Tag Archives: legal

In digital age, can movie piracy be stopped?

When the highly anticipated movie "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" opened Friday in theaters, many fans had already seen it. The online leak of a pirated, unfinished version of the 20th Century Fox film a month ago sent federal authorities springing into action and stoked a heated conversation within the entertainment industry about digital piracy. Piracy of upcoming films is not new, but the theft of “Wolverine” is especially troubling for an industry concerned with a stalled economy and the financial bottom line

Share

Former ‘enemy combatant’ pleads guilty

Ali al-Marri, once the only designated "enemy combatant" on U.S. soil, has pleaded guilty to a charge of conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda, the Justice Department said Thursday. Al-Marri made the surprise plea during a two-hour hearing in a federal courtroom in Peoria, Illinois

Share

Probe calls for Bangladesh troop deaths

Human rights groups in Bangladesh and abroad are calling for an investigation after 16 borders guards accused of participating in a bloody revolt in February died in custody in recent days. The Bangladesh military acknowledged the deaths of the Bangladesh Rifles paramilitary troops, or jawans — but insisted they were the result of illness and suicide. “Given the history of abuses by security forces in Bangladesh, there is no reason to take at face value the claim that these detainees have committed suicide,” said Brad Adams, Asia director or the New York-based Human Rights Watch, in a statement

Share

Zuma, South Africa’s Next President, Now Must Prove Himself

Jacob Zuma’s election as President of South Africa, all but assured as his party took a formidable lead in early results from this week’s balloting, completes an extraordinary, triumphant comeback in which he overcame prosecutions for rape and corruption and finally toppled his predecessor, Thabo Mbeki.

Share

Senate report: Rice, Cheney OK’d CIA use of waterboarding

Top Bush administration officials gave the CIA approval to use waterboarding, a controversial interrogation technique, as early as 2002, a Senate intelligence report shows. On July 17, 2002, national security adviser Condoleezza Rice, who later became secretary of state, said the CIA could proceed with “alternative interrogation methods,” including waterboarding, when questioning suspected al Qaeda leader Abu Zubaydah. The decision was contingent on the Justice Department’s determining the method’s legality.

Share

Obama’s Growing Dilemma on Torture Prosecution

Less than a day after President Barack Obama told CIA employees in person that he didn’t support prosecuting them for the harsh interrogations of terrorism suspects, he left open the possibility that those who drafted the legal opinions justifying such questionable techniques could end up facing charges. The surprising statement marked just the latest step in Obama’s evolving view of the Bush Administration’s handling of terrorism cases, and it underscored the fine line he is navigating in his stated commitments to uphold the rule of law and at the same time move beyond the divisive Bush years

Share