Friday 23 April 2021

Volkskrant apologises for anti-Semitic cartoon of pollster Maurice de Hond

Volkskrant apologises for anti-Semitic cartoon of pollster Maurice de Hond

The Volkskrant newspaper has apologised for publishing a cartoon featuring opinion pollster Maurice de Hond with anti-Semitic overtones. The full-page cartoon depicted a grinning De Hond, who is of Jewish heritage, holding two sets of puppet strings in his oversized hands, echoing the ‘puppet master’ trope used in Nazi propaganda of the 1930s and 1940s. Volkskrant editor Pieter Klok issued an apology in which he said the image was ‘too reminiscent’ of anti-Semitic cartoons of the past. Wie bij de... More >

Dutch inventor of the cassette tape dies

Dutch inventor of the cassette tape dies

Lou Ottens, inventor of the cassette tape and a CD pioneer died aged 94 at his home in Duizel in Brabant on Saturday, Dutch media report. Ottens, who studied to be an engineer, started working for Philips in 1952. Eight years later he became head of the firm’s recently introduced product development department. Within a year he and his team had developed the first portable tape recorder of which over a million were sold. Two years later he revolutionised the... More >

'Stimulate encryption, don't limit it'

'Stimulate encryption, don't limit it'

Resistance to government plans to limit the end-to-end encryption of chat apps to make it easier for security services to gain access is gathering pace, with a growing number of organisations, security firms and independent experts calling for the continued protection of data. Big tech companies Facebook, owner of message app Whatsapp, plus Google and Microsoft as well as Amnesty International, consumer organisation Consumentenbond and civil rights organisation Bits of Freedom have all signed a statement consisting of a single... More >

Noord Holland in court over data centres

Noord Holland in court over data centres

The province of Noord-Holland is taking legal action against Microsoft for building a massive data centre along the A7 motorway in the latest twist in the province’s dispute with local council Hollands Kroon. The aim of the case is to establish who has the right to decide if data centres can be built and who is responsible for giving the licence. Hollands Kroon maintains that it is responsible for the decision-making progress, and has made attracting data centres a key... More >

Women face jail for dating website con

Women face jail for dating website con

Two women from Utrecht should be given jail terms for conning four vulnerable men out of a total of €418,000 after pretending to be their love interest, the public prosecution department told a court on Tuesday. The 32-year-old woman approached the men – usually older and divorced – via dating websites and once contact had been established, began to spin tales about her financial difficulties. The other woman, in reality her mother-in-law, played other parts in the story, including that... More >

Fines loom for child porn hosting firms

Fines loom for child porn hosting firms

Internet hosting companies which fail to remove pornographic material involving children from their servers within 24 hours of report will face a fine of up to 4% of their annual turnover, if new legislation drawn up by justice minister Ferd Grapperhaus becomes law. The legislation, which has been put out to consultation, also includes the establishment of a regulatory body to monitor compliance with efforts to combat child porn. Researchers at Delft University found last year that 84% of reported... More >

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