What is the Sherman Act?

A federal law design protect against conspiracies to restrain trade or commerce and monopolies in trade or commerce. 

Elections 2013 - the end of ANP's identity politics in KPK?

By Yasser Latif Hamdani

In 2008 ANP's victory in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and its subsequent alliance with PPP at the center had mistakenly been seen as a victory for Pushtun Nationalism. That myth was burst in May 2013, just as the myth of MMA's Islamist politics had exploded earlier. The people of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pushtun and Non-Pushtun, religious or non-religious, have proved yet again that they are not swayed by emotional slogans. After all if identity politics was what it was all about the renaming of NWFP as KPK should have been considered a major feather in the cap of ANP. The people of KPK, while proud of their new name which was an important corrective in Pakistani history, voted PTI because ANP's government from 2008-2013 was a spectacular failure on every count.

CraigsList Lawsuit against 3Taps and Padmapper; trespass to chattels.

By YLH

Last year CraigsList sued 3Taps and Padmapper  to ensure that it is not deintermediated by these two aggregators. The court has since maintained the suit despite legal challenge, on grounds of trespass to chattels.  It is important to bear in mind that this was rejected in California's decision in Intel Corp v. Hamidi. Internet is largely dependent on use of many computers and the trespass to chattels argument is a very dangerous one.

Google says it is subject only to US Law.

What is the "lex" of a computer transaction?

At the recently concluded Stockholm Internet Forum Google claimed that it was only subject to US Law.

Hogwash.  Any internet transaction or exchange of information that happens has three laws attracted to it:

1.  The laws of the countries of the two users.  that is 1 + 1 in most cases.

2. The laws of the country where the server is located.

Google's comments about being subject to only American laws is legally untenable and indicative of an arrogance that Google has acquired over the years. It is literally a global state now. It therefore can back its statement by sheer force and influence but not legal theory.

Stockholm Internet Forum

Here is an update I wrote about the Stockholm Internet Forum:

Sooner or later, the entire world will have to accept access to the internet, freely and without fetters, as a human right. For us in Pakistan, we have to make a clear choice. The extremist minority that keeps us hostage to fear and bigotry will try and drag us backwards always. The answer, the road to progress and prosperity lies in ensuring that all our citizens are granted equal access to information freely and without any surveillance. Internet freedom is going to be the key indicator in human freedom and human rights. Let us not allow ourselves to be sold off or manipulated any longer by those conniving powers that be, which wish to exercise control over our thoughts and minds.

 Stockholm Internet Forum was a veritable gathering of the who's who of the internet. The objective was one: Free internet without any state or corporate fetters.

YouTube Case Hearing 3.5.2013

               

PRESS RELEASE

                                                           FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Dr. Sania Nishtar, Minister of Science and Technology to appear today in the Lahore High Court in YouTube Case i.e. Bytes For All v. Federation of Pakistan

Yasser Latif Hamdani, Counsel for Petitioner organization Bytes For All, says that the YouTube ban takes away the right of Muslims to respond to scurrilous attacks on Islam and the Holy Prophet (PBUH).

LAHORE: Dr. Sania Nishtar will appear in the court of Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah at the Lahore High Court in reference to the ongoing YouTube Case i.e. Bytes For All v. Federation of Pakistan 958/2013 to explain the Ministry of Information Technology’s position on the banning of YouTube. The Counsel for the Petitioners is Yasser Latif Hamdani, Advocate High Court and a constitutional lawyer specializing in technology and internet related matters. The Petitioner has filed a writ petition challenging the internet curbs by the PTA, including but not limited to YouTube.

“The Petitioner’s point of view is that all internet curbs are counterproductive and deprive Pakistanis the right to access of information as well as the right to counter any propaganda against the country or against what they believe in strongly,” said Mr. Hamdani in a statement released here today.  He continued: “Taking away YouTube’s access is the modern equivalent of taking away the scholar’s pen.  Imagine if Sir Syed Ahmed Khan was not allowed to respond to scurrilous attacks on the Holy Prophet (PBUH)  in the 19^th century.  Islam has a tradition of free speech, discourse and toleration that goes back 14 centuries and we should not abandon that tradition now when we need our best and the brightest to defend, counter and clarify the misconceptions about our great faith.”

Yasser Latif Hamdani also stated that while efforts are underway to find a middle ground between internet freedom and offensive materials, ultimately all curbs would hurt Pakistan more than it will hurt those who are engaging in scurrilous and offensive rhetoric.  “Our students, teachers and researchers have been deprived of a great resource of knowledge and information. It hurts the material progress of Pakistanis, a great majority of whom are Muslims,” declared Mr. Hamdani.  The PTA “made an incorrect submission when they declared that they could not ban individual URLs especially HTTPS URLs.  The recent ban on Beghairat Brigade’s video on vimeo shows that individual HTTPS URLs can be easily blocked,” he continued.  He was of the view that the across the board block on YouTube, therefore, was unjustified.

The Court has already begun exploring various ways in which Google, the parent organization of YouTube, can be given Intermediary Liability Protection, so that it may be allowed to come and introduce Youtube.com.pk domain which would allow the reopening of YouTube. Google is set to appear in the court on May 17, 2013.

Existence of FinFisher Command and Control in Pakistan

Bytes For All, Pakistan, a Pakistan based NPO, has confirmed that FinFisher Software Command and Control Center exists in Pakistan and is being operated by PTCL.

Needless to say this violates Article 14 of the Constitution of Pakistan as it infringes on the privacy and security of Pakistani citizens.

Read Media Report on the issue here.