Feature Archives
Mon Dec 15 2003
GENEVA: WORLD SUMMIT ON THE INFORMATION SOCIETY
The World Summit on the Information Society, (WSIS) is continuing in Geneva, Switzerland. Throughout the week you can tune in to the HighNoon video and audio stream. Activists are demanding that the UN Summit address issues of intellectual property, human rights, the right to communicate, infowar, the rights to cheap generic medicine, and to free software as a model for technological development. During the preparation of the conference the police raided and initially shutdown the Polymedia lab, a hands on workshop space and community media lab. On Thursday activists held an action by projecting "Give me the mermaid" (Audio | Video skip to 20:08) by Negativland on the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) building. IMC Switzerland | IMC-UK
Sun Oct 26 2003
If “Perception Is Reality” What Is Diebold Afraid of?
A string of leaked e-mails has created panic amongst the executives of Diebold Election Systems. Diebold is the second largest, and fastest growing electronic voting corporation in the world, and produces touch screen voting stations used in 37 states in the country. These same machines were used throughout the state of California during the 10/7 Recall Election.
Recently this IMC came under attack from Diebold for an anonymous post on our newswire which included links to the memos. Our web host, Online Policy Group, received a cease and desist letter on 10/10, giving OPG 24 hours to remove the postings. The Electronic Frontier Foundation issued a press release discounting the validity of Diebold’s lawyers' efforts to keep the controversial information secret, and OPG stated it would "defend strongly the free speech right of our client IndyMedia to publish links to Diebold memos relevant to the public debate about electronic voting machine security..." Given the long problematic history of electronic voting systems, California voters remain skeptical of Diebold technology -- and links with the Republican electoral apparatus. Read Full Report
Recently this IMC came under attack from Diebold for an anonymous post on our newswire which included links to the memos. Our web host, Online Policy Group, received a cease and desist letter on 10/10, giving OPG 24 hours to remove the postings. The Electronic Frontier Foundation issued a press release discounting the validity of Diebold’s lawyers' efforts to keep the controversial information secret, and OPG stated it would "defend strongly the free speech right of our client IndyMedia to publish links to Diebold memos relevant to the public debate about electronic voting machine security..." Given the long problematic history of electronic voting systems, California voters remain skeptical of Diebold technology -- and links with the Republican electoral apparatus. Read Full Report
9/4/2003:Google News has removed SF Bay Area IMC from its index after claiming that they spidered an article which used the word "zionazi." According to Google News, "zionazi" is hate speech. Google News does, however, allow "islamofascist" and other derogatory references to Arabs and Muslims, as detailed in this letter from an SF Bay Area IMC participant. Anyone concerned about this censorship is being asked to take a minute and email news-feedback at google.com and ask them to work this out with SF Bay Area Indymedia.
Full Story | Google's Form Response
Full Story | Google's Form Response