Jailed child porn collector still employed by Medicare

Picture: Samuel James Lawless.

A Brisbane man convicted for amassing a 22,000-image child porn collection has been able to hold onto his job with Medicare by using annual leave and pay without leave while in jail.

Samuel James Lawless, 31, remains employed by the Human Services Department despite pleading guilty to possessing and transmitting child pornography between September 2006 and June 2013, the Courier Mail reports.

Lawless has been placed on leave without pay while public servants investigate whether his employment as a call centre worker at Medicare in Brisbane should be terminated.

The images found on his computer after a tip off from the FBI were graded at the highest level, which is used for content that is considered violent and depraved.

He is due to be released from Wolston Correctional Centre in weeks.

Human Services Minister Marise Payne said all government employees were expected to abide by the Australian Public Service code of conduct.

A department spokeswoman said paid leave is not typically granted where the department is aware the employee is serving a custodial sentence.

"Generally, the department considers a range of factors in determining whether to grant leave to staff, including the staff member's circumstances and whether granting leave is in accordance with the department’s Enterprise Agreement and policies," she said.

The Community and Public Sector Union declined to comment on the case.

msn.com 8 Nov 2014

Another example of how the 'authorities' allow criminals to work in positions of trust.

The (in)actions of the Australian government indicate that it supports criminal activity, especially child abuse and  rape.

Forbes World's Most Powerful People: Vladimir Putin trumps Barack Obama, again

For a second year in a row, Russian President Vladimir Putin has beaten Barack Obama to the title of world's most powerful leader as ranked by Forbes. Source: AFP

 

RUSSIAN President Vladimir Putin has been named the world’s most powerful person for the second year in a row by Forbes magazine. 

The controversial Russian strongman beat out Barack Obama for the top spot, with Chinese leader Xi Jinping coming in third place.

Media magnate Rupert Murdoch and family came in at 32 on the list of 72 powerbrokers, while Australian mining magnate Gina Rinehart came in at 66, but Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott did not make the cut.

Forbes senior editor Caroline Howard writes: “Power has been called many things. Pretty isn’t one of them. No one would call Vladimir Putin a good guy.

“In 2014, he strongarmed his way into possession of Crimea and waged an ugly proxy war in neighbouring Ukraine, during which an almost certainly Russian-supplied surface-to-air missile downed a civilian jetliner.
“So who’s more powerful: the omnipotent head of corroding but still feisty power or the handcuffed head of the most dominant country in the world?”

According to the collective wisdom of Forbes editors and advisers, the answer was clear.

The rankings measure power based on four criteria: whether the candidate has power over lots of people; the financial resources controlled by each person; if the candidate is powerful in multiple spheres; and whether the candidates actively use their power.

“Russian autocrat Vladimir Putin scores the highest points in 2014. He is the undisputed and unaccountable head of an energy-rich, nuclear-tipped state,” Howard writes.

While Barack Obama is the commander-in-chief of the undisputed most dominant country in the world, he has been “stymied by Russian expansionism, the West African Ebola outbreak and a bloodthirsty ISIS abroad, racial unrest and the Republican gains in Congress at home”.

THE WORLD’S MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE

1. VLADIMIR PUTIN — Russia

He’s the all-powerful, unpredictable leader of an energy-rich, nuclear-armed state. Enough said. Source: AFP

 

2. BARACK OBAMA — United States

He has power but has been too cautious to fully exercise it, says Forbes. Source: AFP

 

3. XI JINPING — China

The reformist head of the world’s largest economy, valued at $A20.5 trillion. Source: Supplied

 

4.POPE FRANCIS — Roman Catholic Church

The spiritual leader to 1.2 billion souls — now that’s power. Source: AP

 

5.ANGELA MERKEL — Germany

The first female German chancellor is Europe’s longest-serving head of state. Source: AP

 

6. JANET YELLEN — Washington, United States

She’s the head of the most influential central bank in the world, the US Federal Reserve. Source: AP

 

7. BILL GATES — Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

America’s richest man is using his wealth to effect major social change around the world. Source: AP

 

8. MARIO DRAGHI — European Central Bank

As president of the European Central Brank, “Super Mario” oversees 18 countries. Source: AFP

 

9. SERGEY BRIN — Google

He’s the co-founder of the world’s most influential technology company. Source: AFP

 

9. LARRY PAGE — Google

With a net worth of $A35.3 billion, Larry Page now focuses on Google’s long-term strategy. Source: AP

 

10. DAVID CAMERON — United Kingdom

The UK prime minister nearly lost Scotland — and a sizeable chunk of his power — this year. Source: Getty Images

 

11. ABDULLAH BIN ABDUL AZIZ AL SAUD — Saudi Arabia

Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz Al Saud. The Saudi ruler is absolute monarch and custodian of Islam’s two holiest sites. Source: AP

 

12. WARREN BUFFETT — Berkshire Hathaway

The 84-year-old philanthropist’s wealth continues to grow, despite giving away billions. Source: AP

 

13. LI KEQIANG — China

The Chinese Premier has overseen modest improvements to the country’s economy. Source: AP

 

14. CARLOS SLIM HELU & FAMILY — América Móvil

The world’s second richest man has fingers in the telco, retail, financial and industrial sectors. Source: News Limited

 

15. NARENDRA MODI — India

India’s newly elected conservative prime minster has promised economic rejuvenation. Source: AFP

 

16. JEFF BEZOS — Amazon.com

Amazon’s founder is dedicated to investing cash from operations into new endeavours. Source: AP

 

17. FRANCOIS HOLLANDE — France

With approval ratings as low as 17 per cent, the French president is facing an uphill battle. Source: AFP

 

18. JAMIE DIMON — JPMorgan Chase

Since taking over in 2005, Jamie Dimon has led JPMorgan Chase to profits of $A24.83 billion. Source: Supplied

 

19. ALI HOSEINI-KHAMENEI — Iran

Iran’s supreme leader remains focused on establishing the country as a nuclear player. Source: Supplied

 

20. REX TILLERSON — Exxon Mobil

Under Rex Tillerson’s leadership, ExxonMobil struck oil this summer in Russia’s Arctic region. Source: AP

 

21. JEFFREY IMMELT — General Electric

Jeffrey Immelt oversees one of the most diverse businesses on the planet. Source: Supplied

 

22. MARK ZUCKERBERG — Facebook

Facebook’s founder has been betting big on new acquisitions this year. Source: AP

 

23. MICHAEL BLOOMBERG — Bloomberg

The former mayor of New York has returned to the helm of his namesake company. Source: AAP

 

24. CHARLES KOCH — Koch Industries

He’s the chair of America’s second largest private company and major political donor. Source: Supplied

 

24. DAVID KOCH — Koch Industries

The lightning-rod capitalist brothers splashed out than $A5.8 billion on acquisitions this year. Source: AP

 

25. TIMOTHY COOK — Apple

He’s the man behind the most valuable company in the world, valued at $A137.5 billion. Source: AFP

news.com.au 6 Nov 2014

Another piece of mass media misinformation.

The queen (Queen Elizabeth II - and the people of her realms) is subservient to the pope.

The pope is more powerful than any of the leaders mentioned above him, but this is not common knowledge, and no doubt can be labelled as a 'conspiracy theory' by the mainstream media.

Birth Certificate trading hidden within the Commonwealth Inscribed Stock Act (1911)

Believe in conspiracy theories?

Not convinced the corporation conglomerate (nee government) owns you?

Are the terms STRAWMAN, CAPITIS DIMINUTIO, NATURAL PERSON foreign terms to you?

Is a berth (birth) certificate a bond?

In Australia, the trading of your birth certificate is hidden within the Commonwealth Inscribed Stock Act (1911)

This Act is available for download (48pp, 157KB) at:


Source: http://www.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/download.cgi/au/legis/cth/consol_act/cisa1911288

The original Act from 1911 (8pp at 670KB) is available at :

 

 Source: http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C1911A00020

Note: The validity of law is put aside.

Noam Chomsky calls US 'world's leading terrorist state'

U.S. linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky (Reuters/Jorge Dan)

Tags
Arms, CIA, Central America, Clashes, Cuba, History, Human rights, Obama, Opposition, Security, Terrorism, UN, USA, Violence, War

 

The United States is the “world's leading terrorist state,” based on its deadly, CIA-run operations in the likes of Nicaragua and Cuba, according to new op-ed by historian and social philosopher Noam Chomsky.

In a new piece posted at Truthout.org, Chomsky pointed to the Central Intelligence Agency’s classified review of its own efforts to arm insurgencies across the globe in its 67-year history. As RT previously reported, the CIA conducted the effectiveness analyses while the Obama administration contemplated arming rebels fighting against President Bashar Assad’s forces in Syria.

The New York Times was the first to uncover the story and Chomsky opened by suggesting the Times’ own headline for it should have been titled, "It's official: The U.S. is the world's leading terrorist state, and proud of it,” rather than "CIA Study of Covert Aid Fueled Skepticism About Helping Syrian Rebels."
 

A rebel fighter from the Free Syrian Army holds a position with a Belgium made FAL rifle at a front line in the Salah al-Din neighbourhood of the northern Syrian city of Aleppo (AFP Photo)

The longtime MIT professor went on to detail some of the instances assessed in the CIA’s review and why they amount to an American regime - “the world champion in generating terror” - bent on antagonizing its opposition around the world.

“The first paragraph of the Times article cites three major examples of ‘covert aid’: Angola, Nicaragua and Cuba. In fact, each case was a major terrorist operation conducted by the US,” Chomsky wrote.

He added that it was the US, in the 1980s, that supported Apartheid-era South Africa as it invaded Angola to protect itself “from one of the world's ‘more notorious terrorist groups,” according to Washington: “Nelson Mandela's African National Congress.”
 
“Washington joined South Africa in providing crucial support for Jonas Savimbi's terrorist Unita army in Angola,” wrote Chomsky.

Unita army (AFP Photo)

“The consequences were horrendous. A 1989 U.N. inquiry estimated that South African depredations led to 1.5 million deaths in neighboring countries, let alone what was happening within South Africa itself.”
 
Chomsky also mentioned the decades-long “murderous and destructive campaign” the US aimed at Cuba, including the failed Bay of Pigs invasion and a harsh embargo that continues to this day.

“The toll of the long terrorist war was amplified by a crushing embargo, which continues even today in defiance of the world. On Oct. 28, the UN, for the 23rd time, endorsed ‘the necessity of ending the economic, commercial, financial blockade imposed by the United States against Cuba,’” he wrote.

Chomsky mentioned the dirty wars the US brought to opposition in Central America in the 1980s and current airstrikes in Syria and Iraq aimed at Islamic State, a jihadist group, like others, compiled and strengthened through American interventions in the Middle East, namely the recent Iraq war, he wrote.

AFP Photo/U.S. Air Force

He ended with a note on President Barack Obama’s unmanned drone regime patrolling the skies in the likes of Pakistan and Yemen.

“To this we may add the world's greatest terrorist campaign: Obama's global project of assassination of ‘terrorists.’ The ‘resentment-generating impact’ of those drone and special-forces strikes should be too well known to require further comment,” he wrote.

“This is a record to be contemplated with some awe.”

rt.com 4 Nov 2014 

Targeting tax crime: Project DO IT – October 2014

Opportunity ending - make the right choice before it is too late.

With its increasing capability to track money flows back to beneficiaries, the ATO is one step away from knocking on the doors of suspected tax evaders.

‘I want the people who have undisclosed money offshore to realise they are on notice,' says Greg Williams, ATO Deputy Commissioner. 'If they think they can remain undetected, they should think again. We are just one step away from knocking on their door,' he says.

'To support the enforcement of Australia’s tax and super laws, the law gives us full access to the details of every single international funds transfer involving Australia. Further, our international tax treaty partners are sharing more information with us every day,' he says.

‘Make no mistake; the ATO has a long reach. Just because something happens outside Australia's borders doesn’t mean it’s beyond the watchful eye of the ATO,’ the deputy commissioner says.

• Find out more
• The ATO's global networkExternal Link
• Disclose offshore income todayExternal Link

End of find out more

The ATO is also working more closely with banks to get a better understanding of the volumes of data available from AUSTRAC.

‘We now have a greater ability to follow the trail of money across borders to the end beneficiary. Tax evaders should be aware that complex structures designed to throw authorities off the scent won’t stand up,’ Greg Williams says.

During 2012–13, AUSTRAC information contributed to 1,428 ATO audits that raised $572 million in additional tax. This is an increase of 127% from the $252 million raised in 2011–12.

For those who heed the warning and want to come forward, the ATO’s offshore voluntary disclosure initiative, Project DO IT, should be just the circuit breaker they are looking for.

Project DO IT provides Australians with the opportunity to voluntarily declare undisclosed or incorrectly reported offshore financial activities, and avoid steep penalties and the possibility of criminal charges.

With just two months remaining until the 19 December deadline, the ATO wants people to know that time is running out and they need to act quickly.

Find out more
How the ATO is keeping the tax system fairExternal Link
End of find out more

Many are coming forward

• More than 1,500 taxpayers have lodged a full disclosure or expression of interest
• More than $180 million of previously undeclared income has been disclosed
• More than $1 billion worth of previously undeclared assets has been disclosed.

Case Study: 5 years jail for respected tax agent

Those who think that that there is safety in numbers will find that they are mistaken. It’s not a numbers game when it comes to catching tax evaders; our access to data and ability to use it is unprecedented, and momentum is only growing.

Recently a high-profile, respected tax agent was found to have used money laundering and other methods to help clients avoid paying tax. The court was told she used banks in Vanuatu to channel millions of dollars.

When the ATO uncovered the fraud, every one of the tax agent’s clients also came under suspicion, due to their tax file numbers being associated with the crime. Some of those clients have already been jailed under the Project Wickenby program while others are still being investigated.

The position of trust tax agents have with their clients and their knowledge of the tax system means they have a critical role in maintaining and protecting the integrity of that system. When that position is used to take advantage of the system for the agent's own personal gain and that of their clients, the penalties are severe.

The tax agent was sentenced to five years in jail, with the judge noting that the agent’s actions “were a significant breach of trust on the part of a qualified and highly placed accountant.”

Read more about our prosecution record to dateExternal Link.
End of example

AUSTRAC’s vast store of financial intelligence

In 2012–13 AUSTRAC received more than 84 million individual reports of financial transactions and suspicious matters from industry and government partner agencies (compared to 59 million reports in 2011–12).
This total included:

• almost 80 million reports of international funds transfers with a total value of more than $3.5 trillion
• more than 44,000 reports of suspicious matters submitted by industry.

Each year AUSTRAC disseminates thousands of pieces of financial intelligence to its partner agencies, including the ATO, to assist them in their investigations into tax evasion and other serious crimes.

A good offer

Project DO IT – the ATO’s offer of reduced penalties for those who disclose offshore income – is a genuine offer that advisers and relevant individuals should take seriously. This is the advice of tax advisers, Mark Leibler and Michael Bersten, in a panel interview with ATO deputy commissioners, Michael Cranston and Greg Williams, hosted by David Koch.

'This is a unique once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Anyone who doesn’t take advantage of it would have to be insane, frankly,' Mark Leibler says in the interview, while Michael Bersten warns those affected: 'If you have something to disclose, you should come forward'.

Reinforcing what Mark Leibler and Michael Bersten say, Deputy Commissioner Michael Cranston urges taxpayers to act. 'Project DO IT is a good offer and those who let it pass by will regret it,' he said.

'If you need to disclose international financial activities, act quickly and decisively. If we detect you first, you will be exposed to the full force of the law, including severe penalties.'

Under the initiative, the ATO is providing a number of benefits. Most significantly, taxpayers have an opportunity to avoid steep penalties and the risk of criminal prosecution for tax avoidance.

‘If you have something to disclose you should come forward, it’s in your own best interests to get some further advice and find out what your position is,' Michael Bersten says.

'It's an offer so good that we couldn’t possibly offer it again,' Greg Williams says.

Project DO IT is an opportunity for all Australians who have engaged in previously unreported offshore financial activities to get their tax affairs in order.

There are very few taxpayers who would not be eligible to make a disclosure under this initiative.

The process has been designed with the assistance of advisers and professional associations.

'The ATO has gone through a really fantastic process of consulting and ensuring this is a really robust, fair and balanced program. This is in the best interests of Australia and the individuals concerned,' Michael Bersten says.

For more information on the offer, eligibility, and what you need to do to disclose, refer to ato.gov.au/projectdoit

Panel interview

In the panel discussion facilitated by well-known television presenter David Koch, tax experts Mark Leibler and Michael Bersten join ATO deputy commissioners Michael Cranston and Greg Williams to discuss the tax system and fairness, ATO's capability, and Project DO IT.

The discussion goes for about one hour and has been segmented into five videos:

• The tax system and fairness
• The ATO’s capability and effectiveness
• Project DO IT – why come forward now?
• The future of tax administration
• Q&A.

Watch
Get an insider perspective on why it’s a good time to declare offshore assets, what’s involved and the consequences if you don’t come forward now.

Duration 8mm: 53ss. A transcript of Project DO IT: Why come forward now is also available.
To watch the other videos and view the infographics, refer to

taxmatters.gov.au/discloseoffshoreincometodayExternal Link
End of watch

Get it done
Subscribe to Targeting tax crime – the definitive whole-of-government magazine on tax crime.

Source: https://www.ato.gov.au/General/The-fight-against-tax-crime/In-detail/Targeting-Tax-Crime-magazine/2014/Targeting-tax-crime--Project-DO-IT---October-2014/?page=1#A_good_offer

ato.gov.au 30 Oct 2014

Another deceptive piece of information for the masses.

The ATO is not a lawful entity.

Tax is voluntary.

False information disseminated to keep the masses oppressed in the Police State of Australia.

Julia Gillard did not commit crime over Bruce Wilson’s alleged slush fund — recommendation

Committed no crime but conduct as solicitor questionable ... Former prime minister Julia Gillard. Picture Mike Batterham Source: News Corp Australia

 

FORMER prime minister Julia Gillard did not commit any crime in relation to an alleged corrupt slush fund operated by her one-time boyfriend, an inquiry has been told. 

The lawyer leading inquiries for the trade unions royal commission has recommended a finding that Ms Gillard did not commit any crime and did not know about allegedly criminal activity by her former lover, union boss Bruce Wilson.

Julia Gillard’s former boyfriend ... Bruce Wilson arrives at the Royal Commission into Trade Unions. Source: News Corp Australia

 

The recommendation is among the written submissions to the commission by counsel assisting, Jeremy Stoljar SC, published on Friday.

However Mr Stoljar reports that some aspects of Ms Gillard’s professional conduct as a solicitor “appear questionable” and that she likely did receive money from Mr Wilson for her home renovations — something she has consistently denied.

Ms Gillard was questioned in the commission in September about off-the-books work she did as a young lawyer for Mr Wilson when he was an official in the Australian Workers’ Union.

Ms Gillard advised Mr Wilson and his union bagman, Ralph Blewitt, on setting up the AWU Workplace Reform Association (WRA) in the early 1990s.

The commission has heard Mr Wilson used WRA as a slush fund to secretly receive thousands of dollars from a construction firm for work that was never done.

Ms Gillard’s failure to open a file for the work on the office system and rumours money from the fund paid for her renovations have dogged her career across two decades.

Mr Stoljar wrote: “Had she adopted a more rigorous approach to the task, it might have been more difficult for Mr Wilson and Mr Blewitt to have behaved as they did”.

He concludes: “The evidence supports a finding that Ms Gillard was the beneficiary or recipient of certain funds from Mr Wilson.”

Allegedly made a false claim ... Former secretary of the HSU union, Kathy Jackson outside the Royal Commission into Trade Unions. Source: News Corp Australia

 

Mr Stoljar has also urged the commissioner to find that Health Services Union (HSU) whistleblower Kathy Jackson made a false claim for funds to Victoria’s Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and that charges be considered.

The submissions also recommend charges be considered against Victorian Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) boss John Setka.

Mr Stoljar reports that Mr Setka “committed the offence of blackmail” in a dispute where concrete firm Boral was banned from worksites as part of a confrontation between the CFMEU and construction firm Grocon.

Charges have also been recommended against NSW CFMEU state secretary Brian Parker and Cbus Superannuation officers Lisa Zanatta and Maria Butera in relation to a leak of confidential superannuation member information and “obviously perjured evidence” to the commission.

Commissioner Dyson Heydon will consider the submissions in compiling his interim report, due to be handed to the federal government on December 15.

news.com.au 31 Oct 2014

This is another example of the corrupt legal system supporting its crones.

If you are supported by the 'brotherhood' you are untouchable.

This is showing the peasants that the criminals who run the country are above the law.

Australia, a country truly run by corporate criminals.

Taxpayers spend $150,000 a year in rent for ministerial office with no minister

Liberal Senator Arthur Sinodinos. Source: News Corp Australia

 

IT IS the ministerial office without a minister, the Sydney CBD suite of former Assistant Treasurer Arthur Sinodinos that costs taxpayers more than $150,000-a-year. 

The Abbott Government has confirmed it is still paying the rent for the suite in the Commonwealth

Parliamentary Offices for the former Assistant Treasurer, despite the fact he has not set foot in the office for over 200 days, since he agreed to stand aside pending an anti-corruption probe.

Senator Sinodinos stepped aside from the frontbench on March 18, after months of political pressure the investigation examining Australian Water Holdings. He did not resign and hopes to return to the frontbench if he is cleared by the Independent Commission Against Corruption.

Senator Sinodinos confirmed that his office remains open for business but it is being used by some of his staff that are currently working for the Acting minister Mathias Cormann until the matter is resolved.

The tally for the office for the days that Senator Sinodinos has not ventured into the CBD suite is now running at nearly $80,000.

“Yes, it is occupied,’’ Senator Sinodinos said.

Arthur Sinodinos suite remains empty but government is still paying the rent. Source: News Corp Australia

“It’s being occupied by my ministerial staff who service the Acting Treasurer from that office.

“I have ministerial and electorate staff and the ministerial staff operate from that office. I have a pre-existing electorate office in Pitt Street. I can’t operate from my ministerial office because I’ve been stood aside.”

Asked whether Finance Minister Mathias Cormann uses the office as a Sydney base, he said:

“You would have to ask Mathias Cormann how often he uses the office.’’

Chairman of Labor’s waste watch committee Pat Conroy said to operate two offices for minister who was no longer a minister seemed to be a waste of taxpayers money.

“It’s $80,000 being spent on a ministerial office which doesn’t have a minister,’’ he said.

“We don’t have ministerial offices created purely for staff.”

“To spend $80,000 on a ministerial office that no longer houses a ministry demonstrates this government’s lack of priorities. How long can this government go on without an Assistant Treasurer when they are paying an Assistant Treasurer’s rent ?.”

The Prime Minister Tony Abbott has indicated the door is open for Senator Sinodinos to return to the frontbench if he is cleared by ICAC.

When Senator Sinodinos stood aside in March, Mr Abbott said he would “draw no ministerial salary and have no access to ministerial entitlements”.

“Senator Sinodinos has done the right and decent thing as you’d expect and for someone who has given our country such long and faithful service,” Mr Abbott said.

“I look forward to his restoration to the ministry.”

Documents tabled in Parliament confirm the cost of Seantor Sinodinos’ office is $157,691 since the September election. The cost is equivalent to Immigration Minister Scott Morrison, whose suite in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Office cost taxpayers $159,745. Mr Morrison also has a separate electorate office.

Joe Hockey, who combines a ministerial and electorate office in North Sydney spent $203,534.

Malcolm Turnbull who also combines a ministerial and electorate office spent $242,445 to rent his Edgecliff office.

news.com.au 2 Nov 2014

More corporate fraud in the hands of corrupt politicians.

 Plain and simple theft.

Now lets see if the police will be involved in this.

This is only a small portion of corruption being reported by the corporate media.

Bypassing encryption: Italian firm ‘sells global spyware to police, govts’

AFP Photo

The latest encryption measures adopted by Google and Apple to beef up users’ security seem futile in light of firms like Hacking Team, which are offering software that allows authorities to bypass encryptions on personal devices, The Intercept reported.

READ MORE: Australian police spend millions on spyware – WikiLeaks
 
The manual for one such program, titled 'Remote Control System,' has been published online.

“We’re publishing in full, for the first time, manuals explaining the prominent commercial implant software ‘Remote Control System,’ manufactured by the Italian company Hacking Team,” The Intercept wrote.

Hacking Team proudly advertises that its software can “defeat encryption.”

“You cannot stop your targets from moving. How can you keep chasing them? What you need is a way to bypass encryption, collect relevant data out of any device, and keep monitoring your targets wherever they are, even outside your monitoring domain. Remote Control System does exactly that,” reads the firm’s brochure.

The software is reportedly capable of remotely turning on cameras, opening up emails, recording Skype calls, monitoring keystrokes, and collecting passwords.

The manual explains that targeting a digital device is quite easy – whether it is via a wifi network, USB stick, a video, or an email attachment.

Following step-by-step installation instructions, the software buyer can record and monitor activity without leaving a trace.

Hacking Team customers reportedly reside in Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and Oman, among other countries.

The US is also a prominent user of the software; Hacking Team has attended American homeland security trade shows and conferences and put on training exercises for police, including one titled 'Cyber Intelligence Solutions to Data Encryption,' according to The Intercept.

Co-founder and CEO David Vincenzetti told l’Espresso in 2011: “We sell Remote Control System to institutions in more than 40 countries on five continents.”
 
Hacking Team describes its products as “lawful intercept” technology, maintaining that all of its customers are government institutions. It says it would never sell software to countries which are on international “blacklists” or involved in “gross human rights abuses.”
 
But Citizen Lab, a digital research unit at the University of Toronto, revealed that its customer selection policy has its shortcomings. After learning of 21 buyers, nine are among the “authoritarian” rating in The Economist’s 2012 Democracy Index.

READ MORE: Government-operated spyware on the rise around the world – report
 
There is an increasing interest in tech firms that offer spyware, but their names remain under the radar. FinFisher is another such company that offers “IT intrusion and remote monitoring solution” which is “solely offered to law enforcement and intelligence agencies,” according to its maker, Gamma International.

FinFisher has been criticized for dealing with countries such as Bahrain and Ethiopia.
In September, WikiLeaks revealed that governments spy on journalists with weaponized malware produced by FinFisher.

rt.com 31 Oct 2014

All part of the Police State agenda, where the people are the enemy.

Australian police spend millions on spyware – WikiLeaks

Police officers stand outside the Sydney Opera House March 19, 2003. (Reuters / James D Morgan)

Police in the Australian state of New South Wales have spent over $2 million on powerful spy programs to monitor the smartphones and notebooks of Australian citizens, according to the latest revelations from WikiLeaks.

The spyware for NSW police was developed by a German company.

The new batch of documents published by the whistleblower on Monday maintains that Australian police have used spyware from Gamma International, a German company specializing in developing spyware for remote computer monitoring, while conducting some investigations.

Sophisticated German-made software known as FinSpy enables spacious access to computer records, including full chat communications (e.g. Skype) and email monitoring, extracting files from hard drives, logging keystrokes and grabbing images of computer screens. FinSpy is allegedly capable of operating under all major desktop and mobile OS, namely Windows, OS X, Linux, Android, iOS, BlackBerry, Symbian, and Windows Mobile.

Reuters / David Gray

An unidentified NSW police officer wrote in a communication with the software developers that there is a risk that the program can garb really sensitive data – such as confidential communication with a lawyer.

“The captured information needs to be able to be identified as legal privilege and not used in any further intelligence capability as it is considered private. There are other categories that may come up so it would be useful if the categories could be implemented at the user level rather than hard coded by Gamma,” a document revealed by WikiLeaks claimed.

“When FinSpy is installed on a computer system it can be remotely controlled and accessed as soon as it is connected to the internet/network, no matter where in the world the target system is based,” WikiLeaks said.

NSW Police used a set of spy programs developed by Gamma International, which cost the budget more than $2 million (1.8 million euro). WikiLeaks alleges that there are no online tender records of either Gamma International or any of its subsidiaries holding contracts with NSW Police - despite the substantial costs of the spyware.

Still from wikileaks.org

NSW Police confirmed the use of spyware to the Sydney Morning Herald.

“Given this technology relates to operational capabilility [sic], it's not appropriate to comment,” a police spokesman said.

To get remote access to a personal computer legally, NSW Police could apply for a special covert search warrant, obtained from an ‘eligible judge’ on Australia’s Supreme Court bench, empowered to grant those types of warrants.

The ‘SpyFiles 4’ WikiLeaks publication also names police forces of the Netherlands, Singapore's PCS Security Pte Ltd and intelligence arms of the Hungarian, Italian, and Bosnian governments as buyers of FinFischer malware.

According to WikiLeaks estimates, all in all Gamma international could have earned from 48 to 98 million euro on FinFisher licence sales.

The developer of FinFisher became a target of hacker attack in August, which resulted in the leaking of client lists, price lists, source code, an effectiveness report of Finfisher malware, support documentation and a list of tutorials being now distributed via BitTorrent.

The founder of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, locked up in the Ecuadorian embassy in London for two years now, made a statement, claiming that the latest FinFisher hack makes it possible to develop protection from this malware and even track down the command and control servers it is used from.

“This full data release will help the technical community build tools to protect people from FinFisher by tracking down its command and control centers,” he said.

Assange also maintained that the German government is well aware of the spyware developed and is protecting FinFisher.

“FinFisher continues to operate brazenly from Germany, selling weaponized surveillance malware to some of the most abusive regimes in the world,” Assange said. “The Merkel government pretends to be concerned about privacy, but its actions speak otherwise. Why does the Merkel government continue to protect FinFisher?”
 
Yet in the case of Germany the spyware cuts both ways, ZDNet informed, as reports over the weekend have claimed the Five Eyes intelligence group, consisting of the US, Australia, UK, Canada and New Zealand, had been using an internet mapping program dubbed Treasure Map globally to spy on networks of German telecommunication companies, though the US government assured that this program had no surveillance capabilities.

In the meantime, investigative journalist Glenn Greenwald promised make public information about the New Zealand government’s spying on its own citizens, which could potentially result in Prime Minister John Key’s resignation.

Key immediately rejected all such accusations, saying that national communications security agency GCSB had considered implementing mass surveillance following a series of cyber-attacks, but after all the plan was rejected and never implemented.

rt.com.au 16 Sep 2014

In Australia the real criminals are the police.

The police are there NOT to 'protect and serve' the general populous, nor are they 'public servants'.

The police are [factually] a corporation subservient to corporations.

Australian schools to run ‘Northern hemisphere’ VCE timetable to attract foreign students

Year 12 student Kimberley Jurcan 18, during the English exam at Bentleigh Secondary College. Picture: David Caird

 

SCHOOLS will be able to offer the VCE according to a US-style academic calendar in a major shake-up. 

The new option, touted as an Australian-first, would see school timetables run from September to June.

To start next year, both local and overseas schools can adopt it.

It comes as more than 46,000 VCE students today begin their exams.

Hard at work: a student tackles the English exam at Bentleigh Secondary College. Picture: David Caird

 

Education Minister Martin Dixon sad the new “northern hemisphere” VCE option was expected to increase the number of overseas students studying the certificate overseas in particular.

About 680 are already enrolled across 15 schools, most in China.

“This is something that overseas students will be very, very attracted to and even more countries now will take it on,’’ he said.

Kimberley Jurcan 18, uses a dictionary. Picture: David Caird.

 

“There is interest around the world for the VCE — it’s well renowned as a very, very strong qualification in its own right — but it also helps with entry into Victorian and Australian universities.

“It also means that students may be able to move from hemisphere to hemisphere without any interruption in those very important senior years.”

The new timetable — which would run parallel to the existing VCE schedule in Victorian schools which take it up — will initially be offered with 12 subjects including English, English as an Additional Language, maths, physics, Chinese and Arabic.

Examinations would be first held in June 2017.

The announcement came as thousands of students this morning sat exams in English and English as an Additional Language, signalling the start of a three-week test fest.

Students at Bentleigh Secondary College took the three-hour ordeal in their stride, most saying the exam was what they expected.

The language analysis component of this year’s English exam asked students to analyse a piece about space exploration.

They also wrote two essays on their selected texts.

Student Lachlan O’Brien, who hopes to study nursing and paramedicine next year, said: “I am feeling really confident about it — the questions were pretty much perfect for what I’ve been studying. I’m really happy.”

Michelle Kulik, who will sit her next exam tomorrow, said she was also feeling confident.

“It really does show preparation does pay off in the end,’’ she said.

But there were still a few nerves.

“I was nervous since last night so I could barely eat,’’ Michelle said.

“When I got into the exam my hand was shaking when I started to write down the first couple of words but then after 20 minutes I was like: “I just need to get this down on paper”.

“I’m proud with what I’ve done and I’m also really excited it’s over with — I never have to worry about another English examination again and I’m all good with that.”

Principal Karen Wade she was always a little nervous for her students.

“They have all put in the hard work and they will do extremely well,’’ she said.

heraldsun.com.au 29 Oct 2014

Dear Mr. Government - THIS IS 'STRAYA MATE! NOT EUROPE, UK or USA

The inconveniencing of 46,000 students for a few hundred (temporary) foreign students.

Why does not America change its whole curriculum for Aussie students abroad???

Still not convince the corporation conglomerate (the government) is not a corporate whore?

The Australian government is not in governance for the people.