“The American Library Association, along with other library and education associations, has filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) opposing a Department of Justice attempt to bring all broadband access to the Internet within the scope of the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA).” [Link] Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Monthly Archives: April 2004
Senate Cmte. Receives Response on Homeland Security One Yr Later
Senator Collins Receives Answers on Terrorist Threat Integration Center, April 20, 2004 Letter to Sens. Collins, Levin on TTIC Structure New Gov’t Surveillance Database Announced by Bush, January 30, 2003 Continue Reading
Consortium Offers Definition of Spyware
From yesterday’s FTC Spyware Workshop, the Consumer Software Working Group Examples of Unfair, Deceptive or Devious Practices Involving Software, “endorsed by a broad coalition of software companies, Internet service providers, anti-spyware technology vendors, and consumer groups convened by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT).” For additional resources, see CDT’s Spyware page. See also Few… Continue Reading
My Passwords for a Chocolate…
The BBC reports that the results of recent surveys of London commuters, requesting their PC login passwords in exchange for chocolate, were that a majority of respondents provided them without hesitation. Must be really good chocolate! In addition, the survey established that pet names are all too often passwords of choice, and are also willingly… Continue Reading
IRS Commissioner to Review Offshore Tax Preparation and Privacy Issues
From Tax-News.com a report on offshore tax return preparation, and the response, by IRS commissioner Mark Everson, to concerns expressed in this letter to him by Rep. Edward J. Markey, a member of the Congressional Privacy Caucus. [JURIST’s Paper Chase] See also this February 15, 2004 New York Times article, Outsourcing Abroad Applies to Tax… Continue Reading
Legal Analysis of State and Federal Outsourcing Legislation
The National Foundation for American Policy (NFAP) released a new study, Exporting the Law: A Legal Analysis of State and Federal Outsourcing Legislation (pdf, 32 pages) [Donna Cavallini] “Legislators in at least 36 states have introduced more than 100 bills to restrict overseas outsourcing, and legislation on the issue has also proliferated at the federal… Continue Reading
New Guidelines for Distributing Key Scientific Data on Gov’t Websites
OMB Releases Revised Bulletin on Peer Review; Seeks Additional Public Comment, April 15, 2004: “As part of a continuing effort to enhance the quality and credibility of scientific information that is disseminated to the public, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) released today a revised draft of guidance to agencies and requested additional public… Continue Reading
UK and US Issue Cyberalert on Internet Vulnerability
From the UK National Infrastructure Security Co-ordination Centre (NISCC), Vulnerability Advisory Notice 236929, issued April 20, 2004. “The vulnerability described in this advisory affects implementations of the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) that comply with the Internet Engineering Task Forces (IETFs) Requests For Comments (RFCs) for TCP…TCP is a core network protocol used in the majority… Continue Reading
The “Cost” of Open Access
Who Pays for Open Access? by Helen Doyle, Andy Gass, Rebecca Kennison. “Here we address…the perception that the publication-charge model puts an unfair burden on authors. Subsequently, we will address concerns about the long-term economic viability of the open-access model, the integrity and quality of work published in open-access journals, and the effect that open… Continue Reading
FTC Spyware Workshop
Today the FTC hosted a public workshop, “Monitoring Software on Your PC: Spyware, Adware, and Other Software,” (Agenda, pdf) “to explore the issues associated with the distribution and effects of software that aids in gathering information about a person or organization without their knowledge and which may send such information to another entity without the… Continue Reading
Law Enforcement and Info Sharing
The Legal Framework in U.S. Law for Sharing Law Enforcement and Intelligence Information, by Rebekah Bina and Caroline Nicolai. (Syracuse University College of Law students) “This paper provides an overview of the legal authorities governing information sharing, followed by a brief discussion of the recent developments, benefits, and risks in this growing field.” Continue Reading
New Survey Indicates Broadband Use Growing
Broadband Penetration on the Upswing: 55% of Adult Internet Users Have Broadband at Home or Work. “As of March 1, the Pew Internet & American Life Project finds that 68 million adult Americans log on via broadband either at home or work. Fully 48 million adult Americans have broadband connections at home.” Continue Reading
