Common ground

There we are! Seems Sverigedemokraterna (SD) and the currect Government have even more in common than we thought. SD too, apparently, want to ban art and culture that can be deemed offensive by some.

So up until now we've got:
1. No respect of basic human rights
2. Less artistic freedom (as mentioned above)
3. Harsher punishment for committing victimless crimes
4. Moving away from the assumption that one is innocent until proven guilty
5. Even more surveillance

Plenty of common grounds to build a new government on. I think this might work out very well in the end.

Miljöpartiet selling out

I guess anyone who believed in Miljöpartiet's election promises on surveillance is feeling pretty ashamed today. Only 3 days after the elections a representative of the party, Isabelle Lövin manage to vote - brace yourself - in favor of the positively insane Gallo report, a report named after its equally insane (or completely corrupt) creator, Marielle Gallo. Read Isabelle Lövins pathetic excuse here. Notice how she uses a clearly fake petition signed among others by deceased filmmakers, to justify her vote for increased surveillance and oppression.

The report, for those of you unfamiliar with it, states on one hand that we don't know enough about the effects of file sharing (clearly all the independent research done over the last couple of years is irrelevant, as it doesn't support the view of the entertainment business), and on the other hand that this doesn't matter at all and that ISP's should be forced to monitor the users for illegal file sharing activities, and also risk liability should they not take action in a manner acceptable to the entertainment industry. In other words, legislation first, facts second. My oh my, if every industry could order oppressive legislation just like that...

Oh yeah, and the report also states that file sharing may lead to health risks. Really. That's just  how insane it is, and how dumb Isabelle Lövin and the other pathetic bastards voting in favor of this report are.

So, by voting in favor of this report, let's have a look at how this is honoring  Miljöpartiet's election promises, made only 3 days ago:

Att staten inte ska ha möjlighet att registrera och övervaka all internettrafik i Sverige. Right, we'll let the ISP's do the surveillance instead, and threaten them with liability if they don't cooperate.

Skapa en balanserad upphovsrätt och avkriminalisera fildelning för privat bruk.
Umm, yeah, a balanced copyright legislation is exactly what the Gallo report is all about...

Of course, traditional media refuse to pick up on this. Instead they're publishing a story on how 70% of Swedish voters have confidence in the politicians. Yeah, I wonder why.

UK police goes DDR

Speaking of eerie remnants of the DDR, the UK police seem hellbent on creating an informer society based on the same principles: If you believe your neighbours are behaving in a non-comforming way, report it to the police. Combined with the CCTV insanity going in there we've got pretty much a modern day DDR. A country where surveillance and informants make everyone a suspect:

The ad was part of a campaign for a police anti-terrorist hotline. It described a man who "likes to keep himself to himself", doesn't have a bank card and keeps his curtains closed, before advising that "this may mean nothing, but together it could all add up to you having suspicions".

You'd better not be a loner who doesn't like his neighbours peeking through the windows. If, in addition, you usually rely on cash rather than credit card, you're a potential terrorist.

This is the United Kingdom. This is 2010. For fucks sake.

Poor British bastards

Apparently the Brits will be getting "their own Reinfeldt" according to Swedish prime minister Fredrik Reinfeldt himself.

What have those poor bastards done to deserve even more surveillance and oppression?

Sverigedemokraterna - next in line to denounce integrity

Apparently Sverigedemokraterna, a political party mainly known for their hostility towards immigration (and immigrants), have included the installation of 285 new surveillance cameras in the city of Örebro, at a cost of 20 million SEK, in their shadow budget.

Centerpartiet politician Rasmus Persson claims on his blog that Sverigedemokraterna want to shatter the integrity of ordinary people by doing this.

Well, yes, obviously, and they better get in line, because all political parties in Sweden are at this point involved in what can only be described as a grotesque race to dismantle ordinary citizen's civil rights and integrity in the most bizarre ways. A race in the complete opposite direction of the voters, moving back into the middle ages at warp speed.

So, welcome aboard Sverigedemokraterna! You'll fit in just fine with all the other integrity-hating political parties.

Life behind the iron curtain

I woke up today and realized I'm living in DDR. Who would have thought, on that fateful day in 1989, that the fall of the Berlin wall, and the fall of the iron curtain, would in fact not export democracy and freedom to the east, but rather oppression and surveillance to the west? Who could have imagined that in Sweden in 2009 one would have to meet in secret places, talk quietly and constantly look over one's shoulder in order to stay out of the prying eyes and ears of the "Ministerium für Staatssicherheit"?

I sure as hell didn't.

A brave new world

It's a brave new world, indeed...

Surveillance, inc.

Opassande.se has published a brilliant, and chilling, list of all the new and oppressive surveillance laws passed, implemented and being discussed in Sweden and the EU, many of them bizarrely enough written and directed by the entertainment mafia themselves, giving them a carte blanche to continue their extortion business at the sacrifice of ordinary people's integrity and legal protection.

It's an utterly revolting list, and it certainly makes you question what kind of society you live in.

The wind of change

Traditionally, Swedes love surveillance, they love the thought of a "big brother" watching them and slapping them on their wrists when they do something bad. This has, of course, led to the government increasing their surveillance of ordinary people - just because they can. Thank God this mentality seems to be changing now. The oppression has increased severely during the last couple of years and culminated with the FRA law, which made people think twice about the amount of control a government should have over its citizens in a so-called democracy. The frustration has sparked much needed initiatives such as Piratpartiet.

Refuse / Resist - part 2

Speaking of grim dystopias, there seems to be no end to what lengths governments in previously civilized countries will go in order to control the population. Have a look at this depressing piece of reading on how Holland's citizens are on a highway to hell, quite literally. And what's really sad is that the road tolls in Stockholm are looked upon as a role model for all these new, oppressive regimes. Obviously a role model on how to monitor each citizens every move in order to maximize the tax revenues. Seriously, you stupid-ass politicians, this is nothing to be proud of.

It's for your own safety. And tax purposes.

Refuse / Resist

Yes, mangling the free Internet was just the beginning. Because, after all, people don't spend all there time on the web. They sometimes travel by car as well, and obviously they need to be closely monitored while doing so.

Det kallas Pay as you drive. Systemet registrerar hur fort du kör, var du kör, vilken tid på dygnet, och så vidare. Baserat på den informationen sätts sedan din försäkringspremie.

(...)

Och precis som med säkerhetsbältet en gång i tiden blir registreringen med tiden lagstiftad och obligatoriskt för alla, uppger Rode vidare i en längre intervju i tidningen På Väg.

Read the grim dystopia that would have George Orwell turn in his grave here. Haven't politicians seen from various dictatorships that have crumbled over the last couple of centuries that complete and total control over citizens is neither desirable nor possible?

I'll just take a deep breath and listen to this old Sepultura classic. These guys knew what they were talking about.

FRA is illegal

The Stasi FRA law is in conflict with the European Convention on Human Rights, says lawyer Anders Lagerwall in today's DN.

No shit, Sherlock. How can wiretapping the entire Swedish population just in case any of them should ever commit a criminal offence be in conflict with human rights? I just wonder how long it'll take the experts to figure out that the Ipred law is in conflict with the same rights.

ARTICLE 8

1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.
2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others.

FRA in Norway

The Swedish FRA-law seems to have been implemented by mistake in Norway as well... The Norwegian prime minister, Jens Stoltenberg has had his e-mail and internet activity monitored by the Norwegian defence.

Get used to it, Stoltenberg. I'm sure you'll soon implement a similar law in Norway, and why should you be treated any different than the rest of the population?

As the fans of increased surveillance always say: If you've got nothing to hide, you've got nothing to worry about. Right?

Comical Ask

A document containing a draft of a new law proposal further weakening (if at all possible) citizens rights in Sweden has been published on Wikileaks. Swedish Minister of Justice, Beatrice Ask, does a magnificent impersonation of the infamous Comical Ali as she denies the existence of this document:

Justitieminister Beatrice Ask vill inte kommentera det läckta dokumentet. Hennes pressekreterare Martin Valfridsson säger dock till SvD.se att det inte finns "någon opublicerad lagremiss som är signerad Beatrice Ask".

Or, in the (famous last) words of the original Comical Ali:

"They're not even [within] 100 miles [of Baghdad]. They are not in any place. They hold no place in Iraq. This is an illusion ... they are trying to sell to the others an illusion."

Congratulations, France!

I guess congratulations are in order, as the French prove that they've got by far the dumbest collection of politicians in the EU, quite possibly in the whole, wide world. Now that's quite an achievement considering all the stupidity out there.

The frogs have just managed to pass an Act so ridiculous, so bizarre, so outrageous that it is bound to go down in the history books. The "Hadopi-law" (yes, it's just as silly as the name implies) gives the government legal rights to terminate a users internet access based on mere allegations that his or her ip-address has been used to perform copyright infringements (yes, exactly, just copyright infringements, not acts of terrorism!). Why bother proving a copyright infringement has taken place? Why bother proving that the owner of the internet subscription was in fact the person performing this alleged infringement? Oh, and of course, why bother the court of law with all this when the government can take matters into its own hands, and terminate internet access on suspicion, taking the opportunity to terminate access for "unpleasant" people who don't share the government's views, and maybe even dare to blog about it ("nöt föör löööng, ju döön't!").

From an integrity, privacy, free speech and legal point of view this law is a complete disaster, of course. It promotes a massive surveillance and censorship, and it bypasses all judicial authority. To be quite honest, it sounds like president Nicolas Sarkozy is aiming for the big league now, with the likes of Fidel Castro, Kim Jong-il and the CPC, to mention a few.

The question now is: To what lengths will the French go in order to enforce this law? Will every French computer be fitted with a piece of spyware controlled by the government, in order to keep track of those who are banned from internet access, and make sure nothing illegal or government unfriendly is distributed in any way? If so, how do these dumb, French bastards intend to deal with Wi-Fi hotspots and internet cafés? Shut them all down, I presume? And if a friend provides a banned individual (or "non-person", as George Orwell calls them in his "1984" novel) with internet access through his own network, will he also be banned?

More surveillance coming your way

The Swedish road administration, Vägverket, are getting ready to deploy no less than 100 more speed cameras on Swedish roads during the second half of 2009. This will give us a total of 1077 cameras covering 2880 km of road, or one speed camera per 2,6 kilometers!!! And, surprise surprise even more cameras are planned for 2010. God knows where they'll find room for them...

The annoyance of driving between these speed cameras with my gps beeping all the time and my right foot working overtime adjusting the speed, is unfortunately just peanuts compared how this grim network of surveillance cameras is bound to be misused in the not so distant future. Look to Norway, and brace yourself. Being a motorist will soon become a high risk sport for the few and wealthy, even in Sweden.