On January 17, PBS aired a program on Copyright in America, which included a useful timeline on the history of copyrights. In addition, they also published the transcript of an interview conducted by Rick Karr, called Tollbooths on the Digital Highway, with such industry advocates of copyright fees as Jack Valenti, Chairman, Motion Picture Association… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: January 2003
Insurance Company Snoops Online DMV Records
California’s Department of Motor Vehicles apparently caught personnel from Allstate Insurance illegally accessing online records for personal purposes, and subsequently banned the company’s direct access to the system pending further review. Previous incidents involving obtaining personal data through online DMV searches has resulted in criminal acts, and is therefore an issue of significant concern for… Continue Reading
FTC Targets Spam Selling Fake Driving Permits
The Federal Trade Commission is doggedly pursuing frauds committed using spam e-mail, and their latest efforts have culminated in compliants filed in six federal courts (copies of which are available here), with charges against “marketers who used the Internet and spam to sell purportedly authentic international driver’s permits (IDPs).” Continue Reading
Libraries and UCITA
This Action Alert from the American Associaton of Law Libraries (AALL) Washington Affairs Office urges law librarians to contact the ABA House of Delegates as they consider Resolution 113G, proposed by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL) that, “Approves the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act (2002) promulgated by the National Conference… Continue Reading
Publisher Prentice Hall Tries Open Source
Prentice Hall has made the leap into open source publishing, in no small measure due to the impetus provided by Bruce Perens, author, programmer, researcher, and father of the open source movement. He states on this site, “I’ve convinced Prentice Hall PTR to publish a series of books that have their text under Open Source… Continue Reading
Congress and Blackberries
The House BlackBerry communication program, initiated in 2001, provided all members with the device, and paid for the associated e-mail service (to the tune of $6 million). The adoption of this wireless technology was related to the events of 9/11. However, Congress is now caught in an uncomfortable position concerning its continued use of the… Continue Reading
Librarians Wrestle with Patriot Act and Data Privacy Issues
A recent survey of how U.S. public librarians have responded to information requests from law enforcement as a result of the Patriot Act indicates that the community is divided in regard to protecting patron privacy. Of those surveyed, 219 indicated that they provided data on patrons, while 229 responded that they did not do so.… Continue Reading
TIA Site Now Concerned About Privacy
The increased focus on the activities of the Total Information Awareness program culminated this week with several legislative initiatives, as mentioned in my post here. It is interesting to note that the TIA site now hosts a slide show with detailed accompanying notes, titled, Security With Privacy (in PDF). There is also a media update… Continue Reading
EPIC Wins FOI Lawsuit Against TIA
Today the United States District Court for the District of Columbia issued a decision supporting EPIC’s claim that it was a representative of the news media, and therefore entitled to “preferred fee status under FOI” as it related to obtaining substantial numbers of documents concerning the activities of the Total Information Awareness program (TIA). See… Continue Reading
Broadband Usage Grows Again
According to this new Nielson-Netratings survey, broadband usage at home has increased by 59% in one year, accounting for more than 33 million users accessing the web via high-speed connections. Seniors, children, men and women have all increased broadband usage, whereas the pace of dialup connectivity is dropping. Continue Reading
Search Engine Stats Show Google Firmly in Lead
The most recent search engine statistical report published by Greg Notess (December 31, 2002) indicates that Google still has a commanding lead, followed by AlltheWeb, and then AltaVista, who has made significant progress in regaining user confidence. Greg also reports on the continued downward spiral of once well regarded search engine Northern Light, a favorite… Continue Reading
New Efforts by Senators to Limit Data Mining
Senators Ron Wyden, and Harry Reid are seeking to disable the Total Information Awareness surveillance program by the most direct means possible – an amendment to discontinue its funding. Wyden, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, issued a press release that stated, “It is time for the Senate to put some reins on this… Continue Reading
