It's obvious that we are living in the information era, in fact, who has the information or who controls it, he has got the power.
Censor phenomena on information is being attuated on the Internet by the government itself. But the freedom of expression wuouldn't be guaranteed? In name of such pinciple, someone decided to fight the censorship. Wikipedia, the most free enciclopedia in the world, has prohibited some of its contents to be modified by members of USA government, which have repeately attempted to delete information "they don't like", but validated. More the information is near to the truth, more it can represent a problem for who has to hide something.
In addiction, even the Italian Government is performing an Internet censorship: at the moment only those hosting on-line bet systems outside Italy and sites with pedopornographic contents. But how much will this censoring mechanism spread?
For further details visit the following links
http://www.beppegrillo.it/eng/2006/02/media_war.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Requests_for_comment/...
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=57682
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=57697
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=57857
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=58113
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=58150
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=58181
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=58375
http://www.repubblica.it/2006/04/sezioni/scienza_e_tecnologia/...
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?id=1470754
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?id=1472138
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?id=1476425
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?id=1480483
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1523509
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1557319
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1566343
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1575998
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1590922
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1659144
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1695437
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1745347
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1787468
http://www.beppegrillo.it/2006/11/porno_fioroni.html
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1806241
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1832753
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1834213
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1994232
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=2003868
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?i=2109316
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=2109257
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?i=2219018
http://www.partito-pirata.it/?q=node/369
http://punto-informatico.it/2383692/PI/News/...
http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/08/italian-block-i.html
http://punto-informatico.it/2417079/PI/Brevi/italia-sblocca-...
http://punto-informatico.it/2436669/PI/News/olanda-siti-chiusi-una-email.aspx
http://punto-informatico.it/2436696/PI/News/dottrina-sarkozy-sarkozy...
http://punto-informatico.it/2438179/PI/Commenti/ombra-della-dottrina...
http://punto-informatico.it/2439299/PI/News/australia-cancella-...
http://punto-informatico.it/2505894/PI/News/australia-piazza-contro-filtri.aspx
http://punto-informatico.it/2641517/PI/Commenti/chiuso-rettifica.aspx

A telecommunication reformation is carried on by the USA, intended to start a two different user's categories accessing to net resources. This reformation is called the two-speed Internet or the Internet 2.0.
Such users discrimination should divide the richest from the poorest, bringing to the first an higher speed Internet in respect of the others. The net viewed as the data selling global system, in which every packet is valuated depending on its tipology and the related user charged by the Corporation of the telecommunication industry.
For further details visit the following links
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=57717
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=58748
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?id=1435276
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?id=1473590
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?id=1473591
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?id=1494294
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1523528
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1534916

Internet is informazion, collaboaration, commercial activity. It is a tool consenting social iteraction and democratic partecipation among users, which would be very hard to do without of. This implies that network should continue to be as we know today: freely accessible and neutral. Users must decide tha access to contents, they should be allowed to access to everty site or service they will, in every moment, with maximum available speed (depending on the ISP contract). ISPs must not choose/limit services for users.
UE approval of Telecoms Package should change actual condition of things, undermine privacy and freedom of expression. Some Countries are moving in such directon...
For further details visit the following links
http://punto-informatico.it/2552729/PI/Lettere/pacchetto...
http://blog.ernestobelisario.eu/2009/03/01/pacchetto-telecom...
http://computer-internet.myblog.it/archive/2009/02/23/internet...
http://alessandro1971.splinder.com/post/19888231
http://punto-informatico.it/2593665/PI/News/pacchetto-telecom...
http://punto-informatico.it/2593772/PI/Commenti/les-jeux-sont-faits.aspx
http://www.repubblica.it/2007/09/sezioni/tecnologia/diritti-web...
http://punto-informatico.it/2591643/PI/Interviste/ci-vuole-una-legge...
http://punto-informatico.it/2621491/PI/News/dottrina-sarkozy-quasi-legge.aspx
http://punto-informatico.it/2629823/PI/Commenti/copyright-vogliono-...
http://www.repubblica.it/2009/01/sezioni/tecnologia/p2p/sentenza-france/sentenza-france.html

Copyright in sound recordings currently lasts for 50 years, but the recording industry continues to demand that this term be extended (to 95 years, at the moment).
Copyright originated to protect owner from idea stealing: the owner public his work and receive from the Government a protection against stealing for a limited period of time. That is the agreement. But how long should be the period of time? How much do musicians benefit? Such questions should be evaluated taking into account costs/time to copy/reproducing the work and the advantage to freely use it by the society. So, the extension would represent an injustice to European musicians and musical culture, and may harm our economy.
Meanwhile the European Parliament approved in the first instance the copyright extension to 70 years...
For further details visit the following links
http://www.soundcopyright.eu
http://www.ffii.org.uk/archives/42
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?i=2226083
http://punto-informatico.it/2608255/PI/News/copyright-70-anni...

USA starts a national database for gathering biometric information about every citizen, which allows an electronic identification (electronic identity card or digital passport) for the people.
But even if such idea seems good, it could hide serious backwards. In facts, some biometric data, as fingerprints, are left almost everywere by its owner and so they have not the right requirements to be used as electronic identification parameter for the people: A malicious person could store inside the electronic card chip, the fingerprint of another person, assuming another identity. They result clean by a scan of his electonic card. Which such identification mechanism who is in the control room will be able to take out from the system "unwanted" person: something like in The Net or Minority report movies.
For further details visit the following links
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=42031
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=58350
http://www.apogeonline.com/webzine/2004/04/29/01/200404290101
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=58390
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=58558
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=58650
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=58677
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=58906
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1552356
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1708744
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1772427
http://www.repubblica.it/2006/12/sezioni/...
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1920384
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?i=2238942
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?i=2360967
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?i=2362860
http://punto-informatico.it/2526954/PI/News/ue-impronte-nei-passaporti.aspx

In spite of the strong pressure by the EU Council and Commission, on the 6th of July 2005 the EU Parliament said no to software patents (McCarthy report, com2002-092 or CII - Computer-Implemented Inventions). This fact allows preserving the pluralism about software development and it breaks enterprise software corporations acquiring more and more power, against medium/little companies. But the battle seems not be finished yet...
Recently the European Commission published a report in favour to DRM (Digital Rights Management), but such mechanisms could give an enormous power to the software/audio/video producers/distributors, compromising users freedom.
For further details visit the following links
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?id=1500903
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=58246
http://consultation.ffii.org
http://www.repubblica.it/2005/e/sezioni/scienza_e_tecnologia/...
http://swpat.ffii.org
http://www.nosoftwarepatents.com
http://fsfeurope.org/projects/swpat/letter-20050606.en.html
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=53057
http://noepatents.eu.org/index.php/Demo_Against_Software_Patents
http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/swpat/letter-20050511-it-mep.it.html
http://www.linux.it/GNU/nemici/brevetti.shtml
http://www.softwarelibero.it
http://www.fsfeurope.org/projects/swpat/letter-20040510.en.html
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=53511
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http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=48265
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1792237
http://petition.eurolinux.org
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http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1935461
http://punto-informatico.it/1940773/PI/News/cresce-mobilitazione-...
http://punto-informatico.it/2439293/PI/News/regno-unito-...
http://punto-informatico.it/2605133/PI/News/norvegia-prove-ipred.aspx

Free software (or open source - OSI) is software which give full freedom to users, so you have no restrictions about its usage, access to its source code, modifing and redistribution. It is the counterpart of proprietary software, that one we are used to know by software corporations, which does not guarantee any freedom to users (pratically you cannot even see its source code, imagine what about to modify or redistribute it).
Such software category (free software) counts a lot of applications like, for example, the Mozilla Firefox browser and the OpenOffice.org office suite, but also some operating systems like GNU/Linux, OpenBSD, ...
Facts show that such freedom granting instaurates a virtuous loop inducing developers to improve the software. A report by some european researchers points out that free software results cheeper than proprietary one (generally it is free - no charge) and a lot of people (public agency, companies, private users, ...) know it and installed it on their own systems.
Unfortunately, on the 7th of May 2007 the italian Government signed an agreement with Microsoft about learning and research. But such activities will be done with the proprietary software of the Big M. I wish to remember that, as stated by R. Stallman, "choosing the furnisher of proprietary software means choosing own master."
Fortunately, on the 10th of June 2008 Neelie Kroes (European Union commissioner for Competion) at the OpenForum confirmed the importance of open software and document formats.
For further details visit the following links
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.it.html
http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_libero
http://www.fsfeurope.org/documents/freesoftware.it.html
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-275155.html
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1261500
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1345231
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1664808
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http://www.intoscana.it/intoscana/vivere_in_toscana.jsp?...
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1878864
http://www.zeusnews.it/index.php3?ar=stampa&cod=5421
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1910054
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1918667
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1921706
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1940759
http://www.softwarelibero.it/abbiamo_vinto_en
http://www.fuss.bz.it/home-en
http://www.javaopenbusiness.it/JobEditorial/newsCategoryViewProcess.jsp...
http://www.softwarelibero.it/progetti/assolitiguarda/msgoverno
http://www.exedre.org/bonaventura/bonaventura.shtml
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=2005737
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http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?i=2316295
http://www.physorg.com/news132324510.html
http://punto-informatico.it/2440965/PI/News/sardegna-si-converte...
http://punto-informatico.it/2680989/PI/News/usa-tutti-open-source.aspx

 

Free Software Foundation (FSF) has recently started a campaign against the diffusion of Windows Vista (the new Microsoft's operating system) called Bad Vista. Such initiative, sustained also by no1984.org, tends to point out the new operating system features that restrict users freedoms, inviting users to migrate towards a free operating system.
For further details visit the following links
http://badvista.fsf.org/what-s-wrong-with-microsoft-windows-vista
http://www.no1984.org/Fermiamo_Windows_Vista!
http://www.openlinux.eu/content/view/33/38
http://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2007/02/drm_in_windows.html
http://attivissimo.blogspot.com/2007/01/windows-vista-qualche-consiglio.html
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/03/26/vista_copying_bug
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/business/310004_msftsued03.html
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=2011279
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Forget-about...
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?i=2031870
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?i=2065674

Trusted Computing (TC), also known as TCPA, Palladium, etc., means more secure PC. But for whom?
TC, supported by TCG (Trusted Computing Group) - alliance of Microsoft, Intel, IBM, hp, AMD and Sun (not only) - is a hardware/software technology that allow a total control mechanism on every system like computers or every other digital device (cell phones, PDA, MP3 player, ...). Who will get the total control of such tecnology will be able to enforce DRM and contents censorship mechanism never seen before, and even make free market competition almost impossible. A sort of Orwerll's "Big Brother"...
TC is already diffused: Intel some laptops for sale in stores contains a TPM chip (the heart of such technology) inside and recent operating system are oriented to use it.
Ignoring this argument means to be doomed by the future systems controller(s)!
In October 2005 the No1984 group was born (I am a member) in order to deepen to the Trusted Computing.
For further details visit the following links
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/users/rja14/tcpa-faq.html
http://www.no1984.org
http://www.zeusnews.it/index.php3?ar=stampa&cod=4509
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=56994
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=56770
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?i=57791
http://punto-informatico.it/p.asp?id=1486452
http://www.bloggoverno.net/2006/07/16/il-grande-fratello...
http://www.partito-pirata.it/liberate_la_TV_digitale.html

Since a lot of time, in the Internet there are news about communication intercepting (phone, net, ...). From since some year ago the USA intercept communication of all citizen under the officially declared reason: "national security". Even in Italy it seems that are such kind of systems, violating citizen privacy.
You have to remember that your privacy (confidating in your own communication/information) is a right of every citizen and so it must be respected and defended.
For further details visit the following links
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1500909
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1523527
http://punto-informatico.it/p.aspx?id=1526853
http://www.beppegrillo.it/eng/2006/06/...
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http://punto-informatico.it/2397843/PI/News/...
http://punto-informatico.it/2433918/PI/News/scanner-millimetrali-tutta-ue.aspx

 

Some time ago pirates attacked ships for plundering and get transported treasures, acting on illegality. But today the situation seems to be absurdly overturned: on one side there is who wants keeping a dominant and grow richer position (doing a little effort), and on the other side there is who wants access to information and culture to be granted and accessible to everyone, in a word free (as in freedom). That is the way Alessandro Bottoni, one of founders of the Partito Pirata Italiano, presents himself as a candidate to the eropean election (on 6th and 7th of June in Italy) for Sinistra e Libertà.
I wish him luck about his freedom voice, and conveying knowledge on informatics and networking, as a technician as he is. So I congratulate him on his work and I hope that he will succed in his hard attempt to be elected.
Unfortunately Alessandro has not obtained enough votes.
For further details visit the following links
http://danielemasini.altervista.org/elezioni_europee.php
http://ilprogettoarancione.wordpress.com
http://www.partito-pirata.it
http://www.zeusnews.it/index.php3?ar=stampa&cod=10208&numero=999
http://news.wintricks.it/framer.php?id=29072
http://www.key4biz.it/News/2009/05/04/Policy/pirateria_Alessandro_Bottoni_...
http://ilprogettoarancione.wordpress.com/2009/05/31/passaporto-biometrico