orban says “every single migrant is a terror risk”

    Hungary’s prime minister Viktor Orban said “every single migrant represents a public security and terror risk” and made clear his country refuses to accept the quota system that the EU Commission tries to impose.

    Orban, speaking after hosting a meeting with Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern, said Hungary is willing to take back some migrants from Austria under European rules, but would then return them to their countries of origin, mostly Kosovo and Albania

    Orban made it clear that Hungary would take back only those migrants who first entered the European Union by registering in Hungary, in accordance with the so-called Dublin asylum rules. The return of migrants, like those from the Middle East who entered the EU through Greece, would be rejected.

  • Whipped in public just for daring to go on a date: Unmarried couples are flogged for violating Sharia law in Indonesia

    In total, three Acehnese couples were sentenced to receive public lashes for violating Sharia law in a brutal new crackdown in the region.

    Under the law men and women, who are not spouses, are not allowed to get too close due to the ‘khalwat’ offence – and punishment is by public caning.

  • Slow-motion replays can distort criminal responsibility

    Slow-motion video replays of crimes shown in courtrooms may be distorting the outcomes of trials, according to a US study.

    Researchers found that slowing down footage of violent acts caused viewers to see greater intent to harm than when viewed at normal speed.

    Viewing a killing only in slow motion made a jury three times more likely to convict of first degree murder.

    The research has been published in the journal PNAS.

    The importance of video evidence in courtrooms has grown in tandem with its supply in recent years.

    As well as the mountains of smartphone recordings, CCTV also routinely captures assaults, robberies and even murders. Some police officers even wear on-body cameras.

    Courts all over the world are willing to accept these recordings in evidence and they are sometimes shown in slow motion, to help juries make up their minds about what really happened within the often chaotic environment of a crime scene.

  • Abuses against Children Detained as National Security Threats

    The rise of extremist armed groups such as the Islamic State and Boko Haram has brought renewed attention to the plight of children—both as victims of abuses, and as fighters and militants. All too often, the concern and assistance governments offer abuse victims does not extend to those children caught up on the wrong side of the law or front line.

    Human Rights Watch field research around the world increasingly finds that in countries embroiled in civil strife or armed conflict, state security forces arrest and detain children for reasons of “national security.” Often empowered by new counterterrorism legislation, they apprehend children who are linked to non-state armed groups or who pose other perceived security threats, and often hold them without charge or trial for months or even years. Their treatment and conditions of detention frequently violate international legal standards.

  • Human Rights Watch Reports That US Government Tortured Children

    What kind of US government would pay two US psychologists $81 million to help the CIA devise torture techniques? http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/12/09/cia-torture-contractors_n_6296758.html Only a lawless government with no respect for US law and international law.

  • Ultra-Right Annotated Edition of Pocket Constitution Tops Amazon Charts After Khizr Khan’s DNC Speech

    Following Gold Star father Khizr Khan’s powerful speech at the Democratic convention last week, sales of pocket Constitutions have skyrocketed. But the edition topping Amazon’s charts – right up there with the new Harry Potter book — comes with annotations and right-wing commentary from Glenn Beck’s favorite conspiracy theorist.

    “Let me ask you: have you even read the United States Constitution? I will gladly lend you my copy,” Khan said last week in Philadelphia, pulling his edition out of his pocket. “In this document, look for the words ‘liberty’ and ‘equal protection of law’.”

    But the version that Amazon is touting as a best-seller is not the one Khan held up. And readers looking for those words in the edition there will be misled. It’s published by the National Center for Constitutional Studies, a fringe Mormon group focused on teaching a fundamentalist interpretation of the founding documents.

    The Washington Post, Forbes, the Associated Press, the Wall Street Journal, and PBS NewsHour have all noted the extraordinary popularity the NCCS version is enjoying on Amazon — but all failed to note the edition’s unusual features.

    The Post, which is owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, simply described it as having been “printed by the nonpartisan National Center for Constitutional Studies”

    Some Amazon shoppers expressed their outrage. One reviewer wrote, “please do not get this edition.” Another warned: “tread with caution.” Yet another wrote: “Just give me the document our wise forefathers wrote, not a bunch of excess quotes and jargon to convince me they were right.”

  • An Overdue Examination of Detroit’s Forgotten Rape Kits

    Over 11,000 untested rape kits were found in a Detroit police warehouse in 2009. Some of the kits – many containing the DNA of attackers needed for prosecution — were decades old, leaving hundreds of victims without any hope for justice.

    Detroit is by no means the only city that has faced such a large backlog of rape kits in recent years. Memphis recently uncovered 12,000; Cleveland, 4,000; and Miami, nearly 3,000.

  • We must abandon the idea of legal protest

    On 16th August 1819, some sixty to eighty thousand people assembled in St Peter’s Field, central Manchester. Men and women, young and old. They had gathered to protest for greater suffrage, and for an end to the Corn Laws that had plunged many into poverty, exacerbating the disastrous effects of the famine ushered in by the Napoleonic Wars. The local magistrates, understandably alarmed, read out the following fifty three words to the few who could hear them over the din:

    “Our sovereign lord the King chargeth and commandeth all persons, being assembled, immediately to disperse themselves, and peaceably to depart to their habitations, or to their lawful business, upon the pains contained in the act made in the first year of King George, for preventing tumults and riotous assemblies. God save the King.”

    This is the infamous Riot Act: a piece of legislation giving local authorities the power to disband groups of twelve or more people, or else. A gesture of slick political magicianship designed to transform a crowd of citizens into a dangerous mob. This particular dangerous mob, of course, did not disperse after the Act was read. So, hundreds of heavily armed militiamen set about the task of preventing tumults and riotous assemblies – with swords, with horses and with guns. Fifteen protesters were killed, and hundreds injured.

  • Scientists and engineers as partners in protecting human rights

    Growing interest in pro bono service among scientists and engineers is generating new opportunities for human rights organizations.

    When the government told residents of Temacapulín in Mexico that—as a result of dam construction—they had to leave their homes or they would drown, the community immediately reached out to human rights lawyers. But where could they turn for help understanding the engineering plans and the environmental impact assessments? How could they develop alternative proposals in their negotiations with the government?

  • The Meaning of BLM

    Police boast frequently about their own bravery. Where is that vaunted courage when they witness one of their own obviously murder an unarmed civilian? We see virtually no bold selflessness in those cases. Instead, our “good” cops act more like good Germans, silent in the face of blatant lawbreaking by their brothers in blue.

  • The European migration crisis – have we lost the moral high ground?

    The scope of the problem is gargantuan. There are more than eighteen million displaced persons and refugees in Africa, the highest this number has been in history. Eight armed conflicts have begun or intensified since 2010, resulting in a seventeen percent spike in the number of refugees and displaced persons in Sub-Saharan Africa, per UNHCR.

  • ACLU Provides Constitutions for All After Khan Disgraces Trump in DNC Speech

    The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is handing out free, pocket-sized U.S. Constitutions to meet a rising demand after Khizr Khan, father of a Muslim-American soldier killed in action, offered to lend his copy to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in an electrifying speech at the Democratic National Convention last week.

• Internet Policy/Net Neutrality

  • Trade Groups are Once Again Challenging Net Neutrality Rulings

    The recent court ruling that upheld the Federal Communications Commission’s net neutrality rules is still making waves. The rules were upheld after a three-judge panel reviewed them last summer, classifying broadband as a regulated telecommunications service. It’s that classification that is now at issue again, as trade groups CTIA, USTelecom, the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, and the American Cable Association on Friday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to rehear their challenge to the ruling.

• Intellectual Monopolies

  • Trademarks

    • Florida International University Loses Trademark Appeal Against Florida National University

      It’s too rare that we see courts get trademark questions right on the merits of actual customer confusion, so it’s nice to highlight some examples of when they do get it right. It’s even more fun when the court takes the time to add just a dash of snark and narrow-eyed language into its opinion. Such appears to be the case in an appeals ruling between Florida International University, a public college, and Florida National University, a for-profit institution. FIU sued FNU for trademark infringement and, having lost its initial case, took it to appeal. The claim FIU made is that potential students were confused between the two schools based solely on the similarity of their names.

  • Copyrights

    • Don’t Wrap Anti-Competitive Pay-TV Practices In A Copyright Flag

      The Federal Communications Commission has proposed to break cable and satellite TV companies’ monopoly over the hardware and software used by their subscribers. Those companies are fighting back hard, probably to preserve the $20 billion in revenue they collect every year from set-top box rental fees. Major TV producers and copyright holders are pushing back too. They want to control how you can search for TV shows and discover new ones, and the order in which shows appear to you. And they want to limit the features of your home and mobile TV setups, like how and when you can control the playback.

      One tactic these major media companies are using to try to derail the FCC’s proposal is to claim that allowing customers to buy pay-TV viewing technology from independent vendors (something that Congress actually ordered the FCC to do way back in 1996) somehow violates “principles of copyright law.”

      As we explained to the FCC along with top legal scholars, the plan to break the set-top box monopoly doesn’t change copyright law or allow anyone to get pay-TV content without paying for it. But by crying “copyright,” cable companies and TV producers have rallied opposition to the FCC’s plan from some members of Congress, and possibly from the Copyright Office. It’s a misleading tactic.

      Today, TV studios influence the design and features of home video equipment by specifying them as terms in the deals they make with cable companies. The cable companies have to accept those terms because under copyright law, they need permission from major copyright holders (the TV studios) to transmit programming to subscribers. And because cable companies have a monopoly over the technology on the subscriber’s end—the set-top boxes and apps that can access cable channels—the TV studios effectively have veto power over that technology.

    • Blizzard Allows Release Of Fan-Game It Initially Tried To Shut Down, Reaps Rewards It Should Have Had All Along

      We’ve dinged Blizzard quite a bit in these pages for acting overly protectionist of its intellectual property in the past. And that dinging has been well deserved, with Blizzard doing things like trying to twist copyright law as a way to combat cheat software within its multiplayer games, to use intellectual property as an excuse to shut down a World of Warcraft vanilla fan-server, and has otherwise not always acted in human or awesome ways towards its own fans.

      But sometimes, with much kicking and screaming and the insistence of making many a mistake along the way, even a company like Blizzard can manage to do what game companies like DoubleFine have already done: loosen the leash on its own IP and reap the rewards. StarCraft Universe is a fan-made mod that consists of a full new game in a genre that Blizzard had never taken the StarCraft universe into.

    • Copyright Office Intent On Changing The Part Of Copyright That Protects Libraries & Archives, Even Though No One Wants It Changed

      It’s no secret that the US Copyright Office has been acting pretty nutty lately. For decades, the office has basically carried the water of the legacy copyright/entertainment industries, but at least they would sometimes try to appear marginally balanced. Now it appears that all caution has been thrown to the wind and the entire office is actively looking to suppress and attack user rights and innovation. In just the past few weeks and months, we’ve pointed out a series of really bad ideas on reforming the notice-and-takedown safe harbors of the DMCA, a separate plan that would effectively strip tons of websites of their DMCA safe harbors by requiring them to remember to keep re-registering, and a disturbing willingness to totally misrepresent the copyright issues at play with regards to the FCC’s set-top box proposal.

      So, perhaps, we shouldn’t be all that surprised that the Copyright Office appears to be making a move to screw over libraries now, too. Section 108 of the Copyright Act has explicit carve-outs and exemptions for libraries and archivists. These are stronger than fair use, because they are clear exemptions from copyright, rather than fuzzy guidelines that have to be adjudicated in court. Section 108 is super important for libraries and archives (including the Internet Archive). So why does the Copyright Office want to change it? That’s a bit of a mystery in terms of public explanations, but it’s not hard to take some guesses.

      The Copyright Office started exploring this issue a few years back, insisting that Section 108 was “outdated” for the digital age. And while there are many aspects of copyright law that are obsolete for the digital age, the exemptions for libraries and archives were not among them. And everyone let the Copyright Office know that. And… the Copyright Office has basically ignored them all. Back in June, the Copyright Office announced via the Federal Register that it was moving forward with putting together recommendations on changing Section 108, and anyone who had comments could “schedule meetings in Washington, DC to take place during late June through July 2016.”

    • Getty Makes Nonsensical Statement On Photographer Carol Highsmith’s Lawsuit For Falsely Claiming Copyright

      First of all, huh? “The content in question has been part of the public domain for many years”? Actually, it has not. As Highsmith noted, she retained the copyright to her images, but rather did a deal with the Library of Congress to make the works available royalty free. It was basically a Creative Commons attribution license before Creative Commons existed. She still retains the copyright. So the images are not public domain.

      And, uh, even if they were, what a weird claim for Getty to make, because it was a Getty subsidiary that then threatened Highsmith for posting her own images. If Getty now claims it believes the images were in the public domain why was it shaking her down for money? This makes no sense at all.

      Finally, trying to pawn blame off on Alamy is ridiculous. Alamy is a co-defendant in the lawsuit, but LCS and Piscount are both subsidiaries of Getty, and both sent Highsmith letters demanding payment. It’s almost as if Getty’s PR people have absolutely no clue what they’re talking about.

    • Getty Images Bites Back in $1 Billion Copyright Dispute

      Last week Carol Highsmith filed a copyright complaint against Getty Images after an agent threatened the photographer for using her own photograph without their permission. Now Getty is fighting back, warning that it will defend itself vigorously if the dispute can’t be settled.

    • Peter Sunde’s Pirate Innovation Dream Won’t Happen Anytime Soon

      This week, Pirate Bay founder Peter Sunde reiterated his belief that the pirate scene and its sites will need to innovate and collaborate to stay alive. Intrigued, TF spoke with several players in the torrent scene to see if something like this might emerge sometime soon. The upshot: don’t hold your breath.

    • uTorrent Quietly Ditches Rating and Comment Features

      Without alerting its users, the team behind the popular BitTorrent client uTorrent has removed the software’s widely used comment and rating functionality. It’s unclear why the functionality was stripped, but it’s possible that spam issues or legal concerns played a role.

    • Anti-Piracy Group Reveals Personal Details of Counter-Notice Senders

      In what appears to be a retaliatory move against DMCA notice archive Lumen Database, anti-piracy outfit Remove Your Media has launched a transparency report of its own. The report lists people who have sent the company DMCA counter-notices but it goes much further than Lumen by publishing their names, addresses, and telephone numbers.

Summary: Battistelli’s shameful behaviour is met with medals rather than scorn from Jean-Yves Le Déaut, demonstrating that in some people’s view he is doing a fine job, not embarrassing France with a culture of nepotism, abuse of justice, extravagant self-serving ceremonies, and union-busting zeal

THIS morning we wrote about political aspects of the Battistelli regime inside the EPO (broader than just Battistelli himself) and earlier today somebody posted — in an anonymous comment — Friday’s message from Raimund Lutz, part of Team Battistelli (big internal news items tend to come out late on Friday when the European media goes to sleep).

Here it is with some contextual remarks:

We’re doomed.

I’m pessimistic about the EPO, the member states, and “Europe”.

EPO welcomes OPECST Delegation

High-level French parliamentary commission visits the EPO

A delegation of France’s Parliamentary Office for Scientific and Technological Assessment (OPECST), which is composed of members of both the French Senate and National Assembly, visited the EPO yesterday [7 July] for an exchange of views on the latest developments in the field of biotechnology inventions. The French delegation was headed by OPECST President, Jean-Yves Le Déaut, member of the French National Assembly, and also included representatives of the French Embassy. The task of the OPECST is to support the French parliament in gaining greater insight into technological and scientific matters on which it decides.

In his opening address, President Benoît Battistelli underlined that the EPO was closely following national debates on biotechnology in the member states. He welcomed the opportunity for an open dialogue with the OPECST on this topic.

The meeting was held in a cordial and constructive atmosphere, and focused on various points of common interest, including recent developments in the European patent system. It also offered the opportunity for an exchange between the OPECST delegation and a team of EPO patent practitioners and legal and economic experts. With biotechnology specialists from DG 1 and DG 5 and the EPO’s Chief Economist present, the EPO gave a number of presentations on biotechnology patents, including on the economic aspects, and the legal framework governing the patentability of biotechnology inventions, with a special focus on the law and practice concerning inventions related to plants and human gene sequences.

On the occasion of the visit, the EPO President was given a “Médaille de l’Assemblée Nationale” by Jean-Yves Le Déaut in his capacity as member of the National Assembly.

08.07 16 | Author Raimund Lutz – Vice-President DG 5 | Target group: DG4, DG5, President-DG0, DG1, DG2, DG3

Last month when we wrote about Battistelli's very expensive lobbying event we took note of the Commission’s role in it (the Commission’s so-called science chief) — a subject which Marc Tarabella has begun talking about for S&D. Another commenter explained:

The medal is not an award or decoration:

La Médaille de l’Assemblée nationale est une médaille remise à chaque député français en début de législature

It’s something that also Le Pen father would have received every year.

The following comment cites Corsican relations:

According to your own link, this medal (in fact, a replica of it) can also be a “vulgaire breloque” handed out at the discretion of individual MPs:

« Certains députés offrent à des individus qu’ils souhaitent mettre à l’honneur, une médaille similaire éditée par la boutique de l’Assemblée nationale ; il s’agit d’un cadeau et non d’une décoration officielle. »

The other Corsican famously declared: « C’est avec des hochets que l’on mène les hommes. » But who is led by whom here?

Benoît B. doesn’t seem to have the decoration Bonap was referring to, however a Charles-Robert Battistelli was awarded one in 1930.

The article cited in this case, regarding the Corsican connection, was translated for us some months ago and maybe now is a good time to post what we have of it (this is not complete).

Some time back in December, an article was published which chronicled the EPO situation from a rather unique angle. The article was written in French. One of our readers, who is able to comprehend French, gradually translated this rather long text. In an effort to maximise the amount of information that is available to the public, we decided to publish this text in English but didn’t quite have the necessary context. “The Agoravox piece is written in a rather elaborate language,” this reader told us, “and a good English translation is difficult, especially in view of the many historical and literary references. For example, “sections spéciales” is a reference to 1975 film about official repression forces under the pro-Nazi Vichy regime. From its polemical tone I would be a bit surprised to see it featured on the SUEPO web site, or let alone see a translation.”

Here it is in English:

What does the social conflict at the European Patent Office stand for?

by Appollo
Friday 18 December 2015

The social conflict at the European Patent Office (EPO) which has been ongoing for more than two years is now taking extreme proportions. The following address written by an acquaintance who is well in the know aims to present the reasons of the “forceps delivery” of a new “unitedstateseuropeanised” institution in charge of intellectual property, within the framework of the transatlantic partnership (TTIP/TAFTA). The author claims and shows that one should see in the brutal abolition of the rights of the staff, which is very autocratically conducted by its president (Mr. B. Battistelli), a preview of what awaits us all with the transatlantic partnership. The crisis of the European Patent Office is thus neither a categorical or corporatist conflict: it is in fact a laboratory of the subordination to US social standards — this is the tragic reality hidden by the sacharine expression “social standards harmonisation” — of the peoples of Europe who are destined to be dissolved into the United States. There are no monetary claims at stake in this conflict, but an opposition to the perpetually increasing targets given to each EPO staff member, ad absurdo. This situation is well known in various business (France-Telecom, etc.), but with respect to the EPO, through its extra-territorial status, there are no rights: no right to work, no criminal law, no civil law, just the extremist will of its president and his confederates, who created their own police forces operating in “special sections” and hired a anglo-US security company for its less palatable tasks. Decisions — whether individual or collective in scope — can only be contested before management, which is de facto both judge and party. Appeals are filed at the International Labour Organisation, which hasn’t been conceived for that and is overwhelmed: no case is anymore likely to be completed in reasonable time. It is thus a lawless structure, a “no-law-land”. The founding fathers evidently did not foresee the case where a president together with a few confederates would overtake it… without oversight. We will note that it went without saying that the attack began with the suppression of the right to strike.

Just one more word of presentation on the European Patent Office (EPO): founded in 1979, this executive organ of the European Patent Organisation is in fact an organ of European cooperation implementing the European Patent Convention (EPO). It is independent of the European Union (EU) and essentially granted up to now national patents in place of national authorities in charge of intellectual property in the 38 member states (e.g. the French INPI) –- to which must be added two states for which an extension is possible -– and not of an “European” patent, which should shortly be implemented. An invention patent is an intellectual property title which confers its holder (usually a corporation) the right to prohibit others to use the invention for a limited time (up to 20 years) and on a given territory (e.g. a country) in exchange of the divulgation to the public of the said invention.

Here is now the address.

* * *

Dear EPO colleagues: I am only now able to address you, as I have only gathered in the last few days the strength to write and describe the situation of the Office. Let it be clear that even though I write here as a Frenchman, I am addressing all of you.

Mr. Battistelli is French, of course, but… well, no: he is Corsican. This magnificent little island with a volcanic temperament, where the red cliffs plunge from their tree garnished crests into the deep blue of the Mediterranean, gave to France a man who was in his day execrated by which almost all Europe. Corsica landed under French rule in 1768, just in time for one to believe that Napoleon was a Frenchman — since it is him we are referring to. His uncommon military genius wasn’t French: if one just reflects about this, it will be obvious that France has demonstrated her total incompetence in that area for at least six hundred and fifty years. His project of fusing Europe into a new Carlovingian Empire wasn’t French either. Before him, the destiny of France had been to fight against empires: since at least the battle of Bouvines, she fought for her survival, for her independence, fatally smothered as she was by the Plantagenet Empire allied with the Holy Roman Empire, and then against the Spanish Empire allied with the Habsburg Empire. Let’s remember that she bears the name of the land of free men, the name of the free — at this is undoubtedly the reason why she is as frequently as unconsciously named the “country of liberty”. The Napoleonic way of governing wasn’t any more French: if he inaugurated in France the ascent to power of a soldier through a coup d’état, his authoritarianism was incomparably more severe than that of our kings of divine right; including Louis XIV who did non subdue his people, but its nobility. The French, in their great collective and political wisdom, only gave him victory for the wars which Europe waged on revolutionary France; they withheld them from him for the wars demanded by his ambition, thus sealing his fate, first in the Spanish sierras, and then in the Russian steppe. He ruled as an autocrat, which not even our kings dared to do. He mistreated his ministers and made corrupt puppets out of the members of the assemblies by buying them with money. He governed conquered Europe through the members of his family whom he named king and queen of Naples, Westphalia, Holland and Spain. He made himself king of Italy. His family came to be called the “tribe”: thanks to him, nepotism became a system of government.

He was initiated as a freemason, but refrained from associating his brothers to his dreadful end.

There is a lot more to it, but we await the reminder of the original’s translation. This proceeds to discussion ENA and other aspects of Battistelli’s background.

Perhaps it will be easier to comprehend Battistelli’s immunity (like Clinton’s) if political aspects are better understood. Battistelli serves some powerful people’s agenda and has apparently been doing so for quite some time (prior to EPO). █

Summary: The EPO’s social affairs have become so bad that they are now comparable to the widely-disgraced Nicolas Sarkozy regime (‘union’) with the Bygmalion affair

THE EPO has a serious credibility problem. It’s the fault of Battistelli. Some people tell us that interest in the EPO’s services has been lost somewhat under Battistelli, even though it may take a year or two for people to actually see this (as there is a certain lag in the inflow/pipeline). The EPO’s forums have eerily quiet (enough for the EPO to publicly encourage people to participate in this dead zone) and the EPO repeated its lies a few days ago (lies about the boards of appeal losing their sovereignty by having a new manager appointed by Battistelli). Also noteworthy is this statement about Lithuania. Remember how Lithuania and Battistelli signed a deal with particularly curious timing and circumstances. Whatever is going on at the EPO right now (at the top-level management), it’s usually rather awkward. Not only do they lie to staff and to journalists; they also mislead some people in management, maybe even themselves. It’s embarrassing. It makes Europe look bad and it makes France look even worse. At the end of last month Renaud Lecadre wrote an article in the French media, accusing Battistelli of attacking EPO union/s. Here is SUEPO’s relatively new translation of the article with highlights on important bits:

Report

French Boss sows the seeds of anti-unionism at the European Patent Office

By Renaud Lecadre — 28 June 2016, 17:01

Benoît Battistelli, in March. Photo Emmanuel Dunand. AFP

Benoît Battistelli, President of the European Patent Office, appointed to the job under Nicolas Sarkozy, is coming under fire for staff union discrimination. His fate will be in the spotlight on Wednesday and Thursday when the Administrative Council meets.

At the European Patent Office, a French boss is sowing the seeds of anti-unionism

The only continental administrative body presided over by France, the European Patent Office (EPO) is in utter upheaval. The President, Benoît Battistelli, propelled into power in 2010 by Nicolas Sarkozy, is accused of drifting into dictatorship, discrimination against staff unions, and of denying the least legal challenge to his own little empire. A case of the leadership going off course, which will be coming under scrutiny on Wednesday by the Administrative Council of the EPO, which has its headquarters in Munich but also with a branch office in The Hague. And the risk is that the French presence among the international institutions will be eroded just that little bit more.

So what is Battistelli’s management accused of? In particular, at least three suicides of staff members during his tenure, one actually at the workplace. “Every case is a tragedy, and no-one understood the reason for their action,” was Battistelli’s view of the deaths, when Libération met him last month in Paris. Not surprisingly, the in-house unions have a different take on events: “All he sees are people who he thinks are incompetent and incapable, but no-one can be right all of the time against what everyone else thinks. France’s entire reputation among the international institutions is at stake,” says one French member of SUEPO (Staff Union of the European Patent Office).

Bringing the unions to heel

The EPO employs 6,700 international personnel, on a world market for patents which is fiercely competitive. Inventors (or would-be inventors) are at liberty to opt for any national,
European or Asian office, with a view to getting their inventions patented. “Competition is hard, and the difference in costs between the different offices is considerable,” says Battistelli in justification for his stance. “At the EPO we need to work more and work better. And that’s the programme for which I was appointed”. Liberal be damned; whatever executive role he may playing, the main aim seems to be to bring the unions to heel.

SUEPO won 70% of the votes in the staff elections. Battistelli suppressed his in-house union, banning them from using the internal messaging service, and initiated disciplinary procedures against seven of its executives, before attempting to set up a puppet union of his own – which polled 1% of the votes. “I have been an enthusiast of dialogue with the unions for a long time,” says Battistelli in his defence. Then he ushers in another initiative: Submitting the right to strike to an internal referendum under his tutelage, and with identification of the voters. Unfortunately, despite this close monitoring, in April 90% of the staff (of a 55% turnout) voted in favour of the latest strike.

When you’re up against the boss, where do you turn? SUEPO went to the Court of Appeal in The Hague, which in February 2015, ordered the EPO “to allow free access, and not to block
emails deriving from suepo.org”, ruling that the protection of union rights was “manifestly deficient”. Battistelli viewed this as a crime of lèse-majesté, an infringement on his executive authority, and took refuge behind the judicial immunity of his international institution. For very good reasons, namely: “The principle of immunity is not to protect people in a privileged position, but to protect against interference by outside nations.” SUEPO immediately interpreted this as: “A black pit for internal democracy, and for union and legal rights.” The EPO boss does not refute this, but refers in turn to “serial litigants”, “inadmissible” in his eyes, then stands his ground on his own rights as an executive: “There are no class actions when it comes to social affairs”…

Sabotaging the bicycle

Up to now, France has backed the French president of a continental institution. Last April, Emmanuel Macron received Benoît Battistelli at Bercy. “You have my support in all you are doing to adapt and modernise the EPO,” the first president is supposed to have said, at least according to the second one. And what about everyone else? Another demonstration by the staff of the EPO, at Munich or The Hague, without stopping in front of the French consulate… “Bercy is trying to understand his psychopathology,” is how one French union member tried to come to terms with events. “France must take on its responsibilities,” says William Bourdon, advocate for SUEPO. “It is regrettable and dangerous that a European institution which is supposed to be setting an example is so little under its control.”

On Wednesday, at the meeting of the Administrative Council, the EPO is going to be taking another look at its resolution adopted last March, when a previous Council expressed its “deep concerns about the social turmoil inside the Office”, then noted that “the internal sanctions and disciplinary procedures have been widely challenged by public opinion”. It may well be time to turn words into deeds. The President, reinstated last year for a three-year mandate, maintains that he is a victim of a “press campaign”, and will defend his stance to the death. His latest initiative: A press release complaining about the sabotage of his bicycle in the EPO car park, with the brake cables cut, a “deliberate act of vandalism personally aimed at the President”. Since then he has assigned himself six bodyguards.

Renaud Lecadre

The above correctly notes, as we pointed out before, that this whole affair and all these scandals are not at all beneficial to France (just to a few French individuals whom Battistelli gave high salary jobs). This fosters/creates a negative impression and French politicians are rightly concerned about this. It could become another Bygmalion affair. As for the bicycle angle, it has become somewhat of an internal joke. The above article focuses on Battistelli’s attacks on unions but not on his attacks on judges (those who assess and reassess patents, as this new example serves to remind us. There is an attack not only on EPO (Office) staff but also the Administration/Organisation (no wonder there are suicides, as noted above). Even stakeholders/applicants are negatively affected.

“Inventors deserve recognition for their incredible contributions to making our lives better,” the EPO wrote some days ago. “Help us do this,” they added, basically appealing for help with Battistelli's next PR and lobbying event. What they ought to say is that “Battistelli deserves recognition for his incredible attacks on staff, making our lives miserable.” That would at least be honest. On Friday also they did this kind of thing with a “startups” slant, pretending that the EPO under Battistelli cares about SMEs while effectively pushing them to the back of the line. Classic neo-liberalism!

As a reminder of Battistelli’s attacks on the boards, consider Sonja Behrens’s report with highlights on important bits. SUEPO provided the following English translation in its public site:

EPO Dispute: Judges feel threatened by Office Boss Battistelli

The decision taken last week by the Enlarged Boards of Appeal of the European Patent Office (EPO) to stop disciplinary proceedings against a suspended judge is, in a sense, a
settling of scores with Office President Benoît Battistelli. Specifically, present members of the EPO Boards of Appeal also feel themselves threatened, according to the document. Under these circumstances, their independence as judges is no longer guaranteed.

For many months a bitter dispute has been ongoing within the Office, with its 7,000 strong workforce, between the management and a large number of the employees and the staff unions. This has been prompted by the efforts at reform initiated by Battistelli – and the methods with which he intends to put his plans into practice. Employees complain of interference with their basic rights, including by way of internal investigation procedures.

The dispute over the suspension from office of a judge is the high point of the conflict – so far. The proceedings started to become noticeably unusual when the Enlarged Boards of Appeal arranged for a public hearing in the suspension proceedings, so as to ensure transparency in what was already a contentious issue, whereupon Office President Battistelli
intervened in writing. He demanded a hearing behind closed doors – and that, as the judges saw it, was impermissible meddling in the proceedings.

Judges see a “general, abstract threat”

According to the decision which JUVE has in its possession, Battistelli had argued that a public hearing was unlawful. The personal presence of witnesses from the Office was something he considered unnecessary for the proceedings, and nor would he authorise it. Moreover, the Enlarged Boards of Appeal were apparently not even allowed to investigate the matter again. And on top of all this, he made it clear that he would do everything in his power to ensure that business at the Munich patent authority could in future be run in an orderly fashion.

The court viewed this as a “general, abstract threat”, which affected every member of the Enlarged Boards. The intervention by the President, and thereby the Executive, was impermissible in terms of legal procedure, according to the judges, because Battistelli is not a party to these proceedings. The judges see their independence, which is firmly anchored in Article 23 of the European Patent Convention (EPC), as being fundamentally undermined.

Off-centre from the outset

Last autumn the Administrative Council of the EPO, on which representatives of the 38 Member States sit, called upon the Enlarged Boards of Appeal responsible to recommend dismissal in the disciplinary proceedings against the suspended judge. In so doing, the Administrative Council were already bowing to pressure from the President, who at the end of 2014 had imposed a ban on the former member of the Board of Appeal from entering the premises, and had him escorted out of the Office building in Munich. Over the following months, despite the uproar, the Administrative Council did not distance itself from the proceedings which had been initiated, nor from Battistelli’s most recent letter.

The suspended judge maintains, among other things, that the investigations against him incurred formal procedural errors – and for this reason alone the presumption of innocence could no longer be entertained in this respect, becausethe Office itself had broken the confidentiality of the proceedings.

In view of the circumstances, last week the Board of Appeal refused to dismiss the accused judge. The proceedings were terminated without a substantive decision, and, specifically on the significant grounds that, in view of the threats from the Office management, an independent ruling was impossible. As well as that, the Board recommended that the suspended judge be reimbursed for all the costs of the proceedings. They did not, however, regard themselves as empowered to order the compensation. The judges also accorded with the defendant’s wishes that the decision be made public.

Whether Battistelli, in the top position at the Office, continues to enjoy the support of the Administrative Council will become clear soon enough: At the end of June the Council is actually scheduled to rule on the reform of court procedures within the EPO. (Sonja Behrens)

The above seems reasonably accurate (we cannot see anything which is clearly wrong) and it alludes to Battistelli's media attacks on the accused judge (violating the EPO’s already-low standards for internal investigations). How can anyone take Battistelli seriously when he keeps breaking his own rules? Now he attacks even justice itself. “I fail to see how it increases or enhances the autonomy of the Boards of Appeal,” one person wrote about Battistelli’s coup last week. Here is the comment in full:

The point as I see it is the following:

Under the “old” arrangements, the judicial bodies (Boards of Appeal and EBA) adopted their own Rules of Procedure which were then subject to approval by the appointing authority (the AC which is the EPO “legislative”).

Under the new arrangements the Rules of Procedure for the judicial bodies will now be adopted by a sub-committee of the AC (the BOAC) and presumably then approved by the AC itself pursuant to Article 23 (4) EPC (which has not been changed).

In other words: the Rules of Procedure will now be adopted by a sub-committee of the “legislative” and approved by the “legislative” itself.

I cannot see this as being anything other than a transfer of competence from the judicial organs (who previously disposed of the competence to adopt the RoP) to the legislative (which now disposes of both the competences to “adopt” and to “approve” the RoP).

Undoubtedly this is all just one small detail in the grand scheme of things.
But I fail to see how it increases or enhances the autonomy of the Boards of Appeal or even the “preception of independence” so close to the heart of the EPO President.

To me it seems to be a very clear erosion of autonomy.
But maybe I am missing something?

“BB’s [Battistelli's] original proposal (that he should have sole responsibility) was absolutely wrong,” wrote another person, in a comment which some interpreted as pro-Battistelli views:

Back to Basics

I think what you are missing is that in most jurisdictions, court rules of procedure are produced on a collaborative basis. Yes, the judges themselves should be at the heart of it, but the fairest and most efficient outcome is achieved when other points of view are also taken into account. This is how it works in the UK and UPC, for example.

The requirement for separation of the judiciary from the executive arm of the EPO means that BB’s original proposal (that he should have sole responsibility) was absolutely wrong.

But the current situation where the Boards have sole responsibility and don’t have to listen to other views is not necessarily the best either.

Sure, you can argue about whether the proposed solution achieves the best balance. But it is more balanced than either of the above alternatives. And it does mean that the Boards themselves will still be drafting the rules, even though others will also have a say which they don’t at the moment.

At least one person thought that the above may have been “the President’s sock-puppet”:

Looks like the President’s sock-puppets are busy today.

Under the current arrangement, the Boards don’t have the sole responsibility.
There is a classical “separation of powers” arrangement whereby the Boards “propose” (i.e. adopt the rules) and the AC “disposes” (i.e. approves).

Under that arrangement the AC can exercise a certain amount of control over any proposed changes to the RoP by withholding its approval.

Now we go to an arrangement where the AC will both “propose” (via the BOAC) and “dispose”.

As Back to Basics said that seems like a transfer of competence from the Board to the AC. All of the power is now concentrated in the hands of the legislature (AC).
In a situation where the legislature is subservient to the executive (President) that is worrying.

And as for “others” having a say, pray tell how is that supposed to come about?

Not everyone agreed with this interpretation. One later response to it said:

Looks like the President’s sock-puppets are busy today.

The President employs sock puppets who describe his proposal as “absolutely wrong”?

Get real.

Now we go to an arrangement where the AC will both “propose” (via the BOAC) and “dispose”.

Or instead of making things up, we could actually read CA/43/16 Rev.1. The RoP will not be proposed by the AC. Nor by the BOAC.

They will be proposed by the President of the Boards of Appeal, advised by the Presidium. See new Rules 12c(2) and 12b(3)(c) EPC.

And as for “others” having a say, pray tell how is that supposed to come about?

See the Regulations of the Boards of Appeal Committee, Article 4(2)(i):

Quote:
[the BOAC shall] “carry out, where necessary, user consultations on matters of direct concern to users,such as proposals to amend the Rules of Procedure of the Boards of Appeal and of the Enlarged Board of Appeal.”

Comments thereafter focused on the lack of consultation and oversight:

Regarding the others, did the document not deal with this by saying that the IP world would not be represented as only some areas of the BoAC’ s remit would concern them? Will need to check the wording but I thought it was rather curt and direct.

In fact in the explanatory notes to CA 43/16, it is stated:
” 20. In the user consultation carried out by the Office, users said they would like to be
granted observer status on the BOAC. Given that the BOAC will deal with a variety
of issues which are of no direct interest to users, this is not deemed appropriate.
However, where necessary, the BOAC should carry out broad user consultations,
in particular on proposals to amend the RPBA/RPEBA.”

What you are missing, Back to basics, is a picture of the President and the National delegations on holidays on a beach – possibly separatedly – sipping cocktails and yawning at your legal analysis that will change absolutely nothing.

Can you see it now? Yes? I thought so.

Sorry to be blunt – nonetheless, you may have a point in your analysis.

“To render them independent,” noted another person, “the Boards will be moved outside Munich in the middle of nowhere. The rest are just details that do not affect independence.”

This led to a long discussion about the ‘exile’ of the boards (to a yet-unspecified location):

To render them independent the Boards will be moved outside Munich in the middle of nowhere.

The same sick idea crossed my mind too…

Excerpt from the EPO Codex, Circular 115 of 10 March 1983, “Guidelines regarding travel in the interest of the service at the place of employment”:

(1) The place of employment shall be regarded as:
[...]
b) the districts listed in the annex for employees in post in [...] Munich.

[...]
The Munich area covers:

Aschheim
Baierbrunn
Brunnthal
Buchendorf
Dachau
Dingharting
Dornach
Eching
Eichenau
Feldgeding
Feldkirchen
Garching
Gauting
Germering
Gilching
Grasbrunn
Gräfelfing
Gröbenzell
Grünwald
Günding
Haar
Harthausen
Heimstetten
Hofolding
Hohenbrunn
Höhenkirchen
Ismaning
Karlsfeld
Kirchheim
Krailling
Lenstetten
München
Neubiberg
Neukeferloh
Neuried
Oberbiberg
Oberhaching
Oberschleißheim
Olching
Ottobrunn
Parsdorf
Percha
Planegg
Pleining
Puchheim
Pullach
Putzbrunn
Pöring/Poing
Sauerlach
Schäftlarn
Siegertsbrunn
Starnberg
Straßlach
Taufkirchen
Unterföhring
Unterhaching
Unterpfaffenhofen
Unterschleißheim
Vaterstetten
Wangen
Zorneding

Is this list applicable to the definition of “Munich” for, say, the purpose of Art. 6(1) EPC?

And that list can be modified by the President, as attests footnote 2:

Modified by decision of the President on recommendation of the GAC.

Technically he could define Kreuzberg, Wedding or Marzahn or even Bremerhaven, Frankfurt/Oder or Gelsenkirchen as being part of the definition of “Munich”, and no one would be able to do anything about it.

Another bit of input regarding the location, as per the EPC:

Excerpt from the EPO Codex …

I don’t think it is necessary to look that far.

The EPO branch at The Hague (Art. 6(2) EPC) is located in Rijswijk. Rijswijk is a fully independent municipality whose only connection to The Hague is that it borders The Hague.

According to Visser, The Annotated EPC:
- When the EPC 1973 was concluded, the offices of the IIB (predecessor of the EPO branch at The Hague) were located in The Hague. When the EPO actually started, the IIB had moved to Rijswijk. There has never been an EPO office in The Hague.
- During the revision of the EPC in 2000 it was “decided (I’m not sure in what sense… probably simply agreed among the delegations) that “any geographical location in the EPC should be interpreted broadly, e.g. The Hague should mean the province of South Holland and Munich the country of Bavaria. Any geographical allocation would at some point restrict the reallocation of offices.”

I guess one should be able to find this passage somewhere in the minutes of the 2000 diplomatic conference.

So… Munich = Munich area? Why think so small?

So DG3 could be relegated to the fortress in Landsberg or some old pigsty around Augsburg without further ado. Hof might be remote enough for the President’s taste. That’s a not nice thought to start the week-end with…

I was well aware of the very long-standing resistance of the borough of Rijswijk against its annexation by The Hague, but never really made the connection with the EPO. The ugly dovecote in Rijswijk was however inherited from the IIB.

Weren’t there plans to create a new site in ZH about 20 years ago? The name “Voorburg” resonates in my brain cells, but I’m not sure that was the place. This suburb is currently amalgamated with Leidschendam. I heard it “sous le manteau” that a plot of land had even been acquired, to be later cast off, yielding a beautiful profit set in bright red numbers. Anyway, it ain’t the kind of story you would normally read in the Gazette.

I checked Art. 6 in my own copy of Visser, the French patent office is characterised as “disorganised”. I don’t think this is the proper assessment, but then my edition dates back from when BB was still the head honcho there.

The upheaval around the so-called “Areas of Competence” clearly was just starters.

“IIRC,” one person wrote, “the enlarged Board of Appeals already decided, that The Hague means anywhere in the Netherlands, and Munich is therefore interpreted as anywhere in Bavaria…. Will try to refind that sometime….”

Citing this page, it’s later noted that “[i]t was Leidschendam and if I’m not mistaken the EPO made a loss on the plot of land. An architectural design competition had been held and the project was awarded in 1990 (building to be finished near the end of 1994), but patent filings collapsed so it was all cancelled.

“I believe that the Dutch authorities that bought back the land for a lower price then again made a nice profit by changing the zoning regulations to make it suitable for housing. But I might not have all the details right.”

We recently heard some rumours about missing floors in the new building of the EPO in the Netherlands, but insiders told us that these rumours were false.

Looking at another thread at IP Kat, one person asked: “Why is this blog still silent about the Administrative Council approving the proposed reform last Thursday, with only some relatively minor amendments? This approval is apparently perceived as unbelievable by anybody (except the EPO administration) who dares to express an opinion on the matter.”

Yes, well, there has been little or nothing on the subject, except in anonymous comments from people who are likely insiders. Going back to the original thread, people can see that the President of the EPO is left controlling the other “President” (BOAC) by appointment, which demonstrates how the Administrative Council effectively helped Battistelli destroy the boards’ independence. To quote:

“Now we go to an arrangement where the AC will both “propose” (via the BOAC) and “dispose”.”

It seems a bit more subtle to me.

Previously, it was the presidium of the boards that drafted the RoP.
Now, it is the president of the boards. The presidium only advises the president of the boards.
So this power has moved from the presidium to the president of the boards.

Here comes the rub: the president of the boards will be hand-picked by the EPO president (sure, a “joint proposal” by the EPO president and the BOAC).

No big deal, because once appointed he’ll be independent? Let’s see…
Will his reappointment after expiry of his 5-year term be essentially automatic? Or will the EPO president have a big say in this?

We’ll know soon enough how reappointment of the president of the boards will be handled.

Whatever happens next at the EPO (the past few days have been disappointingly quiet, even at SUEPO’s Web site), the perception of a Battistelli-led EPO is negative enough to merit immediate change. How will it come about? Perhaps stakeholders will vote with their feet or fees. █

Summary: Some of the latest input regarding Battistelli’s (mis)behaviour and the Administrative Council’s passive acceptance of such behaviour

THE USPTO may be notably poor when it comes to patent quality, but at no time in the recent past were there any scandals there that come anywhere close to what happens at Battistelli’s EPO. Battistelli has done so much damage to the EPO that it may take the Office decades to recover from it. The latest Battistelli scandal (among many) is extending to the whole Organisation, as the Organisation’s Administrative Council (AC) foolishly and recklessly plays along with Battistelli. As one person put it over the weekend or just before the weekend:

It appears, that the AC desperately felt the need to do something about the independence of DG3.

There are procedures at the german Bundesverfassungsgericht this year (the link is somewhere above). If the judges there see a lack of independence of DG3, it may cause quite some trouble, like an amendment to the EPC (http://www.stjerna.de/index_htm_files/Unitarypatent_Constitution.pdf, check out point 2).

Maybe this is why the AC felt the need to it quick?

Here is another comment about the massive fee hikes and what they will mean for SMEs, i.e. the large majority of European businesses:

It’s very difficult these days to follow the reforms at the EPO. So many different developments and proposed changes. Which of them are before the AC for decisions is difficult to understand. I hope at least the AC follows the situation.

RE: Considering that the present cost coverage for an appeal is 6.3%, the AC aims at increasing the cost coverage within the next five years to 20 to 25%.

On the one hand, an appeal fee of about 5000-7000 euros probably strengthens the case before national courts on the absence of independent judicial/quasi-judicial review of EPO grant/revocation decisions.

On the other hand, such a new appeal fee effectively diverts from the EPO patenting route small and middle size businesses/innovation, since they need fully disclose and make public their inventions while a review of EPO decision would have a 5000-7000-euro barrier. And this is just to start an appeal, without attorney costs, etc. And this all just for one patent.

Besides, it seems extremely disproportional to me to charge 5000-7000 euros a patentee who validates 3-4 countries and a patentee who validates 20+ countries. At the same time, also SMEs should be able to patent 38 countries.

Last but not least, an increase of BoA appeal fee seems to be indirect increase of patenting costs, given that now an appeal fee is already being paid, i.e. included in an entire series of EPO fees.

This entire policy appears to have been aimed at crushing the appeals process, hence/thereby speeding up examination and not doing the job properly. As one person put it later in the day, “it will be really difficult to get the applicants back to the EPO [...] once the current President has left.” Here is the entire comment:

I cannot help but wonder.

I hear that the Council extended the appointments of some members of the Enlarged Board having participated in the latest disciplinary decision. Nice sign. However, the Council should have suspended or dismissed the President, for interference with proper application of justice. That would have solved the independence issue, too.

It would also have bought enough time to finally organize the conference of ministers, overdue since 2012. Reshaping DG3 would definitely have merited such a conference, as would the UPC.

The impression I get is that all the Council is interested in is cash, i.e. as many patents and renewal fees as possible. As long as the President provides this cash, the Council will not stop him. Downside: once the applicants have voted with their feet and the cash flow drops, it will be really difficult to get the applicants back to the EPO. But that is unlikely to happen in the next one or two years, i.e. once the current President has left.

“Mr. Battistelli,” said some insiders, “appears unable to deliver what the AC has requested from him in its March resolution.” He not only continues his war on DG3 but also on staff representatives. In other words, he attacks both the Office and the Organisation. What a total mess.

Now that Bavarian authorities get increasingly upset or at least worried about the EPO, Team Battistelli pulls a fast one. According to insiders, “cooperation with the local authorities” was recently established as a largely political move:

On 19 April 2016 Mr. Battistelli met the Bavarian Minister of Justice, Mr. Winfried Bausback. According to the report on the intranet signed by Mr. Lutz (VP5) “the meeting participants expressed their willingness to enforce the links and exchanges between the Office and the Land of Bavaria.” In this context we refer to Article 20(1) EPO PPI that reads: “The Organisation shall co-operate at all times with the competent authorities of the Contracting States in order to facilitate the proper administration of justice, to ensure the observance of police regulations and regulations concerning public health, labour inspection or other similar national legislation, and to prevent any abuse of the privileges, immunities and facilities provided for in this Protocol.” In our opinion Data Protection forms part of the “similar national legislation”.

“Thus far we have seen very little of any such cooperation,” note the sources, so it seems like a hand-waving/white-washing exercise, much like the MoU with FFPE-EPO.

More of the same concerns about patent quality or examination/search exhaustion/depth were brought up in The Register. More people now advise other people not to apply for EPO patents. This is the kind of Battistelli-induced damage we have been warning about for years. “Filing a patent application in the USA is so much easier,” one person said, “and has a far greater chance of being granted. There’s a reason the likes of IBM file all their applications there after all. Besides, who really wants an EU patent anyway? Seriously!”

Here is a response to this:

Having a greater chance of your patent being accepted sounds like a great thing, except that it isn’t.

At all.

You could replace every patent office in the world with a stamping machine – come along, put your patent docs in the machine, get them stamped – Bingo – you have your patent.

Then all that remains is fighting out the validity of that patent in the various courts around the world, with rooms full of lawyers from all of the other companies that self-stamped their patents. The result is zero certainty in the validity of your patent and a fortune spent on lawyers with zero certainty of the outcome.

Patent applications need to be checked very carefully in order to ensure that the applicant can have a very high degree of certainty that their patent is actually valid – with that certainty companies can make decisions regarding investment and further research.

See also https://www.newscientist.com/article/dn2178-boy-takes-swing-at-us-patents/ and somewhat rounded corners.

Well, the EPO could be going down a similar route and some say it already does. See “Increasing the PACE” (MIP article) as a euphemism for prioritising large foreign businesses and granting patents to them in bulk and at a higher pace. Later this week we shall shed more light on how it happens in practice and what it means to examination quality.

“One point has to be made clear,” said this commenter. “All EPO activities are paid by the renewal fees.” Well, Battistelli dooms it and he might finish his term before money runs out and budget dries up. To quote:

One point has to be made clear. All EPO activities are paid by the renewal fees.
None of them (including search, examination and opposition and not even mentioning the PR events of Battistelli or his bodyguards) cover its costs with the procedural fees.
The cost coverage factor of opposition, for instance, is similar (slightly lower) than that of an appeal.
Thus, BB’s [Battistelli] argument about the need for an increase in appeal fees in order to cover the costs is, as usual, completely disingenuous.
If that is not the reason which is the real reason?

“I believe the situation is now so bad and dangerous at the EPO,” wrote the following person:

I believe the situation is now so bad and dangerous at the EPO that it is time that public, patent attorneys, economists and company bosses assemble and act together. Make a petition, use your professional or private network if you know politicians, journalists, economists, write to ministers or representatives. We need to inform them that the whole European Patent System is at risk. Companies, economy, research will be endangered if the EPO continues on this track.
About the other reform voted at last AC, namely “risk of conflict of interest”, it is appalling that it appplies to DG3 members. A very clear conflict of interest exists at the moment at the EPO : the President and VP who force excessively high targets on examiners : EPC vs production and objectives. It is the representatives sitting at the AC : EPC vs money for grants, money for dentists, money for cooperation projects.

Based on comments and articles like the above, it increasingly seems like there’s a gentle avoidance (if not boycott) of the Office by stakeholders. The EPO had to hire (at the expense of millions of Euros) crisis management professionals after Battistelli had hired his mates and thugs. Did he not foresee the backlash? EPO examiners are not as naive as he needed them to be.

We honestly strive to save the EPO rather than destroy it because the current trajectory is a massive threat to current staff and former staff (pensions). It would damage Europe’s leadership and welfare. Former EPO workers, not just stakeholders like attorneys, are rightly concerned about the EPO. The EU’s future may depend on it to some degree. “This procedure which lead to the acceptance of the amended documents is the reason why the UK voted “exit”,” one person wrote about Battistelli’s behaviour. “First day clear NO! Some amendments overnight, and all public input, opinions,… are forgotten and the proposal is accepted anyway. Sounds like Bruxelles….”

The following comment was also posted in relation to this bunch of “amendments” and it said:

Reading the decision of the council linked above:

The last word on budget and information stays with Battistelli.

Proposal for appointments and re-appointments are delegated to the president of the boards. However, they are made dependent on the whim of the president of the board, himself dependent from Battistelli for his appointment or reappointment (the Boac has only a rubber-stamping function because the crucial power to propose the chairman of the Enlarged board and give an opinion on his reappointment is not delegated).

The drafting of the Rules of procedure has been moved from the presidium to the boac where Battistelli is again sitting and the users and the members of the boards . are excluded.

Costs of the appeal (ultimately paid by the users in form of sloppy dg1-style treatment of the appeals and/or higher fees) are going to increase because of the move into a new building.

In summary: the council abandoned the idea of an independent judiciary. They gave control over it to Battistelli(at least previously they could decide who was going to serve as VP3), whose contempt for the rule of law is known and told the users to mind their business.

If it is true that the initial reactions to the office proposal were (rightly) negative one wonders what happened behind the closed doors of the council that led 35 delegates to be satisfied with just a couple of purely cosmetic amendments.

This “contempt for the rule of law,” as the above puts it, is exactly why the EPO under Battistelli’s leadership can continue to degrade/erode trust. This might even mean that foreign investors walk away and foreign companies may become less interested in European patents. Look what a mess or liability Battistelli has become not just for the Office/Organisation but also for Europe as a whole. As a side note, Battistelli's political ally Nicolas Sarkozy has just announced preparations for a 2017 presidential bid. In politics there aren’t quite the same age limitations as in this patent sector. Might Battistelli return to ruinous politics having ruined the excellent EPO in just a few years? █

Article as ODF

Publicadoen Europa, Patentesa las12:40 ampor el Dr. Roy Schestowitz

La SUEPO, el síndicato de empleados de la EPO, prevalecerá a diferencia de Battistelli

Sumario: Pensamientos acerca de lo que pasará al líderazgo de la EPO después de ‘Brexit’ (salida Británica de la EU), lo que sevéramente socava el proyecto más grande de Battistelli el que usaba habituálmente para justificar sus increíbles abusos

LOS descarádos abusos de la gerencia de la EPO sirviéron para desacreditar a la Unión Europea en su totalidad, como notamos muchas veces aqui. A pesar de noser una entidad de la UEU, al ser la segunda más larga entidad integubernamenta de Europa fué vista por muchos como una falla sistemática del respeto al gobierno de las leyes, honor, demócracia, etc. Este fué el legado de Battistelli. De muchas maneras, Battistelli causo más daño a la Unión Europea que cualquier otro en Europa los dos últimos años.

Este post es un bosquejo de las más reciéntes noticias acerca de la UPC y la EPO. Hay mucho por decirse y muchos sitios ya han hablado acerca de ello. Incluso personas dentro de la EPO estan hablándo acerca de ello. “Terremóto en la UE,” una persona lo llamó, en relación a la “decisión de los ciudadanos del Reino Unido de BR-EXIT!”

Para citar el arguménto central:

A medida de lo que sin duda ha oído, el referéndum Reino Unido ha resultado a favor de la BREXIT ayer. La decisión ha tenido el efecto de una bomba – Cameron ha anunciado su dimisión para octubre-y si puede ser una medida de ella, los mercados que están reaccionando en caída libre en todo el mundo.

En esta etapa nadie puede prever los efectos sobre la economía de la UE ni la política. Pero lo mismo puede decirse sobre el impacto en el sistema europeo de patentes. Claramente puesta en marcha de la patente unitaria – y el futuro de la UP-Corte que estaba destinado a estar en Londres – se agita en su raíz y se queda por ver si puede seguir adelante a pesar evento de ayer [o hace 2 días] .

En el tiempo medio, el Reino Unido sigue siendo un miembro de pleno derecho de la CPE: se trata simplemente uniendo al selecto club de los principales países de IP no pertenecientes a la UE, como Suiza … Sin embargo, en el contexto de un terremoto, de tal política, es dudoso que nuestro órgano de control – que no se caracteriza por la búsqueda de una solución sencilla a los problemas simples – será capaz de ir más allá del estado de confusión aturdida y se centran en los principales problemas a la mano en el EPO. mucho menos encontrar soluciones.

Para recapitular a nuestro lectores, como parte de la transición al sistema de la UPC, Battistelli ha estado aplástando a las salas de apelación. Jonathan Radcliffe, quién escribió acerca de las últimas movidas en el plan hace unos pocos días, tiene este artículo acerca de ello. Este repite los eufemismos de la gerencia de la EPO y el títular dice “La Oficina Europea de Patentes Hará los Procedimiéntos de Revocación Pan-Europeos Más Rápidos, Más Eficiéntes a partir del Primero de July″ (i.e. dentro de pocos días). Títular alternativo: La EPO destruye los procesos de apelación para bajar la cálidad de patentes y dar una ilusión de éxito.

La guerra de Battistelli en contra de las Salas de Recurso, incluyéndo amenazas en su contra (el texto filtrado cláramente muestra un amenaza emitida a todos los miémbros), dice mucho. En realidad, el juicio ha sido cubiérto por Kieren McCarthy en los medios británicos. Acaba de pasar hace unas 24 horas (1 AM). Para citar algunas porciónes de “Cacería de Brujas Nazi términa con feroz juicio”:

El juez en cuestión fue despedido por el presidente por presuntamente filtrar documentos que avergonzaron Battistelli y la gestión de la EPO y por hacer críticas anónimas de ellos.

Battistelli creó una unidad de investigación – apodado “la Stasi” internamente – para erradicar a los que hacían críticas. Se llegó a la conclusión de que el juez estaba detrás de la filtración y fue suspendido. A continuación, la decisión fue respaldada por un consejo de disciplina.

Cuando se trataba de eliminar el juez de las salas de recurso Sin embargo, el organismo independiente decidió buscar más en el tema, lo que provocó una inusual serie de eventos en el Consejo de Administración de la EPO presentó y luego se retiró dos quejas sucesivas antes de asentarse finalmente en una tercera demanda en la que sus alegaciones iniciales se redujeron de cinco a dos.

[...]

Esto es simplemente el último de una larga serie de quejas sobre el comportamiento del Sr. Battistelli. Esta misma semana, un grupo anónimo de personal escribió una carta abierta a los representantes de los países europeos pidiéndoles que lo despidan. Anteriormente había habido una votación cero por ciento de confianza en él.

La sentencia también se produce justo antes de una reunión del Consejo de Administración de la EPO, donde se tendrá en cuenta lo que el progreso se ha hecho en una anterior solicitud de él para mejorar las condiciones en la EPO.

Hasta el momento, Battistelli ha sido capaz de persuadir/convencer al Consejo de Administración para seguir él y sus reformas propuestas copias de seguridad, pero con aún más alto órgano judicial de la organización lo acusa de sobrepasar su papel y socavando funcionamiento mismo de la organización, es difícil imaginar cómo lo hará seguir manteniendo el apoyo.

Mirándo a algunos comentarios temprano, la gente lo compara con la FIFA de nuevo. Una persona escribió: “Bueno… esto continúa haciendo felices a los vendedores de popcorn. Siento que estámos viéndo una realmente, mala pelicula siéndo proyectada aquí y no va a terminar bien para alguién. De todas maneras… como mirar un choque de ten… no puedo dejar de mirar.”

Otra persona dijo: “No puedo imaginar cómo este individuo mantiene su puesto de trabajo. El Consejo de Administración sigue apoyándolo a pesar del hecho que la ha cagado tan mal que él necesita guardaespaldas. Esto es difícil de explicar, hubiera pensado “.

“Miren lo que está pasando en la FIFA”, escribió otra persona, “alguien consigue algo de poder ayudado por algunos otros, y promete dar ‘em algunas ventajas, siempre y cuando él o ella retiene el poder …

Battistelli — como Blatter — trabaja bajo presión de otra gente que son tán poderosos también (recuérden la torcida de Michel Platini y Sarkozy), o parece a veces. “la ratificación Bundestag de la UPC está siéndo acelerada,” Benjamin Henrion (FFII) noted the other day. “Mientras que debería haber sido manejado con cuidado” (o congelárla). No es sugerente de lealtad Bundestag para el equipo de Battistelli; tal vez la que trabajan los mismos (oligarcas, grandes corporaciones, etc.) “Jefes” y muchos de los abusos antes mencionados – como en la FIFA – son medios para un fin. Aparte de la opinión pública europea, una de las principales víctimas podría ser él mismo Battistelli. Como una persona dentro de la EPO lo puso:

Terremoto en la EPO: ¿Decisión de la Eboa … podría significar un SALIDA de BB?

En la más modesta escala de la Organización Europea de Patentes, una bomba también se activó ayer que la Cámara de Recursos publicó su decisión sobre el caso disciplinario DG 3. De alguna información previa obtenida durante el anterior juicio oral tumultuosa, se hizo evidente que el Presidente había considerado necesario enviar una carta larga que amenaza a la Eboa.

Mientras que la Oficina ha sido tan habitual en silencio acerca de que este tipo de noticias (nada en la Intranet a partir de ahora – una transparencia total, literalmente, …), esta información se ha extendido como la pólvora en los medios de comunicación y los blogs:

O IPKat: Alta Cámara publica decisión: Presidente de la EPO violó la independencia judicial;

O Techrights: Benoît Battistelli debería renunciar a la luz de Nueva fuga de la Decisión en su venganza contra el juez Decir la Verdad (Actualizado) (el sitio no puede ser visible desde el interior de la EPO, ya que está en la lista negra);

o Register: Nazi caza de brujas termina con el juicio feroz – Salas de Recurso excoriates presidente de la EPO sobre sus amenazas

En general, esta decisión tendrá un impacto importante en el futuro de la Organización Europea de Patentes: con la amenaza de la junta, el Sr. Batistelli ha “socavado el principio fundamental de la independencia judicial”, señaló la junta, y agregó: “Todos los miembros presentes de la Alta Cámara se encuentran amenazados con medidas disciplinarias si continúan con estas actuaciones en presencia del público, y tratar de determinar los hechos de este caso “.

El debate sobre la independencia de la Junta de Apelaciones es ahora más que nunca abierto: Nosotros, el personal de la EPO, ansiosos de leer cómo el Consejo de Administración tratará ese tema crítico en su discusión de la propuesta de Reforma (CA / 43/16 ) – y que tiene en abundancia ha sido criticada por AMBA, la Asociación de los Miembros de la boa.

Mucho más en juego que el simple expediente disciplinario. Uno puede esperar que los complementos de supervisión TU el y los medios de comunicación se tenga en cuenta cuán crítica es la situación. Idealmente, se podría esperar que el Consejo de Administración, incluso para actuar, por ejemplo, la toma en serio su propia resolución de marzo: el menor habría que decidir sobre las consecuencias concretas para el Presidente, Sr. Battistelli y su equipo, que, a través de todas sus decisiones recientes hizo una burla de las reivindicaciones públicas AC.

El meóllo del asunto es que, Battistelli necesita ser despedido con una patada en el trasero este mes, a menos que renuncie primero. A pesar de que todos estuviéron hablando acerca de la UPC y Brexit ayer, hubo una larga discusión acerca de ello en IP Kat. Una persona escribió:

BB de palabras [de Battistelli] por lo general insinuaba que la creación de la patente unitaria era justificación para sus acciones, y parecía ser una de las razones por las que el aire acondicionado/acondicionados por él, comenzando con su contrato secreto.

Ahora que el meteorito Brexit golpeó el planeta, y la UP se ve gravemente comprometida, al menos, ¿habrá un cambio de curso en el CA? ¿Y lo que va a hacer BB? Esconderse en una esquina y sentarse bajo la tormenta?

El comercio, y los ministros de Justicia extranjeros de la EU28/EPC38, sin duda, tener prioridades más urgentes que tratar de salvar este acuerdo comparativamente menor … (Si el texto del tratado debe ser ratificado, entonces el ciclo de ratificación tendrá que empezar de nuevo de nuevo).

Como una persona lo puso: “¿Quién es el primer Presidente de la EPO que violó la independencia judicial de la Sala Amplia?”

Acerca de Battistelli, dice otra persona, es él el que “comenzó su primer términ con un discurso en al Haya, donde se declaró a sí mismo un “convicto europeo”. – (Con sus bolsillos a ser llenados por las grandes corporáciones no-europeas) -Deberíamos haber sabido entonces! La noticia de esta mañana dejó Brexit me daba náuseas, pero realmente, ¿cómo podría culpar a los votantes por no querer ser parte de ese tipo de Europa … “(no estoy seguro si esta cita es real, tal vez debido al mal Inglés).

Otra persona dijo: “El Protocolo sobre los privilegios y las inmunidades no disponen que el Consejo de Administración suspensión de la inmunidad diplomática del Presidente, sino como la relación entre el Presidente y el aire acondicionado es similar a la de un perro que está siendo movidó por la cola, siendo las perspectivas a rechazar su de su inmunidad pocas”.

Battistelli “continúa repitiendo… la Unidad Investigadora es sólo un cuerpo para “encontrar realidades”, pero es la IU la que “decide”,” esta persona notó y los abusos de Battistelli están siéndo menciónados incluso por EPLAW, i.e. abogados de patentes. Battistelli, insistió una persona, “era del punto de vista de que el EBoa no tiene autoridad para conducir su propio ejercidio de encontra hechos/realidades.” Como una persona notó más tarde, “es increíble como están publicando posts en IPKat a favor de la gerencia de la EPO los están limpiándo de polvo y paja.” Miren el mérito (o falta de ello) en su reclamo.

No hay duda de que hay una necesidad urgente de debatir última abuso de Battistelli, pero muy poco después llegaron Brexit (la misma noche que el documento anterior consiguió escapado) y luego todos empezaron a hablar de la UPC.

Aquí esta Managing IP (MIP) regresándo a su guión de UPC y abogados de patentes británicos “levantando sus preocupaciónes por la salida de la UE” (pero no debemos preocuparnos por los abogados, debemos hacerlo en aras de la ciencia y tecnología). También vemos “Referendum del Reino Unido—sus implicaciónes al Systema Unitario de Patentes” (la UPC está efectivamente muerta or 2+ años). Otros nuevos artículos de interes: “el voto Brexit debe incentivar a los negocios/empresas a revisar sus aplicaciónes por patenes y estratégias de negocios dice experto”, “Brexit – ¿Qué significa para portafolios de marcas, contratos IP y la UPC?” y “El drama de la Decisión Brexit no traerá claridad a dueños deIP”. En relación a “Brexit: CIPA llama a la calma”, tengan en mente que CIPA ha sido un grupo de presión a favor de la UPC.

Mathieu Klos de la Juve: escribió “Oscuro o radiante.? Los siguientes 6 días decidir sobre el futuro del Euro. Sistema de patentes: la reforma estructural #Brexit + #UPC #EPOorg (29.6.) “Lo que podría traducirse en” O haz de Dire.? Los próximos 6 días deciden el futuro de la Unión Europea. Sistema de patentes: # referéndum propuesto en el Reino Unido de miembros de la reforma estructural de la Unión Europea + #UPC #EPOorg (. 29,6) “(Habrá algunas bombas más próxima semana, en base a lo que hemos aprendido de forma privada).

Los propagandistas de la UPC son, como se esperaba, muy tristes por Brexit (céntrense en el artículo original, no sólo en los muchos comentarios), pero no por razones que son importantes para la gente común. Para ellos es sólo una pérdida potencial de ingresos. “Tribunal Unificado de Patentes se convirtió en realidad”, dice un empleado de Bristows, que nos recuerda que los defensores de la UPC (no todos abogados de patentes) se preocupan por los más Brexit. Puedes ver el análisis de Appleyard Lees y de Bird & Bird (gran impulsor de la UPC). Dado que la Ley fuera puesto que, “Los titulares de derechos podrían necesitar IP volver a registrarse en el Reino Unido como resultado de Brexit, según experto” (que es el titular).

Las firmas de abogados explican (o auto-mercado) la situación en artículos como “Reino Unido” Brexit “Deja la comunidad del IP con muchas preguntas” “El mpacto de Brexit para los Derechos de Propiedad Intelectual” y “Brexit – Derecho recursos de la empresa” (en su mayoría un conjunto de enlaces de MIP, que persiste con su empuje de la UPC, a pesar de las últimas noticias).

No hay falta de cobertura sobre el impacto de Brexit, pero no queremos centrárnos en ello, porque muchas incógnitas permanecen y que prefieren centrarse en la posición de la EPO. Recuerde que las conexiones de la EPO a IAM y ver cómo su redactor jefe sigue mámandosela a Battistelli un poco más.”¿Qué va a cambiar”, escribió, “es el futuro inmediato del régimen de patente unitaria Tribunal de Patentes y unificado de la UE propuesto. la ratificación del Reino Unido es un requisito antes de que puedan entrar en vigor. Que estaba prevista para este verano, pero ahora no va a suceder. Eso significa que hasta que el Reino Unido ha salido oficialmente de la UE que no proceda. Así que estamos buscando en un mínimo de dos años de retraso, aunque yo apostaría por más tiempo “.

Por lo que incluso los círculos pro-Battistelli admiten que estamos “buscando en un mínimo de dos años de retraso, aunque yo apostaría por más tiempo.” Saben que puede sacarlo por completo, pero no quieren admitirlo. Como tal, no hay propósito para Battistelli en la EPO más. Lo hace mucho más daño que cualquier persona. Que debería renunciar la semana próxima. Para mantenerlo con el fin de “hacer el trabajo” (el “trabajo” es el proyecto de la UPC) no es racional más.

En cuanto a la propia EPO, que ahora promueve una mentira. Battistelli típicamente publica una mentira en el sitio web de la EPO (advertencia: epo.org link). que dice: “En cuanto a la patente unitaria y el Tribunal Unificado de Patentes, la Oficina espera que el Reino Unido y los Estados miembros participantes encontrarán una solución lo antes posible, lo que permitirá una implementación completa de estos logros tan ansiádos (por las grandes corporaciónes)

“El @EPOorg emite #Brexit comunicado,” escribió IAM. “Espera que los estados miembros de la UE y el Reino Unido para encontrar una solución #UPC aplicación. Humm “(suena como una expresión de duda). Incluso los chácales de Battistelli parecen bastante dudosos ya que suponemos que la UPC morirá igual que sus predecesores (tirados al cenicero de la historia).

“Las instituciones de la UE no se mencionan en el comunicado,” escribió Francisco Moreno. “¿Son irrelevantes para encontrar una solución o son el problema?”

La UPC es sólo más difícil creer en este momento. Ya que incluso MIP puso: “Temo que puede estar incluso más allá de las habilidades formidables de Margot F”.

Parece, basado en el tiempo que tardó la EPO para emitir la declaración anterior, que requería mucho tiempo para preparar un solo párrafo de blanqueo, o una mentira que esquiva la verdad (o semi verdad). “Nosotros hemos oído de la @EPOorg,” escribió WIPR de antemano “, que entendemos está preparando un comunicado. #Brexit Tiene implicaciones para la patente unitaria y la UPC. #EUref “(¿Por qué tomó tanto tiempo para preparar un solo párrafo único?).

La “EPO dice que espera que los estados miembros del Reino Unido y #EU se” encontrar una solución que permita la aplicación largamente esperada “de la UPC y la patente unitaria,” WIPR notó más tarde. Se publicó un artículo sobre el tema en un par de sus sitios [1, 2]. Queremos recordar a los lectores que la administración de EPO ha mentido históricamente a los periodistas, por lo que esta vez también hay que tener todo lo que dice con un grano de sal (del tamaño de Rusia).

Darren Smyth de IP Kat, escribiendo sobre el tema, dice: “Sir Robin Jacob piensa que la UPC es probable que no siga adelante en absoluto sin Reino Unido Reino Unido si sale de la UE”

“Sir Robin puede estar en lo correcto acerca de ello,” MIP respondió.

“Jacob y otros creyentes piensan que pueden parchear la UPC para manejar el caso del Reino Unido,” escribió Henrion. “Debemos estar mejor preparados para otra ronda.”

Jacob es en realidad parte del grupo que utilizó profecías que se auto-cumplen para la UPC, con el fin de inducir el derrotismo de oposición. “El TJUE señaló explícitamente que los países no comunitarios no pueden participar,” una persona (Steve Peers) señaló, y Henrion respondió con: “Froehlinger ya está ocupada probablemente volver a escribir.” Hace poco Peers dijo: “la UPC puede ir adelante sin el Reino Unido. Basta con mover una parte de la cancha”.

Cambiar las reglas de nuevo, para los millonarios y multimillonarios (y los trolls de patentes como un efecto secundario)?

En la “vía rápida patente unitaria”, Moreno escribió: “la UPCA nunca entra en vigor. cooperación reforzada nueva w / o Reino Unido. Las mismas regulaciones 2 + una tercera para un tribunal bajo el ECJ “.

Como Henrion señala, “art6 y 8 eran el arte de Jacob y Cameron.”

Seguro que se parece a Darren Smyth aceptó mi interpretación de la situación a lo largo (es verosímil que la UPC simplemente morirá) [1, 2] y una persona escribió: “Si esto rompe la EPO, valió la pena.”

En realidad, el ahorro de la EPO en lugar de romperla es la meta. Extracción de gente como Battistelli es el medio. Florian Müller escribió: “Los países no saldrán de la Organización Europea de Patentes la misma facilidad que la UE debido al menor debate público, sino que ayuda a por lo menos puesto de la UPC” (que puede eliminarlo también).

Los próximos días serán interesantes debido a la reunión de la próxima semana. En palabras de una fuente dentro de la EPO:

Seamos realistas: el personal de la EPO, no tiene a nadie:

Es evidente que las acciones concretas de la CA, como se sugirió anteriormente, resolverían muchos problemas. Pero fue “terremoto” de ayer suficiente? En el meanttime, es decir, hasta que se haga algo, el personal de la EPO tiene que enfrentarse a ella: estamos por nuestra cuenta. Y supongo que la EPO ver más de la demostración.

Como saben, la próxima reunión del Consejo de Administración se llevará a cabo los días 29 y 30 de junio. En el orden del día, más allá de la “independencia” de la DG 3, hay

cuatro documentos que proponen reformas más serios defectos:

o CA / 15/16 en la auto-seguro para los costos del cuidado de la salud

o CA / 29/16 sobre las restricciones de empleo posteriores al servicio

o CA / 52/16 “normas de conducta” y las investigaciones

o CA / 53/16 se refiere a una revisión de los procedimientos disciplinarios

Una protesta coincidirá con la reunión la próxima semana. Esperemos que haya gran atención. Necesita mandar el mensaje que Battistelli DEBE irse. LaUPC no es una excusa para seguirlo manteniéndo.

P.S Estoy en Nueva York este fin de semana. Continuarémos el Lunes.