smCOLUMN SEVENTY-FIVE, SEPTEMBER 1, 2002
(Copyright © 2002 The Blacklisted Journalist)
SECTION
SIXTEEN
EMAIL PAGE TWENTY ONE
sm
COLUMN
SEVENTY-FIVE, SEPTEMBER 1, 2002
(Copyright © 2002 The Blacklisted Journalist)
FROM PORTSIDE
Portside
(the left side in nautical parlance) is a
news, discussion and debate service of the Committees
of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. It
says it aims to provide varied material of interest to people
on the Left.
* * *
BRIEFS
HOUSE VOTES TO GIVE HACKERS LIFE IN PRISON
House
OKs life sentences for hackers
By
Declan McCullagh
Staff
Writer, CNET News.com
July
15, 2002, 6:00 PM PT
<http://news.com.com/2100-1001-944057.html'tag=politech>
WASHINGTON--The
House of Representatives on Monday overwhelmingly approved a bill that would
allow for life prison sentences for malicious computer hackers.
By
a 385-3 vote, the House approved a computer crime bill that also expands police
ability to conduct Internet or telephone eavesdropping without first obtaining a
court order.
The
Bush administration had asked Congress to approve the Cyber Security Enhancement
Act (CSEA) as a way of responding to electronic intrusions, denial of service
attacks and the threat of "cyber-terrorism." The CSEA had been written
before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks last year, but the events spurred
legislators toward Monday evening's near-unanimous vote.
CSEA,
the most wide-ranging computer crime bill to make its way through Congress in
years, now heads to the Senate. It's not expected to encounter any serious
opposition, although there's not much time for senators to consider the measure
because they take August off and are expected to head home for the year around
Oct. 1.
"Until
we secure our cyber infrastructure, a few keystrokes and an Internet connection
is all one needs to disable the economy and endanger lives," sponsor
* * *
DID PERU GIVE LORI A FAIR TRIAL?
[For
more information, see http://www.freelori.org/
--
Dispute
Rises in Peru's Handling of Lori Berenson's Terror Trial
By
REUTERS
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/18/international/americas/18PERU.html
LIMA,
Peru, July 17 -- A dispute has erupted between Peru and Latin America's human
rights watchdog over whether the trial of Lori Berenson, an American serving a
20-year prison term for aiding leftist rebels, was fair.
Peru
said on Tuesday that it would challenge the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights after the group found fault with the trial of Ms. Berenson, a 32-year-old
from New York.
Peru
said it would take the case to the Costa Rica-based Inter-American Court of
Human Rights, which is part of the Organization of American States, on July
The
decision by Peru to challenge criticism of its treatment of Ms. Berenson has
highlighted the urgent need for repeal of its antiterrorism laws, rights
activists and lawyers said today.
José
Miguel Vivanco, executive director for the Americas of the Washington-based
Human Rights Watch, said Peru's antiterrorism laws were a problem that had been
neglected. "The government of President Alejandro Toledo should exercise
some leadership to strengthen antiterrorism legislation without violating
fundamental freedoms," he said.
Peru
rejected a nonbinding recommendation from the rights commission, a
Washington-based branch of the Organization of American States, that found the
government at fault and said it should pay Ms. Berenson undisclosed damages.
Ms.
Berenson, who says she is not guilty, has been held since November 1995, when
she was arrested and accused of being a leader of the Túpac Amaru Revolutionary
Movement, one of two rebel groups whose fights with the government in the 1980's
and 1990's cost 30,000 lives. ##
* * *
PARENTS
SAY LORI DID NOT GET A FAIR TRIAL
Re:
Lori Is Vindicated By Inter-American Commission
Dear
"Portside"
Thank
you for printing Ed Kent's submittal of our news update on our daughter Lori.
Peru's actions are mean-spirited and frivolous.
More information will be coming on this as President Bush is now
obligated under US law to come to her rescue and secure her release.
Rhoda
and Mark B. ##
* * *
TRAVEL TO CUBA COULD BOOST U.S. ECONOMY
Los
Angeles Times
July
15, 2002
Study:
Cuba Travel a Benefit to U.S. Economy
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-preview15.7jul15.story?coll=la%2Dheadlines%2Dbusiness
Reuters
Lifting
the ban on Americans traveling to Cuba would boost the U.S. economy by as much
as $1.6 billion annually and create up to 23,000 jobs each year, according to a
study to be released today.
The
report, conducted by consulting firm Brattle Group, analyzed the economic effect
of the United States' lifting the travel restrictions.
The
study's release coincides with a renewed effort this week by members of the
House to lift the travel ban. About 3 million Americans would visit Cuba each
year if travel restrictions to Cuba were eliminated, the study said.
Demand
for U.S. air travel to Cuba would rise, boosting profits of American airlines by
as much as $415 million a year, said Dorothy Robyn, an economic consultant for
Brattle Group.
If
the travel ban were lifted, more than 15,000 new jobs would be created in the
airline industry, and about 7,000 jobs would open up in the cruise industry
annually, the study said.
The
study was funded by the Center for International Policy, a nonprofit group that
wants the U.S. to lift the travel ban and to end the 40-year-old trade embargo
with the Communist-ruled island nation.
Some
House lawmakers are expected to offer an amendment to the Treasury Department's
annual spending bill this week that would cut funding used by the department's
Office of Foreign Asset Control to enforce the travel embargo.
Copyright 2002 Los Angeles Times
* * *
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