Monthly Archives: July 2017

GOP Lawmakers Aim to Continue NSA Foreign Surveillance Through New Bill – Truthdig

Posted: July 8, 2017 at 3:54 am

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., speaking during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing last month about the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. (Alex Brandon / AP Photo)

A controversial surveillance measure set to expire at the end of 2017 could be made permanent through a new piece of GOP legislation. Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton proposed Senate Bill 1297 last month, which addresses a critical component of the National Security Agencys warrantless surveillance program.

At stake is Section 702 of the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act (amended in 2008), which allows U.S. surveillance of foreign communications. The Electronic Frontier Foundation explained:

Section 702 surveillance violates the privacy rights of millions of people. This warrantless spying should not be allowed to continue, let alone be made permanent as is.

As originally enacted, Section 702 expires every few years, giving lawmakers the chance to reexamine the broad spying powers that impact their constituents. This is especially crucial as technology evolves and as more information about how the surveillance authority is actually used comes to light, whether through government publication or in the press.

If Congress were to approve Cottons bill, lawmakers would not only be ignoring their constituents privacy concerns, but they would also be ceding their obligation to regularly review, debate, and update the law.

Cottons bill is receiving support from fellow Republican senators, although criticism of the bill does not fall neatly along partisan lines. On June 7, lawmakers discussed the legislation during a hearing in Washington. The New York Times reported:

This is a tool that is essential to the safety of this country, the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, told Congress at a hearing on Wednesday. I did not say the same thing about the collection of telephone dialing information by the N.S.A. I think thats a useful tool; 702 is an essential tool, and if it goes away, well be less safe as a country. And I mean that.

Mr. Comey also warned that one of the proposed changes a new requirement that a warrant be obtained to search for Americans information in the surveillance repository risked a failure to connect dots about potential threats.

But Representative Ted Poe, Republican of Texas, sought to warn other lawmakers that Congress needed to impose a warrant requirement.

Privacy is being betrayed in the name of national security, Mr. Poe told congressional aides at an event to discuss Fourth Amendment issues and legislation late last month.

Cotton argued during the hearing that to allow this program to expire on December 31 would hurt both our national security and our privacy rights. He also used the London terror attack of early June as evidence for the need for increased surveillance. Cotton said:

The attacks in London last weekend exposed in a matter of minutes just how vulnerable our free societies truly are. All it takes is a van or a knife and an unsuspecting bystander to turn a fun night out on the town into a horrific nightmare. Course, we shouldnt need any reminders, but let me give one yet again: We are at war with Islamic extremists. We have been for years, and, Im sorry to say, theres no end in sight. Its easy to forget this as we go about our daily lives, but our enemies have not-and they will not. Theyve never taken their eyes off the ultimate target either: the United States.

Yes, were at war with a vicious and unyielding foe. And just as our enemy can attack us with the simplest of everyday tools, the strongest shield we have in our defense is just as basic: It is the intelligence information of knowing who is talking to whom about what, where, when, and why. After the 9/11 attacks, our national-security agencies developed cutting-edge programs that allowed us to figure out what the bad guys were up to and stop them before they could perpetrate such heinous attacks. Very often the intelligence theyve collected has made the difference between life and death for American citizens.

He concluded by noting the bill has the support of every Republican senator on the Intelligence Committee. Other members of the intelligence community have expressed support for the legislation as well. Tech Crunch provided further analysis of the June 7 hearing:

NSA Director Michael Rogers broke down two scenarios in which the core controversy, namely the incidental violation of the right to privacy for U.S. citizens, comes up. He claimed that in 90 percent of cases, that form of collection is a result of two foreign targets who talk about a third person who is in the U.S. As Rogers tells it, 10 percent of the time a foreign target ends up talking to an American citizen. Because American citizens have Fourth Amendment rights, running into Americans in the course of foreign surveillance creates the sticky situation known as incidental collection, a major focus for privacy advocates seeking reform.

In the course of justifying Section 702 as an invaluable tool for counterterrorism and counterproliferation efforts, Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats claimed that agencies have made herculean efforts to get a count on how many Americans have been affected, but in spite of those efforts it remains impossible. He went on to undermine his argument by implying that it probably would be possible, but that he chooses not to allocate resources to the task when the intelligence community could be focusing on imminent concerns in countries like Iran and North Korea. I cant justify such a diversion of critical resources, Coats said.

He went on to note that without Section 702, intelligence agencies would have to obtain a court order issued due to probable cause ostensibly the bar that needs to be cleared in order to surveil U.S. citizens. Thats a relatively higher threshold than we require to foreign intelligence information, Coats said, noting that hed prefer not to need to clear the Fourth Amendment bar when investigating foreign targets.

In a broad appeal on 702s utility, Rogers went so far as to claim that 702 [created] insights on the Russian involvement in 2016 election, providing intelligence that would otherwise not have been possible.

There is, however, growing opposition to the bill. The American Civil Liberties Union has argued against it, as has California Democrat Dianne Feinstein.

Sen. Dianne Feinsteinwho has historically been sympathetic to the intelligence communitysaid she could not support a bill that makes Section 702 permanent, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. We cannot accept lawmakers ignoring our privacy concerns and their responsibility to review surveillance law, and our lawmakers need to hear that.

Posted by Emma Niles.

If you have trouble leaving a comment, review this help page. Still having problems? Let us know. If you find yourself moderated, take a moment to review our comment policy.

Read more here:
GOP Lawmakers Aim to Continue NSA Foreign Surveillance Through New Bill - Truthdig

Posted in NSA | Comments Off on GOP Lawmakers Aim to Continue NSA Foreign Surveillance Through New Bill – Truthdig

Waymo scales back claims against Uber in driverless car dispute – SFGate

Posted: at 3:53 am

Photo: BRETT CARLSEN, NYT

Waymo dropped several patent claims against Uber on Friday, but the two companies are still involved in a bitter lawsuit.

Waymo dropped several patent claims against Uber on Friday, but the two companies are still involved in a bitter lawsuit.

Waymo scales back claims against Uber in driverless car dispute

Waymo, the autonomous vehicle business that operates under Googles parent company, dropped several patent claims against Uber on Friday, pulling back some of its major allegations in a bitter lawsuit over driverless technology.

In a federal court filing, Waymo said it was dropping three of its four claims over Uber violating its patents related to light detection and ranging sensor technology, or lidar. Lidar is a vital component in driverless car technology, helping the vehicle detect its surroundings to navigate roads.

The case, an acrimonious battle between Waymo and Uber, spotlights the arms race surrounding autonomous vehicle talent and technology. It is especially significant for the Google unit now Waymo that spent years working on driverless car technology before other tech companies took an interest. But as Waymo searches for a way to make money from self-driving cars, many of its best engineers have left for potential competitors, carrying valuable knowledge of its technology with them.

The case with Uber, the ride-hailing company, began when Waymo filed suit in February, claiming Uber was using intellectual property stolen by one of Googles former project leaders in its driverless vehicles. That set off months of wrangling, eventually leading Uber to fire the former Google project leader, Anthony Levandowski. The case is scheduled for trial in October, with the thrust of it centered on Uber misappropriating Waymos trade secrets.

Waymos dropping of three patent claims against Uber weakens its original argument for bringing the suit. Still, each side called the latest legal move a victory.

Waymo said it agreed to scale back its patent claims because Uber had halted work on a lidar design that violated Waymos patents and is proceeding with a different design. Waymo is permitted to reassert its claims if Uber returns to the design that Waymo challenged. The company said Ubers current lidar design still violates one of its original patents.

We continue to pursue a patent claim against Ubers current generation device and our trade secret claims, which are not at all affected by this stipulated dismissal, Waymo said. We look forward to trial.

Uber said the dropping of the three claims was yet another sign of Waymo overreaching and not delivering on its claims.

Last month, Waymo received a signal from federal court that the patent claims were not its strongest legal argument in the case. Judge William Alsup of U.S. District Court in San Francisco, who is overseeing the case, urged the companys lawyers at a hearing June 7 to drop the patent claims because youre going to lose on all these patent claims unless you pull some rabbit out of a hat.

Uber, meanwhile, has been trying to distance itself from the actions of Levandowski, who joined Uber last year.

Waymo has said that Levandowski worked with Uber to steal proprietary information from Google before joining Uber. Waymo said Uber was aware that Levandowski had stolen files.

Uber said it expressly told Levandowski not to bring any stolen documents to the company or apply any of Waymos intellectual property to Ubers autonomous vehicle efforts. The company said Waymos lawyers have not found the stolen documents in Ubers possession, despite extensive discovery.

The matter has been complicated by Levandowski asserting his Fifth Amendment right to avoid self-incrimination. Uber said it urged him to cooperate with Waymos lawyers and fired him when he continued to refuse.

In a separate filing Friday, Uber said Levandowski, before invoking his Fifth Amendment right, told Travis Kalanick, then Ubers CEO, that he had downloaded the documents from Google because he was worried that he might not receive full payment of a $120 million bonus owed to him. Uber said this indicated that his actions were unrelated to his work at Uber.

Daisuke Wakabayashi is a New York Times writer.

Go here to see the original:
Waymo scales back claims against Uber in driverless car dispute - SFGate

Posted in Fifth Amendment | Comments Off on Waymo scales back claims against Uber in driverless car dispute – SFGate

Your vanishing location privacy: Why the Supreme Court is giving wireless networks a look – Insider Louisville

Posted: at 3:53 am

Douglas F. Brent

By Douglas F. Brent and Victoria Allen, Stoll Keenon Ogden PLLC

Editors Note: Victoria Allen is a 2017 Summer Associate with SKO.

The digital age has ushered in a multitude of location mechanisms on a communication device. Anyone who has paid roaming fees knows their phone connects to more networks than just those designated by their wireless provider.

Cellphones work by establishing a connection with cell towers. Each tower projects unique directional signals, so a cellphone picking up a signal from the north has distinct CSLI, or cell site location information, from a signal broadcast from the same towers southern sector. As they manage their networks, carriers record these connections.

With thousands of new microsites with smaller coverage areas, CSLI rivals GPS as a way to nearly pinpoint a devices location.

CSLI and law enforcement

In thousands of cases each year, law enforcement agencies obtain the CSLI associated with suspects phones under the Stored Communications Act, instead of securing a search warrant based on probable cause. This tower dump can reconstruct a suspects location and movements over time, and is effective in crime solving.

Nearly all federal courts have agreed that getting a tower dump from cellular providers does not require a warrant. As recently as 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review any of those decisions.

But on June 5, the Court granted a defendants request to review his conviction upheld last year by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in USA v. Timothy Carpenter.

The Court will consider whether the warrantless seizure and search of cellphone records revealing Carpenters location and movements over 127 days violated his Constitutional rights, specifically Fourth Amendment protection from unreasonable searches and seizures.

Carpenter was nabbed by the FBI in a string of armed robberies at Radio Shacks and T-Mobile stores around southeastern Michigan and northwestern Ohio. After receiving a judges order to obtain records from wireless carriers, the FBI determined that Carpenter had been less than two miles from each store when the robberies took place.

A Michigan jury convicted Carpenter and co-defendants, and a district judge sentenced him to multiple 25-year terms. The sentence was affirmed last year and Carpenter filed for Supreme Court review, even though two terms ago the Court declined to review a nearly identical decision from the Eleventh Circuit.

Why answer an unasked question?

We have written previously about why courts have generally held a warrant is not required to access cell site location information. The privacy protection provided by the Fourth Amendment guards individuals against unreasonable searches and seizures by law enforcement. Reasonableness is grounded in whether the person asserting the protection has an actual expectation of privacy that society will recognize.

But the Supreme Court has held that parties lack an expectation of privacy in business records created by third parties, like a telephone company that records the numbers dialed to initiate a call. Courts dont treat the review of most third-party transactional records as a search at all.

The resulting third-party doctrine, though developed in a different technology era, remains in use today. Regarding cellphone network data for geo-location, the records of wireless service providers have not triggered the same level of privacy protection as more direct methods of surveillance, like a hidden tracking device.

To fill the gap between Fourth Amendment protection and no protection at all, Congress created the Stored Communications Act (SCA), which requires that the government present reasonable grounds but not probable cause to obtain records like CSLI. Whether such information is also protected by the Fourth Amendment has become a more difficult question as transactional records become more numerous and more capable of revealing seemingly private information.

Some judges have been uncomfortable applying the third-party doctrine to pervasive collections, like thousands of locations recorded over months at a time. Judges have also questioned whether the doctrine applies to data not voluntarily conveyed by cellphone users. In the earliest cases involving phone networks, the information voluntarily conveyed was the number dialed by a suspect. In contrast, cellphone users dont so directly influence which cell tower their phone connects to.

The Supreme Courts decision to review Carpenters claims related to CSLI validates concern that the Fourth Amendment is being browbeaten into retreat by the swell of information that is conveyed to third parties. The Courts decision to hear Carpenter is an indication that the Supreme Court is ready to reconsider that decades old third-party doctrine in light of todays technology.

And it may be time.

Read more:
Your vanishing location privacy: Why the Supreme Court is giving wireless networks a look - Insider Louisville

Posted in Fourth Amendment | Comments Off on Your vanishing location privacy: Why the Supreme Court is giving wireless networks a look – Insider Louisville

In Case You Missed It: Austin Petersen, Second Amendment, CNN. – Being Libertarian

Posted: at 3:52 am


Being Libertarian
In Case You Missed It: Austin Petersen, Second Amendment, CNN.
Being Libertarian
Welcome to the fifth installment of In Case You Missed It, a weekly news roundup that focuses on some of the biggest news stories from around the globe every week. So, in case you missed it, here's your week in review: ...

Follow this link:
In Case You Missed It: Austin Petersen, Second Amendment, CNN. - Being Libertarian

Posted in Second Amendment | Comments Off on In Case You Missed It: Austin Petersen, Second Amendment, CNN. – Being Libertarian

Third Circuit Declares First Amendment Right to Record Police – EFF

Posted: at 3:52 am

The First Amendment protects our right to use electronic devices to record on-duty police officers, according to a new ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in Fields v. Philadelphia. This right extends to anyone with a recording device, journalists and members of the public alike. And this right includes capture of photos, videos, and audio recordings.

EFF filed an amicus brief seeking this ruling. We argued that people routinely use their electronic devices to record and share images and audio, and that this often includes newsworthy recordings of on-duty police officers interacting with members of the public.

The Third Circuit began its Fields opinion by framing the right to record in history and policy:

In 1991 George Holliday recorded video of the Los Angeles Police Department officers beating Rodney King and submitted it to the local news. Filming police on the job was rare then but common now. With advances in technology and the widespread ownership of smartphones, civilian recording of police officers is ubiquitous. . . . These recordings have both exposed police misconduct and exonerated officers from errant charges.

The Third Circuit recognized that all five federal appellate courts that previously addressed this issue held that the First Amendment protects the right to record the police.

The court next reasoned that the right to publish recordings depends on the predicate right to make recordings. Specifically:

The First Amendment protects actual photos, videos, and recordings, . . . and for this protection to have meaning the Amendment must also protect the act of creating that material. There is no practical difference between allowing police to prevent people from taking recordings and actually banning the possession or distribution of them.

The court also reasoned that the right to record the police is grounded in the First Amendment right of access to information about their officials public activities. The court explained:

Access to information regarding public police activity is particularly important because it leads to citizen discourse on public issues, the highest rung of the hierarchy of First Amendment values, and is entitled to special protection.

The court identified the many ways that civilian recordings of police activity are beneficial by capturing critical information:

Importantly, the court concluded that recordings of on-duty police have contributed greatly to our national discussion of proper policing. Among other things, they have improved professional reporting, as video content generated by witnesses and bystanders has become a common component of news programming. As a result, recordings have spurred action at all levels of government to address police misconduct and to protect civil rights.

Qualified Immunity

The Third Circuit erred on the issue of qualified immunity. This is a legal doctrine that protects government employees from paying money damages for violating the Constitution, if the specific right at issue was not clearly established at the time they violated it. In Fields, the Third Circuit unanimously held that going forward, the First Amendment protects the right to record the police. But the majority held that this right was not clearly established at the time the police officers in the case violated this right.

Judge Nygaard dissented on this point. He persuasively argued that this right was in fact clearly established, given the prior rulings of other appellate courts, the City of Philadelphias own policies, and the frequency that people (including police officers themselves) use their mobile devices to make recordings. On the bright side, the Third Circuit remanded the question of municipal liability, so there is still a possibility that the injured parties, whose right to record was disrupted by police, can obtain damages from the city.

Location of Recording

The Third Circuit in Fields sometimes formulated the First Amendment right to record police as existing in public places. This is true. But the right also exists in private places. For example, a home owner might record police officers searching their home without a warrant. Also, a complainant about police misconduct, speaking to internal affairs officers inside a police station, might record those officers discouraging her from pressing charges. In such cases, there is a First Amendment right to record on-duty police officers in a private place.

Rather than ask whether the place of recording was public or private, courts should ask whether the subject of recording had a reasonable expectation of privacy. Critically, on-duty police have no such expectation while speaking with civilians, whether they are in a public or private place.

The Fields decision is not to the contrary. Rather, it simply addressed the facts in that case, which concerned civilians recording on-duty police officers who happened to be in public places. Also, the Fields opinion at another point correctly framed the issue as recording police officers performing their official duties.

Interference

The court discussed another possible limitation on the right to record the policewhether recording may be subject to reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions to ensure that it doesnt interfere with policy activity. However, this issue was not before the court. It remains to be seen how future courts will address limitations on the First Amendment right to record the police.

The Third Circuits Fields decision is an important victory for the right of technology users to record on-duty police officers. But the struggle continues. Across the country, many government officials continue to block members of the public from using their electronic devices to record newsworthy events. EFF will continue to fight for this vital right.

Go here to read the rest:
Third Circuit Declares First Amendment Right to Record Police - EFF

Posted in First Amendment | Comments Off on Third Circuit Declares First Amendment Right to Record Police – EFF

Campus news of the week: Kidnapping, the minimum wage, the First Amendment and more – USA TODAY College

Posted: at 3:52 am

Welcome to the weeklyCampus news of the weekroundup here atUSA TODAY College. There are around 5,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. Heres a snapshot of the most compelling stories that happened on campus around the country this week, according to student newspapers.

According to the Daily Bruin, the Los Angeles-wide minimum wage increase will have direct effects on the UCLA campus.

Along with a pay raise for campus workers, graduate student representative Patrick Adler told the Daily Bruin that students and faculty members should expect some price raises as well. The price of a cup of coffee, for example, could go up.

The Crimson White reports that the family of former University of Alabama student Megan Rondini, who committed suicide last year after being sexually assaulted in Tuscaloosa, is filing a wrongful death suit against university personnel.

Rondini was the subject of a recent Buzzfeed article about her experiences following the assault.

This undated photo provided by the University of Illinois Police Department shows Yingying Zhang, a Chinese woman from a central Illinois university town who was kidnapped. Zhang was about a month into a yearlong appointment at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign when she disappeared June 9, 2017. (Photo: Courtesy of the University of Illinois Police Department via AP)

The Daily Illini reports that the alleged kidnapper of missing scholar Yingying Zhang, Brendt Christensen, will be held without bond until his first court date July 15.

Yingying Zhang went missing June 9, and was last seen entering a black car near campus. She is presumed dead.

According to theDaily Californian, UC Berkeley is attempting to dismiss the lawsuit filed by conservative student groups following what was seen as an alleged mishandling around visiting conservative speakers on campus.

The Berkeley College Republicans and Young Americas Foundations lawsuit came after conservative writer David Horowitz was held to what they say were unfair standards when compared with non-conservative speakers.

The Daily Californian reports that the plaintiffs must respond by August 11 and UC-Berkeley will in turn have to respond by August 25.

View post:
Campus news of the week: Kidnapping, the minimum wage, the First Amendment and more - USA TODAY College

Posted in First Amendment | Comments Off on Campus news of the week: Kidnapping, the minimum wage, the First Amendment and more – USA TODAY College

Is Freedom of Expression in Danger? First Amendment Experts … – TheWrap

Posted: at 3:52 am

The grey area between questions of privacy rights and First Amendment rights were central to TheWraps panel discussion in Los Angeles Thursday night, The First Amendment In the Age of Trump and needless to say, there were plenty of issues to debate.

Brian Knappenberger, director of the documentary Nobody Speak: Trials of a Free Press, feels that Silicon Valley billionaire Peter Thiels secretive involvement in the Hulk Hogan/Gawker trial threatened the First Amendment rights of the free press. But the irony is that the First Amendment in part protects Thiels secrecy.

Or consider how universities have been locked in debate over whether figures like Ann Coulter or Milo Yiannopoulos have the right to speak on college campuses. The First Amendment protects their right to speak, but it also protects those fighting back against that speech. Are students exercising their rights or are they suppressing debate?

Also Read: What Happens if the Media Defies White House Camera Ban?

Then theres the case of writing on the internet. Fake news, false memes and outright hate speech can be easily proliferated online, all under anonymous internet monikers. Their words have proven dangerous and made people mistrust the media, yet the First Amendment protects their anonymity.

Also Read: 'Nobody Speak' Review: Money Muzzles the Media

The talk followed a screening of Knappenbergers Netflix documentary Nobody Speak: Trials of the Free Press. It charts how Gawkers decision to publish Hulk Hogans sex tape led to a trial that has potentially opened the flood gates for billionaires to make news outlets they dont like disappear.

Im bothered by the secrecy of what happened here. As I understand it, what Peter Thiel did here used to be illegal, Knappenberger said during the panel discussion. Theres this notion that this can be done in secret, that a thumb can be placed on this conversation in a way that is invisible to the participants involved, invisible to the public and invisible to the jury as well. That is troubling to me.

Also Read: 'Nobody Speak' Director Compares Hulk Hogan, Gawker Trial to President Trump (Video)

But Ricardo Cestero, a partner at the law firm Greenberg Glusker, argues that the secrecy of Thiels actions is part of what the First Amendment protects.

Peter Thiel had a First Amendment right to do whatever lawfully he was allowed to do in order to shut down a publication that in his First Amendment belief wasnt worthy of continuing to exist, Cestero said. Its a jury verdict that balanced the privacy of a celebrity against the publications First Amendment right to do what it did. Peter Thiels involvement is part of what the First Amendment allows.

Cestero argues that the real issue is a flaw in our legal system rather than a failure to recognize the First Amendment. Wealthy individuals who dont like what they read or see in the media can file an arguably frivolous lawsuit, and theres no way for media companies to combat it.

Also Read: What Happens if the Media Defies White House Camera Ban?

Our legal system has gotten to the point where it is cost prohibitive for anything other than companies that are fully insured or the extraordinarily wealthy people or corporations to really litigate meaningful cases like this one, Cestero said. We as a society should look at ways to solve that problem.

Lanny J. Davis, the co-founder and partner of Davis Goldberg & Galper, reiterated how the Hulk Hogan/Gawker case mainly concerned the balance between privacy rights and First Amendment rights. He said that when we argue about First Amendment rights disappearing, we shouldnt lose sight of the fact that Terry Bollea, i.e. Hogans real name, was entitled to privacy as also protected by the Constitution.

Theres a grey area where First Amendment and privacy rights overlap, and people who are progressive need to have a balance in looking at both sides, Davis said.

Also Read: Milo Yiannopoulos Supporter Sues Berkeley for $23 Million

Davis went on to say that these rights extended to Thiels own privacy, but hes ultimately in favor of transparency in litigation. The First Amendment allows anybody to be outed and the person outed to be offended. The principle of the First Amendment is that shouldnt be subject to any penalty. But whats offensive and whats constitutional are different, he added.

David Greene is the Civil Liberties Director at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and he said during the panel discussion that theres still an issue with billionaires like Thiel putting their thumbs on the scale. Greene said the verdict in the Gawker case was disproportionate to anything hes seen in a privacy case like this.

What you get when you have someone funding it is you have this concern that youll soon get this disproportion, Greene said. And our system isnt well equipped to handle that disproportion. The system that we rely on breaks just a little bit when you have this type of involvement in the cases.

Also Read: President Trump Can't Jail Journalists for Reporting Leaks - Or Can He?

So is the First Amendment under attack more now than when Trump took office? Greene feels there may not be a legal solution to the president attacking the media, but we still need to fight back against that language.

The concern I have in the rhetoric I hear now is its engendering distrust in these institutions that are so vital, Greene said. There are media institutions I like and those I dislike, but I want them all to survive, because thats the way the system works. The more people reporting the better.

Davis says all presidents have been irritated or displeased with the media. But Donald Trump is different.

The difference is Donald Trump demonizes people and creates dangerous, violent tendencies in certain extreme minded, and I think fascist oriented people, he said. We have to try and avoid attacking motives and demonizing people we disagree with. We lose the heartland of this country when we do that as opposed to civil disagreement, and keeping with our criticism of the media, which is sometimes deserved, is that we dont personalize our differences. We dont demonize our opposition. Thats what President Trump does, and thats what makes him dangerous.

Check out the whole video from Thursdays panel discussion above, Nobody Speak is available on Netflix now.

On Sunday, Donald Trump derided the use of anonymous sourcing in news stories. He also said in February that news outlets "shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody's name." It's strange he thinks that, because he's used a lot of anonymous sources himself. Here are some examples.

Two years after President Obama released his birth certificate, Trump said it was not believable to some people."You know, some people say that was not his birth certificate," he told ABC in August 2013. "I'm saying I don't know. Nobody knows and you don't know either."

Trump said one of thesources "called myoffice."

Trump took care to describe this sourceas "extremely credible."

Trump so oftensources information to "many people" (without naming any of them) that there's a well-worn #manypeoplearesaying hashtag on Twitter.The Washington Post wrote an article about it, which includes the examples on the next three slides.

At a rally in September, a man in Trump's audience said President Obama was a Muslim and not even an American, then asked Trump to get rid of Muslim training camps.

You know, a lot of people are saying that, and a lot of people are saying that bad things are happening out there, Trump responded.

In early January, Trump said he had heard from many Republicans worried that his rival, Sen. Ted Cruz, was born in Canada.

Id hate to see something like that get in his way, but a lot of people are talking about it, and I know that even some states are looking at it very strongly, the fact that he was born in Canada and he has had a double passport, Trump told thePost.

In May 2016, Trump told the Post what some "people" believe about the death of Vince Foster. I dont bring [Fosters death] up because I dont know enough to really discuss it, Trump said. I will say there are people who continue to bring it up because they think it was absolutely a murder. I dont do that because I dont think its fair.

Soon after Trump called for an end to anonymous sourcing, The Associated Press noted, "Members of Trump's White House team regularly demand anonymity when talking to reporters."

Surprise: Trump berates the news media for doing something hes done himself

On Sunday, Donald Trump derided the use of anonymous sourcing in news stories. He also said in February that news outlets "shouldn't be allowed to use sources unless they use somebody's name." It's strange he thinks that, because he's used a lot of anonymous sources himself. Here are some examples.

Continue reading here:
Is Freedom of Expression in Danger? First Amendment Experts ... - TheWrap

Posted in First Amendment | Comments Off on Is Freedom of Expression in Danger? First Amendment Experts … – TheWrap

Pittsburgh attorney fought hard for First Amendment rights, individual civil liberties – Tribune-Review

Posted: at 3:52 am

Updated 5 hours ago

Ron Barber had a passion for justice, a calm demeanor and a sharp intellect a combination that served him and his clients well as he successfully argued in Pennsylvania courts for the First Amendment rights of the media and individual civil liberties.

Ron was the most gentle trial lawyer I have ever seen, said fellow partner David Strassburger, who worked with Mr. Barber on many cases at the Pittsburgh law firm of Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky. There was no fire and brimstone in him at all. His passion came through with his intellect and the words that he chose rather than the volume that he spoke them at.

Being honest about what he was saying resonated with every judge and jury he stood before.

Ronald D. Barber, 56, of Sewickley died Thursday, July 6, 2017, at West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh of complications from prostate cancer.

Born in Fort Lewis, Wash., on Aug. 12, 1960, he was the son of Mary Barber of Sewickley and the late Alan Barber.

Mr. Barber graduated from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1988 after completing undergraduate studies at Pitt in politics and philosophy with magna cum laude honors.

He began at the Pittsburgh law firm as an associate attorney and became a partner in 2003. His career at the firm bookended a period between 1994 and 2000 when he pursued another passion teaching and served as the permanent law clerk for Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Ronald Folino.

Known for mentoring younger attorneys, Mr. Barber was an adjunct faculty member at Pitt, teaching courses on ethics, public policy and mass media.

He was a pro bono legal adviser for the university's student newspaper, The Pitt News, where he'd served as an editor while a student.

Strassburger said Mr. Barber obtained a ruling from the state Supreme Court that settlement agreements resolving claims against public agencies in this case, a civil rights suit filed against the Westmoreland County Housing Authority should be made public, even if paid with insurance money.

He successfully argued so many of those types of issues that did not result in a lot of notoriety but served to educate the bench and others about the importance of open government, Strassburger said.

He was a member of the legal committee of the Pittsburgh chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.

If he saw there was a wrong that needed righted, that's what he saw as a good case, said his wife and fellow attorney, Jean Novak. He was always doing the right thing, whether or not it benefited him.

During his two-year battle with cancer, Mr. Barber participated in a trial treatment in the hope, even if it couldn't help him, it would help other people in the future, she said.

When not working on cases, Mr. Barber enjoyed hiking at Cook Forest and playing chess.

A former longtime president of the Pittsburgh Chess Club, he often visited prison inmates to teach them the game.

He thought chess was a great equalizer, and he was devoted to doing what he could to promote the game to everyone, his wife said.

There will be no viewing for Mr. Barber. A memorial service is planned for later in the summer.

In addition to his wife and mother, Mr. Barber is survived by two children, Zachary and Alexandra Barber, both of Squirrel Hill.

Memorial donations were suggested to the Look Good Feel Better Foundation, 1620 L Street NW, 12th Floor, Washington, D.C. 20036, or to Animal Friends, 562 Camp Horne Road, Pittsburgh, PA 15237.

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6622, jhimler@tribweb.com or via Twitter @jhimler_news.

GCDC executive director search put on hold

Lycippus Hardware & Supply store to be put up for public sale

Fayette County commissioner's wife receives prison term in shooting case

Irwin woman chooses trial over plea offer in child endangerment case

Westmoreland fugitive caught in McKees Rocks

You are solely responsible for your comments and by using TribLive.com you agree to our Terms of Service.

We moderate comments. Our goal is to provide substantive commentary for a general readership. By screening submissions, we provide a space where readers can share intelligent and informed commentary that enhances the quality of our news and information.

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderating decisions are subjective. We will make them as carefully and consistently as we can. Because of the volume of reader comments, we cannot review individual moderation decisions with readers.

We value thoughtful comments representing a range of views that make their point quickly and politely. We make an effort to protect discussions from repeated comments either by the same reader or different readers

We follow the same standards for taste as the daily newspaper. A few things we won't tolerate: personal attacks, obscenity, vulgarity, profanity (including expletives and letters followed by dashes), commercial promotion, impersonations, incoherence, proselytizing and SHOUTING. Don't include URLs to Web sites.

We do not edit comments. They are either approved or deleted. We reserve the right to edit a comment that is quoted or excerpted in an article. In this case, we may fix spelling and punctuation.

We welcome strong opinions and criticism of our work, but we don't want comments to become bogged down with discussions of our policies and we will moderate accordingly.

We appreciate it when readers and people quoted in articles or blog posts point out errors of fact or emphasis and will investigate all assertions. But these suggestions should be sent via e-mail. To avoid distracting other readers, we won't publish comments that suggest a correction. Instead, corrections will be made in a blog post or in an article.

Man turns in $1M Powerball ticket in Greensburg

Westmoreland fugitive caught in McKees Rocks

Police charge mother and grandmother after overdosing on heroin while watching children

More:
Pittsburgh attorney fought hard for First Amendment rights, individual civil liberties - Tribune-Review

Posted in First Amendment | Comments Off on Pittsburgh attorney fought hard for First Amendment rights, individual civil liberties – Tribune-Review

Judge Says Twitter Can Move Forward With First Amendment Lawsuit Over NSL Reporting Limitations – Techdirt

Posted: at 3:52 am

Twitter's First Amendment lawsuit against the government for limitations on National Security Letter reporting will be allowed to continue. This is good news for Twitter -- and the general public -- although it's somewhat disheartening to see things have only moved this far in the three years since the lawsuit was filed.

Reporting on NSLs is limited to "bands." A social media service receiving three NSLs has to report it as "0-499." The same goes for a service that receives 300 NSLs over the same period. Twitter is fighting to have these "bands" removed, in order to more accurately report the number of NSLs it receives.

So far, the government's arguments for leaving the bands in place have been as vague as the information tech companies are allowed to release. It asserts -- without evidence -- that reporting the actual number of NSLs (or FISA orders) will harm national security. The fact that NSLs are accompanied by indefinite gag orders grants the government an insane amount of opacity relative to the level of oversight these NSLs receive. NSLs are administrative documents the FBI (and other agencies) can issue themselves, which receive no impartial scrutiny from judges or anyone outside the issuing agency.

The government's attempt to dismiss this lawsuit has failed, so Twitter will be allowed to move forward with its First Amendment lawsuit. The opening of the opinion [PDF] makes it clear the DOJ going to need to come up with a better argument if it hopes to keep this banded opacity in place. (via Ars Technica)

The Court finds the Government has not met its high burden to overcome the strong presumption of unconstitutionality on the record before the Court. The Governments restrictions on Twitters speech are content-based prior restraints subject to the highest level of scrutiny under the First Amendment. The restrictions are not narrowly tailored to prohibit only speech that would pose a clear and present danger or imminent harm to national security. The Government argues that the limitations imposed on Twitter are necessary because disclosure of data concerning the number and type of national security legal process that it received in a time period would impair national security interests and is properly classified. However, the Government has not presented evidence, beyond a generalized explanation, to demonstrate that disclosure of the information in the Draft Transparency Report would present such a grave and serious threat of damage to national security as to meet the applicable strict scrutiny standard.

An unclassified declaration by the director of the FBI's national security branch appears to form the basis for the assertions the court finds lacking. It's basically what's covered above: the information is "properly classified" and releasing it would do damage to national security. Other arguments along the same lines are applied to granular disclosure of received FISA orders. The DOJ points out the First Amendment does not allow possessors of classified information to share it freely.

The court says this bare assertion isn't enough to overcome Twitter's valid First Amendment complaint:

[T]he Court does not agree with the Governments position that simply determining information meets the requirements for classification under Executive Order 13526 ends the Constitutional analysis. That the information is classified is not, in itself, a sufficient basis for the Governments prohibition on its disclosure

The First Amendment requires strict scrutiny of content-based restrictions and prior restraints, regardless of the Governments basis for nondisclosure.

It's not just the DOJ's public arguments that suck. The court points assertions made behind closed doors have also done nothing to justify the prior restraint.

Here, the declarations of Steinbach, both in camera and public, fail to provide sufficient details indicating that the decision to classify the information in the Draft Transparency Report was based on anything more specific than the reporting bands in section 1874 and the FBIs position that more granular information could be expected to harm national security. The declarations do not provide an indication of grave or imminent harm arising from the disclosures in the Draft Transparency Report. Rather, the concerns raised to relate to the overall concern from one or more of any electronic communication service regardless of the specific provider or circumstance. Merely declaring a view that more granular reporting would create an unacceptable risk does not make it so, especially in light of the Governments acknowledgement of the strong public interest in the information.

The government is apparently so used to receiving judicial deference it didn't bother to do much more than recite its national security mantras.

Rather, the declaration largely relies on a generic, and seemingly boilerplate, description of the mosaic theory and a broad brush concern that the information at issue will make more difficult the complications associated with intelligence gathering in the internet age.

If the DOJ has an actual, articulable reason for forbidding more precise transparency reporting, it has yet to deliver this argument to the court. However, it's had three years to do so and hasn't produced anything yet. It appears to feel the court should make with the NATSEC deference and toss the case. Now, it's actually going to need to produce some evidence that granular reporting will harm intelligence gathering or harm the nation.

Read more:
Judge Says Twitter Can Move Forward With First Amendment Lawsuit Over NSL Reporting Limitations - Techdirt

Posted in First Amendment | Comments Off on Judge Says Twitter Can Move Forward With First Amendment Lawsuit Over NSL Reporting Limitations – Techdirt

New ICO Promises Mainstream Adoption of Cryptocurrencies – HuffPost

Posted: at 3:50 am

Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, while potentially transformative on the macro level, are hard for most people to adopt on the micro-level. Indeed, the opportunities created by Bitcoin and its underlying technologyblockchainare only being used by 8-10 million people (1% of the worlds population), and a significant share of that number comprises government entities, stock exchanges, banks, financial services firms, and startups.

For the large majority of people, the technology is hard to grasp, and the cryptocurrency is difficult to mine given the hard-earned cryptographical skill set needed to mine it. Bitcoin and Ethereum are relatively popular cryptocurrencies, but with new digital wallets with no instruction manuals and no single platform to centralize trading for the everyday consumer, progress towards full integration of the currency in world economies remains slow. Yet, as with many affairs in the world of financial services, there may be hopeand it comes from Switzerland.

Corion, a unified, unregulated, decentralized, mobile cryptocurrency platform operating on the Ethereum Classic blockchain, is underway in its Initial Coin Offering (ICO). The offering, which will close on July 30, will pay out between 3-25% bonus to participants, with early birds earning 0.2% daily during the offering and service providers generating between 5-10x more return on existing 0-2.5% coin supply growth in the medium term.

The ICO gives both service providers and consumers the opportunity to invest in a new cryptocurrency that allows them to help build the Corion ecosystem, a multifunctional platform allowing businesses and individuals to transact between each other on the Corion platform, which provides and hosts secure, convenient, and real-time financial transactions between members using Corion coin.

The main pain point within the overall blockchain environment Corion seeks to alleviate is that the current collection of cryptocurrencies operate in centralized and debt-based contexts. The value of these cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin with its various and controversial hard forks over the last few years, are volatile, with Ethereum being held up as Bitcoins potential yet uncertain successor. Driving such volatility is the scarcity-based value of cryptocurrencywith only so many cryptographers and developers able to mine and distribute it, demand simply isnt part of the equation here. And, with only 1% of the worlds population actively using any such currency right now, theres just not the level of adoption present to transition it from short-term, speculative income for a majority of people.

Corions main goal is to create a blockchain-based, decentralized cryptocurrency ecosystem driving demand based on coin rewards and benchmarking against current fiat currencies. The ecosystem, accessible through the Corion platform, would focus cryptocurrency into mainstream usage, taking it from short-term speculative income to continuous passive income through community management. More, Corion consists of separate smart contracts, implemented in Solidity language for maximum transparency and trust.

Corion has created an ecosystem and suite of services that rival emerging blockchain services offered by bulge-bracket banks like Citi and BNY Mellon, integrating payment, finance, and trading functionalities on its singular mobile platform, accessible by any user. At the same time, Corions developers are working B2B to increase the total user base of all cryptocurrencies, something no company has done until now. This innovative business model encourages cross-currency exchange, and inter-wallet and inter-platform cooperation and synergy.

To facilitate the transition of cryptocurrencies to mainstream use that Corion looks to achieve, the Corion platform features seven unique features to humanize the cryptocurrency experience for the average user. These features include a marketplace that promotes commerce, a stable cryptocurrency to promote mainstream use, a reward system for users based on Schelling points which allows users to grow their coins, a multifunctional wallet that operates as the main interface of the platform, and more.

Currently, the battle for cryptocurrency supremacy is ongoing. Corion enters with high aspirations, and well have to keep watch to see if this innovative platform can change the crypto world.

The Morning Email

Wake up to the day's most important news.

Continued here:
New ICO Promises Mainstream Adoption of Cryptocurrencies - HuffPost

Posted in Cryptocurrency | Comments Off on New ICO Promises Mainstream Adoption of Cryptocurrencies – HuffPost