Secret Service Says Trump’s Second Amendment People Comment Led to Threats Against Clinton – PoliticusUSA

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National security and intelligence community journalist Michael Best reported on Thursday that he just got the documents from the Secret Service regarding threats against Hillary Clinton, and they indicate that the Secret Service did see threats against Clinton seemingly as a result of Trumps comment about second amendment people.

Secret Service documents indicate they did see threats against Hillary Clinton seemingly as a result of Trumps 2nd Amendment people comment, Best writes on Twitter, adding, DHS reaction to Trumps 2nd Amendment people comments: YIKES!'

On August 9th, 2016, Donald Trump suggested his supporters might shoot Clinton if she got to pick a Supreme Court judge, By the way, if she (Hillary Clinton) gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do folks. Although, the Second Amendment people maybe there is. I dont know.

On July 20th, CNN reported that the Secret Service was investigating a Trump adviser after he called for Clintons execution on the radio. Trump adviser Al Baldasaro told a radio host that Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason.

Donald Trump didnt distance himself from Baldarsaro.

Days later, Trump made his second amendment people comment about Clinton getting to fill the Supreme Court seat that Republicans stole from President Barack Obama. Trump supporters and Republicans have tried to pretend his comment wasnt an incitement to violence, but the Secret Service says they did see threats seemingly as a result of Trumps comment.

On the day when Senate Republicans are changing the filibuster rule so they can confirm an extremist to the Supreme Court who was nominated by a president who is under investigation for possible collusion with Russia, the Secret Service confirmed that Trumps call for second amendment people to shoot Clinton if she got to nominate a Supreme Court justice seemingly resulted in threats against her.

Republicans have become radical jihadists inciting violence to get their way, so after not even waiting the average period of time to get Gorusch confirmed, they flipped out and voted to change the Senate rules an act they admitted would ruin the senate. This is the modern day Republican Party. They have become the reactionary hot headed destroyers they chide the far left for being in the 60s.

Republicans arent here for the law and order theyre here to violate laws and norms until they get their way. If they dont get what they want, second amendment people might have to fix it for them.

And if that doesnt work, theyll just change the rules to fit their extremist pick for a seat they already violated precedent to steal from the Democratic president.

With the major victim/persecution complex that colors the Right these days, if the shoe had been on the other foot with these comments, we never would have heard the end of it. There would be investigations into investigations, and leaks and so many more leaks, and conservative journalists illegally recording people to prove how horrible Democrats were. And the press would breathlessly report on the drama, the victimization, the persecution.

If the shoe were on the other foot, elected Democrats would be saying Trump should be shot for treason for all of the Russian connections, since Republicans said that over Clintons hyped up email scandal when she wasnt even found guilty of anything. But Democrats dont roll that way. The Democratic President, Barack Obama, was careful and responsible with his rhetoric.

When it came down to actually inciting violence against his Democratic opponent, Trump supporters and the entire Republican Party enabled and supported Donald Trump. If they werent under a fast gathering cloud of sweeping Russian smoke, this would be a new low for the Republican Party.

As it is, facing possible treason and obstruction of justice accusations, inciting threats against a rival is to be expected. Its how dictators do things.

did Donald Trump incite violence, did donald trump threaten Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump, second amendment people

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Secret Service Says Trump's Second Amendment People Comment Led to Threats Against Clinton - PoliticusUSA

The Second Amendment and ‘weapons of war’ – The Montgomery Herald

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Put simply, writes Judge Robert King of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, we have no power to extend Second Amendment protections to weapons of war.

In Kolbe v. Hogan, the court upheld Marylands ban on assault weapons, also known as rifles that look scary to people who know nothing about guns.

As talk radio host Darryl W. Perry of Free Talk Live notes, Kings perversely broad statement would cover a ban on the possession of rocks:

And David put his hand in his bag, and took thence a stone, and slang it, and smote the Philistine in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead; and he fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine with a sling and with a stone, and smote the Philistine, and slew him 1st Samuel, Chapter 17

King also displays a poor grasp of history. No judicial power is required to extend the Second Amendment to cover weapons of war, because theyre precisely what it was intended to cover in the first place.

The Second Amendment was ratified only a few years after a citizen army many of its soldiers armed, at least at first, with weapons brought from home defeated the most fearsome professional military machine in the history of the world, the army of a global empire.

The express purpose of the Second Amendment was to guarantee the continued maintenance of an armed populace. In fact, the Second Militia Act of 1792 legally required every adult able-bodied white American male to own and maintain weapons of war (a musket or rifle, bayonet, powder and bullets) just in case the militia had to be called out.

Even in the 1939 case usually cited to justify victim disarmament (gun control) laws, U.S. v. Miller, the U.S. Supreme Court held that the reason Jack Miller/s short-barreled shotgun could be banned was that it WASNT a weapon of war: [I]t is not within judicial notice that this weapon is any part of the ordinary military equipment or that its use could contribute to the common defense.

Yes, you read that right: The Supreme Court ruled that the Second Amendment applies ONLY to weapons of war. I think thats too narrow myself, but at least it comes at the matter from the correct historical perspective.

The purpose of the Second Amendment is best understood in terms of a quote falsely attributed to Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto of the Japanese navy at the beginning of World War II: You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.

Shame on King and the 4th Circuit for failing to uphold the plain meaning of shall not be infringed.

(Thomas L. Knapp is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism, thegarrisoncenter.org. He lives and works in north central Florida. Follow him on Twitter @thomaslknapp.)

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The Second Amendment and 'weapons of war' - The Montgomery Herald

Firearms technology and the original meaning of the Second Amendment – Washington Post

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Gun-control advocates often argue that gun-control laws must be more restrictive than the original meaning of the Second Amendment would allow, because modern firearms are so different from the firearms of the late 18th century. This argument is based on ignorance of the history of firearms. It is true that in 1791 the most common firearms were handguns or long guns that had to be reloaded after every shot. But it is not true that repeating arms, which can fire multiple times without reloading, were unimagined in 1791. To the contrary, repeating arms long predate the 1606 founding of the first English colony in America. As of 1791, repeating arms were available but expensive.

This article explains why the price of repeating arms declined so steeply. Then it describes some of the repeating arms that were already in use when the Second Amendment was ratified, including the 22-shot rifle that was later carried on the Lewis andClark expedition.

One of the men to credit for why repeating arms became much less expensive during the 19th century is James Madison, author of the Second Amendment. During Madisons presidency (1809-17), Secretary of War James Monroe (who would succeed Madison as president), successfully promoted legislation to foster the development of firearms technology. In particular, the federal armories at Springfield, Mass., and Harpers Ferry, Va., were ordered to invent the means of producing firearms with interchangeable parts.

To function reliably, repeating firearms must have internal components that fit together very precisely much more precisely than is necessary for single-shot firearms. Before President Madison and Secretary Monroe started the manufacturing revolution, firearms were built one at a time by craftsmen. Making a repeating arm required much more time and expertise than making a single-shot firearm.Howto make repeating arms was well-known, but making them at a labor cost the average person could afford was impossible.

Thanks to the technology innovation labs created at Springfield and Harpers Ferry, inventors found ways to manufacture firearms components at a higher rate, and with more consistency for each part. Instead of every part being made by hand, parts were manufactured with machine tools (tools that make other tools). For example, the wooden stocks for rifles could be repetitively manufactured with such precision that any stock from a factory would fit any rifle from the factory, with no need for craftsmen to shave or adjust the stock.

In New England, the Springfield Armory worked with emerging machinists for other consumer products; the exchange of information in this technology network led directly to the Connecticut River Valley becoming a center of American consumer firearms manufacture, and to rapid improvements in the manufacture of many other consumer durables. The story is told in: Ross Thomson, Structures of Change in the Mechanical Age: Technological Innovation in the United States 1790-1865 (2009);Alexander Rose, American Rifle: A Biography (2008); David R. Meyer, Networked Machinists: High-Technology Industries in Antebellum America (2006); David A. Hounshell, From the American System to Mass Production, 1800-1932 (1985); Merritt Roe Smith, Harpers Ferry Armory and the New Technology: The Challenge of Change (1977);Felicia Johnson Deyrup, Arms Makers of the Connecticut Valley: A Regional Study of the Economic Development of the Small Arms Industry, 1798-1870 (1948). By the 1830s, manufacturing uniformity was sufficiently advanced that repeating arms were becoming widely affordable, and no longer just for the wealthy.

What kind of repeating arms were available before1815, when the Madison-Monroe mass production innovation program began? The state of the art was theGirandoni air rifle, invented around 1779 for Austrian army sharpshooters. Lewis and Clark would carry a Girandoni on their famous expedition, during the Jefferson administration. The Girandoni could shoot 21 or 22 bullets in .46 or .49 caliber without reloading. Ballistically equal to a firearm, a single shot from the Girandoni could penetrate a one-inch wood plank, or take an elk. (For more on the Girandoni, see my article The History of Firearms Magazines and Magazine Prohibitions, 88 Albany L. Rev. 849, 852-53 (2015).)

The first repeaters had been invented about three centuries before. The earliest-known model is a German breech-loading matchlock arquebus from around 1490-1530 with a 10-shot revolving cylinder.M.L. Brown, Firearms in Colonial America: The Impact on History and Technology, 1492-1792, 50 (1980). Henry VIII had a long gun that used a revolving cylinder (a revolver) for multiple shots.W.W. Greener, The Gun and Its Development, 81-82 (9th ed. 1910). A 16-round wheel lock dates from about 1580.Kopel, at 852.

Production of repeaters continued in the seventeenth century. Brown, at 105-6 (four-barreled wheel-lock pistol could fire 15 shots in a few seconds); John Nigel George, English Guns and Rifles, 55-58 (1947) (English breech-loading lever-action repeater, and a revolver, made no later than the British Civil War, and perhaps earlier, by an English gun maker).

The first repeaters to be built in large quantities appear to be the 1646 Danish flintlocks that used a pair of tubular magazines, and could fire 30 shots without reloading. Like a modern lever-action rifle, the next shot was made ready by a simple two-step motion of the trigger guard. These guns were produced for the Danish and Dutch armies. Brown, at 106-7.

In Colonial America, repeating arms wereavailable for people who could afford them, or who were skilled enough to make their own. For example, in September 1722, John Pim of Boston entertained some Indians by demonstrating a firearm he had made. Although loaded but once, it was discharged eleven times following, with bullets in the space of two minutes each which went through a double door at fifty yards distance. Samuel Niles, A Summary Historical Narrative of the Wars in New England, Massachusetts Historical Society Collections, 4th ser., vol. 5, 347 (1837). Pims gun may have been a type of the repeating flintlock that became popular in England from the third quarter of the 17th century, and was manufactured in Massachusetts starting in the early eighteenth. Harold L. Peterson, Arms and Armor in Colonial America 1526-1783, 215-17(Dover reprint 2000) (Smithsonian Institution 1956). Another repeating flintlock, invented by Philadelphias Joseph Belton, could fire eight shots in three seconds. Idem,217. Pim also owned a .52 caliber six-shot flintlock revolver, similar to the revolvers that had been made in England since the turn of the century. Brown, 255.A variety of multi-shot pistols from the late eighteenth century have been preserved, holding two to four rounds. Charles Winthrop Sawyer, Firearms in American History: 1600 to 1800, 194-98, 215-16 (1910).

The repeaters described above werenotthe most common arms. It would take two decades for the program begun by President Madison to result in repeating arms beginning to become affordable to the middle class. So in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, a person who could not afford an expensive repeater, but who wanted to be able to fire more than one bullet without reloading, would often buy ablunderbuss. The blunderbuss was the size of a very large handgun. Its muzzle flared outward slightly, like a bell. This made it easier to load while bouncing in a stagecoach, or on a swaying ship. The blunderbuss could fire either one large projectile, or several at once. Most often it was loaded with about 20 large pellets, and so it was devastating at short range. The name seems an adaptation of the Dutch donder-buse or thunder gun.

Excellent for self-defense at close quarters, the blunderbuss was of little use for anything else, having an effective range of about 20 yards. Militarily, it was used by sailors to repel boarders. Stagecoach guards and travelers carried blunderbusses, and it was also a common arm for home defense.For more on the blunderbuss, see Brown and George, above.

No one would dispute that modern arms are much improved from 1791 in terms of reliability, accuracy, range and affordability. But the gap from the 22-shot Girandoni (powerful enough to take an elk) to a modern firearm is pretty small compared withthe changes in technology of the press. Compared to the one-sheet-at-a-time printing presses of 1791, the steam and rotary presses invented in the 19th century made printing vastly faster a speed improvement that dwarfs the speed improvement in firearms in the last 500 years. When the First Amendment was written, a skilled printer could produce 250 sheets in two hours. Today, a modern newspaper printing press can produce 70,000 copies of a newspaper (consisting of dozens of sheets) in an hour. Now, with digital publishing, a newspaper article can be read globally within minutes after it is written.

This means that irresponsible media can cause far more harm today than they could in 1791. For example, in 2005, Newsweek magazine published a false story claiming that American personnel at Guantanamo Bay had desecrated Korans belonging to prisoners there. Eventually, Newsweek retracted the story. But the phony story had already spread worldwide, setting off riots in six countries, in which over 30 people were killed.Had Newsweek been using 18th-century printing presses, the false story would have mostly been read by several thousand people in the New York City area, where Newsweek is based. It would been months if ever before the Newsweek issue with the false story was read by anyone in Pakistan or Afghanistan.

We do not limit any constitutional right to the technology that existed in 1791. In District of Columbia v. Heller, the court observed:

Some have made the argument, bordering on the frivolous, that only those arms in existence in the 18th century are protected by the Second Amendment. We do not interpret constitutional rights that way. Just as the First Amendment protects modern forms of communications, e.g., Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union, 521 U. S. 844, 849 (1997), and the Fourth Amendment applies to modern forms of search, e.g., Kyllo v. United States, 533 U. S. 27, 35-36 (2001), the Second Amendment extends, prima facie, to all instruments that constitute bearable arms, even those that were not in existence at the time of the founding.

This is an accurate statement of constitutional law, but it understates how truly frivolous the argument against modern firearms is. The people who ratified the Bill of Rights certainly didnot anticipate the invention centuries later of the Internet or of thermal imaging sensors. The American people of 1791 did not have to anticipate the invention of repeating arms, because such arms had been in existence for centuries.

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Firearms technology and the original meaning of the Second Amendment - Washington Post

Second Amendment Victories Continue to Pile Up – The New American

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The restoration of Second Amendment-protected rights in the states is happening so quickly that its hard to keep up. On Friday, the Georgia legislature sent a bill to Governor Nathan Deal that would allow concealed handguns on public college campuses, with some exceptions built in to appease Deal, who vetoed a similar but stronger measure last year. Jerry Henry, executive director of GeorgiaCarry.org, a pro-gun rights group, was realistic: Its not the bill that we wanted but its the bill we got. It gives [us] a foot in the door. If Deal signs the bill, Georgia would become the 11th state with this kind of campus-carry law.

Georgia legislators also sent to Deals desk a bill that improved a number of the states existing gun laws, including giving individuals moving to the state from reciprocal carry agreement states a 90-day grace period to obtain a Georgia Weapons License (GWL) while continuing to carry legally using their previous states license. That bill also explicitly prohibits any probate judge from suspending, extending, delaying, or avoiding the process of approving a GWL application made by a citizen of the state.

In addition, it would protect firearms instructors from civil liability for any injuries caused by the failure of one of their students to use a firearm safely.

A third bill sent to Georgia Governor Beal would allow Virginia concealed handgun permit holders to enjoy permit reciprocity with Georgia.

The next day, multiple pro-gun and pro-hunting bills moved ahead in Virginia, including a measure that would allow any law-abiding person to carry a firearm in any state, county, or municipal park or other recreation area. Another bill would allow law-abiding Virginians to carry a firearm onto school property while dropping off or picking up students. Still another would protect shooting ranges from frivolous lawsuits and noise complaints as long as they are operating lawfully. This bill is a direct pushback against anti-gun groups that have filed such lawsuits and complaints in attempts to shut those ranges down.

Last week, North Dakota became the 14th state to allow constitutional carry, just weeks after New Hampshire passed similar legislation. Other constitutional-carry bills are pending in Alabama, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin.

A Michael Bloomberg-funded move in New Mexico to set up a gun registration system was rejected last week, following voter rejection of such a proposal in Maine last November.

On the national level, gun owners are celebrating House Speaker Paul Ryans withdrawal of his anti-gun ObamaCare Lite bill because of its hidden potential to invade Second Amendment-protected rights. Gun Owners of America (GOA) refused to back the bill unless it contained language that prohibited insurance companies from discriminating against gun owners, doctors from entering patients gun ownership information in any federal database, and federal agencies from trolling Medicaid and other federal health databases in order to add names to the NICS background-check database. GOAs demands were ignored, and so the group rallied its members against the passage of Ryans bill.

Also on the national level, Second Amendment supporters are still celebrating the move by Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke on his first day in office, which revoked a last-second move by former President Obama to phase out the use of lead ammunition for bird hunting on federal land. Under normal circumstances, such a directive wouldnt have rated a footnote, but in the present environment it showed that President Trump was not only determined to respect the Second Amendment but to put people in place in his cabinet with a similar determination.

And, just days later, President Trump himself repealed the so-called Social Security gun ban, under which certain Social Security beneficiaries would have had their Second Amendment-protected rights arbitrarily revoked without due process.

Another hopeful sign at the federal level is Trumps nomination of Judge Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court. After reviewing the available background of Gorsuch, 30-year defense attorney Andrew Branca, writing in National Review, stated:

As a strong Second Amendment advocate and someone who has concealed-carried a firearm for pretty much every day of my adult life I, for one, welcome Judge Gorsuchs nomination to the Supreme Court, with great optimism for the Courts future Second Amendment jurisprudence.

Restoring Second Amendment-protected rights after decades of efforts to abrogate them is an inch-by-inch process, and that process is being helped along greatly by a president who is determined to keep his promises in this area. On the importance of the Second Amendment, Trump wrote:

The Second Amendment guarantees a fundamental right that belongs to all law-abiding Americans. The Constitution doesnt create that right it ensures that the government cant take it away. Our Founding Fathers knew, and our Supreme Court has upheld, that the Second Amendments purpose is to guarantee our right to defend ourselves and our families. Law-abiding people should be allowed to own the firearm of their choice. The government has no business dictating what types of firearms good, honest people are allowed to own.

These victories, taken one at a time, dont appear to amount to much. Taken together, however, they indicate not only the momentum shift in favor of the Second Amendment, but a better understanding of it. The language does confuse some: A well-regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

The following statement concerning the importance of books in a well-educated culture, offered by Stephen Halbrook, a senior fellow at The Independent Institute, is instructive in clarifying the Founders meaning: A well-educated citizenry, being necessary to the culture of a free state, the right of the people to keep and read books shall not be infringed.

An Ivy League graduate and former investment advisor, Bob is a regular contributor to The New American magazine and blogs frequently at LightFromTheRight.com, primarily on economics and politics. He can be reached at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Second Amendment Victories Continue to Pile Up - The New American

LA Clippers JJ Redick: Second Amendment Should ‘Evolve’ to Allow … – Breitbart News

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He referenced the Second Amendment while talking about collegiate sports, contending that NCAA basketball players ought to be paid. In fact, Redick jumped from announcing the end of amateurism in collegiate sports to declaring the end of a Second Amendment that protects 21st century firearms.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Redick said:

The idea of amateurism, it doesnt exist anymore. And so if youre going to do what youre doing, then you just need that complete overhaul. Its got to be something radical. Its not just, Oh, lets just pay every player $5,000. It really requires something really radical. And maybe thats getting rid of college athletics as we know it.

He paraphrased a Thomas Jefferson quote to segue to guns, saying, I go back to the Thomas Jefferson quote Im going to butcher it, but its something weve all read. You wouldnt expect a little boy to wear the pea coat he wore as a boy as a grown man. You need to change with the times.

Redick then addressed gun control, saying laws should evolve in the same way he wants to see collegiate sports evolve. He said:

Laws should reflect that [change], rules, regulations, especially as we know more. Gun control. I dont want to get political, but gun control. Thats something that should evolve as technology evolves. When the 2nd Amendment was created, we had to worry about bears, people lived on the frontier and it took a minute to load a muzzle. I think laws should reflect where we are with guns.

Ironicallyjust one day before Redick made these commentsIndependent Institutes Dave Kopel wrote that gun control arguments framed around musket arguments show a lack of historical knowledge. Writing in The Washington Post, Kopel said:

Gun-control advocates often argue that gun-control laws must be more restrictive than the original meaning of the Second Amendment would allow, because modern firearms are so different from the firearms of the late 18th century. This argument is based on ignorance of the history of firearms. It is true that in 1791 the most common firearms were handguns or long guns that had to be reloaded after every shot. But it is not true that repeating arms, which can fire multiple times without reloading, were unimagined in 1791. To the contrary, repeating arms long predate the 1606 founding of the first English colony in America. As of 1791, repeating arms were available but expensive.

Kopels historical observation helps the reader better understand the Supreme Courts majority opinion in District of Columbia v. Heller (2008). In that opinion, late Justice Antonin Scalia pointed to judicial precedent to show the Second Amendment protects guns in common use at any given time. In other words, at all times the Second Amendment protects the guns commonly owned and used by law-abiding citizens. This means protection for the very 21st century firearms J.J. Redick believes justify more gun control.

AWR Hawkins is the Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and host of Bullets with AWR Hawkins, a Breitbart News podcast. He is also the political analyst for Armed American Radio. Follow him on Twitter: @AWRHawkins. Reach him directly at awrhawkins@breitbart.com.

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LA Clippers JJ Redick: Second Amendment Should 'Evolve' to Allow ... - Breitbart News

NRA Readies Next Attack Against The First Amendment – Media Matters for America (blog)

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Media Matters for America (blog)
NRA Readies Next Attack Against The First Amendment
Media Matters for America (blog)
He then played a preview of a message featuring NRA's CEO Wayne LaPierre in which LaPierre claimed the media has weaponized the First Amendment against the Second, and that America would have fallen long ago had people placed their trust in the ...

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NRA Readies Next Attack Against The First Amendment - Media Matters for America (blog)

MTHS Hawkeye wins First Amendment Press Freedom Award for fourth year in a row – MLT News

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Photo courtesy the MTHS Hawkeye

For the fourth year in a row, the Mountlake Terrace High Schools student newspaper The Hawkeye has won the First Amendment Press Freedom Award from the Journalism Education Association (JEA) and National Scholastic Press Association (NSPA). The paper was given the award during an opening ceremony at a JEA/NSPA conference on Thursday night in Seattle.

The award recognizes free and responsible student media that thrive at the school. While members of the Hawkeye, it is also an accomplishment for the district and school administrators. Board Member Ann McMurray was also in attendance Thursday night to accept the award.

Its an award that is earned by having a community that believes in and values the principles of the First Amendment, a school administration that values and protects students rights, and thriving student media where students are in full control of editorial decisions, Hawkeye teacher adviser Vince DeMiero said. That starts at the community level, so this is as much an Edmonds School District award as it is an MTHS award or a Hawkeye award.

The award was given to ten other schools from across the country.

(I am) incredibly humbled, but also terribly sad that everypublic school in America isnt a First Amendment Press Freedom Award winner, DeMiero said.

Schools compete for the title by answering questionnaires submitted by an adviser and at least one editor. Publications that advanced to the next level were then asked to provide responses from the principal and all media advisers and student editors, indicating their support of the First Amendment. In addition, semifinalists submitted their printed policies.

Those who were selected showed a strong commitment to the First Amendment and student media.

Mountlake Terrace High School has won the award several times, and was among the first to win the award in 2000.

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MTHS Hawkeye wins First Amendment Press Freedom Award for fourth year in a row - MLT News

The First Amendment Appears in Arabic in Campaign From the ACLU – Creativity

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Creativity
The First Amendment Appears in Arabic in Campaign From the ACLU
Creativity
This bold campaign from the American Civil Liberties Union sets out to show how powerful the First Amendment is -- in any language. Conceived out of New York-based Emergence Creative, the out-of-home effort simply, in black and white, features the ...

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The First Amendment Appears in Arabic in Campaign From the ACLU - Creativity

The First Amendment Looks Beautiful in Any Language | American … – ACLU (blog)

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If you find yourself in Times Square between now and June, look up. You may catch a glimpse of the First Amendment in Spanish, English, and Arabic.

The ad on the Reuters Digital Tower at 3 Times Square is part of an ACLU campaign to raise awareness about First Amendment rights and remind people that the Constitution is for all of us, no matter who you are or what language you speak.

In addition to the Times Square billboard, the ads were unveiled at 30 bus shelters across Washington, D.C. The First Amendment in all three languages is also displayed on a fence in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn and will appear on a wall in the arts district of downtown Los Angeles.

Additional ads may appear in other cities and in other languages in the coming days and weeks.

The idea for the campaign came about shortly after Donald Trump was elected president on a wave of anti-immigrant hysteria and a pledge to ban Muslims from entering the United States. It was conceived of by the agency Emergence Creative, which approached the ACLU with the idea in December 2016.

In addition to protecting freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom to peaceably protest, the First Amendment protects the right to practice your religion and not be discriminated against for doing so.

Because so much of the ACLUs work involves protecting First Amendment rights, and because we now have a president that openly disdains such freedoms, it seemed like a good time to point out the We the People means everyone.

Several advertising vendors refused to run the campaign. Representatives who handle advertising space for New Yorks Metropolitan Transit Authority and Washingtons Metropolitan Area Transit Authority declined, saying they did not accept issue oriented advertising.However, the vendors who did offer space did so at a substantial discount in part because they wanted to support the effort.

The First Amendment ads will run in Times Square through June, appearing twice an hour for 15 seconds on the electronic billboard at Reuters Digital Tower, 3 Times Square. The ads in Washington will appear on 30 bus shelters across the city for four weeks.

Any advertisers who would like to donate space should contact the ACLU.

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Inside the First Amendment: Men bring much of the news – NorthJersey.com

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Gene Policinski, Gannett 11:59 a.m. ET April 4, 2017

A man looks over the front pages from newspapers around the country on display outside the Newseum in Washington in this file photo from November of 2014.(Photo: Susan Walsh/AP)

Who brings us the news? Mostly its still men, according to a new Womens Media Center study, Divided 2017.

The report says that among the major TV networks, online versions of CNN, Fox, The Huffington Post and The Daily Beast, and the nations 10 largest newspapers:

#EqualPayDay: What you need to know about women in the workforce

Editorial: First Amendment victory in Trenton

The gender disparity shown in the survey is obvious in terms of numbers and simple equity, considering that women make up 51 percent of the population. But its implications, including the impact on news credibility, may not be so clear to news consumers. Cristal Williams Chancellor, the centers director of communications, noted in an interview that many of our fellow citizens are comfortable with men in anchor chairs or dominating story bylines. But in an era in which a majority of people say they distrust the news media and its motives, the most credible news operations should have diverse staffs that represent both their subjects and their audiences, she said.

Clearly, the news industry still falls short of having enough women to meet that goal. Why?

Its not for a lack of qualified female job candidates-in-training: Women made up two-thirds of the student body enrolled in journalism and media-oriented degree programs during the fall 2013 semester, according to data from the most recent Annual Survey of Journalism and Mass Communication Enrollment.

One factor in the lack of overall visibility may come from the finding that lifestyle, health and education remain the topics where women most likely appear. I can recall that same circumstance in newsrooms of the 1960s.

Another bit of history: The American Society of News Editors annual newsroom census found in 2016 that the number of women leaders and employees has remained nearly the same since the 1990s. The survey that year reported that women made up about a third of newsroom employees overall, with a higher number employed at online-only sites than at newspapers. Women comprised 38 percent of daily newspaper employees in this years survey and nearly 50 percent of online-only news organization employees.

At a 2014 ASNE conference, women who were editors also called for changes in hiring and the review/promotion process to address old canards of how women in leadership roles are perceived. Fast Company senior editor Kathleen Davis referenced a study of 248 performance reviews of 180 men and women in media, prepared by both men and women, which showed the word abrasive was used 17 times for women and never for men.

None of these stats or biases is the sole province of newsrooms, to be sure. And going back to the mid-20th century, women in leadership roles in major news operations from the news desk to the corporate suite more often resulted from inherited ownership than from corporate diversity considerations.

But the profession that represents us all in gathering and reporting the news ought to be more of a leader in the 21st century in being representative of all of us.

Gene Policinski is chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute and senior vice president of the First Amendment Center, 555 Pennsylvania Ave., Washington, D.C., 20001.

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Inside the First Amendment: Men bring much of the news - NorthJersey.com

Making Academic and Legal First Amendment Issues More Accessible – Ricochet.com

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Some Ricochet readers may already be familiar with the First Amendment Library, launched last November and maintained by the non-partisan non-profit Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE, where I work). Today, weintroduced a First Amendment Glossary to the library. Featuring definitions and explanations for over 75 terms commonly associated with First Amendment law, we hope this glossary gives people the resources to feel confident entering discussions related to free speech.

For those interested in going beyond the definitions featured, our glossary also serves as a great jumping off point for conducting additional research. Many of the meanings and applications for the terms featured in this glossary have evolved over time, so we have included links that take readers to other parts of the library which offer further explanations and added context.

For example, clicking on obscene material points readers to the portion of FIREs Guide to Free Speech on Campus which provides further analysis of the Miller v. California (1973) test for obscenity. If readers are interested in viewing Miller or any other Supreme Court opinion related to obscenity, the links included in the definition direct readers to related opinions in the librarys First Amendment Case Database.

Here at FIRE we are uniquely understanding of the fact that most people, especially students busy with class work and extracurriculars, do not have the time to sit down and read through the seemingly endless amount of First Amendment scholarship and case law available. Now though, understanding the difference between expressive association and intimate association just a few clicks away. We hope this glossary, along with other library resources, gives readers the foundation required to intelligently argue for and protect their civil liberties.

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Making Academic and Legal First Amendment Issues More Accessible - Ricochet.com

A First Amendment Glossary to Help Readers Understand Key Legal Terms – Huffington Post

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For the past year, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE, the nonpartisan, nonprofit organization where I work) has been building up resources in our new First Amendment Library. This week, weve added a feature that I hope will help anyone interested in First Amendment issues understand the terms commonly used in legal and academic discussions about these rights: the First Amendment Glossary.

With over 75 terms included, FIREs First Amendment Glossary is meant to be a quick guide for those who are interested in free speech advocacy but may not have the time or inclination to pore over academic literature and case law in order to understand issues such as the the difference between public forums and limited public forums.

The glossary gives visitors brief definitions for terms that commonly emerge when discussing civil liberties issues, and it additionally directs readers to other areas of FIREs First Amendment Library that offer extended commentary and primary documents, such as Supreme Court opinions that have colored the jurisprudence surrounding particular terms.

For example, if a reader views the term prior restraint in our glossary, they will be directed to the portion of FIREs Guide to Free Speech on Campus that discusses how prior restraint has been interpreted through the yearsfrom the Supreme Courts argument for why the publication of the Pentagon Papers did not necessitate prior restraint, to the battle college journalists have faced to keep the precedent set by a high school student newspaper case allowing for prior restraint from being applied to their campus newspapers.

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A First Amendment Glossary to Help Readers Understand Key Legal Terms - Huffington Post

Florida video game shop owner claims First Amendment violation over town’s inflatable Mario ban – WFTV Orlando

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by: Mark Boxley Updated: Apr 6, 2017 - 11:39 PM

ORANGE PARK, Fla. - The owner of a video game store in Orange Park has filed a federal lawsuit against the town over a 9-foot inflatable Mario that officials say is a sign code violation.

Mario, the iconic Nintendo character, has caused a visible increase in foot traffic and even became a local attraction, Gone Broke Gaming owner Scott Fisher said in the suit.

Fisher opened his store in 2015 on Kingsley Avenue in Orange Park, a suburb of Jacksonville.

After getting the OK from his landlord and neighboring businesses, Fisher decided to put up the towering inflatable Mario character in July.

The impact on his business was immediate, he said.

People who came in often commented to Scott that they never knew the store was there until they saw Mario, the lawsuit said. Others said that Mario made it much easier to find Gone Broke Gamings small storefront on the otherwise busy road.

By the end of the month, though, an Orange Park Code Enforcement officer issued a notice of code violation, saying the inflatable display was an illegal portable sign.

If he left the Mario in front of the store, Fisher could have faced fines of up to $250 a day.

Fisher pointed out in his lawsuit that the towns sign code allowed inflatable displays, specifically if it constitutes a creative idea that lacks a commercial message.

Under (the creative idea) category, a business could display the same exact inflatable Mario that Gone Broke Gaming was displaying, so long as that business was not selling Mario-related products, the lawsuit said.

Fisher claims the towns prohibition of the inflatable Mario under its sign code constitutes discrimination and a violation of his First Amendment right to free speech.

The lawsuit is seeking the court to declare the Orange Park sign code unconstitutional, a permanent injunction prohibiting the town from taking enforcement action against the store for displaying the Mario, attorneys fees and $1 for the violation of Fishers constitutional rights.

As of Thursday, Orange Park leaders had not filed a response to Fishers lawsuit.

2017 Cox Media Group.

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Florida video game shop owner claims First Amendment violation over town's inflatable Mario ban - WFTV Orlando

Tor browser will rely on more Rust code – Cloud Pro

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Tor, once known only by network nerds, has now become something of a hot topic. This is thanks largely to the anonymous network's reputation for hosting drug marketplaces like Silk Road, and other unsavoury sites.

But what exactly is Tor? What is it good for? Does it have any legitimate uses? And how can those not versed in the finer details of network technologies actually access it?

03/04/3017:The Tor browser will take greater advantage of the Rust programming language developed by Mozilla to keep user interactions more secure, it has been revealed.

Although Tor developers have been gunning for the news for a long time (since 2014, in fact), the Mozilla-powered code will play a bigger role in the secretive browser's future.

According to Bleeping Computer, Tor developers met last week to discuss the future of the private browser and decided to use more of the C++-based code in future, hoping to replace the majority of its legacy C and C++ base in the coming months or years.

"We didn't fight about Rust or Go or modern C++. Instead, we focused on identifying goals for migrating Tor to a memory-safe language, and how to get there," Tor developer Sebastian Hahn said.

"With that frame of reference, Rust emerged as a extremely strong candidate for the incremental improvement style that we considered necessary."

The reason why it decided to make such a big change was because a tiny mistake in the C programming language used in the current version of Tor could have a huge impact on users, Tor developer Isis Agora Lovecruft said on Twitter.

"A tipping point in our conversation around 'which safe language' is the Tor Browser team needs Rust because more & more Firefox is in Rust. Also the barrier to entry for contributing to large OSS projects written in C is insanely high."

13/12/2016:The first sandboxed version of the Tor Browser was released in alpha last weekend, bringing privacy fans one step closer to secure browsing.

Version 0.0.2 of the software was released by Tor developer Yawning Angel on Saturday, who is tackling the project largely single-handed. Official binaries are yet to be released, but early adopters can take it for a spit by compiling the code themselves from GitHub.

The project has been a labour of love for Yawning Angel. "We never have time to do this," he said back in October. "We have a funding proposal to do this but I decided to do it separately from the Tor Browser team. I've been trying to do this since last year."

The efforts have been given new urgency by a zero-day vulnerability in Firefox. Discovered last month, the error was being used to de-anonymise Tor users, as the browser is heavily based on Firefox code.

Sandboxed instances of Tor are different from the normal version in that they run in a self-contained silo. This means that if an attacker uses an exploit against the browser, the amount of data it can collect through it from the rest of the machine and operating system is limited.

However, Yawning Angel has stressed that the software is still a very early alpha, and cannot be trusted to be entirely secure. "There are several unresolved issues that affect security and fingerprinting," he wrote as part of the software's README.

01/12/2016:A zero day vulnerability found in both Firefox and Tor web browsers has been exploited in the wild, allowing attackers to target users for their IP and MAC addresses.

Internet security firm Malwarebytes first discovered the flaw, which was shown to be almost identical to the one used by the FBI to expose Tor browser users in 2013.

"The exploit took advantage of a bug in Firefox to allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code on the targeted system by having the victim load a web page containing malicious JavaScript and SVG code," said Daniel Veditz, security lead at Mozilla, in a blog post on Wednesday.

Hackers were able to exploit Tor and Firefox browsers to send user hostnames and IP and MAC addresses to a remote server identified as 5.39.27.226, which has now been taken down.

"The goal is to leak user data with as minimal of a footprint as possible. There's no malicious code downloaded to disk, only shell code is ran directly from memory," said Jerome Segura, lead malware intelligence analyst at Malwarebytes.

"Browsers and their plugins remain the best attack vector to deliver malware or leak data via drive-by attacks," added Segura.

Malwarebytes recommend users adjust the security settings of their Tor browser to 'High' within the privacy settings, which will thwart any similar attacks of this kind. Users running the Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit tool will already by protected from the vulnerability. Both Mozilla and Tor have released patches to address the security flaw.

08/11/2016:FBI illegally used malware against innocent people, say privacy experts

Privacy experts have accused the FBI of overstepping its legal bounds and hacking innocent dark web users, as part of its investigation into child pornography sites using Tor's hidden services.

Unsealed court documents from 2013 reveal that as part of an operation to identify visitors to sites owned by Freedom Hosting - which the FBI had seized earlier that year - the agency obtained a warrant to use a piece of malware called a 'network investigative technique' (NIT) against around 300 specific users of the TorMail secure webmail service, all of whom were allegedly linked to child porn.

However, users who were affected by the NIT told Motherboard that the malware was deployed before users even reached the login page, meaning that it would have been impossible for the FBI to determine who its malware was actually targeting.

The American Civil Liberties Union's principal technologist Christopher Soghoian has condemned this illegal hacking of innocent users, telling Motherboard that "while the warrant authorized hacking with a scalpel, the FBI delivered their malware to TorMail users with a grenade".

"The warrant that the FBI returned to the court makes no mention of the fact that the FBI ended their operation early because they were discovered by the security community," Soghoian continued, "nor does it acknowledge that the government delivered their malware to innocent TorMail users."

"This strongly suggests that the FBI kept the court in the dark about the extent to which they botched the TorMail operation."

The FBI has denied that it acted outside its remit, stating that "as a matter of practice the FBI narrowly tailors warrants, and we do not exceed the scope of those warrants."

07/11/2016: If you think the dark web is nothing more than a wretched hive of scum and villainy, think again - research has shown that the majority of content hosted on it is perfectly legal.

A new report from security firm Terbian Labs reveals that while most people associate the dark web with questionable pornography, exotic narcotics and unlicensed arms deals, the reality is actually quite dull, with over 50% of all domains and URLs in the survey's sample comprised of legal content.

"These Tor Hidden Services play host to Facebook, European graphic design firms, Scandinavian political parties, personal blogs about security, and forums to discuss privacy, technology, even erectile dysfunction," the report explains. "Anonymity does not equate criminality, merely a desire for privacy."

However, the report also conceded that illegal content was also rampant on the dark web. Drugs make up 12.3% of total content on the dark web (and a whopping 45% of all illicit content), while hacking and fraud-related content is also common.

"The dark web receives a fair amount of negative attention because of the anonymity it provides. To outside observers, the desire for anonymity goes handin-hand with criminal activity, and many summaries of the dark web focus exclusively on this criminal activity," the report said. "Most discussions of the dark web entirely gloss over the existence of legal content."

18/10/2016: The Tor Project has released a major update for the Tor software to fix a vulnerability which allows remote attackers to crash Tor servers.

According to a blog post on the Tor Project, Tor 0.2.8.9 backports a fix for a security hole in previous versions of Tor that would allow a remote attacker to crash a Tor client, hidden service, relay, or authority.

It said the update prevents a class of security bugs caused by treating the contents of a buffer chunk as if they were a NUL-terminated string.

At least one such bug seems to be present in all currently used versions of Tor, and would allow an attacker to remotely crash most Tor instances, especially those compiled with extra compiler hardening. With this defense in place, such bugs can't crash Tor, though we should still fix them as they occur, said the blog post.

The project urged all Tor users to upgrade to this version, or to 0.2.9.4-alpha. Patches will be released for older versions of Tor.

31/09/2016:The Tor Project has unveiled a new release: Tor Browser 6.0.5, arriving with a host of updates and improvements. Available for Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X, the new release isself-contained software that can run off a USB flash drive to ensure the anonymity of the user.

Another major change coming to this release is the important security updates that fix the newly revealed extension update vulnerability. According to FossBytes, this loophole allows a hacker to obtain a valid certificate for addons.mozilla.org to imitate Mozillas servers and serve a malicious update.

The new Tor Browser 6.0.5 also comes with updated HTTPS-Everywhere and a new Tor stable version 0.2.8.7.

16/09/2016:The Tor Project has criticised moves by the US government that would enable the FBI to hack computers and conduct surveillance on electronic devices.

It made a public plea against plans to amend Rule 41 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, which is due to take effect on 1 December.

The amendments would allow the Department of Justice to hack computers and conduct surveillance with a single search warrant, regardless of where the device is located.

It specifies that computers using technology to conceal data, such as encryption or using a Tor browser, would fall inside the scope of changes.

The broad search warrants allowable under these new rules will apply to people using Tor in any country - even if they are journalists, members of a legislature or human rights activists, the Tor Project said in a blog post.

The FBI will be permitted to hack into a persons computer or phone remotely and to search through and remove their data. The FBI will be able to introduce malware into computers. It will create vulnerabilities that will leave users exposed.

In the US Senate, Democrat senator Ron Wyden said that Congress should debate these changes.

If the Senate does nothing, if the Senate fails to act, whats ahead for Americans is a massive expansion of government hacking and surveillance powers, he said.

The Tor Project added: We are at a critical point in the United States regarding surveillance law. Some public officials, like those at the US Department of Justice understand very well how surveillance technology works and the implications of the Rule 41 changes.

31/08/2016: Tor has published its new Social Contract in a bid to improve member conduct and pledged against introducing backdoors into the tool.

In a blog post, the Tor Project has collated the six-point social contract pledging to adhere to standards of conduct, being more transparent and honest about technological capabilities as well as advancing human rights.

The last of the clauses underlined the projects commitment to not harm users, even when pressured to do so by external forces.

We take seriously the trust our users have placed in us. Not only will we always do our best to write good code, but it is imperative that we resist any pressure from adversaries who want to harm our users. We will never implement front doors or back doors into our projects. In our commitment to transparency, we are honest when we make errors, and we communicate with our users about our plans to improve, said the project.

The standards have been brought about after a number of sexual misconduct allegations against some Tor developers.

16/08/2016: One of the Silk Road's ex-administrators is to be extradited to the US on Friday, following a ruling by Ireland's High Court.

27-year-old Gary Davis, of County Wicklow, was allegedly one of the black market site's chief administrators, going by the name of "Libertas".

According to Davis' legal counsel, the fact that he suffers from Asperger's Syndrome made him unsuitable for incarceration in a US facility, and that the potentially harsh treatment meant he could pose a suicide risk.

In his ruling, Justice Paul McDermott expressed his faith that "the United States authorities will act to protect his mental and physical health and take the appropriate steps to address any symptoms of depression of continuing anxiety by appropriate treatment".

US authorities claim that Davis was a paid employee of the dark web marketplace, which sold large amounts of drugs alongside other illegal goods and services. Site founder Ross Ulbright wasconvicted last yearof various offences relating to the site's operation and is currently serving life without parole.

Davis was charged by the federal government in 2013, alongside two other suspected admins who were supposedly known as "inigo" and "Samesamebutdifferent" on the site.

The trio has been charged with computer hacking conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy and narcotics trafficking conspiracy, charges which could net each suspect life in prison.

According to the 2013 Silk Road indictment, Davis' main role centred around customer satisfaction, and the indictment claimed he was tasked with "responding to customer service inquiries and resolving disputes between buyers and vendors".

15/08/2016:One of Nigel Farage's most trusted political confidantes has been caught using Tor to offer money laundering services on the dark web.

22-year-old George Cottrell was arrested in an FBI sting, The Telegraph reports, after allegedly advertising on the dark web under the pseudonym of "Bill".

An FBI team posing as a cadre of drug traffickers contacted the young aristocrat in 2014, whereupon - according to court documents - he promised to funnel their dirty money through his offshore accounts in order to launder it with "complete anonymity and security".

Cottrell organised for the 'drug traffickers' to send him an initial payment of 15,500 after a meeting in Las Vegas. However, he later attempted to extort the supposed criminals, threatening to turn them over to law enforcement if they did not transfer him 62,000 in bitcoin.

Cottrell faces 21 charges, including money laundering, fraud and attempted extortion, and was arrested at Chicago's O'Hare airport whilst travelling with chief Brexiteer and ex-UKIP leader Nigel Farage.

The authorities have frozen Cottrell's email and financial accounts, The Telegraph has claimed, which has resulted in Farage being unable to access his calendar.

26/07/2016: O2 customers have found their details being sold on the dark web after criminals used logins stolen from other sites to obtain access to their accounts.

The BBC's Victoria Derbyshire show learned of the sale after being contacted by an ethical hacker and found that names, passwords, email addresses and telephone numbers were all available to buyers.

O2 was quick to point out that its systems had not been breached, and that the attackers accessed customer data through password reuse attacks - also known as 'credential stuffing'.

"Credential stuffing is a challenge for businesses and can result in many company's customer data being sold on the dark net," an O2 spokesperson said.

"We have reported all the details passed to us about the seller to law enforcement and we continue to help with their investigations."

Following a joint investigation with O2, the Victoria Derbyshire programme learned that the credentials used to access the site had most likely come from games streaming site XSplit, which was hacked back in 2013.

The news underlines how easy it can be for criminals to use one hack to complete another, daisy-chaining breaches together.

"The problem with reusing passwords," says ESET security specialist Mark James, "is when a location gets breached that does not have very good security, the criminals will take that data and use it to attempt to log into websites for monetary gain."

"It makes no difference how good the security is for PayPal if you use the same username (often your email address) and password on a smaller not so well protected site."

15/07/2016:The Tor Project's entire board of directors has stepped down, following the scandal over alleged rapist Jacob Appelbaum's employment by the organisation.

"I think this was an incredibly brave and selfless thing for the board to do," said Tor's executive director Shari Steele as part of a blog post. "They're making a clear statement that they want the organisation to become its best self."

Wendy Seltzer, Ian Goldberg, Meredith Hoban Dunn, Rabbi Rob Thomas, Julius Mittenzwei, Nick Mathewson and Roger Dingledine have all agreed to leave their posts, stating "it is time that we pass the baton of board oversight".

Co-founders Dingledine and Mathewson will continue to lead the project's technical research and development efforts, however.

The outgoing directors have elected as their replacements six leading lights from the security and privacy communities. These include the Electronic Frontier Foundation's executive director Cindy Cohn, executive director of the Human Rights Data Analysis Group Megan Price, and security and cryptography guru Bruce Schneier.

The mass departure comes on the heels of a high-profile incident involving Tor Project developer Jacob Appelbaum, who has been accused of numerous counts of sexual harassment and rape.Appelbaum has vehemently denied the allegations.

However, testimony from one of his alleged victims has indicated that the organisation's board knew about the claims against him for over a year.

The board's perceived inaction against Appelbaum, who remained a public figure within the Tor community until his departure, drew substantial criticism from community members who thought they should have acted sooner.

08/07/2016:Malware that uses the Tor network to communicate with its command and control (C2) servers and is able to steal credentials stored in Mac OS X's keychain credentials and maintain a backdoor into the system has been discovered.

Keydnap, as it has been called, is delivered to a computer as a compressed Mach-O file, which is disguised as a benign extension, such as .jpg or .txt. However, there is an additional space at the end of these extensions, causing the file to launch in Terminal when double clicked, not in Preview or TextEdit.

However Gatekeeper, one of OS X's inbuilt security features that stops machines launching programmes in the Mac operating system has prevented the malware from spreading far and wide. Although it could become a problem if users have opted for the operating system to launch anything, regardless of the source.

If a user does allow all requests to pass, they could be at risk of letting the malware in via the persistent backdoor known as icloudsyncd and the keychain password stealer.

"[Keydnap] is equipped with a mechanism to gather and exfiltrate passwords and keys stored in OS Xs keychain," Eset researcher Marc-Etienne M.Leveille said.

He examined the malware attack, which was apparently stolen from a Github proof of concept created by software developer Juuso Salonen.

"The author simply took a proof-of-concept [that] reads securityds memory and searches for the decryption key for the users keychain," he explained in his report.

29/06/2016: The FBI is choosing not to divulge the Tor Browser exploit used to track and arrest 1,500 users of a dark web child pornography site last month, reports Engadget.

Mozilla requested that the FBI reveal the exploit used to track users' PCs with location-tracking malware, but the request was thrown out after being approved citing national security concerns.

"The FBI has derivatively classified portions of the tool, the exploits used in connection with the tool, and some of the operational aspects of the tool in accordance with the FBI's National Security Information Classification Guide," the attorneys wrote in a filing this month.

20/06/2016:The Tor Project is building a special 'hardened' browser to prevent it being hacked by the FBI.

Security researchers have published a paper outlining how their newly-developed 'selfrando' technique is being used to protect against code reuse attacks that could bedeployed by US law enforcementagainst the browser.

See more here:

Tor browser will rely on more Rust code - Cloud Pro

A new law allow ISPs to sell your data without your consent. Here’s how to shield your privacy – Technical.ly

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Editors note: This post is a companion piece to this guide on how to take action and protect your privacy in light of the bill that President Trump recently signed into law that allows internet service providers (ISPs) to sell consumers browsing data.

Picking a good, secure VPN even for tech-savvy people can be difficult.

Im not a lawyer and someone with legal background should examine this, but something people need to understand is that VPN providers can also be classified as ISPs as theyre providing an internet service. And if theyre based in the U.S. or their servers are in the U.S. or in a country with similar anti-privacy laws, they may still be able to monetize your browsing habits. So basically by picking a bad VPN service, you might make the problem in hand even worse.

There are very very few service providers whom I know and trust that dont have any interest in the users data and take active measures to either not to have access to it in the first place or secure it if they have. Riseup.net and Calyx.net are two of them.

For more technical users, here are some tools I recommend. Each have their own pros and cons.

To be perfectly clear, Tor is NOT a VPN and is not even remotely comparable. Apples and oranges. But its probably your best shot at protecting your privacy. Tor Browser is a hardened browser built on top of Firefox. It makes it harder for sites and adversaries to track you by anonymizing your path to the website you visit. If this is the first time hearing about Tor, I encourage you to watch this short animation.

While Tor Browser is my primary browser these days, I dont use it for my banking, for example. They might freak out as your IP address changes from one country to another roughly every 10 minutes. Using Tor makes it extremely difficult for anyone to see or collect your online behavior.

Full disclosure, Im a volunteer and core member of The Tor Project.

Pros

Cons

[Related: A beginners guide to Tor.]

Once setup, Algo is probably the easiest and one of the most secure way to get a VPN up and running to be used on MacOS or iOS. If youve ever used the command line, setting up an instance of Algo should be fairly easy for you. Just be mindful, if youre using Algo for your privacy against the recent deregulation in the U.S., you might want to pick a data center that resides in a privacy- friendly jurisdiction. Another thing you might want to consider is that Algo uses Google DNS by default. If youre worried about this recent deregulation, you should as well be worried about the visibilities the Silicon Valley companies such as Google have on your traffic.

Pros

Cons

The design of Bitmask is based on OpenVPN and you can easily hook it up with Riseup or Calyx servers. In fact, theyre both already two of the built-in service providers. I hear from the developers that the MacOS version is on its way, but if youre like me and cant wait to see it, you could chip in with your money or skills to speed up the development process.

Also find it here.

Pros

Cons

A separate operating system housed on a USB stick, DVD or SD card that includes a suite of privacy-ninja applications built in. Everything runs over Tor. Tails is built and maintained by a mostly anonymous, international collective of highly respected developers (yes, all of those things). It can be tricky to set up the USB stick, but once you have it set up, Tails is easy to use. The best part about Tails is that it doesnt touch your currently running operating system. Whether you have Windows or MacOS or Linux, you can install Tails on a USB, reboot and do your work in Tails and when youre done, reboot and unplug the USB stick.

Neither your computer nor Tails would have any memory of what articles you read online or which newspaper you leaked documents to.

Pros

Cons

This new operating system, currently in alpha release, is based on Debian and not only sends all of your traffic over Tor by default, but also protects you from zero-day attacks by taking advantage of grsecurity patches. And on top of that, it has some amazing sandboxing features. If youre a little more savvy and want to try things at the bleeding edge, definitely give it a shot. Imagine Tails but built to be your primary OS.

Pros

Cons

Nima Fatemi is an independent security researcher and core member of Tor.

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A new law allow ISPs to sell your data without your consent. Here's how to shield your privacy - Technical.ly

What is the Dark Web and Deep Web? – PC Advisor

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We explain the Dark Web, how it differs from the Deep Web, and how to access the Dark Web using Tor. We explain the Dark Web and Deep Web, plus how to access them

By Matt Egan | 06 Apr 17

The Dark Web is a term that refers specifically to a collection of websites that exist on an encrypted network andcannot be found by using traditional search engines or visited by using traditional browsers.

Almost all sites on the so-called Dark Web hide their identity using the Tor encryption tool. You may know Tor for its ability to hide your identity and activity. You can use Tor to spoof your location so it appears you're in a different country to where you're really located, making it much like using a VPN service.

When a website is run through Tor it has much the same effect.

Indeed, it multiplies the effect. To visit a site on the Dark Web that is using Tor encryption, the web user needs to be using Tor. Just as the end user's IP address is bounced through several layers of encryption to appear to be at another IP address on the Tor network, so is that of the website.

There are several layers of magnitude more secrecy than the already secret act of using Tor to visit a website on the open internet - for both parties

Thus, sites on the Dark Web can be visited by anyone, but it is very difficult to work out who is behind the sites. And it can be dangerous if you slip up and your identity is discovered. Talking of identity, you can find outwhat Google knows about youand alsodelete your Google location history.

You can also read our in-depth guide to using Torif you want to know more about using the web anonymously and sending messages securely.

Not all Dark Web sites use Tor. Some use similar services such as I2P, such as the Silk Road Reloaded. But the principle remains the same. The visitor has to use the same encryption tool as the site and - crucially - know where to find the site, in order to type in the URL and visit.

Infamous examples of Dark Web sites include the Silk Road and its offspring. The Silk Road was (and maybe still is) a website for the buying and selling of recreational drugs. But there are legitimate uses for the Dark Web.

People operating within closed, totalitarian societies can use the Dark Web to communicate with the outside world. And given recent revelations about US- and UK government snooping on web use, you may feel it is sensible to take your communication on to the Dark Web. (I'll stick to Facebook, but I like the attention.)

The DarkWeb hitthe headlines in August 2015after it wasbeen reported that 10GB of data stolen from Ashley Madison, a site designed to enablebored spouses to cheat on their partners, was dumped on to the DarkWeb.

Hackers stole the data and threatened to upload it to the web if the site did not close down, and it has now acted on that threat. Now the spouses of Ashley Madison users have begun to receive blackmail letters demanding they pay $2500 in Bitcoin or have the infidelity exposed.

In March 2015 the UK government launched a dedicated cybercrime unit to tackle the Dark Web, with a particular focus on cracking down on serious crime rings and child pornography.The National Crime Agency (NCA) and UK intelligence outfit GCHQ are together creatingthe Joint Operations Cell (JOC).

Although all of these terms tend to be used interchangeably, they don't refer to exactly the same thing. An element of nuance is required. The 'Deep Web' refers to all web pages that search engines cannot find.

Thus the 'Deep Web' includes the 'Dark Web', but also includes all user databases, webmail pages, registration-required web forums, and pages behind paywalls. There are huge numbers of such pages, and most exist for mundane reasons.

We have a 'staging' version of all of our websites that is blocked from being indexed by search engines, so we can check stories before we set them live. Thus for every page publicly available on this website (and there are literally millions), there is another on the Deep Web.

The content management system into which I am typing this article is on the Deep Web. So that is another page for every page that is on the live site. Meanwhile our work intranet is hidden from search engines, and requires a password. It has been live for nearly 20 years, so there are plenty of pages there.

Use an online bank account? The password-protected bits are on the Deep Web. And when you consider how many pages just one Gmail account will create, you understand the sheer size of the Deep Web.

This scale is why newspapers and mainstream news outlets regularly trot out scare stories about '90 percent of the internet' consisting of the Dark Web. They are confusing the generally dodgy Dark Web with the much bigger and generally more benign Deep Web.

Mixing up the act of deliberately hiding things, with that of necessarily keeping pages away from search engines for reasons of security or user experience.

Confusingly, 'Dark Internet' is also a term sometimes used to describe further examples of networks, databases or even websites that cannot be reached over the internet. In this case either for technical reasons, or because the properties contain niche information that few people will want, or in some cases because the data is private.

A basic rule of thumb is that the phrases 'Dark Web' or 'Deep Web' are typically used by tabloid newspapers to refer to dangerous secret online worlds, the 'Dark Internet' is a boring place where scientists store raw data for research.

The Deep Web is a catch-all term for all web pages that are not indexed for search, the others refer to specific things. (See also: Take precautions when using public Wi-Fi networks.)

Technically, this is not a difficult process. You simply need to install and use Tor. Go to http://www.torproject.org and download the Tor Browser Bundle, which contains all the required tools. Run the downloaded file, choose an extraction location, then open the folder and click Start Tor Browser. That's it.

The Vidalia Control Panel will automatically handle the randomised network setup and, when Tor is ready, the browser will open; just close it again to disconnect from the network.

Depending on what you intend to do on the Dark Web, some users recommend placing tape over your laptop's webcam to prevent prying eyes watching you. A tinfoil hat is also an option.If you're reading this to find out about torrent files, check out our separate guide on how to use torrent sites in UK.

The difficult thing is knowing where to look on the Dark Web. There, reader, we leave you to your own devices and wish you good luck and safe surfing. And a warning before you go any further. Once you get into the Dark Web, you *will* be able to access those sites to which the tabloids refer. This means that you could be a click away from sites selling drugs and guns, and - frankly - even worse things.

Aggregation sites such as Reddit offer lists of links, as do several Wikis, including http://thehiddenwiki.org/ - a list that offers access to some very bad places. Have a quick look by all means, but please don't take our linking to it as an endorsement. It really isn't.

Also, Dark Web sites do go down from time to time, due to their dark nature. But if you want good customer service, stay out of the dark!

And do heed our warning: this article is intended as a guide to what is the Dark Web - not an endorsement or encouragement for you to start behaving in illegal or immoral behaviour.

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What is the Dark Web and Deep Web? - PC Advisor

YOcoin A new open-source cryptocurrency distributed by you!

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Cryptocurrencyis conquering the world of currencies and finance in a way wecould not even imaginefive years ago

In this next video, Wences Casares, the founder and CEO of Xapo, a Swiss-based Bitcoin wallet and vault company takes us through a short but compelling history of money. In less than 15 minutes you will hear what is so special and monumental about Bitcoin and real cryptocurrency like YOcoin.

Take notes on the videos belowthey couldhave a big impact on your financial future!

Once you have your wallet set up, you will want toregister in anexchange.New exchange video coming soon!

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Click here for two new videos, one with an English narration and one with Chinese, on how to get your account set up on DABTC!

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The blockchains uses span far beyond cryptocurrency. Check out these articles on some of the ways it is taking off in China.

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Please watch the following video for the latest updates!

How-to video that you wont want to miss

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Thanks Keith and Rob for all your hard work! Download YOC PP here:

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A new, simpler Yocoin wallet with an updated video!

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Digital bank WB21 announced that it has added Bitcoin as a method for its customers to transfer and deposit funds to their checking accounts.

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The Bitcoin is skyrocketing but at the expense of gold.

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The Bitcoins market capitalization surpassed the $9 billion mark.

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YOcoin A new open-source cryptocurrency distributed by you!

Florida Man Goes From Multilevel Marketing To Cryptocurrency – What Could Possibly Go Wrong? – Forbes

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Forbes
Florida Man Goes From Multilevel Marketing To Cryptocurrency - What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Forbes
About Cryptocurrencies. The best known and most used cryptocurrency is bitcoin. A website that tracks the cryptocurrency market indicates that the value of the over 700 currencies that it tracks is just shy of $27 billion. Of that over $18 billion is ...

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Florida Man Goes From Multilevel Marketing To Cryptocurrency - What Could Possibly Go Wrong? - Forbes

Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance Publishes First Global Cryptocurrency Study – Crowdfund Insider

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The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) has published its first study on digital currencies, its usage and the emerging ecosystem supporting the new type of currency. As the report explains, the world of money and finance is transforming before our eyes.

The Global Cryptocurrency Benchmarking Study is CCAFs inaugural research focused on alternative payment systems and digital assets. Led by Dr. Garrick Hileman, the research is designed to holistically examine the global cryptocurrency market and, according to CCAF, is the first of its kind. Michel Rauchs, a Research Assistant at CCAF, co-authored the report.

Dr. Hileman told Crowdfund Insider;

The data we collected indicate that the number of people actively using cryptocurrency is much greater than many people previously thought. Many observers felt that fewer than a million individuals actively use cryptocurrency, but our data suggest that today there are likely well over a million active individuals using cryptocurrency.

The Global Cryptocurrency Benchmarking Study gathered data from more than 100 cryptocurrency companies in 38 countries around the world via secure web-based questionnaires. CCAF said they captured an estimated 75% of the cryptocurrency industry. Over 30 individual cryptocurrency miners were also surveyed. Four key areas were targeted including exchanges, wallets, mining, and payments.

Highlights of the CCAF research include:

Dr. Hileman said that digital currencies like Bitcoin are not a passing fad. The combined market value was estimated at $27 billion. Hileman compared it to the value creation of a high-profile startup like AirBnB.

While Bitcoin may be the first and best-known cryptocurrency to emerge there are now hundreds of different types of digital coinage. Bitcoin does remain the dominant cryptocurrency both in terms of market capitalisation and usage but it has conceded market share to other cryptocurrencies declining from 86% to 72% in the past two years. This was buttressed by the fact that almost 40% of wallets accept various forms of cryptocurrencies.

Emerging cryptocurrencies include; Ethereum, Dash, Monero, Ripple and Litecoin.

This benchmarking study sheds light on the burgeoning cryptocurrency industry and comprehensively examines the global development of exchanges, wallets, payments and mining sectors, added Robert Wardrop, co-founder and a Director of CCAF. It demonstrates that cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin are undergoing some profound changes in how digital assets are transacted, stored, channeled and generated. The findings of this study will serve to advance useful academic and policy research into cryptocurrencies and its many implications.

A forthcoming report will focus on Blockchain or distributed ledger technology (DLT) will also be released in the next few weeks.

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Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance Publishes First Global Cryptocurrency Study - Crowdfund Insider

Top 6 Major Cryptocurrencies and the Differences Between Them … – The Merkle

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As most cryptocurrency enthusiasts are well aware of, there are different groups of currencies to take into account. The major cryptocurrencies are all offering something seemingly different, whereas the rest are mostly copy-and-paste clones. However, there are some big differences between the major cryptocurrencies, otherwise there would be very little point in distinguishing between them.

One of the main thing that Dash does well is providing its users with additional privacy when completing transactions. The network of Dash Masternodes provides these services, while also incentivizing users to not spend their wallet balance. Additionally, Dash is making quite an impact in the point-of-sale industry, through strategic partnerships. All things considered, Dash provides a valuable service to people looking for those specific traits.

When it comes to finding anonymous cryptocurrencies, one has to look well beyond bitcoin and others. Monero is leading the charge in the anonymity race due to some innovative concepts. Monero has also been embraced by darknet markets because it provides privacy and anonymity one cannot find in bitcoin. Other use cases for Monero are somewhat limited, though.

Although many have quite contrasting opinions regarding Ripple, one cannot ignore the benefits it brings to the table. Unlike other cryptocurrencies, Ripple is not about speculation, but strongly focuses on transactional utility. Dozens of banks around the world are looking at Ripple to improve their transactions and other day-to-day operations moving forward. Over the past few days, Ripples XRP token saw its price increase significantly due to a new banking partnership.

Over the past year or so, many people have compared Ethereum to bitcoin. That is like comparing apples and oranges, since both ecosystems are nothing alike. Ethereum focuses on the technical side of blockchain development, including native tokens, smart contracts, and decentralized applications. It is possible all of these features will come to bitcoin in the future, but it is good to have some competition among cryptocurrency ecosystems.

To a lot of people, litecoin is either a bitcoin cloneor one of the first original outcomes to gain traction. Litecoin offers a different mining algorithm and faster transactions. Interestingly enough, there are some development similarities between bitcoin and litecoin. Segregated Witness, for example, may very well activate on the litecoin network first before it will go into effect among bitcoin users. Litecoin is accepted as a payment solution in various places, although it is nowhere near bitcoins level of acceptance.

It is impossible to deny the success bitcoin has had. Even though bitcoin has some problems that need addressing, such as scalability and privacy, it has become the worlds leading cryptocurrency with relative ease. Bitcoin is designed to make global transactions possible and boost financial inclusion. Moreover, thousand of merchants all over the world have started accepting bitcoin payments, both in the online and offline world.

If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.

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Top 6 Major Cryptocurrencies and the Differences Between Them ... - The Merkle