this week let's now get more reaction from patrick plays a reporter for the online magazine spikes that sees its mission as fighting non liberal ideas i understand thanks for being with us mr hayes we've already seen the organized internet blackout and hacker attacks what else do you think we're likely to see and this fight against the proposed bills well i think it's very striking actually that you had you know we competed you voluntarily blacking out which i think a very dramatic shift snapshots of what would happen should be true and then just a couple of days later you have the u.s. government forcing a major site to shut down with fifty million users a day this is a website that generated four percent an estimated four percent of the web's traffic and it's now just gone. we could see much more regular occurrence of this this if these acts are put through also i think we could see the u.s. government designating other sites as sites that it doesn't like and pursuing them internationally this legislation they want to bring through that with the pedia and

others were protesting earlier in the week could potentially have massive impacts upon the web as we know it internationally not just in america it could mean that they could effectively have jurisdiction to close down sites worldwide is actually far more easy ways than they've managed would make or uploads whether they managed to close that down on a technicality now though i think we would start as i think those who are protesting against the legislation say that it promotes online censorship and disrupts the web architecture it seems like you know you agree with that but then how do you effectively protect people's work on mine. well i think well i mean i think some of the protesters i must say should be making a much stronger case for online freedom than they are doing i think the problem with a lot of the anonymous attacks and you know i'm a great campaigner for internet freedom but i think the problem with some of the anonymous attacks is that they're closing down web sites themselves they're

effectively fighting censorship with censorship which is to an extent problematic i think really what we need to do here is really sit down have a debate around how to state the stewards the reason why websites like make your uploads so popular because they provide a fantastic service to uses the world over what you've got is very reactionary attempt from america and from the entertainment industry to just effectively try and close down everything there are a lot of legitimate uses of these file sharing sites it's become a revolutionary force in many ways of sharing information people can upload documents of a.c.t big foot in the mail what they're trying to do is just to counter one particular problem they're trying to close down the whole thing i think what needs to happen is things be much better at both getting up to speed to providing better services better than things that make you uploads and also just trace the copyright infringements not close down the whole thing that really is the way of censorship in the authoritarian ism google has said that it's collected more

than seven million signatures in the u.s. first time line petitions to congress against the bells how do you see the future of these drafts. well i think the obama administration is getting very very nervous indeed the phone lines the phone systems directly melted in the white house the other day joining the weekend pedia protests and it does seem like they're going to buckle under the pressure but at the same time they didn't go undone they said they arrested people uneasy when they closed down one of the largest websites in the world it doesn't really show that they're listening to public concerns about this and i think what could happen as a result of this going through. even a modified version is the web as we know it's web two point zero which is defined by user generated content with people puts up their own material could effectively disappear it could mean that what you have is a much more tightly regulated internet which could have massive implications for freedom of speech so file sharing for the sharing of information worldwide i think

is really important that we don't take the internet as it exists now for granted and we resist all of these attempts to regulate the web and just say hey a lot of these pirates a lot of people's a putting out web sites are actually doing something really quite innovative and dynamic that's why they getting a real audience for it let's work with these people let's develop a more dynamic web in collaboration with people rather than just trying to shut it down strangulate and stifle what is one of the most democratic and the steps of the last decade or two right patrick hayes a reporter for the online magazine spike thank you very much for your thoughts on this issue. well coming up next hour our teams cross talk host peter lavelle debates with his guest the reason behind the proposed u.s. unlined legislation. the fact is what we're trying to do is enforce u.s. copyright laws on foreign companies whose copyright laws may be different from ours

and what we're saying is if you don't follow us law in terms of copyrights then we have the right to shut you down and the other part of the problem is the fact of lawyers that's going through the usual way to is you're objecting to the fact that people are trying to stop sites that are pirating american american intellectual property and it's not always just movies and music it's also physical goods that are careful you know these are counterfeit drugs there are also if you look at the written material including i you know harm in first harm children harm adults there's a serious there are serious consequences. and. now to syria where the opposition has called for rallies to be held across the country in support of prisoners held since the start of the anti-government unrest that's despite a general amnesty granted by president earlier this week that has seen almost two

hundred detainees released arches rif an arsenal look at who's calling the shots in the protests. people taking to the streets me look like a real force of power and indeed be one. but in syria true test has apparently failed to prove that months of bloodshed with no sign is going to stop anytime soon. howlett ho jeff from the syrian national council the country's main official opposition body says making the people's voice louder and bring in an end to the violence is what the essence he was created for our main goal is to help the syrian people there present them and their two national committee in order to reach this syrian people freedom although it's been run by paris based exile but hamdani in the absence he has been recognized as the country's legitimate

government by the new libyan authorities and supported by some and nato countries which has made some doubt the council's innocent intentions with regards to libya the promise that nato made to the national transitional council perspective leaders was that they be given a major seat at the table in a new libya so there is power broking going on behind the scenes and i absolutely wager that the same thing is happening with syria they've either been bought off financially or they've been promised a major role in a new syrian regime the national congress and there are clear is national transitional council and the syrian national council and it's not just their names they have in common supported and sponsored from abroad i think he writes opposition forces and their major goal is to overthrow the regime but there is a difference to the absences huts cortez are not in damascus but here in istanbul

we are not talking about democratic regime if i go to syria we have. you know we have to be executed there hallett says he spent fifteen years in jail in the one nine hundred seventy s. and eighty's just because his father supported the opposition he claims nothing has changed since then and the oppression has to stop but how is another matter his addicted. terrorism cannot be most of without any pressure claiming they're only going to rely on political and diplomatic pressure the asson see to is now cooperating with the free syrian army fighters who have defected from assad's military in was a clear shift from the essences initial entirely known armed peaceful stance. the cows who also sees humanitarian corridors and buffer zones as options to protect civilians in syria even though these might mean foreign troops arriving this isn't

a top is that all parents operation where this year that the gas has been used to at a vessel that jeddah they need to look at that because they don't want they want to destabilize syria because they want syria to be part of the day to at least lead to label the opposition claims is just a matter of time before the joint efforts sooner or later will force president assad out while his determined to stay but the question remains exactly how long should these people have to wait for the bloodshed to stop and how many of them will actually see the end of it refit ocean asti turkey. meanwhile arab league prepares to hear a final report from the observers that sent to syria and that's expected to determine the future of it expire mission there but some experts believe some members want military involvement not just observation missions and the media coverage is supporting them. the ira believe has been

playing a little bit more of an object some arab countries aren't too happy with it so we can expect. the purse for their objectives of regime change in other ways and this continues to happen through the media and media war you know what the syrian government is supposed to that's willing the media will hear yes to that story some sort of that myself there was some reports that the area of the sun near the lebanese border had been taken by the free syrian army and i went there myself last night and i as i drove to see but i was very surprised to find no checkpoint by the syrian army on the way and i actually was allowed to go inside to the done and despite having seen footage on the television of convoys of free syrian army feiss i found that there was actually nothing and when i left i was told by the syrian army that i would be free to travel through as it would on the notes of the lebanese border. was still ahead for you this hour scotland makes this push for

independence but long balance to make any push from the u.k. a costly move for the modern day bravehearts wanting to go it alone. and israel pushes your offer an immediate embargo on your brain even oil decision that could leave other nations scrambling to find an alternative energy source. but first a multi-billion pound london core duel between russian tycoon and a chelsea football club owner roman abramovich and russian fugitive billionaire boris berezovsky is close to conclusion the judge is considering her verdict in the financial battle after armies of expensive serves went to battle for their clients exposing some juicy details along the way our correspondent in london ivor bennett has more. it's been dubbed the trial of the century for two reasons really firstly because of the sheer money involved six and a half billion dollars at stake here making it the most expensive civil lawsuit in

the u.k. legal history but more importantly perhaps is the subject matter it's really laid bare all those dodgy dealings of ninety's russia and the wild east reaffirming all those stereotypes there are that i don't think anyone actually thought because i could possibly be true but it turns out they are and what makes it even more unbelievable is that they've come from two of the main players in those turbulent times remand every moment. to former friends now arch enemies as for juicy details will some of the really big believe the recent claims we've heard are that he actually turned up to meetings wearing nothing but a dressing gown that he frittered away millions in the flash of a private jet that even signed off threatening text messages to his rivals with the words i'm watching you i'm dr evil promote it well he's been accused of every dirty tax dodging trick there is in the book and we also know that he was involved in murderous alamy wars in the ninety's where we now know for sure through his own

admission that one person was killed every three days in that kind of grab for wealth but what this dispute really boils down to is the relationship between the two main areas also he claims that they were business partners and that he was blackmailed by a remote which forced to sell his stakes and shares in in their oil company sitting there for a fraction of their true worst ever move he dismisses that payment as purely protection money paid to his political godfather of the banks for his mentor ship a severance package now i know it's up to the judge to decide whether if anything all of this is true regardless of which actually survives this battle i think it's safe to say the real winner here is the british court system because it's believed to be raking in as a result of this trial eighty dollars a second. well london has another conflict to resolve with russia after a former senior official admitted britain was concentrating find out how moscow uncovered the secrets of the spine stone on our website dot com complete with more

pictures and video. the battle over scotland split from the union is splitting opinion in creasing lee disunited united kingdom sconce have been told they can hold a referendum on independence but only if london gives its blessing arches laura smith explains. britain a three hundred year old union that once ruled the waves and heart of the known world but on home soil the country's closer than ever to a messy divorce. this is the man who wants scotland to go it alone nationalist party leader alex salmond's promising scots will get a say on being single but london wants to call the shots and get it done and dusted . very soon as they don't want to talk about the substance i sometimes feel when i listen to them it's not a referendum they want it's a never end i'm question that's have the debate and let's keep our country together

but why would scotland want to separate itself from a britain that still among the world's richest economies scotland always retained its own distinct national identity and the s.n.p. feels it's almost time to take that one step further and hope for a yes vote from the scottish people would mean scotland would gain control over its own north sea oil and gas and represent itself on the international stage but it doesn't want to hold a referendum until two thousand and fourteen and that delay is letting london ramp up the scare stories telling scotland it'll have to pay the price such as the billions of pounds british taxpayers spent keeping scottish banks alive that it would have to find its own currency and lose thousands of jobs when the navy heads south not that it seems to bother scots who see their country as having been strangled for long enough i don't think it's any of his business if we present

a strong enough case to be independent then i can see that he can argue against. his shocked i think a shutter i don't think you have any c. in the fires of. scots have never taken kindly to hearings. and words from the mother of all parliaments down in london but for the nationalists it's a boost to the lackluster thirty percent support for a split mr cameron feels he had to the initiative but it's completely but. he's actually been the best recruiting sergeant the s. and p. i think is of a suit but certainly says margaret thatcher. in the last seven days with a group of those members so you know up to now the u.k. and scotland's key players will continue to cross swords at stake but alex salmond is a reputation built on restoring a proud scotland for prime minister cameron is the potential to become the man who

let the united kingdom come apart laura smith party at imbra. coming up to nineteen minutes past the hour still to come on our team with less than fifty days to go we look at the current political climate in russia head of march's presidential election. the us has strengthened its presence in the persian gulf with the aircraft carrier abraham lincoln sailing into waters off the run on thursday the move is seen as a test of tehran's resolve after it warned america not to send more swar ships through the strait of hormuz tensions between the us and iran intensified after the islamic republic threatened to block the strait of vital oil transit routes in response to further sanctions over its nuclear program washington valid to retaliate if you're wrong to cut off the passage. from antiwar group international action center says what the u.s. really wants is to regain control over iranian oil at last decades ago.

the motivation for the us to continue repressing the iranian people to assassinate nuclear scientists it has nothing to do with any love of democracy it has everything to do with the fact that the iranian people rose up in one nine hundred seventy nine and took control of the oil resources and they have never ever forgiven. for that and the u.s. has never wanted to tolerate the fact that the iranian people and not shell oil and not and not texaco control of the oil resources in iran and any threats of war is must be strongly opposed because these kind of wars serve the ruling elite they serve the wall street bankers and they don't serve working class people there are millions and millions of unemployed people in this country if they cut the military budget they could put people to work that could be jobs but there's not jobs there's war there's continued threats of war and our enemies are in iran they're here in the united states in the halls of power in congress and on wall street but don't hesitate to log on to our website for the latest video of the common analysis and much more all at r t v dot com for you here's what we've got lined up today

tear gas and molotov cocktails romanians join with global wave of protests are seeking the resignation of their leaders with the country facing its worst demos in decades. and the brutal killing of the ousted libyan leader is still not being investigated two months on we give you one more years of pain and why add to our to be done. now as russia's presidential candidates are busy ramping up their campaigns ahead of the march election some members of the public are increasing their efforts to ensure a transparent vote in light of massive rallies against the parliamentary election in russia last month but authorities and protestors admit they need to talk more

arches arena gauges the temperature of russia's political life. with just under fifty days before the march presidential election and major campaign was still simmering in the candidate's headquarters mr putin decided to unleash his powers of persuasion on the electorate and nonpublic speaker for change he's decided to be more scholarly picking up the pen for the first in a series of articles outlining his vision for the future of russia what he's calling for its new economy to be built. the gravitation away from dependence on oil high spending welcoming political dialogue in the strengthening of civil society in russia putin however said people should concentrate on just what candidates are promising to do rather than the theater of personalities we need extended dialogue about priorities about long term choices national perspective and development this article is an invitation to such dialogue

it's important to say that prime minister has never denied the possibility of establishing such a dialogue and they just become friends his ravenous and this is what is making people take the initiative into their own hands this week some of the most prominent participants of december's post-election protest pulled together to form the league of constituents should a new public mood has blossomed people are showing a desire to make an educated vote to know where their votes are going on the understanding that the country needs competitive politics those behind in your group are quick to point out they're not going to turn into a political party but do hope to become a major support group for anyone wanting to make a difference with their vote i didn't have the political activists are nothing without this type of newly found public support there to help boost them the key to public support is the media and that's with him in found himself touring the card while criticizing one of russia's most popular radio stations and go from being to

pro western in its coverage. the prime minister told its editor in chief not to take offense of his words since you don't get mad when you come to me with liquid crap from. the government. all seem to realize they have to think fast and act quickly in order to get the ball rolling with the presidential elections just around the corner so after hunched down which some say lasted for years the political life in russia and roaring go go r.t. . greene is here next with the latest business stay with r.t. . thank you he said hello and welcome to our business update is south thanks for joining me russia is pushing so fast to fast track construction of its southern energy link to europe south stream pipeline the green light for the natural gas lng from the black sea to central europe will be given in december this year the head

of the gas export monopoly aleksey miller says the company has all the sources to be deadlines to remind you the south stream pipeline is a project developed jointly by gas problem at least any bronzes you have and germany's with a small. and europe's up and coming passenger jets the air bus three hundred three hundred twenty will soon boast russian titanium the country's new monopoly of peace must seal the deal with airbus deliver a trial shipment of its production the quality of the products meet the standards of the european plane maker a large order will be paid however there is no report on the value of the contract . there's been some relief for the eurozone after spain and france successfully push through a key bond sale they sold over fourteen billion euros in government debt securities however talks between greece and its creditors remain deadlocked keeping the region's debt crisis on the boil ahead of poland's central bank merrick belka says

that the way out is not easy but and collapse is not the table. the worst that could happen. is that one or two countries and it was a one country will obviously mean greece could be forced to leave the euro zone but the euro zone is big enough to survive such a blow like like was droll of one country and what makes me moderately optimistic is that the european central bank has instruments it has never used so for quite recently they have started supplying the market which is banks with long term liquidity and very low cost. in unlimited quantities which means that those banks have enough money to be able to. take a look at the markets now all has raised early again and is now trading in the red

prices are suffering due to negative news coming out of the eurozone for the euro weakening against the dollar while talks continue in greece and added to that fuel consumption in the u.s. dropped to its lowest level since september two thousand and one and european stock markets are lower as investors keep an eye on debt swap talks in greece chinese manufacturing activity showed signs of contraction is also in focus and here in moscow stocks decline as oil slips into the red. losing point eight percent this hour while the r.t.s. the talking nearly half a percent now let's see what are the biggest moves on the line six busy bees edging lower reflecting the sentiments in the euro zone coal miner response guy is among the main losers the company's about to finish taking bets from minority shareholders for a buyback of its shares and norris nicholas struggling to buck the trend of the company plans to cut production to adapt to a slowing global demand and mine are also expected to report

a fifty percent increase in net profits for the year two thousand and eleven. well that's it for now but stay with us for headline news coming up right after this. there are those who desperately need it to survive i am misspoken to the town give

money to on look i. will go to the fish. and the suppresses the prize the rights of the proof of. new clothes and. those who don't get their share of the traits. good by downloading god's. grace i mean real dollars but not the one not us that people need to know about it i mean not look edited from the company from. those who suck it out to prosper. inside the seas and say. from you not from. some. nice licensed. no one can live without it in one of the largest blood banks in the world . blood of nigeria. on our t.v. .

science technology innovation all the list of melanin still around russia we've got the future covered. here with our t.v. live from moscow our top stories hackers strike back anonymous cripples major u.s. government and corporate websites in response to a crackdown on a file sharing service and pending anti piracy law. syrian opposition calls for more mass protests demanding prisoners released despite a general amnesty granted by the president earlier this week critics say no matter how many concessions the syrian government made the opposition will settle for nothing less than regime change. and

a multi-billion pound battle between russian tycoon. fugitive mobile very little softy in a london court finally approach a conference. of next year an hour into the moscow team heads to florence to look for traces of russian culture in the heart of it only. hello and welcome to the program today the moscow team although it's early as we continue our exploration of russian culture abroad music from. russian creativity has been studied and celebrated for centuries around the.