UK Technology Feature Archive
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Indymedia UK Facing Legal Censorship… again!
06-10-2007 07:25
Indymedia UK has been issued with a takedown notice [10th of September & 21st of September] from lawyers acting for Alisher Usmanov. The notice served to Indymedia charged Indymedia with publishing allegedly libellous accusations about Usmanov, one of the richest men in Russia, recently linked to a possible hostile takeover of Arsenal FC.
The author of the posting, Craig Murray, is a former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan and claims to have inside knowledge of the businessman’s allegedly illegal dealings. Murray was sacked by the UK government for exposing the Uzbek government’s use of torture to attain ‘intelligence’ information, and for exposing and criticising UK-US support for a vicious dictator in pursuit of resources.
Murray’s allegations are that Usmanov “is a criminal”, “a gangster and racketeer”. Allegations of criminality seem partly to have been inferred from his connections to “Uzbek mafia boss and major international heroin overlord Gafur Rakimov”. However, Murray also suggested that Usmanov has a criminal past, having been charged with “various offences” in the Soviet Union.
Usmanov’s lawyers minded Murray that Usmanov was pardoned, and all charges against him were removed from police records. However, in response to what seems an inaccurate statement from Usmanov’s lawyers, Murray alleged that "Usmanov is a criminal. He was in no sense a political prisoner, but a gangster and racketeer who rightly did six years in jail. The lawyers cunningly evoke 'Gorbachev', a name respected in the West, to make us think that justice prevailed. That is completely untrue". Furthermore, Murray implies that the pardon was spurious because the real source was the Dictator of Uzbekistan, Islom Karimov.
Karimov himself is an unsavoury character. On completing his investigation into allegations of torture in Karimov’s Uzbekistan, the United Nations Special Rapporteur noted that the use of torture was ‘pervasive and persistent’. He also reported that he had ‘no doubt that the system of torture is condoned, if not encouraged, at the level of the heads of the places of detention where it takes place or of the chief investigators’
Though evidence to support Murray’s allegations has not yet been presented directly to Indymedia UK (but has been collected in his book "Murder in Samarkand"), the Daily Mail informs us that, ‘[r]eports years ago claimed Britain's National Criminal Intelligence Service was monitoring him for alleged links — never proven — to suspected mafia figures.' More recently, the allegations have been repeated by Tom Wise MEP in the European Parliament
Indymedia UK is now waiting for Usmanov’s lawyers to confirm exactly what information posted on the web site is defamatory, and it looks like they have resolved to remove any defamatory material. Indymedia, as with other small non-commercial media groups, has very limited options available to them due to the UK’s archaic and elitist libel laws.
Indymedia hopes, however, to avoid the forms of complete censorship that other web hosts have pursued.
For further information on this case, see Bloggerheads | Chicken Yoghurt | Moscow Times.
For further information on Murray’s research on UK-US (at least tacit) support for terrorism in Uzbekistan, see
Legality, Morality and the War on Terror: [ video | audio | report ].
No to Torture - former British ambassador to Uzbekistan speaks out against UK/US torture collaboration [ audio 1 | audio 2 | report ]
DIY V3 Wind Turbine Workshop
04-09-2007 10:26
V3 Power build small wind turbines and run courses teaching people how to make their own turbines. They put a couple up at various events, to inspire folks to get involved with such alternatives. The turbines they build are 'axial flux' turbines with a 2.4 metre blade in diameter and typically sit on top of a 10 metre guyed mast. They are mostly made from recycled materials
By running courses where people can learn how to build, install and maintain their own turbine they offer people and communities the chance to release themselves from reliance on the national grid while making a real difference to the climate change problem. So, get involved.
Pictures: Wind Turbine Workshop [ 1 ] | [ 2 ] |
Wind Turbines: Practical uses in Nottingham Area [ 1 ] | [ 2 ] | [ 3 ] |
Spring into Action :: Build your own wind turbine workshop | Sounds on the Downs - Wind Turbine Set-up
Links: V3 Power | Hugh Piggott - Scoraig Wind | Construction of Permanent magnet generator' (PMG). [pdf] | Wind rotor blade construction [pdf] | Small Wind Systems for Battery Charging [pdf] | Fieldlines: Wind 'Expert'discussion board [lodsa help here] | British Wind Energy Association | Wind power - Wikipedia | Centre for Alternative Technology | Engineers Without Borders [International NGO for engineering students] |
Slide Show Videos:V3 Wind Turbines + others [2:20mins mpg 6.2Mb] | Green's Windmill, Sneinton [3:02mins mpg 10.1Mb]
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Ready to remove a blight on our landscape?
16-04-2007 09:01
This month a controversial experimental genetically modified potato crop is due to be planted in the UK by the German chemical giant BASF (offshoot of the infamous AG Farben). DEFRA initially gave approval in December for BASF to undertake trials at two sites, one in Cambridgeshire (at the National Institute of Agriculture and Botany) and the other initially in Derbyshire - until the farmer pulled out.
The trials are the first GM crops to enter British soil in nearly 3 years, after public opposition forced a u-turn in government and corporate plans for patented crops. Although presented as an R&D trial into the effectiveness of an anti blight gene, they are widely considered to be trial of public opinion.
On 14th April in Cambridge a protest walk took place [photos 1, 2]. This was followed on the 21st by a rally in Hull. This event ended with the proposed trial being effectively sabotaged even before it had began when over a hundred people entered the site and planted several varieties of seed potatoes in the field making it impossible for a scientifically valid trial to take place there.
LINKS:
Cambridge 1 | 2 | 3 | grid reference
Hull 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | pics
Background GM - Back on the agenda? | Sabotage promised | New GM crop trials | London info night (Tues 17th)
Campaign sites mutatoes.org | hedonagainstgm.org.uk | Cambridge GM concern | myspace.com/gmfreepotatoes
GM Potatoes - Blessing or Blight?
11-04-2007 22:03
On Monday 2 April, Cambridge GM Concern organized a public meeting regarding the forthcoming NIAB/BASF trial of GM potatoes in the Cambridge area. Some fifty people turned up for the event, which featured three speakers, who had travelled up from London for the occasion: Michael Antoniou is a Reader in Molecular Genetics at Guy's Hospital Medical School, Helena Paul is the chair of GM Freeze, and Clare Oxborrow is from the Real Food Campaign organized by Friends of the Earth.
Meanwhile campaigners concerned about similar trials in Yorkshire are having a demo on the 21st of April and have set up the mutatoes website and a myspace page.
'i' the film - screening tour
09-10-2006 22:14
- Tue Oct 10 - London - RampART - 15-17 Rampart St (starts 8pm)
- Wed Oct 11 - Brighton - The Cowley Club - 12 London Road
- Thu Oct 12 - Nottingham - The Sumac Centre - 245 Gladstone Street, 7.30pm (read article | report and audio from screening)
- Sat Oct 14 - Glasgow - Document 4 Intl. Human Rights Film Festival
- Sun Oct 15 - Edinburgh - Quaker Meeting House, Victoria Terrace, 7pm
- Mon Oct 16 - Edinburgh - Forest Café, 3 Bristo Place, 7.30 pm
Indymedia at the Camp for Climate Action 2006: Report & Personal View
05-10-2006 15:24
During the Climate Camp, the field IMC media centre was open for a minimum of five hours each day (two and a half each morning and evening), with these limited opening hours primarily aimed to conserve power. Some days it was open longer, and it ran fully all day for two days until about midnight during the main day of action.
Mostly the IMC ran on bio-diesel, but there was also a renewables power feed and some battery capacity. Twelve P1 laptops running via an LTSP server from Bristol Wireless provided the core public access, plus varying at different times up to five more modern laptops were running.
Two tents provided the main structures, one for the main IMC / Public Access Point and one more as storage and kitchen. Chairs came from a social centre in Manchester, and table tops were donated by TRIM timber recycling of Manchester. Six tables were set up balanced on top of hay bales (looking very rustic) while another 6 table tops had very sturdy legs masterfully constructed from scrap timber. The satellite dish providing connectivity from Psand was similarly balanced on top of four hay bales, but was in fact rock solid once ratcheted down - again a nice mix of rustic charm with hi tech.
Around 145 pictures were published direct from the field IMC, including two mobile phone pics (non-automated). Dispatch had over 50 phone reports on the main day of action. Several audio interviews and video clips were published. One freelance videographer was arrested and had their footage seized by cops. There was lots of good filming going on, and on the Friday night, over one hour of rushes were screened in two different tents to an appreciative audience! Several different sections of these are now fully published in IMC-UK's Climate Camp page. A big well done to all involved in setting up, running, participating and taking down the centre!
Click at the 'Full Article" link above for a personal account, photos, and additions to this article.
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Student fingerprinting - not so VeriCool
28-08-2006 21:42
While the national ID card scheme has been watered down a little, moves continue to increase tracking of us by using biometrics. One unexpected front where this dystopia is already rearing its ugly head is in our schools. Several companies, with VeriCool the current front runner, are aggressively marketing fingerprinting solutions – solutions to what is not exactly clear as we'll see – to primary and secondary schools, as well as libraries. Let us start by looking at one particular case, Impington Village College (IVC) on the outskirts of Cambridge.
Read on for the full story.
Links: LeaveThemKidsAlone | VeriCool | Indymedia article | BBC news article | BBC action network article | TES online article | Gummy finger article
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UK Identity Card scheme - really finished? Let's make sure.
25-07-2006 13:36
Labour's ID scheme is supposedly on the rocks, but let’s not be overly comforted by this news. There are good reasons to continue to build up the pressure. In particular, passport developments in the UK Identity and Passport Service (IPS) and the European Union could result in alternative identity databases, and since the Act is on the statute books, compulsory ID could start at any future date.
From emails leaked to the Sunday Times on July 9th, a senior Whitehall official has said the multi-billion pound scheme for compulsory ID cards and the National Identity Register (NIR) could take years to introduce and is likely to end in failure, and officials responsible for ID in the crisis-ridden Home Office are preparing for the project to be 'canned completely'. We can rejoice that a damning assessment from those closest to the plan should help to undermine Labour’s attempts to win support for ID cards. But let’s not be overly comforted by this news.
Links: Nottingham Defy-ID | Defy-ID | No2ID
The Revolution in Internet TV
10-07-2006 15:48
OfflineTV is innovative because it brings together a number of tried and tested technologies (P2P, RSS, broadband) to make a really user-friendly internet TV interface. It has the capacity to scale from hundreds to thousands and hundreds of thousands viewers in full-screen quality. The other crucial thing is the content: the best of politically radical underground video on direct action, social justice, and the environment. This version is now beta-testing.
Two channels are already up and running :
OfflineTV – a quality-controlled screening of the best of what’s out there in radical cyberspace.
News from the Balkans - the first regional network of what will hopefully be many similar networks around the world. NfB gives a radical voice to this region which is so mis-reported by the corporate media. This project is being launched out of the video workshops in the EYFA Art and Activism caravan, but we hope to create a permanent network of radical film makers posting regular reports.
To watch these channels, download Democracy Player
Then search for Undercurrents inside Democracy Player and subscribe to each channel.
And calling all video activists: if you’ve got a funky report about anything anywhere, post it to the Scratch Channel
Indymedia Needs You
23-03-2006 16:59
Indymedia always needs more volunteers and at the moment the IMC UK network in particular is seeking more tech help so that it can be more active in the development of the content management program used by many IMC sites. It is really important to increase the developer pool since many proposals made for improving the site are stalling at the tech bottleneck.
If you think you could help please get in touch with your local collective or email imc-uk-tech. You could also mention this to anyone else you think might be able to help.
If you'd like to develop your own tech skills, you might be interested in the various Hacklab projects around the country which host regular training and workshops. The rampART lab for example provides a useful venue for anyone wanting to become more involved in indymedia.
On Saturday 25th the London Hacklabs Collective is putting on a benefit event to help cover the cost of the broadband both at the rampART and Freedom Book Shop. You can find more details about the event from the rampART or the Hacklabs website. The event will be a workshop about IMC tech and various IMC projects.
Related Articles : IMC Needs You, Bad time for indymedia servers, rampART hacklab report, evolution and changes to IMC UK.
Outside Links : London Hacklabs Collective, Aktivix, Sheffield Hacklab, International Hacklabs.
Its anarchy on the streets
20-03-2006 15:46
As our society becomes ever more complex our ‘representatives’ in local and national government feel they have to make more laws and regulations and implement new controls on people’s behaviour to ensure the safety of the majority. If they did not then very soon chaos and disorder would reign right? Well, as we know in our hearts this is nonsense, it is not laws and regulations that make people care for each other, all it needs is for the removal of all the extraneous impediments to mutual aid. Here is very practical example.
low impact building technique
16-02-2006 12:38
Also, work has been done on another "eco-building" at ECOWORKS, a community garden project on the Hungerhill allotments in St. Ann's. Volunteers have been working on this exciting project since last October, and the walls up now! Straw bales are a low-impact, highly insulating and user-friendly building material. The construction process is highly inclusive, satisfying and fun.
Links: Previous reports: (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) | St. Anns Allotments Network | More info on strawbale building | A strawbale article | Article about Ecoworks
A boost for video activism
20-01-2006 06:21
In London during January there was a video activism gathering consisting of skill sharing workshops, presentations, discussions such as the role of cameras on demos (how video can be used to get protesters both nicked and set free), along with feedback from the G8 video indymedia experience. Modeled on similar national gatherings in previous years, this one was organised by and took place at the rampART social centre.
The event ended with a public screening with films from Real2Reel, Revolt Video, Camcorder Gorillas and many others. There was also a premiere of Cine Rebeldes 'Latitude 36' and two films made during the gathering 'Justice For Dad' & 'The Demo Demo'.
Related links:
- Lights, Camera, Direct Action - a PDF DIY guide
- Call for regular activist shorts
- IMC-UK Video Projects Page (out of date)
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Day of action as Tony Blair sets out new nuclear power policy in Nottingham
14-01-2006 09:30
Tony Blair set out new plans today for a nuclear power policy, as him and other cabinet ministers attended a Labour Party forum, at the East Midlands Conference Centre in Nottingham. The conference centre is based at Nottingham University, where students jumped into action after it was leaked to Nottinghamshire Indymedia that Tony Blair was to visit the Uni. A call out for a demonstration, meeting at 10am at the Portland Building (on Notts Uni campus) was supported by a number of local campaign groups including the Students Union, Nottingham Stop the War, Nottingham Student Peace Movement, Lenton Anarchist Forum and the arts activism collective the Mischief Makers.
Photos: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | photogallery
Read: report and timeline
From the newswire: Union pushes for urgent energy reform | Prime Minister visits Nottingham University :: Surveillance Operations | Prime Minister visits Nottingham University :: piccys 1 | Prime Minister visits Nottingham University :: piccys 2 | Pic's of Tony Blair visit in Nottingham | Blair hypocrisy over nukiller power | PM rallies for nuclear power in Nottingham | Blair to visit Nottingham Uni THIS Saturday
Background links: Greenpeace target climate changer Blair at Downing Street | Blair nuclear announcement scuppered | Meacher condemns pro-nuclear 'spin' | Blair Reignites Nuclear Debate - American lobbying adds to pressure | Blair must not back new nuclear power plants
World Summit On Information Society - Part II
15-11-2005 17:24
The choice of place for the second part of WSIS - Tunis - is more than hypocritical for a summit on information society: While Tunisia is catching up economically with the capitalist North, it is far from any information society if you are talking about the freedom of information (report). Furthermore - and different to 2003 - it seems almost impossible to express protest against this summit. Nevertheless some initiatives and organisations called for alternative meetings. Some Human Rights Groups take part in the "Citizens Summit on the Information Society (CSIS)". Others try to bring in their ideas within the WSIS itself.
Free access to knowledge for everybody is not the goal of WSIS, and the summit organizers' plan is to concentrate on governmental and corporate use of information and communication technologies. This approach fits the choice of place. Yet, the summit does not only give legitimacy to a repressive regime, its focus also ignores the social and technological situation in the Magrebh region. The majority of people in this part of the world do not have access to communication tools and the authoritarian regimes in the region are reliable allies to the european governments in supressing freedom of movement.
Update 16 November:It is reported that Tunesia is blocking unofficial websites related to the WSIS. People said that they could not access Websites as wsisblogs.org or the CSIS Website from hotels or other places outside the official media centre. ( study on Tunesian internet filtering ). Furthermore there were reports of repressiv actions by Tunesian authorities against groups claiming freedom of speech in the days before the conference started.
2005:'Tunisia and WSIS' dedicated page of the WSIS CS Human Rights Caucus| CSIS Website | IP Justice | from the region(fr):tunezine |nawaat | reveiltunisien | Wikipedia On WSIS | IFEX Tunisia Monitoring Group | Some Blogs: one | two | three | four | five (de) |
2003: Feature on the WSIS 2003 at Indymedia UK | World Forum on Communication Rights in Geneva 2003 | Some IMC UK articles on 2003:one | two | three | four | five
Terror profiling nets innocents
28-09-2005 12:00
Davids 'crime'? - wearing a rucksack along with an 'unseasonal' jacket and checking his phone messages while waiting for his train. Luckly for David the police refrained from following the shoot-to-kill policy that had resulted in the tragic death of Jean Charles De Menezes less than a week earlier. Instead, they closed Southwark tube station and cordoned off the whole area while the bomb squad checked his bag. Eventually, finding nothing but a laptop in his bag, the orginal officers appologised then arrested anyway. His home was searched and his computers confiscated. You could be next.
[ exclusive interview | Davids account 1,2 | profiling | bloggers unite ]
Indymedia Bristol Server Seized by Police
28-06-2005 08:56
On Monday, June 27th, Indymedia Bristol's server was seized by the police. An Indymedia volunteer was arrested during the raid on suspicion of incitement to criminal damage. He is now on bail. See Indymedia Bristol Statement (28th June 05):
"We are outraged at the actions of the police. They have completely disabled the entire Bristol Indymedia news service. By their actions they have undermined the principle of open publishing and free access to the media, thereby removing people's opportunity to read and report their own news. This situation has serious implications for anyone providing a news service on the Internet. We do not intend to let this stop us from continuing the project."
IMC Bristol statements [1 | 2] | Imc Bristol Solidarity Page | Full Feature | donate to imc uk | Autistici Server Surveillance | Mainstream Media Coverage
Alternative Servers Attacked: "Not a Private Question: A Question of Privacy"
27-06-2005 19:32
Italy-based non-profit community webserver autistici have found out that the authorities have copied the keys necessary for the decryption of their webmail a year ago [statement 1 | 2]. Since then, the authorities potentially had access to all the data on the disks. Autistici's provider did not inform them about this. Apparently, this is connected to the same investigation as the one that caused an international law enforcement operation in London last October: A few days before the European Social Forum, Indymedia servers in London were seized, prompting a wave of solidarity statements [report].
Big Brother is Watching
17-06-2005 21:33
series on TV the fiction rapidly moves towards reality. The UK already
has more CCTV cameras than any other country in the world. Your emails
can be read and the history of your websurfing analysed without a court
order by six government agencies and the Police. Your land line can be
tapped. Your mobile phone acts as a tracking device and vehicles can be
tracked across the country through number plate recognition software.
The Police now have the power to access your NHS records without having
to establish that a criminal act has taken place. The measures taken by
the UK government in the name of the "war on terror" have severly
damaged civil liberties and human rights.
The slide towards a Big Brother state accelerates further this week.
The G8 Justice and Interior Ministers meeting in Sheffield
discussed avenues for advancing the the so-called "war on terror",
national security and combating international crime and illegal
immigration, all of which are likely to have further negative impacts
on civil liberties. For the UK goverment part of this strategy is to
introduce a national identity scheme making it a legal requirement for
its citizens to carry ID cards.
Technopolis: Unraveling the Net of Technological Domination
04-06-2005 23:00
Technopolis will be at Buckingham Road off Headingley Lane, Leeds LS6 1BP (map)
Three days of learning, discussion and games to explore new technologies of control and our resistance to them.
Welcome to the Machine!
The machine is all around us, omnipresent and omniscient. It's the camera on the street corner, the chip in your debit card and the number allotted to your child at birth. The machine is without and within. It's in the way we have been trained and domesticated since birth to fit into a mechanical world dictated by capital and the tick, tick, tick of its clock.
Those who want to increase control and domination over our lives have invented increasingly pervasive technologies. From biotech to nanotech, through RFID, gait analysis and new 'non lethal' weapons to aid crowd control: they are all further attempts to quantify and standardise our lives.
We see these 'new technologies of control' as part of a wider project of a new wave of enclosure by capital.
We are calling this gathering in order to discuss and analyse the implications of these new technologies of control, alongside potential responses of resistance that do not merely fall into playing out stock responses, and fulfilling the role of 'loyal opposition'.
[click on "read more" for the gathering's topics and how to find out its location]