Follow up to previous postings, By Brett Max Kaufman, Legal Fellow, ACLU National Security Project: “In the wake of the past week’s revelations about the NSA’s unprecedented mass surveillance of phone calls, today the ACLU filed a lawsuit charging that the program violates Americans’ constitutional rights of free speech, association, and privacy. This lawsuit comes… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Free Speech
Pew – Majority Views NSA Phone Tracking as Acceptable Anti-terror Tactic
Public Says Investigate Terrorism, Even If It Intrudes on Privacy: “A majority of Americans – 56% – say the National Security Agency’s (NSA) program tracking the telephone records of millions of Americans is an acceptable way for the government to investigate terrorism, though a substantial minority – 41% – say it is unacceptable. And while… Continue Reading
UN Special Report on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, Frank La Rue. United National General Assembly, Human Rights Council, April 17, 2013. “The present report analyses the implications of States’ surveillance of communications for the exercise of the human rights to privacy and to freedom… Continue Reading
CREW Releases New Report Examining the Influence of High Frequency Traders in Washington
“Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) released a new report, Rise of the Machines, detailing the growing political influence of high frequency traders in the nations capital. High frequency trading, a complicated and controversial method of securities trading, has begun drawing scrutiny from government regulators, prompting skyrocketing lobbying spending and campaign contributions… Continue Reading
Study – Reading linear texts on paper versus computer screen: Effects on reading comprehension
Reading linear texts on paper versus computer screen: Effects on reading comprehension. Anne Mangen,Bente R. Walgermo,Kolbjørn Brønnick. International Journal of Educational Research, Volume 58, 2013, Pages 6168. “Main findings show that students who read texts in print scored significantly better on the reading comprehension test than students who read the texts digitally. Implications of these… Continue Reading
FCC- Expanding Access to In-Flight Broadband and Encouraging Innovation
“By this Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Notice), the Commission proposes to further increase the availability of broadband services onboard airplanes by establishing an air-ground mobile broadband service by which passengers aboard civil and government aircraft can connect to a full range of communications services while flying over the contiguous United States. Consumers increasingly demand ubiquitous… Continue Reading
EFF – National Security Letters Are Unconstitutional, Federal Judge Rules
“A federal district court judge in San Francisco has ruled that National Security Letter (NSL) provisions in federal law violate the Constitution. The decision came in a lawsuit challenging a NSL on behalf of an unnamed telecommunications company represented by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). In the ruling publicly released [March 15, 2013], Judge Susan… Continue Reading
EFF – Google Releases Transparency Report Showing US Surveillance Requests Up 33% in the Last Year
News release: “This morning, Google released their semi-annual transparency report, and once again, it revealed a troubling trend: Internet surveillance around the world continues to rise, with the United States leading the way in demands for user data. Google received over 21,000 requests for data on over 33,000 users in the last six months from… Continue Reading
FBI Releases 2011 Hate Crime Statistics
News release: “According to statistics released today by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 6,222 criminal incidents involving 7,254 offenses were reported in 2011 as a result of bias toward a particular race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin, or physical or mental disability. The statistics, published by the FBIs Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) program in Hate… Continue Reading
New Report and Advocacy Toolkit on Intermediary Liability
“What role should online intermediaries play in policing the content and conduct of their users? What if any legal responsibility should they bear when users post or transmit material that may be unlawful? These are familiar questions to advocates for Internet openness and crucial issues for Internet policy. Today, CDT is releasing an expanded and… Continue Reading
EFF's Guide to CDA 230: The Most Important Law Protecting Online Speech
News release: “In 1996, while debating the intricacies of a bill that would massively overhaul the telecommunications laws of the United States, two astute Congressmen introduced an amendment that would allow the Internet to flourish. The amendment – which would become Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (CDA 230) – stated that “No provider… Continue Reading
Comparative Study of Constitutions of OIC Countries, 2012 Update
“USCIRFs [United States Commission on International Religious Freedom] 2012 report, The Religion-State Relationship & the Right to Freedom of Religion or Belief: A Comparative Textual Analysis of the Constitutions of Majority Muslim Countries and Other OIC Members, analyzes how constitutions of countries belonging to the OIC treat issues of human rights and religious freedom. This… Continue Reading
