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Waiting on the RIAA, feds held seized Dajaz1 domain for months | ars technica

Documents unsealed this week reveal that the year-long delay in returning the seized Dajaz1 domain name occurred in part because the government was waiting for copyright holders, including the Recording Industry Association of America, to provide more information. The documents were released in response to a joint request from the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the First Amendment Coalition and Wired (which shares a parent company with Ars). The documents raise fresh questions about the domain seizure process created by Congress in the 2008 PRO-IP Act.

Dajaz1.com was (and is) a popular hip hop music blog. In its application to seize the site’s domain name, the government cited four links to allegedly infringing songs hosted on cyber-locker sites. Dajaz1’s attorney says the site complied with the DMCA takedown process, and has also suggested to Ars that some of the music was leaked by agents of the music labels themselves in an effort to create “buzz” for forthcoming albums.

After Dajaz1 filed a request to get the seized domain back in early 2011, the government had until May 16 to either return the domain or file a formal forfeiture request. Instead, the government filed for a series of three 60-day extensions in mid-May, mid-July, and mid-September, respectively. These extension requests—like all the documents in the case—were filed under seal and were not even available to Dajaz1 or its lawyer.

But after the Dajaz1 domain was finally released back to its owner, EFF and its partners pressured the government to unseal the documents in the case. Rather than trying to defend the secrecy of the documents, the government gave in and agreed to have them released, which occurred this week.

Young people unaware of sex infection risk | Society | guardian.co.uk

A new survey reveals many young people appear to be unaware of the risks of contracting sexually transmitted infections.

Youth resource TheSite.org asked 16 to 25-year-olds about their attitudes towards sex and alcohol. The survey found that almost half thought that it was OK to have sex without a condom if the girl is on the pill.

The survey also revealed that almost a third of respondents had caught an STI after a night of drinking and 62% of those who had unprotected sex didn’t go for an STI test afterwards.

Why am I surrounded by idiots in my age group?

UK to science publishers: don't follow recording industry down the tubes | ars technica

There’s been a growing push to get more scientific research out from behind paywalls. The federal government, private funding bodies, and a number of research institutions have all adopted policies that either mandate or encourage placing papers where the public can view them. Now, it appears that the UK is considering following suit. In addition to planning to make its researchers’ publications available, the country’s science minister has asked Wikipedia’s Jimmy Wales to advise it on how to make the underlying data accessible.

The announcements came in a speech by David Willetts, the UK’s Minister of State for Universities and Science. Willets was pretty blunt about access to government-funded research, saying, “As taxpayers put their money towards intellectual inquiry, they cannot be barred from then accessing it.”

Defence minister: Equal marriage contributed to Tory local election losses - PinkNews.co.uk

Gerald Howarth, a junior defence minister who opposed equal rights for gay couples in the armed forces and marriage equality generally says the government’s proposals to allow gay and straight couples equal access to civil marriage were a contributing factor in election losses last night.

In local elections around the UK, Labour made large gains on the Conservatives, gaining hundreds of seats and the control of 22 councils, an estimated 39 percent of the vote over the Tories’ 31 percent, according to BBC figures.

Mr Howarth, Minister for International Security Strategy, told the BBC: “There are issues, for example, like the proposals for gay marriage.

“A lot of Conservatives have written to me saying ‘I am a lifelong Conservative, there is no mandate for this, why is this being proceeded with?’.

“There is the business of trying to change the House of Lords. Do we need to do this at a time when the nation is preoccupied with restoring the public finances?”

Then they are idiots because…

“We will also consider the case for changing the law to allow civil partnerships to be called and classified as marriage.”

http://www.conservatives.com/news/news_stories/2010/05/~/media/Files/Downloadable%20Files/Manifesto/Equalities-Manifesto.ashx

"Literally" the day he was arrested, hacker "Sabu" helped the FBI | ars technica

Monsegur’s state of mind at the time is impossible to discern, but the government noted just how important it was to keep his activities a secret. Anonymous and LulzSec hackers were known to retaliate by “ordering hundreds of pizzas to someone’s house” or “calling in hostage situations in part by using family information and having a SWAT team show up at that person’s home. It’s actually called ‘swatting.’” Monsegur had already “incurred a significant amount of personal risk by deciding to cooperate.”

While Monsegur’s work wasn’t enough to prevent the hacks of companies like Stratfor in December 2011, it apparently derailed many others. And it was crucial in the international spate of early March arrests that brought in most of the core LulzSec crew.

As for Monsegur, his own fate isn’t yet known. His court case continues, and Monsegur has remained out of sight, no doubt hoping to avoid a flood of pizzas—or worse.

Pope: Straight marriage must be ‘defended from misrepresentation’ - PinkNews.co.uk

Pope Benedict XVI has told an audience of bishops in the US marriage between men and women must be ‘promoted and defended’.

In the address, he claimed: “Sexual differences cannot be dismissed as irrelevant to the definition of marriage.”

AFP reports he spoke of “powerful political and cultural currents seeking to alter the legal definition of marriage” and said marriage and family must be defended “from every possible misrepresentation of their true nature”.

He added: “The contemporary crisis of marriage and the family… has led to grave societal problems bearing an immense human and economic cost.”

In January, Pope Benedict XVI reportedly said allowing gay couples equal marriage rights could threaten the future of humanity.

According to Reuters, the pontiff said “pride of place goes to the family, based on the marriage of a man and a woman” when discussing appropriate “settings” for children.

Of straight marriage, he said: “This is not a simple social convention, but rather the fundamental cell of every society.

“Consequently, policies which undermine the family threaten human dignity and the future of humanity itself.”

Says the head of an institution that systematically abuses children through molestation and fear.

UK Catholic cardinal: Gay marriage is ‘a grotesque madness proposed by a disingenuous government’ - PinkNews.co.uk

Writing in the Sunday Telegraph, the most senior Catholic in Scotland, Cardinal Keith Michael Patrick O’Brien, has said that gay marriage is a “grotesque subversion of a universally accepted human right”. He suggests that same sex marriage will lead to three way marriages and compares the government’s support for equality to legalising slavery.

The Conservative MP Margot James said Cardinal O’Brien’s language was “unacceptable” while the Home Office says that couples should have the right to marry “irrespective of their sexual orientation”.

His article comes just a week after the spiritual head of the Church of England, Rowan Williams said that the Anglican communion will fight gay marriage. Introducing gay marriage is supported across the political spectrum including by the SNP first minister of Scotland, Alex Salmond; the Conservative prime minister of the UK, David Cameron; the Liberal Democrat deputy prime minister of the UK, Nick Clegg; and by the Labour leader Ed Miliband.

A ridiculous statement that can’t be backed by evidence made by a catholic? Nothing new then. Yet I bet he would disagree that the Catholic church is evil and needs to be abolished for fucking kids and covering it up. But no, it’s gay marriage that is “grotesque”.

News: Jet Set Radio HD confirmed for this summer - first screens - ComputerAndVideoGames.com

The digital re-release of Jet Set Radio, which was teased last week, will arrive on PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and PC this summer, Sega has confirmed.

Occupy London: Q&A with Naomi Colvin and George Barda | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk

HaveYouSeenThisMan asks:

Do you continue to believe you represent 99% of the population?

George Barda replies:

The ‘99%’ idea is very much an aspiration rather than an arrogation, and is based for me on the fact that 99% of people around the world believe in principle, that if it were up to them the world would be a much nicer place. The problem for me lies chiefly in the cognitive mapping of mainstream media that constructs a highly disempowered sense of agency - see Gillian Tett among others on this..

That is such bullshit.