Effective January 24, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms became the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) as provided in the Homeland Security Act of 2002. See this document detailing the change. The newly launched website for the TTB is here, and includes the following resource areas: Alcohol & Tobacco Newsletter, Alcohol… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: January 2003
Senate Agrees to Limit TIA
Momentum against the TIA program is escalating, as the Senate agreed yesterday in a voice vote to accept Ron Wyden’s Amendment 59 to H. Res. 15, the continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 2003. The purpose of the amendment is to block the use of funds for further development and expansion of the program until… Continue Reading
New IP Advocacy Group
“IP Justice is a new non-profit organization that works to promote balance in global intellectual property law and protect freedom of expression with digital media.” An interview with Executive Director Robin D. Gross, an IP attorney formerly with the Electronic Frontier Foundation, was conducted by CNet. Continue Reading
Debut of the Alliance for Digital Progress
A new lobbying organization, the Alliance for Digital Progress, representing industry and advocacy groups, launched their website and announced their agenda yesterday via a press release and press conference presented by President Fred McClure. The group is “opposed to government-designed and mandated technology to solve the problem of digital piracy,” and seeks to create acceptable… Continue Reading
More Opposition to TIA
The Association for Computing Machinery’s U.S. Public Policy Committee issued a press release “recommending a rigorous independent review of the U.S. Government’s Total Information Awareness (TIA) program.” The organization also issued a copy of a letter they sent to the Armed Services Committee, on behalf of their membership of 70,000 computer scientists, stating in part:… Continue Reading
SEC Adopts Attorney Conduct Rule Under Sarbanes-Oxley Act
On January 23, the “SEC adopted final rules to implement Section 307 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act by setting standards of professional conduct for attorneys appearing and practicing before the Commission in any way in the representation of issuers.” See the press release here. In addition, see the text of the final rule, Disclosure Required by… Continue Reading
More on Reverse Number Look-Up
From J M, via JOHO the Blog, another quick and easy way to locate names and addresses when you have only a telephone number: Using Google, simply type in the 10 digit phone number, and the search result will provide you with the name and address of the associated individual or organization, as well as… Continue Reading
ID Theft Via Employment Records
This USA Today article highlights how your employee data is increasingly vulnerable to ID theft. The means by which such information is obtained is not necessarily sophisticated or complicated, or accomplished electronically. For example, credit card receipts, 401K reports and direct deposit pay stubs thrown into the office trash are collected and then used to… Continue Reading
Diplomat States Patriot Act Not a Threat to Constitutional Rights
Ambassador David Johnson, U.S. permanent representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) issued a statement in response to growing international concerns that U.S. anti-terrorism legislation such as the Patriot Act was negatively impacting the exercise of civil liberties. He stated, “The First Amendment rights of libraries, and bookstores and their patrons,… Continue Reading
New E-Gov Portal Debuts After Long Delay
Since last summer, there have been a series of articles discussing the impending introduction of a new e-gov portal that will facilitate easy online access to, and accept public comments on, the thousands of proposed rules and regulations from over 150 federal agencies that appear each year in the Federal Register. After much delay, the… Continue Reading
Microsoft Appeals District Court Order on Java
Not surprisingly, on January 22, Microsoft filed an emergency motion for a stay pending appeal with the 4th Circuit, of the January 21 order by U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz(Maryland) granting Sun Microsystems Inc.’s motion for preliminary injunction requiring Microsoft to add Java to its Windows OS within 120 days of the order. Continue Reading
EU Coalition Opposes Data Retention
This recommendation to the Council of the European Union from 38 Members of Parliament from 7 political groups, conveys the groups opposition to the EU Data Directive which permits data mining, document retention and electronic surveillance programs involving citizens. The group states that these actions are “a violation of art. 8 of the European Court… Continue Reading
