According to FCW.com, Maya Bernstein is the new “head of the office in charge of agency (IRS) policies for protecting taxpayers’ personal information an increasingly important job as data is handled by more electronic systems in the agency’s modernization.”
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Daily Archives: August 18, 2003
Controversy Accompanies Draft VICTORY Act Legislation
The National Consumer Privacy Coalition Group obtained a draft of the VICTORY Act (Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations Act of 2003), which has been circulated on Capitol Hill, but a copy of which I have yet to find posted on the web (please contact me if you have a link). This article indicates that… Continue Reading
Report on Childrens Internet Protection Act
Report to Congress, Childrens Internet Protection Act, Pub. L. 106-554, Study of Technology Protection Measures in Section 1703, August 15, 2003, Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration. From the report’s Conclusion: “In summary, existing technology protection measures have met many of the needs of educational institutions. While the education community has had success… Continue Reading
Amazon Wins Domain Name Dispute
Amazon wins tussle over lookalike site: “A Web site owner arguing that online retailer Amazon.com Inc. cannot lay exclusive claim to the name of the world’s second longest river to sell goods on the Internet learned today that … well, yes it can. Arbitrators for the United Nations copyright agency WIPO told the Arizona man… Continue Reading
Patriot Act Facilitates Increased Gov’t Demand for Customer Data
Although there has been considerable focus on the Patriot Act as it impacts libraries, this Atlanta-Journal Constitution article details the wider impact of law enforcement’s significantly increased demand for customer data from businesses that range from scuba shops to telecommunications companies. Examples from the article include the following: “Last year, before the Memorial Day weekend,… Continue Reading
Researcher Details Security Concerns and Hidden Data in Word Documents Online
Scalable Exploitation of, and Responses to Information Leakage Through Hidden Data in Published Documents, by Simon Byers, AT&T’s Research Labs. Mr. Beyer’s research focused on the tools and techniques used to “search for hidden data in Word documents.” The use of hidden text is routine in the process of creating documents using Word, so this… Continue Reading
News Aggregators Gain Popularity
Aggregators Attack Info Overload : “Maniacally wired netizens who read a hundred blogs a day and just as many news sources are turning to a new breed of software, called newsreaders or aggregators, to help them manage information overload.” See also several of my previous postings on RSS and aggregators here and here and Dan… Continue Reading
Presentation on Libraries and Blogging
Who Me? Blog? Ideas and Inspiration for Blogging Librarians, by Tasha Saecker, Green Lake Public Library [Library Stuff]. Continue Reading
Chinese Gov’t To Eliminate Microsoft OS and Office
China blocks foreign software use in gov’t: “A new policy by China’s governing body the State Council will rule that all ministries have to buy only locally-produced software at the next upgrade cycle. The move, aimed at breaking the dominance of U.S.-based Microsoft on desktop computers, will eliminate Microsoft’s Windows operating system and Office productivity… Continue Reading
