Retired, Computerless Woman Fined For Pirating ‘Hooligan’ Movie
Despite not owning a computer or even a router, a retired woman has been ordered by a court to pay compensation to a movie company. The woman had been pursued by a rightsholder who claimed she had illegally shared a violent movie about hooligans on the Internet, but the fact that she didn’t even have an email address proved of little interest to the court. Guilty until proven innocent is the formula in Germany.
The just-concluded case in Germany demonstrates perfectly that in some jurisdictions the standard way to deal with a file-sharing claim is guilty until proven innocent.
At 09:10 during a cold January morning in 2010, the defendant in the case says she was tucked up in bed. A movie copyright holder, however, insists the retired single woman was illegally sharing files on the Internet.
The settlement letter sent to the woman by the copyright holder stated clearly that on January 4th she’d been using the eDonkey network to share a violent film about hooligans. For this offense she must pay compensation of around 650 euros or face court, they said.
Read More:http://torrentfreak.com/retired-computerless-woman-fined-for-pirating-hooligan-movie-111222/?id=9486
FBI Admits That It Uses Carrier IQ For Law Enforcement Purposes; Won’t Say How
So remember Carrier IQ? That would be the company that is providing what’s been deemed a root kit on a ton of mobile phones. While the company has sought to downplay the security and 
privacy risks of its software (to the point of threatening the main researcher behind the revelation), further research suggested that the software likely tracked actions down to the keystroke. Again, Carrier IQ has insisted that its only purpose was to help mobile operators get data and information to help out when users are having problems. For example, it notes the ability to highlight when and how users have dropped calls. And if this was all it really does, then the software might be slightly reasonable (though, the fact that it’s hidden and almost impossible to remove represents a significant problem no matter how benign the software might be).
However, Michael Morisy over at the site Muckrock, decided he might try a different angle to learn about Carrier IQ and whether it was used for surveillance: he filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FBI to find out if and how it uses Carrier IQ data. Not too surprisingly, the FBI won’t provide him any details, but the way in which it turned him down was actually quite telling. Rather than just saying there were "no responsive documents," it instead said that it did have responsive documents "but they were exempt under a provision that covers materials that, if disclosed, might reasonably interfere with an ongoing investigation." That may imply, contrary to Carrier IQ’s suggestions, that its software isn’t for monitoring and spying, that the FBI views it quite differently, and already makes use of some Carrier IQ data. Of course, Morisy notes that there is another possible explanation: the FBI could be investigating Carrier IQ itself following these allegations, and it won’t reveal the data for fear of compromising that investigation. Either way, it at least raises some significant new questions concerning Carrier IQ and how its data is being used.
Update: Carrier IQ has come out with a response insisting that it has never given out info to the FBI. I would imagine that’s true, but it’s besides the point. The issue is whether or not the FBI uses Carrier IQ data that it receives via the mobile operators.
Invasion of the Vein Scanners for Cashless Society
In an article I wrote in late October 2011 (“NJ Transit Ushers In Cashless Society With Google Wallet App For Smartphone Payment), I detailed a new policy being implemented at New Jersey Transit stations and Newark Liberty International Airport Rail Station, as well as in Penn Station and the 
New York Port Authority Bus Terminal in New York. At the time, I deemed the program, “the most recent Orwellian Big Brother policy under the guise of greater traveler convenience; a cover story for privacy intrusion that is becoming more and more popular when attempting to introduce the hi-tech police state security grid.”
Essentially, the new procedure being introduced is a wireless payment program that allows passengers to wave their smartphones in front of a special sensor in order to purchase a ticket for travel. The sensor is located on the ticket vending machine and both the train and bus tickets are accessed via Google Wallet – an app that provides for wireless payment capabilities. In the article mentioned above, I argued that the implementation of such technology is the foreshadowing of the coming cashless society which itself will play a major role in the totalitarian police state control grid being established right before our eyes.
Read More:http://www.activistpost.com/2011/12/invasion-of-vein-scanners.html
Ottawa mum on cost to provinces as crime bill clears House
The federal government has left Canada’s provinces and territories in the dark about the cost of the omnibus crime bill even as the legislation heads to the Senate for approval.
The controversial bill includes new mandatory minimum sentences and tougher sentencing for young offenders, among other changes. It is expected to put more people in jail for longer, ratcheting up the cost of administering justice at both the provincial and federal levels.
After limiting debate on the bill in committee and the House of Commons, the Conservatives used their majority status to move it through third reading on Monday night.
But Canada’s most populous provinces say they still don’t know how much of the financial burden the federal government expects them to bear.
Madeleine Meilleur, Ontario’s Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, said the legislation will require “significant” new spending for which the province has not budgeted.
“In our view, it is not appropriate for one level of government to create financial burdens for another without discussion and an appropriate financial offset,” she wrote in a recent letter to Public Safety Minister Vic Toews.
The federal government has said its share of the bill will be $78.6-million over five years, although opposition MPs say that underestimates its true cost. The figure does not include spending on provincial and territorial jails, which deal with anyone sentenced for less than two years.
Quebec’s Ministry of Public Security estimates it will cost $294-million to $545-million to expand the province’s prisons, and an additional $40-million to $74-million each year to service the growing inmate population.
That cost is in addition to the $299-million Quebec currently spends on prisons each year, the ministry said.
Quebec has said it would refuse to pay the cost because it strongly opposes the new rules for young offenders, which it believes will hurt their prospects for rehabilitation.
A spokeswoman from Minister of Justice Rob Nicholson’s office said transfer payments to the provinces and territories have increased by 30 per cent since the Conservative government took office, but declined to say whether the payments would continue to increase to reflect the added costs of the bill.
“There’s ongoing discussions between both levels of government, and I think that’s important to get their input on – on all these initiatives and the initiatives that we’ll take forward,” Mr. Nicholson told reporters on Monday, adding that he gets together with his provincial counterparts at least once a year.
But representatives from Alberta, Manitoba, the Northwest Territories and other provinces said on Monday they still had no word from Ottawa on how much they would be expected to pay.
Many of the provinces said they expect the federal government to step in with additional support if their costs rise.
Manitoba Attorney-General Andrew Swan said his government supports many aspects of the crime bill, but still expects a hand from the government, particularly to expand the province’s drug courts and legal aid programs.
“If the federal government steps up, we think we can work well [with the legislation],” he said.
With reports from Rhéal Séguin in Quebec, Karen Howlett in Toronto and Justine Hunter in Vancouver
Apple iTunes flaw ‘allowed government spying for 3 years’
An unpatched security flaw in Apple’s iTunes software allowed intelligence agencies and police to hack into users’ computers for more than three years, it’s claimed.
A British company called Gamma International marketed hacking software to governments that exploited the vulnerability via a bogus update to iTunes, Apple’s media player, which is installed on more than 250 million machines worldwide.
The hacking software, FinFisher, is used to spy on intelligence targets’ computers. It is known to be used by British agencies and earlier this year records were discovered in abandoned offices of that showed it had been offered to Egypt’s feared secret police.
Apple was informed about the relevant flaw in iTunes in 2008, according to Brian Krebs, a security writer, but did not patch the software until earlier this month, a delay of more than three years.
“A prominent security researcher warned Apple about this dangerous vulnerability in mid-2008, yet the company waited more than 1,200 days to fix the flaw,” he said in a blog post.
"The disclosure raises questions about whether and when Apple knew about the Trojan offering, and its timing in choosing to sew up the security hole in this ubiquitous software title."
China regulator bans TV advertisements during dramas
China has ordered a ban on advertisements during TV dramas as part of its reform of cultural activities.
Adverts will not be allowed in the middle of programme
s lasting for 45 minutes from 1 January next year.
The authorities said this was in line with the "spirit" of a recent Communist Party meeting.
Senior leaders said then that they wanted to develop a "socialist culture", although they did not elaborate on exactly what that means.
TV stations are clear about what this latest move means for them though – they say it will result in a loss of revenue.
The latest announcement was made by China’s State Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) on its website.
It said the regulation was being introduced as part of a new attitude towards culture, outlined at the party’s Central Committee meeting in October.
"Radio and television are a mouthpiece of the party and the people – an important propaganda front in cultural thought," read the SARFT statement.
An organisation spokesman told Xinhua, the state-run news agency, that the aim was to make TV shows conform to "public interests and aspirations".
"In the long-run, the move will help TV dramas develop in a scientific and healthy manner," said the unidentified spokesman.
Read More:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-15933297
Guard fired after nabbing child who ate from box
EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — A grocery store security guard was fired after he told the father of a 4-year-old girl that she would face criminal charges for eating from a dried fruit package, a TV station 
reported.
The child’s mother, Alissa Jones, said the father wasn’t looking when the girl grabbed the package, ate a few pieces of fruit then returned it to a shelf at a Safeway store in Everett, Wash., KOMO reported Wednesday.
Safeway previously faced widespread criticism when a Honolulu couple were arrested over stolen sandwiches and had their 2-year-old daughter taken from them briefly by state officials.
In Washington, the guard took the 4-year-old and her dad to a room and said the girl would face charges and be banned from the chain, Jones said, adding the guard had the girl sign a paper acknowledging she wasn’t allowed to enter any Safeway stores.
The company said it was "appalled" by the guard’s actions and dismissed him. Store officials have apologized to the girl’s parents, Safeway spokesperson Cherie Myers said.
"Our policies on shoplifting are intended to protect our customers, but built on common sense. And everyone understands what common sense is," Myers said.
The name of the guard was not immediately available.
The woman involved in the Honolulu incident, Nicole Leszczynski, was 30 weeks pregnant at the time. Last month, she and her husband forgot to pay for two sandwiches that together cost $5. They were handcuffed and searched, and later released on $50 bail each.
The company decided not to press charges, apologized and said then it would re-examine its policies.
G20 case reveals ‘largest ever’ police spy operation
RCMP collaborated with provincial and local police to monitor activists
Police Police organizations across the country co-operated to spy on community organizations and activists in what the RCMP called one of the largest domestic intelligence operations in Canadian history, documents reveal.
Information about the extensive police surveillance in advance of last year’s G8 and G20 meetings in southern Ontario comes from evidence presented in the case of 17 people accused of orchestrating street turmoil during the summits.
The court case ended Tuesday before it went to trial. Six of the defendants pleaded guilty to counselling mischief and two of those to an additional count of counselling to obstruct police, while 11 people had their criminal charges dropped.
Testimony previously under a publication ban describes how two undercover police officers — one male, one female — spent 18 months infiltrating southern Ontario community groups ahead of the June 26-27, 2010, gathering of world leaders.
They were part of a much larger so-called joint intelligence group (JIG) operation that the RCMP, in its internal post-summit review, called "likely the largest JIG ever assembled in Canada."
Undercover operatives
The Crown built its case against the 17 around the work of the two officers, Ontario Provincial Police members Bindo Showan and Brenda Carey. It was a massive case: 59 criminal charges in all, more than 70,000 pages of Crown evidence disclosed to the defence, and months of scheduled testimony.
Read the files
Documents obtained under freedom of information legislation reveal the extensive police surveillance operation against political groups and activists.
- G8 summit intelligence report.
- Undercover and plainclothes police.
- RCMP’s post-G20 internal review.
- Organizational diagrams.
Earlier this fall, Showan told the court about how he attended a meeting prior to the Toronto summit. There, a protest-planning group that included several of the 17 main G20 defendants was discussing whether to lend their support to a First Nations rally.
Adam Lewis, one of the 17 accused conspirators in the G20 case, interjected, “Kill whitey!” The group chuckled. Lewis, like all but one of his co-accused, is white.
When a Crown lawyer asked the officer what he thought Lewis meant, Showan said in complete seriousness, to "kill white people."
"Deliberately or accidentally, the undercover officers misinterpreted hyperbolic jokes as literal statements of belief," said Kalin Stacey, a community organizer, friend and supporter of the defendants. "This undercover case highlights the incentive for undercovers to ensure that charges are laid."
Read More:http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/11/22/g20-police-operation.html
Marijuana growers to face more jail than child rapists under Harper’s new omnibus bill
Someone convicted of growing more than 200 pot plants could face more mandatory jail time than someone who rapes a toddler under the Harper government’s new omnibus bill.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper is getting tougher on pot growers than he is on rapists of children.
Under the Tories’ omnibus crime legislation tabled Tuesday, a person growing 201 pot plants in a rental unit would receive a longer mandatory sentence than someone who rapes a toddler or forces a five-year-old to have sex with an animal.
Producing six to 200 pot plants nets an automatic six-month sentence, with an extra three months if it’s done in a rental or is deemed a public-safety hazard. Growing 201 to 500 plants brings a one-year sentence, or 1 1/2 years if it’s in a rental or poses a safety risk.
The omnibus legislation imposes one-year mandatory minimums for sexually assaulting a child, luring a child via the Internet or involving a child in bestiality. All three of these offences carry lighter automatic sentences than those for people running medium-sized grow-ops in rental property or on someone else’s land.
A pedophile who gets a child to watch pornography with him, or a pervert exposing himself to kids at a playground, would receive a minimum 90-day sentence, half the term of a man convicted of growing six pot plants in his own home.
The maximum sentence for growing marijuana would double from seven to 14 years, the same maximum applied to someone using a weapon during a child rape, and four years more than for someone sexually assaulting a kid without using a weapon.
Canadian army spying on natives: Report
According to recently released documents, the Canadian Forces’ National Counter-Intelligence Unit has been gathering intelligence on the country’s indigenous groups.
The documents, which have been released under the Access to Information Act, show that the unit has released at least eight reports on the activities and future protests of indigenous organizations between January, 2010, and July, 2011.
The so-called Counter-Intelligence Information Reports alert the Canadian army to events organized by groups such as the Assembly of First Nations, the Algonquin Anishinabeg Nation Tribal Council and Red Power United.
President of the Union of B.C. Indian Chiefs Grand Chief Stewart Phillip described the reports as “unsettling,” Global Research reported.
“The fact that they are directing their intelligence activities at native communities and native organizations is deeply disturbing,” Phillip said.
Russia Issues “Revolution Alert” For United States
By: Sorcha Faal, and as reported to her Western Subscribers
For the first time in nearly four-decades the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has issued a “dire” travel alert for top officials, scientists and military officers travelling to the United States over fears the Obama regime is preparing to instigate a revolution for the purpose of their being able to hold on to power and complete the enslavement of the American people.
According to this report the “Occupy Wall Street” protests that began in New York City nearly a month ago have now spread to at least 25 other US cities and show no sign of abating any time soon.
The Ministry further warns that these protests in New York City began at a private park named Zuccotti which is owned by a company that received nearly $200 million from the Obama regime and brings into question just who is exactly financing this “peoples revolt,” which looks from the outside very similar to a class warfare-type action that began both the French and Russian revolutions.
Though Obama last week commented positively about these growing protests this Ministry report warns that one should not forget that he has received more money from Wall Street bankers than any other American politician over the past 20 years, including former President George W. Bush.
The “real reason” for the Obama’s regime backing of these protests, the Ministry warns, is their knowing that the entire Global Economic System is nearing an historic crash, and that IMF advisor Robert Shapiro warned last week was perhaps just 2-3 weeks away.
To fully comprehend the grave situation facing us today the Governor of the Bank of England, Sir Mervyn King, warned that our world is facing the worst financial crisis in history, and with the United States facing crushing numbers of jobless workers, along with the worst housing bust since the Great Depression, the American people are not being told how dire their situation is.
And to exactly how dire the situation is for these Americans one need only know that as of 1 January 2011 their Baby Boom Generation began to hit their retirement age that will see more than 10,000 of them being put onto the US government retirement and government medical roles every single day for the next 19 years at a cost even the whole world’s economy could not pay for.
In order to keep the United States from total outright collapse Obama has added more debt to America then all US Presidents combined from George Washington through George H.W. Bush to the crushing level of $4 billion a day being added onto the backs of the already debt crushed American people.
And so debt crushed have these American people become that fully 48.5% of them live in a household that receives some form of government benefits, one-third of them would not be able to pay their rent or mortgage payment if they lost their job, and half of them live on $505 or less per week.
Unlike their ancestors who lived through similar great global economic and social upheavals the American people of today have no idea that what is now occurring happens on “regular as clockwork” schedule of every 30-40 years, and has throughout all of recorded human history.
The last time a great global economic upheaval occurred was in 1971 when the US went off the gold standard (called the Nixon Shock) which plunged the United States and its Western allies into an over decade long period of stagnation that only ended after President Ronald Reagan began the largest peacetime buildup of military forces in all history and which nearly led to World War III with the then Soviet Empire.
Prior to the “Nixon Shock” was the 1944 Bretton Woods System enacted in the aftermath of the global economic upheaval of the Great Depression and World War II which cost an estimated 150 million lives world-wide.
Most important to know about these “once in a lifetime” global economic upheavals are that even if the ones in the past are forgotten about by the masses they are most certainly not by the elites who use their knowledge of the past in an attempt to control what the future will be.
To the “new” global economic system that was planned to replace the current one once it was destroyed is no secret as these elites have been planning this transition for decades and named it the New International Economic Order (NIEO). However, since NIEO was first proposed in the 1970’s the nations of the world were unable to agree on how to implement it thus leading to the chaos we have today.
Interesting to note is that the ancient Jewish-Christian text called the Old Testament (or Torah) provided to humanity the only proven method to avoid the 30-50 cycle of repeated economic collapses and as stated in The Book of Deuteronomy chapter 15 verse 1, “At the end of every seventh year you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money.”
This biblical precept was codified in the United States upon its founding and enabled any American to have his debts absolved every seven years through a process known as bankruptcy, but which over the past 50 years has been corrupted from its original intent to keep these people from becoming “debt slaves” and has, instead, been portrayed to these idiots as being morally wrong by their political, banking and corporate overlords.
Because the United States has become a nation of idiots instead of freemen they are, likewise, completely blind to the monstrosity of the country they are helping to create wherein from the time they are born, to the time they are told to die, these people will live in an Orwellian World devoid of any meaning and subject to the most brutal methods of control ever designed by an elite class to control the masses.
From their President Obama now having the power to assassinate any citizen he so chooses, and the CIA warned could now be allowed to kill journalists, and the FBI about to deploy a nationwide facial recognition system in order to track those citizens with no ties to terror groups but who are warned pose a “serious national security threat,” and the US Department of Homeland Security beginning testing of their “Pre-Crime Detection System” designed to jail those who have not committed a crime, but maybe will, one can, indeed, see the words George Orwell wrote in his seminal work 1984 coming alive into today’s America:
And though the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs is warning its citizens about traveling to the United States perhaps the ones who should heed it the most are the people living there.
Activist Post Deleted! Google Erases Popular Alternative News Source
by Zen Gardner
At mid-day on Friday, September 23, 2011, the popular alternative news blog, ActivistPost.com, was taken offline. Activist Post receives over one million views per month and has been hosted by Google’s Blogger since its founding in June 2010.
“We remain puzzled as to why Activist Post was erased completely by Google,” said chief editor and co-founder Michael Edwards. “When we tried to load our back-up file into our secondary Blogger account, that was blocked as well,” he added.
It remains unclear whether Google has acted to censor ActivistPost.com for their controversial reporting. Google is becoming somewhat notorious for clamping down on truth and liberty activists, of which Activist Post is known for.
“Clearly, this is a huge set back for us and the work we do,” said co-founder Eric Blair. “Our entire crew is working on resolving the issue and restoring the website. We certainly look forward to an explanation from Google.”
Activist Post will file an appeal with Google to restore the site in full, and asks their loyal supporters to make their voices heard as well. However, they also are seeking other hosting services to avoid these types of censorship issues in the future.
“We want to thank our loyal readers, contributors, and advertisers for being patient while we work this out. We plan to come on even stronger in face of this adversity,” Edwards said
Canadians with mental illnesses denied U.S. entry
More than a dozen Canadians have told the Psychiatric Patient Advocate Office in Toronto within the past year that they were blocked from entering the United States after their records of mental illness were shared with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
Lois Kamenitz, 65, of Toronto contacted the office last fall, after U.S. customs officials at Pearson International Airport prevented her from boarding a flight to Los Angeles on the basis of her suicide attempt four years earlier.
Kamenitz says she was stopped at customs after showing her passport and asked to go to a secondary screening. There, a Customs and Border Protection officer told Kamenitz that he had information that police had attended her home in 2006.
Read More: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/09/08/f-border-mental-health-privacy.html
Lawsuit Claims Microsoft Is Tracking Every Windows Phone Even if You Opt Out
Microsoft is tracking your Windows Phone, and there’s nothing you can do about it. A lawsuit filed in Seattle is claiming that Windows Phone’s camera app tracks your location and sends it to Microsoft, even if you opt out. We contacted Microsoft and they refused to comment.
Earlier this year, when the Internet was losing its mind about Apple storing your location data on a hidden file on the iPhone 4, Microsoft told us that it only stores your last known location as a single data point that it erases as soon as it stores a new one. Which is probably true! But tracking your users after they’ve specifically opted out of the service is pretty serious, and we’re still waiting on a straight answer from Microsoft on this mess. [Reuters via BGR]
60% of Toronto arrests lead to strip searches
CBC News
The Toronto Police Accountability Coalition says police should not perform strip searches as a matter of routine. (Canadian Press)
More than 60 per cent of people arrested by Toronto police last year were forced to undergo a strip search, according to police statistics.
But a police accountability group says routine searches are against the law and alleges Toronto police are using the practice to humiliate and intimidate people.
Police figures show that 31,072 people were strip-searched in 2010, up from 29,789 the previous year.
John Sewell of the Toronto Police Accountability Coalition (TPAC) said that means about 60 per cent of those arrested in Toronto were subjected to a strip search.
Sewell said such widespread strip searching by police flies in the face of a 2001 Supreme Court ruling that declared such searches are intrusive, humiliating and should not be performed as a matter of routine.
Read More: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/story/2011/08/17/police-strip-searche.html
NSA Admits It Tracks Americans Via Cell Phones
The general counsel of the National Security Agency testified to a Senate hearing yesterday that he believes the agency has the authority to track Americans via cell phones.
“There are certain circumstances where that authority may exist,” said Matthew Olsen the current nominee to head up the National Counterterrorism Center.
Olsen made the comments to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence as Sen. Ron Wyden (D., Ore.) repeatedly asked if the government has the authority to “use cell site data to track the location of Americans inside the country.”
Olsen added that the reason his answer was not definitive was that “it is a very complicated question”, assuring the committee that the NSA would provide more information in a future memo.
Sen. Wyden recently wrote (full letter below) to the Director of National Intelligence demanding to know whether the CIA and the NSA “have the authority to collect the geolocation information of American citizens for intelligence purposes.”
“If yes, please explain the specific statutory basis for this authority,” the letter, co signed by Sen. Mark Udall (D., Colo.) states.
The Senators also requested information on how many Americans have been monitored under authority granted by 2008 legislation amending the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. “Have any apparently law-abiding Americans had their communications collected by the government?” the letter asks.
Two months ago Wyden expressed concern that the law relating to surveillance is unclear. “The law is being secretly interpreted by the executive branch” Wyden noted.
Along with Congressman Jason Chaffetz (R., Utah), Wyden has introduced a joint bill that would force any government agency to secure a search warrant and show probable cause before tracking the location of any American.
The issue of cell phone tracking blew up earlier this year when it was revealed that computer researchers discovered a hidden file that allows Apple to track the location of iPhone and iPad users. Google’s collection of location from cellphones has also been open to question.
As we have previously highlighted, however, since October 2001, the FCC has mandated that all wireless carriers track the location of their users down to within 50 feet.
Under the 1996 Telecommunications Act, the FCC mandated that by October 1, 2001 a quarter of all new cellphones be equipped with GPS functionality that would allow authorities to track the location of users. By the end of 2002, this became a mandatory requirement of allnew cellphones.
As Geek.com reported back in October 2001, “Because cellphone calls to 911 (estimated at around 140,000 per year) do not give the 911 operator location information, the FCC mandated that wireless companies “be able to locate 67 percent of callers to 911 within 50 meters that elect the handset solution while those using network technology must be able to locate the caller within 100 meters.” Wireless companies must also have one-quarter of the new cellphones they offer equipped to provide that location information by the end of the year, and all new cellphones so equipped by the end of next year.”
As a PC World article written in August 2001, two months before the first phase of the new FCC rules were enacted, asked, “The FCC requires cell phone companies to track you, in order to find you when you call 911–but what about your privacy?”
“Cell phone tracking was propelled by the Federal Communications Commission, which adopted enhanced 911 rules to cover wireless services. For E911′s first phase, cellular carriers must be able to pinpoint, to the nearest cell tower, the location of someone calling 911. For Phase II, carriers must be able to pinpoint a 911 caller’s location to within 50 to 300 meters,” states the article.
Your cellphone has been tracking you in real time for the lion’s share of the last decade, so why has it taken the media nearly 10 years to notice? Because in 2001, when such measures could have been made illegal, there was no iPhone, there was no app store, and the smart phones being used were extremely crude compared to today’s models, which are no less than mini-laptops.
Free Speech Zone 