Begin with The New York Times – Zuckerberg Gets a Crash Course in Charm. Will Congress Care? Then proceed to Mark Zuckerberg’s written testimony posted prior to his appearance before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce – April 11, 2018: “We face a number of important issues around privacy, safety, and democracy, and you… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Congress
House Committee Markups: Manual of Procedures and Procedural Strategies
CRS report via FAS – House Committee Markups: Manual of Procedures and Procedural Strategies: “A principal responsibility of House committees is to conduct markups—to select legislation to consider, to debate it and vote on amendments to it (to mark up), and to report recommendations on passage to the House. This manual examines procedures and strategy… Continue Reading
Record number of women running for congress
Christian Science Monitor: “A total of 309 women have filed candidacy papers to run for the House. With many House seats up for grabs, this election may present one of the best opportunities for women to make real representational gains, experts say. A surge of women into this year’s midterm elections had been expected since… Continue Reading
The World’s Wilderness: Going, Going and Soon Gone?
Outside: Recent studies have arrived at the same blunt conclusion: the world’s last, big wildlands are disappearing at an alarming rate. Is there anything to be done? ““We are running out of wilderness,” James Watson, director of the science and research initiative at the Wildlife Conservation Society, told fellow scientists last summer at the International… Continue Reading
WH reviewing proposal to remove protections for threatened species
CNN: “The White House is reviewing a proposal that environmentalists fear would remove protections for hundreds of threatened species, according to a government database. The proposal’s obscure name — “Removal of Blanket Section 4(d) Rule” — refers to protections covering approximately 300 animal and plant species, such as the northern spotted owl and manatee, that… Continue Reading
‘Malicious actors’ collected data on 2 billion Facebook users worldwide
It is not surprising to now today from Facebook that the debacle of Cambridge Analytica harvesting data on 87 million people has escalated monumentally to the level of 2 billion users worldwide per the Washington Post: “Facebook said Wednesday that “malicious actors” took advantage of search tools on its platform, making it possible for them… Continue Reading
Variety – Facebook Under Fire: How Privacy Crisis Could Change Big Data Forever
Variety: “…The scandal in a nutshell: Cambridge Analytica, a U.K.-based political data analytics firm, illicitly procured the data of 50 million Facebook users — without their knowledge or consent — and then enlisted that to inform voter-targeting strategies for Donald Trump’s presidential campaign. It wasn’t a hack per se. But both Facebook and Cambridge Analytica… Continue Reading
LC Copyright Modernization Office is Open
“The Copyright Office strives to provide high-quality services to its users. Therefore, the Office must develop an innovative and robust technological infrastructure that will provide these services in a streamlined, efficient, and cost-effective manner. IT modernization has been a top priority since 2011, beginning with a detailed analysis and review of the Office’s systems. The… Continue Reading
Congress.gov New, Tip, and Top for April 2018
In Custodia Legis: “Today, we’re bringing you the latest Congress.gov updates just in time for the arrival of spring. Last month, Andrew brought you the latest updates to saved search alert functionality. For the April release, we have improved the sorting of search results, so that items in the current Congress now appear at the top when sorting by relevancy.… Continue Reading
Trends in Public Transportation Ridership: Implications for Federal Policy
CRS report via FAS: Trends in Public Transportation Ridership: Implications for Federal Policy, William J. Mallett, Specialist in Transportation Policy, March 26, 2018. “Despite significant investments in public transportation at the federal, state, and local levels, transit ridership has fallen in many of the top 50 transit markets. If strong gains in the New York… Continue Reading
Whose Line is it Anyway: Could Congress Give the President a Line – Item Veto?
CRS Legal Sidebar Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress – Whose Line is it Anyway: Could Congress Give the President a Line-Item Veto? March 27, 2018. “In announcing his intention to sign H.R. 1625, the “Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2018,” President Trump, noting his concerns over the fiscal size of the bill, called on Congress… Continue Reading
Guide to potential regulatory actions in wake of Facebook-Cambridge Analytica debacle
Axios: “For years, people didn’t mind handing their personal information over to social networks so they could chat with friends or take fun quizzes. That’s changing in the wake of Facebook’s Cambridge Analytica scandal. What’s next: There are lots of signals that data privacy rules of some sort are on the way — including congressional… Continue Reading
