Born of Ignorance and the Parent of Anger and Hate

As from tomorrow, this could be an act of terrorism in the UK. I have no excuse.

This is the same country that has shops with CCTV and yet no prices on their products. Where there are few police walking the street, as they are driving impersonal vehicles from one crime scene to another. Where the lawmakers seem to ignore the laws and policies of their own country, and are so distant from the citizens that they are supposed to represent, that I have really given up caring when I hear of yet another incident.

We have so many bad laws in this country, that I’ve given up caring if we have yet another vague piece of paperwork that allows the increasingly arrogant lawmakers to allow the security forces to do what they want – one would hope it is what they need, but I doubt it. What is needed to protect our security? Curfew? ID tags? Barcodes tattooed onto our arms? Retinal scans via CCTV to log our shop browsing patterns?

The Law

After section 58 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (collection of information) insert—

“58A Eliciting, publishing or communicating information about members of armed forces etc

(1)A person commits an offence who—

(a)elicits or attempts to elicit information about an individual who is or has been—

  (i)a member of Her Majesty’s forces,

  (ii)a member of any of the intelligence services, or

  (iii)a constable,

which is of a kind likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing an act of terrorism, or

(b)publishes or communicates any such information.

Source: Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 (c. 28) Part 7

And note this well: (2) It is a defence for a person charged with an offence under this section to prove that they had a reasonable excuse for their action.

Yes – our lawmakers think that we citizens need an EXCUSE – not a reason – for our actions. I am INNOCENT until you prove that I am Guilty – not until I give you an EXCUSE to find me Innocent.

We deserve better from our government. The security services need a democracy and a citizenry worthy of protection – not to be seen as potential criminals. I don’t think I will be voting for Gordon Brown again.

I wonder if STV will be pulling “Doctors and Nurses at War” from the schedules on Tuesday night? It tells the names of military personnel - faithful in adversity - where they work, and shows general locations of their homes and families.

Links

Set to become law on 16 February, the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008 amends the Terrorism Act 2000 regarding offences relating to information about members of armed forces, a member of the intelligence services, or a police officer.

The British Journal of Photography

Media Event: “I’m a Photographer … not a Terrorist” Hosted by the National Union of Journalists and supported by the British Journal of Photography and the British Press Photographers’ Association. New Scotland Yard, Broadway, Westminster, London SW1H, UK. Monday 16 February 2009. 11am.

Marc Vallée - PhotoJournalist

Tallis is a member of the National Union of Journalists and the British Press Photographers' Association. 'The incident lasted just 10 seconds, but you don't expect a police officer to try to pull your camera from your neck,' Tallis tells BJP.

The incident came less than a week after it was revealed that an amateur photographer was stopped in Cleveland by police officers when taking pictures of ships. The photographer was asked if he had any terrorism connections and told that his details would be kept on file.

The British Journal of Photography

This legislation would appear to be yet another chilling move by the UK in encouraging harassment of photographers. Last year you might remember that the London Metropolitan Police launched a very public advertising campaign asking people to turn in “odd” looking photographers.

Thomas Hawk’s Digital Connection

“Fear is the only true enemy, born of ignorance and the parent of anger and hate.”

Recycling Brands Lands Tinny in Trouble

Despite every news item talking about alternative energy, recycling and how plastic bags are evil, an American engineer who recycles empty Heineken® beer containers into a useable lightweight cooking pots has been told to stop, and to pay "reasonable" damages in the sum of $4,750. According to the letter posted on the site, the owner was sent a "cease and desist" letter prior to this, and he did not. Link

Now, many, many cans and bottles are designed to be easily identifiable from a distance. Just look at the shape of branded cola bottles, or soft drinks bottles. No doubt the designs are covered by intellectual property laws. Will H® be happy with merely the removal of their registered trademarked name, or will the want all photos that allow the cans to be identified as there IP removed from the site and videos too.

I tried to read the Heineken® terms and conditions on their web site, but I have to verify that I am over 18 to visit the site (they state that is the legal drinking age: in fact, in the UK, it is 18 and over).  Link to the mean green machine.

Me, haven't drunk that lager since I was an 18+ year old kid.

Oh, and if you want to do the maths (that's "math" if you are from the USA), I found a shop selling the 24oz beer cans at $2.29. Thus, H® reckon that Tinny's recycling of their named product (in his wind-powered workshop) has damaged them to the tune of 2,074 cans of lager, or 2,489 pints.

I drunk from here at the weekend:

It is better for you.

 

ps: there's a discussion as to whether the legal email is a scam or genuine in Tinny's post.

pps; I hope it hasn't delayed him completing my order cos I'm dying to try the stove.

pps: will they extradite people for this?

Wild Camping Petition Day 2

Darren's posted a few updates across on his blog. John Hee's been cross-posting on forums. I dug out some photos and added some words to them.

Look, the worse the access laws are elsewhere in the UK, the more people come up to Scotland and hike and wild camp here. The more tourist-based revenue we have. So, why should I care if Johnny Englisher isn't allowed to camp on someone else's land despite it being empty, not damaging anyone. It's not my problem as the English lawmakers make it clear that they don't want me down there wild-camping. I'd prefer spending my money where I'm welcome, and we seem to be quite welcoming up here.

I went back and added a border to the earlier image.

And finally, one more before bed, and a weekend of marking and prep.

I'd love to go legal in England&Wales. But the landowners own the land and their rights have to be respected. It is the Law.

7 Deadly Sins of Blogging

Clearswift produced a guide to the 7 Deadly Sins of Blogging. The full document can be read here, but I've summarised the main points below for those too lazy to click a link and read the additional information.

1st Deadly Sin
Thinking you’re only talking to friends

The Golden Rule of blogging: never say anything on a blog that you wouldn’t happily say in public, that you can’t substantiate or that the organization would not permit. If in doubt: take it out!

2nd Deadly Sin
Thinking your blog is personal, not an organizational matter

If you’re publishing a personal blog, make it clear on your home page that the views expressed in it are your own (and don’t mention your organization).

Whether personal or corporate, here are some of the big no-nos of blogging:

• Sharing confidential information
• Sharing business plans
• Engaging in controversial speech
• Sharing copyright-protected material
• Sharing illegal or distasteful material

3rd Deadly Sin
Linking to inappropriate material

It’s not just what you say in your blog, it’s what you link to. Linking to illegal material or inappropriate websites, videos or images is probably a breach of your policy – check it out if you’re unsure.

4th Deadly Sin
Thinking you can erase mistakes

You can’t. Once you’ve published a blog entry, it’s out there for all to copy, share, link to and discuss. Of course, you can remove a post (and you should if you have any doubts), but you never know who has already copied it, distributed it or put it in their own blog.

5th Deadly Sin
Ignoring comments to your blog entries

Your own blog entries may be completely responsible, but that doesn’t mean the people who post comments will be.
Most bloggers experience unpleasant, inappropriate comments to their posts at some time. This can include racial or sexual abuse, harassment, personal attacks and links to pornography or illegal material.

You are responsible for all comments posted on your blog. Make sure you regularly monitor all comments, remove offensive or illegal ones, block irresponsible contributors and report any serious incident.

And of course, when you comment on other people’s blogs, the same rules of professionalism and security apply as they would on your own blog.

6th Deadly Sin
Devouring resources

Simple text-based blogs are generally resource-friendly. But when you start to share recorded webcams, presentations, music, video and multimedia files, you may be eating valuable bandwidth, slowing down the network and using up storage space.

7th Deadly Sin
Leaving yourself open to virus attack

A new generation of computer viruses, worms, Trojans and ‘malware’ (malicious computer code) has risen up to exploit the opportunities presented by blogging and other Web 2.0 services.

No Rights, Just T&C

You have no rights on the Internet. Just a series of Terms & Conditions that you blindly accept. There is no freedom of speech unless you have your own server and don't have to worry about an ISP. You have nothing.

This was shown today by the closing of a UK blog host after receiving lawyer's letters. Under UK law, no crime had been committed. Under UK law, no legal authority had requested that the site(s) be closed down.

It’s extraordinary, but true, and even though we live in a image democracy where freedom of speech is a right we can enjoy, that freedom does not extend to your blog if you upset a rich and powerful person.
That is the gist of Iain Dale’s unbelievable post outlining the shutting down of Tim Ireland’s Bloggerhead’s site, as well as Craig Murray’s, former Ambassador to Uzbekhistan.
They both spoke out against the Russian/Uzbekh billionaire, Alisher Usmanov, (pictured) who is trying to buy Arsenal FC. Lawyers letters followed which led to the webhost pulling the plug.

Outrageous shutting down of British blogs

Link to More4 News clip (interview starts about 60 seconds in). Nothing at the time of posting on the BBC news, their technology pages merely saying that we should "fight cyberbullies" - oh, that's in schools, not in the real world. So, the BBC isn't being ironic.

As news items change rapidly, I'll add a caveat that this information is what is known to me at the time of posting. (link to my legal representative)

Photography is Not a Crime

Having read about some of the trouble that a photo-blogger got into in the USA (link), I followed up some of the links. The first link was to JPG Magazine, where issue 5 had the rallying cry that I used in the post title.

The UK Photographers Rights Guide. Although written in 2004, and accepting that you accept that the authors have no responsibility for the advice given (i.e. if you get into trouble, hire an expert).

There is an American version from 2006 (pdf link), dealing more with how to deal with harassment and security guards making up the law as they go.

Bear in mind that the law is constantly changing, and that many police have an "attitude test" - be a pratt, and you'll be treated like one. Know your rights, know your responsibilities and don't be afraid to say that "actually, I'm on public land, and the law says ... ", all in a professional manner, as you note their badge number.