protest
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Bay Area transit operator cuts cell service to thwart protest, activists abandon cause for Angry Birds
It looks like not even good old civil disobedience can survive without decent reception these days. In a seemingly successful attempt to shut down a protest of BART -- the Bay Area's answer to a subway system -- operators pulled the plug on cell service to multiple train stations, leaving would-be activists without a major organizing tool. The demonstration would have been the second in as many months in response to the shooting of a man by transit police. Officials had this to say in defense of the disruption: A civil disturbance during commute times at busy downtown San Francisco stations could lead to platform overcrowding and unsafe conditions for BART customers, employees and demonstrators. BART temporarily interrupted service at select BART stations as one of many tactics to ensure the safety of everyone on the platform. That didn't seem to sit well with some, as the cutoff has lead to a campaign by hackers, comparing the system to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who disconnected the country's internet during its recent revolution. It may have a ring to it, but muBARTek does seem a little much, don't you think?
US funds shadow networks, builds 'internet in a suitcase' for repressed protesters
Whether a repressive government, a buggy DNS server or a little old lady is behind your internet outage, it can't be much fun, but the US government sympathizes with your plight if you're dealing with reason number one. The New York Times reports that the US State Department will have spent upwards of $70 million on "shadow networks" which would allow protesters to communicate even if powers that be pull the traditional plug -- so far, it's spent at least $50 million on a independent cell phone network for Afghanistan, and given a $2 million grant to members of the New America Foundation creating the "internet in a suitcase" pictured above. It's a batch of mesh networking equipment designed to be spirited into a country to set up a private network. Last we'd heard, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had pledged $25 million for just this sort of internet freedom, and the New America Foundation had applied for some of those bucks -- see our more coverage links below -- but it sounds like the money is flowing fast, and in multiple directions now.
US Uncut group to target Apple with protests on June 4
If you see a group of people dancing in front of your local Apple store next weekend, don't be alarmed. Steve Jobs didn't make a surprise visit to the store and, no, Apple isn't launching another product. They are just protesters from the US Uncut group. The grassroots movement is upset with corporate tax loopholes and has deciced to target the Cupertino company on June 4. They accuse Apple and other corporations like Pfizer of hiding US income as foreign income to avoid paying taxes. The group is calling on its members to protest with a flash mob-style dance-in outside Apple retail stores around the US. Read on for a video to find out why this group is so upset with Steve Jobs and company.
Protesters plank outside Foxconn's shareholder meeting
Protesters are planking outside a Foxconn shareholder meeting to demand higher wages and voice their dissatisfaction with the company's treatment of its employees. Planking is a trendy new activity that involves people laying face down on the ground with arms by their side for fun, or in this case, as a protest. Foxconn has been in the hot seat following a rash of employee suicides in 2010 and reports that it treats its workers harshly.
Internet access blocked across much of Libya
It's sort of becoming the "thing to do" when people are revolting: find a way to cut people's access to the internet. This happened across most of Libya yesterday, according to various traffic monitors. Traffic from the country to sites like YouTube and Google nearly disappeared, even though it seems that technically, the servers are still up and running. Unlike the previous actions of the Egyptian government, which took down entire servers, it appears that in this case, some wicked throttling is occurring. While it's not completely clear who is choking the bandwidth, the assumption that it's the Libyan government is probably not an insane one. Hit up the source links for more.
THQ planning North Korean protest to promote Homefront
Surprised? Yeah, we're not either. Turns out that THQ is once again planning a North Korean-themed event , though this time it's GDC that the publisher is invading. As reported by the SF Weekly, anti-North Korean protesters (read: hired actors) will be marching across the Golden Gate bridge, through the streets of SF, and ending across the street from GDC at Yerba Buena Gardens. And as you likely inferred from the headline above, the protest is staged in promotion of the company's next game, Homefront. This time around, the spectacle intends on decrying "North Korea's human rights violations," and apparently features "speeches by global experts, musical performances, and the launch of 10,000 balloons." We're not sure what the balloons have to do with the forthcoming launch of Homefront, but we're all about decrying human rights violations. So, um, score?
Egypt enters communication blackout with disruption to internet, SMS, and BlackBerry messaging
We don't know what exactly is going on over in Egypt, but the country's government seems to have decided that keeping in touch with the outside world is no longer desirable and has almost completely shut down internet, SMS, and BlackBerry communications. It's not surprising, therefore, that reports are emerging in rather piecemeal form at the moment, though Renesys has hard data showing that almost all routes for exchanging internet traffic with the country have been shut down, with only Noor Group excepted from the block -- a move the internet analytics company theorizes might have been motivated by a desire to keep the Egyptian Stock Exchange online. The reasons for this blackout remain open to speculation and interpretation -- most of which, we remind you, has better destinations than your favorite tech blog -- but its content is clearly an extreme step for any government to take. Check out the links below for further details. [Image credit: seandenigris.com]
Dude, it's an iPad on a stick! (video)
Think you've seen all the weird and wonderful uses an iPad can be put to? You've clearly not been to Lithuania, where a protest against the country's emigration policy temporarily disintegrated into a laugh-fest when a serious-looking gent whipped out his Apple tablet ... attached to a stick. Cognizant of the drizzly weather, he also encased his sublimely high-tech placard inside a plastic bag, proving once again that it's not the gadget but the gadget owner's imagination that limits usage scenarios. See this sign of our times bobbing up and down with disapprobation after the break. [Thanks, KArolynaz]
One Shots: Peaceful protest
While the masses here in the U.S. are currently enjoying a free-to-play version of Lord of the Rings Online, our MMO gaming brethren across the pond are still wondering when precisely their version will go free-to-play. As such, they organized a rally to peacefully protest the delays, as we see in today's One Shots sent in to us by Henric. He writes in to explain it for those of us who weren't there; "EU players marched through Bree [last] Saturday on the Laurelin server to protest against the lack of information from Turbine and Codemasters about the F2P update in Europe. My character Henric is in front. We thought this would be a nice way to let off some steam. The event was RP friendly and over 50 attendees showed up. No server hamsters where harmed during the march." Have you captured an interesting slice of life from your favorite game? If so, share it with us! Email your images in to us here at oneshots@massively.com along with your name, the name of the game, and a description of what we're seeing. Please make sure your image is at least 1024px wide with little to no visible UI elements so we can use it! Yours could be the next one we feature here on Massively! %Gallery-85937%
Microsoft responds to Russian crackdown by extending software licenses to NGOs
Put yourself in Microsoft's shoes for a second: how would you feel if the Russian government used your product as a pretext for shutting down opposition groups? As you know, that's exactly what happened in January when an NGO known as Baikal Environmental Wave had its computers confiscated under the pretext of searching for pirated Microsoft software. The group, it seems, is spearheading opposition to the reopening of a paper factory with a history of polluting Lake Baikal -- much to the chagrin of a certain Prime Minister Putin. In an attempt to keep this sort of thing from happening in the future (and to clean up its tarnished image), Microsoft has announced that it will provide a unilateral NGO Software License that automatically covers NGOs and media outlets in Russia and other, as yet unspecified, countries, and which will extend until at least 2012. "We want to be clear," said VP and general counsel Brad Smith. "We unequivocally abhor any attempt to leverage intellectual property rights to stifle political advocacy or pursue improper personal gain."
Labor practice protest goes down at Computex, Steve Jobs called an 'OEM profit bloodsucker'
It's hard to say if today's protest outside of the Computex show floor has anything in particular to do with Taiwan's president showing up to tour the expo, but there's zero doubt that it has a lot to do with the recent attention given to questionable labor practices in Foxconn's Chinese facilities. A good two dozen protesters were out in force today, with loads of police and TV cameras giving the world a look at how these folks feel about Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Wintek's CEO in particular. As for Jobs, he was being labeled an "OEM profit bloodsucker" and "the man behind irresponsible contractors," while a slew of others were deemed "production line killers, number one union butchers, representatives of mass layoffs and kings of chemical killing." We also spotted instances of "tired to death" and "suicide overtime work," neither of which are particularly rosy. Hit the gallery below for more of the mayhem. %Gallery-94025%
Sonic fans create the best boycott of all time
[Fanpop; bramcurtis] digg_url = 'http://www.joystiq.com/2010/02/26/sonic-fans-create-the-best-boycott-of-all-time/'; Thanks to the internet, the word "boycott" no longer conveys an element of gravitas. In fact, we're pretty certain that this collection of 1080 (and counting) Sonic fans doesn't actually understand the point of a boycott. The petitioners are upset about Sonic the Hedgehog 4, knowing full well from the leaked footage that it will "simply not be anywhere near as good as the original Sonic games." They're not going to stand for this and have threatened to hurt Sega where it hurts the most: sales. "We will not buy it," the petition explains. "We will in fact buy Sonic 1 on release in protest of Sonic 4." Take that, Sega! Instead of giving you money, these people are going to ... give you money? Ha! Lesson learned. But in all seriousness, we do want to take a moment to offer some advice to the protesters: The best way to show Sega your disapproval isn't to buy another one of its games. Instead, satiate your desire to hurt Sega and needlessly throw away your money by sending a check or money order to: Andrew Yoon c/o AOL, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003. Thanks, Sonic fans! [Via Destructoid]
2,000 Wintek workers go on strike over bonus payments, may affect Nokia and iPhone production
As the Year of the Tiger approaches (February 14th this year), Chinese workers look forward to their week-long holiday -- a nightmarish time for foreign vendors who'll struggle to get hold of anyone in the country. Sadly, this wasn't the case for Wintek -- screen supplier for Nokia, Huawei and Apple. The Taiwanese company's East China factory ground to a halt last Friday morning, while about 2,000 of its 10,000 workers went on a five-hour protest over a rumored bonus cancellation for the second year in a row. On top of that, workers also criticized Wintek for using n-hexane -- a banned substance used for cleaning LCDs -- which they claim caused the death and paralyzation of several workers last year. Factory officials and Chinese health authorities don't deny that n-hexane was used, but they say it wasn't responsible for either the deaths or the paralyzations. Now, the good news: Wintek has promised that workers will get their bonuses, and further said that the factory hasn't used n-hexane since August -- complete with proof that current n-hexane levels are lower than safety regulations require. Let's hope things get better between management and workers from now on. One more picture and video of the protest after the break.
Dante's Inferno draws fire for baby murder Achievement
Dante's Inferno is getting flak from a nanny group over an Achievement for killing unbaptized babies -- not ironically, it's named "Bad Nanny." As GamePolitics points out, the International Nanny Association (INA) released a statement calling the 'cheevo "offensive to our association," as it seemingly defies the INA's goal to "promote and educate the public regarding the selfless work nannies do to support families." We here at Joystiq are thoroughly offended too, though mostly because we know that more than one person on staff will be once again be forced into a morally compromising position in the endless hunt for virtual grandeur.%Gallery-45836%
Petition for dedicated servers in Modern Warfare 2 growing rapidly
Normally, we try to avoid writing about petitions from incensed gamers who're miffed at some corporate slight recently made against them. However, the petition which was drawn in response to Infinity Ward's somewhat unpopular decision not to allow dedicated servers in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is different -- not only for its reasonable request that the developer "review their decision" regarding the game's server hosting capabilities, but also because it's garnered around 75,000 signatures since the announcement was made just two days ago. As is often the case with instances of internet democracy, it's impossible to know whether or not the petition will influence Infinity Ward to reverse its dedicated server policy. We've contacted IW's Robery Bowling to see if the petition has at least made a blip on the developer's sizable radar screen. %Gallery-50567%
Germany's Killer Game drive killed by lack of interest
A German advocacy group called Aktionsbündnis Amoklauf Winnenden, which is mostly composed of parents and friends of victims of the tragic Winnenden school shooting from earlier this year, recently attempted to host an event where owners of violent video games would dispose of their aggressive software en masse. The group rented out a sizable dumpster, hoping to fill it to its brim with Mature video games which people had spent their hard-earned money on. We certainly sympathize with the horrible loss this group recently suffered, but even if they choose to vilify video games, asking people to throw their stuff away probably isn't the most effective course of action. The somewhat predictable results of this event can be found in a video after the jump.
Protesters planning second march against Army Experience Center
During this past May, a group of Philadelphians caught our attention when they led a protest march against the local "Army Experience Center," a location in the Franklin Mills Mall which uses video games (such as America's Army) to attract potential recruits. The march went off without a hitch -- tons of folks carried signs and slogans into the mall, caused a thought-provoking stir outside of the A.E.C., and seven people got arrested. Oh, wait. We guess that qualifies as a "hitch."It seems the group is rallying for round two against the recruitment center -- they've opened a website to garner support for another protest march, which is set to commence September 12. If you're interested, the site has a lengthy list of instructions for what you should do to get ready for the march. Sticking flowers in your hair, however, is not one of the recommended steps.
New York newspaper backs free speech claim for controversial game
The last time we mentioned artist Wafaa Bilal's inflammatory Virtual Jihadi installation, it had been removed from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute by administrators. Shortly after that, it was moved to an art gallery in Troy, New York -- which the city's Public Works Commissioner then shut down, citing building code violations.Last week, the New York Civil Liberties Union filed a federal lawsuit against the city official, Robert Mirch, and the city of Troy, seeking not only damages for the gallery, but a court order to block the city from using its building code in such a way in the future.Sunday's edition of the Albany Times Union featured an editorial about the issue, offering support for the lawsuit. "What constitutes free and protected speech in Troy, and what constitutes public safety and unacceptable building code violations, aren't merely matters of fiat," the editorial opens. "They aren't simply up to the whims of Robert Mirch. They shouldn't be, at least." Now we'll know the reason if the Albany paper is shut down tomorrow.[Via GamePolitics]
Christian bloggers protesting fake EA protest
After staging a protest/publicity stunt outside of E3 last week against upcoming EA game Dante's Inferno, the company is catching heat from Christian bloggers. InsideCatholic says on its website, "It's been clear for a while now that the entertainment industry views Christians on the whole as priggish, thin-skinned fun-killers," further wondering if "anyone at EA even read the Inferno." Catholic Video Gamers fires an even more direct shot at EA's Dante's Inferno, saying, "Instead of engaging in a shamelessly anti-Christian stunt to promote your poor excuse of a product, maybe you ought to work on making this game, you know, something better than a blatant God of War rip-off." Wait, isn't Christianity all about forgiving? Oh well! Hopefully EA will think twice next time it decides to fake a protest and instead choose protesters without any major religious affiliation. [Via GameSpot]
Labor dispute with Apple display supplier intensifies
After gathering in front of Apple's offices in Taiwan earlier this week, protesters are now demanding a substantive response from Apple by the end of the month regarding alleged workplace labor and safety violations at Wintek, one of Apple's display component suppliers. Labor groups associated with the protesters claim that Wintek unlawfully fired 619 workers, cut salaries without negotiation, and forced employees to work overtime without pay to fulfill rush orders. The company has since re-hired 20 of those workers and says it is operating within the law. Wintek has also threatened legal action if "company and stakeholder interests" are jeopardized. Wintek further claims that labor groups are violating their agreements and encouraging workers to demand benefits illegally. The protesters appear to be using the popularity of Apple's brand name to get attention to their cause. "We want to go through Apple to put pressure on Wintek," said Chu Wei-li, secretary-general of the Taipei-based National Federation of Independent Trade Unions. Apple Asia released a tepid response after the protests. Spokeswoman Jill Tan said, "Apple conducts regular audits of suppliers to make sure they comply with Apple's code of conduct. We require corrective actions when we find violations." An audit is exactly what aggrieved Wintek employees say they are demanding. MacNN says that rights groups associated with the protests are also asking the Electronics Industry Citizen Coalition to investigate Apple's delay in responding to the matter. Wintek was recently rumored to be the winner of the display contract for Apple's "media pad" tablet device. Some analysts predict the tablet will go on sale next year. Apple has previously found itself in the middle of other labor disputes. In 2006, Foxconn workers protested low pay and poor working conditions while assembling iPods. Apple conducted its own investigation and found that the company violated overtime rules and unreasonably punished workers. Since then, cute pictures of Foxconn employees have thawed the image of the supplier.
