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Today's Topics:
1. Microsoft prevails over Alcatel in MP3 patent case (Kevin)
2. Wall Coming Down: NYT to End Paid Web Service (Ray T. Mahorney)
3. Apple Unveils New iMac (Monty Solomon)
4. Apple Introduces iLife '08 (Monty Solomon)
5. Apple Mac Event (Monty Solomon)
6. Apple Enhances .Mac (Monty Solomon)
7. Apple Introduces iWork '08 (Monty Solomon)
8. Eavesdropping Reforms Empower Spy Chief (Rob)
9. Big Brother in the Big Apple (Rob)
10. ?Surveillance society? warning on data sharing (Rob)
11. Police to flex stop and search muscles (Rob)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2007 03:37:23 -0500
From: "Kevin" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Microsoft prevails over Alcatel in MP3 patent
case
To: <Medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-micro7aug07,1,3359596.story?coll=la-headlines-business
Microsoft prevails over Alcatel in MP3 patent case
A court win by Alcatel is reversed, freeing many companies from digital
music liability.
By Joseph Menn, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer
August 7, 2007
A federal judge on Monday reversed his own jury and threw out a surprising
$1.5-billion patent verdict against Microsoft Corp., removing a liability
threat to hundreds of companies whose products work with the most common
digital music format.
Senior U.S. District Judge Rudi M. Brewster of San Diego freed Microsoft
from having to pay French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent
one of the largest patent awards ever granted.
Overturning a jury's February verdict, the judge ruled that Alcatel didn't
have the rights to one disputed patent and hadn't proved that Microsoft's
programs were using the technology in another.
Alcatel immediately promised an appeal.
Alcatel had sued computer makers, alleging that Windows Media Player, which
comes pre-installed on many computers, ran afoul of patents related to the
MP3 format for music files.
Microsoft, the maker of the Windows operating system and media player,
intervened on behalf of the computer companies and fought back.
"The great thing about a verdict like this is it removes a cloud over the
entire industry," said Jonathan Potter, executive director of the Digital
Media Assn., a trade group. "It's not only MP3, but it's everything that
works with MP3 -- multiple generations of products and services."
Apple Inc., Sony Corp. and virtually every other company that makes music
software or devices that play digital music had been at risk. "It's an
enormous relief for the industry," he said.
Germany's Fraunhofer Institute has been issuing licenses for MP3 technology
for years, and Microsoft and others thought their payments to Fraunhofer
entitled them to use the methods for encoding files and playing them back.
But Alcatel inherited some patents from Bell Labs when it bought Lucent
Technologies last year, and it has been claiming that the MP3 technology
also relied on the Bell Labs patents.
During a trial in January and February that involved complex factual and
legal issues, Alcatel convinced a jury that Microsoft had infringed two of
its patents. The jury awarded what it said was half of 1% of the revenue
from all the Windows-based computers sold during the period in question.
Brewster heard post-trial motions and entered the judgment against Microsoft
in April, more than two months after the jury verdict.
But he reversed course after weighing additional arguments made in July. In
a new, 43-page ruling, Brewster wrote that Bell Labs had contributed only
some of the ideas in a key patent that had been assigned to Fraunhofer.
The other patent, he said, hadn't been shown to have been infringed by
Microsoft, and a "reasonable jury" presented with the relevant evidence
couldn't have found otherwise.
The judge also said that the jury's formula for awarding damages didn't hold
up under scrutiny and that Microsoft should get a new trial on just the
amount of the award, even if his other decision was reversed.
Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith called the decision "a victory for
consumers of digital music and a triumph for common sense in the patent
system."
Alcatel said it was stunned.
"This reversal of the judge's own pretrial and post-trial rulings is
shocking and disturbing," said spokeswoman Mary Lou Ambrus. "We still have a
strong case, and we believe we will prevail on appeal."
Ambrus said Alcatel had continued to negotiate license payments from other
companies after the February verdict but had not filed any new suits.
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
------------------------------
Message: 2
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2007 19:59:05 -0000
From: "Ray T. Mahorney" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Wall Coming Down: NYT to End Paid Web Service
To: <medianews@twiar.org>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Source:
http://www.nypost.com/seven/08072007/business/timesselect_content_freed_business_holly_m__sanders.htm
TIMESSELECT CONTENT FREED
By HOLLY M. SANDERS
August 7, 2007 -- The New York Times is poised to stop charging readers
for online access to its Op-Ed columnists and other content, The Post
has learned.
After much internal debate, Times executives - including publisher
Arthur Sulzberger Jr. - made the decision to end the subscription-only
TimesSelect service but have yet to make an official announcement,
according to a source briefed on the matter.
The timing of when TimesSelect will shut down hinges on resolving
software issues associated with making the switch to a free service, the
source said.
Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis would only say in an e-mailed
statement, "We continue to evaluate the best approach for NYTimes.com."
While other online publications were abandoning subscriptions, the Times
took the opposite approach in 2005 and began charging for access to
well-known writers, including Maureen Dowd, Frank Rich and Thomas L.
Friedman.
The decision, which also walled off access to archives and other
content, was controversial almost from the start, with some of the
paper's own columnists complaining that it limited their Web readership.
In July, The Post reported that insiders were lobbying to shut down the
service. After two years, however, the move to do away with TimesSelect
may have more to do with growth than grumbling inside the paper.
The number of Web-only subscribers who pay $7.95 a month or $49.95 a
year fell to just over 221,000 in June, down from more than 224,000 in
April.
------------------------------
Message: 3
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2007 19:08:28 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Apple Unveils New iMac
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Apple Unveils New iMac
- Aug 7, 2007 02:26 PM (PR Newswire)
CUPERTINO, Calif., Aug 07, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/
--
Apple(R) today
unveiled an all new all-in-one iMac(R) line featuring gorgeous 20- and 24-inch
widescreen displays encased in elegant and professional aluminum and glass
enclosures. The entire new iMac line features the latest Intel Core 2 Duo
processors and a new, ultra-thin aluminum Apple Keyboard, built-in iSight(R)
video camera for video conferencing and iLife(R) '08, making it the ultimate
digital lifestyle desktop computer for both consumers and professionals. The
20-inch iMac now starts at just $1,199, $300 less than the previous 20-inch
model, and the 24-inch iMac starts at just $1,799, $200 less than the previous
24-inch model.
...
- http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=67666081
------------------------------
Message: 4
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2007 19:08:55 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Apple Introduces iLife '08
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Apple Introduces iLife '08
- Aug 7, 2007 02:27 PM (PR Newswire)
CUPERTINO, Calif., Aug 07, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/
--
Apple(R) today
introduced iLife(R) '08, the most significant upgrade ever to Apple's award-
winning suite of digital lifestyle applications, featuring a major new version
of iPhoto(R) and a completely reinvented iMovie(R). iPhoto '08 automatically
organizes photo libraries into Events that let users more easily manage their
growing photo collections, and iMovie '08 introduces an entirely new way for
users to quickly make movies and share them online. Both iPhoto and iMovie
integrate seamlessly with the new .Mac Web Gallery, Apple's new service for
.Mac members to instantly create and host stunning online websites for their
photos and videos. iLife '08 also features iWeb(TM) '08, with live web widgets
such as Google Maps that let users create even more dynamic websites, and
GarageBand(TM) '08, with its new Magic GarageBand feature that makes it fun
and easy for both musicians and non-musicians to create great sounding songs.
...
- http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=67666115
------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2007 19:07:18 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Apple Mac Event
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Apple Mac Event - Live Update
By Peter Cohen
Macworld's live coverage of Tuesday's event in Cupertino has concluded.
Apple CEO Steve Jobs took the stage at the company's headquarters in
Cupertino, Calif. this morning to present to a select group of
journalists and other VIPs. "Today's focus is on the iMac," he told
the assembled throng.
...
http://www.macworld.com/news/2007/08/07/macevent/index.php
------------------------------
Message: 6
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2007 19:09:25 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Apple Enhances .Mac
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Apple Enhances .Mac
- Aug 7, 2007 02:28 PM (PR Newswire)
CUPERTINO, Calif., Aug 07, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/
--
Apple(R) today
announced significant enhancements to its .Mac online service, highlighted by
the debut of .Mac Web Gallery, a new feature for sharing photos and movies on
the Internet. .Mac Web Gallery lets members easily share photos and movies
directly from iLife(R) '08 with anyone on a Mac(R), PC or iPhone(TM) in
stunning quality. In addition, .Mac Web Gallery visitors can download high
quality images for printing and even contribute photos using a standard web
browser or email. Other new .Mac features include a tenfold increase in .Mac
storage to 10GB, support for personal domains for iWeb(TM) websites and
enhancements to .Mac Mail.
...
- http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=67666159
------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Tue, 7 Aug 2007 19:09:50 -0400
From: Monty Solomon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Apple Introduces iWork '08
To: undisclosed-recipient:;
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Apple Introduces iWork '08
- Aug 7, 2007 02:28 PM (PR Newswire)
CUPERTINO, Calif., Aug 07, 2007 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/
--
Apple(R) today
introduced iWork(TM) '08, a significant upgrade to Apple's productivity
software suite featuring new versions of Pages(R) and Keynote word processing
and presentation applications, and introducing an innovative new spreadsheet
application called "Numbers." Numbers introduces the concept of intelligent
tables on a flexible canvas, a new approach that makes it easy to organize
information, create calculations, analyze results and make spreadsheets look
as great as they work. Pages '08 now features distinct modes for streamlined
word processing and flexible page layout, a new contextual format bar and
change tracking, and Keynote '08 now includes text effects, transitions and
themes that help users easily compose spectacular presentations, and Smart
Builds with easy-to-set-up A-to-B animations that make impressive animations
easy for anyone to create.
...
- http://www.quote.com/home/news/story.asp?story=67666187
------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:31:30 -0500
From: Rob <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Eavesdropping Reforms Empower Spy Chief
To: Media-News <medianews@twiar.org>, Tom and Darryl
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
Eavesdropping Reforms Empower Spy Chief
KATHERINE SHRADER
AP
Tuesday Aug 7, 2007
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2007/08/06/national/w150619D10.DTL&type=printable
For the first time in nearly four decades, a senior intelligence
official ? not a secretive federal court ? will have a decisive voice in
whether Americans' communications can be monitored when they talk to
foreigners overseas.
The shift came over the weekend as Congress hustled through changes to
the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, known as FISA.
The bill provides new powers to the National Security Agency to monitor
communications that enter the United States and involve foreigners who
are the subjects of a national security investigation.
Apprehensive about what they were doing, Congress specified that the new
provisions would expire after six months, unless renewed.
They would give National Intelligence Director Mike McConnell and
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales joint authority to approve the
monitoring of such calls and e-mails, rather than the 11-member Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Court.
That means an intelligence official is now empowered to sort through the
legalistic, secretive world of FISA, rather than a judge or the nation's
highest law enforcement officer.
McConnell was added to the legal decision-making after lawmakers argued
that the embattled attorney general shouldn't hold the power alone. The
spy chief's experience is largely in military intelligence, not legal
matters.
Civil liberties groups and some Democrats call the bill a vast expansion
of government power. In the past several days, officials who work for
McConnell, the Justice Department and the Republican congressional
leadership have argued vehemently that that isn't so.
On Monday, White House spokeswoman Tony Fratto dismissed as "highly
misleading" any suggestion that the changes broadly expanded the
government's authority to eavesdrop on Americans' communications without
court approval.
However, the law's wording ? underscored by conversations with
administration officials ? shows the rules governing when and how
Americans' calls and e-mails will be monitored have changed significantly.
Communications that can get caught up in intelligence collection require
a spectrum of approvals, depending on the circumstances. Generally, such
calls, e-mails, text messages and other electronic exchanges fall into
three categories:
_ Purely foreign overseas communications. The NSA can monitor these
calls and e-mails without any signoff from a judge or a senior
government official.
_ Domestic conversations between two Americans. The Fourth Amendment's
protection against unreasonable search and seizure requires that the
government get approval from a court before eavesdropping on these
exchanges.
_ Communications between an American and a foreigner, a more complex,
gray area. If the American is the target of the investigation, then a
court must approve the surveillance, the White House says. However, if
the foreigner is the target, no court approval is necessary under the
new law. Instead, Gonzales and McConnell will decide together whether to
go ahead with the work.
It's this area ? when an American is talking to a foreign suspect ?
where the Bush administration has acquired powers it didn't have before.
Under government regulations, agencies are supposed to minimize the
collection, retention, and dissemination of any information about a U.S.
citizen. Often that means names are blacked out, unless the identity is
crucial to understanding the conversation.
Lisa Graves of the Center for National Security Studies, which advocates
for civil liberties, said the new law will potentially allow the
government to intercept millions of Americans' calls and e-mails without
warrants ? as long as the NSA and other authorities have a foreign
suspect in their sights.
"This power that they have obtained is a dramatic expansion," she said.
The Bush administration also fixed an odd quirk of the surveillance law
that it said had emerged with the rapid technological growth of the past
two decades: The government had to get legal approval to listen in on
foreign suspects who are located overseas but whose conversations cross
into the extensive U.S. communications network, as millions of
international calls and e-mails do each day.
While the law is in effect, that legal approval will no longer be
required, officials acknowledged.
The power may last longer than some people expect, Graves noted, thanks
to a little-noticed provision of the bill. While the law expires in
February unless Congress acts to extend it, any surveillance orders that
are in place when it sunsets can last up to a full year, she said.
Without a repeal, lawmakers "weren't just giving them the power for six
months. They were giving it to them for the rest of the administration,"
Graves said.
------------------------------
Message: 9
Date: Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:27:25 -0500
From: Rob <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Big Brother in the Big Apple
To: Media-News <medianews@twiar.org>, Tom and Darryl
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
Big Brother in the Big Apple
Bob Barr
Washington Times
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070807/COMMENTARY/108070010
Though the lion's share of publicity surrounding Tony Blair's recent
departure as Britain's prime minister focused on his legacy as George W.
Bush's top foreign cheerleader, a more lasting legacy for Mr. Blair's
lengthy tenure as Britain's chief "decider" will be that he greatly
accelerated Great Britain's ascendancy to the position of the "most
surveilled" society in the world. Still, Michael Bloomberg, the
Democrat-turned-Republican-turned-independent mayor of New York is
giving Mr. Blair a run for the money as the most surveillance-hungry
public official in the world.
Even though officials in other cities are embracing and installing
surveillance cameras in huge numbers ? Chicago, Detroit and Washington,
D.C., to name a few ? the latest plan unveiled by Mr. Bloomberg and his
equally surveillance-enamored police commissioner, Raymond Kelly, leaves
these other American cities in the surveillance dust. Truly what we are
witnessing being created here is a 21st-century Panopticon.
The Panopticon, as envisaged by British philosopher Jeremy Bentham
(1748-1832), was a society (initially proposed as a prison) in which
surreptitious surveillance of the citizenry was always possible and
ever-known. Control was exercised not by being surveilled continuously
but by each person knowing they might be under surveillance at any time,
or all the time.
Bentham was a man ahead of his time. His pet project was never fully
carried out because the technology available at the time, relying as it
did on direct, physical surveillance (electricity as a harnessable
force, with which Benjamin Franklin was just then beginning to
experiment, was still more than a century away) made creation of a
workable Panopticon infeasible. Were Bentham alive today, he probably
would be the most sought-after consultant on the planet.
The key to the surveillance society foreseen by Bentham more than two
centuries ago was control. Crime was rampant in late 18th-century and
early 19th-century London. Controlling the populace by modifying
behavior became the central problem for Bentham and other social
scientists of the day.
Of course, the notion that surveillance is key to control was not new
with Bentham; centuries before, the Greek philosopher Plato had mused
about the power of the government to control through surveillance, when
he raised the still-relevant question, "Who watches the watchers?"
More recently, of course, George Orwell gave voice to the innate fear
that resides deep in many of our psyches against government
surveillance, in his nightmare, "Big Brother is Watching You" world of
the novel "1984."
Whether in Bentham's world, or Plato's or Orwell's, the central task is
to modify behavior by convincing people that the government ? that
entity with power over their lives ? may be watching them all the time
or at any particular time. As 20th-century American philosopher and
advocate of personal freedom Ayn Rand noted, taking away a person's
privacy renders to the government the ability to control absolutely that
person.
In fact, studies by Bentham and others have established that individuals
do in fact modify their behavior if they believe they are being watched
by authorities.
Whether learned of these philosophical treatises or not, Mayor Bloomberg
and former Prime Minister Blair epitomize the almost mindless,
unquestioning embrace of surveillance as the solution to problems ?
real, manufactured or exaggerated ? that pervades government
post-September 11, 2001. Fear of terrorism as much as fear of crime is
the currency by which government at all levels convinces a fearful
populace that a surveilled society is a safe society.
Of course, Messrs. Bloomberg and Blair have one benefit available to
them that was largely denied Bentham ? money. Lots of money. "Homeland
security" money taken from the wallets of taxpayers, but treated by
government appropriators as theirs by right, is eagerly ladled out for
cameras to surveill all. Add the magic words "for fighting terrorism" to
your request for federal money and the chances of securing those dollars
are made many times greater.
Not only is money readily available for government agencies to install,
monitor and expand surveillance systems, but the cameras themselves are
magnificent generators of money. Already in London, vehicle owners are
billed for using their cars and trucks in certain areas and at certain
times, through use of surveillance cameras that photograph, record and
track vehicle license plates. The multimillion-dollar system being set
up by Mayor Bloomberg and Commissioner Kelly will almost certainly be
similarly employed down the road.
With more than 4.2 million closed-circuit television surveillance
cameras now operating in Great Britain (the vast majority in and around
London), Mr. Bloomberg has a long way to catch up to his British
counterparts. Yet the eagerness with which he is approaching this
challenge, coupled with the easy money available to him and a largely
ignorant and compliant citizenry willing to surrender their privacy in
the vain hope that thousands of surveillance cameras will guarantee
their safety, bodes well for the Gotham City to overtake London as the
most surveilled city on the planet. Somewhere, Jeremy Bentham is
smiling; and George Orwell is saying, "I told you so."
Bob Barr is a former Republican member of the U.S. House of
Representatives from Georgia and a former U.S. attorney there.
------------------------------
Message: 10
Date: Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:29:26 -0500
From: Rob <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] ?Surveillance society? warning on data sharing
To: Media-News <medianews@twiar.org>, Tom and Darryl
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed
?Surveillance society? warning on data sharing
Michael Peel
Financial Times
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/fdf57d8c-4458-11dc-90ca-0000779fd2ac.html
Confidential personal data ? gleaned from sources as diverse as driving
licences, medical records and store loyalty cards ? is now often shared
without people?s knowledge, the information commission will warn on
Tuesday, in its latest salvo against what it calls the ?surveillance
society?.
The commission says the increasingly complex web of information sharing
? involving the public and private sectors, and bodies ranging from
hospitals to credit reference agencies ? can make it hard for people to
assert their legal rights to view information held about them.
The commission does not name specific organisations, but its comments
echo a growing debate over the increasingly widespread and sophisticated
use of information gathered by official agencies and businesses.
The data can be gleaned from sources such as supermarket loyalty cards
and Transport for London?s Oyster plastic travel ticket.
Simon Davies, director of Privacy International, said there was ?almost
zero awareness? among the public of the detail of how data was shared,
meaning that in some organisations sharing of information was becoming
the ?default?.
?Very soon, it will be difficult, if not impossible, to stop the data
sharing juggernaut,? he said.
Richard Thomas, the information commissioner, has stressed that such
sharing can be valuable in some circumstances, but he is also worried it
is developing with very little accompanying public debate.
Privacy specialists say the importance of tight monitoring of
data-sharing has become ever more acute due to the rise of company
marketing databases such as those of the loyalty programmes Tesco
Clubcard and Nectar.
The subject has attracted the attention of the Commons home affairs
select committee, which in June examined how loyalty card information is
shared with the police.
Tesco said it only shared information with law enforcement authorities
when ?absolutely necessary?, adding that its safeguards to prevent
misuse of the personal information it held were ?pretty foolproof?.
Another focus of debate is Transport for London?s Oyster card, which has
been embraced by police as a tool for tracking the movements of
suspected criminals. ?There is no bulk disclosure of data,? TfL said.
------------------------------
Message: 11
Date: Tue, 07 Aug 2007 18:33:45 -0500
From: Rob <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Medianews] Police to flex stop and search muscles
To: Media-News <medianews@twiar.org>, Tom and Darryl
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed
Police to flex stop and search muscles
In the News.co.uk
http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/crime/police-flex-stop-and-search-muscles-$1119511.htm
Londoners should not be surprised if they are searched on the streets in
the next few months, the Metropolitan police have warned.
Officers plan on using their stop and search powers significantly more
in the capital this summer and autumn in order to "disrupt, deter and
prevent terrorist activity".
Although acknowledging that the public will be inconvenienced by the
increased searches, Commander Rod Jarman of the Met said
counter-terrorism officers had to act in order to keep London safe.
"You may see an increase in overt counter-terrorism activities by the
police over the coming months," he said.
"To compliment out more covert methods of fighting terrorism we must
have a more visible presence to deter and prevent terrorist activity.
"Terrorists have been thwarted, but as the appalling attacks of July
2005 and recent events demonstrate, we must assume that they will try
again."
Stop and search powers have proved controversial since their
introduction in section 44 of the Terrorism Act 2000.
Critics have said the searching of certain ethnic groups more than
others will breed resentment and foster more terrorism threats as a result.
But the government has backed the powers as an important tool in the
fight against terrorism.
A review of the legislation by Lord Carlile, published last year, warned
that any abuses of the system would damage community relations.
------------------------------
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End of Medianews Digest, Vol 348, Issue 1
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