Daily Archives: June 11, 2013

Baidu censorship lawsuit gets new life in US

Posted: June 11, 2013 at 3:48 pm

A US judge has given a lawsuit by pro-democracy activists against Baidu and the People's Republic of China new life, even after the country invoked its authority as a sovereign nation to block the censorship case.

US District Judge Jesse Furman in Manhattan said the activists were entitled to serve their lawsuit on Baidu's lawyer in New York, without infringing China's sovereign protections.

Saying the issue had never been analyzed in detail, Furman on Friday night rejected Baidu's contention that allowing service would turn the part of the Hague Convention that China invoked into a "dead letter" by letting a court circumvent it.

The convention is a multilateral treaty that makes it easier to serve court papers internationally.

In their May 2011 lawsuit, eight New York writers and video producers had accused Baidu and China of conspiring to suppress their political speech from Baidu's search engine, the country's most widely used.

The plaintiffs said the content could be found via search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft's Bing, and Google's YouTube. They sought millions of dollars in damages for alleged violations of their First Amendment rights and human rights law.

Furman had dismissed the lawsuit on March 25 but put the dismissal on hold to let the plaintiffs propose another means to serve Baidu.

In giving the plaintiffs another chance to pursue their case, Furman said the Hague Convention was designed to ensure "sufficient" notice to recipients abroad of court documents.

Allowing service in the United States "in a manner that does not call upon China to effect service (in that country) does not override its invocation of its own sovereignty and security; to the contrary, it honors that invocation," the judge wrote.

Carey Ramos, a partner at Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan representing Baidu, declined to comment.

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Baidu censorship lawsuit gets new life in US

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Banning censorship of historical documents in schools to be considered by Michigan Senate committee

Posted: at 3:48 pm

LANSING -- A pair of bills pending before the Senate Education Committee would mandate lessons on American history during "Constitution Week" and would prohibit any restrictions on or censorship of America's "founding documents" by school administrators or teachers.

The bills, Senate Bill 120 and Senate Bill 121, will be up for discussion during a committee hearing Wednesday afternoon.

Senate Bill 120 would create a new section of Michigan's school code preventing school boards from prohibiting the reading or studying of "documents that contributed to the foundation or maintenance of America's representative form of limited government, the bill of rights, our free-market economic system, and patriotism."

The bill also prohibits school boards and employees from attempting to "censor or restrain instruction in American history or heritage or Michigan state history or heritage based on religious references in original source documents, writings, speeches, proclamations, or records."

Some conservative commentators, including Phyllis Schlafly, have expressed concern about references to God being "removed" from the Declaration of Independence.

Senate Bill 121 would establish "Constitution Week" as the week between Sept. 11 and Sept. 17 each year to recognize the Sept. 17, 1787, adoption of the U.S. Constitution. Schools would be required to provide instruction on key figures in American history, "limited government," the Constitution and Declaration of Independence and the development of the American flag.

Both bills were introduced by Sen. Patrick Colbeck (R-Canton) in late January and referred to the committee.

Brian Smith is the statewide education and courts reporter for MLive. Email him at bsmith11@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter or Facebook.

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Ron Paul: ‘The Govt. CAN Make Us Safe If They Turn Us Into Cattle In A Cage’ – Video

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Ron Paul: #39;The Govt. CAN Make Us Safe If They Turn Us Into Cattle In A Cage #39;
Real News @ http://RevolutionNews.US mdash; (Before It #39;s News) I wanted to write on UKIP and/or the stirring speech I heard tonight from Bishop E. W. Jackson. But...

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Ron Paul: 'The Govt. CAN Make Us Safe If They Turn Us Into Cattle In A Cage' - Video

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Ron Paul’s Texas Straight Talk 6/10/13: Government Spying: Should We Be Shocked? – Video

Posted: at 3:47 pm


Ron Paul #39;s Texas Straight Talk 6/10/13: Government Spying: Should We Be Shocked?
http://The-FREE-Foundation.org http://RonPaulCurriculum.com http://RonPaulInstitute.org http://CampaignForLiberty.org http://DailyPaul.com http://FFF.org htt...

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Ron Paul's Texas Straight Talk 6/10/13: Government Spying: Should We Be Shocked? - Video

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Ron Paul: Obama Should Send Snowden a Thank You Note – We’re Getting Transparency He Promised – Video

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Ron Paul: Obama Should Send Snowden a Thank You Note - We #39;re Getting Transparency He Promised

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Ron Paul: Obama Should Send Snowden a Thank You Note - We're Getting Transparency He Promised - Video

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Ron Paul Blasts NSA Defenders On Piers Morgan: ‘You’re Justifying Dictatorship!’ – Video

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Ron Paul Blasts NSA Defenders On Piers Morgan: #39;You #39;re Justifying Dictatorship! #39;
"To all of you who defend this nonsense, what should the penalty be for those who destroy the constitution?" - Ron Paul.

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Ron Paul Blasts NSA Defenders On Piers Morgan: 'You're Justifying Dictatorship!' - Video

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Ron Paul on The Daily Rundown talking NSA – Video

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Ron Paul on The Daily Rundown talking NSA

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Ron Paul: ‘Thankful’ for Snowden

Posted: at 3:47 pm

Former Rep. Ron Paul of Texas praised NSA leaker Edward Snowden for his part in exposing how much information the government has been collecting from private citizens.

We should be thankful for individuals like Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald who see injustice being carried out by their own government and speak out, despite the risk, Paul said in a statement posted on the website of Campaign for Liberty, a nonprofit political organization which focuses on educating about constitutional issues, which he chairs. They have done a great service to the American people by exposing the truth about what our government is doing in secret.

(PHOTOS: 10 famous whistleblowers)

The government does not need to know more about what we are doing. We need to know more about what the government is doing, Paul added in obvious criticism of the Obama administration. The Fourth Amendment is clear; we should be secure in our persons, houses, papers, and effects, and all warrants must have probable cause. Today the government operates largely in secret, while seeking to know everything about our private lives without probable cause and without a warrant.

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Ron Paul: 'Thankful' for Snowden

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Ron Paul Slams Secret NSA Spying, People Who Support It (Video)

Posted: at 3:47 pm

While several Republican congressmen defended the National Security Agency's spying on the phone and internet records of millions of Americans, today, former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul said the secret NSA program was destroying the Constitution (video below).

"This idea that you can go to the FISA court and get a warrant, that's ridiculous," Paul told CNN's Piers Morgan this evening.

According to Mediaite.com, Paul explained he still wants intelligence gathering, but in a transparent and constitutional way.

"What [Obama] is doing is repealing the Magna Carta," Paul said. "You can't just do these kind of things. And this one is not only repealing the principles of liberty, but it's destroying the Constitution. My question should be to all of you who defend this nonsense, 'What should the penalty be for the people who destroy the Constitution?'"

He added: "I think we have embarked on a very, very dangerous course. The American people are with us on this. It's totally out of control and I would say if you're confused about what we should do, just read the Constitution. What's wrong with that? If you don't like it, get people to repeal and change the Constitution."

However, Paul might be wrong when he claims the "American people are with us."

According to a new poll released today by Pew Research Center and TheWashington Post, 56 percent of Americans support being spied on by the NSA. A whopping 62 percent support the U.S. government infringing on Americans' privacy to investigate potential terrorist attacks, reports TalkingPointsMemo.com.

Source: Mediaite.com and TalkingPointsMemo.com

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Ron Paul Slams Secret NSA Spying, People Who Support It (Video)

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Ron Paul praises Edward Snowden and defends the Fourth Amendment

Posted: at 3:47 pm

Ron Paul is definitely not done yet. Now chairman of the Campaign for Liberty, the former congressman and independent presidential hopeful has spoken out against government collection of phone and internet data and the dramatic circumstances that brought the situation to public radar.

The Fourth Amendment is clear; we should be secure in our persons, houses, papers, and effects, and all warrants must have probable cause. Today the government operates largely in secret, while seeking to know everything about our private lives - without probable cause and without a warrant, Dr. Paul says.

The government does not need to know more about what we are doing. We need to know more about what the government is doing, he notes.

We should be thankful for individuals like Edward Snowden and Glenn Greenwald who see injustice being carried out by their own government and speak out, despite the risk. They have done a great service to the American people by exposing the truth about what our government is doing in secret.

There is already an unrelated connection here, incidentally. After examining Federal Election Commission records, Open Secrets - a watchdog that tracks money in politics - revealed Monday that Mr. Snowden donated $500 to Dr. Pauls campaign in 2012.

In an appearance on CNN, Dr. Paul also asked, What is the penalty for people who deliberately destroy the Constitution and rationalize and say, Oh, we have to do it for security. Well, frankly, you end up losing - you lose your security and you lose your freedoms too.

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Ron Paul praises Edward Snowden and defends the Fourth Amendment

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