The White House has launched Ask the White House, “a live online interactive forum where you can communicate with White House and administration officials.” The forum is for one hour, 7pm – 7:30pm (ET), and questions may be submitted in advance. Guests are announced on the website. Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: April 2003
Iraqi Libraries Destroyed
Via AP, this story from April 15: “Looters and arsonists ransacked and gutted Iraq’s National Library, leaving a smoldering shell Tuesday of precious books turned to ash and a nation’s intellectual legacy gone up in smoke. They also looted and burned Iraq’s principal Islamic library nearby, home to priceless old Qurans…” See also this first… Continue Reading
File Sharing and Copyright
Fred von Lohmann, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), contributed an opinion column to The Daily Princetonian on the relentless music industry campaign against students who engage in file sharing on campuses across the country. He suggests, “We need to collect a pool of money from Internet users, and agree on… Continue Reading
EFF Resources on Super DMCA
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), has published an analysis and a group of very useful resources on the so-called Super DMCA legislation that is under consideration in state legislatures around the country. See their press release here, and the following links: State “Super-DMCA” Legislation: MPAA’s Stealth Attack on Your Living Room State-Level “Super DMCA” Initiatives… Continue Reading
More on New German Copyright Law
My thanks to attorney Walter Simon who responded to my request for assistance with a translation concerning yesterday’s posting about the new German copyright law. Walter sent me this link to his blog posting of April 10 that references resources in English on the new law. In addition, he also recommended this link from the… Continue Reading
Supreme Ct. Justice Speaks Up for Civil Liberties
Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer delivered a speech before the Association of the Bar of the City of New York in which he addressed the need to protect civil liberties within the context of the fight against terrorism. As a counterpoint, please see my previous posting on recent comments by Justice Scalia that when… Continue Reading
Commentary and Analysis of the RIAA Lawsuits Against College Students
Princeton University student Joseph Barillari posted an essay, which has since been updated several times, titled An analysis of the RIAA’s complaint against Dan Peng ’05, on his blog. This document is a useful resource that contributes to the understanding of the specific technologies and their applications at issue in the RIAA’s lawsuit on contributory… Continue Reading
More Bad News for UK E-Gov Sites
As a follow-up to my April 10 posting on troubles with UK e-gov sites, there is more bad news in that department. The Register reported a new survey indicates that in addition to accessibility problems, the government sites were rife with errors, at the rate of seven times that of “the UK’s leading 100 companies.”… Continue Reading
Santa Clara County Goes Online With Property Records
The Santa Clara County Assessor’s Office “allows residents to view, free of charge, basic information about properties in Santa Clara County such as assessed value, assessor’s parcel number (APN), document number, property address and other information.” Here is a link to the Property Assessment Information System. Please note the following disclaimer: “California Government Code 6254.21… Continue Reading
Researchers Warn of Potential Impact of Cyberattacks
Several recent reports by computer security experts merit a mention, and although they present complex data and analysis, are well worth your review, expecially in light of the current hightened global focus on security issues, both online and offline. Cyberatacks With Offline Damage Defending Against An Internet Attack on the Physical World Cybersecurity: Who’s Watching… Continue Reading
Libraries Act to Protect Patron Records
Public libraries across the country continue to pro-actively protect patron privacy using various straight-forward methods. In and around Chicago, libraries have recently posted signs informing visitors that their reading habits, and web sites visited from library PCs, are subject to tracking. “We want our patrons to be aware we could be forced to turn these… Continue Reading
New Privacy Threat Index
EPIC has created a color-coded Privacy Threat Index that corresponds to that used by the Deparment of Homeland Security, which today lists the threat as Red (High). EPIC’s press release states that the Privacy Threat Index will be used to “track the growing threat to privacy resulting from the expansion of government surveillance.” Today’s Privacy… Continue Reading
