CARE IN THE COMMUNITY issue 1: child porn, ritalin and the space lady

tobyslater CARE IN THE COMMUNITY
http://www.tobyslater.com
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>>issue 1 : weds jan 15 2003
unsubscribe details below
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Dear FRIENDS, FAMILY and SWORN ENEMIES

Instead of the sporadic gig announcements I've been doing in the past, I'm now going to be publishing on a regular basis - with links, music, listings and opinion sent out in an e-mail exactly like this.

Before I launch into it, though, I want to make clear that I hate spam as much as you do... which is why I promise that it will always be extremely easy for you to unsubscribe: instantly, permanently, and at any time. You can follow the LINK at the bottom of this mail or reply to this message with the word 'unsubscribe' in the header. Plus, it goes without saying that I'll never sell or otherwise pass on your address or other details. This is a personal mailing, not something from some faceless corporation.

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>MISSING THE POINT?

"The industry needs to promote the joy of CD collection and to revive the value of owning a physical object"

- NEW YORK TIMES paraphrasing music business expert HILARY ROSEN of the RIAA
http://www.shorl.com/gafrygratusyry

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>>>next tobyslater GIG

My next gig will be _tomorrow_, THURSDAY 16 JANUARY, acoustic and solo

at the KASHMIR KLUB, 6 Nottingham Place, London W1, UK. Entry FREE.
Live webcast can be viewed at http://www.kashmirklub.com/livelinks.htm
More info: http://www.tobyslater.com/gigs/

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>PARTICULARLY GRUESOME ANTI-DRUGS ADVERT (4.7 MB mpg movie):
http://obscure.co.nz/video/nobrainer080103.mpg

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>>THOUGHT OF THE WEAK: kiddie-fiddlers, digital freedom and ID cards

discuss on the messageboard: http://www.tobyslater.com/board

"THERE'S NO JUSTICE LIKE ANGRY MOB JUSTICE"
(The Simpsons)

Following the convictions of musicians Gary Glitter and Jonathan King (and allegations surrounding Who guitarist Pete Townshend), you'd be forgiven for wondering if the entire record industry has a leaning towards paedophilia. Certainly the indications - as evidenced by dozens of literally embryonic popsters over the years, most recently the S Club Juniors - are not particularly healthy.

So is it time to round up all music biz types and treat them to a dosage of some eye-watering 'Clockwork Orange'-style brainwashing, just in case? If the British tabloid newspapers are to be believed, probably... as long as rags like The Daily Star are still allowed to push their shots of "child singing sensation Charlotte Church", looking "chest swell".

I worry, however, that our obsession with child abusers is getting to be as ugly as our fascination with the child stars. Because paedophilia is so abhorrent, it's one of those subjects which we're told not to discuss, not to question. And while that's understandable, the taboo itself poses a danger, because it becomes so easy to use child abuse as a blanket excuse for withdrawing basic civil liberties.

The refrain "If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to fear" is heard a lot from people who don't think civil liberties are a big deal. But I reckon all of us have something to hide, even if it's just sentimental or personal details like the websites we use or what we like to eat. In the digital age, it's incredibly easy for our private information to be obtained then abused - and only this week have a lot of Internet users become aware of the true extent to which the authorities can track our online activities.

Pete Townshend has been questioned by police as part of "Operation Ore", in which the FBI traced the credit card numbers of 7,200 people who had subscribed to a child porn website in the late 90s. The suspects reportedly also include magistrates, two Members of Parliament, a London civil servant and Detective Constable Brian Stevens - a police liaison in the Jessica and Holly child murder case.

These people may have assumed that looking at a website would be anonymous and that their credit card details were secure ... but they were wrong. Police can examine site statistics, ISP logs and hack the encryption on credit card records; the intelligence services have Echelon, the global spy network used by the USA, UK and Australia to monitor satellite transmissions, phone calls and e-mails to alert investigators when key phrases (like 'Drugs', 'Saddam', and 'Nuke the West') are used.

Townshend was utterly wrong to pay money to a child porn site, even if as he claims it was in the name of anti-paedophile research. But his arrest underlines the fact that it is illegal simply to look at this material on the web. Have you ever searched for something illicit or suspicious on Google, even just for fun? I certainly have, and this freedom of information is a right I believe we should uphold. I fear that slowly there could be a trickle-down effect whereby it becomes illegal to search for information about terrorism, political extremism or drugs... or even for MP3s. More Communist China than Britain or the USA? I'm not so sure.

Already paedophilia and terrorism - as well as other emotive issues such as asylum / immigration - are being used by the British Government as reasons why a £1.5 BILLION pound ID card scheme should be introduced. Under the plans we'd carry a card featuring our fingerprint and iris details embedded on a microchip. The card would be a handy combination passport / driving licence / bus pass / Blockbuster video / golf club membership: all very convenient, but what's the point? Put bluntly, it's to facilitate monitoring and tracking of the population: the Erode-Your-Own-Freedom Loyalty Card.

The Government dubs it an "Entitlement Card", though in the UK it has long been an entitlement of citizens NOT to carry any form of ID whatsoever. They say it will be voluntary, but in fact you will need one to work, drive, use banking and health systems, vote, buy a house, receive benefits and travel - and probably, I suspect, any time you come into contact with the police.

In my life so far I have once been stopped and randomly searched by police, who (contrary to legal regulations) took down my name and address when no offence had been committed. In the world of the ID card, they would likely have scanned my card into a database... the kind of activity which I fear will paint circumstantial pictures of ordinary members of the public as criminals. Even if an ID card could help stop terrorists or child abusers (which, let's face it, is highly unlikely), it's still not worth facing the even greater loss which would result: our liberty.

According to a British Government press release, a public consultation on ID cards "shows a two-to-one split in favour of the plans". But this conclusion was drawn from just 1,500 responses to documents which most people don't even know exist. Fortunately, digital activism group http://www.stand.org.uk has been encouraging Web users to make clear their opposition - and since January 10, a massive 3664 messages have been sent to the Government from its site.

Unlike paedophiles, the ID card scheme might not grab tabloid headlines. ID cards might not scare us like kiddie porn does. Nevertheless, I believe we should all be afraid of them. Have a look at the links and make your own decision.

http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/dob/ecu.htm
http://www.privacyinternational.org/issues/idcard/uk/uk-idcard-faq.html
http://www.stand.org.uk

http://cryptome.org/freetotravel.htm - US readers not immune from ID issue

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UK CITIZENS, DELIVER YOUR RESPONSE TO THE GOVERNMENT
entitlementcardsunit@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk
for: (0845) 330 7245 against: (0845) 330 7246
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DISCUSS this THOUGHT on the CARE IN THE COMMUNITY messageboard:
http://www.tobyslater.com/board

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>>> Other tobyslater GIG DATES:

SAT 25 JAN, Up All Night @ SPICE OF LIFE, Soho, London, UK.
TUE 04 FEB, In Vein Records @ THE WINDMILL, Brixton, London, UK.

More info at http://www.tobyslater.com/gigs/

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>tobyslater SONG TO DOWNLOAD

At the prompting of attendees at a recent gig, I have made RITALIN (the song, not the drug) available in the MP3 section of the site.

But first you can sample it here:
http://www.tobyslater.com/music/realaudio/ritalin.ram (FULL LO-FI REALAUDIO)
http://www.tobyslater.com/music/clips/ritalin_clip.mp3 (30 SEC MP3 SAMPLE)

RITALIN and 10 other songs available from http://www.tobyslater.com/retailtherapy

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>>AUDIOBLOG: The Space Lady

Stark Bontempi version of "Major Tom (I'm Coming Home) by Peter Schilling, covered by San Francisco street performer - thespacelady@hotmail.com

http://www.otisfodder.com/365days-media.php?file=365days-01-02.mp3

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END TRANSMISSION
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