Nova Scotia’s awful cyber abuse law makes bullies of us all
by Jesse Brown
Macleans.ca
August 8, 2011
Jeff Chiu/AP
I’ve written before about the problems involved in legislating against cyberbullying. I focused on the impossible issue of reaching a definition. Rape, assault, harassment: these are crimes with established parameters. All of them could also be called “bullying.” They could also be described as “mean,” and I suppose we could enact a law against being mean. But I’d rather have laws against specific crimes, rather than against vast swaths of vaguely defined human behaviour. Ultimately, bullying is in the eye of the bullied. For many, cyberbullying is equal to a negative thing said about them on the Internet. I’ve met restaurant owners who feel they’re being cyberbullied by Chowhound critics.
The problems with anti-cyberbullying laws don’t end there. Once a law establishes some flawed definition, it moves on to enforcement. Here’s how Nova Scotia’s new Cyber Safety Act, which went into effect yesterday, will go about stopping online abuse:
Someone feels that you’re cyberbullying them. They visit or phone the court and request a protection order against you (minors , or some reason, cannot do so, only adults). A judge decides if their claim meets the law’s definition. The definition of cyberbullying, in this particular bill, includes “any electronic communication” that ”ought reasonably be expected” to “humiliate” another person, or harm their “emotional well-being, self-esteem or reputation.”
If this is the standard, I don’t know a person who isn’t a cyberbully.
The issuing of a protection order is an ex parte process between your accuser and the court. You won’t have an opportunity to defend yourself. If a judge issues one against you, here’s what might happen:
- The police can seize your computers and phone.
- Your Internet connection can be shut off.
- You can be ordered to stop using electronic devices entirely.
- Your Internet Service Provider or Internet companies, such as Facebook, can be compelled to fork over all your data to the police.
- You can be gagged by the court and prohibited from mentioning your accuser online.
- If you violate any of these orders, you’ll face stiff fines and up to two years of jail time. At this point, your accuser can sue you in civil court.
But wait, there’s more.
[hat tip: Louise Koster]
VIDEO — A Security Expert Says Get A 2nd Offline Computer!
108morris108
August 10, 2013
Most home computers have malware or spyware in them.
VIDEO — Ahoy! Pirate Bay launches anti-censorship browser
RT
August 13, 2013
The team running the Pirate Bay (TPB) – one of the web’s largest file-sharing sites – has launched a special PirateBrowser that allows users “to circumvent censorship that certain countries impose onto their citizens.” The launch comes as TPB celebrates 10 years of harboring ‘pirated’ and other online content. READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/1ogeg1
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Main Stream Media Using Paywall/Metering System’s A Victory For Alternative Outlets Or The Beginning Of the Internet 2?
by Terry Wilson
Canadian Awareness Network
August 13, 2013
Nearly one year ago, we noticed that the Hamilton Spectator had begun charging a monthly fee to access their online content. Offering the ability to view six online news articles a month for free with the option to subscribe to their publication to view more. The Waterloo Region Record, Globe and Mail and National Post have also implemented the same “paywall” systems to their websites.
The parent corporations, Torstar and Postmedia have also shut down YourMississaugaBiz and YourHamiltonBiz. Both those websites where short lived “paywalled” small business news websites. Bob Hepburn, a spokesman for Torstar stated: “It’s a business decision based on the economic conditions,” Source
As of today Canada’s largest main stream propaganda outlet, the Toronto Star has begun the “paywalled” or metered access system to their website. “This marks a major transition for the Star that will help us provide, in print and online, the best and most comprehensive package of news and information in Canada,” Star publisher John Cruickshank wrote in a brief article in the paper.
The first month of digital access costs 99 cents, then $9.99 a month plus HST after that, but will be free for home subscribers who meet certain conditions. Source
I do enjoy the spin that John Cruickshank is pushing as the reason for this change, but let’s face the facts. In the era of independent and alternative online news, offering information for free. The main stream is economically failing. The CBC, Sun news, and scores of other main stream propaganda outlets are barely keeping a float. Mostly relying on government subsidies to survive.
Are these new fee’s are nothing more than the three corporations who own all main stream media in Canada Source, attempting to maintain their monopoly because of the huge rise of independent news outlets?
Our could it be a step into the direction of the “internet 2″ system. Which you can learn about in the below video.
At this point it is to early to say if this is a move towards independent media replacing the propaganda centers, or a move to more corporate control. But one thing is for sure. We will remain as vigilant as ever to bring you all of the developing information.
7 People Who Were Arrested Because Of Something They Wrote On Facebook
Cameron D’Ambrosio at his trial. (AP/POOL PHOTO)
by Alyson Shontell
Business Insider
July 9, 2013
Many people exercise poor judgement on Facebook, a site where Freedom of Speech may no longer apply.
Recently, young Facebook users who have posted controversial status messages have ended up in jail.
Sometimes the messages they typed were actually offensive. Other times they were jokes gone terribly wrong. One teen was even arrested for posting violent rap lyrics.
Most of the time, the Facebook offenders are impulsive. They type before they think, and lately they’ve had to pay serious consequences.
Justin Carter is a 19-year-old who is currently in jail for leaving a “sarcastic” comment on Facebook about “shooting up a kindergarten.”
Justin Carter is a 19-year-old who has been in jail since February 2013.
The reason: he was allegedly insulted by a fellow League of Legends gamer who questioned his mental state and retorted:
“I think Ima shoot up a kindergarten / And watch the blood of the innocent rain down/ And eat the beating heart of one of them.”
The comment worried a Canadian woman who tipped authorities. Carter’s house was searched, his computer was taken, and he was arrested. He’s currently awaiting a trial even though he and his family maintain that the Facebook messages were meant to be sarcastic.
Last October, another 19-year-old, Matt Woods was sentenced to three months in jail for making sick jokes about missing children on Facebook.
A teenager in England, Matthew Woods, was sentenced to three months in jail after making numerous inappropriate comments about a five year old, April Jones and a four year old, Madeleine McCann, who disappeared, according to The Daily Mail.
The offensive comments stemmed from Sickipedia, a site that encourages the swapping of tasteless jokes.
Woods’ Facebook messages included: “I woke up this morning in the back of a transit van with two beautiful little girls, I found April in a hopeless place.” and “Who in their right mind would abduct a ginger kid?”
Woods’ mother wasn’t pleased. Daily Mail says she wrote a follow up message, “You should stop and think things out before opening ya gob,” at which point Woods wrote an apology and said he had been drunk while writing the messages.
Still, an angry mob showed up at Woods’ house and the court was notified of the offensive comments. Woods was told at the time of his sentence, “This was a disgusting and despicable crime which the bench finds completely abhorrent…We felt there was no other sentence which would convey the abhorrence that many people have for this sort of crime.”
VIDEO — Top Google Engineer Promises Immortality
Mark Dice
July 21, 2013
Google Engineer Promises Immortality and Eternal Virtual Reality Life in Cyberspace
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VIDEO — What is the endgame? – Questions For Corbett #007
The Corbett Report
July 1, 2013
In this edition of the ongoing Questions For Corbett podcast series, James answers your questions on: wireless mesh networking, Snowden and limited hangouts, how to buy gold, how to use The Corbett Report website, the GMO/fluoride agenda, the endgame of the powers that shouldn’t be and much, much more.
SHOW NOTES AND MP3: http://www.corbettreport.com/?p=7601
PN 