From the New Yorker magazine, Patent Bending: “For most of American history, it was next to impossible to get a patent on what the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office called ‘a mere method of doing business’… But in July, 1998, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit did away with that principle. The… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: July 2003
Limitations on Total Information Awareness Program Deployment
Text below is from the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2004, (House of Representatives – July 08, 2003), (Page: H6276) SEC. 8124. Limitation on Deployment of Terrorism Information Awareness Program: (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law and except as provided in paragraph (2), if and when research and development on the Terrorism Information Awareness… Continue Reading
Rocky Road for Anti-Spam Legislation
July 8, 2003 – Legislative hearing on H.R. 2214, the “Reduction in Distribution of Spam Act of 2003.” Witness List, Honorable Jerry Kilgore (Attorney General, Commonwealth of Virginia), Honorable Will Moschella (Ass’t AG, Office of Legislative Affairs), Joe Rubin (US Chamber of Commerce), Chris Murray(Consumers Union). Antispam Legislation Hits Rocky Road– No one is pleased:… Continue Reading
Compilation of Intelligence Laws
(Please note, this document comprises 1175 pages in pdf): Compilation of Intelligence Laws and Related Laws and Executive Orders of Interest to the National Intelligence Community, As Amended through March 25, 2003, Prepared for the use of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence of the House of Representatives, June 2003. This Committee Print gathers together… Continue Reading
VP Cheney Loses Appeal On Energy Task Force Disclosure
In Re: Richard B. Cheney (July 8, 2003), New Federal Appellate Court Decision Rejecting Attempts By Vice President Dick Cheney And The Solicitor General’s Office To Prevent Enforcement Of A Lower Court Order Granting Plaintiffs’ Discovery Requests Seeking More Information On The Inner Working’s Of The White House Energy Task Force (HTML); (PDF) US Court… Continue Reading
Status Report From 9/11 Commission
First Interim Report of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States, Thomas H. Kean, Chair, and Lee H. Hamilton, Vice Chair, July 8, 2003. The Commission will hold its third public hearing on “Terrorism, Al Qaeda, and the Muslim World” on July 9, 2003 in Washington, DC. Sept. 11 probers complain of… Continue Reading
Dissertation Raises Post 9/11 Security Concerns
Today’s Washington Post reported on the security implications of a George Mason University grad student’s dissertation in which he has “mapped every business and industrial sector in the American economy, layering on top the fiber-optic network that connects them.” Again from the article: “He should turn it in to his professor, get his grade —… Continue Reading
Privacy and Libraries
An editorial from the Christian Science Monitor, July 8, 2003: Privacy at the Library – “The Patriot Act, designed to help combat terrorism in the US, has many citizens worried about censorship and a loss of privacy. Vigilance certainly is warranted when it comes to ensuring Americans’ precious freedoms. And that includes ongoing, thoughtful consideration… Continue Reading
Challenges of Electronic Documents Preservation
Electronic Records: Management and Preservation Pose Challenges, by Linda D. Koontz, director, information management, before the Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations, and the Census, House Committee on Government Reform. GAO-03-936T, July 8. From the same subcommittee, see also this hearing, Wiring Our National Archives, Federal Electronic Records Management Review, July 8, 2003. “The… Continue Reading
Cato Releases 2003 Report on Federal Regulations
The 2003 Cato Institute report (40 pages in pdf), Ten Thousand Commandments, An Annual Report of the Federal Regulatory State. “The 2002 Federal Register contained an all-time record 75,606 pages, a nearly 9 percent increase over 2001.” See also 2002 Federal Register Is Longest Ever (Washington Post, July 8, 2003). Continue Reading
Government Information Awareness Project
Turnabout is fair play – from TIA to GIA: Open Government Information Awareness (GIA Project) website, sponsored by the MIT Media Lab, provides the source code for the applications that power the site: “To empower citizens by providing a single, comprehensive, easy-to-use repository of information on individuals, organizations, and corporations related to the government of… Continue Reading
Fair Use, Search Engines and Thumbnail Images
From News.com: Search engines’ display of miniature images is fair use under copyright law, a federal appeals court ruled Monday, but the legality of presenting full-size renditions of visual works is yet to be determined. Opinion and Order from the U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, Leslie A. Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corporation (now known… Continue Reading
