Archive for November 5th, 2011

Mozilla, Microsoft Withdraw Trust in Malaysian Intermediate CA

By John Ribeiro, IDG News
PCWorld

Mozilla and Microsoft said Thursday they are revoking trust in all certificates issued by Digicert, a Malaysian intermediate certificate authority (CA) , after it was found that it had issued 22 certificates with weak 512-bit keys and missing certificate extensions and revocation information.

The Malaysian company was issued an intermediate CA certificate in July, 2010 by Entrust in Dallas, Texas, which was licensed for distribution with SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) and S/MIME (Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) certificates.

Entrust said in a bulletin on its website that it had been discovered that Digicert Malaysia has issued certificates with weak 512-bit RSA keys and missing certificate extensions. Entrust has revoked the 512-bit certificates issued by Digicert and made them available to major browser vendors to blacklist if found appropriate, it added.

Digicert in Malaysia does not have any relationship with DigiCert, a CA based in Utah.
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Nazri talking through his hat!

By P. Ramakrishnan, Aliran’s President
4 Nov 2011

Nazri has given expression to the saying, “Talking through the hat!” That was what he was doing when he rather foolishly commented on the majority decision of the Court of Appeal which ruled in a landmark case that Section 15(5)(a) of the Universities and University Colleges Act was unconstitutional.

In spite of the Court of Appeal’s ruling, for the Minister of Law to insist that “it does not invalidate the Act” and to dismiss the Court’s decision as “an opinion in passing” is appalling and shocking, exposing his alarming ignorance of the judicial process.

Section 15(5)(a) has been invalidated as unconstitutional by the Court of Appeal ruling – which means that the provisions of that section are no longer applicable and cannot be enforced. That section, as a result of the Court’s decision, is void and invalid.

It is a binding decision and cannot be dismissed merely as “an opinion of the Court” without any consequence. Until and unless the Federal Court overturns or sets aside this ruling – thus upholding the High Court decision – no power on earth professing the democratic tradition can ignore this decision. It is as simple as that!
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PAGE says likely to continue PPSMI struggle

By Clara Chooi
November 05, 2011 | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 5 — The Parent Action Group for Education (PAGE) will likely pursue its cause to retain PPSMI in schools despite expressing “deep appreciation” to the government for allowing those already enjoying the policy to continue.

PAGE chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim told The Malaysian Insider she was “pleasantly surprised” by yesterday’s announcement by Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin but admitted the decision still fell short of the group’s demands.

“We are in a difficult situation now… we do deeply appreciate what the government has agreed to and we sincerely thank them.

“But at the same time, we want this (PPSMI) policy for our future generation, to go beyond 2020, until we are all dead and gone. We want this opportunity given to all,” she said when contacted last night. Read the rest of this entry »

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Appeal against UUCA judgment flies in the face of PM’s political transformation programme

by Tony Pua MP
National Publicity Secretary DAP
5.11.11

The decision by the Cabinet to allow the appeal of the Court of Appeal judgement that Section 15.(5)(a) of the University and University Colleges Act1971 (UUCA) is unconstitutional flies in the face of the Prime Minister’s “politicaltransformation programme”.

After a series of calls for the Government to not appeal the Court of Appeal judgement that Section 15.(5)(a) of the UUCA made by top politicians from both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat, hopes were high that the Cabinet will abide by and accept the Court’s decision.

The UMNO Youth Chief, Khairy Jamaluddin, Deputy Higher Education Minister, Dato’ Saifuddin Abdullah and MCA Youth Chief, Datuk Wee Ka Siong have made a show of openly supported the Court’s position that the relevant section of the UUCA is unconstitutional and the UUCA should be amended accordingly.

In the “spirit” of the political transformationprogramme launched by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak on the eve of Malaysia Day where he announced the proposed repeal and amendment of various draconian Acts such as the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the Printing Pressand Publications Act (PPPA), Malaysians were expecting an enlightened decision by the Cabinet to finally remove the shackles of academic freedom at our institutions of higher learning. Read the rest of this entry »

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The deadly sins of Umno

— Jacob Sinnathamby
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 04, 2011

NOV 4 — Every day a layer of deception is peeled away from the men and women who govern this country and who have a choke grip on our fate. The ongoing Parliament session and the reaction to the Auditor-General’s Report and the campaign of lies against Lim Guan Eng’s son have led me to think more deeply about Umno and what motivates them to behave and think and speak in the manner they do.

For ease of reference, I will list out the characteristics of Umno (and here I mean the leaders of the party) and will call them the deadly sins of Umno.

1) Pride. This characteristic flows through Muhyiddin Yassin to Khairy Jamaluddin. The Umno leader has no or little humility, he believes that he is a self-made person and is entitled to every position, privilege he has, not for a moment stopping to accept that it is through God’s grace that he is an elected representative.

Pride is manifested in this party where NO ONE owns up to a mistake and says sorry. Did Muhyiddin or Khairy say sorry for jumping on the wrong bandwagon and perpetuating an untruth against a 16-year-old boy? Read the rest of this entry »

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