The Party of Open: Open Government, Open Culture, Open Innovation & People First
September 15, 2019
The use of facial and biometric recognition tech is out of control, but we have an opportunity to stop Massachusetts state and local governments from using it. We need your help to get the legislature to pass S.1385 & H.1538 which would ban governmental use of "at a distance" biometric tracking technology.
You can help by:
testifying at the upcoming committee hearing for these bills in person or in writing. Start writing your tes...
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August 12, 2019
Thankfully, we haven't seen any advance in the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019 (CASE Act) since the Senate Judiciary Committee voted it out of committee. The House version is still being considered by the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet. This bill would create within the Copyright Office a Copyright Claims Board which would have the ability to hear claims of copyright infringement and award damages up to $30,000.
B...
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July 26, 2019
On July 18th, the Senate Judiciary Committee marked up and voted out of committee the Copyright Alternative in Small-Claims Enforcement Act of 2019 (CASE Act). This bill would create within the Copyright Office a Copyright Claims Board which would have the ability to hear claims of copyright infringement and award damages up to $30,000.
This law is supposed to be an easier way for photographers and other artists to gain recompense when they claim their copyrights were infringed. However, ...
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July 10, 2019
From Chris Faraone and Jason Pramas of Dig Boston/Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism:
There is a second hearing on the journalism commission bill this Wednesday, July 10 at 2pm at the State House in Hearing Room B1, and we encourage readers as well as media makers of all types to attend and/or testify themselves. You can also submit remotely (info below). The bill is An Act Establishing a Commission to Study Journalism in Underserved Communities (S.80/H.181, https://malegisl...
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July 1, 2019
The next Mass. Mesh Net weekly tech meetup is this Tuesday, 7-9pm. It will be at Industry Lab, 288 Norfolk St, Cambridge. Enter via the entrance in the back. Call 617-642-7513 to be let in since Industry Lab locks the door at night. You can find them at https://massmesh.org/ including instructions for how to setup a mesh router. They have four different off the shelf types you can purchase and setup at their wiki.
June 28, 2019
Yesterday, in an 11-0 vote, the Somerville City Council voted to ban the city from using facial recognition technology. It is the second city to do so, after San Francisco, and the first city outside of California. Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone, who has stated he supports it, is expected to sign it.
👤Somerville’s #FacialRecognitionBan PASSES unanimously!👤
Thank you to everyone who has worked to hard to bring us to this moment ✊️ https://t.co/afVbJDZtIB— Ben Ewen-Campen (@BenForWard3) June...
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June 25, 2019
This Wednesday, June 26, the Somerville Crytoparty will talk about how to setup and use a 2FA token device, such as Yubikey. It will be at The Sprouts, 339R Summer Street, Somerville and starts at 6pm. It generally ends between 8 and 9pm.
The Sprouts is in the garage in the back at the end of the driveway and is a short walk from the Davis and Porter Sq. MBTA Red Line stops.
If you want to help with future cryptoparties or just ask questions about how you can protect your privacy, join t...
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June 11, 2019
The Smedley Butler Brigade, Veterans for Peace, Boston and its allies are standing out on June 11 from 5 to 6 PM in Harvard Square, calling for freedom for heroic Wikileaks whistler-blower Chelsea Manning and for WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange not to be extradited to the US.
Chelsea Manning, released when the grand jury that had demanded her testimony was closed, was called before another grand jury and jailed for refusing to participate with it. The US Government has entered more ...
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