From the Lawyer’s Committee on Human Rights, a new report: Assessing the New Normal: Liberty and Security for the Post-September 11 United States, September 2003: Link to the full report, 144 pages, pdf Link to Introduction and Executive Summary Link to report by chapter (there are 5 chapters): Chapter One, Open Government; Chapter Two, Personal… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: September 2003
Perspective on the World of Music File Sharing
From the Sunday New York Times Magazine, Turn On. Tune In. Download. “The fact is, most participants do a lot more taking than ”sharing”; one study found that nearly half the songs accessible through major peer-to-peer networks are contributed by just 1 percent of users, and nearly 70 percent of downloaders do not share a… Continue Reading
Airline Passenger Profiling Study Goes Awry
On September 18, Wired reported that JetBlue Airways had shared 5 million passenger itineraries with a government contractor who in turn enhanced the dataset with information including associated social security numbers and income demographics, which then became part of a study, Homeland Security — Airline Passenger Risk Assessment. The airline’s chief executive subsequently sent an… Continue Reading
CA Appeals Court to Review Postponement of Recall Vote
The California electoral recall postponement opinion of September 15 will be reviewed according to this Order of the U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, filed September 19. Why the Eleven-Judge Ninth Circuit Panel Should Affirm The Original Panel Decision to Postpone the California Recall [Link] Continue Reading
EU Airline Passenger Data Resolution
25th International Conference of Data Protection & Privacy Commissioners Sydney, 12 September 2003 – Resolution concerning the Transfer of Passengers Data. See also EU challenges U.S. passenger data plan Continue Reading
Prestige Ranking of Law Firms
Vault Survey of Top 100 Law Firms, compiled from surveys returned by 11,908 associates from more than 100 top firms. See also the survey Rankings Methodology. “An extended PDF excerpt and table of contents” is available for download here. Continue Reading
Ashcroft Relents on Releasing Info On Library Records
Report on accessing library records to be open: “Countering charges that the FBI is snooping into America’s reading habits, Attorney General John Ashcroft said yesterday that he would declassify a report on how often the agency has sought information from public libraries under the USA Patriot Act. The move came after a sharp exchange this… Continue Reading
Hurricane Isabel May Prevent Postings on 9/18
Sorry to say the big storm is headed my way, so I may actually have to unplug the computers and peripherals, oh my! Hope to be back soon though. Continue Reading
Administration Plans Database of Terrorists
From the White House news release, dated September 16: “Attorney General John Ashcroft, Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge, Secretary of State Colin Powell, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet today announced the establishment of the Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) to consolidate terrorist watchlists and provide 24/7 operational support for… Continue Reading
House Votes to Continue Internet Tax Moratorium
H.R. 49, to permanently extend the moratorium enacted by the Internet Tax Freedom Act, passed the House by voice vote today. For related information, see this Internetnews.com article. Continue Reading
Law Firm Technology Survey
The Eighth Annual AmLaw Tech Survey, September 2003. Survey results were compiled from responses provided by 137 law firms, and address the following categories: document management, docketing & calendaring, spam defense, litigation support, and electronic evidence vendors. Additional information on expenditures related to hardware, software and IT related personnel is provided in another survey titled… Continue Reading
Supreme Court Review Sought in Cheney Energy Task Force Case
Cheney Wants Supreme Court Review on Energy Case: “Last week, the appeals court refused to reconsider its previous ruling against Cheney, leaving him with the option of appealing to the Supreme Court or complying with a lower court order to release information about his task force’s contacts with the energy industry while drafting policy in… Continue Reading
