Guantanamo? Are You Kidding Me?

The lawyers for Julian Assange (the founder of Wikileaks) stated that they fear Assange would be extradited to the US, with possible time in Guantanamo Bay or even the death penalty if Sweden gets their hands on him for questioning of sexual assault charges. I support the principle in which Wikileaks operates, and also support Assange's fight that the public has a right to know, but I think Assange's lawyers might have really perked the curiosity of many supporters.

Across the pond here in Canada we well know Obama is closing Guantanamo. In fact several political and diplomatic debates have been on going with respect to Omar Khadr (a child soldier and Canadian citizen who killed a US marine in Afghanistan) and what to do with this guy due to the closing of Guantanamo Bay. For a while there at least, it didn’t seem that neither Canada or the US wanted him.  The US was trying to shove him back to Canada.  Government officials here wanted him tried in the US. They are trying to get rid of people at Guantanamo not fill the place up. I find it almost humours to suggest that Assange would be treated as some terrorist and sent to Guantanamo, in fact I think the quite opposite.

Many legal experts agree that it would be extremely hard to try and convict Assange of espionage. Essentially a conviction would change dramatically the way media and journalism report information to the public in the US. I could see very strong opposition from fellow journalists and media types on this, as well as international condemnation. It would send a chill throughout that industry. It would be very hard to put through such a conviction in the first place, and from the sounds of it, the US doesn’t have much on Assange anyway. 

We’re now going on 2 months almost since these diplomatic cables have been released without any charges  on Assange from the US, and the US Attorney’s office seems a bit desperate in searching for evidence. The fact that US Attorneys are demanding information and messages from members of other Governments to try and link Assange to something that has very little chance in succeeding legally in the first place, is a bit far reaching to say the least, and could also be borderline espionage in itself.

If Assange was extradited to the US, I think he would be a continuing embarrassment for the administration. I think it would open up a lot of debate on what constitutes free press, protection of sources, protection of media that the US would eventually and very happily send him on his way home if the courts don't do that first.

On the other hand; why wouldn’t Assange deal with the sexual assault allegations in Sweden? The legal arguments made in not returning to Sweden, are not logical, nor based on fact and full of paranoia. While I do support his efforts with respect to the right for the public to know, I have to seriously raise questions on his legal counsel, and his explanation in not returning to Sweden to clear his name.

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Canada Exploring Open Access

Canada ranks last when it comes to access to information according to a British study.

On CBC’s Power and Politics today, the Federal Information Commissioner Suzanne Legault brought up open access, and throwing information requests out on the web to help curb our information request system she said is declining.  Most developing nations already have policies on open access and are handling access to information requests through “technology”, rather than the archaic system we have in Canada, and at the provincial level here in Ontario that is costing the tax payers money.

Currently the government is trying to spin this issue as not being that big of a deal.  Journalists should be right on top of this one.  It is extremely hard to obtain information most of us have a right to.  It also can take a long time for these requests to be fulfilled.  The Conservatives are saying that the majority of requests (56%) are being fulfilled within 30 days. Legault asked in response to the government “Is 56% Good Enough?”

I guess will find out in the days and weeks ahead.

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The Misuse of Responsible Disclosure

The private sector has now jumped on board with respect to using the term “responsible disclosure”.  Media and US officials attacked wikkileaks for the lack of “responsible disclosure” when the site started releasing US diplomatic cables.  UK Bank Card Association in an attempt to bully Cambridge University in taking down a student’s thesis which studied, investigated, and found problems with the security of UK bank cards stated:

“Our key concern, therefore, is that this type of research was ever considered suitable for publication by the University. It gives us cause to worry that future research, which may potentially be more damaging, may also be published in this level of detail. Concern has also been expressed to us by the police that the student was allowed to falsify a transaction in a shop in Cambridge without first warning the merchant. Consequently, we would ask that this research be removed from public access immediately and would hope that you are able to give us comfort about your policy towards future disclosures.”

The faculty at Cambridge responded with the following:

"you seem to think that we might censor a student’s thesis, which is lawful and already in the public domain, simply because a powerful interest finds it inconvenient. This shows a deep misconception of what universities are and how we work. Cambridge is the University of Erasmus, of Newton, and of Darwin; censoring writings that offend the powerful is offensive to our deepest values. Thus even though the decision to put the thesis online was Omar’s, we have no choice but to back him. That would hold even if we did not agree with the material! Accordingly I have authorised the thesis to be issued as a Computer Laboratory Technical Report. This will make it easier for people to find and to cite, and will ensure that its presence on our web site is permanent."

The full investigative thesis can be found here.

The US legal interpretation of “responsible disclosure” is also under some interesting microscopes.  Last week twitter (which is based in the US) was ordered to release personal information, tweets, and private messages of an Icelandic MP with respect to her connection to the wikkileaks website.  US officials tried to obtain the information quietly, however twitter fought this since it is their policy to notify its users of legal requests for information unless ordered not to by the courts.  Turns out the Icelandic Government is not happy about this and has summoned US diplomats to explain themselves.

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Canadian Politicians: Tone it Down Too!!

Yesterday Arizona congresswomen Gabrielle Giffords was gunned down during a town hall style meeting with her constituents.  Many innocent bystanders lost their lives, along with a US federal court judge.  Many were also wounded during this senseless attack on Congresswoman Giffords.  Arizona Sherriff Clarence Dupnik strongly hinted that this attacked might have been fuelled by political discourse, and nasty political attacks against Giffords.  This has sparked a needed debate in US politics about how far is too far with respect to attacking one’s own political opponent, and I believe we need to reflect on that here in Canada as well.

Political discourse in Canada has not gone unnoticed by voters.  Just before the New Year, the CBC’s At Issue panel tacked this very issue.  During the year end special of At Issue, CBC allowed viewers to submit questions to the panel, and a lot of them had to do with the amount of political discourse and voter apathy in this country.  That full episode of At Issue can be found here.

Hasty personal attacks is what is keeping a lot of good people out of politics all together, and diminishing the political talent pool in all levels of government in Canada.  I think we all need to pause here in Canada too, and reflect on what’s happened in Arizona. Those in media also have a role to play here. Those in journalism should be providing a balance of views, and not be tied to any political ideology in my opinion (we should have laws to protect the integrity of the free press in print media as we do in broadcast media), and choose not to air or publish any personal attack ads.

As for the public, respect those who choose public life and serve.  They are people too.  We may not all agree on the politics, but respect the work they do.  Voice your concerns through writing to your representative, and show up voting in numbers.  Above all, stop voting for political parties that post personal attacks, or are divisive in nature. Drive the point home to our leaders that this type of politics is not welcome in Canada, and we want to keep those that serve in public life safe, and confident they can do their jobs.

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Are US Trade Wars Looming?

While watching CBC’s Power and Politics this past week, political commentator Ian Capstick sighted that one of the major concerns the US has with respect to Canadian policy is around copyright.  Currently the Canadian Government has put a new updated copyright bill (C-32) before the House which is currently in committee.  This bill would see the ratification of WIPO, which is the US’s main concern.  If C-32 were to be derailed by an election or for political reasons, according to Mr. Capstick's sources, the US might move against trade issues important to Canada which may include softwood lumber. It has been widely speculated that the softwood lumber dispute was resolved due to an agreement with the US to ratify WIPO and update our copyright laws in Canada. The interesting part of this is, not even a day after Mr. Capstick stated this, the Conservatives have started to pump some cash into the lumber industries. 

There’s a delicate balance that needs to be played out here with Canadian diplomats.  Neither country can afford trade wars, and Canadians must have the opportunity to display sovereign control over our legislative laws.  Currently the committee hearings studying bill C-32 are jammed packed with special interest groups that have strong American ties, rather than independent experts that have studied the copyright issue for years.  Not even Governments own independent researchers on copyright are on the committee witness list.

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COOL STUFF: 2010 The Year The Internet Grew Up

2010 saw some major advancements in how the Internet has shaped our democracy, and our lives.  But don't take my word for it:







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COOL STUFF: Youtube Vids of 2010

Since many of us Canadians are heavy Youtube users, I thought I'd post some videos I thought were pretty cool in 2010.  Here are some ofmy favorite videos of 2010:











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