UK Technology Feature Archive
DSEi: In Solidarity With Anti-WTO Protests in Cancun
11-09-2003 14:20
Thousands of protesters, peasant and farmers organization, workers, environmentalists, trade unionists and many other groups opposing the World Trade Organization, corporate globalisation and militarism from around the world and Latin America are converging in Cancun, Mexico this week, the location for this weeks WTO meeting.
On Wednesday, Korean farmer Kyong Lee took his life in protest against WTO policy, while demonstrators tore down the fence surrounding the summit but refused to enter the summit grounds. The Mexican president Vicente Fox had ordered a police-led campaign of misinformation and barricades (Report) and prevented a teach-in organized by the International Forum on Globalization. Police repression is high. At least 8 protesters have been seriously injured during the Thursday march. Many other protesters throughout the week have been injured, threatened with deportation, banned from Cancun and refused entry to the country.
Breaking news:
Saturday report
Radio report
Starhawk
Photos [1][2]
A timeline of up-to-date events as well as ¡Radio Hurakán! (Mirrors 1 2 3) are also available.
Background: UK IMC article
September 11th - DSEi Weapons Dealers' Dinner
11-09-2003 13:27
The official week of events (6th-12th sept) against DSEi, Europe's largest arms fair had seen counter-conferences, vigils, film screenings, protests, direct action, and blockades all taking place - see the DSEi 2003 Special Section). Sept 11th was the penultimate day of the arms fair:
Trafalgar Square became Red Square, as anti-arms trade campaigners filled its famous fountain with fake blood. See Photos and Report and Report Two,
Sept 11th was also the auspicious date chosen for the DSEi / DMA Gala Dinner at the Royal Lancaster Hotel in central London. Arms dealers dined in luxury while around the world the dead were remembered (see Guardian article).
Anti-Arms protestors and peace activists showed their disgust outside the hotel throughout the evening with a noise demonstration. Diners arriving were greeted with shouts of "How many children have you killed today?", while the surrounding streets were repeatedly blocked by cyclists and drummers. Hundreds of police, some in riot gear sealed the area off and were overly aggressive, injuring at least one person who needed hospitalisation (see witness appeal).
There was strong support from passers by, while at least one person infiltrated the hotel dressed in a ball dress. Free food was given out as people stayed late into the night making as much noise as possible, banging pots and pans.
After holding their arms fair gala dinner on September 11th, the world's arms industry left the Lancaster Hotel under heavy police guard. They were able to leave the area via Lancaster Gate Tube Station, which, closed to members of the public, was commandeered for arms dealer only transport.
See Full Timeline
Reports: 1, 2
Pictures: 1, 2, 3, 4
Audio: Samba soundscape from arms gala dinner, Meeting the DSEi dealers
Video: 3 short clips, video 2
Recent mainstream articles: 1,2, roundup
Second Day of Action: Arms?- No Way! Shut down DSEi!
10-09-2003 10:02
"Whose streets? Our streets!"
Early in the morning the Dockland Light Railway (DLR) was stopped in the first of several actions (see reports: [1] [2] and pics: [1] [2] [3]) with activists D-locking themselves onto the train at various stations or climbing onto the roof (see video). This disrupted the DLR for much of the day. Also on the DLR, activists engaged in "train theatre" posing as arms dealers (report and pics). On their way to the Excel centre they announced they had arms for sale two opened their cases revealing various sets of arms (prosthetic and dolls arms) they had to sell.
At Custom House DLR (pic others went to a "Meet the Delegates" action. From eight in the morning a Critical Mass left from the City of London to the Docklands (pics: [1] [2] and video. On their way to the Excel around a hundred cyclists blocked traffic while comedian Mark Thomas entertained the crowds. Just after nine the Palestine support group, International Solidarity movement (ISM) visited the Israeli arms company Rafael in an attempted office occupation, later unfurling banners outside.
At eleven o'clock the two meeting points of "Storm the Death Fair" at Connaught Bridge underpass and "Blockade the Death Fair" at Canning Town roundabout allowed affinity groups to converge to form mobile groups forming and splitting as they engaged in their various actions. At Canning Town the group was prevented from moving by police but soon shoved their way through and moved off down Silvertown and along Victoria Dock road.
At Connaught Bridge a car partially blocked the ExCel approach road in a D-lock action (pics) while groups moved in a variety of directions, many up to Connaught roundabout and some down to the underpass (pics: [1] [2] [3]), blockading the traffic for several hours. Groups remained mobile; some pushing through police lines as other roads nearby were temporarily occupied or blockaded.
As pink and silver Samba drummed their way along Victoria Dock rd (pics), blocking the road with crash barriers, clashes occurred as police pushed the crowd against the railings of a recreation park. Samba managed to move off up Freemasons Road joined by Sheffield samba band and preceded to block the A13 main road (pics). There were scuffles and arrests as police chased the crowd in different directions.
Meanwhile at the ExCel centre six activists infiltrated DSEi, occupying two tanks, daubing them in ‘Stop Death’ banners and locking on, before being removed by security (see press release, pics and video). Some delegates are forced to walk to DSEi due to the disruption caused by the protests (see delegate video).
At 4pm the Reclaim the Streets party mobilised many of the roaming affinity groups at Rathbone Market where a crowd of around 300 took to the streets soon meeting up with a critical mass bicycle group complete with sound system. On the A13 the crowd was eventually blocked in by police (video), later being forced into a park (video), which police had cleared with mounted riot police (video). They were slowly released in small groups after being photographed (reports: [1] [2] [3]).
Meanwhile next to Canning Town DLR a second RTS group occupied the roundabout, as the DLR was again stopped, banners hung on top of the flyover ("Disarm DSEi"), arms delegate buses blockaded and riot police deployed. With another samba group playing, there were more arrests and scuffles as police cleared the roads, later blocking in two main groups of protestors for several hours as people tried to push through police lines (pics: [1] [2] [3]).
The day had seen a high level of disruption around the arms fair, especially given the relatively small numbers of protestors, while police continued using stop and search powers under Section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000 (reports: [1] [2] [3] pics: [1], [2]). There were many arrests, some targeted, some quite violently, throughout the day.
See Full Timeline.
Links:
Reports: [1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25,26,27]
Pictures: [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7,8, 9, 10, 11,12, 13, 14, 15,16, 17, 18, 19,20, 21,22,23, 24, 25, 26]
Audio,
Video:[quicktime,wmv:1, 2,3,4,5, mpeg]
Miscellaneous: Pensioner protest, Corporate media: [1 ,2] Call for evidence of legal support [1,2,3]
Arrests update: 10th, 11th.
Reports from corporate press: [1] [2] [3]
Summer Source Camp in Croatia
07-09-2003 11:45
August 29th the socalled "Summer Source Camp", a hacker and activist meeting began on an island in the adriatic ocean, 3 hours away from the croatic coast below palm trees. The camp, which was situated on a former military site of the yugoslavian army, was organised by the Tactical Technology Collective, Amsterdam and the Media Institute, Zagreb (short MAMA, www.mi2.hr). Spirit and purpose of the whole thing should be to bring together developers of free software-solutions with users from the NGO-world, to encourage further education and to animate a mutual dialogue.
Netwide Protests against EU Software Patents Bring Temporary Victory
29-08-2003 03:33
Photos: [1] [2] [3] [4]
Audio: Richard Stallman of GNU project speaks on software patents in Cambridge UK [mp3][ogg][text]
Text: [1][2][3]
Busy Busy Busy...Road Resistance at Bilston Glen, Midlothian
28-08-2003 23:00
We are expecting eviction this winter/autumn!
Inhabitants of Narmada Valley Fighting for Proper Rehabilitation
23-08-2003 18:42
The Sardar Sarovar Dam on the lower Narmada River is just one of 30 projected large dams of India`s Narmada mega-dam project, an area prone to earthquakes. In May 2003, three Indian federal states had given clearance to increase the height of the dam to 100 meters, which caused the submergence of several villages and devastation of standing crops, after monsoon rains started at the end of July. The clearance was given inspite of a legally binding Supreme Court Order and the Narmada Water Dispute Tribunal Award, which had stipulated the previous resettlement of all project-affected persons. But at least 13 500 families suffering from the present monsoon floods are still waiting to be resettled. So far they haven’t been granted any compensation for the destruction of their property. The inhabitants of Chimalkhedi village in Maharashtra resisted Police Forces, who attacked and forcefully evicted them, arresting 74 plus 40 temporarily. 20 houses of this hamlet were also demolished.
Gillette Pulls RFID Trial - Campaign Continues
19-08-2003 08:34
Recent trials involving attaching these tags to products have raised concerns about privacy, as information on the tag could be read long after the product was purchased. Tesco is also testing RFID tags in its DVD range at the Extra store in Sandhurst, Berkshire, in a trial that has received funding from the Home Office, while Asda has just completed a similar trial in Nottingham, there are reports that Marks & Spencer plans to include smart tags in clothes from this autumn. RFID tags continue to work indefinitely and so could also be used to track people's movements. Millions are being pumped into research and while much of it focuses on supply chain and just-in-time delivery tracking, there are increasing plans to use the tags in consumer goods as well as items like travel cards and even currency.
While campaigns are showing some success (in March, Benetton was also forced to announce it was not about to insert 15m RFID tags into its Sisley clothing range after an avalanche of consumer complaints), there are darker clouds on the horizon. The proposed EU Intellectual Property Enforcement Directive (see FIPR analysis) would specifically forbid Europeans from removing or deactivating Radio Frequency (RFID) tags embedded in clothing and other consumer devices! Recently 47 organisations have joined forces to launch the Campaign for an Open Digital Environment (CODE), which aims to fight the worst parts of the directive. The directive will also give intellectual property holders (ie companies) broad subpoena powers to obtain personal information about any EU citizen allegedly connected to an infringement of IP.
Tesco and smart chip technology
12-08-2003 14:01
Raisethefist.com webmaster sentenced to one year in jail
06-08-2003 23:02
The shut down of Raise The Fist website was first reported on LA Indymedia and San Fransisco Indymedia when the heavily armed FBI raided the home of the webmaster in February 2002.
Now, on August 4th 2003, the court ruled one year in prison, exceeding everybodys expectation. Sherman took a plea bargain because he feared his case was eligible for a terrorism enhancement, which could have added 20 years to his sentence. The plea deal had called for him to serve four months. more info.
An Audio report is available on Radio4all.
Free Software Matters
20-07-2003 23:00
Sheffield Indymedia is screening Revolution OS at The Showroom Cinema on Saturday 26 July at 4.00pm. It's a film about the anti-microsoft rebellion, the Free software movement and GNU/Linux, the Free alternative to Windows.
Read on for some more information about the Free software movement and why it matters and for some news from the Sheffield Linux community.
GM Debate? The People Speak
19-07-2003 19:39
During the last six weeks, unknown to most people, there have been a series of public debates up and down the country about whether the government should allow the commericalisation of GM crops in the UK. The deadline for public input is now over - did you have your say?
In an exclusive film made for Indymedia, people from all over the country reveal that the public consultation was a poorly advertised, ill concieved and miss-managed farce that failed to engage ordinary people. The film also demonstrates that much of the public believe that the decision has already been made to push ahead with GM (regardless of the will of the people) and that the government is an undemocratic tool of U.S. interests and big business.
Sheffield Indymedia Radio On Air (Webcast too)
15-07-2003 09:18
Sheffield Indymedia Radio presented its second show on Tuesday 15th July between 7pm and 8pm BST.Solway's Silver Bullet
08-07-2003 13:44
The Gulf War started a long time before we saw it on outr t.v.'s. Depleted Uranium contamination shows the contempt the British State has for the people of Scotland - and the time for opposition is now.
"Unborn children of the region are being asked to pay the highest price, the integrity of their DNA."
Ross B. Mirkarimi1
A new kind of nuclear war is being waged. It's already being fought in Scotland and the combatants are you and me. Our attackers are the Ministry of Defence, a force which has already poisoned its own soldiers and threatened the health of the civilian populations of the former Yugoslavia, Kuwait and Iraq.
Dawn raid on GM research station
29-06-2003 15:32
Syngenta had government consent to plant upto 35 by 20 metres of genetical modified wheat. In a press release, protesters claimed that if allowed to pollenate, it would have spread GM material into the surrounding countryside...
For Photos [updated]Click Here
For Video [latest edit]Click Here
Videoactivist training for Indymedia Scotland
09-03-2003 23:00
Indymedia Scotland hosted a three days event for video activists in Glasgow. The Camcorder Guerilla Weekend gave interested independent media makers a first taster of diy film-making with professional guidance, experiences and advice. Filmmakers from Undercurrents, I-Contact and Cultureshop mixed with community video workers and professional producers trained beginners and advanced camcorder activists in diy practical hands-on workshops, question and answer sessions, lessons by examining film-footage followed by a short introduction of the history of pictures and their composition.
The Camcorder Guerilla Weekend was also spiced with exceptional documentaries being shown for participants and public in the Glasgow Film Theatre and the Glasgow Media Access Centre.
[ report | report and video of red crew | Link to video of blue crew, realplayer format | Link to video of blue crew, windows mediaplayer format | Link to videos 2+3 | Camcorder Guerilla Weekend program]
WSIS Preparatory Conference Opened in Geneva
19-02-2003 23:00
On Monday 17 February, President of Prepcom Adama Samassekou opened the second preparatory conference for the WSIS - Prepcom 2. The aim of the conference, according to Samassekou, is to achieve a better understanding about content and themes of the summit. During the coming two weeks, the final declaration of the WSIS as well as the action plan will be drafted. The World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) will be the first UN summit to focus on issues of information and communication. The first part of the summit will take place in Geneva in December 2003.
Several fundamental lines of conflict already became apparent during the opening event; for example between those who propagate technology as a solution of all problems, and those who would like to extend the summit agenda to cultural and fundamental communicative issues. Diverse groups and organisations of civil society are participating in the summit preparations and will use the Prepcom to create networks, develop their own ideas, and influence the agenda in a positive way. At the same time a counter-summit is being discussed and campaigns around WSIS are already being developed.
The Camcorder Guerilla Weekend
09-02-2003 23:00
Camcorder Guerillas’ WeekendMARCH 7-9 – GLASGOW INDYMEDIA SCOTLAND is organising a weekend event for Scotland ’ s “camcorder guerillas ” , bringing together radical underground film – makers with activists who want to know more about how the alternative media works and how Indymedia and political film – makers can be of use in political campaigning.
Print out the descriptions of the weekend:
[short description | long description | timetable | link to all pdf]
Hunterston to be closed...
25-11-2002 23:00
Hunterston nuclear power station in Ayrshire may be closed in a bid to cut costs and save skint nuclear operators British Energy from going bust. This news comes in about one and a half weeks later after a report that 20 workers at the Dounreay nuclear plant in Caithness were contaminated with radioactive particles.
[full story | Background information about nuclear power]
Nuclear waste not welcome in the Wendland
14-11-2001 23:00
NUCLEAR WASTE TRANSPORT, GERMANY 10-14 Nov 2001Thousands of farmers, local residents, environmental activists etc. blockaded roads and railtracks in the Wendland region, Northern Germany, as another shipment of nuclear waste was transported from La Hague to the repository at Gorleben. Police carried out violent attacks on protesters to force the transport through against heavy resistance. The trucks carrying the 'Castor' containers ('cask for storage and transportation of radioactive waste') finally arrived in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
For several days, the whole region saw a multitude of actions, including tractor blockades on railtracks and roads leading to the deposit, sit-down protests, vigils, spontaneous demonstrations, tree climbing actions etc.
Read more | Photo
Reports: Sunday night
To find out more about the previous Castor transport check our archives
The whole story is (in German) on IMC Germany.