On November 25, the Senate unanimously approved the CAN-SPAM Act (S. 877), inclusive of technical changes agreed upon with the House, which is expected to approve the bill once again in December, clearing it for signature by the President. However, not everyone on the Hill is satisfied with the bill, in particular Representatives from California… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: November 2003
E-Voting Machine Case Remains in Spotlight
As a follow-up to my posting, E-Voting Machine Co. Docs. on Product Flaws Published on Web, this evening an EFF press release announced that Judge Jeremy Foley, U.S. District Court, Northern District of California scheduled a meeting of the parties, via telephone conference, for December 1. This action follows Diebold’s decision to withdraw the cease… Continue Reading
Best State Judiciary Website
In an October 14 posting on the Best City, County and State Websites as determined by the Center for Digital Government, I should have noted the addition of a new category for best state judiciary website, which was awarded to the North Carolina Court System. Information is arranged by three main categories: Citizens (available in… Continue Reading
White Paper Details Successful E-Gov Initiatives
From the National Electronic Commerce Coordinating Council (NEC3), “an alliance of state and local associations dedicated to the advancement of electronic commerce within governments,” a new white paper, Maximizing Revenues and Saving Costs Through E-Government: Success Stories in the Public Sector (pdf, 61 pages). The 23 projects highlighted by this report showed a ROI of… Continue Reading
OCLC and NYC Hotel Settle Trademark Dispute
As an update to my September 22 posting OCLC Sues NYC Hotel Over Classification System, see this press release from OCLC, dated November 24, stating OCLC and The Library Hotel settle trademark complaint: “Under the settlement terms, The Library Hotel will receive permission from OCLC to use the Dewey Decimal Classification® trademarks in its hotel… Continue Reading
Fed. Gov’t Launches Consumer Portal on Product Recalls
“To provide better service in alerting the American people to unsafe, hazardous or defective products, six federal agencies with vastly different jurisdictions have joined together to create www.recalls.gov — a “one stop shop” for U.S. Government recalls.” The participating agencies are the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA),… Continue Reading
Intelligence Appropriations Grants FBI Wider Access to Financial Data
Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 (Engrossed Amendment as Agreed to by Senate), (H.R. 2417). Senate agreed to conference report by voice vote, November 21. The conference report, H. Rept. 108-381, was approved by the House, by a vote of 264-163, on November 20. The specific provision that is the focus of concern is… Continue Reading
Report Cites Tech Elite As Early Adopters of Gadgets and Services
A new report from the Pew Internet Project, released November 23, 2003: “Consumption of Information Goods and Services in the United States: There is a trendsetting technology elite in the U.S. who chart the course for the use of information goods and services.” Link to Table of Contents or download the full report in pdf… Continue Reading
Link Rot Undermines Scholarly Web Research
Information science. Going, going, gone: lost Internet references. Dellavalle RP, Hester EJ, Heilig LF, Drake AL, Kuntzman JW, Graber M, Schilling LM, Science (subscription only), October 31, 2003, 302: 787-788. “The use of Internet references in academic literature is common, and Internet references are frequently inaccessible. The extent of Internet referencing and Internet reference activity… Continue Reading
Short Cuts and Tools to Speed Search Engine Results
Web search alert, Taking shortcuts, by Gwen Harris highlights useful quick and easy features to locate news, directions, weather, definitions, and zip-codes on Yahoo, Google and AllTheWeb. Continue Reading
The Real Price Associated With Free Web Applications
When Free Isn’t Really Free: Free applications may include adware, spyware, virusus, and result in copyright infringement lawsuits (music downloading). The article refers to the CDT report on spyware issued last week, about which I posted here and legislation to protect consumers against the collection of personal data via spyware, about which I posted here. Continue Reading
Effectively Leveraging Blogs
Increasing Your Visibility Using Blogs, by Jenny Levine, presented at the Internet Librarian Conference, November 3-5. Continue Reading
