Occupy Everything
Students Occupy Sussex University In Protest Against Privatization
Around 40-60 students have occupied a conference centre and top floor of a University of Sussex building as “a last recourse” to prevent the privatisation of campus services.
The occupation follows a demonstration on Thursday when 300 staff and students marched through campus to oppose the outsourcing of catering and estate management services at Sussex.
At the end of the protest, a group of 40 students occupied part of Bramber House, where an external event was taking place.
A further 20 students joined the occupation over night, according to a Sussex Against Privatisation spokesperson, despite the presence of university and private security staff.
The university provoked anger when it announced in May that it was to sell off some campus services, meaning 235 workers will be transferred to private companies from August 2013.
Since then it has held meetings with trade unions, staff and students but pressed ahead with the bidding process to find a private partner. Sussex Against Privatisation says the opposition to outsourcing services is strong and that its actions are a “last recourse… in order to ensure that student and staff voices are heard”.
“We had a large rally yesterday and a solidarity demo this afternoon. But these events aren’t just a one-off, there’ve been boycotts and petitions held throughout the year in opposition to the university’s plans.
“While privatisation will have an impact on students’ lives in terms of the quality of services, our first concern is the impact this will have on staff – it’s their job security that will be put at risk.”
Twitter is appealing a judge’s decision requiring the social media company to turn over an Occupy Wall Street protester’s tweets and account information to Manhattan prosecutors.
In June, Criminal Court Judge Matthew Sciarrino ruled that releasing Malcolm Harris’s tweets would not violate his privacy, since he had posted them on a public website.
Harris, a Brooklyn-based writer, was arrested with hundreds of other Occupy members during a mass march across the Brooklyn Bridge last fall.
The case has focused attention on a number of murky legal questions surrounding the use of social media, including whether users own the content they post publicly and whether companies like Twitter can prevent authorities from using that information to prosecute social media users.
READ ON: Twitter appeals ruling to hand over Occupy protester’s tweets
(via anarcho-queer)
Court Orders Twitter To Hand Over Occupy Protester’s Tweets
A New York judge Monday ordered Twitter to turn over data on one of its users involved in the Occupy Wall Street protest movement, in a case watched closely as a test of online freedom of speech.
Manhattan criminal court Judge Matthew Sciarrino ruled that law enforcement had the right to see tweets and other user data from Malcolm Harris, who is being prosecuted for disorderly conduct in connection with the Occupy Wall Street protest on the Brooklyn Bridge last year.
The judge said that the tweets are not private information and thus not subject to the constitutional guarantee of privacy.
“If you post a tweet, just like if you scream it out the window, there is no reasonable expectation of privacy,” he said in an 11-page ruling.
“The constitution gives you the right to post, but as numerous people have learned, there are still consequences for your public posts. What you give to the public belongs to the public. What you keep to yourself belongs only to you.”
The ruling reaffirmed the judge’s refusal of a motion by Twitter to quash the subpoena. He did grant Twitter’s request to protect anything tweeted before December 31, or more than 180 days old, without a search warrant.
Chief Assistant District Attorney Daniel Alonso said after the ruling: “We are pleased that the court has ruled for a second time that the tweets at issue must be turned over. We look forward to Twitter’s complying and to moving forward with the trial.”
Twitter said it was studying its next move.
“We are disappointed in the judge’s decision and are considering our options,” a statement from the San Francisco firm said.
“Twitter’s terms of service have long made it absolutely clear that its users ‘own’ their content. We continue to have a steadfast commitment to our users and their rights.”
The American Civil Liberties Union and others have cited the case as a test of free speech online. The ACLU said it hopes the decision is eventually overturned.
“The information being requested in this particular subpoena would provide the government with a wealth of knowledge about the user’s communications and geographic locations for a three-and-a-half month period,” ACLU attorney Aden Fine said.
“The request covers all of the user’s tweets (no longer available on Twitter), as well as his subscriber information, which includes his personal email address, the IP addresses he used,” Fine said,
“The government shouldn’t be able to get this sensitive and constitutionally protected information without a warrant and without first satisfying First Amendment scrutiny.”
(via anarcho-queer)
On Saturday, journalist Laurie Penny and I were drinking tea and talking about making something together. The next day she took the 17-hour Occupy Wall Street busride down to Chicago, to cover the #noNato protests. Laurie sent me snaps of her busmates: kids who were singing Disney songs as they prepared to be beaten and arrested. So I drew them.
Illustration by Molly Crabapple
Read Laurie’s coverage here.
Protesters dumped old furniture into a Citi Bank ATM lobby across from Daley Plaza in Chicago after their protest about foreclosures and evictions. One protester stretches before sitting down momentarily before Chicago police arrive on May 16.
(via anarcho-queer)
Occupy Philadelphia. Last week, Capt. Ray Lewis (Ret.) protested his preliminary hearing for wearing his uniform while protesting with Occupiers. You remember Captain Lewis… he’s the retired police officer in these photographs, arrested in full uniform in lower Manhattan last November.
The photo was taken and submitted by Michael Albany, whose professional site is here. He can be followed on Tumblr, too!
You can view the rest of The Political Notebook’s project to gather photography, documentation and experiences from the OWS movements nationwide. I have also compiled an archive of all my posted submissions to this project on a single Pinterest board for your viewing convenience. Check out the Call for Submissions page and email your photos to me at torierosedeghett@gmail.com!
(via thepoliticalnotebook)
Let’s make these photos viral. From the Atlantic: A police officer prepares to swing his baton at an unarmed protester. The bottom shows the enormous march in NYC yesterday from a movement that is supposedly in demise.
http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/05/may-day-around-the-world/100289/
(via anarcho-queer)
