Surveillance & IT

SURVEILLANCE & IT ------------------------------------------ >Apple has begun 2 store user data on servers @ mainland #CHINA / first time tech giant has stored user data on Chinese soil ! Google 2 build gigantic 120-megawatt data centre in the Netherlands $772m / intl submarine cables+ / http://goo.gl/2ZmTiB  / 4th centre #IT ------------------------------------------ USA  -  RULE 41 – USA SURVEILLANCE INVASION OF INTERNET - WORLDWIDE DOJ changes to Rule 41 would allow FBI to hack into & remotely control PCs located anywhere in world! - http://goo.gl/I507N5  - #USA #LAW >> "broadest expansion of extraterritorial surveillance power since the FBI’s inception" - law professor Ahmed Ghappour /nww FBI to examine & covertly upload files, photos, emails, or do anything the PC can do - eg turning on the webcam & microphone" ------------------------------------------ PROPOSED RULE 41 Amendment  http://justsecurity.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/proposed-amendment-rule-41.pdf … NEWS CORP / MURDOCH  -  GOOGLE  - EU - MONOPOLY News Corp letter fm CEO to #EU competition commissioner Joaquín Almunia, criticizing Google & championing regulators http://goo.gl/iqLlAe demanding “a regulatory veto” notwithstanding fact they “haven’t demonstrated any economic harm” stemming fm search provider. >> .. threatened by disruptive innovation in the marketplace, seek to manipulate the regulatory apparatus to their advantage. http://www.project-disco.org/intellectual-property/092214-newscorp-salvo-google-shows-even-free-markeeters-will-demand-regulatory-responses-disruption/ ------------------------------------------ AUSTRALIA – G20 – FINANCE MINISTERS – COMMON REPORTING STANDARD .. some 47 countries including Australia had signed up to a common reporting standard to being in 2017 that would see banks exchange information on individuals' finances, which could then be passed on to countries' tax offices. Another eight G20 countries would join by 2018, although there were another unnamed 14 countries who are apparently unwilling to go down this path. http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/breakfast/the-g20-finance-ministers-meeting-explained/5759262 G20 expect multinationals 2 voluntarily bring profits back to the US @ tax 35 -40% when the corporate tax rate in Ireland is 12.5% / murdoch ------------------------------------------ CANADA - SURVEILLANCE - WARRANTS RULING The ISPs enacted their new policy following a Supreme Court of Canada ruling in June stating that law enforcement authorities must get a warrant to request subscriber data, even basic subscriber details such as name and address. However, a recent report in the Star reveals that police are still making requests for subscriber data without a warrant, though the number of requests has dropped significantly. Rogers’ transparency report revealed the government made nearly 175,000 requests for subscriber data to the company last year, or about 480 per day. Telus’ transparency report, released last week, found the company got 103,500 requests last year, or about 283 per day. Government documents released under access to information laws earlier this year estimated that the government makes about 1.2 million such requests every year. http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/09/22/julian-assange-canada-privacy_n_5860774.html ------------------------------------------ CANADA - C-13 OpenMedia is leading a coalition of orgs. against Bill C-13 which #Canada govt tabled re high-profile cyberbullying cases /huffpost.ca #Canada - http://goo.gl/85s8vG  - Bill C-13 = authorities access to the private lives of Canadians without a warrant CSEC 'Spy Palace' Canada's electronic eavesdropping agency, CSEC, is getting a new $1.2-billion headquarters in Ottawa, the most expensive government building ever built. Here are some illustrations of the finished building. http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/336920/slide_336920_3412305_free.jpg ------------------------------------------ COMMENT Not clear on the status of Canada's C-13 bill.

RUPERT MURDOCH - on redtape & stifled economic growth

uk.news.yahoo.com

Murdoch tells G20 governments to take a back seat for growth
By Jane Wardell | Reuters – 15 minutes ago

By Jane Wardell

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Media mogul Rupert Murdoch ... criticised excessive financial regulation as stymieing free markets and urged Group of 20 governments to "take a back seat" to allow businesses to drive economic growth.

Murdoch also said U.S. President Barack Obama was penalising businesses by cracking down on so-called "profit shifting" by major corporations to countries with lighter tax regimes, a technique that is also in the sights of the G20.

"My blood pressure goes up when I think of the number of local, state and federal regulations we have in our lives today," Murdoch told a meeting of the Business 20 leaders in Sydney...

"That is just in America. Don't even get me started on the European Union."

The B20 was set up in 2010 to give policy recommendations on behalf of the international business community to the G20. Business leaders meeting here are looking to influence the outcome of the G20 Leaders Summit in Brisbane in November.

"I believe that business does have a role in shaping public policy, mainly in helping limit the size and scope of government," Murdoch said.

"... too much red tape, too many subservient politicians stifling economic growth and entrepreneurism."

...G20 is tackling corporate "profit shifting", which has allowed multinationals such as Starbucks Corp, Google Inc, Apple Inc and Amazon.com Inc to avoid paying taxes.

G20 finance ministers ... endorsed a set of common standards for sharing bank account information across borders, with automatic exchange of information among G20 members to take effect by the end of 2015. [WORLDWIDE POLICE STATE???]

Obama ...  proposed tightening restrictions on U.S. multinationals that shift their tax domiciles abroad ... Obama wants to raise the minimum level of foreign ownership in a newly inverted holding company to 50 percent from about 20 percent, making the deals more difficult to carry out.

"Do we really expect overseas companies to voluntarily bring profits back to be taxed at 35 to 40 percent in the United States, when the corporate tax rate in Ireland is 12.5 percent?" Murdoch said. "This is not the way to achieve economic growth."
...

SOURCE - uk.news.yahoo.com - here.

-------------------------------------------------

COMMENT

So US is a corporate free-for-all.  BUT with a proviso -- keep it in the US?

The 'international' bank account sharing is getting a bit much.

 [WIKIPEDIA]

Wider concerns

The G-20's transparency and accountability have been questioned by critics, who call attention to the absence of a formal charter and the fact that the most important G-20 meetings are closed-door.

The cost and extent of summit-related security is often a contentious issue in the hosting country... 2010, the Toronto G-20 summit sparked mass protests and rioting, leading to the largest mass arrest in Canadian history.

He's right about the red-tape.

Also, all these extra-national gangs are just another step to world totalitarianism -- or something like that.  LOL.  

It just doesn't seem right - all this global ganging up, bullying, controlling, prying etc.