Grabbing Video (back) from YouTube

Image Credit: Neuroventilator / Flickr
Image Credit: Neuroventilator / Flickr

Usual Disclaimers Apply: This guide should not be used to subvert copyright restrictions. Responsibility falls to the user to ensure they are not breaking the laws of the country in which they reside or breaching any restrictions placed on content published in, or on infrastructure where other jurisdictions and/or terms of service may apply. Ignorance is no defense*, if you don’t like the regulations as they stand, exercise your democratic rights and propose a solution for change. Continue reading “Grabbing Video (back) from YouTube”

NetHui 2011 – Day 1: Globalisation, the Internet and the Law – The Internet as a Revolutionary Tool

Session Lead by: Brian Calhoun, Independent Consultant and co-chair of NZRise Inc

 “I see a gradual slide toward corporate and government control…by control I mean content”

The session started with a discussion of TOR / BitCoin / BitTorrent – all created specifically to circumvent control systems that were already in existence. The question then posed to the room was:

“How long before our government moves to block/disable these things? […] What is your bottom line? How pissed off do you need to get before you take action?”

Continue reading “NetHui 2011 – Day 1: Globalisation, the Internet and the Law – The Internet as a Revolutionary Tool”

NetHui 2011 – Day 1: Digital Citizenship – Cyber-Safety

Digital Citizenship – Cybersafety

Stream led by: Martin Cocker (NetSafe) – NetHui Digital Citizenship Forum

Martin started off the session by outlining there things are in New Zealand, as well as providing a context for the terminology which would follow. In this regard, Digital Citizens were defined as those using technologies to have:

  • Greater productivity (via use of technology)
  • A better education experience
  • Connections with e-government
  • The responsibility to “Balance” the digital society
    • Politically, we can vote out non-performers
    • Commercially, we can only influence via our adoption and usage of technologies.
    • We can’t vote for everyone (politically) but we can influence via usage and adoption

Continue reading “NetHui 2011 – Day 1: Digital Citizenship – Cyber-Safety”

NetHui 2011 – Day 1

You could tell that you’d arrived at the NetHui because every seat anywhere remotely near a power source was occupied by someone hunched over an electronic device, either furiously tapping away at a keyboard or swiping at a screen.

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Bandwidth to join Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs?

Those crazy French have declared access to the Internet is a “fundamental human right” as part of its decision in overturning the recent, and controversial “three strikes” anti-piracy law….Philosophically I can’t agree with the ruling or Corey here, we have no rights other than the right to what we can create for ourselves – these creations can be traded for things such as food, water and shelter – or even bandwidth.

MaslowsNEWHierarchyThose crazy French have declared access to the Internet is a “fundamental human right” as part of its decision in overturning the recent, and controversial “three strikes” anti-piracy law. The Constitutional Council, France’s highest court appear to agree with Corey Doctorow who wrote the following:

Here’s a prediction: in five years, a UN convention will enshrine network access as a human right (preemptive strike against naysayers: “Human rights” aren’t only water, food and shelter, they include such “nonessentials” as free speech, education, and privacy). In ten years, we won’t understand how anyone thought it wasn’t a human right.

Philosophically I can’t agree with the ruling or Corey here, we have no rights other than the right to what we can create for ourselves – these creations can be traded for things such as food, water and shelter – or even bandwidth.

While I really dislike being ‘disconnected’ from the grid, my social networks and the sources of information/opinion that I use to educate, entertain and improve myself – I can’t accept that this access is something that must be provided for me. I think the French have overstepped on this one – I love the outcome, but I think their artistic, socialist side is showing here.

There’s a good discussion on this taking place over on  ReadWrite Web who are covering this story – what say you?