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Meanwhile in Peru, More Oil Drilling in the Amazon

6:09 am By Maegan la Mamita Mala · Peru · 2 Comments

7 Jul 2009

With the digital age fostering short term memory and not connecting any dots, it’s easy to focus only on Honduras and forget the recent violence in other parts of Latin America.

Hardly a month since 30 plus Indigenous people from Peru were killed by police for protesting the exploitation and violation of their homes (we’re not talking about some mythical rainforest land, people live there), Peru has approved an oil drilling project in the Amazon for an Anglo-French company.

The project, located on land inhabited by two tribes of uncontacted Indians, is believed to be Peru’s biggest oil discovery in thirty years. The company, Perenco, a major gas supplier to the UK, has in the past denied any uncontacted Indians live there.

Until recently, Perenco had been blocked from entering the area by local indigenous protesters. With help from Peru’s armed forces, the company managed to break through the blockade on at least one occasion.

High-ranking figures in Peru’s government hope that Perenco’s project will transform the Peruvian economy. While protests against the company were taking place, Perenco’s chairman, Francois Perrodo, an Oxford University polo blue and scion of one of the wealthiest families in France, met Peru’s President Garcia in Lima and pledged to invest $2bn in the project.

Perenco intends to build new platforms and wells involving airlifting in, amongst other things, 42,000 sacks of cement. It admits that ‘contamination of soil’, ‘contamination of water’ and the flight of game and birds are possible consequences of its work

Via / Survival

Amazon Fail Was Due to a Hacker or the French?

14 Apr 2009

amazon_fail Amazon says that it deleting the sales ranks of many many books that are marketed to or are about gays, lesbians, transpeople and or have the word “sex” in it was an error . Who or what caused the error is still out.

One theory is that a lone hacker is behind the mess.

Weev says he organized an army of off-shore computer users to make a bunch of fake Amazon accounts and flag all the gay and lesbian books they could as inappropriate. Also, he got several friends with high-trafficked websites to embed an iframe code that made their visitors automatically send the flags without their knowledge.

The issue with this theory is that some of the sales ranking deletions go all the way back to February.

There is also the theory that a French employee (blame the French!) misunderstood the term “adult”—which refers to porn stuff in Amazon’s system—with “erotic” and “sexuality.”

Regardless if it was a glitch, a hack, right wing organizing, or just bad decision making, Amazon.com has apparently removed the feature that lets users flag books as “inappropriate.”

Via / Gawker (I know, I’m ashamed I read that site too), Consumerist

Amazon Fail : Amazon Shows its Homophobic, Anti-Sex Side

13 Apr 2009

amazon-sucks After a full day of Easter activities yesterday, I came home to find that Amazon was hard at work, disappearing sales rankings from “adult” books. Amazon seems to have ~~interesting~~ fucked up way of deciding what is “adult” though, especially since the deleting of sales ranking and the blocking of the books from appearing in some searches, and appearing on some best-seller lists seems to target books dealing with gay, lesbian and trans themes, and no not all of them are even “dirty”. Take for example the following from Meta Writer who seems as of last night had compiled a list of the books affected :

The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students
http://www.amazon.com/Advocate-College-Guide-LGBT-Students/dp/155583857X/
No protagonist, but intended for LGBT college-bound students.
(Sales rank removed)

Robert Adrich Who’s Who in Gay and Lesbian History (amazon.ca)
(Sales rank removed)

Really these are offensive perhaps? Adult?

Here are some other books impacted: “Heather Has Two Mommies”, A Biography of Ellen Degeneres,

Oh just to show that they are equal opportunity haters and that Amazon doesn’t think disabled peeps should be getting down: “The Ultimate Guide to Sex And Disability” has been stripped of its sales ranking.

No se, some of it seems random and not unified pero it still feels dangerous especially since Playboy books and a book about porno guy Ron Jeremy still have their sales ranks up as do hateful books like “A Parent’s Guide to Preventing Homosexuality”. Certain glbt films/dvds still have sales rankings.

Amazon is saying that the stripping of sales ranking, which impacts searchability and therefore accessibility is a “glitch”, one that has been going on since at least February according to some. More likely is that this is a result of some organized “pro-family” orgs who have been complaining to Amazon via flagging certain titles.

For more information follow #Amazonfail at Twitter

In the meantime you can contact Amazon executive customer service via email: ecr@amazon.com and the customer service phone number is 1-800-201-7575 if you wish to share your views with them.

There is also a petition up here.

Via / Jezabel, LA Times, Mark R. Probst, Smart bitches, Trashy books

Amazon Indigenous Communities Get Technical

11:22 am By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Latin America| Tech · Comments Off

6 Nov 2007

Some indigenous tribes in the Amazon region have already embraced the internet. Now, Amazon communities are using GPS GPS devices to map out what belongs to them and to make sure their land stays in their hands.

To avoid getting steamrollered by developers, ranchers, loggers, miners, oilmen, and biopirates, tribes across the Amazon Basin have begun acquiring high tech tools to defend themselves. Much of the help in this effort has come from the Amazon Conservation Team, a Virginia environmental and cultural preservation organization, which provided equipment, cartographic expertise, and financial assistance. Now dozens of men like Wuta are walking the forests, mapping their lands with the aid of portable GPS devices.

Internet access in the Amazon

12:48 pm By Jennifer Woodard Maderazo · Brazil| Environment| Internet · 1 Comment

2 Apr 2007

You might think that indigenous groups living in the Amazon would be the last people to need or want access to the internet. The original headline on CNN reads: Brazil to Offer Free Internet Access to Amazon Tribes, and the first thing that comes to mind is a curious “huh?” (crafty, those AP headline writers) but the fact is not only does the Brazilian government believe that internet access for the people of the Amazon is vital, the Amazonians think so too. Both government and Amazon locals think that the web is an effective way to combat illegal activity affecting the rainforest:

The environment and communications ministers signed an agreement Thursday with the Forest People’s Network to provide an Internet signal by satellite to 150 communities, including many reachable only by riverboat, allowing them to report illegal logging and ranching, request help and coordinate efforts to preserve the forest.

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