Author: Joop Beris

  • PDF file print protected?

    PDF file print protected?

    Having a PDF file that is print protected is annoying. If you run into this nonsense and you happen to use Linux, the following command will save you, provided you have Ghostscript installed. Note though, that this command can not strip the password out of documents that are password protected against opening!

  • Governed by your inferiors

    Governed by your inferiors

    One of the penalties for refusing to participate in politics is that you end up being governed by your inferiors. Plato

  • I told you so…

    I told you so…

    It’s December 22, 2012. Thank goodness we’re all still alive. Not that I ever believed the world was coming to an end, of course.

  • How dangerous is the ITU?

    How dangerous is the ITU?

    The ITU, the International Telecommunications Union is the UN agency for Information and Communication Technologies. The ITU is “committed to connecting all the world’s people – wherever they live and whatever their means”. Sounds like a very noble commitment, doesn’t it? It’s odd then, that the potentially biggest threat to the free and open Internet…

  • CleanIT opens doors

    CleanIT opens doors

    Last month, I blogged about the Clean IT Project. The aim of this project is to examine the question “if we can reduce the impact of the use of the Internet for terrorist purposes, without affecting our online freedom”, however a look at a leaked document revealed that the project got somewhat derailed. The leaked…

  • EFF takes up call of Bits of Freedom

    EFF takes up call of Bits of Freedom

    I linked to an article by Bits of Freedom last week, calling for international opposition against the latest plan by minister Ivo Opstelten. The plan can be summed up in brief as “Dutch police should be allowed to hack local and foreign computers and destroy data on them”. A very dangerous proposition with lots legal…