I‘am currently studying Thomas Rid’s (2012) Book ‘Cyberwar will not take place‘. It is a great book resolves many misconceptions that politicians and military thinkers have about the trendy hype-concept called cyberwar.
Why grand coalitions are bad for the rule of law…or, told you so
When the German grand coalition, consisting of the conservative CDU and the less-conservative and supposedly social democratic SPD, was elected in 2014, many observers noted, that this might be bad for both democratic culture and the rule of law in general. The reason being, that the parliament opposition has no legal means to stop any […]
Why Britain is on a dangerous path leading away from democracy and the rule of law
Today, the Guardian published an article revealing that British „ministers are poised to pass emergency laws to require phone companies to log records of phone calls, texts and internet usage“, meaning that the United Kingdom wants to keep a data-retention program. The bill is called „Data Retention and Investigatory Powers Bill“ (#drip). As a reminder, data […]
connecting the dots: bad news for the Internet
In the recent days, several things happened, that seem to be really bad for the Internet.
Review: Exceptional Security Practices, Human Rights Abuses, and the Politics of Legal Legitimation in the American “Global War on Terror”
I’am currently reading Rebecca Sanders Dissertation about „Exceptional Security Practices, Human Rights Abuses, and the Politics of Legal Legitimation in the American “Global War on Terror” “ for my own project. She sheds a bright light on laws concerning surveillance and other exceptional security measures like human rights abuses in Guantanamo bay and many more. […]
Obama then and now – change we can believe in
Today, US president Obama will declare that nothing is wrong with the total surveillance system that has grown like a tumor in the once freedom and privacy loving grove of democracy the founding fathers envisioned. The surveillance system has indeed grown and a militaristic logic now is dominant within the US discourse on terror prevention […]
For those who have nothing to hide…
While there is an outcry amongst the media, academia and netizens in general, the mere mortal citizen argues, that PRISM, Tempora and other surveillance tools are not a concern. There is a dangerous attitude at work, a mix of „i have nothing to hide“ and „they [secret services] will not do any harm“. Recent data […]
German Press review June part 2
The German conservative/liberal government refuse to take action against corruption and bribery. The very same coalition, that gave huge bonuses for the Hotel lobby as the very first act being in office. This is in direct violation of the UN-initiative against corruption, that was signed recently. Furthermore due to an initiative of the same conservative/liberal […]
press review June 13
It happens to me quite often, that my daily newspaper reading is quite depressing. It seems to be the common motive of press news, that they are almost always negative. Sure, catastrophes sell and dramatic news and big stories generate more income, I know, I know. However, I’m looking forward to the day when the […]
Data retention strikes back…
Today it became public, that the data retention is not just a matter in Europe but also in the US. In the name of counterterrorism (of course!), the NSA collected data from Verizon about their customers phone connections. While covert data retention is quite big (think privacy and civil liberties), at least it was based […]