Legal Checklist for Apps, Websites, and SaaS

April 26, 2013, 4:29 pm

≪ Previous: Filing a Complaint with the FCC

Legal Checklist for Apps, Websites, and SaaS

by Sue Basko

If you are developing an app, starting a website, or planning to run a software as a service site, your project has special legal needs. Legal work should be included in your budget. You should have a lawyer working with you from the earliest phases of your project and on through the life of the business.

One of the first major things to consider is coming up with a name that can be trademarked. This is crucial. Facebook would not be what it is without the trademarked name Facebook, and all its other trademarks, including the like icon and that particular shade of blue and the word facewhen used to denote a social website. Twitter started out as Twittr and had to wait to acquire the Twitter name from a previous owner.

You should work closely with a trademark lawyer to help you pick a name that can be trademarked. When I do this kind of work, I search databases and the internet. I combine what I find with my knowledge of trademark law to assess whether proposed name is likely to be able to be registered as a trademark for the goods or services it is to denote. To be registerable as a trademark, a name has to meet many requirements, including not creating confusion with other trademarks.

A registered trademark is a key component of a successful business. Most successful businesses start off with one registered trademark and move on to acquire many more. For example, Guitar Center is registered as a trademark for stores, but also has many more trademarks and categories for the website and various services.

Don’t come up with the name first and simply hope you will be able to register trademark on it. You can waste huge amounts of money on legal filings, products, packaging, advertising, etc., that you then must pay to do over again. Instead, work with a lawyer from the get-go in choosing a name.

Apps, SaaS and websites need a catchy, easy-to-spell, and unmistakable name. Preferably, you will be able to get a matching domain name, facebook page, twitter account and registered trademark. This is no small accomplishment.

Once the name has been chosen, have it registered by a trademark lawyer. The process takes about one year, but dibs on the name refer back to the date of filing. Don’t try to register trademark on your own or using one of those do-it-yourself websites. There are many phases of the trademark process and making the application is just the beginning. The Trademark Office database is overwhelmingly stuffed with dead trademark registrations that failed because the do-it-yourselfer did not know how to handle the challenges from the examiner that inevitable come 6 – 8 months into the process. Just have a lawyer do it.

The next consideration is getting a patent or copyright on your app, or web service. You also need a lawyer to do this. If yours cannot be patented, you need to consider if you are violating someone else’s patent and if so, do you need to get licensing from them.

Next, you will have your app or site and you will need design. That can be copyrighted. Any elements such as music or pictures must be licensed from the copyright owners, or must be created specially for you under a work for hire contract. You must have a lawyer draft that for you.

Next to consider is how you will collect money, taxes, and possibly import or export fees. If you cannot afford yet to build your own store, you will probably be selling off a pre-built store such as one by paypal, or selling on an existing site, such as Itunes. To sell off Itunes, you become a content provider. That’s something else where you can use legal help.

Next to consider are privacy laws. Also, if your product or service will allow users under age 13, you need to follow a very special set of rules regarding information gathering and use.

The next huge consideration is the Terms Of Service or Terms of Service and Use. The TOSU forms a binding contract between the service and the user. It must be written by a lawyer. Each TOSU will be different, according to the factors involved in that website, app, or SaaS. Most limit future legal costs by mandating binding arbitration as the ultimate dispute resolution and having the users revoke any right to class action suits. The TOSU will also specify ownership and usage of materials on the site and of those placed on the site by the users. The TOSU will also list acceptable and unacceptable behaviors and uses. The TOSU will usually reserve the right to revoke permission to use the site at any time for any or no reason.

Another legal consideration involves registering an agent with the DMCA list. In addition, Help and Remedies should be made available. These will grow with time and usage. There should always be a way for Users to contact the site.

All of these legal needs will grow as the website or app grows in usage. As problems arise, the TOSU will be tweaked by your lawyer to reflect those topics. New trademarks will be acquired, new services may be offered.

There will always be legal issues that arise in any business, and especially in a software-based business. You will always need good lawyers to help you. You should consider this a crucial part of your budgeting and planning, right from the start.

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Virtual Teahouse

April 29, 2013, 11:09 pm

≫ Next: Aaron Socio Update May 1, 2013

≪ Previous: Legal Checklist for Apps, Websites, and SaaS

Virtual Teahouse

by Sue Basko

I am a lawyer for independent media, including for independent music artists. A Chinese music company has requested the music of one of my clients, a singer with a lovely voice. I have been working on the deal for some time, changing the contract to meet our needs, etc. The whole process has taken much longer than it needs to, and many of the contacts seem repetitive and superfluous. Finally it dawned on me that we were engaged in the Asian practice of getting to know each other.

I know enough about the Asian cultures to know that one should always agree and then add any disagreement as additional information. Rather than a disagreeing response being "No, but..," it is "Yes, and..." We ask how they would like to do things, we don't tell them. We say please and thank you many times. We keep going until everyone feels comfortable with the deal.

As a practice, I write contracts that are fair and beneficial for all parties. The Chinese record company rep takes my contract back for approval. "Yes, this is fine," I am told. I am grateful they can read English, because I know only 5 words in Chinese.

I have an idea of creating a Virtual Teahouse, where we could meet virtually. There, we can virtually honor each in a virtual tea ceremony. We can virtually bow to each other. We can let each other know we are honorable and that we respect each other. We can share our insights and good ideas. The atmosphere of the teahouse is at once calm, serene, dignified, and yet bustling with life.

The tea ceremony is not so much about chitchat, as a business lunch in the U.S. might be. It is more about being present and letting the ancient traditions of trust, respect, and honor seep into the relationship. The tea, beautiful green leaves, steeps in hot water in a clay pot, then is poured into little cups. As each person sips, the group is united in sharing this same liquid, as it becomes part of their bodies.

I look at the other artists who have signed with the Chinese music company. Adele. Other hit singers of today. Perhaps their record labels have sent representatives to China. Perhaps they have gone to a real teahouse. My client cannot afford to send me to China, though I would love to go. A virtual teahouse seems like a good alternative.

I love to build websites. Perhaps I will build a Virtual Teahouse as an online place to meet and honor each other.

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Aaron Socio Update May 1, 2013

May 1, 2013, 3:03 pm

≫ Next: OSCE Meetings in Vienna: Freedoms of Association, Assembly, and Use of Technology

≪ Previous: Virtual Teahouse

All Life is One, by Aaron Socio.

Aaron Socio Update May 1, 2013

by Sue Basko

There is excellent news about Aaron Socio/ Corey Turner, the internet peace activist who was arrested on Thanksgiving Day, 2012. Aaron/ Corey has been offered mental health care instead of ongoing court cases, and he has accepted the offer. He is expected to be in mental health care for about 6 months and then return to his family and loved ones in Ohio and Georgia. They await him so eagerly.

It's been a long strange trip these past five months. I have gotten to know Aaron/ Corey's parents, his lovely girlfriend in Georgia, the wonderful artist he lived with, his uncle and cousin, his business partners and friends. All of them have reached out to help form a support team saying Aaron/ Corey needs mental health care, not prison. Finally, our prayers have been answered and this good thing, this justice, is happening. The Judge in this case used his wisdom, assigned Corey for an evaluation, and is allowing Corey's real needs to be met.

Please note that Aaron/Corey was never in any legal trouble before this and he has no history of violence of any kind. He has a good heart. He just got a bit mixed up in reaction to a very serious and sad life event. Corey has a wonderful family that loves him dearly. He has owned successful businesses. He is a good person.

Please say a prayer or send your positive energy for Aaron/ Corey's healing. Thank you.

See Update December 15 2012

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OSCE Meetings in Vienna: Freedoms of Association, Assembly, and Use of Technology

November 15, 2012, 12:35 pm

≫ Next: Streamer Journalist Code of Ethics

≪ Previous: Aaron Socio Update May 1, 2013

OSCE Meetings in Vienna

Freedoms of Association, Assembly and Use of Technology

by Sue Basko

contact (local U.S.) Sue Basko: OccupyPeace@gmail.com

contact (serious inquiries only, please) Omer Fisher: Omer.Fisher@odihr.pl

Library:
Report on Peaceful Assemblies 2012

Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly

Handbook for Monitoring or Legal Observing

November 15, 2012. Last week, I was in Vienna, Austria, attending 3 days of meetings at OSCE, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. OSCE has 56 member nations in North America, Europe, and Asia and 12 nations that are partners in cooperation in the Mediterranean Region, Asia, and Australia. OSCE has meeting headquarters at the Hofburg in Vienna. The meetings I attended were of ODIHR, the Office of Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, a sub-office of OSCE, headquartered in Warsaw, Poland. OSCE is funded by its member nations with an annual budget of about 150 million euros. OSCE has a permanent meeting quarters in the Hofburg in Vienna.

The ODIHR meeting was attended by representatives of the OSCE nations, and by people who are involved in the law and organizing of protests in those nations. Most of the people I met were multi-faceted, being lawyers or law students as well as protest organizers or media activists. It was incredible to be meeting with all of these smart, dynamic people.

At the meetings, we each had a translator headset with about 6 channels, one for each language. Translators sat behind glass windows listening and translating. I kept my headset on the whole time, tuned to the English language channel. That way, I could hear the translations from the various languages and could also easily hear those speaking English. What a great listening tool this is in a crowded room!

At the ODIHR meetings, we worked on 3 topics: Freedom of Association, Freedom of Assembly, and Use of New Technologies in Freedoms of Assembly and Association. On each topic, we made recommendations or interventions aimed at the nations, at ODIHR, or at NGOs (nongovernmental organizations). ODIHR sets standards and then asks the member nations to live up to the standards. It was stated that in the past five years, rather than improving in these areas of human rights, the nations had slid backwards. This was said to be particularly true in the past 2 years, which I think is because in the past 2 years there has been much activity of people forming associations and engaging in assemblies, or protests. The nations have been put to the test recently.

The U.S. Department of State sent a representative, who read off a short statement about the U.S. supporting the Freedom of Assembly. His statement was in sharp contrast to the protest monitoring report that was presented by ODIHR; the group monitored the protests at NATO in Chicago, G8 in Maryland, and Occupy Wall Street in New York, Occupy Chicago, Occupy Los Angeles, and Occupy Oakland. It is fairly easy for the U.S. representative to say “We support freedom of assembly,” and much more difficult to take action so freedom of assembly is actually allowed and facilitated in the cities and states.

A group was in attendance from NYU Law and Harvard Law. During a side event, they presented their paper on Occupy Wall Street in New York. Afterward, I saw they were meeting in the lobby with the State Department rep. He looked as if it was somehow the first time he was hearing that protesters in New York had been beaten and randomly arrested. He was taking notes. I considered it a good sign this impromptu meeting was taking place.

Over the past months, ODIHR has planned and prepared a report on their protest monitoring activities in 11 nations. CLICK TO DOWNLOAD REPORT. The monitoring and report were led by Omer Fisher, Deputy Head of the Human Rights Department of ODIHR. Back a year ago, Omer asked for my help with the U.S. protest monitoring plans. It was an honor to assist such an important endeavor. I write a blog on protest planning and laws and was able to provide background information and legal cites. I also was involved with the G8 and NATO plans, so had direct knowledge of the process, which I shared with the ODIHR teams as things happened. I also readily had contact with people involved in organizing and indie media in Chicago, Maryland, New York, Los Angeles, and Oakland.

In each U.S. location, many key people gave generously of their time and shared their experiences with the ODIHR researchers. This was quite remarkable, as people truly had to overcome their fears and doubts to open up and share. Some had been left traumatized by their experiences with police or FBI. Would-be saboteurs spread misinfo about OSCE and even about me. In Chicago, this played out against a background of protesters being infiltrated and entrapped on terrorism charges, homes being raided, indie journalists being interrogated at gunpoint, and police using bikes and batons to hit protesters. Out of all this, there were plenty enough strong, smart people willing to tell and show what they had witnessed to make for a very well-researched report.

The ODIHR team also met with City and police officials who agreed to meet with them. The ODIHR report, therefore, has a breadth and depth unprecedented in such a report. The ODIHR group had access to many hours of protest video from the live streamers who risk their own safety to give live internet views of the protests. In addition to all the video and interviews, the team monitored the G8 and NATO protests in person. In Chicago for NATO in May, they hired and trained a team of legal observers to witness several long, hot days of protests. All the information from the monitoring in 11 nations was organized into the 100-page report.

The ODIHR report covers such topics as the permitting process, requirements for insurance, facilitating unpermitted protests, being within sight and sound of the intended target of the protest, use of force, and kettling. The report makes observations and recommendations.

At the ODIHR meetings in Vienna, our first topic was Freedom of Association. In many of the OSCE nations, associations of any sort are required to register with the government. Sometimes, the governments make it complex or impossible for certain associations to register, thereby making it illegal or impossible for them to function. Participants made several recommendations regarding this. Among the recommendations was that online registration should be allowed; many places require individuals to show up in person during office hours.

The second topic was Freedom of Assembly. This is mainly about the right to peaceful protest. The recommendations that were stated were the mostly the same ones that have previously been stated in the ODIHR guidelines as well as in the 2012 report. The general idea was that nations should abide by international law, which says freedom to assemble is a basic human right, that public space should be free for this use, and that city officials and police should facilitate this right.

We also covered the topic of semi-permanent protests or encampments of structures or tents. The general idea is that these should be allowed and that any genuine state needs, such as health or safety, should be met in the least obtrusive way. For example, if the government perceives a health issue with a camp kitchen, then it should work with the protesters to improve the kitchen, rather than evicting the camp. At the Occupy sites in the U.S., health and safety concerns were used at the pretext for evicting many of the camps.

The third topic we covered was New Technology in Freedoms of Association and Assembly. These discussions were mainly about the internet, facebook, twitter, live streaming, cellphones, wifi. Mark Zuckerberg should have been there to hear how Facebook has been used to organize revolutions and overthrow dictators. (Maybe this would encourage him to find a way to support Facebook without the new system of charging for posts to reach many “friends.”) I launched the recommendations that OSCE States prohibit the use in public spaces of any technology that interferes with use of cellphones or cellphone cameras, or with the internet. I also recommended that States encourage standardization of cellphones so they can be used worldwide. I also recommended that States make cellphone purchases and data packages available to short-term visitors without a local address, or in other ways make it possible for visitors to get high speed internet, mainly for the use by indie journalists who want to tweet and live stream from protest sites. It was also recommended that all states allow the video and audio recording of police on active duty.

During the three days, I heard some dismal reports from participants. Spain has put forth legislation to ban protests. Several places bar filming the police in action. In some locations, protesters have been attacked by soccer/ football hooligans. There were several officials who felt the balance between freedom of assembly and state security should fall clearly on the side of security. There were numerous people who spoke of their governments as “they,” making it clear the government was not perceived to be of or by the people. This, more than anything in the three days, made me realize that we in the U.S. had better get busy and get our government more in line with being of the people. After a year of seeing overwhelming cordons of police in riot gear aggressively facing off against smart, vibrant people wanting such simple things as a place to live, food, education, and health care, it seems time to stop the overfunding of law enforcement agencies and start funding real needs.

↧

Streamer Journalist Code of Ethics

May 6, 2013, 2:29 pm

≫ Next: Update on Barrett Brown

≪ Previous: OSCE Meetings in Vienna: Freedoms of Association, Assembly, and Use of Technology

Streamer Journalist Code of Ethics

This is a Code of Ethics for journalists who work as live streamers at events such as protests. It originated in the Occupy movement. It was written by @Cross_X-Bones, a highly experienced streamer journalist from Occupy Los Angeles. He got input from @PMBeers, who has covered a tremendous number of Occupy events, including overnight camping occupations on the streets of Los Angeles. Also contributing was @Rebelutionary_Z of Chicago, who has streamed protests in Chicago and nationwide, including 2012 NATO in Chicago. The document itself can be found below and also at: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nwX_bLxV1hZU93YGtwx-6ijU1B7Ojq36ZVwZHBuPvn4/edit

As you read the Code of Ethics, please notice the care and detail that have gone into it. Live streamers are a crucial element of today's Freedom of Assembly. The live streamers provide a witnessing element so those not present can participate. They also give a protective element in providing evidence of what really happened. Live streamer footage has been used in numerous court cases nationwide as evidence for the defendants. Live streamers are truly independent media makers.

Live streamer footage provided much evidence for the U.S. leg of the OSCE ODIHR Report on Monitoring of Freedom of Peaceful Assembly in Selected OSCE Participating States May 2011- June 2012. This is a study with which I assisted. In the U.S., the study covered the 2012 NATO Protest in Chicago, the 2012 G8 Protest near Camp David in Maryland, Occupy Wall Street New York City, Occupy Los Angeles, Occupy Oakland, and Occupy Chicago. In each location, ample video footage was provided by live streamers, making this perhaps the first study of human rights in protest that was backed up by audio and video live on-site documentation.

The importance of live streamers to human rights in public assembly cannot be overstated. Live streamers are crucial to our democracy and freedoms. These people have voluntarily undertaken this important role in our society. They do so at their own expense and with the help of donations from viewers. Below are the Guidelines they have set out for themselves. You will see they expect a lot of themselves and their fellow live streamers.

Streamer Journalist

Code of Ethics

Preamble

The act of streaming may be used for journalism, documentation of controversial events or for entertainment purposes. Streaming can provide personal protection when involved in situations that may have legal implications. Those engaged in one or more of these activities may be a considered a Streamer or a Citizen Journalist. Due to the many categories of streaming, as well as differing journalistic styles, which may include advocacy journalism and gonzo journalism, the technique is sometimes treated with contempt by law enforcement as well as the traditional journalistic community.

One who is claiming to be a Streamer Journalist needs to operate under the established journalistic framework despite possibly using streaming for other purposes. It would behoove a Streamer Journalist to adhere to a code of ethics to that will establish a recognized credibility.

The rise of Streamer Journalism represent a need for public information in a journalistic landscape that is either unable or refuses to report on relevant events in an unedited way. Complete coverage of under-reported news is needed in order for a free, open, transparent and fair society to exist. Streamer Journalists therefore must hold themselves to the highest journalistic standards when streaming or reporting on events and should do so with the principles of Vigilance, Honesty, Fairness, Courage, Compassion, Respect, Integrity, Accountability and Humility.

This document represents a Code of Ethics that adherents can uniformly adopt to insure journalistic credibility as well as a framework under which one can make ethical decisions.

Principle of Vigilance

Vigilance keeps the Streamer's news reporting relevant.

Streamers should:

Be clear about what is verifiable information, and what is speculation. Information moves quickly, but so do rumors.
State sources of information so that they may be independently verified.
Give the public open access to governmental and authority conduct.
Persist in holding those with power accountable for their actions.
Seek truth no matter where it lies, but do so with respect, and compassion.

Principle of Honesty

Honesty helps the Streamer build credibility.

Streamers should:

Represent biases truthfully to give proper context.
Avoid highlighting, editing, or recording footage in a way that removes proper context, or distorts events.
Make a clear distinction between advocacy, opinion, and news. This clarifies the context with which such comments should be understood. Do not misrepresent which is being given.
Properly attribute all broadcasted or mirrored footage. Only use this footage based on the licensing terms of originator.
Keep all journalistic promises.
Visibly show when streaming video or audio in all but the most extreme circumstances. If hiding streaming, make sure that the reason for doing so is made clear.
Cover a diverse set of opinions during an event even if those opinions are not popular.

Principle of Fairness

Fairness allows a Streamer to protect credibility by acknowledging bias.

Streamers should:

Recognize differences in values and keep from judging other's values.
Give equal opportunity to unofficial sources of information to be heard.
Avoid loaded language and belittling commentary, and let facts stand for themselves.
Avoid stereotypes, especially in regards to race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, economic or social status, and political or ideological beliefs.

Principle of Courage

Courage helps keep the Streamer's news noble.

Streamers should:

Report honestly in the face of coercion.
Balance a need for personal protection with the need to report on events which may be physically, emotionally, or mentally threatening.
Stand up for journalistic principles and ethics.
Protect sources from intimidation.

Principle of Compassion

Compassion helps keep the Streamer's news reporting viable.

Streamers should:

Be compassionate to those who may be negatively affected in the course of covering the news. Be even more sensitive to those who may be emotionally compromised in understanding the events in which they are exposed to, especially children and the mentally ill.
Be aware of the impact that the presence of a stream may have on those grieving or dealing with tragic events.
Be understanding when reporting on issues that may cause harm or make others feel uncomfortable.
Avoid getting information that is not news worthy when it's only function is entertainment at the expense of others. In the course of covering news one may capture personal moments that are unrelated to the event. Under these circumstances editing archived coverage may be permissible.

Principle of Respect

Respect allows a Streamer continued access to communities, organizations, and individuals.

Streamers should:

Encourage open discourse, even when the views may seem difficult to agree with.
Respect a source’s wishes to be anonymous, but be aware of the source's possible motives.
Be respectful by not identifying a victim of a crime unless allowed to do so. Especially if this may cause them unwanted attention or trauma.
Refrain from identifying or accusing someone, by name, who may be involved in illegal activities, especially prior to formal charges being made. Use aliases or identifying characteristics instead.
Respect the private individual's rights to privacy over those who are in power or act as public representatives.
Balance an individual’s right to a fair treatment and the need to inform the public.
Respect the right to privacy for those who are receiving medical treatment.

Principle of Integrity

Integrity allows a Streamer to operate without destroying credibility.

Streamers should:

Openly and quickly disclose potential or real conflicts of interest. Avoid all unnecessary conflicts of interest.
Be transparent and reveal biases when involved in actions, activities, and associations which may cause others to questions journalistic intentions.
Disclose all gifts, favors, free travel, donations when contributed by individuals or organizations whenever possible as they could hurt credibility by representing a conflict of interest.
Be honest about any political involvement, public office, community organizations or activism, as these may be conflicts of interest.
Disclose all unavoidable conflicts of interest honestly and in a timely manner.
Refuse all gifts, favors, free travel, donations when contributed by individuals or organizations if there is an expectation of special treatment or influence by those entities.
Be careful when discussing equipment or services being used. This can appear to be advertising. Be clear if sponsored to use equipment or services, or if preferences exist for one over another. Refrain from saying negative things about another product or service.
Be transparent about paying or giving favors to sources for information.

Principle of Accountability

Accountability assures participants, viewers, and sources that a Streamer holds true to all principles.

Streamers should:

• Provide all raw live footage in an open-source manner.

• Give explanations and invite participation on your stream and through other means about journalistic conduct.

• Encourage and listen to public grievances against the news. Try to improve when possible.

• Admit mistakes in a timely, honest, and open manner.

• Reveal any unethical institutional journalistic practices, but also try to hold to the highest standards in all journalistic actions. Do so with an eye toward restorative justice.

Principle of Humility

Humility provides a Streamer a continued place in the emerging social media news community.

Streamers should:

• Acknowledge the contributions of sources, participants, viewers, and other journalists.

• Balance the need for competition with the need for cooperation.

• Not overstate accomplishments.

• Help others learn about the streaming medium.

↧

Update on Barrett Brown

October 27, 2012, 1:13 pm

≫ Next: What the Heck is TrapWire?

≪ Previous: Streamer Journalist Code of Ethics

Update on Barrett Brown

by Sue Basko

October 27, 2012. Barrett's mom visited with him and word is that he looks good and healthy. She said Barrett is getting medical help from a very kind and caring person. Barrett is busy working on his health.

The trial date is pushed back to 2013 because Barrett will be in health care until at least December.

Barrett has an excellent public defender, Douglas A. Morris, who has been attorney on over 800 criminal cases in the North Texas District Court in Dallas. Additional legal help from the Dallas area is being considered. The lawyer must be practicing in this particular court. Pro bono would be nice.

↧

What the Heck is TrapWire?

November 2, 2012, 12:10 am

≫ Next: Update on Barrett Brown - November 8

≪ Previous: Update on Barrett Brown

What the Heck is TrapWire?

by Sue Basko

Please link and quote, but don't steal my stuff. I worked hard on this. Thanks.

If you are concerned about TrapWire, you should read about Axxon.

Also see: The Human Audit: What is it?

Lately, there has been much ado about TrapWire, which is said to be a giant network spying on all of us. My research says this is much ado about nothing. TrapWire, as far as I can tell, is the Emperors New Clothes. It seems to be an extremely simple data-sorting computer program, marketed to the government sector using fear of terrorists as its selling point.

TrapWire is the name of a corporation, a computer program, and the consulting services that go with it. TrapWire, Inc., has Dan Botsch, a University of Chicago MBA, as its current president. Before him, Jack Reis held the post. TrapWire, Inc., comes off an incestuous lineage of many mergers and acquisitions that involve the same players over and over again. Richard Hollis Helms, a former CIA agent, shows up repeatedly as the CEO. Lance Cottrell shows up repeatedly as the Lead Computer Scientist. Margaret A. Lee repeatedly shows up as the Corporate Secretary.

The basic lineage is Abraxas Corporation > (offshoot corporation) Abraxas Applications (name change to) > TrapWire, Inc. Abraxas Applications was spun off Abraxas Corporation, apparently as a holder for the TrapWire product, and then a name change was done, turning Abraxas Applications, Inc. into TrapWire, Inc. There are many spin-offs and sideshows and earlier stepcousins, such as Anonymizer and Ntrepid, but those will be covered in later essays. This whole corporate lineage is big on branding and trademarking its products, taking loans on its trademarks, splitting almost each product into a corporation, and marketing through fear. My searching shows only one patent owned by Abraxas Corporation, for a software that translates language. I also found one patent owned in part by Lance Cottrell, for an anonymizing software. In contrast, Cubic Corporation, which recently acquired Abraxas Corporation, easily shows ownership of over 100 patents.

(Please note: Abraxas Corporation is entirely different from Abraxas Software, Inc. These are two totally different entities not in any way related.)

On June 22, 2007, Abraxas Corporation assigned the Trapwire trademark to Abraxas Applications Inc., for $1, with the document signed by "Richard H. Helms CEO, Abraxas Corporation". On June 27, 2011, Abraxas Applications Inc., registered with the trademark office that it had a new name, TrapWire, Inc., with Richard Hollis Helms having signed the corporate name change on January 12, 2011 as “CEO and Sole Director.”

Cubic Corporation issued a Press release dated 8/13/2012 titled, “Cubic Corporation Has No Affiliation with Trapwire, Inc.” It then states: “Cubic Corporation (NYSE: CUB) acquired Abraxas Corporation on December 20, 2010. Abraxas Corporation then and now has no affiliation with Abraxas Applications now known as Trapwire, Inc.” This is a case of telling the truth, but not the whole truth. The statement continues, “Erroneous reports have linked the company with Trapwire, Inc. Trapwire, Inc. is a risk mitigation technology and services company that builds and markets software products to prevent terrorist threats and criminal attacks.” It depends what you consider “linked.”

What’s the reality here? The reality is that Abraxas Corporation, led by Richard Hollis Helms, who is reportedly a former CIA agent, “developed” a trademarked name for a product and service called “Trapwire.” Abraxas Corporation then assigned the trademark to Abraxas Applications, Inc., also led by Richard Hollis Helms. Then Abraxis Applications, Inc. changed its name to Trapwire, Inc. Cubic Corp. bought Abraxas Corp., but it did not buy TrapWire, Inc. Therefore, on December 20, 2010, Abraxas Corp had “no affiliation” with Trapwire. But earlier, there was an affiliation between Abraxas Corporation and Abraxas Application, Inc./ Trapwire, Inc. Cubic Corporation is not and never has been affiliated with TrapWire, Inc. or with the TrapWire product.

What appears to have happened is that Abraxas Corp. separated off the golden egg before selling the goose to Cubic Corporation. Trapwire WAS affiliated with Abraxas Corporation, but it was separated off before Cubic Corporation got involved.

LET ME EXPLAIN IT MORE CLEARLY, since there seems to be such confusion. Abraxas Corporation developed a product called Trapwire. At some point, I believe in 2007 (the actual date is difficult to determine because the original incorporation documents have been purged from the records and replaced with the later "name change" records), Abraxas Corporation split off a corporation called Abraxas Applications, Inc., mainly to hold the Trapwire product, as well as the Personprint and Vehicleprint products, which are part of TrapWire. In 2010, Cubic Corporation bought Abraxas Corporation, but it did not purchase Abraxas Applications. In 2011, Abraxas Applications, Inc., changed its name to Trapwire, Inc. Cubic Corporation has never been involved in the TrapWire product or TrapWire, Inc.

(Note: People are asking about Abraxas Dauntless. Dauntless was a Virginia-based software company started by Michael Martinka. Abraxas Corporation bought Dauntless to build software for its products. The company is now called Abraxas Dauntless and is now part of Abraxas Corporation, which is now owned by Cubic Corporation.)

TrapWire, Inc.'s main product is TrapWire, which is software and consulting services on how to use the software. The software seems to be a very simple program that works like this: Security guards at government building or locations watch through security cameras to see if there are any notable people or vehicles. If they see anything notable, they fill out a form on a computer. The software checks to see if the same person or vehicle is visiting the same place multiple times. Various locations are linked through the software. If the same person or vehicle visits multiple locations, the system sends out an alert. This is all based on the idea that a terrorist will case a place several times before blowing it up. That seems likely. Other people who will also visit the same place multiple times include the UPS delivery person, the local pizza man, dog walkers, joggers, and many others.

When a security guard sees a notable person, the guard fills out this form, which TrapWire, Inc. calls PersonPrint.

TrapWire PersonPrint Computer screen form field.

The information fields to be entered are Gender: Male/ Female/ Unknown, Height, Build, Age, Primary Hair Color, Secondary, Facial Hair Type, Facial Hair Color, Complexion, Glasses. This is the sort of information that is gathered upon observation, without a show of identification or questioning.

If the guard sees a notable vehicle, this form, which TrapWire calls VehiclePrint, is filled.

The information fields on the TrapWire VehiclePrint page are: License, State, Country, Type, Make, Model/Name, Color, Doors, Appearance, Number of Occupants. This is information that could be observed through a camera close-up or in person, without stopping the vehicle.

TrapWire's Safe Harbor provisions, state that Trapwire systems "in general, do not store Personal or Sensitive Personal Information." If they do gather such information, they promise not to share it with third parties. The Safe Harbor provisions are posted below after this essay. To enlarge the pages, pull them off the page and click to enlarge. They are jpegs.

ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY: Abraxas Corp./ TrapWire, Inc. is providing a simple data coordination system. This is not high tech. It is not all -encompassing. This is a simple old-fashioned database program marketed to one idea - that terrorists visit a site many times before they attack. If that were true, then alert human security guards are likely to catch that. TrapWire coordinates the software between multiple sites. Why would a terrorist visit sites other than the one that he or she plans to attack? Perhaps as a first visit to check out vulnerable spots.

There does seem to be significant potential for abuse with TrapWire. Are people free to be in public spaces without being scrutinized on camera and having their descriptions recorded? Apparently not. Note on page 5, TrapWire explains that as a neighborhood changes, the criteria will change. I suppose this means, as an imagined example, that if the system regularly flags Arab-looking men, that if a neighborhood becomes one where many Arabs live, it won't flag them so readily.

On the Trapwire, Inc. website as of September 2012, TrapWire states that the company will provide a service that covers a wide geographic region, rather than a government site of interest, as was the original plan: "TW-LE (TrapWire Law Enforcement) provides the ability to gather, analyze and disseminate information about surveillance and logistical activities occurring across an entire geographic region . ." See last paragraph on: https://trapwire.com/trapwire.html

Do we want our nation spending large amounts of money for such a system? It seems that recent terrorist type attacks have been one-off gun massacres by educated white males who appear to have done no significant prior surveillance of the site.

Also, TrapWire does not sound as if it offers anything of real value. An alert, awake security guard is able to tell if there is a repeat visitor to a location or if a particular visitor seems out of the ordinary.

At the very least, we need to know what TrapWire is and have a public discussion about whether we want our tax dollars spent this way.

Robert Steele, in his thought-provoking review on Amazon. com for the book "Spies for Hire, The Secret World of Intelligence Outsourcing," (a review you should read in full if you care about this topic) writes:

"Here are three tid-bits that strongly support the author's general intent, and some links.

1) Secret intelligence scam #1 is that there is no penalty for failure. Lockheed can build a satellite system that does not work (for NASA as well as the secret world--two different failures--or get the metrics wrong so priceless outer space research does not deploy a parachute--}and get another contract. Similarly SAIC with Trailblazer, CACI in Iraq, Blackwater murdering civilians and ramming old men in old cars out of the way, this is all a total disgrace to America.

2) "Butts in seats" means that most of our money goes to US citizens with clearances who know nothing of the real world, *and* the contractor gets 150% of their salary as "overhead." That is scam #2.

3) Scam #3 is that the so-called policy world, when it exists, does not really care what the secret world has to say, unless it justifies elective wars, secret prisons in the US (Halliburton) and so on. Dick Cheney ended the policy process in this administration. But even without Cheney and his gang of proven liars, the dirty little secret of the secret world is that a) there is no one place where all information comes together to be made sense of; and b) less than 1% of what we collect gets looked at by a human; and c) most of the policy world could care less what Top Secret Codeword information is placed before them--as Colin Powell says so memorably in his autobiography, he preferred the Early Bird compilation of news clippings.

I have been saying since 1988 that the secret emperor is not just naked, but institutionalized lunacy. Books like this are helpful, eventually the public will hear our voice."

Note on Patent for TrapWire: Abraxas Corporation and Abraxas Applications posted "Patent Pending" on materials advertising the TrapWire product, as can be seen on the document above. However, the Patent Application number was not listed. After several thorough searches of the U.S. Patent Office database, I cannot find a patent or patent application for this product or any product that sounds like it in the name of TrapWire, Abraxas, Lance Cottrell, Ntrepid, Richard Helms, or other names that might be associated. Lance Cottrell and Brian Bennett own a patent on an anonymizing software, and search on Brian Bennett shows one more application and one other patent, but neither relates to TrapWire. It is possible a patent was or may be pending in the name of the inventor, with an agreement to sign it over to TrapWire if and when a patent is granted. However, a significant number of years has passed since Abraxas Corporation began stating "Patent Pending"regarding Trapwire and it appears there has been no assignment of any patent to Abraxas Corporation. THEREFORE, the conclusion I draw is that there is no patent on TrapWire.

Some software has copyright registered on it. A search of the U.S. Copyright Office does not show any software with the title, keyword or name as TrapWire, Abraxas, Richard Helms, or Lance Cottrell. If TrapWire, Inc., wants to let me know otherwise, I am happy to post about it.

The TrapWire website now refers to "unique predictive software" "utilizing a proprietary rules-based engine." This does not state what makes the engine proprietary or who the owner of it is. Again, it seems to be very simple sorting software hyped to appear as something more than that.

***

TO READ THESE DOCS, PULL THEM OFF PAGE AND CLICK TO ENLARGE

TrapWire Safe Harbor Provisions page 1.

TrapWire Safe Harbor Provisions Page 2.

HOW TRAPWIRE EXPLAINS WHAT IT DOES:

click on images to read:

TrapWire Explains what it does. Page 1

TrapWire Explains what it does. Page 3

TrapWire Explains what it does.

TrapWire Explains what it does Page 5

↧

Update on Barrett Brown - November 8

November 7, 2012, 6:14 pm

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Update on Barrett Brown - November 8, 2012

by Sue Basko

There was a court order stating that any motions in USA vs. Barrett Brown had to be filed by November 7, 2012. However, that date has been pushed back, as Barrett is still receiving medical care.

It has been mentioned by others that Barrett is receiving high quality medical care from a very caring, good person. It has also been mentioned that he is making friends, running a role-playing game with other inmates, practicing Tai Chi, reading a good book, and has said this prison is like being in a monastery. And -- Barrett says he will write a book.

When the time comes to file the motions, such motions that could conceivably be filed might be a Motion to Dismiss the Indictment. Such a motion states that even if the facts stated in the indictment were true, that one or more counts in the indictment do not meet the elements of that crime that are listed in the federal criminal statute. From an observing lawyer viewpoint, to me it looks as if all 3 counts could potentially be open to such motions. This is because things such as "conspiracy," "threat," and "retaliation" are subject to much legal interpretation. We shall see what is filed when that time comes.

↧

OSCE Meetings in Vienna: Freedoms of Association, Assembly, and Use of Technology

November 15, 2012, 12:35 pm

≫ Next: Musician/ Child Molester: Help Catch Him!

≪ Previous: Update on Barrett Brown - November 8

OSCE Meetings in Vienna

Freedoms of Association, Assembly and Use of Technology

by Sue Basko

contact (local U.S.) Sue Basko: OccupyPeace@gmail.com

contact (serious inquiries only, please) Omer Fisher: Omer.Fisher@odihr.pl

Library:
Report on Peaceful Assemblies 2012

Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly

Handbook for Monitoring or Legal Observing

↧

Musician/ Child Molester: Help Catch Him!

May 14, 2013, 7:30 pm

≫ Next: How to Make It in Music Today

≪ Previous: OSCE Meetings in Vienna: Freedoms of Association, Assembly, and Use of Technology

Musician/ Child Molester: Help Catch Him!

By Sue Basko

Update: The man was identified and arrested within 24 hours of the plea being put on the internet. You can read about that HERE.

The man in the photos is a child molester/ rapist and producer of child pornography. He is being sought by the USA government. Recently-created videos have been found that show this man having sex with a young girl about age 7-9 years old. The sex in the videos is very graphic, really bad stuff. The pics are stills taken from the sex videos.

The man is believed to be in the U.S., between ages 45- 55, and has a beer gut. If you notice in the photo below, he has a guitar, Korg amp, mixing board, drum stool, etc. He seems to be a rock musician. He has a large wristwatch and he eats pretzels.

If you know who he is:

Call the ICE Tip Line, which is staffed 24-hours a day:
1-866-347-2423 from the U.S. & Canada
1-802-872-6199 from anywhere in the world
OR
Complete an online tip form at www.ICE.gov/tips

All tips will remain anonymous. Individuals should not attempt to apprehend the suspect person.

To see the ICE posting: http://www.ice.gov/news/releases/1305/130514washingtondc.htm

↧

How to Make It in Music Today

May 17, 2013, 9:43 pm

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≪ Previous: Musician/ Child Molester: Help Catch Him!

How to Make It in Music Today

by Sue Basko

“Making it” in music today does not mean the same thing it did in past generations. Back then, signing a record label deal was a sign of “making it.” In the meantime, musicians have figured out that most traditional record label contracts constrict their creativity and pay them a pittance for making money for a corporation. Today there are new types of record labels that may present a more balanced, if less immediately lucrative and flashy, situation.

Today, “making it” in music means having the skills and connections to pursue music as a career, whether or not significant money is made. The keys to making it today are the same at any level of financial remuneration. And here is the list.

How to Make It in Music Today:

1. Start young. If you can start playing music and / or singing by age 3, that is great. Age 17 to 30 is the prime time for developing professional music careers, so you need your basic foundation laid before then. However, do not try to be a child star. Instead, spend your early years building a solid foundation of skills.

2. Own a musical instrument. Get a piano or keyboard, a guitar, a cello, a flute, a harmonica. Ask for these things as gifts. Save up your own money and buy them. If you want to help someone else become a musician, give them a musical instrument.

3. Get lessons. Most great songwriters play piano. They learn to play piano by taking lessons in childhood. Real in-person teachers are best, if you can afford that. If not, don't give up. Your lessons can also be self-taught. There are lessons online and there are also lessons on youtube for free. There are video lessons and book lessons you can buy or check out of a library.

4. Practice every day. You will only come skilled if you train. Most good musicians practice 3 to 8 hours per day.

5. Sing. Even if singing is not your main strength, sing. If you think of yourself as a singer, get lessons and practice every day.

6. Write songs.

7. Listen to many kinds of music. This is so easy now with the internet. Make a point of expanding your listening experience, even if the music is not immediately enjoyable to you. Develop an expansive, rather than a limiting, mindset. Listen to music from many genres, from many regions and cultural groups, from many time eras.

8. Learn to play or sing music outside your comfort zone. Jump into other genres, other languages, try out a new instrument.

9. Get a computer and develop skills you will need for music production and business. Learn to record, mix, and create music on a computer. Learn how to make videos and put them up online. Learn how to make digital photos, web pages, email lists, etc. The more computer skills you have, the more you can place your music online and promote yourself as a musician.

10. Become proficient at home recording, mixing, and mastering on a computer. Learn how to use loops, create and lay music beds. Look into the great products for creating drum and string tracks.

11. Learn the basics of music law and business. Read books and websites on these topics.

12. Get a good music lawyer early on. This is crucial. If you are co-songwriting, get a contract written that reflects your agreement. If you start or join a band, get a band contract. Before you sign a contract or agree to anything, have a music lawyer read it. Do not rely on a manager, parent, or friend to do this for you. Get a music lawyer. The effects of signing something bad will often harm you for decades to come.

13. Do not fall for music scams. Music scams take a musician’s money in promise for a dream. These scams can destroy or halt a burgeoning music career. Have a music lawyer look it over before you agree to it.

14. Make use of performance opportunities. The only way to learn how to put on a good show before an audience is through practice.

15. Avoid drugs and alcohol. Eat right and get fit. Look and feel your best. Take care of stress and psychological issues early on. Avoid troublesome people. The music industry, moreso than ever before, is a business. You are expected to be on time and in excellent performance shape with totally professional behavior. Music contracts now include cancellation clauses that can be invoked if a performer starts to have substance abuse, mental, or behavioral issues. If one of these clauses is invoked against you or at your option, you may also be banned from performing music for a period of time.

16. Be you. Try to have any contracts written so you have creative control over your music, songwriting, and appearance. One of the silliest things I ever saw was when one of my favorite rappers, who makes amazing music and truly clever lyrics that are of the sort that absolutely cannot be played on the radio, signed a deal with a major record label. Then, the record label people acted surprised that he was writing songs that cannot be played on the radio, when that is the only kind of songs he writes. What were they thinking? He should have gotten a deal with a record label that was not trying to change his music, a label that does not rely on radio airplay to promote music.

17. Don’t try to be someone else. If you want to sound like some already famous artist, start a cover band. That is totally legit and good cover bands get lots of bookings.

18. Avoid making music your second choice. If you want to go into music, do not instead go to law school or engineering school as a practical choice and develop a career in that field, telling yourself that you will pursue music later or in addition to this other career. This almost never happens.

19. Don’t quit. You may have interruptions, but don’t quit. The surest way to quit is by selling your musical instruments. Only sell the instruments if you are upgrading.

20. Develop an online presence. However, only put good things online. Make sure all the videos you put up have good audio. Make sure all photos convey the right image you are trying to portray. Avoid profanity or violent images or words. These mark you as unprofessional and rule you out for most bookings and other opportunities.

21. Develop a strong sense of gratitude. Thank people for their help. Be courteous.

22. Love what you are doing. If you love what you are doing, you will attract the right people and opportunities.

↧

Film the Police

May 18, 2013, 7:52 pm

≫ Next: Winter Soldier

≪ Previous: How to Make It in Music Today

↧

Winter Soldier

May 19, 2013, 10:11 pm

≫ Next: OSCE Meetings in Vienna: Freedoms of Association, Assembly, and Use of Technology

≪ Previous: Film the Police

"Winter Soldier," Mike Prysner speaking, music by Prayers for Atheists.

↧

OSCE Meetings in Vienna: Freedoms of Association, Assembly, and Use of Technology

November 15, 2012, 12:35 pm

≫ Next: Saving Our History

≪ Previous: Winter Soldier

OSCE Meetings in Vienna

Freedoms of Association, Assembly and Use of Technology

by Sue Basko

contact (local U.S.) Sue Basko: OccupyPeace@gmail.com

contact (serious inquiries only, please) Omer Fisher: Omer.Fisher@odihr.pl

Library:
Report on Peaceful Assemblies 2012

Guidelines on Freedom of Peaceful Assembly

Handbook for Monitoring or Legal Observing

↧

Saving Our History

May 25, 2013, 3:07 pm

≫ Next: Terms of Service for Your Website

≪ Previous: OSCE Meetings in Vienna: Freedoms of Association, Assembly, and Use of Technology

Saving Our History
Paving Paradise with a Mayan Mound

by Sue Basko

This past winter, I celebrated my birthday by visiting my birthplace, Belize. Belize is a very small Caribbean nation just south of Mexico. English is the official language because of a colonial past, though Spanish is more commonly spoken. California is 13 times the size of Belize. My mother was a beautiful French hippie student, in Belize to study the archeology of the ancient Mayan civilization that once thrived in Belize.

On a hot rainy day in January, I hiked in through some land to visit a Mayan stone mound. I saw macaws, huge birds in bright primary colors of blue, red, and yellow. I had been warned there were jaguars in the area, so I kept singing to let them know I was present. I was not sure if there really were jaguars in the area, and I was keeping them at bay by singing, or if I was being spoofed. Either way, I saw no jaguars.

I reached the mound and climbed half way to the top. I looked around and felt the presence of my mother, who loved this area so much. I felt a spiritual rush, a joining of people of the ages. It was an inspiring happy birthday moment for me.

So, imagine my dismay/ shock, a few weeks ago, when I read that that very mound, built 2300 years ago by the Mayans, had been bulldozed by a construction crew to use the limestone rock for road paving. An appalling video of the bulldozer in action can be viewed here on UK Guardian. It's as if the Eiffel Tower had been carried off by the junk truck for scrap metal.

There are so many thoughts swirling in my head about this. A piece of history, and a piece of my personal history, has been ripped out. There are many other sources of limestone in the area. The lack of sensitivity to history astonishes me. But, this is far from the first time a Belize mound has been destroyed, as if it were an above-ground quarry. The Belize government claims ownership over the mounds, but this matters little once the mound has been hacked away.

It is easy to see how appalling this situation is in Belize. I relate it to things I have seen in the U.S., such as gorgeous historic buildings being razed to build dense, ugly buildings, trees sawed down, historic homes turned to rubble to construct blank-looking apartment complexes with almost no green space. As long as monetary profit is the main goal, over comfort or beauty or quality of life, such destruction will continue. Greed is international.

I'm sad. Next winter, I'll probably just celebrate my birthday snuggled up under some blankets reading a book.

↧

Terms of Service for Your Website

May 28, 2013, 11:56 pm

≫ Next: Racism and Abuse on Twitter

≪ Previous: Saving Our History

Terms of Service for Your Website

by Sue Basko

If you have a website that offers any kind of interaction or service, you need a Terms of Service (TOS) or a Terms of Service and Use (TOSU). The terms are interchangeable, but TOSU tends to list the responsibilities of the user in greater detail. Here, we will call them both TOS.

The TOS forms a legally-binding contract between the site owner and the user. It is also possible that violation of some TOS may be violations of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA), the Federal Criminal statute that lists computer crimes.

Therefore, because of the incredible importance of the TOS, the TOS should be:

Written by a lawyer.
Written by a lawyer who knows internet law.
Written by a lawyer who can write well.
Written specially for your site.
Written in clear language that can be easily understood by most everyone.
Available on the site to be viewed by the public, before joining or paying anything.
Not posted as a scroll and click.
State some method of agreeing with the contract. This is often by using the site.
Posted in big enough font with plenty of spacing and appropriate numbering.
Not contain extra verbiage or repetition.
Be divided into pertinent sections with useful titles.
Written after the website is ready for launch, but before it is launched.
Written by the lawyer after viewing and using the site and discussing with site owners.
Updated frequently to address changes in the site, changes in policies or practices, or concerns that have arisen through use or abuse of the site.
Every TOS is tailor-made for that site and service.
Some sites may have multiple TOS to address different types of users or segments of the service provided.
A TOS is never completed; it is constantly growing and changing.
A TOS represents a significant, necessary, ongoing legal expense.
The TOS should be adequately budgeted for. It is a start-up cost and an ongoing cost for the life of the site.

The TOS should address these and many other topics:

Copyright ownership of any user materials.
Copyright ownership and use of site materials.
Allowable use of the site.
Disallowed uses of the site.
Dispute resolution, remedies, liquidated damages.
Conduct and speech of users.
Privacy policy and compliance with privacy laws.
Subpoenas and queries from legal entities and how these will be handled.
Explanations of costs and payments for using the site.
Explanation of what the site provides; disclaimers.
DMCA information.
Contact information.

When I write a TOS: First, I have to see the site and work with it, play around a bit and see how it is functioning. I will have many questions. Once I think I have a good grip on what the site does and how the users will interact with it, I will write a draft TOS. After that is looked at, I will make needed changes. Then, as the site is used and difficulties or abuses arise, and as any proposed changes are to be made to the site or policy, I will be informed promptly. Then, I will update the TOS to reflect this added knowledge or the changes. Maintaining a good TOS is an ongoing process that spans the life of the site.

↧

Racism and Abuse on Twitter

May 31, 2013, 5:16 pm

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Racism and Abuse on Twitter

Twitter's CEO faces prison; Still lets criminals run amok on Twitter
by Sue Basko

Racists have run amok on Twitter. The Twitter Legal and Safety departments have come up with "solutions" that leave the site and its users violating laws in every nation and have everyone, racists and their victims alike, dissatisfied. The problem seems to stem from a basic lack of understanding of law and practicalities. Twitter ought to take a practical clue from better-established Social Media, or at least bother to read up on internet law.

It's time for Twitter to face that there are some malicious people who are not qualified to use a communications device like Twitter, because of their tendency to disrespect the rights of others. As the saying goes, some people just don't know how to internet.

A French Jewish student union filed a $50 million lawsuit against Twitter and Dick Costolo, its CEO, for failing to reveal the identity of those widely posting a racist hashtag. Earlier negotiations had resulted (finally) in Twitter removing the offensive tweets. Still, Twitter refused to reveal the contact information it had on the offending accounts.

Then, a court ordered Twitter and Mr. Costolo to reveal the names; they have thus far refused. It has been reported that Mr Costolo now faces 3 years in prison for his failure to obey this court order. Granted, that's three years in a French prison, where he may be given croissants and red wine. While we wish prison on no one, the soon-to-be Monsieur Costolo has refused to take the helm and change Twitter to make it socially and legally responsible. Peut-être qu'il a besoin d'être envoyé en prison. Avec croissants.

NOTE: I have been harassed and stalked on Twitter by a vulgar, disgusting group of neo-Nazi racists, which I have written about elsewhere. The group and its members and supporters have posted literally thousands of racist, stalking, mocking, harassing, threatening, and /or obscene tweets @ me or using my name. They have also created harassment accounts using my name and photo, posted death threats, and posted nonstop defamation. Through this terrible experience, I've become a bit of an expert on Twitter's deficiencies in handling such anti-social people and their vile postings.

Twitter has become a minefield. Twitter allows certain malicious users to post lots of hate toward Jews and Blacks and women. Twitter does not remove the content.  That seems to be the crux of the problem. Twitter refuses to remove death threats, taunts, obscenity, malicious attacks, and other disgusting tweets.   Twitter may eventually suspend the account, which means delete the account. The same malicious user will simply start a new account. I have watched it happen dozens of times. Instead, Twitter should be removing the offensive material immediately and getting injunctions to keep repeat abusers off Twitter. Twitter cannot simply ban IPs, since the abusers tend to use VPNs.

Twitter also has an inane policy of allowing malicious users to create accounts in the name of others. This is illegal under California law, yet Twitter, located in California, blatantly ignores the law. This same group of racist stalker/ harassers that I described above created dozens of accounts using my name and/ or photo. I am not a public figure or elected official, where making such an account might be allowed under the First Amendment. I am a private person. I do not even know my attackers and have never had any dealings whatever with them. They are socially-deficient people who enjoy stalking victims for fun. Most of the ones I have learned about are, in fact, already convicted criminals, and the others are knee-deep in illegal and antisocial activity. Some have a history as serious mental patients. Some openly abuse drugs or alcohol. The ones I have come to learn about are widely loathed, except by those in their little group of offenders. They create many sock puppet accounts, so they have "people" agreeing with their malicious behaviors. It's a hate-support group. Why does Twitter allow them to defame, stalk, harass others who are not even part of their group? Twitter has a problem.

The proof is in the pudding. Normal people who respect others do not need to post @ others or use others' names when they know their tweets are not welcome. Normal people are not "members" of groups whose main purpose is to show hate toward other racial or religious groups.

Twitter also has a problem with users linking to illegal content, in fact, running criminal operations on Twitter. There are sites that specialize in posting peoples' personal information in order to make them easy prey for hackers, thieves, stalkers, swatters, rapists, murderers, etc. This is called doxing or d0xing. Such information is sold in bundles on tor. These sites link through on Twitter. Want to get one of these Twitter accounts removed? You can file a Twitter Abuse Report, but Twitter requires you to check a box agreeing that your complaint may be shown to the criminals. Are you likely to become the victim of greatly expanded attacks by these criminals as payback for filing a complaint? Of course. Twitter has suspended (removed) accounts that link to such materials, but the users immediately start new accounts. Twitter needs to have such people arrested or go into court and have them permanently enjoined from using Twitter.

Twitter allows users to post or link peoples' social security numbers so their identities might be stolen, their addresses so they might be attacked, their IP addresses so they might be dos'd, knocked offline, or their computers rooted. Twitter allows graphic death threats. I have the proof. I have the screen shots and the idiotic responses from "Twitter Safety."

Twitter also allows abusive users to post obscenity and revenge porn against others. Again, Twitter fails to remove the content. This is ludicrous. Twitter also fails to permanently ban these bad users. This is a fact. A young man in the group attacking me created an obscene picture using my photo, which he stole off my website. Twitter repeatedly refused to remove the picture, even as I made Twitter Abuse report after report. How is it in accord with Twitter "standards" that this man took my photo and turned it extraordinarily, shockingly obscene and posted it? This is what Twitter "Safety" is all about -- encouraging abuse and crime. Twitter eventually suspended the young man's account. The young man simply made a new account, which he still has.

Twitter aids, abets, and supports criminal acts. It cannot be denied.  I love Twitter. But I have thousands of screen shots of criminal acts committed against me on Twitter, and hundreds of inane replies from the Twitter crew about how the crime does not violate Twitter "standards." Twitter is engaged in supporting organized, planned crime. It seems inevitably just a matter of time before Twitter will be in a U.S. court on a RICO civil complaint or criminal charge.

Twitter also allows accounts that link to sites that are used for extortion. I don't want to give publicity to such sites, but they were created by some of the same malicious users doing the other things mentioned in this essay. The sites are used to degrade, harass, humiliate, defame, and shame people who are, for whatever reason, disliked by the racist, sexist, hate-filled people who run the sites. In other words, basically anyone who is a decent human is likely to be targeted to have pages filled with lies, obscenity, and disrespect aimed at them. And Twitter allows accounts that link to these things. And if any of the victims wish to complain using a Twitter Abuse Report, Twitter requires the victim to agree to allow Twitter to show the complaint to the predator. Twitter sets up the victims for increased abuse.

The same goes for death threats on Twitter. Twitter does not remove the threats. Twitter shows the Abuse Reports to the predators, who then create more and ever more vicious abuse. Finally Twitter suspends the account, and the predator creates a new account and starts again.

Twitter claims that it does not mediate content and that it wants to be a communications platform. Every major communications platform eventually finds that, if it wants to thrive and survive, it must remove abusive content and ban abusive users. It's just how it is. The major newspapers have figured this out with their online Comments sections. Intelligent discourse ends when a Comments section allows online predators to harass and stalk other users. Most of these news outlets got smart, and now require a link up with a Facebook or Google+ account, and quickly remove content that attacks other users. Youtube figured it out and now has a policy of quick and easy removal of anything that uses another's name or likeness. Facebook is figuring it out. Myspace learned it the hard way, by having most decent users flee. Twitter has not learned it yet and seems to deny it.

The abusive Twitter users harass others and tend to be very aggressive in their hate-filled and offensive attacks. When a Social Media platform refuses to police itself, the decent and respectful users shy away, and so do advertisers. Twitter is now pushing sales of advertisements. Who wants their ad on a platform that a group of malicious users are using to run criminal operations, racism, and stalking?

Twitter's failure to remove the offending tweets promptly does everyone a disservice. The victim continues to be victimized as long as the assaultive material remains. The perpetrators fail to be taught what is acceptable and what is not. My Twitter attackers are neo-Nazis, and openly admit to hating "Jews and niggers," and thus, are obviously socially stunted. As a well-educated and socialized person, I find it incomprehensible what sort of background leads to such enclosed thinking and such malicious action. I assume my attackers are uneducated and socially unworldly.

One cannot go too far in the modern world of school or work, being a white person who calls people "niggers." However, it should not be assumed my attackers, and others like them, are unteachable. Their hate will likely forever fill their hearts, but they might be taught that it is socially unacceptable and how to behave in relation to others. Why is Twitter nursing their dangerous antisocial behavior? What is behind this? I am really curious.

Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act gives immunity to Twitter for torts enacted by its users. However, Section 230 does not immunize Twitter for aiding or abetting the criminal acts of its users. The French Student Union has stated that Twitter is welcoming the criminal racist attacks. I have to agree. Even if Section 230 were applicable against criminal liability, which it is not, it is a U.S. law and does not apply in Europe.

The criminal culpability of Twitter in the U.S. is palpable. Much of what I have seen, and been the victim of, violates the harassment and cyberstalking provisions of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) or various state laws. Should Twitter be concerned about its willingness to give a hand to malicious, vicious online stalker/ harassers? I think so.

Twitter has not amended its Community Standards to make violations of things such as death threats, posting personal information of others, racist attacks, sex attacks, extortion, taunts, obscenity, and other such dangerous, highly offensive tweets. By its lack of normal, legal, decent standards, Twitter invites the abusive predators onto Twitter. Twitter is a place where, on any given day, you can watch people openly planning or engaging in crimes or noxious behaviors.

Twitter also seems to have confusion about what it means to be a communications platform. "Free speech" applies between the government and the citizens. Twitter is a private company and not a party to the U.S. Constitution. Twitter can most certainly disallow racist hate speech. One of the racist boys who attacked me with obscenity and non-stop stalking wrote a string of about 40 tweets boldly declaring it his "free speech right" to post obscenity, defamation, and threats at me. He's just clueless. Our Constitutional free speech includes no such "rights. " And even if the Constitutional free speech rights did include such things, which it most certainly does not, Twitter is not the U.S. government. Twitter is a private company looking for advertisers.

I've had a Twitter account almost since Twitter started, back when it was quite simple. Since then, Twitter has grown and become a nesting spot for abusers, people who don't know how to internet. Twitter needs to grow up and address this situation.

Is Twitter intentionally aiding crime, or is it through negligence, and does it matter? A $50 million lawsuit and potential 3 year prison stint for Dick Costolo says it's time for Twitter to get serious. And it's possibly high time for Twitter to invest in some real legal advice, instead of the pathetic, joke-worthy situation it now has going at its Legal and Safety department.

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Anonymizer: What is it?

June 16, 2013, 3:57 pm

≫ Next: Attempt to Set-Up Journalist with Emailed Child Porn

≪ Previous: Racism and Abuse on Twitter

Anonymizer: What is it?

by Sue Basko

see also:Ntrepid: What is it?

see also:Trapwire: What the heck is it?

UPDATE JUNE 16, 2013: I had a nice interchat with Lance Cottrell, who developed Anonymizer. He noticed my posting and was amused by the old screen shots from back when he was a struggling graduate student just starting Anonymizer. My question for Lance was whether Anonymizer keeps user logs, and if so, for how long, and what is on them.

This is Lance's reply:

“We do not keep any logs of user activity. Obviously we have billing records and such, but nothing that would allow us to connect users to their activities.

We have gotten about a subpoena a week on average for the last 15 years or more. You will not find a single incident where a user's privacy was compromised because we revealed their information.

There is no effective way of resisting subpoenas if you have the info, and you are not allowed to pick and choose which are "legitimate". The only viable path is to not have the data at all.

If we had the data, and responded to subpoenas, that information would be well known. Just look at HideMyAss.com which was exposed when its logs were used to prosecute one of the members of Anonymous.”

* * * * *

Anonymizer is a corporation, a website, and a software product for anonymizing oneself while using the internet. Anonymizer is a trademark name for software that hides the IP address and provides anonymity in surfing the web. Anonymizer is the baby of Lance Cottrell, a boyishly handsome man who is known to be well-liked.

Let's jump in the Time Machine and go back to the mid-1990s. Lance Cottrell was a graduate student who formed Infonex with other members of his family trust, Don M. Cottrell and Ann B. Cottrell. The Cottrells later formed Infonex Holdings, apparently for the Anonymizer software and trademark. Infonex Holdings, a Nevada Corporation, merged with Anonymizer, Inc., a California Corporation, on June 16, 2003. The directors and officers of Infonex became the directors and officers of Anonymizer, Inc, and all the employee benefits stayed the same. Lance Cottrell signed the papers as President of both Infonex and Anonymizer, Inc. Thus, Anonymizer, Inc. was born.

Lance’s early web pages for Anonymizer.com showed a mask, much like the Anonymous masks of today. Have a look at a photo of a computer screen of an Anonymizer.com web page from way back then. It's worth reading to get a taste for the history of the internet. Compare this with today's version of www.anonymizer.com which is all corporate slick.

Anonymizer.com early screen asking for donations.
To view a picture larger, you must pull/ drag it off the page and click it.

"Many people surf the web under the illusion that their actions are private and anonymous. Unfortunately, it isn't so. Every time you visit a site, you leave a calling card that reveals where you're coming from, what kind of computer you have, and other details." "Our "anonymizer" service allows you to surf the web without revealing any personal information. It is fast, it is easy, and it is free."

Then here is Lance asking people to subscribe to a faster, for-pay Anonymizer for $10 per quarter, or $40 per year. "These paid accounts are never turned off or slowed down to save bandwidth!" It even gives an option to pay online with MarkTwain Ecash.

Anonymizer Screen shot offering the service for $10 per quarter.

Here is Lance just outright begging for donations. This makes me like him a bit. Also, the fact that he misspelled "operate."

"It is very expensive for us to opperate the Anonymizer. While it is our intention to make the Anonymizer self-supporting through advertising, and to offer paid accounts, we are far from that goal right now. We appreciate your support for this project." This was 1997.

In 2005, Mr. Cottrell applied for a patent for the Anonymizer software with co-inventors Brian Bennett, Daniel Tentler, and Gene Anderson. The patent application is extraordinarily well-written, making the program understandable to those without extensive computer experience. The application immediately makes clear how the software works and why someone would want to use it. The patent was awarded in 2008 for "A system for protecting identity of network devices in a network environment. The system includes an apparatus having an interface to the network for completing connections to destination devices on the public side of the network. The apparatus includes a masking element for associating at least one masking identifier with a communication from the network device and masking the identifier of the network device from the destination device."

Lance Cottrell continued along as the "President, Founder, and Chief Scientist" of Anonymizer, until 2008. Then, Lance Cottrell connected with Richard Hollis Helms, the former CIA agent and CEO of Abraxas Corporation, and sold him Anonymizer, Inc. Mr. Cottrell then became the Chief Scientist/ Chief Technology Officer of both companies. It was also in 2008 that Anonymizer, Inc. first started taking out loans on its intellectual property. In 2010, Ntrepid Corporation was formed and Mr. Cottrell became its Chief Scientist. Today he is employed by Ntrepid Corporation, and Anonymizer, Inc. and is a consultant to Taia Global, Inc.

Lance Cottrell no longer needs to hound people to buy $10 subscriptions to Anonymizer. Today, Anonymizer.com offers Anonymizer for Home and Anonymizer for Business. The home user can get a one year subscription to Anonymizer for $80 or a souped-up version for $100/ year. Anonymizer also offers Nyms, which are anonymous email accounts for $20/ year.

The Business products offered by Anonymizer, Inc. have a darker, more sinister tone. These include such things as Non-Attributable IP (internet protocol) addresses and IPs that change addresses and locations automatically. Anonymizer Inc also sells harvesters which gather information anonymously using fake IP addresses. These products have so much potential for abuse in the hands of businesses and governments.

Anonymizer now also sells products geared to the spy crowd. Do they make distinctions between government spies and private spies acting on behalf of governments, such as Stratfor? Let's look at an ad for a service Anonymizer, Inc aims at governments, called Enterprise Chameleon. AD SHOWN BELOW the article.

As with Abraxas Corporation and TrapWire, Inc. the sales pitch for Enterprise Chameleon is one of fear of terrorists. The ad explains how the government can use anonymity to spy on others. This is a sad turn for a product associated with Lance Cottrell, who started his career designing software to give online privacy to the individual user. Now, in this Orwellian present, "privacy" means "spying on others."

Lance Cottrell is widely known as a champion of online privacy. He recently wrote on his blog that others have questioned his allegiance to privacy. I assume they are questioning this since he is involved in the development of products that take away peoples' privacy and allows them to be spied on. He wrote this blog post where he explains that he thinks he can comfortably supply services to players on all sides - the spies, the spied upon, and the spied upon who are spying right back:

"Some users of my personal / consumer privacy services see themselves as in opposition to some or all of my corporate or government users, and vice versa. I think both are important and I protect the anonymity of all of my customers equally. There is no “crossing of the streams.” None of my customers get any special insight into the identities or activities of any of my other customers. As above, there are no secrets like that which would last very long, and it would destroy my reputation.

Honor, reputation, and a man’s word being his bond may be very old fashioned ideas these days, but they carry great weight with me. I hope this clarifies where I stand."

***

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Attempt to Set-Up Journalist with Emailed Child Porn

July 4, 2013, 12:54 am

≫ Next: FBI Raids AnonForecast; takes medical device

≪ Previous: Anonymizer: What is it?

Attempt to Set-Up Journalist with Emailed Child Porn

by Sue Basko

Independent Journalist Luke Rudkowski, of We Are Change, is touring Europe. Someone tried to set him up by sending him an email (shown in full below) claiming to have good photos of an event Luke had just covered. Luke previewed the photos, and saw they were Child Pornography. Luke did not download the photos.

Luke is very concerned for his safety, since he will be making several international border crossings in the next few days. Computers are often checked at border crossings. It appears someone is setting up Luke to be arrested at a border crossing or upon reentry to the U.S.

I spoke on the phone with Luke in his spot in Europe, where he is taking precautions. Luke will be reporting the email to proper authorities.

Please be aware of such traps. Never download photos or videos from unknown sources.

Luke reports the email came from: s27du23d@tormail.org This is the email that was sent:

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FBI Raids AnonForecast; takes medical device

July 5, 2013, 3:10 pm

≫ Next: How to Work with a Creative Lawyer

≪ Previous: Attempt to Set-Up Journalist with Emailed Child Porn

AnonForecast, awake

FBI Raids AnonForecast; takes medical device

Fake AnonForecast chats on IRC

by Sue Basko

Important Note: Aaron Bale, aka AnonForecast is NOT sending any emails or participating in any IRCs or chats at this time. If you receive or see any such email or chat or accounts, it is not him. Aaron is busy taking care of his health.
***
Early on the morning of June 20, I got a phone call from my legal client, Aaron Bale, aka AnonForecast. Aaron was calling to tell me the FBI was in his apartment. An FBI agent came to the door and showed Aaron a long list of computer screen names and wanted to know what Aaron knew about them. Aaron said he did not want to talk without a lawyer.

The agent then showed Aaron a warrant. Ten other agents, with their guns drawn, entered the tiny one bedroom apartment. All of this is mighty overkill since Aaron is a smiley-faced teddy bear with no weapons. He has narcolepsy and was half asleep. He's also disabled, a survivor of a traumatic brain injury (TBI) and recently had heart surgery. Aaron poses no physical threat.

Aaron also poses no computer threat, since, even if he wanted to hack things, he doesn't have the type of skills needed, because of his TBI. Aaron is very bright, possibly brilliant, but certain types of skills that require memory, recall, and clear thinking, are not his forte. And, if anything requires staying awake, that's a no-go, since he has narcolepsy. There are photos and videos of Aaron asleep at dinners, asleep at parties, asleep on air during a radio show, asleep during online chats.

Aaron's memory gets wiped clean by his TBI and by the drug he is prescribed for his narcolepsy. Aaron depends on his phone, which is also a prescribed medical orthotic, to keep him alive and going. The phone has special apps that fill in the missing puzzle pieces of Aaron's brain. There's an app that monitors his breathing and alerts if his respiration becomes too shallow or stops. There's an app that reminds him to take his medicine. There's an app that wakes him up and has him solve little puzzles, to test if his brain is alert enough to move on to the tasks at hand.

The FBI took Aaron's phone/ cognitive orthotic. That left him without phone communication, which is an extremely irresponsible and dangerous thing to do to a disabled person. The taking of his phone also left Aaron without his cognitive orthotic. It was as if the FBI snatched part of Aaron's brain. Immediately, Aaron's life went into lethal danger. Aaron takes medicine, the "side effects" of which are confusion, coma, death, suicide, and hallucinations. The medicine has to be taken exactly as prescribed and precisely on schedule. It's a damn dangerous drug, but one he cannot live without. And the FBI took the tool he needs to take the drug properly and on time -- his cognitive orthotic, or phone.

Within a day of this FBI raid, Aaron was plummeted into a dire medical and mental condition. When the FBI arrived, Aaron was supposed to be taking his morning medicine and getting ready to go to his neuro rehab session. Instead, he was facing 11 men with guns ransacking his apartment, with all the shock and terror that entails. It was all downhill from there, because they took his phone, so he could not schedule rides to his rehab or keep track of his medication schedule. Within 24 hours, Aaron's health was totally screwed up; I repeatedly thought we had lost him and sent someone to go see if he was still alive.

I find it incomprehensible that the FBI can enter the home of a disabled man and take his mandatory, prescribed, direly-needed, life-or-death medical appliance. The laws regarding this need to change. If the FBI wants someone's medical orthotic, they should be required to show up with a replacement in hand, along with medical personnel to care for the person and train them in use of the new device. The FBI should also be required to pay for clean-up of the ransacked apartment and for medical care for the person they have traumatized. What is happening now is unreasonable search and seizure. What is happening now is life-threatening and wrong.

The main agent running the raid, Dan Jackman, told Aaron the raid was in regard to KYAnonymous. KYAnonymous is a young man in Kentucky, whose real name is Deric Lostutter. Deric, as KYAnonymous, allegedly ran an online protest called KnightSec or OpRedRoll that was trying to spread news about a high school rape in Steubenville, Ohio. I don't know the details of the rape or of KnightSec, so I won't pretend I do. I've heard that a cheesy website, run by a fan of a high school sports team, got hacked by someone who has admitted doing it, who also claims to be working for the government. It sounds as if what Lostutter did was not illegal, but merely annoying to some and heroic to others.

What I do know is that Aaron Bale had absolutely nothing to do with KnightSec, OpRedRoll, the website, or KYAnonymous. Aaron had even gone on a radio show saying he disagreed with the timing of the KnightSec activity on the basis that the high school boys had not yet been brought to trial.

Aaron says that Agent Jackman and another agent played a prototypical game of Good Cop/ Bad Cop with him. They tried to get Aaron to talk about Deric Lostutter by telling him that his "friend" KYAnonymous had "ratted on" him and "spilled the beans." It sounds like the script of a 1960s cop show. Except, Aaron does not know Deric Lostutter and there are no beans to spill.

AnonForecast, snoozing out.

The FBI agents held Aaron for several hours and carted off his computer, his phone, a paper notebook, and piles of broken old computer junk Aaron collected from different places, that he sometimes uses for spare parts. They took his old music CDs he has not listened to since high school. I think we can all agree that much of 1990s music was a crime, so taking those was justified. Taking his phone/cognitive orthotic was the equivalent of attempted murder.

Will the FBI come up with some trumped-up charges to cover their wrongdoing in harming Aaron? We'll find out.

Since the raid, I've spent countless hours trying to help Aaron recover, recuperate, and get organized. That's not easy with a person who is confused, whose memory keeps being wiped, who keeps falling asleep, who is living without his direly-needed medical and communications equipment, and who is in possession of prescribed drugs that a slip-up in the dose can put him in a coma. I am learning advanced techniques in patience, except when I am cranky.

And there's so much to do. Aaron needs some legal help there in Kentucky. We NEED a Kentucky licensed federal criminal defense lawyer to volunteer at least a little time. Aaron needs to replace his communications equipment, but lacks funds to do that. Aaron needs medical care because he says his tailbone seems to have been injured by the raid, when the FBI agents made him sit for hours outside on a narrow ledge leading to the roof. (They also sent a few agents with him into the bathroom to watch him take a poo, as if he might escape by flushing himself down the toilet.)

The 4th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution is supposed to protect against unreasonable search and seizure. Surely, that means situations like this.

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