Friday, January 20, 2012
Iran's Press TV loses UK licence
Source: BBC
Iranian news network Press TV has had its licence revoked by the media
regulator Ofcom and will no longer be allowed to broadcast in the UK.
Ofcom said the state broadcaster's English language outlet had
breached several broadcasting licence rules over editorial control of
the channel.
Press TV has also failed to pay a £100,000 fine imposed last year.
The channel called the decision "a clear example of censorship". It will be removed from Sky on 20 January.
The £100,000 fine was imposed last year after the network
broadcast an interview with imprisoned Newsweek and Channel 4 journalist
Maziar Bahari, which the Ofcom said had been conducted under duress.
Ofcom said Press TV had "indicated it is unwilling and unable to pay".
It was during the investigation into the Bahari interview
that the media regulator formed the impression that editorial decisions
on the channel were being controlled by the offices in Tehran, instead
of the UK.
Press TV was given the opportunity to respond and make the
relevant amendments needed to comply with the broadcasting code, but
"failed to make the necessary application", Ofcom said.
In a statement issued to the BBC, Press TV's newsroom
director Mr Hamid Emadi said: "We asked Ofcom if Press TV Limited did
not have control over the broadcast, why was it getting fined, if it did
have control, why would the licence be revoked?
"Ofcom contradictions are nothing new for Press TV. The
British government's tool to control the media has, on several
occasions, changed its decisions regarding Press TV in its two-year
campaign against the alternative news channel."
The statement also claimed that Ofcom, which it called "the
media arm of the Royal family", had failed to respond to a letter sent
by its Chief Executive earlier this month.
Press TV channel launched in 2007 to break what Iran's state
broadcaster called a Western "stranglehold" over the world's media.
Target Iran: Dystopian, Morally Challenged World Where Nuclear Scientists Are Killed
Source: RIRRakesh Krishnan Simha
Target Iran: The morality of killing nuclear scientists
The serial murder of Iranian nuclear scientists is a pointer to the
West’s moral compass. It is also a sign of desperation and double
standards.
“Physics is an unhealthy line of work in today’s Iran,” begins an
editorial in the Australian newspaper “The Age”. The jibe follows the
murder of an Iranian nuclear scientist by a motorcycle riding assassin.
“I shall not shed any tears whenever one of these scientists encounters
the unforgiving men on motorbikes, men who live in the real world rather
than a laboratory or philosophy seminar,” the morally challenged writer
continues.
What kind of dystopian world is the writer living in? When did
scientists become legitimate targets and hired killers turn heroic? For
several decades now Australia, in lockstep with its Western allies, has
parroted the drivel that terrorism in all forms must be condemned. But
because the dead scientists all worked for Iran, it’s okay to gloat.
Five strikes
Five Iranian nuclear scientists have been attacked in the past two
years. In the latest job on January 11, a magnetic bomb was attached to
the door of 32-year-old Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan’s car during morning
rush-hour in the capital, Tehran. His driver was also killed and two
others seriously injured.
Last year among the four scientists attacked, the most spectacular –
and tragic – incident was on July 23 when Darioush Rezaeinejad was shot
through the throat outside his daughter’s kindergarten.
The official, and expected, response to these murders is the “we
condemn” line from Western governments. However, the unofficial
statements are a stark pointer to the West’s moral compass.
“On occasion,” gloated Republican presidential hopeful and
gay-bashing, Christian fundamentalist Rick Santorum, “scientists working
on the nuclear programme in Iran turn up dead. I think that’s a
wonderful thing, candidly.”
And smiling for the cameras in a televised press conference Israel
Defence Forces (IDF) chief Benny Gantz spoke about “unnatural events”
that were delaying Iran’s nuclear push.
The gloating didn’t end there. “I don’t know who settled the score
with the Iranian scientist, but I certainly am not shedding a tear,” the
IDF’s Brigadier General Yoav Mordechai said on Facebook.
U.S. NATO Actions Make Russia-China Alliance More Urgent
Source: Global Times US actions make China-Russia alliance appealing
As US aircraft carrier groups gather in the Arabian Sea, a showdown
between Iran and the West is rumbling on. If a war erupts, this will be
another upshot of the US pursuit of absolute national security.
Mainstream forces in Washington are trying to sell a ludicrous
standpoint to the American people: that it is worthwhile bearing
financial costs and even losing some lives to confront lurking dangers
to US security in the Middle East.
This is not a rational analysis, but rather a pious belief in US
politics. With an appetite for national security causes, the US becomes
increasingly meticulous in eliminating potential challenges.
The US has somewhat defused two powder kegs in the Middle East: Iraq
and Afghanistan. It also helped bring about the fall of Slobodan
Milosevic and Yugoslavia. Now it is preparing for a potential
confrontation with Iran, and appears confident of another successful air
strike.
Such a demonstration of armed might makes powers like Russia and China increasingly nervous.
By stirring up other powers’ sense of insecurity, the US is actually
undermining its own interests. Its security paranoia instills many
uncertainties into global dynamics and into the US itself.
If the West slides into a war with Iran, the damages will not be any lower than the potential threat of Iran’s nuclear power.
Perhaps the US is used to resorting to war to solve geopolitical
problems. But many worry that such a mentality will sooner or later lead
to a US clash with Russia and China. So far Moscow and Beijing are
relatively restrained, though NATO seeks to expand its strategic
presence in East Europe and US strengthening its military alliances in
Asia. But the two cannot fall back forever.
Escalating Cyber War Spells Trouble for Internet Freedom
Source: Activist PostEric Blair
The cyber war escalated to a whole new level yesterday. The U.S.
government shut down the popular website MegaUpload at the behest of
corporate interests. The Feds accused MegaUpload of stealing $500 million in potential lost revenue from copyright holders.
Almost immediately, the hacktivist group Anonymous retaliated by launching massive DDoS attacks on several websites including the US Copyright Office, Department of Justice, FBI.gov, Universal Music Group, Music Picture Association of America, and the Recording Industry Association of America. The attack called “Operation MegaUpload” is also said to be targeting Whitehouse.gov.
Many Internet freedom and privacy activists are cheering Anonymous’ assault against the U.S. Government and the corporate interests that control it. But I’m getting the eerie feeling that Anonymous is playing right into the hands of those who wish to control and censor the Internet.
First, I must state unequivocally that the U.S. government and the copyright holders are clearly the aggressors in this war. Their actions violate current copyright laws where the content providers must prove damages in the court of law before they can sabotage and ransack a business they accuse of stealing. Even though a grand jury supposedly indicted MegaUpload, it’s nearly impossible for them to prove “potential lost revenue” since those engaged in file sharing cannot automatically be considered lost customers.
Almost immediately, the hacktivist group Anonymous retaliated by launching massive DDoS attacks on several websites including the US Copyright Office, Department of Justice, FBI.gov, Universal Music Group, Music Picture Association of America, and the Recording Industry Association of America. The attack called “Operation MegaUpload” is also said to be targeting Whitehouse.gov.
Many Internet freedom and privacy activists are cheering Anonymous’ assault against the U.S. Government and the corporate interests that control it. But I’m getting the eerie feeling that Anonymous is playing right into the hands of those who wish to control and censor the Internet.
First, I must state unequivocally that the U.S. government and the copyright holders are clearly the aggressors in this war. Their actions violate current copyright laws where the content providers must prove damages in the court of law before they can sabotage and ransack a business they accuse of stealing. Even though a grand jury supposedly indicted MegaUpload, it’s nearly impossible for them to prove “potential lost revenue” since those engaged in file sharing cannot automatically be considered lost customers.
Because of this conundrum, copyright holders instead lobbied the
government to change the laws to legalize this form of censorship
through blunt force and without due process. It seems that since the
sought-after legislation, SOPA, has been recently shelved due to universal protest, the State was compelled to act above the law to destroy those sharing information on the Web.
Even more suspicious is that some of the chief copyright holders pushing for these new guilty-until-proven-innocent laws were the ones who developed, promoted, and profited from file sharing in the first place. Again, it’s all beginning to feel like a set-up designed to justify Internet censorship, which is clearly the end game for the powers that be.
Thus the cyber war seems to be heading in the same direction as all literal and figurative wars do. Let’s remember that the public never wins in war. War always justifies atrocities against freedom and proves devastating for infrastructure. Fighting fire with fire very rarely results in anything but destruction. And it’s far easier to destroy something than to create a solution.
Even more suspicious is that some of the chief copyright holders pushing for these new guilty-until-proven-innocent laws were the ones who developed, promoted, and profited from file sharing in the first place. Again, it’s all beginning to feel like a set-up designed to justify Internet censorship, which is clearly the end game for the powers that be.
Thus the cyber war seems to be heading in the same direction as all literal and figurative wars do. Let’s remember that the public never wins in war. War always justifies atrocities against freedom and proves devastating for infrastructure. Fighting fire with fire very rarely results in anything but destruction. And it’s far easier to destroy something than to create a solution.
Iran Suspects UN Had a Role in Nuke Scientist Murder
Source: RT
Iran is suspicious that UN agencies may have given away information
which aided the murder of Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi
Roshan on January 11.
Iranian deputy UN ambassador Eshagh Al Habib told the UN Security Council on Thursday that there was “high suspicion” that,
in order to prepare the murder, terrorist circles used intelligence
obtained from UN bodies. According to him, this included interviews with
Iranian nuclear scientists carried out by the International Atomic
Energy Agency and the sanction list of the Security Council, Reuters
news agency reports.
Officials observed that prior to the murder, Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan had talked to IAEA inspectors, a fact which “indicates that these UN agencies may have played a role in leaking information on Iran's nuclear facilities and scientists."
Although
the UN Security Council’s list of sanctioned individuals does not
include Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, it does bear the name of Fereidoun
Abbasi-Davani, who was wounded in a Tehran car bomb attack in November,
2010.
Eshagh Al Habib accused the United Nations of failing
to guarantee the confidentiality of the information it obtains about the
Iranian nuclear program and nuclear scientists. UN spokesman Martin
Nesirky says he is currently investigating the claims.
Mostafa
Ahmadi Roshan, 32, who was overseeing Iran’s uranium enrichment
program, is one of five Iranian nuclear specialists killed in the last
two years. He was murdered by one or more motorbike hit men who
allegedly planted a magnetic bomb on his car or, alternatively, dropped a
bomb inside the car during the morning rush hour. Iran accused
American and Israeli intelligence of carrying out the murder – a charge
both countries deny.
The Security Council has imposed four
rounds of sanctions on Iran over its nuclear activities. Western
countries believe Iran’s nuclear program has military dimensions.
However Tehran maintains it is peaceful, and the IAEA has failed to
produce any evidence of concrete plans to develop a nuclear arsenal.
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