Category: Freedom

The World Dosen’t Like Torture

Today June 26 is the international day against torture! The United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the world says a clear NO to torture. On this special day, the struggle against torture is being celebrated by thousands of people worldwide, and the victims of this shameful practice are remembered.

It’s a great time to remember that we are the ones that need to speak out against torture. It’s also a good opportunity to tell people about the good organizations like the UN Voluntary Fund for Victims of Torture that aim to prevent torture and help those that have suffered through it.

Microsoft and Creative Commons

Microsoft has announced that they will release a tool for Microsoft Office applications that allows for people to easily publish things they create using a creative commons license. This is a great step for the CC movement, something that ThingsAreGood is part of.

“The goal of Creative Commons is to provide authors and artists with simple tools to mark their creative work with the freedom they intend it to carry,” said Lawrence Lessig, professor of law at Stanford Law School and founder of Creative Commons. “We’re incredibly excited to work with Microsoft to make that ability easily available to the hundreds of millions of users of Microsoft Office.”

“It’s thrilling to see big companies like Microsoft working with nonprofits to make it easier for artists and creators to distribute their works,” said Gilberto Gil, cultural minister of Brazil, host nation for the Creative Commons iSummit in Rio de Janeiro June 23 through 25, where the copyright licensing tool will be featured. Gil, who will keynote at the iSummit, has released one of the first documents using the Creative Commons add-in for Microsoft Office.

Canadas Courts Challenge Use of Security Certificates

The Supreme Court of Canada is now facing a constitutional challenge regarding the federal government’s controversial security certificate process. The certificates have been issued by the Canadian Government since 2001 as means of detaining immigrants considered ‘security risks’ to Canada. However, the process offers no justice to detainees as many face imprisonment for years without charges and no access to a fair trial or evidence against them. In some cases there is risk of the person being deported back to their home country, where they face possible torture or even death. The issue has been followed closely by human rights groups such as Amnesty International, but has only recently made breaking news.

The hearings before the Supreme Court began on Tuesday and are expected to last three days. Along with much media attention ,Jim Loney ,an activist recently held hostage in Iraq, has joined a campaign called ‘Freedom Caravan’ which recently made a trek across eastern Ontario to protest the detention of 4 men currently held in Canada.

Bloggers Can Keep Secrets

The organization, Reports Without Borders, has released a statement that hails a recent ruling in a California court case. In question was whether a blogger has the same rights as a journalist to protect the anonymity of their sources. This is important for freedom of speech and for protecting those who are whistle-blowers in their industries.

In this particular case Apple Computers tried to force a blogger to reveal his source for the leaking of private Apple information. The company was (and still is) concerned with the websites that publicize rumors on Apple’s coming product, including AppleInsider and ThinkSecret.

Reporters Without Borders added: “The Californian appeal court’s decision is historic because it gives a new legitimacy to bloggers. Even though they do not have press cards, they will henceforth have right of place in the world of news and information.”

Amnesty International Invites Webmasters to Defeat Censorship

Worldwide human rights group, Amnesty International has begun a project called irrepressable.info to monitor and circumvent internet censorship.

The website gives visitors the opportunity to place a small box on their own sites which contains a snippet of censored information.