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The new policy was partly based on rules governing journalists' access to the Guantanamo Bay prison. Photo: Reuters

THE Immigration Department's tough new policy restricting media visits to detention centres was partly modelled on US military rules governing journalists' access to the Guantanamo Bay prison.

Documents released under freedom of information show that Immigration's new ''deed of agreement'' that must be signed by journalists and media organisations visiting immigration detention centres was in part ''informed by the current US Department of Defence media access policy for its detention facility at Guantanamo Bay''.

The department justified tight media control and censorship to Immigration Minister Chris Bowen as ''the right balance'' in circumstances that included ''the current climate associated with media ethics, media 'phone hacking' [in Britain]''.

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In an email to a journalist who was privately consulted on the new policy, Immigration's national communications manager, Sandi Logan, explained: ''I reckon while the phone hacking scandal is all the rage, what else would the media expect of us? Trust, you say? Gimme a break, sorry!''

Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said it was ''absolutely appalling'' that Australian media access guidelines had been at all inspired by arrangements at Guantanamo Bay.

''It really shows the attitude of Immigration and [the] government - they have forgotten that they are dealing with asylum seekers, not criminals or terrorists,'' she said.

Under the new media access policy, conditions of entry to detention centres include that journalists be at all times escorted by Immigration officers, a prohibition on any ''substantive communication'' with detainees, a right for officials to censor audio and video recordings, as well as the right for Immigration officials to immediately terminate any visit.

Last month the chief executives of Australia's largest media organisations, including Fairfax Media chief executive Greg Hywood, News Limited CEO Kim Williams and the heads of all TV broadcast networks condemned the deed of agreement as ''unacceptable censorship''.

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US prison inspired media rule

Version 3.0 includes several new features that extend the console's capabilities along with a number of enhancements that both programmers and designers will appreciate. The Media Display has been moved to the Function Palette on the front panel of the console for easy access to media clips. The Console now includes CITP Media Protocol Control.

Along with an expansion to 4,000 channels of control, v3.0 has a revised Patch spreadsheet that provides an improved interface for editing and tagging data, as well as the ability to view multiple dimmer addresses patched to a single control channel. Other programming features in the v3.0 release include: Group Copy by parameter, Copy and Move Subs, Copy Channel Using Group, and Manual Data Undo. There are also a number of new tools provided in the Group Super Palette such as Multi-Level Ad Hoc Selecting by filtering Channels, Palettes, Presets, Dynamics, Cues, and Intensity States. A smart grouping feature provides user-definable channel selection.

The Vx76 software application provides an integrated 3D programming environment, which includes real-time status and off-line editing. The v3.0 software Layers feature adds functionality to the Plan View and provides the user with many different "views" of the system. In the Plan View, users may also draw Regions, which can be easily manipulated.

A new Basic Profile Editor is also now available on the V676/V476 product pages of the PRG website http://www.prg.com/product/v676-contr.... The Profile Editor application is used for creating a basic profile definition for a fixture that does not currently exist in the console, as well as importing fixture profiles. This is a stand-alone application that runs on any Macintosh operating on Snow Leopard or Lion.

For more information on the Vx76 v3.0 Software, please visit: http://www.prg.com/wp-content/uploads...

For more information on PRG, please visit http://www.prg.com.

About Production Resource Group - Production Resource Group, L.L.C., (PRG) is the world's leading supplier of entertainment and event technology to a wide range of markets, including corporate and automotive events, concerts, special events, theatre, television and film, trade shows, and installations, such as theme parks, museums, retail stores and performing arts centers. PRG provides integrated services and equipment, including audio, video, lighting, rigging, scenery, and rigging and automation systems, for these markets from more than 40 offices in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia.

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Lighting Control Consoles offer software-based programming.

Independent Newspapers

File Photo: Jennifer Bruce

All news on rhino poaching in SA national parks will now come from the national government, raising suspicions about further curbs on news of the national rhino poaching crisis.

SA National Parks spokesman Wanda Mkutshulwa issued a statement on Monday that until further notice all matters related to rhino poaching will be addressed by the Environmental Affairs Department (DEA).

This will include the updates that SANParks has been giving to the media about rhino poaching statistics, all interviews related to rhino poaching and all issues of clarity or information.

Ezemvelo KZN Wildlife chief executive Bandile Mkhize said he was unaware of the policy change and thought it applied to SANParks only.

For the past few months SANParks has been co-ordinating information on national rhino poaching statistics on its website and reporting on the involvement of its rangers in the crisis.

Last week, when The Mercury tried to confirm that the poaching toll had risen to more than 100 rhinos in the past 68 days, Mkutshulwa said: I would not know. But we are told there are people who keeps tabs on these reports so we are not releasing any other stats. We do it once a month. That is the instruction we have We will release towards the end of March.

Responding to the latest change in the rhino information policy on Monday, Mkutshulwa said: There is nothing sinister to have all rhino poaching media and public issues go through the Department of Environmental Affairs as they have been going through SANParks.

It is an administrative arrangement which makes sense because this is a national issue. The department will be conducting this matter the same way SANParks has been doing.

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Government to control rhino poaching news

SANTA ANA, Calif. and ISMANING, Germany, March 13, 2012 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Identive Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:INVE - News) (Frankfurt:INV.F - News), today introduced TouchSecure OpenAccess(TM), a family of revolutionary access readers that enable a broad range of organizations to upgrade and integrate their physical and logical access control systems quickly and cost-effectively while retaining existing proprietary physical access systems.

"To enhance security of personnel and assets within their facilities, government agencies and businesses of all sizes are working to integrate their physical and IT network access systems using open standard platforms, so that a single identity credential can be used for employees across the entire enterprise, from door to network," explained John Menzel, vice president Access Control ID Solutions for Identive. "In order to bridge logical and physical systems with a single identity, door readers need to combine support for proprietary legacy systems with secure and open IT network communication capabilities. This principle is the basis for the new TouchSecure reader family."

As one of the world's first physical access readers capable of reading a multitude of access card formats, the TouchSecure OpenAccess supports the convergence of physical and logical access systems around the use of a single trusted identity credential. When installed at a facility's entrance points, the reader becomes a secure open platform to unify and enhance building security within a single site or across different sites using different card systems. The reader also offers complete scalability from local to cloud-based management and reporting.

"Physical access systems are notoriously difficult to upgrade because they are deeply embedded within buildings," noted Mark Diodati, research vice president at Gartner. "An intelligent reader can provide stronger authentication, mobile device support, and simpler IT convergence without a potential multi-year upgrade of the entire physical access system."

TouchSecure OpenAccess provides this intelligence. For companies that wish to upgrade their access control systems from older proprietary systems to newer technologies that offer higher security and more flexibility, the reader provides a migration path that allows a gradual swap-out of employee credentials over time, without the need to rip out and replace existing controllers, wiring or access readers.

"TouchSecure readers are ideally suited for organizations implementing card technology migration or support for multiple types of credentials, as well as those just seeking a reader with maximum performance and security options for the future," stated Dr. Manfred Mueller, Executive Vice President of Identive and Managing Director of the Company's ID Infrastructure division. "An open architecture design enables broad applicability for small/medium enterprises of 100 employees all the way up to the largest corporations that maintain multiple campuses spanning the globe. Compliance with the industry's most stringent security standards ensures the reader's suitability for use in high-security government facilities, as mandated under federal directives. TouchSecure OpenAccess is truly designed for the 21st century, able to take you from your current door reader technology to wherever you want to migrate in the future."

TouchSecure OpenAccess readers support multiple proximity and smart card formats, including proximity-125 kHz (all major building access formats), NXP MIFARE(R) Classic, DESFire(R) EV1, ISO14443A/B CSN, PLAID, ISO 15693, NFC and U.S. government personal identification verification (PIV), including PIV-I. The TouchSecure OpenAccess reader is based on international standards including ISO14443A/B, ISO7816, FIPS201, FIPS140-2 and PLAID. With remote connectivity capabilities, firmware technology updates can add new compatibilities in the future, making the TouchSecure OpenAccess a long-term solution, available today.

In addition to traditional Wiegand and RS-485 communication to a controller, TouchSecure OpenAccess readers offer support for Ethernet and Wi-Fi, enabling remote management from the desktop and overall system management in the cloud. Configuration, firmware updates and diagnostics are easily accomplished with just a few clicks.

Identive's TouchSecure OpenAccess readers are available now. For more information, visit http://www.identive-infrastructure.com/touchsecure. About Identive Group

Identive Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:INVE - News) (Frankfurt:INV.F - News) is focused on building the world's signature company in Secure ID. The company's products, software, systems and services address the markets for identity management, physical and logical access control, NFC and a host of RFID-enabled applications for customers in the government, enterprise, consumer, education, healthcare and transportation sectors. Identive's mission is to build a lasting business of scale and technology based on a combination of strong technology-driven organic growth and disciplined acquisitive expansion. For additional info visit: http://www.identive-group.com.

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Innovative Access Control Technology From Identive Revolutionizes Integrated Identity Management

The memorandum on media protocols sent out by Culture Minister Caral ni Chuilin to a number of arts and sporting bodies is truly an astonishing document.

Strip away the civil service style language and the nice sounding caveats and the message is crystal clear - the organisations are not to say anything publicly that the minister would disapprove of. It is quite blatant control freakery. The irony of course is that her confidential memo was immediately leaked.

The document went to eight so-called arms-length bodies, although, obviously, Ms ni Chuilin doesn't believe that they are beyond her reach. Her attempt to gag the bodies - one part of the document says her department must be called in if any issue is likely to result in negative publicity - is more akin to old Soviet-style control than the behaviour expected of a politician in a democratic society. There is no sense of irony in her statement that the new protocols will not encroach on any organisation's independence. Is she serious?

Although it is astonishing to see her control ambitions so clearly documented, there should be no surprise that they exist. Leaving aside her own political background - Sinn Fein doesn't allow members to go off-message - she is also part of a power bloc at Stormont which is almost paranoid about criticism. Not so long ago First Minister Peter Robinson was complaining about the media highlighting negative stories about the province.

At Stormont there are an incredible 161 press officers whose jobs are to spin the news in the most favourable way possible for the Executive. But, obviously, Ms ni Chuilin believes the spinning should not stop there. Other bodies which rely on the department for funding should also be forced to toe the line. Her desire for control has been laid bare but, fortunately, this newspaper, like the rest of the media here, is independent and will not be forced to swallow propaganda.

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Minister's memo control freakery