Sopa: Sites go dark as part of anti-piracy law protests

BBC

In pictures: Sopa protests

• View a gallery of protest action taken by some of the web's highest profile websites

Thousands of internet sites are taking part in a "blackout" protest against anti-piracy laws being discussed by US lawmakers.

The Wikipedia encyclopedia and blogging service WordPress are among the highest profile pages to remove material.
Google is showing solidarity by placing a black box over its logo when US-based users visit its site.
The Motion Picture Association of America has branded the action as "irresponsible" and a "stunt".
Visitors to Wikipedia's English-language site are greeted by a dark page with white text that says: "Imagine a world without free knowledge... The US Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia."
It provides a link to more details about the House of Representatives' Stop Online Piracy Act (Sopa) and the Senate's Protect Intellectual Property Act (Pipa).
If users try to access its other pages via search sites, the text briefly flashes up before being replaced by the protest page. However, people have been sharing workarounds to disable the redirect.
Global protest WordPress's homepage displays a video which claims that Sopa "breaks the internet" and asks users to add their name to a petition asking Congress to stop the bill.
"The authors of the legislation don't seem to really understand how the internet works," the site's co-founder, Matt Mullenweg told the BBC.
Across the globe, several Pirate Party sites have been taken offline. The political parties - which advocate reform of copyright laws - took the action in the UK, Spain, Sweden, Argentina, Canada and elsewhere.

Mojang, the developer of Minecraft, has replaced the game's website with a protest message

The news recommendation site Reddit, the online magazine Boing Boing, the software download service Tucows and the German hackers' group the Chaos Computer Congress also removed access to their content.
The tech news site Wired covered its headlines and pictures with black boxes which were only removed when covered with the cursor.
The US news website Politico estimated that 7,000 sites were involved by early Wednesday morning.
'Gimmick' The moves were described as an "abuse of power" by one of the highest profile supporters of the anti-piracy bills.
"Some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem that all now seem to agree is very real and damaging," said Senator Chris Dodd, the chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America.
"It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information... A so-called 'blackout' is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals."
The US Chamber of Commerce said that the claims against the legislation had been overstated.
"[The sponsors] announced they would roll back the provisions of these bills designed to block foreign criminal websites, striking a major conciliatory note with those who raised legitimate concerns," said Steve Tepp, chief intellectual property counsel at the chamber's Global Intellectual Property Center.
"That was on top of the changes that guarantee the bill applies only to foreign sites. What remains are two pieces of legislation that are narrowly tailored and commercially reasonable for taking an effective swipe at the business models of rogue sites."

Senator Dodd says internet firms should co-operate with lawmakers

The proposed legislation would allow the Department of Justice and content owners to seek court orders against any site accused of "enabling or facilitating" piracy.
Sopa also calls for search engines to remove infringing sites from their results. Pipa does not include this provision.
'Threat to innovation' Google posted a blog on the subject claiming that the bills would not stop piracy.
"Pirate sites would just change their addresses in order to continue their criminal activities," it said.
"There are better ways to address piracy than to ask US companies to censor the internet. The foreign rogue sites are in it for the money, and we believe the best way to shut them down is to cut off their sources of funding."
Other net firms that have criticised the legislation decided not to take part in the blackout.
Twitter's founder, Dick Costolo, tweeted that it would be "foolish" to take the service offline.
Facebook declined to comment on the page blackouts but referred users to a new page posted by its Washington DC division which said: "The bills contain overly broad definitions and create a new private cause of action against companies on the basis of those expansive definitions, which could seriously hamper the innovation, growth, and investment in new companies that have been the hallmarks of the internet."
Debate The events coincided with news that the US House of Representatives plans to resume work on Sopa next month.
The chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Lamar Smith, said: "I am committed to continuing to work with my colleagues in the House and Senate to send a bipartisan bill to the White House."
The Senate is expected to start voting on 24 January on how to proceed on Pipa.
Even if Congress approves the bills, President Barack Obama may decide to veto them.
The White House issued a statement at the weekend saying that "we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global internet".

Dissapointed over the Z- Score ? Be informed of alternative

Tertiary Education Opportunies In Sri Lanka

January 17, 2012, 12:00 pm , The Island


by Emeritus Professor Dayantha Wijeyesekera,

Chancellor University of Vocational Technology and Chairman, Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission Former Vice Chancellor University of Moratuwa and Open University of Sri Lanka.

A large number of students who sat the G.C.E. A- level examination last year must be disappointed over the Z – Score obtained for many and varied reasons. Many of them, their parents and school authorities may not be aware of the opportunities available for Tertiary Education in Sri Lanka irrespective of the Z – Score achieved at the GCE A- level, and / or GCE O- level performances. Many parents, grandparents, guardians and others of our youth are unaware of these opportunities and concentrate only on the 15 conventional universities in the country and get disappointed when their off spring fail to get admission to these universities.

Another purpose of this article would be for those in "greener pastures" to encourage and motivate those here in Sri Lanka on the above aspects, which are quite common in the countries they currently dwell. Of course an indirect purpose would be for them and those in Sri Lanka not to over-react to offer and accept costly overseas tertiary education leading to financial hardships when such opportunities are available locally unless overseas education at under graduate level is sought for some other valid reason.

Some Post Secondary school students who sought Sri Lanka University Education having sat the G.C.E. Advanced level examinations in August 2011 would be rejoicing having secured a Z score for their desired field of study and the desired university while some others would be quite disappointed at varying levels for not having secured the required Z score rating or having doubts on the results. Also there may be some who have the required entry requirements, but nevertheless would wish to pursue other alternate avenues of Tertiary and Vocational Education. Furthermore, there may be those who did not even attempt the G.C.E. Advanced Level examination, since they prefer alternative routes of Tertiary Education as some of us did in following Technical Courses soon after G.C.E.(O-level).

This message is not for a category of "Drop Outs" as I do not believe there is such a category, but to encourage and motivate the 96% (approx) of the age cohort who seek alternate routes for their career development through Tertiary Education of which university education through UGC at the Conventional Universities and their Institutes is just one of the avenues in Sri Lanka, catering only to about 4 % of the age cohort.

There has been much speculation during the months of December 2011 and January 2012 on the Z score ratings which would mainly benefit about 25000 students .who could enter conventional university system from among about 100,000 who have been reported to have secured the minimum entry requirements to enter such universities out of about 300,000.who sat for the GCE A- level last year. While the validity of the results and rankings are being challenged by many quarters, the resultant frustration which has set in, is alarming with the only benefit being that the society at large being more aware of such a Z – score rating in existence in the country.

For those who seek "University" education in Sri Lanka, they should be reminded that within the UGC, there is the Open University of Sri Lanka and also in addition there are other Universities outside the UGC established under separate Acts of Parliament such as, the University of Vocational Technology, Buddhist & Pali University of Sri Lanka, Buddhasravaka Bhiksu University, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University.

In addition there are Local Degree Awarding Institutes recognized by the UGC and the Ministry of Higher Education. These are as listed below and their respective websites would give details of the Programmes of Study being offered leading to recognised accredited degrees:-

* Institute of Technological Studies

* Institute of Surveying and Mapping

* Aquinas College of Higher Studies

* National Institute of Social Development

* National Institute of Business Management

* National Institute of Fisheries and Nautical Engineering

* Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology

Diploma level Programmes of Study are offered under the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Skills Development and also under Ministry of Higher Education. These are programmes leading to National Diplomas and Higher National Diplomas with career development pathways subsequently available to degree level.

Well recognized Professional Courses are also available through Member Associations of the Organization of Professional Associations (OPA). The Member Associations of the OPA which offer such courses are as listed below.

* Institute of Chartered Accountants of Sri Lanka

* Sri Lanka Institute of Architects

* Sri Lanka Library Association

* Institute of Supply & Materials Management

* Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

* Pharmaceutical Society of Sri Lanka

* Institute of Chemistry, Ceylon

* Gemmologists Association of Sri Lanka

* Institute of Personnel Management, Sri Lanka

* Computer Society of Sri Lanka

* Institute of Valuers of Sri Lanka

* The Textile Institute Sri Lanka Section

* Institute Chartered Shipbrokers, Sri Lanka

* Institute of Quantity Surveyors, Sri Lanka

* Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing

* Institution of Engineers, Sri Lanka

* Institute of Chartered Secretaries & Administrator

Of course, there are also many Private Higher Education institutes conducting relevant training programmes through Certificate, Diploma and Advanced Diplomas etc of International Qualification Awarding bodies and degrees of Overseas Universities. The Academic Credibility and the Registration of such non - degree level Tertiary Education Institutes should be ascertained from the Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission (TVEC) the details could be obtained by visiting its website www.tvec.gov.lk. Undoubtedly, obtaining such qualifications through programmes of study while being partly or fully in Sri Lanka would be of a lesser financial burden than proceeding overseas, to obtain the same qualifications.

In addition to all the above, the trend in the development of Tertiary Education and Vocational Training world over is the rapid progress and recognition of Vocational Education. In some developed countries, fields such as Law, Medicine, IT and Engineering are now categorized as Vocations. It has to be clearly understood by Post secondary School leavers, their parents, teachers and school authorities, that while graduating to obtain a degree is prestigious there are many other avenues of obtaining Professional, Technological and Vocational Qualifications which can be equally or more prestigious rather than being an "unemployed graduate" with a degree or being a frustrated secondary school student repeatedly trying to secure a place in a conventional university.

There are currently about 800 Tertiary level educational institutes maintaining the TVEC registration, with TVEC Accredited courses. The Tertiary and Vocation Education and Training opportunities through TVEC Registered and Accredited courses could be verified by visiting the TVEC website www.tvec.gov.lk through the link "Registration and Accreditation".

FIELDS OF STUDY IN THE FOLLOWING AREAS

* Agriculture Plantation and Livestock

* Languages

* Art Design and Media (Visual and Performing)

* Leather and Footwear

* Automobile Repair and Maintenance

* Marine and Nautical Science

* Aviation and Aeronautics

* Mechatronics Technology

* Building and Construction

* Medical and Health Science

* Electrical, Electronics and Telecommunication

* Metal and Light Engineering

* Finance Banking and Management

* Office Management

* Fisheries and Aquaculture

* Personal and Community Development

* Food Technology

* Printing and Packaging

* Gem and Jewellery

* Refrigeration and Air Conditioning

* Hotel and Tourism

* Textile and Garments

* Human Recourses Management

* Trainer Training

* Information Communication and Multimedia Technology

* Wood Related

Most of these courses of study are now aligned to the National Vocational Qualifications framework (NVQF) which ranges from NVQ levels 1 to 7, where level 7 is at degree level for some selected fields at the University of Vocational Technology at Ratmalana.

The TVET GUIDE 2012 presents Fields of Study as shown above, available in the Provinces of Sri Lanka in the various districts. For Human Resource Development and to be gainfully employed with career prospects for further academic advancement even upto degree level, these avenues should be explored and pursued rather than focusing only on the traditional routes some of which may be now outdated.

This is a comprehensive guide on the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Opportunities available at the Public sector and Private sector accredited training institutions also a TVEC Registered list of Private and Public Training institutes. Students can find out what Technical and Vocational Education and Training sector provides for their future career.

This Guide has three indexes which support easy access to fields of study, educational qualifications required and the institute names. The information could be searched on a provincial bas

A/L results controversy continues

Dailymirror Bringing the controversial 2011 GCE Advanced Level results to further chaos the Examination Department has released the results of the Russian Language paper on Monday without district and island rankings. Asked about the discrepancy by the Daily Mirror, Commissioner, School Exam Organisation, of the Examinations Department, H.J.M.C.A Jayasundara said if the rankings of 36 students were released with the results, the entire rankings would have to be changed and results re-assessed with the Z-score. “Despite the release of the Russian language results which was not finalised until Monday, being released without rankings and the GCE Advanced Level results earlier released with Island and District rankings the results may remain the same,” Mr. Jayasundara said. Meanwhile, Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) General Secretary Joseph Stalin criticising the act said the release of incomplete results vindicate their stand that the entire results of the August GCE Advanced Level results were full of errors and the Dhara Wijetilaka committee was an eyewash. He contended that failure to mention the rankings of these students may affect the district and island rankings of all students who sat the exam in the arts stream. “This is an extremely unjust act on students and the violation of their fundamental rights. The release of Russian language results without rankings will further mess up the GCE Advanced Level exam results and prove what we said from the beginning that the results have to be withdrawn, fully re-assessed and re-released . The turn of events also indicate the uselessness of the so called Wijetilaka committee that boasted of recommending proposals for all ills of the Advanced Level imbroglio. The committee and its recommendations was simply a sham,” Mr. Stalin charged. He added that this was the first time the examination departmen t issued the results of an examination three times from December 25, 27 and January 16, which was another record under Education Minister Bandula Gunawardana. Mr. Stalin pointed out that a student at the Alawwa Rahula College who offered Russian language as a subject at the Advanced Level exam in August has obtained an A pass for the subject. Since the student had obtained two A passes for the other two subjects as well a question has arisen in the Kurunegala District rankings. Meanwhile, the Presidential media Unit today announced that President Mahinda Rajapaksa has instructed the Education and Higher Education Ministries, the UGC and the Examinations Department to implement the recommendations of the Dhara Wijetilaka committee recommendations immediately. (Sandun A. Jayasekara)

Scrap Z-score: Ranil

Tuesday, 17 January 2012 22:13, Dailymirror

 

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe today in Parliament stressed the need to scrap the Z-score system for the admission of students to universities.
Mr. Wickremesinghe, in a statement to the House, said that the UNP government led by him during the 2002/2004 period had plans todo away with this system. However, he said that he could not take any step because of what he termed as the undemocratic act of dissolution of his government in 2004.

“We opposed the Z-score system right from the beginning. Instead, we should have expanded opportunities for students to gain access for higher education,” he said.

Referring to the recent crisis of the Advanced Level results, he said that the credibility of the Department of Examinations had suffered more than ever because of this problem.

“Minister Dalles Alahapperuma once said that the entire Cabinet should be held responsible for the mishap. However, these are mere utterances only. No one is there to take the responsibility,” he said.

He recalled how he sacked a Commissioner General of Examination when he was the Education Minister at that time due to a similar blunder.

Also, he asked as to why Prof. Ralfe Thatil who introduced the Z-score system was not consulted in the
formulation of a common modality for the calculation of Z-score marks of students who sat for the exam under two different syllabuses this time.

Higher Education Minister S.B. Dissanayake replied that Prof. Thatil was excluded from the expert panel that worked on this matter because there were some legal issues involved. Also, he said that Prof. Thatil faced some allegations of financial irregularities when he was the director of the Post Graduate Institute of Agriculture.

Mr. Dissanayake said that the Z-score system had many plus points as a modality for the admission of students to the university system.
(Kelum Bandara and Yohan Perera)

Jubilee Congress of the Faculty of Medicine, Peradeniya

January 17, 2012, 12:00 pm , The Island.


by Prof. Upali Illangasekera

When most of the universities in the country are in turmoil, a magnificient event took place in the Faculty of Medicine at Peradeniya when the 50th Jubilee Congress was held during the first week of January. It was indeed a unique event where outstanding alumni of the faculty presented their contributions to medicine. Nearly 40 medical scientists made presentations at the academic sessions which lasted for 3 days. These alumni included Prof. Nimal Senanayake who was the first to describe to the world a previously unrecognized illness caused by agrochemicals called ‘The Intermediate Syndrome’, Prof. Sriyal Malik Peiris from the University of HongKong who was able to identify the virus causing the illness called ‘SARS’ and Prof. Shanthi Mendis who currently holds the position of Director of Cardiovascular research in the World Health Organization in Geneva. Incidentally Prof. Peiris is the only Sri Lankan to be honoured by the highly prestigious Royal Society in United Kingdom with its Fellowship (FRS).

The deliberations were not confined to academic activities but also to social and cultural events. An exhibition of books written and paintings by the alumni was held at the faculty library. A highly acclaimed film produced by Prof. Nimal Senanayake was held at the arts theatre and as a mark of respect to the first dean of the Faculty the late Prof. Senaka Bibile the Annual Bibile Memorial Oration was delivered by the Dean of the faculty Dr. Gamini Buthpitiya on Prof. Bibile’s contributions to the rational use of drugs. A coffee table book consisting of accounts of the history of the faculty, people, places and events and reminiscences of its alumni was launched. The academic congress was followed by the annual Pemsaa (Peradeniya Medical School Alumni Association) sessions which culminated in a gala dinner in a leading hotel in Kandy.

However the most touching aspect of the congress was the opportunity it provided to its alumni to travel down memory lane to rekindle the spirit of Peradeniya with its beautiful surroundings, the serenade of the ripples of the Mahaweli and the sunset over the mountains of Hantana. Those who were able to visit the halls of residence recounted with nostalgia the times they spent and interacted with students of the other faculties where lasting friendships were made, the clashes with the police and even the army in the 1960s, events that were caused mainly by youthful exuberance with no political undertones. The batch get togethers held by individual batches were well patronized where we were able to meet some of our friends after nearly four decades. There was a large representations from our Tamil friends from the north and east. We recounted the times we spent in their houses in Jaffna where were treated as their own. Decades of exposure to the western culture has not made them any different from us maintaining the same refinement and the cultural values for which the people of Jaffna were famous for. Most of them were happy that peace has at last returned to Sri Lanka and have even visited the north. They certainly do not belong to the Tamil Diaspora which is a minority among the expatriate Tamils and are in fact making great efforts to help the people of the north and the east. There is a lot to be learnt by the present day students as well as the politicians about the attitudes of the university students those days which unfortunately is not to be seen today in either group of them.

President orders immediate implementation of recommendations

A/L District Rankings mess-up, The Island.

January 17, 2012, 9:46 pm

President Mahinda Rajapaksa has ordered the authorities concerned to immediately implement the recommendations of the committee appointed by him to probe the GCE A/L district ranking mess up, the Presidential Secretariat said in a statement yesterday.

It said that the President had issued the instructions to the Ministries of Education and Higher Education, the Department of Examinations and the University Grants Commission.

The committee handed over its findings and recommendations to the President on January 11.

UNP calls for PSC on A/L fiasco

January 17, 2012, 9:45 pm

By Saman Indrajith, The Island.

The UNP yesterday called for the appointment of a Parliamentary Select Committee to probe the Advanced Level examination fiasco.

Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe made the suggestion after making a special statement in Parliament on the issue in which he accused the Government of adopting a lackadaisical attitude towards an important matter which would affect the future generations of this country.

"Despite such a big problem cropping up, no one in the Government has taken responsibility for it. It has failed to find a proper solution to the grievances of the affected students," he said.

Wickremesinghe said that from what had been reported in the media about the findings of the Committee appointed to look into the issue, it seems that it too has failed to find a proper solution to the problem.

"I propose we set up a Parliamentary Select Committee and we will be able to give a report within three months if we meet regularly," he said.

The Opposition Leader also said that UNP has been opposed to the ‘Z’ score since its inception and was planning to abolish it when it took power in 2003 but due to the premature dismissal of his government, this could not be done.

SB defends Z score formula

Parliament takes up A/L results mess-up:

January 17, 2012, 10:11 pm , The Island.

By Saman Indrajith

Higher Education Minister S. B. Dissanayake yesterday told Parliament that the Z-score formula was only a mathematical formula and not an invention by Prof R. O. Thattil.

In reply to a statement by Opposition Leader Ranil Wickremesinghe that the creator of the Z- score formula Prof Thattil, too, was against the way the formula had been distorted by the Department of Examinations causing a mess-up in the GCE (A-Level) results, Minister Dissanayake said the fact that the examination would be conducted under two syllabuses had been known to all stakeholders for the past three years or so.

There was a need for obtaining the mean value of the marks obtained by every candidate to select him or her for university admission, he said.

Minister Dissanayake said: "Prof. Thattil faults us for not including him on the expert panel to look into the problem. He was not invited to the committee because he had submitted a document in a court case a few years back that the Z score was incorrect and the court had rejected it. That was why we did not invite him this time around."

The Z score formula was introduced in 2000 to scale the GCE (A-Level) results so that the average of the Z scores received for different subjects could be used in ranking, Minister Dissanayake said.

Dons’ strike paralyses universities

January 17, 2012, 10:11 pm , The Island.

by Dasun Edirisinghe

Universities all over the country were paralysed yesterday due to a token strike launched by the Federation of University Teachers Associations (FUTA) against the proposed private university bill, the delay in rectifying their salary anomalies, etc.

The academic calendar of the universities came to a standstill and some examinations were postponed.

FUTA President Dr. Nirmal Ranjith Devasiri told The Island that their trade union action had been very successful and all universities including Jaffna supported the strike.

He said that their executive committee would meet shortly to decide on a future course of action following a response from the ministry.

"Our main demand is to have the private university bill abolished," he said adding they also demanded an increase in their salaries according to the agreement entered between the FUTA and the Ministry, when they suspended their previous trade union action in July 2011.

Dr. Devasiri said that they also wanted to ensure the allocation of six per cent of the Gross Domestic Production (GDP) annually to the education sector, which was also accepted by the ministry officials.

According to him, they held a meeting regarding those issues with the ministry officials on Friday and the next meeting would be held on January 20.