Additional links related to yesterday’s New York Times article: The text of the Prepared Remarks of Attorney General John Ashcroft, “The Proven Tactics in the Fight against Crime” Washington, D.C., September 15, 2003. He uses the word hysteria six times. Letter to the Editor, New York Times, September 17, from Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-VT): Ashcroft… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: September 2003
New Bill on Digital Rights Management
On September 16, Sen. Sam Brownback introduced the Consumers, Schools, and Libraries Digital Rights Management Act of 2003. From his press release: “This legislation responds directly to ongoing litigation between the Recording Industry Association of America and Internet service providers Verizon and SBC Communications. This litigation has opened wide all identifying information an ISP maintains… Continue Reading
National Archives Collection of Historic Documents Once Again Available
“The marble rotunda at the National Archives will reopen tomorrow after two years of renovations designed to make the Constitution, the Bill of Rights and the Declaration of Independence more accessible to visitors and less obscured by distance, awkward angles and green-tinted glass.” [Link] Continue Reading
Report on Privacy and the Workplace
From the October 2003 issue of Wired Magazine: Ranking Privacy at Work. Of the top-tier publicly traded companies reviewed, IBM, Ford and HP set the highest standards for employee privacy, while Eli Lilly, The New York Times and Wal-Mart are at the other end of the spectrum. Continue Reading
Consumers Union Publishes Guide to Thwart ID Theft
The October 2003 issue of Consumer Reports has two free resources on their corresponding website to assist consumers in combatting ID theft: Stop thieves from stealing you What you can do to avoid identity theft In addition, Consumers Union is also sponsoring a website on financial privacy, at www.financialprivacynow.org Continue Reading
Controversy Over New Web Typo Site
Yesterday came news that VeriSign had launched a new service that redirects users who mistype urls of websites (apparently at the rate of 20 million times per day) to Site Finder, which in turn markets the availability of these mistyped .com or .net domains. A Slashdot posting provided this link to a pdf document on… Continue Reading
Library Net Filtering Not Implemented Comprehensively
“A new Florida State University Institute on Information study has found that only about half of the libraries surveyed have filters on even one computer.” [Link] Continue Reading
E-Gov Website User Survey Indicates Overall Satisfaction
User satisfaction with federal e-government efforts, measured in a recent survey of 22 websites, indicates that many users rate them competitively with the best of the commercial sites. The survey, American Customer Satisfaction Index, E-Government Satisfaction Index, available free in pdf, but requiring registration to download, is a joint effort of the University of Michigan… Continue Reading
Ashcroft, Libraries and the Patriot Act
From today’s New York Times: Ashcroft Mocks Librarians and Others Who Oppose Parts of Counterterrorism Law: “Attorney General John Ashcroft today accused the country’s biggest library association and other critics of fueling “baseless hysteria” about the government’s ability to pry into the public’s reading habits.” American Library Association responds to Attorney General remarks on librarians… Continue Reading
Major ISP Maintains Customer Privacy Amidst File Sharing Lawsuits
The New York Times spotlighted ISP SBC Communications’ refusal to join its competitors in providing customer information in response to the recent avalance of recording industry subpoenas issued to those accused of downloading and sharing music files. Continue Reading
GAO Recommends Measures for Driver Licensing Verification of Social Security Numbers
Social Security Numbers: Improved SSN Verification and Exchange of States’ Driver Records Would Enhance Identity Verification. GAO-03-920, September 15. Highlights. Continue Reading
New GAO Report on FOIA Released Today
Freedom of Information Act: Agency Views on Changes Resulting from New Administration Policy. GAO-03-981, September 3. Highlights. FOIA Rules Not Seen Affecting Information Continue Reading
