(CNN) – Despite the financial crisis and the implosion of businesses like Enron over shady business practices, senior executives are now more likely to pay bribes to win business, according to a survey by Ernst & Young. Of the nearly 400 CFO’s polled from November to February, 15% would make cash payments to win or retain business – up from 9% two years ago. Financial statement fraud remains a risk as well, with 5% of the respondents saying they are willing to misstate financial performance, up from 3 % in the last survey. In the 12th Global Fraud Survey, more than 1,700 executives – including CFO’s and leaders in legal, compliance and internal auditors – across 43 countries were polled for their views on corruption. ... Continue reading →
Google revealed on Thursday that over the last month, copyright owners asked the Web company to delete links to 1.2 million pages in its search results.That figure is a huge spike from just last year, when Google was asked to take down 3.3 million search results for copyright infringement over the entire year."These days it’s not unusual for us to receive more than 250,000 requests each week, which is more than what copyright owners asked us to remove in all of 2009," Fred von Lohmann, Google's senior copyright counsel, wrote in a blog post. The company said it complies with about 97 percent of the take-down notices.Von Lohmann said it takes an average of 11 hours to respond to take-down requests, but that Google also ... Continue reading →
As reported yesterday by Canadian academic Michael Geist, at a September 2011 meeting that included Microsoft, RIM, Bell Canada, Cogeco, Telus, Rogers, and the Information Technology Association of Canada, a government policy document (see below) was distributed, offering guidance to accompany the planned Internet surveillance legislation. Continue reading →
Olympic organisers shut down “Space hijackers” protest Twitter account Index on Censorship has learned that the Twitter account of protest group Space Hijackers has been suspended following a complaint by the organisers of the London Olympics. The anti-capitalists, who have styled themselves as the Official Protesters of the London 2012 Olympic Games, received notification from Twitter in an email this morning, which stated: Hello, We have received reports from the trademark holder, London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Ltd, that your account, @spacehijackers, is using a trademark in a way that could be confusing or misleading with regard to a brand affiliation. Your account has been temporarily suspended due to violation of our trademark policy. (click image for full email) The ... Continue reading →
Photo: dcwriterdawn/Flickr Did you hear the one about New York state lawmakers who forgot about the First Amendment in the name of combating cyberbullying and “baseless political attacks”? Proposed legislation in both chambers would require New York-based websites, such as blogs and newspapers, to “remove any comments posted on his or her website by an anonymous poster unless such anonymous poster agrees to attach his or her name to the post.” No votes on the measures have been taken. But unless the First Amendment is repealed, they stand no chance of surviving any constitutional scrutiny even if they were approved. Republican Assemblyman Jim Conte said the legislation would cut down on “mean-spirited and baseless political attacks” and “turns the spotlight on cyberbullies by forcing them ... Continue reading →
The UK Border Agency faces a legal challenge from torture victims who accuse it of false imprisonment. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA Archive/Press Association Images Torture victims who have been held in British immigration detention centres are to launch a high court legal challenge for false imprisonment against the UK Border Agency.An investigation by Medical Justice, a network of asylum detainees and doctors, based on a dossier of 50 cases published on Tuesday, claims that torture victims are being routinely held in immigration detention centres in breach of the Home Office's own rules.The Medical Justice report, The Second Torture, says that rule 35 of the 2001 Detention Centre Rules, which should prevent torture victims being locked up in all but exceptional circumstances, is routinely being flouted.The legal ... Continue reading →
Is it always bad govt. vs. good free media? In The World Tomorrow, President Rafael Correa of Ecuador tells Julian Assange it is time to get rid of false stereotypes depicting wicked governments persecuting saint-like journalists and news outlets. Correa says the local media are just using the guise of journalism to meddle in politics and destabilize governments for fear of losing power. When Correa took office, five out of seven privately-owned TV channels in Ecuador were run by bankers. “As you can imagine, if I wanted to take measures against banking in order to prevent, for instance, the crisis and the abuses which are now taking place in Europe, especially in Spain, I had to face a merciless TV campaign aimed at defending their ... Continue reading →
Director Lynch on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal” On Friday, May 4, 2012, from 9:15 to 10:00 a.m., EDT, BJS Director James P. Lynch, Ph.D., discussed trends in correctional populations, common perceptions of incarcerations, and the role of corrections in society on C-SPAN’s “Washington Journal,” a television call-in and interview program. View presentation slides (PDF (877K), Powerpoint (2M), CSV (14K) from the show. BJS reports on topics discussed include Jail Inmates at Midyear 2011 - Statistical Tables, Correctional Populations in the United States, 2010, Prisoners in 2010, and Prison and Jail Deaths in Custody, 2000-2009 - Statistical Tables. BJS Deputy Director Gerard F. Ramker to receive O.J. Hawkins AwardGerard F. Ramker, Ph.D., BJS Deputy Director for Statistical Planning, Policy, and Operations, has been selected by the SEARCH ... Continue reading →
