Do you ever jot down a telephone number and forget to note the name associated with it? I sure do. Here is a quick, easy to use, free Reverse Number Lookup service from Verizon that requires only that you type in a ten digit telephone number to obtain the name and address of the owner,… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: January 2003
New Sentencing Guidelines for Cybercrime
The United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) is seeking public comment on proposed amendments to guidelines applicable to persons convicted of crimes related to the misuse of computers (i.e., hacking, cracking, writing and disseminating viruses, ID theft, web-related fraud, etc.). These new guidelines have garnered a new level of attention due to significantly increased incidences of… Continue Reading
Prison Sentence for Author of Viruses
The author of three computer viruses that were unleashed in 40 countries was sentenced to two years in prison by London’s Southwark Crown Court, under the Computer Misuse Act of 1990. The viruses were: Gokar, Admirer, and Redesi. Continue Reading
E-Gov Takes A Hit From Congress
The administration’s proposed plans for e-government initiatives have been dealt a significant blow by Senate appropriations actions which cut $40 million from the requested total of $45 million for FY 2003. Through the E-Government Act of 2002, agencies are working on a coordinated effort to streamline, standardize and improve the management and operation of online… Continue Reading
Digital National Security Archive
The Digital National Security Archive currently hosts 35,000 declassified documents, comprising 15 distinct collections on U.S. security policies and decision making. For example, you may access documents from the Cuban Missle Crisis, Iran-Contra Affair, and Presidential Directives on National Security from Truman to Clinton. There is also a Documents of the Month section, and the… Continue Reading
Search Engines AllTheWeb and Teoma Announce New Features
From Fast Search & Transfer (FAST), this press release announces new features for AlltheWeb.com that include Automatic Language Mapping (the site determines the user’s language and provides query responses accordingly), new search tools, full support for common Boolean operators, and a Query Language Cheet Sheet. Teoma 2.0 was launched this week, highlighting the new Advanced… Continue Reading
RIAA Wins Battle With Verizon Over Customer Data
Judge John D. Bates, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, has ruled in favor of RIAA in their high profile case against Verizon to compel the ISP to provide personal data on customers’ use and online distribution of music obtained using P2P downloading applications. See Recording Industry of America v. Verizon Internet… Continue Reading
Sen. Kennedy's New Site Meets Accessibility Guidelines
Senator Edward Kennedy is breaking new ground with a completely redesigned web site that meets the requirements of The Rehabilitation Act Amendments (Section 508). For more information on how federal agency sites must provide web site access and associated online services for individuals with disabilities, refer to this site, Section 508: The Road to Accessibility,… Continue Reading
FTC Report on Consumer Fraud and ID Theft
This FTC press release provides an overview of their new 2002 National and State Trends in Fraud Identity Theft Report (in PDF). ID theft accounts for 43% of total complaints made, with fraud associated with Internet auctions accounting for 13% of complaints. See also another new FTC report, ID Theft: When Bad Things Happen To… Continue Reading
TIA Activities Under Continued Scrutiny
Via AP, this article indicates that Department of Defense Inspector General Joseph E. Schmitz communicated with Sen. Charles Grassley about an audit on a joint FBI-Pentagon plan to expand the TIA data mining program. The Senator stated in a letter to Attorney General Ashcroft, “I am very concerned that DOJ and the FBI may have… Continue Reading
E-Commerce Dispute Resolution
For the past two years, an ABA task force of the Section of Dispute Resolution has studied the issue of consumer disputes as they apply to e-commerce transactions. A draft of their final report, that included recommendations and proposed guidelines, was released in April 2002. This ABA press release indicates that there is now a… Continue Reading
Historical Congressional Docs Now Online
Via Research Buzz news that a treasure trove of searchable, historical Congressional documents and debates (with many imaged texts) from 1774-1875 are now available to researchers from the American Memory Project, A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation. Included are House bills from the first forty-three sessions of Congress, Senate bills and resolutions beginning… Continue Reading
