Debate over a proposed open-pit iron ore mine in northern Wisconsin went from heated to outright bizarre last week when masked guards brandishing assault rifles showed up at the site in the remote and scenic wilderness of Penokee Hills.

Local activist Rob Ganson, 56, first came upon three heavily armed guards while leading a small group on a hike to view the mining site. (The drilling site is on private land, but the owner has been given a tax break in exchange for keeping it open to public use.) The guards, said Ganson, carried semi-automatic guns, were dressed in camouflage, and wore masks covering their faces. "As you can imagine, it was quite a shock for five middle-aged people out for a walk," he said. Ganson tried to engage the guards, but was "met with stony-faced silence." He was alarmed but managed to grab a few photos of the men. "I was thinking if the worst scenario happened, at least there would be photos on my camera."

After they determined that the guards worked for Arizona-based Bulletproof Security, Ganson and the other activists posted their photos of the guards online, drawing local and national news coverage of the mine, a proposed four-mile-long, 1,000-feet-deep open pit operation in Ashland and Iron counties. In June, the company began exploratory drilling in the region for taconite, a type of iron ore used in steel.

Last Wednesday, the mining company, Gogebic Taconite—G-Tac for short—a subsidiary of the West Virginia-based Cline Group, pulled the armed guards after finding that the security firm lacked permits to work in the state. A spokesman for the company has said that the Bulletproof guards will be back once they're properly licensed.

One of the activists in the area, however, told Mother Jones on Monday that a new group of armed guards—including one whose shirt bore the insignia for Watchmen of America, a militia group active in at least 21 states—was on patrol last Thursday, the day after Gogebic Taconite pulled the Bulletproof guards.* A spokesman for G-Tac said that the guards are necessary to protect its workers from "eco-terrorists." The company pointed to an incident in June when protesters had a confrontation with workers; one of the protesters allegedly took a worker's camera. But most of the protesters' actions around the mine have been peaceful; local tribes have planted a small garden nearby, and others are leading educational tours on the ecology of the region.

Gov. Scott Walker signed sweeping changes to the state's mining regulations into law in March, thus allowing the mine to move forward. The new law, which creates a separate set of laws for taconite mining, abbreviates the permitting process, reduces the number of opportunities for public comment, and weakens rules on dumping mine waste into wetlands and waterways. It also reallocates mining revenues that previously went to local communities into the state's Economic Development Corporation, a problem-plagued program Walker created in 2011 to spur job growth in the state. G-Tac worked closely with lawmakers to draft the legislation. Proponents of the law argue that it will generate new jobs in the state.

But environmental groups argue that the law sets a bad precedent for environmental regulations more broadly. "Basically almost every environmental protection and public health protection you could think of is eliminated under this bill," Kerry Schumann, executive director of the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters.

Tribal groups, too, are worried about the impacts on the area, which is surrounded by wetlands, rivers, lakes that drain down into the Bad River and eventually into Lake Superior. The mining waste, they fear, will leach toxic chemicals like sulfuric acid into the groundwater and waterways. "If the mining company is allowed to proceed unfettered, I think what we would have is an atrocity here in the watershed," said Mike Wiggins Jr., chairman of the Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa Indians. The Bad River reservation lies about six miles north of the proposed mine site.

Pete Rasmussen, vice president of the Penokee Hills Education Project, which has been running a public education against the mine, thinks the heavily armed guards stationed at the site are meant "fully for intimidation"—an effort to scare protesters out of the wilderness around the site. "We have been gathering more and more people who want to come up to the area," Rasmussen said. "Once they see what's at stake, it's hard for them to fathom that they want to blow it all up."

On Tuesday, Mike Freebyrd, CEO of Watchmen of America, told Mother Jones that the new guards are not working for his organization. "The Watchmen of America is not a security company that provides commercial security services and we are not involved in any way in the security operations with respect to GTAC mining operation in Wisconsin, nor do we sanction or approve of any of our members doing so while wearing our patches or logos," said Freebyrd via email. "We sell many promotional materials including T-shirts, stickers, patches, pens, etc. to our public supporters, therefore we have no control if a person wears our logos while conducting activities which are not conducive to our true representation."



Source: http://www.motherjones.com/environment/2013/07/walker-backed-mine-hires-militiamen-intimidate-protesters#13742350442121&action=collapse_widget&id=2674220

Mysterious, pyramid-like structures spotted in the Egyptian desert by an amateur satellite archaeologist might be long-lost pyramids after all, according to a new investigation into the enigmatic mounds.

Angela Micol, who last year found the structures using Google Earth 5,000 miles away in North Carolina, says puzzling features have been uncovered during a preliminary ground proofing expedition, revealing cavities and shafts.

"Moreover, it has emerged these formations are labeled as pyramids on several old and rare maps," Micol told Discovery News.

Located about 90 miles apart, the two possible pyramid complexes appeared as groupings of mounds in curious positions.

One site in Upper Egypt, just 12 miles from the city of Abu Sidhum along the Nile, featured four mounds with an unusual footprint.

Some 90 miles north near the Fayum oasis, the second possible pyramid complex revealed a four-sided, truncated mound approximately 150 feet wide and three smaller mounds in a diagonal alignment.

"The images speak for themselves," Micol said when she first announced her findings. "It's very obvious what the sites may contain, but field research is needed to verify they are, in fact, pyramids,"

First reported by Discovery News, her claim gained widespread media attention and much criticism.

Authoritative geologists and geo-archaeologists were largely skeptical and dismissed what Micol called "Google Earth anomalies" as windswept natural rock formations -- buttes quite common in the Egyptian desert.

"After the buzz simmered down, I was contacted by an Egyptian couple who claimed to have important historical references for both sites," Micol said.

The couple, Medhat Kamal El-Kady, former ambassador to the Sultanate of Oman, and his wife Haidy Farouk Abdel-Hamid, a lawyer, former counselor at the Egyptian presidency and adviser of border issues and international issues of sovereignty, are top collectors of maps, old documents, books and rare political and historical manuscripts.

El-Kady and Farouk have made important donations to the Egyptian state and the U.S. Library of Congress. Their various gifts to the Library of Alexandria include Al-Sharif Al-Idrissi's map of the Earth drawn for King Roger II of Sicily in 1154.

According to the couple, the formations spotted by Micol in the Fayum and near Abu Sidhum were both labeled as pyramid complex sites in several old maps and documents.

"For this case only, we have more than 34 maps and 12 old documents, mostly by scientists and senior officials of irrigation," El-Kady and Farouk told Discovery News.

For the site near the Fayum, they cited three maps in particular -- a map by Robert de Vaugoudy, dating from 1753, a rare map by the engineers of Napoleon Bonaparte, and a map and documents by Major Brown, general of irrigation for Lower Egypt in the late 1880s.

Source: http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/long-lost-pyramids-found-130715.htm

The National Security Agency’s massive Utah Data Center, designed for communications storage and processing is already up and running, despite agency claims the center won’t open until September. Opening the facility — the largest of its kind in history — is the key final step that will allow the agency to collect and store massive amounts of data on United States citizens. The NSA has numerous other data centers, but the Utah facility will be the central repository, enabling data collection on an unprecedented scale.

And according to Russ Tice, a former NSA intelligence analyst who still maintains close ties with numerous colleagues at the agency, it’s not just metadata — which has been a key distinction in the administration’s defense of its intelligence gathering programs. The agency, according to Tice, is currently able to collect the full contents of digital communications. That includes the contents of emails, text messages, Skype communications, and phone calls, as well as financial information, health records, legal documents, and travel documents. This comports with statements given this week by a former senior intelligence official, claiming that NSA Director Keith Alexander’s ethos was to “collect it all, tag it, store it … And whatever it is you want, you go searching for it.”

The NSA’s ability to collect and store such vast quantities of information is difficult to grasp. But so is the enormous footprint of the data center in Bluffdale, Utah, 25 miles south of Salt Lake City. The facility, which cost the government $2 billion, covers 1 million square feet, 100,000 of which is purely for computer servers and storage hardware. According to James Bamford’s Wired magazine article published last year, “The Pentagon is attempting to expand its worldwide communications network, known as the Global Information Grid, to handle yottabytes (10^24 bytes) of data. (A yottabyte is a septillion bytes—so large that no one has yet coined a term for the next higher magnitude.)”

One of the key problems that the Utah facility fixes is the sheer amount of electricity needed to run the machines. According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the facility requires 65 megawatts of electricity a day to run the facility. (By comparison, a single megawatt is enough to power 100 homes.) According to Wired, the facility has its own electrical substation built by Rocky Mountain Power — which, as a side benefit, makes it more difficult to monitor the usage of electricity, which can serve as rough guidance to the center’s computing power and usage. It is also highly energy efficient, built to meet LEED Silver certification.

The Utah Data Center, located on an Army National Guard base, also has its own water treatment facilities (it will use an estimated 1,210 gallons of water per minute, mostly for cooling), chiller plant, vehicle inspection facility, visitor control center, backup generators, and, of course, serious security with its own police force and perimeter security.

“Not all of the computers that are slated to be installed in the facility are there, and many more that are on site are not up and running yet,” Tice explains. “But enough capability exists right now to handle the collection that is needed right now.”

An NSA spokesperson located in Utah denies that the facility is operational, saying, “The exterior has been built, but the IT infrastructure is still being added.”

“The government is doing an awful lot of lying,” Tice says. “They are seeing what Snowden is throwing [out there] and are going back to the last line of defense in order to thwart it.”

Tice, who worked in government intelligence for two decades, became the prototypical NSA communications whistle-blower, leaking information about the NSA’s illegal wiretapping of United States citizens to the New York Times in 2005. He tried to go to the House Intelligence Committee but was told not to by the NSA. In 2006, he publicly testified before Congress.

In 2009, after George W. Bush left office, Tice came forward with more information that the NSA had access to the phone calls and computer communications of tens of thousands of Americans, including journalists; he revealed that it wasn’t just phone taps but credit card information and other financial records.

At that time the scope of the data collection was narrower, explains Tice. “The NSA didn’t have the processing, electricity, or storage capabilities,” he says. “That is Utah. The NSA dealt with its problems and now has the capabilities.”

Snowden’s revelations provided hard evidence supporting what Tice has been saying for years. It also emboldened Tice to come forward with more information based upon his firsthand experience at the NSA as well as information given to him last May by inside sources, including a high-level employee.

“I kept saying [in 2006 and 2009]: It is so much worse, but I can’t explain why right now,” Tice says. “Well, what I’m telling you right now, this is the rest of the story.”

While Tice was still at the NSA, he was able to see the identities of numerous targets of surveillance, which included high-level United States government officials. In the evenings, NSA analysts would be given handwritten notes on yellow legal-pad paper listing contact information for targets, including then-Senate hopeful Barack Obama, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, former CIA Director David Petraeus, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Republican Sen. John McCain, and Democratic Sen. Diane Feinstein. Other targets include multiple three-star generals and admirals, lawyers, and members of the Senate and the House, including members of the intelligence committees and the armed services committees.

According to Tice, the NSA’s next practical challenge is to decode data it collects that has been protected by encryption. The computing power available in a fully operational Utah data center could be used to break such encryption. With sizable supercomputing resources and extremely large sets of data, the agency would be able to look for patterns at a staggering rate. The NSA has already made a huge breakthrough in its ability to crack encryption standards used by international governments and domestic citizens, according to Wired’s NSA top official source.

For now, though, collection is the name of the game.

“It is cheaper and more efficient to just collect and keep a torrent of information in the big bank and then go back and look at it later,” says Tice. “They are waiting for the processing capability to catch up and then [they’ll be able to] cull out the information. ”

Tice says others at the NSA want to come forward but fear retaliation and punishment. “The seasoned people are highly upset at what is going on,” Tice says. “We are taught that you don’t spy on Americans. It was against NSA policy, regulations, and a violation of the Constitution.”

Source: http://www.buzzfeed.com/justinesharrock/the-nsas-massive-data-center-is-coming-online-ahead-of-sched

The hacktivist group Anonymous claimed on one of its many Twitter accounts Wednesday that it had hacked into accounts belonging to various members of Congress and their staffers, publishing an online document that shows elected officials are not very careful in how they craft passwords to protect sensitive government emails.

The hack came in response to recent revelations of widespread Internet and phone surveillance conducted by the U.S. government. Anonymous included the hashtags #FISA, referencing the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which allows for the spying, and #PRISM, the name of a secret government surveillance program, in its tweet.

The group removed some of the passwords from its online listing, and "shuffled the order of the remaining ones," it wrote in the document. "We reserve the right to spontaneously decide this restraint was unjustified," the group stated.

As the Atlantic Wire points out, this leaked information shows that members of Congress and staffers are pretty terrible at creating passwords. Passwords listed include state names, favorite sports teams, and even the classic "password" -- probably the worst thing to choose for security.

When asked on Twitter if "pissing off the House" is productive, Anonymous responded that "pissed off is exactly how Congress should be feeling. If it cannot wield the rod, it shall not be spared the rod."

This isn't the first time Anonymous has hacked the U.S. government. Last February, Anonymous claimed that it hacked the Federal Reserve computers to release thousands of bank executives' credentials. Anonymous also claimed that it hacked the U.S. Sentencing Commission's website in January. Many of Anonymous's government hacks in the past few months were said to be in honor of Internet activist Aaron Swartz, who took his own life in January while facing prosecution for allegedly stealing millions of online documents from JSTOR.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/07/18/anonymous-hacked-congress-email-passwords_n_3617039.html

The title says it all. It is an example of a sentence that i thought was unimaginable.But, its true. What is the world coming to?

The name of the orangutan is Pony, and she was found by the Borneo Orangutan Survival Foundation in a prostitute village in Borneo chained to a wall, lying on a mattress, and completely shaved. It took 35 policemen armed with AK-47's to rescue Pony.

If approached by a man, she would place herself in a sexual position. She was 6 or 7 years old when she was rescued and had grown up with prostitution almost all her life. Initially, the madam of the brothel refused to surrender the animal because she was a big part of their income. Yes, you read it right, even with human prostitutes, men and more men came regularly just to have sex with the orangutan.

They all considered her lucky as she would pick up successful lottery numbers. Apart from forced prostitution, she also suffered different kinds of abuses. The constant shaving of her fur left her skin blemished and irritated. Mosquitoes were constantly biting her, and the bites would often become infected. Every time someone attempted to rescue her, it would be overcome by the villagers.

Finally, after a year, the rescuers decided to take some serious action and 35 policemen armed with AK-47s and other weaponry demanded Pony's release and succeeded. Although this horrible crime was committed, everyone involved in this horrifying animal abuse didn't face a single charge as it happened in Indonesia. There is little law enforcement in such matters there.

I really hope people stop abusing animals. Cruelty to animals shouldn't be tolerated in any country and should be banned completely.

Source: http://www.bubblews.com/news/479960-shaved-orangutan-used-a-sex-slave-in-a-borneo-brothel-and-rescued-by-cops

A Blockupy activist who posted plans for a light-hearted public walk around a US spy center in Germany to “observe intelligence agents in their natural habitat” received a visit from the secret service questioning him if he was a terrorist.

Twenty-eight-year-old Daniel Bangert created a tongue-in-cheek Facebook group called the "NSA spy protection league,” as if the spies were an endangered animal species.

For the organization’s first event, Bangert planned a stroll around the nearby Dagger Complex in Darmstadt, on the outskirts of Frankfurt, to take part in some spy spotting.

The US army intelligence facility collects European data for American intelligence agencies, and Bangert believes it could have been used by the National Security Agency to covertly gather data of German citizens – a practice revealed by whistleblower Edward Snowden last month.

Ahead of the walk, Bangert joked that the NSA was spying on the group on Facebook, Germany’s The Local newspaper reported.

A few days before the event, the joke became reality.

"I was still very sleepy when the phone rang - it was 7:17 in the morning - and a police officer started asking questions about what I was planning," said Bangert.

"Then the doorbell rang and I saw out the window that a police van was parked outside. The officer on the phone said I should open the door to the others."

Bangert says he was interviewed at length by a uniformed police officer, who was aware of the event which was scheduled online. At the end of the questioning, the officer told the activist that the walk would have to be registered with the police, as a public event.

"I asked them why, but they could not really explain it to me. They couldn't help me understand what the difference was between going for a walk and meeting up to play football - which you don't have to register for," said Bangert.

Certain that this would be the end of his troubles, Bangert was surprised when the policemen returned several hours later - this time with a secret service agent.

The activist was subjected to questioning once again. Bangert says the agent inquired about his political views and asked him if his co-walkers planned acts of violence to be directed at the heavily guarded base.

Bangert says he was then advised to take the event off the internet, to prevent it from escalating. The Blockupy activist was baffled.

“All there is, is a fence, with nothing behind it - everything is underground. No one is interested," he said.

Despite the advice, Bangert and around 80 other participants went ahead with the walk on Saturday. Although Bangert enjoyed the nice weather, he said the group did not manage to lay their eyes on any actual spies - despite trying to lure them with bird calls and other naturalist tricks.

"Taking part in the walk was not enough, just to know that NSA spies are there - everyone agreed they wanted to see NSA spies with their own eyes. We will see what we can do," said Bangert, who plans to organize another event in the coming weeks.

Source: http://rt.com/news/activist-questioned-spy-spotting-walk-136/

The judge hearing the case against Pfc. Bradley Manning at Fort Meade said she would decide Thursday on his lawyers’ request to dismiss seven of the charges, including allegations that he aided the enemy when he provided hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks. The defense said the prosecution had not provided sufficient evidence that Private Manning had “actual knowledge” that the information would end up with the enemy. Lawyers for the government have said that, based on his training, Private Manning knew that Al Qaeda and other groups could have access to the documents.

Source: http://www.cyberwarzone.com/judge-considers-request-dismiss-7-charges-against-pfc-bradley-manning

When federal agents raided multiple 7-Eleven convenience stores two weeks ago, they exposed one of America’s dirty secrets – slavery is alive and well in modern America. You won’t hear that word however because the financial markets don’t like controversy. And the same individuals who own the media companies also own the corporations profiting from the institution of slavery.

It’s no conspiracy theory, and hasn’t been for some time. There are pockets of slave labor factories sprinkled across the US. Past raids have turned up a number of businesses, corporations and industries utilizing America’s modern day forced laborers. They include garment factories in major US cities, food processors in small towns, and corporate farms throughout the nation’s farm belt. Now, convenience stores can be added to that list.

When federal agents raided 14 different 7-Eleven stores in New York and Virginia two weeks ago, government authorities called the corporation’s secret practice a, “modern day plantation system.” As detailed by Yahoo News, ‘Farrukh Baig, his wife Bushra, and seven others were charged with fraud, identity theft and concealing illegal immigrants to work in their stores.’ Executives from 7-Eleven had no comment for the public other than to say they were cooperating with authorities. But the corporation sent a warning to each of its 5,600 franchises.

“This letter is to remind you of the required I-9 compliance steps and to outline some of the consequences for failure to comply. These requirements are mandatory for all franchisees," the statement read, "Failure to comply will result in serious consequences, including the possible termination of your franchise agreement."

7-Eleven operates 50,000 stores in 16 countries, with more than 10,000 in the US. Roughly half of those are franchises. Attempting to reign in those 5,600 stores, the company’s statement to them went on to explain, "We have a critical need to protect the integrity and reputation of the 7-Eleven Brand, a right to insist upon your compliance with the Franchise Agreement, and to ensure that all franchised stores are being operated in a lawful manner."

As detailed by various news accounts, the “plantation system” 7-Eleven utilized included the exploiting of illegal immigrants from countries such as Pakistan and the Philippines. Immediately after the raids, agents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security confirmed that this particular operation had been running since 2000 and was thought to have victimized as many as 50 individuals.

While authorities were taking the nine assailants into custody, they confirmed their agencies were executing search warrants at 30 other 7-Elevens across a handful of states including Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. Authorities also gave a description of the living and working conditions the victims were forced to endure.

Agents claim the stores gave the victims fake identities utilizing deceased individuals and their social security numbers, then forced them to work 100 hours per week for little or no pay. Instead, the 7-Elevens made the workers live in store-owned slums, exchanging any pay for just enough food and shelter to keep them alive and working.

None of the accounts describe what methods were used to keep the workers from escaping. But it appears to be as simple as the threat to turn the illegal workers over to US authorities. In past instances involving other corporations, workers were beaten and in some cases chained to walls to prevent their escape. In the case of the 7-Eleven raids, officials confirmed that the investigation was launched due to tips the agencies received from store employees.

Announcing the arrests, US Attorney Loretta Lynch said, “These defendants ruthlessly exploited their immigrant employees, stealing their wages and requiring them to live in unregulated boarding houses, in effect creating a modern-day plantation system.”

Showing that this is anything but an isolated event, ICE officials confirmed that just in the past two years, federal authorities have brought similar charges against more than 500 business owners and managers across the US.

As reported by the Filipino news outlet Global Nation, the 7-Eleven franchise owners arrested face wire fraud, conspiracy, identity theft and alien-harboring charges. They face up to 20 years in prison if convicted of conspiracy. As for the victims, ICE officials announced that they will most likely all be deported back to their countries of origin, mainly the Philippines and Pakistan.

The unglonian branch of 7-11 is Collaborating with the government to investigate franchisees if they are using slave labour as well.

Source: http://www.whiteoutpress.com/articles/q32013/7-eleven-raids-prove-us-slavery-alive-and-well/

On Thursday, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) will start accepting applications for new internet address suffixes that could come to represent industry sectors, hobbies, ethnic groups, corporate brand names and more.

Expanding the number of suffixes has been one of ICANN's missions since its creation in 1998 to oversee domain names. ICANN had two test rounds, in 2000 and 2004, and is now ready to expand the domain name system more broadly.

Up to 1000 domain name suffixes — the ".com" in an internet address — could be added each year in the most sweeping change to the domain name system since its creation in the 1980s. Suggested new domains may include ".sport", .sydney", ".melbourne", ".cameras", etc.

To some, the system will lead to ".cash." To others, it will mean ".confusion."

The idea is to let Las Vegas hotels, casinos and other attractions congregate around ".Vegas," or a company such as Canon to draw customers to "cameras.Canon" or "printers.Canon." The new system will also make Chinese, Japanese and Swahili versions of ".com" possible.

Some companies, including Canon, and entrepreneurs have already expressed interest in applying for a suffix and possibly earning millions of dollars a year from people and groups wanting a website that ends in that name.

Others are skeptical, though. They worry that an expansion will mean more addresses available to scams that use similar-sounding names such as "Amazom" rather than "Amazon" to trick people into giving passwords and credit card information. Others worry that new suffixes could create additional platforms for hate groups or lead to addresses ending in obscenities.

Critics say ICANN is rushing to expand the naming system without putting enough safeguards in place. The new domains are not cheap, however, with application fees costing US$185,000 and the applicant needing to demonstrate how it will run the new domain as a registrar.

"You don't want a ship to have holes... and ask everybody to come on board," said Dan Jaffe, the chief lobbyist at the American Association of National Advertisers, which represents 400 companies and 10,000 brand names. "You should close the holes, then run a pilot project to see if the systems you put in place are actually effective."

There's also a question of how useful the new names will be, at least among English speakers. Alternatives to ".com" introduced over the past decade have had mixed success. These days, internet users are more likely to type "new Muppet movie" into their browser's search box than to know the official site is at "Disney.go.com/muppets."

ICANN will start taking bids for new suffixes on Thursday at 12:01am Greenwich Mean Time.

That doesn't mean people will be able to type in "Caribbean.vacation" or "iPad.Apple" right away. Initial bidding will stay open until April. After that, ICANN will accept challenges for trademark conflicts and other reasons. Auctions would be held should multiple bidders seek the same suffix. It could take months more for winning bidders to set up.

The new names won't appear in general use until at least the northern spring of 2013. Applicants facing challenges may have to wait until 2014.

Names will be restricted to the richest companies and groups, as it will cost US$185,000 to apply and at least US$25,000 a year to maintain one. A 10-year commitment is required. The fees do not include operational costs, such as computers and staff. By comparison, a personal address with a common suffix such as ".com" usually costs less than US$10 a year.

Despite the startup costs, suffixes could be lucrative to the winning bidders. A company called ICM Registry receives some US$60 a year for every ".xxx" registered, for instance. It's not just pornography sites interested. Colleges and universities have been buying names such as "KUgirls.xxx" to make sure others can't.

Although companies such as Apple and Canon aren't likely to make any suffixes they secure available to the general public, some may choose to allow their resellers to join in. Australian registrar Melbourne IT has said in the past that industry groups such as hoteliers, tourism operators or professional bodies could seek a domain such as ".hotels" or ".accountants" to share with members. But they won't be the only ones cashing in. Companies have formed specifically to sell names on behalf of those entrepreneurs, and ICANN gets a cut.

In recent weeks, members of the US Congress, the Federal Trade Commission and the Commerce Department have raised concerns.

"A rapid, exponential expansion ... has the potential to magnify both the abuse of the domain name system and the corresponding challenges we encounter in tracking down internet fraudsters," FTC commissioners said in a letter to ICANN.

ICANN plans to proceed with its schedule. ICANN CEO Rod Beckstrom said many adjustments have been made to address objections raised over the years. Although Jaffe said several other concerns were ignored, Beckstrom said he has heard nothing new in the recent critiques.

"There are parties that would like to see other protections, or want to see this or that," Beckstrom said. "These discussions are going to go on for a long time."

Beckstrom said many businesses and groups outside the US have been clamoring for more choices, and ICANN didn't want them to wait longer.

From a technical standpoint, domain names tell computers on the internet where to find a website or send an email message. Without them, people would have to remember clunky numerals such as "165.1.59.220," which is the underlying internet protocol address for "ap.org."

The monikers have grown to mean much more, however. Amazon.com has built its brand on its website address, while bloggers take pride in running sites with their own domain names.

Theo Hnarakis, CEO of Melbourne IT, said his organisation already has prepared more than 100 suffix applications for financial services, airlines, gambling sites and others. He declined to name any clients.

Although suffixes added over the past decade haven't been as popular as ".com," nearly all of the most desirable ".com" addresses have been taken. New businesses are often stuck with difficult-to-remember names such as "TheFloristInsideThePeanutShop.com." The expansion would allow "Peanut.florist."

Customers might be able to find that florist through Google or Bing, but Hnarakis said merchants often have to buy ads to lure them. And an internet search might lead customers to a rival — such as the Cheaper Florist Outside The Peanut Shop.

The demand for new suffixes appears greater outside the US. That's because many of the ".com" names had been grabbed by Americans who got on the internet first. In addition, suffixes had been largely limited to the 26 letters of the English alphabet until now.

ICANN has already allowed two major expansions of the addressing system. In 2000, it approved seven new domains, including ".info" and ".biz." It began accepting new bids again in 2004. It added seven from that round, including ".xxx" last year. It also cleared others on an ad hoc basis, including ".eu" for the European Union and ".ps" for the Palestinian territories.

Under the new system, the application process will be streamlined.

Expanding the pool of suffixes was one of ICANN's chief tasks when the US government ceded oversight of domain names to the organisation in 1998. But progress was slow because of objections and concerns from government groups, businesses interests and others. ICANN is finally ready to implement the system, despite calls for further delays.

"This is a change, and whenever there's a change, there is anxiety," Beckstrom said. "We're doing our best to administer a fair and equitable system that the global community has designed."

The Applications: The system will open on Thursday at 12:01am Greenwich Mean Time (Thursday at 11:01am Sydney time). Applicants will have to answer 50 questions covering such things as what a proposed suffix will be used for and what kind of financial backing the company or organisation has. They'll also need to demonstrate they can administer the new domain, with some companies forming partnerships with registrars to fulfil this requirements. They'll have until late March to begin the application and until April 12 to finish it. The applicant must pay US$185,000 to submit the application, including a US$5,000 deposit.

The Challenges: ICANN will say in May what suffixes have been proposed. The public will have 60 days to comment on them. That is when someone can claim a trademark violation or argue that a proposed suffix is offensive.

The Review: ICANN will review each application to make sure its financial plan is sound and that contingencies exist in case a company goes out of business. Applicants also must past criminal background checks. If multiple applications seek the same suffix, ICANN will encourage parties to work out an agreement and hold an auction if they cannot. The review is expected to take at least nine months, meaning approval of the first batch won't happen until February 2013 or later. If there are challenges or other problems, ICANN believes the review could take up to 20 months.

The Launch: Once a suffix is approved, the applicant will have to set up procedures for registering names under that suffix and computers to keep track of them. Applicants might have all that already completed in anticipation of an approval. The application pays an annual fee that starts at US$25,000. The suffix is activated and becomes available for use. All that could take days or months.

source: http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/internet-address-expansion-begins-despite-concerns-20120110-1pu8n.html

A Florida medical examiner’s office said Tuesday that the FBI has ordered the office not to release its autopsy report of a Chechen man fatally shot by a Boston FBI agent in May because of the federal agency’s active internal investigation into his death.

The medical examiner’s office said it completed the autopsy report on Ibragim Todashev, a friend of suspected Boston Marathon bomber, on July 8 and that the report was “ready for release.” The agent shot and killed Todashev on May 22 in his Orlando apartment during an interrogation related to the Boston Marathon bombings.

“The FBI has informed this office that the case is still under active investigation and thus not to release the document,” Tony Miranda, forensic records coordinator for Orange and Osceola counties in Orlando, said in a letter to the media today. Miranda said state law bars his office from releasing the report if an criminal investigation is ongoing.

The FBI and the Justice Department are conducting an internal inquiry into the shooting, but critics have called for an independent inquiry, questioning the blanket of secrecy surrounding the case.

The FBI and the Massachusetts State Police sought out Todashev after the Marathon bombings, but have refused to release details of the shooting. Media reports have provided conflicting accounts: Some said Todashev attacked the agent with a blade during an interrogation, while others said Todashev was unarmed. Another said he lunged at the agent with a metal pole or a broomstick.

The medical examiner's office said it would check with the FBI every month for permission to release the autopsy report, and that such delays most frequently happen with homicide cases.

According to media reports, Todashev was about to sign a confession implicating himself and Tamerlan Tsarnaev, who is now dead, in the 2011 slayings of three men in Waltham. Instead, Todashev lunged at the agent, who was injured, according to reports. The agent shot Todashev multiple times, according to family members who released photos of Todashev’s dead body as part of their call for an inquiry into his death.

Family members and advocacy groups have questioned the media accounts, pointing out that Todashev had repeatedly cooperated with the FBI and had been weakened by recent knee surgery.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations and the ACLU have called for independent inquiries into the shooting.

The council said in a letter to the Department of Justice, which oversees the FBI and is participating in the internal inquiry, that FBI agents had approached Todashev in an aggressive manner. In one instance, the council said, six law enforcement agents drew their guns and pushed Todashev to the ground.

Todashev, a 27-year-old ethnic Chechen like Tsarnaev, came to America in 2008 to study English and won asylum that year from his native Russia. He lived in Allston and Cambridge before moving south to Florida.

A mixed martial arts fighter, Todashev was arrested in 2010 in Boston for a road-rage incident and again in Florida weeks before he was killed for allegedly beating a man in a fight over a parking space.

According to CAIR in Florida, which is conducting its own investigation into Todashev’s slaying, Todashev had spoken to the FBI at least three times at their offices after the Marathon bombings. Family and friends have said he postponed a trip home to Chechnya to speak with the FBI the night of May 21, staying up with them past midnight until he was killed.

Source: http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/07/16/fbi-bars-florida-from-releasing-autopsy-report-shooting-todashev-friend-marathon-bombing-suspect/ya3iB1u4t2YQYN9wfMVseJ/story.html