The Silenced Revolution

Don't Photograph The Police!

LONDON - Tourists better think twice now before snapping pictures of the iconic British bobby. A new British anti-terrorism law went into effect Monday that could effectively bar photographers from taking pictures of police or military personnel — a move that prompted some 200 photographers to protest outside of Scotland Yard's headquarters.

Although the measure aims to prevent terrorists from taking reconnaissance shots, photographers say it could be misused at a whim to stop any pictures from being taken — especially images involving police abuse and demonstrations. "This law makes it much more difficult to photograph any kind of public demonstration or riot," said Marc Vallee, a protester and photographer. "The police are already suspicious of photographers and this just gives them more ammunition to stop us at our work".

Britain has come under fire in recent years for several measures that civil liberties groups say erode people's freedoms. In 2005, another law prohibited demonstrations around Parliament. The new act makes it a crime to "elicit, publish or communicate information" about British police or military personnel. Officials defend policyBritain's Home Office said in a statement that the law is designed to protect police officers on counterterrorism operations. In many cases, officers could allow photographers to keep taking pictures. In other cases, they could ask them to stop or threaten them with arrest.

It is legal to take photographs in any public space, but photographers complain they have been harassed by police while taking photographs near airports, government buildings or train tracks under the Terrorism Act 2000, which gives police the right to stop, search and question anyone taking photographs.

"We've seen more and more limits being placed in this country on photographers and this new legislation will make things even more difficult for them," said Padraig Reidy of Index on Censorship, a group that monitors civil liberties.
Freelance photographer Jess Hurd said she was stopped by police when photographing a December wedding of Irish Travelers. Part of the story was about how the Travelers — who often roam from site to site — face harassment from police.

"The police stopped me and ordered me to stop filming them, saying I could be carrying out hostile reconnaissance," Hurd said. "I had no idea what they were talking about until I realized we were vaguely in the vicinity of City Airport."
Photographers who refuse to stop taking pictures after a warning face arrest, up to 10 years in prison or unspecified fines.

Kid British - Lost in London

Kid British are made up of four vocalists and lyricists from Manchester. The band incorporates a flavour of garage, the boom box explosion of hip hop and the clatter of indie into their music. They are currently in the studio with Steve Dubb (Chemical Brothers) putting the finishing touches to their debut album, yet to be titled, due for release in early 2009 and will be hitting the live scene later this year with a soon to be announced UK tour.

This is their second single due out on 19th Jan.

http://rapidshare.com/files/182124072/Kid_British_-_Lost_in_London.mp3

This track sucks ass don't give it a listen!

British Police Allowed to Hack

The power of anti piracy organizations is constantly growing and latest news from Great Britain sounds somehow scary: The Home Office has quietly adopted a new plan to allow police across Britain routinely to hack into people’s personal computers without a warrant. The move, which follows a decision by the European Union’s council of ministers in Brussels, has angered civil liberties groups and opposition MPs. They described it as a sinister extension of the surveillance state which drives “a coach and horses” through privacy laws. The hacking is known as “remote searching”. It allows police or MI5 officers who may be hundreds of miles away to examine covertly the hard drive of someone’s PC at his home, office or hotel room. Material gathered in this way includes the content of all e-mails, web-browsing habits and instant messaging.

Under the Brussels edict, police across the EU have been given the green light to expand the implementation of a rarely used power involving warrantless intrusive surveillance of private property. The strategy will allow French, German and other EU forces to ask British officers to hack into someone’s UK computer and pass over any material gleaned. A remote search can be granted if a senior officer says he “believes” that it is “proportionate” and necessary to prevent or detect serious crime — defined as any offence attracting a jail sentence of more than three years. The authorities could break into a suspect’s home or office and insert a “key-logging” device into an individual’s computer. This would collect and, if necessary, transmit details of all the suspect’s keystrokes. The Home Office said it was working with other EU states to develop details of the proposals.

Source: The Times