NEW DELHI (Reuters) - An elephant in eastern India has sparked complaints
from motorists who accuse it of blocking traffic and refusing to allow
vehicles to pass unless drivers give it food, a newspaper reported on
Monday.

The Hindustan Times said the elephant was scouting for food on a highway in
the eastern state of Orissa, forcing motorists to roll down their windows
and get out of the car.

"The tusker then inserts its trunk inside the vehicle and sniffs for food,"
local resident Prabodh Mohanty, who has come across the elephant twice, was
quoted as saying.

"If you are carrying vegetables and banana inside your vehicle, then it will
gulp them and allow you to go."

If a commuter does not wind down his window or resists opening the vehicle
door, the elephant stands in front of the car until the driver allows him to
carry out his routine inspection.

Forestry officials told the newspaper that the elephant is old and is
therefore looking for easy food.

"So far, it has not harmed anybody," said Sirish Mohanty, a forest ranger
working in the state.

"We are telling commuters regularly not to tease the elephant. But if people
don't heed to our advice and harass the tusker, then it can retaliate."

Elephants are a protected and endangered species in India, which has nearly
half of the world's 60,000 Asian elephants.

But conservationists say its population has fallen rapidly in recent years
because of loss of habitat as a result of human encroachment into forest areas.

Posted by mikki at 12:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Breaking DVD DRM is legal in Finland:


Cory Doctorow:

Herrko writes in with amazing news -- it's legal to break DVD DRM in Finland, because the law only protects "effective" DRM, and DVD DRM is so easy to crack that it no longer qualifies:

Our law firm's client was released as Finnish court today ruled that the charges must be dropped for the two defendants that had "organized discussion" of breaking a technical protection systems.

According to the court, CSS (the DRM on DVDs) no longer achieves its protection objective. The court relied on two expert witnesses and said that "since a Norwegian hacker succeeded in circumventing CSS protection used in DVDs in 1999, end-users have been able to get with ease tens of similar circumventing software from the Internet even free of charge. Some operating systems come with this kind of software pre-installed." Thus, the court concluded that "CSS protection can no longer be held "effective" as defined in law." All charges were dismissed.

Link

(Thanks, Herkko!)

Posted by mikki at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Transgender Methodist Minister Reappointed - News Story - WRC | Washington:


WASHINGTON -- A transgender United Methodist minister will be reappointed to lead his Baltimore congregation, church officials announced Thursday at a regional convocation.

The Rev. Drew Phoenix was greeted with applause after telling 1,600 members of the church's Baltimore-Washington conference that he had gone through "spiritual transformation" in the past year, since changing his name from Ann Gordon and receiving medical treatment to become a man.

"It is my intention and hope that by sharing my story that we commit ourselves as Christians and as United Methodists to become educated about the complexity of gender," Phoenix said. "Each of us is a beloved child of God -- no exceptions."

Phoenix, 48, has led St. John's United Methodist Church for nearly five years. Bishop John Schol said the church's 50-member congregation was fully supportive. Schol said no objections were raised during a closed-door meeting of the clergy earlier Thursday. The denomination bans actively gay clergy but does not have any rules about transgender pastors.

The conservative Institute on Religion and Democracy issued a statement Tuesday saying the group objects to any acceptance of sexual identity changes. Mark Tooley, director of the group's United Methodist project, said a change in gender identity conflicts with "God's order of creation."

Schol urged church members to pray for Phoenix. "This isn't an issue. This is a human being," Schol said. He encouraged ministers and church members attending the annual conference through Saturday to discuss the decisions of church leaders with their congregations. "Many people would say let's just sweep it under the carpet, but in this conference, we're a people of integrity," Schol said.

St. John's, a church that describes itself as diverse and inclusive, was about to close its doors when Phoenix arrived, and has more than tripled its membership since, Schol said.Although the denomination does not have a transgender policy, a minister from Baltimore quit the church after a sex change in 2002. Phoenix said he does not fear being forced from the church. But he said not everyone will agree with his service as a pastor. "What's most important to me is that we're creating conversation," Phoenix said.

Posted by mikki at 10:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pentagon Site Blocking Policy Raises Concerns:


The Defense Department's Decision to prevent soldiers in the field from using military computers to access several popular social networking and media Web sites raises serious concerns. Although one of the justifications offered for blocking the sites -- that they were eating up mission-critical bandwidth -- seems legitimate, the Defense "solution" to that challenge seems both overreaching and arbitrary. Social networking, photo and video sites have become a powerful means for soldiers in the field to communicate with their families, share their experiences of war and receive messages of hope and support from home. Moreover, the United States has an obligation to exemplify the values of freedom and openness it is seeking to defend globally. CDT urges the Defense Department to reexamine its decision and to seek a solution that maximizes soldiers' abilities to benefit from these tools, while still respecting the needs of security and readiness.

Posted by mikki at 09:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is almost funny:

I can't tell what's stupider or more boring: Microsoft's patent saber-rattling or AG Gonzales putting out an joke of a bill proposing a crime of "attempted piracy".

Microsoft is clearly conducting another of its FUD campaigns and the fact that they've gotten some name companies to go along just makes it more depressing. Don't get me wrong, I'm reasonably sure that there's a violation or twelve in open-source projects. With the state of software patents today you pretty much can't write any program without violating someone's patent on something. But as usual MSFT is blowing it out of proportion and making wild-ass claims in an attempt to scare people with real money into giving some of it - and the concurrent legitimacy - to Microsoft. This whole thing should go away, but probably won't. Considering how long and often Microsoft has been on the losing side of patent suits you'd think they'd have a little more sense about this.

I have no illusions that Gonzales has any sense, however. The man is so very clearly going down in flames over the firing scandal that anything he does now is at best a distraction. If you want to find the humor in this one, note that the draft bill requires that Homeland Security notify the RIAA. No other copyright holder - not even the MPAA - gets such special treatment. OK, pop quiz time: exactly who wrote this idiot thing? All the subtlety of a moose in snowshoes, really.

Posted by mikki at 05:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gonzales proposes criminalizing "attempted infringement":


Cory Doctorow:

Torturer-in-chief and selective amnesiac Alberto Gonzales has proposed a new copyright law that will increase the DMCA's penalties for circumvention and -- amazingly -- penalize attempted infringement.

The DMCA hasn't put a penny into an artist's pocket. It hasn't reduced copyright infringement. Of course, what America needs is more DMCA.

Criminalize "attempting" to infringe copyright. Federal law currently punishes not-for-profit copyright infringement with between 1 and 10 years in prison, but there has to be actual infringement that takes place. The IPPA would eliminate that requirement. (The Justice Department's summary of the legislation says: "It is a general tenet of the criminal law that those who attempt to commit a crime but do not complete it are as morally culpable as those who succeed in doing so.")

Link

(Thanks to everyone who suggested this story!)

Posted by mikki at 04:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microsoft RICO:

Microsoft claims that I (and possibly you, dear reader)
am violating 235 of its patents on Windows by running Ubuntu Linux:

After many earlier rounds of saber-rattling and FUD, Microsoft has
announced that Free Software users -- including everyone who, like me,
uses Ubuntu Linux -- are violating at least 235 of Microsoft's patents,
though they don't say which ones. Microsoft are now threatening end users
of GNU/Linux (that's you and me again) with lawsuits unless we pay them
protection money. "Nice operating system you got there, it'd be a shame
if something were to happen to it."

The Microsoft position is this: even if you don't use Windows, you still have to pay them as much money as they would have gotten for selling you a copy of it.

—Microsoft says GNU/Linux violates 235+ Windows patents, Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing, Monday, May 14, 2007

Microsoft did stop short of saying it would sue Linux users or its own customers:

If push comes to shove, would Microsoft sue its customers for royalties, the way the record industry has?

"That's not a bridge we've crossed," says CEO Ballmer, "and not a bridge I want to cross today on the phone with you."

— Microsoft takes on the free world, Microsoft claims that free software like Linux, which runs a big chunk of corporate America, violates 235 of its patents. It wants royalties from distributors and users. Users like you, maybe. Fortune's Roger Parloff reports. By Roger Parloff, Fortune senior editor FORTUNE Magazine, May 14 2007: 9:35 AM EDT

The "free world" allusion, casting Microsoft as Soviet Russia, is amusing. But the record industry reference seems even more appropriate. This reminds me of another recent Microsoft news item.

Microsoft and Best Buy have to stand trial under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO):

Last Friday, the 9th U.S. Circuit of Appeals reinstated a lawsuit against Microsoft and Best Buy which claims that the companies worked together to activate Microsoft's MSN Internet service and secretly bill customers for the product. According to the suit, Best Buy employees activated trial MSN accounts for customers who purchased products using credit cards but failed to notify them that the trials needed to be explicitly canceled to avoid charges after the trial period expired.

The two companies will be tried under violation of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO. Best Buy customers involved in the suit allege that Microsoft "invested $200 million in Best Buy and agreed to promote Best Buy’s online store through its MSN service." According to a Microsoft spokesperson, the company terminated the trial program at Best Buy in 2003 and offered refunds to those who felt they were deceived and incorrectly charged.

— Microsoft, Best Buy accused of racketeering, By Matt Mondok, Ars Technica, 7 May 2007

I am not a lawyer, but for some reason this brings to mind the radio payola scandals, in which disc jockeys were paid to play certain songs distributed by certain record companies.

Speaking of the recording industry, I wonder if the RIAA's motion to dismiss its own RICO suit will be accepted, or the case will moved along to a jury trial like the Microsoft one?

-jsq

Posted by mikki at 04:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm going through a period of changing my definitions of self. I have had several medical issues of late that will cause a lot of significant life changes. I have been trying to take all of this in, and process what these changes will mean in practical terms. So please bear with me and I will get back into the swing of things presently.

Posted by mikki at 11:17 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

BBC NEWS | South Asia | The Boeing 737 stuck in city road:


Residents of the Indian city of Mumbai (Bombay) are wondering how long it will take to remove a disused Boeing 737 that has been abandoned in a busy road.

The decommissioned aircraft was being driven through the city at the weekend when the driver got lost and then abandoned the plane.

The Boeing used to belong to the private company Air Sahara.

Some locals are angry that no action is being taken to move the plane. Others say it is a tourist attraction.

It appears that after taking a wrong turn, the driver found himself facing a flyover that was too low for him to take the plane under.

The driver has not been seen since and no-one is assuming responsibility for the 737.

Sunday surprise

Pradeep Malhotra - 'My work is suffering'

He woke up Sunday morning to find the aircraft on a giant trailer abandoned on the road.

"Saturday night I shut shop and go home and everything is fine," he told the BBC news website.

"Sunday morning when I get here, this aircraft is here near my restaurant!"

The fuselage of the decommissioned aircraft, with the engine, wings and tail removed, was being taken by road to the capital Delhi late on Saturday night.

Reports say it was supposed to be used at a flight training academy.


The plane has become the centre of attraction with people coming from all over the city to take a look.

"I've been fascinated with planes and never seen one so closely," engineering student Vamsi Shastri said. "It's huge!"

His friend Ankur Rane said, "It's fascinating to see an airplane on the roads when one is only used to seeing cars and auto rickshaws."

No joke

However, for Pradeep Malhotra, who runs a catering service in the area, the plane has become a huge problem because it is parked right in front of his shop.

"My work is suffering because the food cannot be loaded in the big vehicles," he said.

"I have to load it in the smaller vans and then carry them to the bigger ones parked at the back.

"I don't know how they are going to take it out because you can't reverse it, its too big, and you can't go further down the road."

Some residents said they had not complained simply because they assumed that the authorities would be making it a priority to get the plane out of the city.

Five days on, it is still not clear who is responsible for the aircraft and its transfer to Delhi.

Posted by mikki at 05:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)