Big and Small Tech companies clearly part of the Matrix folks.....
http://www.blacklistednews.com/Partnership_between_Facebook_and_police_could_make_planning_protests_impossible/29848/0/38/38/Y/M.html
Partnership between Facebook and police could make planning protests impossible
October 26, 2013
Source: RT
A partnership between police departments and social media sites discussed at a convention in Philadelphia this week could allow law enforcement to keep anything deemed criminal off the Internet—and even stop people from organizing protests.
A high-ranking official from the Chicago Police Department told attendees at a law enforcement conference on Monday that his agency has been working with a security chief at Facebook to block certain users from the site “if it is determined they have posted what is deemed criminal content,” reports Kenneth Lipp, an independent journalist who attended the lecture.
Lipp reported throughout the week from the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference, and now says that a speaker during one of the presentations suggested that a relationship exists between law enforcement and social media that that could be considered a form of censorship.
According to Lipp, the unnamed CPD officer said specifically that his agency was working with Facebook to block users’ by their individual account, IP address or device, such as a cell phone or computer.
Elsewhere at the conference, Lipp said law enforcement agencies discussed new social media tools that could be implemented to aid in crime-fighting, but at the price of potentially costing citizens their freedom.
“Increasingly in discussion in workshops held by and for top police executives from throughout the world (mostly US, Canada and the United Kingdom, with others like Nigeria among a total of 13,000 representatives of the law enforcement community in town for the event), and widely available from vendors, were technologies and department policies that allow agencies to block content, users and even devices – for example, ‘Geofencing’ software that allows departments to block service to a specified device when the device leaves an established virtual geographic perimeter,” Lipp wrote. “The capability is a basic function of advanced mobile technologies like smartphones, ‘OnStar’ type features that link drivers through GIS to central assistance centers, and automated infrastructure and other hardware including unmanned aerial systems that must ‘sense and respond.’”
Apple, the maker of the highly popular iPhone, applied for a patent last year which allows a third-party to compromise a wireless device and change its functionality, “such as upon the occurrence of a certain event.”
Bloggers at the website PrivacySOS.org acknowledged that former federal prosecutor-turned-Facebook security chief Joe Sullivan was scheduled to speak during the conference at a panel entitled “Helping Law Enforcement Respond to Mass Gatherings Spurred by Social Media,” and suggested that agencies could be partnering with tech companies to keep users of certain services for communicating and planning protests and other types of demonstrations. A 2011Bloomberg report revealed that Creativity Software, a UK based company with international clients, had sold geofencing programs to law enforcement in Iran which was then used to track political dissidents. US Senator Mark Kirk (R-Illinois) told Bloomberg that those companies should be condemned for being complicit in human rights abuses. And while this week’s convention in Philadelphia was for law enforcement agencies around the globe, it wouldn’t be too surprising to see American companies adopt similar systems.
“Is Facebook really working with the police to create a kill switch to stop activists from using the website to mobilize support for political demonstrations?” the PrivacySOS blog asked. “How would such a switch function? Would Facebook, which reportedly hands over our data to government agencies at no cost, block users from posting on its website simply because the police ask them to? The company has been criticized before for blocking environmentalist and anti-GMO activists from posting, but Facebook said those were mistakes. Let's hope this is a misunderstanding, too.”
Lipp has since pointed to a recent article in Governing magazine in which it was reported that the Chicago Police Department is using “network analysis” tools to identify persons of interest on social media.
“95.9 percent of law enforcement agencies use social media, 86.1 percent for investigative purposes,” Lipp quoted from the head of the social media group for the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
http://www.blacklistednews.com/Filesharing_Site_Revealed_to_be_Anti-Piracy_%E2%80%98Honeypot%E2%80%99/29851/0/38/38/Y/M.html
Source: Guardian
A high-profile file-sharing site has been revealed to be a year-long pirate “honeypot”, collecting data on users, file hosters and websites.
The revelation, which had users of the forum up in arms, accompanied the purchase of the UploaderTalk (UT) site by US-based anti-piracy company Nuke Piracy.
A honeypot is a facility, in this case a site, run under false pretences that encourages criminal behaviour in an effort to collect incriminating data.
“That’s right – the biggest swerve ever,” the operator of UT, known only as WDF, said in a statement about the purchase of the site. “I, WDF, work for the anti-piracy people!”
A number of private spying companies offer services to help police keep tabs on individual protesters' tweets and Facebook posts.
The documents leaked to media outlets by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden this year have brought national intelligence gathering and surveillance operations under a level of scrutiny not seen in decades. Often left out of this conversation, though, is the massive private surveillance industry that provides services to law enforcement, defense agencies and corporations in the U.S. and abroad – a sprawling constellation of companies and municipalities. "It's a circle where everyone [in these industries] is benefitting," says Eric King, lead researcher of watchdog group Privacy International. "Everyone gets more powerful, and richer."
Fuse
Promotional materials for numerous private spy companies boast of how law enforcement organizations can use their products to monitor people at protests or other large crowds – including by keeping tabs on individual people's social media presence. Kenneth Lipp, a journalist who attended the International Association of Chiefs of Police conference in Philadelphia from October 19th to 23rd, tells Rolling Stone that monitoring Twitter and Facebook was a main theme of the week. "Social media was the buzzword," says Lipp. He says much of the discussion seemed to be aimed at designing policies that wouldn't trigger potentially limiting court cases: "They want to avoid a warrant standard."
While the specifics of which police departments utilize what surveillance technologies is often unclear, there is evidence to suggest that use of mass surveillance against individuals not under direct investigation is common. "The default is mass surveillance, the same as NSA's 'collect it all' mindset," says King. "There's not a single company that if you installed their product, [it] would comply with what anyone without a security clearance would think is appropriate, lawful use."
The YouTube page for a company called NICE, for instance, features a highly produced videoshowing how its products can be used in the event of a protest. "The NICE video analytic suite alerts on an unusually high occupancy level in a city center," a narrator says as the camera zooms in on people chanting and holding signs that read "clean air" and "stop it now." The video then shows authorities redirecting traffic to avoid a bottleneck, and promises that all audio and video from the event will be captured and processed almost immediately. "The entire event is then reconstructed on a chronological timeline, based on all multimedia sources," says the narrator. According to an interview with the head of NICE's security divisionpublished in Israel Gateway, NICE systems are used by New Jersey Transit and at the Statue of Liberty, though it isn't clear if they are the same products shown in the video.
Read More...
Hmm , what is Google up to with these floating barges - not just San Francisco , California but also Portland , Maine ? Why have they showed up all of a sudden ? What is there purpose ?
Mystery Portland barge and San Francisco barge appear linked
Experts who were shown photographs of the structures speculate that they could be prototypes for floating Google data centers.
Since it was towed into Portland Harbor on a barge earlier this month, a four-story windowless building has been a source of intrigue. Its purpose and its owner’s identity have been kept secret.
click image to enlarge
Like a structure in Portland Harbor, the building on a barge in San Francisco Bay is likely a Google floating data center, experts say.
Daniel Terdiman/CNET
click image to enlarge
A mystery barge floating in Portland Harbor bears a strong resemblance to another in San Francisco Bay. Both have been sources of intense speculation.
2013 Press Herald File
Twenty-seven hundred miles away, residents of San Francisco have been puzzled by a four-story windowless building rising from a floating barge at the end of Treasure Island, a former Navy base in the middle of San Francisco Bay.
That project is also a secret.
But clues have emerged that indicate the two projects are connected.
The two barges – the one in Portland and the one in San Francisco – are owned by the same company.
Moreover, a website that covers technology news has linked that company to the search engine giant Google.
Some experts who were shown photographs of the structures speculate that they could possibly be prototypes for floating data centers that would use ocean water for cooling servers and ocean waves for energy.
Google was granted a patent in 2009 for such a structure.
According to Google’s patent application, a fleet of data centers would float three to seven miles offshore in water 165 to 230 feet deep.
Both structures appear to be made from modular rooms – or possibly shipping containers – stacked on top of each other. Many have small slats instead of windows, and each has a section that slants down to ground level at a 45-degree angle.
The lack of windows and egress stairs on the exterior of the buildings rule out the possibility that they are floating hotels, said Joel Egan, the principal at Cargotecture, which designs buildings using shipping containers.
“If it’s Google, it is probably a data center,” he said.
It would be beneficial to have a lot of water available to cool the servers, said Jonathan Koomey, a Stanford University research fellow and expert on data centers.
The use of saltwater as a cooling source would be problematic but surmountable, he said.
Koomey had been aware of the mysterious structure in San Francisco. When told of the one in Portland, he seemed startled.
“I am very surprised to hear there is another one,” he said. “This is fascinating.”
He said it’s hard to imagine why Google would want a floating data center. One possibility, he said, is that it could be transported by sea and used in disaster recovery efforts.
The exterior of the structure in Portland was built in New London, Conn., by Turner Construction, one of the largest construction management companies in the United States.
It is now in Portland on the barge that brought it here. It is docked at the Rickers Wharf Marine Facility, where Cianbro Corp. is scheduled to do a significant amount of interior work on it, including the installation of undisclosed technological equipment.
Peter Vigue, chairman and CEO of Cianbro, said the company has signed a nondisclosure agreement with its customer, which has made secrecy a priority, he said.
The registration number on the Portland barge is “BAL 0011.” The registration number of the barge in San Francisco Bay is “BAL 0010."
According to online registry of vessels, both barges are 250 feet long and were built in 2011 in Belle Chasse, La.
And both are owned by the same company, By and Large LLC, based in Wilmington, Del.
That company is also the current tenant of the building alongside the pier where the San Francisco Bay project is under construction, according to Daniel Terdiman, a senior writer with the online technical news organization C|NET who has been trying to uncover the mystery of the San Francisco project.
In his story posted online Friday, he said a California man, Tim Brandon, was named by the Treasure Island director of island operations as a point of contact for the project. Terdiman said Brandon’s LinkedIn profile identified his current position as “Senior Transaction Manager, CBRE @ Google.”
He said he called Brandon, using the phone number Brandon had provided to the Treasure Island official, and reached a Google extension that was no longer in service.
After Terdiman contacted him through LinkedIn and sent him an e-mail earlier this week, Brandon changed his LinkedIn profile, Terdiman said. Brandon now lists his current position as just “CBRE” and his top responsibility as “Lead and manage all acquisition and disposition activity for Silicon Valley portfolio.”
Google did not return an email inquiry from the Portland Press Herald asking for a comment. Terdiman said Brandon also declined to comment.
Terdiman late Friday updated his story to note that a similar mystery structure is located in Portland.
“Now the question is, if there’s one in San Francisco Bay and another in Maine, are there more out there?” he asked.
San Fran .........
What the Hell Is Google Building On This Massive Barge?
Cnet reports that Google is building something super secret—and super huge—on a barge that's floating in the San Francisco Bay. What the hell is this thing?
According to Cnet, the structure stands four stories tall and is floating on a large barge in the San Francisco Bay, just off shore from Treasure Island. It's made out of a series of shipping containers. Cnet speculates that inside these containers, Google is building a prototype for a floating data center—which makes a lot of sense, because using sea water to cool data centers could potentially save the company a bucket of money.
Google, of course, hasn't responded to any requests for comment about the structure, but Cnet links it pretty conclusively to the company with some digging. The structure is floating on a barge that's parked next to a hanger on Treasure Island, which is leased to a shell company called By and Large LLC—which Cnet thinks belongs to Google. How they g0t there, though, is a pretty impressive bit of reporting. Be sure to check out the full report. [Cnet]
and....
Massive Barge On San
Francisco Bay Likely Secret
Google Facility
October 25, 2013 9:03 PM
Sources told KPIX 5 that that Google is building a floating marketing center for Google Glass off Treasure Island. (CBS)
SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) — The U.S. Navy
had its share of secrets on Treasure Island, but few were better kept than what’s taking place on a mysterious barge just off the island.
had its share of secrets on Treasure Island, but few were better kept than what’s taking place on a mysterious barge just off the island.
The barge, with a four-story stack of shipping containers, is out in the open for all to see. But the project’s purpose has been kept under wraps, and virtually no one wants to talk about it for the record, from the harbor office at Clipper Cove to the Treasure Island Development Authority to the U.S. Coast Guard.
“I don’t know anything about it, honestly I don’t,” a voice on the intercom at the Clipper Cove told KPIX 5. “It’s a complete mystery to me.”
There has, of course, been speculation about the barge’s purpose, much of it centering on the belief that it’s a water-based data center for Google.
KPIX 5 has learned that Google is actually building a floating marketing center, a kind of giant Apple store, if you will — but for Google Glass, the cutting-edge wearable computer the company has under development.
Although Google wouldn’t respond to requests for comment for this story, sources close to the project told KPIX 5 that Google hopes to tow the completed structure from Treasure Island across the Bay to San Francisco’s Fort Mason, where it would be anchored and open to the public.
But as mysteriously as the barge-and-container structure began appearing several months ago, work on the project suddenly stopped a few weeks ago.
The reason: Google does not have a permit for a floating anything.
“Google has spent millions on this,” said an insider close to the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission. “But they can’t park this barge on the waterfront without a permit, and they don’t have one.”
A BCDC official confirmed the agency has held discussions with Google about “hypothetical operations” on the water, but he complained the tech giant has been vague about how the barge would be used.
Larry Goldzband, BCDC executive director, said Google is free to build whatever it wants but the company needs to define the structure’s purpose if it wants a permit.
And that’s not the only hurdle Google faces in its quest for a permit. Docking the barge for an extended period of time at Fort Mason would qualify as “bay fill,” said a source with long experience in waterfront issues.
“The law is crystal clear in this case: The Bay is not to be used for something that can be built on land,” Goldzband said.
Further complicating the picture for Google, the BCDC is already facing heat over the plan to build a new waterfront arena for the Golden State Warriors. Although the arena would be built on existing Piers 30 and 32, the piers would have to be enlarged to accommodate the structure.
“Given that controversy, it’s not at all certain that BCDC approves the Google structure,” the waterfront expert said. “They may end up with egg on their face and a lot of money lost in the drink.”
Maine ......
said. “They may end up with egg on their face and a lot of money lost in the drink.”Maine ......
Clues emerge about mystery structure on barge in Portland Harbor
Could it be housing for sailors, a government facility or a Google floating data center? ‘This is a good thing for Maine,’ Cianbro’s CEO promises.
By Tom Bell tbell@pressherald.com
Staff Writer
Staff Writer
What’s inside the four-story structure that was towed into Portland Harbor on Oct. 11 and how it will eventually be used remain a mystery, but some clues have emerged.
click image to enlarge
A barge holding a mysterious four-story structure has been tied up at Cianbro Corp.’s Rickers Wharf Marine Facility off Commercial Street in Portland since its arrival on Oct. 11.
John Patriquin/Staff Photographer
The structure itself isn’t hidden away. It’s still on the barge that hauled it into Portland, docked at the Rickers Wharf Marine Facility, where Cianbro Corp. is scheduled to do a significant amount of interior work on it, including the installation of undisclosed technological equipment.
Even workers on the project aren’t being told about the structure’s purpose or the identity of its owner. That’s known by only a few Cianbro executives, said Peter Vigue, chairman and CEO of Cianbro. The company has signed a nondisclosure agreement with its customer, which has made secrecy a priority, he said.
“We are absolutely forbidden to discuss it in any way or in any detail,” Vigue said.
The Coast Guard doesn’t know what it is, said a staffer at the base in South Portland. The Portland Harbor Commission hasn’t been told, either.
So far, no one has figured it out, said Tom Dobbins, chairman of the commission.
“Curiosity has gotten to me,” he said. “I’ve got my spies out, but they aren’t doing anything for me.”
The structure’s exterior was built in New London, Conn. Its final destination could be anywhere the barge can carry it.
That rules out a voyage across the ocean, but leaves the coasts of North and South America and all navigable inland waterways.
Some have speculated that the structure is related to Exxon’s $14 billion project to develop the Hebron oil fields off Newfoundland.
Not so, say Exxon officials, who were shown photographs of the mystery structure and denied any involvement.
Others have speculated that it is a floating hotel for people building oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. The top three floors appear to be divided into 196 rooms – with no windows.
The customer could be the U.S. military or the Department of Homeland Security, which would explain the secrecy, said Jeff Monroe, Portland’s former port director, who now works as a transportation consultant.
“In the name of security, the government can do a lot of things and keep them quiet,” Monroe said.
He said the structure could be a power plant or perhaps a “barracks barge,” providing housing for sailors before they are assigned to their ships.
Any good mystery needs some kind of clue, and Vigue provided one: “Be assured this is a good thing for Maine,” he said. “It will benefit not only our company, but our state as well.”
When asked if the building’s final destination is Maine, Vigue said “No.”
OK. Here’s one project that would be good for Maine, but not actually in Maine: In 2009, the search engine giant Google received a patent for a proposed floating data center that uses the ocean to provide power and cooling.
According to Google’s patent application, a fleet of data centers would float three to seven miles offshore in water 165 to 230 feet deep. They would use ocean water for cooling and wave-energy machines to create electricity.
Anchored off the coast of Maine, Google wouldn’t have to buy any land or pay property taxes.
Google could not be reached late Tuesday to discuss that theory.
Of course, thanks to technology like Google Earth, it’s harder to keep a secret these days.
After Cianbro finishes its work, the barge will leave Portland Harbor and the public will be able to follow its journey on commercial websites that use global positioning system data, said Dobbins, of the harbor commission.
He said the structure’s owner will try to keep the secret as long as possible, but eventually the truth will emerge when the vessel reaches its destination.
“Who knows where it ends up?” he said.
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