Google Publishes Takedown Requests From US Government ...

Ever wonder what kind of content world governments ask Google to remove from their search results?

Well, Google has just published their “Transparency Report”, which details the type and nature of takedown requests that they’ve received from all over the world. What do you think US government officials have asked to be taken down?

Turns out, most of the recent US requests seem to be related to police brutality, and content that “defames” law enforcement officials. Google states that takedown requests in the US from officials have risen 70% compared to their previous reporting period.

Other countries, such as India, asked for content showing protests against social leaders to be taken down. Some requests were related to personal defamation, which Google usually seems to comply with.

So, what does this mean? Maybe nothing. Check out the full report and decide for yourself.

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November 9th Communications Shutdown: A System Reboot Needed to Activate New Code?

My take on the communications shutdown:

In what is obviously a muscle flexing exercise meant to show the public just how much power and control the federalgovernment really has, all communications will be cut off for an estimated three minutes on November 9^th, 2011.

Claiming this is a test of the emergency response system, the terror alert system, and any other excuse they can come up with, Fema (that would be the same FEMA in charge of those camps they deny exist) will conduct a complete communications shutdown: all TV, radio, internet, and phone systems will be disabled simultaneously. This will be at 1:00 CST.

I am trying to figure out what kind of national emergency would require cutting all communications, broadcasts and internet use?  Maybe an emergency in which the government itself feels threatened by …….the people?  If this were a test to make sure the system was intact in the event of an emergency I could understand it.  But that isn’t what this is.  This is a test meant to ensure that the apparatus is in place and operational in the event the government wants to prevent communication between citizens: this is a test to make sure they CAN shut it all down if they choose to.

Think Egypt here.  As the protest crowds grew in Egypt, what did the government do? They shut down all cell phones and internet access in an effort to halt communications. It didn’t stop anything, the crowds still grew, but the idea behind this action was clear.

I believe what is actually behind this might be the downloading of some kind of code needed to make the shut-down apparatus work efficiently.  Think about your cable system if you have one or even an upgrade to many computer programs.  A new code must be downloaded and installed, then the system shutdown and re-booted for the changes to take effect.  And, just like these coded program changes in computers and cable, once you re-boot, whatever was newly installed is activated and just runs silently behind the scenes.  In fact, in almost every case, you are not even aware of what changes were made. I have astrange feeling this is what is happening here.  I also think this is somehow attached to the all-digital system they forced everyone onto a few years back.

Being a rather rational and logical person, the idea of shutting off communications of all kinds during a national emergency just doesn’t make any sense to me.  Why would anyone want to do that?  Wouldn’t your first reaction be to make sure communications were all intact and operational?  Unless of course, their definition of an emergency is something other than say extreme weather,floods or things of that kind.

In what kind of emergency situation would it benefit the public to have all communications shut down?  I can’t even think of one.

If I were the government I could see where it could be really handy especially in light of the steady growing unrest across the country. Of course their phones, computers and broadcast systems would all be working just fine as their communications systems are independent of the system the public uses.

We have long since passed the point where we can trust government on any level.  This impending communications shut down is only a test run for something far more serious.  This is not about public safety, emergency response or any of the other fluff and hype put out to try and explain why the government would engage in such a test.  In my opinion, this is merely a test run for a future event which could be catastrophic as far as the general public is concerned.

 Keep your eyes and ears open……. something is afoot here and it doesn’t look good for most of us.

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Did You Know Feds Will Temporarily Cut Off All TV and Radio Broadcasts on Nov. 9?

If you have ever wondered about thegovernment’s ability to control the civilian airwaves, you will have your answer on November 9th.

On that day, federal authorities are going to shut off all television and radio communications simultaneously at 2:00PM EST to complete the first ever test of thenational Emergency Alert System (EAS).

This isn’t a wildconspiracy theory. The upcoming test is posted on the Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau website.

Only the President has the authority to activate EAS at the national level, and he has delegated that authority to the Director of FEMA.  The test will be conducted jointly by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) through  FEMA, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) National Weather Service (NWS).

In essence, the authority to seize control of all television and civilian communication has been asserted by the executive branch and handed to a government agency.

The EAS has been around since 1994. Its precursor, the Emergency Broadcast System (EBS), started back in 1963.  Television and radio broadcasters, satellite radio and satellite television providers,  cable television and wireline video providers are all involved in the system.

So this begs the question: is the first ever national EAS test really a big deal?

Probably not. At least, not yet.

But there are some troubling factors all coming together right now that could conceivably trigger a real usage of the EAS system in the not too distant future.  A European financial collapse could bring down U.S. markets. What is now the “Occupy” movement could lead to widespread civil unrest. And there are ominous signs that radicalgroups such as Anonymous will attempt something major on November 5th- Guy Fawke’s day.

Now we know in the event of a major crisis, the American people will be told with one voice, at the same time, about an emergency.

All thats left to determine is who will have control of the EAS when that day comes, and what their message will be.

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Feds Order YouTube To Remove Video For Containing “Government Criticism” ...

The number of takedown orders received by Google from authorities based in the United States rose dramatically over the past year, with demands to remove information, includingvideos containing “government criticism,” increasing by 70 per cent.

“In the US, Google received 757 takedown requests across its sites and services, up 70 per cent from the second half of last year,” reports technology website V3.co.uk.

“US authorities also called for the removal of 113 videos from YouTube, including several documenting alleged police brutality which Google refused to take down.”

The figures are revealed in Google’s newly released transparency report, which also details how the number of “user data requests” by US authorities increased by 29 per cent compared to the last reporting period.

The reason listed for the removal of a You Tube video in one instance is “government criticism”. The exact identity or content of the video is not divulged. The report states that the removal requests pertaining to “police brutality” were done on the grounds of “defamation” and are included in that separate category, meaning the takedown order on the grounds of “government criticism” was made by the “executive,” ie the federal government.

The report does not indicate whether or not You Tube complied with the removal request, but it did comply with 63 per cent of the total requests made.

The number of “Items requested to be removed” by US authorities was almost seven-fold the number requested to be removed by Chinese authorities, a country much maligned for its Internet censorshippolicies.

As we have previously documented, Google-owned You Tube has complied with thousands of requests worldwide to remove political protest videos that are clearly not in violation of any copyright or national security interests and do not constitute defamation.

One such example was You Tube’s compliance with a request from the British government to censor footage of the British Constitution Group’s Lawful Rebellion protest, during which they attempted to civilly arrest Judge Michael Peake at Birkenhead county court.

When viewers in the UK attempted to watch videos of the protest, they were met with the message, “This content is not available in your country due to a government removal request.”

Indeed, the latest figures show that takedown requests on behalf of British authorities have also skyrocketed by 71 per cent, including 44 removal orders in the first half of this year which came directly from the UK government, one of which was the Birkenhead protest footage.

In Britain, a total of 135 videos were removed from You Tube on the grounds of “national security” and 43 web search results were also blacklisted by government decree.

These figures illustrate how governments, particularly the United States and Britain, are getting more aggressive in pushing for web censorship as the state increasingly tries to strangle the last bastion of true free speech, the Internet, as authorities simultaneously try to advance draconian cybersecurity measures that would hand them complete control over the world wide web.

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