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Internet trio want release
from spy agency restrictions


Three big Internet companies want the Obama administration to let them reveal details of federal court orders to turn over information about their users to U.S. spy agencies.

Google, Facebook and Microsoft say they want everything transparent and out in the open. Google's chief legal official said Tuesday his company has nothing to hide.

Google says media reports that it gives the spy agencies unlimited access to information about its customers are not true. It says government orders to keep the details secret just add to rumors and speculation.

The National Security Agency has acknowledged leaked newspaper reports that its program called PRISM collects emails and other data from Internet companies. 

A former NSA contractor, Edward Snowden, leaked the story about PRISM and NSA monitoring of telephone calls to The Guardian and Washington Post.

He said it is important to reveal what he says is the government's massive surveillance program on private citizens.

The U.S. says information gathered by the NSA has foiled terrorist plots. The Justice Department is investigating possible criminal charges against Snowden, who fled to Hong Kong last month but whose exact whereabouts are not known.

The American Civil Liberties Union has filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging whether the NSA spy program is constitutional. The ACLU argues that the spying violates the rights to free speech and privacy. An ACLU attorney says the constitution does not let the government carry out unsuspicious surveillance of every person in the country.



Eavesdropping disclosures
reverberate around world


Governments, campaigners and bloggers around the world have been reacting to allegations that U.S. security agencies secretly collected emails and files directly from the servers of companies like Google and Facebook. The claims were made following leaks from a former contractor at the National Security Agency. The British government has been accused of colluding in the alleged surveillance program.

In the British Parliament, Foreign Secretary William Hague denied that Britain's security agencies had skirted national privacy laws by collecting data on British citizens from the U.S. National Security Agency.

"Our agencies practice and uphold U.K. law at all times. Even when dealing with information from outside the United Kingdom," said Hague.

Critics say the allegations of Internet and phone surveillance would violate basic privacy. Emma Carr is deputy director of the British campaign group Big Brother Watch.

"A mass communications data being piled into one place and being fished through just in case somebody's been committing a crime, or retrospectively they can look through it if someone's committed a crime. That's not OK and that's not what democratic societies have been based on," said Carr.

But some Britons were unconcerned by the surveillance allegations. Nick James is from London.

"I think that we're in the age of big data, and as much data as they can collect is great. If they can predict what might happen out of that data then that's all to the good," said James.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin reacted to the allegations, saying government surveillance should only operate under the law.

But critics argue the Russian government does not allow a free press. Andrei Soldatov, a Russian investigative journalist, says the allegations could have far-reaching consequences for the web.

"We used to think about the Internet as something global. Now we know that in Russia they already started to use arguments like, 'We need to build national boundaries.' And now, well this provides very good ammunition for these kind of arguments," said Soldatov.

China has long been accused by the West of censoring Internet access. Beijing blogger Michael Anti says the allegations against the United States could benefit China.

"The government will say, we told you, every government did the same thing about Internet control, and all the criticism you once made to us about Internet freedom, basically is very hypocritical," said Anti.

On the streets of the Chinese capital the reaction was mixed. Sarah is a fashion designer.

"It does not matter if I commit any crime or if it is just my personal affairs, in the end it is my business. Everybody should have a bit of space," said Sarah.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel says she will raise the issue when U.S. President Barack Obama visits Berlin following the G8 Summit next week.

 

Obama makes a pitch
for immigration bill OK


President Barack Obama says the moment to reform the broken U.S. immigration system is now. The president spoke shortly before the Senate was to take its first votes on the legislation.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Senate has voted to begin debate on a historic and contentious immigration bill that would offer an opportunity for more than 11 million undocumented immigrants to gain U.S. citizenship.

Obama said overhauling America’s dysfunctional immigration system cannot wait.

“The system is still broken.  And to truly deal with this issue, Congress needs to act.  And that moment is now,” Obama said.

The legislation being considered would create a path to citizenship for many of the 11 million people who are in the country illegally.  It would also further strengthen security at the U.S.-Mexican border.

In addition, Obama said the legislation would make it easier for foreign students to stay in the United States.  He said existing laws encourage people to study here, but to take their knowledge elsewhere.

“Once they have gotten the training they need to build a new invention or create a new business, our system too often tells them to go back home, so that other countries can reap the benefits, the new jobs, the new businesses, the new industries.  That is not smart,” Obama said.

The president spoke in front of a group of law enforcement leaders, who endorsed the bill’s security provisions, and business and labor leaders, who said it would help the economy.

A top spokesman for American business, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President Tom Donohue, often criticizes Obama’s economic policies, but is backing the immigration bill.

“We disagree on a lot of things, but we vigorously agree on a bill that makes common sense and takes people out of the shadows and provides for our economy the people we need to move forward,” Donohue said.

On the Senate floor, however, Sen. Jeff Sessions, a Republican, said allowing more foreign workers to enter the United States would deprive American workers of jobs.

“This bill is going to allow more workers to come into this country than we have ever allowed before, at a time when unemployment is extraordinarily high, our ability to reduce unemployment is down, wages are down, and our workers are falling below the inflation rate in their wages for years,” Sessions said.

Many experts believe the legislation has a good chance of passing the Senate, but could face a tougher road in the House of Representatives.

But the top House Republican, Speaker John Boehner, told ABC television he thinks there is a good chance immigration reform can pass both houses and be signed into law by the end of the year.

The chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Rep. Xavier Becerra, told a Washington forum lawmakers may not get another chance to pass this bill.

“We have to make sure it is accountable, because the American public has made it very clear.  We are not interested in going through this in another 10, 15 years.  This better be a solution that fixes the broken system," Becerra said.

Senators in both parties are preparing amendments to the bill.  The president said the compromise legislation is not perfect, and no one will get everything they want.


  
Online software thief
given 12 years in prison


A Chinese national convicted of wire fraud and criminal copyright infringement has been sentenced in a U.S. federal court to 12 years in prison.

U.S. authorities say the theft and piracy perpetrated by defendant Xiang Li, of Chendu, China included industrial-grade software and confidential data stolen from the internal server of an authorized U.S. contractor. Experts placed the value of the cybertheft at more than $100 million, and said Xiang will be deported to China after his release from prison.

Court documents identified Xiang as the operator of a Web site, Crack99.com. Investigators said the site advertised thousands of pirated software titles at a fraction of their retail value.

A statement from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency said Xiang engaged in more than 700 transactions between 2008 and 2011, in which he distributed stolen software in 28 states and 60 foreign countries.

Authorities say Xiang's customers included countries in the Middle East, employees of foreign governments and U.S. contractors holding security clearances. It said more than one-third of the unlawful purchases were made by individuals in the United States.



Plight of child laborers
outlined on special day


The International Labor Organization estimates 10.5 million children around the world are working as domestic workers in hazardous, sometimes slave-like conditions.  The agency is marking World Day Against Child Labor today by calling for action to eliminate child labor in domestic work. 

The International Labor Organization reports all regions of the world employ children as domestic laborers, often in brutal conditions.  The report finds 6.5 million of the 10.5 million child domestic laborers are aged between 5 and 14 years.  More than 70 percent are girls.

Constance Thomas is the director of the International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor.  She said that children carry out a variety of domestic tasks such as cleaning, ironing, cooking, gardening, looking after other children, and caring for the elderly.

"We know that they are vulnerable to physical, psychological and sexual violence and abuse.  They are isolated from their own families.  They are hidden from the public eye by the nature of where they are working.  And, they can become in a state of high dependence on the family or the people in whose household they are working.  We have evidence that some do end up becoming commercially sexually exploited," said Ms. Thomas.

Thomas describes the situation of many domestic workers as a serious violation of child rights.  She says the conditions under which they work are appalling with long hours and no time for rest or leisure.  She says many are exposed to toxic chemicals, carry heavy loads, and use dangerous tools like axes and knives.  She says the children often are underfed, receive humiliating and degrading treatment and suffer verbal and sexual abuse.

The International Labor Organization reports overall 215 million children under age 18 work, many full-time.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, one in four children aged 5 to 17 work, compared to one in eight in the Asia Pacific region and one in 10 in Latin America. 

Thomas says many children in Africa work in some of the worst forms of child labor, but some countries, such as Uganda, Zambia and Tanzania are making very good progress in ending some of the most hazardous types of child labor.

"We have some good examples of some great, great progress.  Ghana right now has a huge program addressing child labor in agriculture, in fishing and in domestic work.  But they are calling on more action because domestic work is one of those that is going to be the hardest to root out because it is hidden-very much because it is hidden," she said.

The agency says child domestic work is not recognized as a form of child labor in many countries because of the blurred relationship with the employing family.  But it stresses the child is not treated like a family member.   It adds the hidden nature of domestic work makes it difficult to protect the child.

The report calls for better data collection and is also pressing governments to ratify and implement two conventions that deal with the minimum age for employment and the worst forms of child labor.



Dry ice suspected  cause
for Martian dunes gullies


Some of the mysterious gullies seen on Martian sand dunes may be formed by sliding blocks of carbon dioxide, also known as dry ice, according to a NASA research report.

"I have always dreamed of going to Mars," said Serina Diniega, a planetary scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., and lead author of a report published online by the journal Icarus. "Now I dream of snowboarding down a Martian sand dune on a block of dry ice."

According to the research, the so-called linear gullies all have a near constant width of a few meters, with raised banks on the sides. The reason the gullies don’t appear to be formed by liquid is that there are no deposits of debris at the bottom of their lower edge. Instead, NASA says, they have pits.

"In debris flows, you have water carrying sediment downhill, and the material eroded from the top is carried to the bottom and deposited as a fan-shaped apron," said Diniega. "In the linear gullies, you're not transporting material. You're carving out a groove, pushing material to the sides."

Images from NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter led scientists to the theory, which in turn led to performing experiments on sand dunes in Utah and California.

During the experiments on Earth, scientists found that dry ice forms a lubricating layer of gaseous carbon dioxide that allowed the chunks to glide down the dunes even when the slope was shallow. The chunks also pushed aside sand into small levees.

"There are a variety of different types of features on Mars that sometimes get lumped together as gullies, but they are formed by different processes," said report co-author Candice Hansen of the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona. "Just because this dry-ice hypothesis looks like a good explanation for one type doesn't mean it applies to others."

Images taken during the Martian winter show the gullies covered by frozen carbon dioxide frost, while images taken early in the Martian spring reveal the gullies. In some of the images, NASA said there appear to be bright objects in the gullies. Scientists believe they are pieces of dry ice that have fallen from higher areas of the dunes. The pits at the bottom of the gullies, NASA believes, are caused by the evaporation of the ice chunks after they’ve come to rest.

"Linear gullies don't look like gullies on Earth or other gullies on Mars, and this process wouldn't happen on Earth," said Diniega. "You don't get blocks of dry ice on Earth unless you go buy them."


Ukrainian pianist is winner
of Van Cliburn competition


A 26 year old from Ukraine has won one of music's most prestigious competitions.

Vadym Kholodenko took home top honors after a series of masterful performances at the Van Cliburn International Piano Competition.

Every four years, since 1962, pianists have come from all over the world to compete in the competition.

Kholodenko was one of 30 competitors, age 19 to 30, who gathered in Fort Worth, Texas, this month to perform before a panel of jurors who are experts in the piano world, as well as a live public audience and thousands who watched the live webcasts. After a series of recitals and chamber music performances, six finalists were selected.

To get to the finals of the Van Cliburn competition takes years of study, countless hours of practice and nerves of steel.

Sean Chen, from southern California, one of six finalists, had been building up to this point all of his life.

"Cliburn has one of the largest reaching influences of any competition," Chen said. "All finalists get management. All of the finalists get concerts in the next four years. That’s the most important thing for any up-and-coming young artist."

The judges have a tough job. Every pianist they’ve heard during the preliminary and semi-final rounds of the competition is hugely accomplished, has astonishing technical skills, and gives thoroughly artistic interpretations of the music.

They all sound spectacular, even to the well-trained ear.  So, the judges look for nuances.

"It’s not a matter of judging technical prowess, that’s almost  taken for granted," said John Giordano, the competition's jury chairman who has been on the jury since 1973. "Some aspects are pretty simple. Do I want to hear this person again? Sometimes, it’s something as simple as goose bumps . . . if they miss notes and the message is there, and it really reaches you, you ignore that."

All in all, it’s extremely high-pressure with grindingly stiff competition. But for young pianists, like silver medalist Beatrice Rana, who is from Italy, it’s worth it.

"Because it’s one of most important piano competitions in the world, and it’s one of the few competitions that can provide a stable career for the finalists," Rana said. "I think a good placement in the Cliburn can provide a wonderful future for someone that aspires to be a concert pianist."

​This is the first competition since its namesake, Van Cliburn, passed away in February from bone cancer.

Cliburn became a household name in 1958 when he took first prize in another famous piano competition, the Tchaikovsky, in Moscow. He was the first non-Russian to win, a significant victory during the Cold War era. Cliburn was honored with a ticker-tape parade on his return to the United States.

After hearing dozens of solo recitals, chamber music performances and concerts performed with the Fort Worth Symphony, the judges deliberated about who would take home the top prize.  Suspense was high in the auditorium when the announcement was made Sunday night.

Kholodenko joins the elite club of Van Cliburn winners, who are ranked among classical music’s leading concert artists.



Financing higher education
is real burden for some grads


Washington's Republicans and Democrats are haggling over how to finance higher education, including details like the interest rates that students pay for loans. Recent graduates, who are burdened with an average of $26,000 in loans, are watching the debate closely. But some economists say the real issue is controlling the soaring cost of college at a time when post-secondary schooling is crucial to getting a good job and a middle class salary. Experts say these high costs are hurting the whole economy, not just students and their families.

Joshua Jordan earned a doctorate degree in physical therapy. He hopes to open his own practice someday, and says having the expensive graduate degree is good for his patients but hard on his wallet. 

“I am currently in debt for $210,000,” he said.

Jordan's loans are eight times larger than those of the average student. He says it might take him 20 years to pay them off, and he sometimes has had to work two jobs concurrently to meet his bills.

For the past 30 years, college tuition has been going up at twice the rate of inflation, and private colleges now charge an average of more than $30,000 a year.  

Universities say they're caught between record-high enrollments, a workforce of professors who have the skills to find work elsewhere if they are not well paid, and falling financial support from state governments.

Terry Hartle speaks for The American Council on Education which represents thousands of colleges and universities across the United States.

"It’s a terrible conundrum that we face as a country. We want more and more post-secondary education. We want more focus on academic quality and graduation. At the same time, the funding sources for higher education have been diminishing for a generation," said Hartle.

While these students made it to graduation, experts worry the high cost of college makes it less likely that bright students from poor families will attend college, depriving the economy of some of the scientists, engineers and others who could help boost growth. 

And a survey shows that some students concerned about repaying thousands of dollars in loans are putting off marriage, children, and the major purchases that usually go along with forming a family. 

Peter Mazareas, who is with the College Savings Foundation, said, "These students will not contribute to the economy. They will go home and live at home. They won't buy cars. They won't invest in housing, so there is a real multiplier effect that is short term."

Georgetown University labor economist Anthony Carnevale said the current system is unsustainable for families and cuts economic growth for the whole country.

"The effects on economic growth are substantial. If we had kept up with demand for post secondary talent, economists estimate that we would be at about $500 billion more per year in gross domestic product, that is people would have more money to spend. There would have been a higher productivity rate," said Carnevale.

Meanwhile, Jordan said his family is not wealthy and could not have paid for so many years in so many colleges on the way to a doctorate.

“There would have been no way I could have created a career for myself that I wanted to do without the use of student loans,” he said.

So for him, it is worth it.