On World Press Freedom Day, little press freedom to speak of

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Reports released by multiple organization are calling this the most dangerous conditions for journalists in decades

Last Saturday, May 3, was annual World Press Freedom Day. This year, the state of press freedom is especially grim; journalists face imprisonment, kidnapping, and death for doing their jobs.

Unfortunately, we really dont have a lot to celebrate, said Joel Simon, executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. If you look at the statistics, these are basically the worst times for journalists in CPJs history Were seeing a record number of journalists imprisoned.

That includes Vices Simon Ostrovsky in Ukraine and three Al Jazeera journalists in Egypt. And there are hundreds more (211 as of December 1, 2013) cases that havent gotten as much attention. For World Press Freedom Day, CPJ highlighted 10 imprisoned journalists: men and women held for years on anti-state charges (or no charges at all) in countries like Eritrea, China, and Iran.

CPJ isnt the only organization warning that the world has become more dangerous for journalists. In its 2014 Freedom of the Press report, released last week, Freedom House noted that global press freedom fell to its lowest level in over a decade last year. Reporters Without Borders said 2013s death toll for journalists was very high, with a 129 percent increase in abductions. And in its annual World Press Freedom Index, Reporters Without Borders noted a trend in countries regarded as democracies where national security is used to restrict freedom of information. Lest anyone think America is a shining beacon of press freedom, USA fell 14 places from last year, from 32 to 46. In America, Reporters Without Borders wrote, the whistleblower is the enemy.

Among the most dangerous countries for journalists right now, Simon said, are Syria (28 journalists killed in 2013, two this year), Ukraine (several journalists have been abducted and attacked during the countrys recent troubles, and one was killed earlier this year) and Pakistan (a near-perfect record of impunity when it comes to journalist murders). Simon noted that there has been some progressPakistan recently convicted six men in the 2011 murder of a journalist, and the level of violence against the press in Colombia has decreased dramatically in the last several yearsbut only in the countries that are willing to work for it.

Governments that recognize this is a problem, you can engage with them, Simon said. And we have seen progress when that occurs. But there are many countries around the world that just arent engaging, dont see this as an issue, dont respect the work of journalists.

World Press Freedom Day aims to remind everyone how important a truly free and independent press is, to look at how that press is being threatened, and to support members of the press who currently face persecution for their work. Fittingly, this was the day that those three Al Jazeera journalists returned to an Egyptian court. Simon hoped it would also be the day that they were freed from jail, where theyve been since last December.

If theyre not released, it will be a sad irony, Simon said.

The judge wished the three a happy World Press Freedom Day, then refused their request for bail and sent them back to prison.

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On World Press Freedom Day, little press freedom to speak of

CardinalCommerce and The Fraud Practice Announce Results from Inaugural Survey on Consumer Authentication

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Cleveland, OH (PRWEB) May 05, 2014

CardinalCommerce and The Fraud Practice announce the results of the first-ever survey on Consumer Authentication. This inaugural survey, which takes a 360 degree view of the payments eco-system, provides rich information on the attitudes about and adoption of Consumer Authentication today.

Among the responses, it was discovered that the overwhelming impression of merchants currently using Consumer Authentication is positive. Other findings of note include:

David Montague, President of The Fraud Practice, says With EMV coming into the U.S. market, fraud is more likely to move to the online sales channel with the roll out of chip cards. The need to understand the value and set expectations for implementing Consumer Authentication has never been more timely, which is why were excited to team with Cardinal in presenting the inaugural Consumer Authentication Survey."

Mike Keresman, Chief Executive Officer at Cardinal, says We believe in Consumer Authentication, and we are happy to see that the payments industry supports it and sees its benefits, too. Our Consumer Authentication solution delivers more sales than traditional authentication protocols and stand-alone fraud screening. Merchants can have all the benefits of Verified by Visa, MasterCard SecureCode, MasterCard SecureCode Plus and other protocols, while enhancing the consumer experience with one simple connection that can FutureProofTM a merchants payment needs and requirements. Consumer Authentication is the next level of using authentication; in essence it creates in real-time a virtual collaboration between what the banks and merchants know about that consumer and transaction. The result is increased orders, improved margins and an enhanced consumer experience.

Cardinal and The Fraud Practice will also present these survey results via a webinar, scheduled for Thursday, May 8 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time. David Montague, President of The Fraud Practice, industry expert and survey author, will serve as moderator. To register for the webinar, visit: http://info.cardinalcommerce.com/learn-about-the-state-of-consumer-authentication

In this Consumer Authentication Survey, more than 400 people responded, representing constituents across the payments industry: merchants, acquirers and payment solution providers (including gateways), card associations, issuers, and fraud/eCommerce providers.

The merchant respondents, 40% of the total, are split evenly between merchants using Consumer Authentication and those not using it. Company size of merchants was also diverse, with 55.4% of responses coming from companies with more than $50 million in revenue, 27.3% coming from companies with less than $5 million in revenue, and the remaining 23% falling between $5 and $50 million in revenue. The remaining respondents are as follows: 28.4% are acquirers and PSPs; 23.7% are fraud and eCommerce service providers; 4.1% are card associations; and 3.8% are issuers.

To download the complete report, visit http://info.cardinalcommerce.com/consumer_authentication_checklist-0

About CardinalCommerce CardinalCommerce has been a pioneer and global leader in enabling authenticated payment transactions in the card-not-present payments industry since 1999. Through one connection to our proprietary SafeCloudTM payment platform, CardinalCommerce enables friction-free, technology-neutral authentication and alternative payment services (including digital wallets and mobile commerce services). Cardinal services, partners with and complements most providers in the marketplace to deliver their one connection solution to secure transactions. In accommodating this growing number of payment brands and methods, Cardinal's platforms serve as universal switches, supporting virtually all merchant platforms, wallets, legacy processing systems and authentication methodologies.

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CardinalCommerce and The Fraud Practice Announce Results from Inaugural Survey on Consumer Authentication

Epicuros – Artificial Intelligence vol. 5 (Space Ambient, Psybient, Psy-Chill) – Video

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Epicuros - Artificial Intelligence vol. 5 (Space Ambient, Psybient, Psy-Chill)
Where men shall fail - machines will succeed. 01. Mahindra Waves - Prima Materia 02. Astronaut Ape - iWorld 2.0 03. Asura - V.A.N.T.A. 04. Epsilon - L des Licheld 05. Easily Embarrased - The...

By: Ambient Epicuros

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Epicuros - Artificial Intelligence vol. 5 (Space Ambient, Psybient, Psy-Chill) - Video