Rick Klau attended the April 3 ABATechShow presentation on blogs by Tom Mighell and me, and provided live commentary via his weblog. His postings, in reverse chronological order, appear here, here, here, here, and here. Thanks Rick! Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: April 2003
RIAA Sues Four Students for Piracy
The RIAA today announced lawsuits against four students who run local area networks on university campuses used to “illegally distribute millions of copyrighted songs.” According to this Reuters report, two of the students attend Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, one is at Princeton University and the other at Michigan Technological University. Continue Reading
California Supreme Court Reviews E-Mail Case
On April 2, the California Supreme Court heard oral argument in the appeal of Intel v Hamidi. Hamidi is a former Intel employee who after his termination, on six separate occasions, used the company’s internal e-mail address listing to send messages to 30,000 employees. See also these related articles: Intel e-mail issue divides court and… Continue Reading
States Pass Exemptions to Freedom of Information Laws
The USA Today reported that 22 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws that restrict public access to information that relates to homeland security. The exemptions to state freedom of information laws includes maps, evacuation and emergency plans, transportation services and infrastructure. According to the article, “Taken together, the measures passed in the… Continue Reading
Blog on Homeland Security and FOI
Behind the Homefront is a blog launched January 24 by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. It is a “a daily chronicle of news in homeland security and military operations affecting newsgathering, access to information and the public’s right to know.” Continue Reading
Thomson to Acquire Elite
From the press release today: The Thomson Corporation and Elite Information Group, Inc., a leading provider of integrated practice and financial management applications for legal and professional services markets, today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement under which Thomson will acquire Elite. See also this Star Tribune article for more details. Continue Reading
Details from MA Super DMCA
Via A Copyfighter’s Musings, a report on what transpired during the public hearing held April 3 on Massachusetts House Bill 2743; MA Super DMCA Hearing Report. See my previous posting on proposed legislation to extend the DMCA here. From Freedom to Tinker, MPAA Revises Model Super-DMCA Legislation that links to “revised version of its model… Continue Reading
In Rare Action, Supreme Ct Releases Audio Tapes
For only the second time in its history, the Supreme Court released same day audio tapes of oral arguments, in this instance, for the Grutter v. Bollinger and Gratz v. Bollinger affirmative action cases. The first time the court released same day hearing tapes to the public they did so on a time delayed basis… Continue Reading
Key Gov't Agencies Fail to Assess Cyber Risks
From the GAO, Critical Infrastructure Protection: Challenges for Selected Agencies and Industry Sectors. GAO-03-233, February 28. According to this report, four federal agencies (DOE, HHS, Commerce and the EPA) have not completed an analysis of their respective critical infrastructure assets and their associated vulnerabilities to cyberattacks, five years after mandates to do so. See also… Continue Reading
New Privacy Protection Bill
On March 31, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) introduced S. 745, “A bill to require the consent of an individual prior to the sale and marketing of such individual’s personally identifiable information, and for other purposes.” Her press release states that the legislation seeks to establish a national standard for the protection of personal information, including… Continue Reading
30th Anniversary of LexisNexis
See this press release, LexisNexis Celebrates the 30th Anniversary of its Invention of Online Legal Research, noting how original company owner Mead Data Central “revolutionized the field of legal research by launching the world’s first full-text commercial search engine,” 30 years ago today. Continue Reading
EFF Analysis of Patriot II
The Electronic Frontier Foundation just published an in-depth analysis of the January 9, 2003 draft known as Patriot Act II, titled Provisions of the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003 that Impact the Internet and Surveillance. This analysis refers to the purported vaporware bill (there is no offical DOJ statement accepting authorship) as USAPA II,… Continue Reading
