From the June 2004 issue of Reason magazine, take the time to read this article (10 pages, pdf), Database Nation, The upside of “zero” privacy, by Declan McCullagh: “Focusing on government power would keep intact the advantages of databasifcation – such as lower prices and cheaper mortgages – while limiting possible abuses by law enforcement.… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: May 2004
Copyright Regulation and Access to Web Document Archives
New Lawsuit Spotlights Thousands of Copyright “Orphans” That Should Be in the Public Domain: “The plaintiffs in Kahle v. Ashcroft are the Internet Archive and Prelinger Associates, both Web libraries that make thousands of works freely available online, including audio, books, films, and software. In general, these works must be in the public domain, unburdened… Continue Reading
Review of RSS Readers and Useful Links to Feeds
J.D. Lasica evaluates a range of news readers and other related productivity enhancing applications, RSS news services, and links to newsfeeds from prominent and reliable sources. Continue Reading
Survey on Proposed WIPO Broadcasting Treaty
From the Union for the Public Domain (UPD), a non-profit citizens group since 1996, whose goal is “to protect and enhance the public domain in matters concerning intellectual property,” news of this Survey of National Government Representatives Regarding the WIPO Broadcasting Treaty, “being used by volunteers to collect information about national positions on the proposed… Continue Reading
Bill to Ban California E-Voting
Senate Bill 1723, “an urgency measure, would provide that no city or county may use any form of direct recording electronic device (DRE) as part of its voting system for the November 2, 2004, general election.” See the bill analysis here. Continue Reading
DOT OIG Report on Audiotape Destroyed by FAA After 9/11
Report to Senator McCain into the alleged destruction of an audiotape of air traffic controller witness statements from 9/11/01, May 4, 2004. From the New York Times, F.A.A. Official Scrapped Tape of 9/11 Controllers’ Statements Continue Reading
The Impact of Newspaper Websites
Two related stories worth noting: The New York Times reports increased circulation stats over the past six months, but other newspapers including the Washington Post report a downturn, some of which may be attributed to the migration of readers to the paper’s website. A recent Nielsen/NetRatings survey reports “that Web surfers are more politically active… Continue Reading
USTR Annual Report on IP Protection
U.S. Releases 2004 Report on Intellectual Property Protection Office of the United States Trade Representative press release: Annual “Special 301” Report Finds Continued Progress on Strengthening Intellectual Property Protection, but Significant Improvements Needed 2004 Special 301 Report (documents are in pdf): Executive Summary, Statutory Authority, Developments in IPR, Full Report. Continue Reading
Survey Reports Rising Concern With E-Mail Fraud
An online survey conducted in April indicates “that 75% of accountholders are less likely to respond to email from their banks, and over 65% said they were less likely to sign-up or continue to use their banks online services.” These results reflect growing consumer concern with phishing and email fraud, occurrences of which are increasingly… Continue Reading
Survey Says….Spam At All Time High
Record Broken: 82% of U.S. Email is Spam For reference, see the latest spam statistics on the MessageLabs homepage. Continue Reading
California Anti-Spyware Legislation Moves Forward
Yesterday, California Senate Bill 1436, the Consumer Protection Against Computer Spyware Act, sponsored by Senator Kevin Murray, won approval by the Judiciary Committee. In addition, Assembly Bill 2787, which prohibits the download of spyware to a computer in California, was approved by the Committee on Judiciary. Continue Reading
Dept. of Interior Guidelines to Secure Geospatial Data
“The Homeland Security Working Group ensures that the National Spatial Data Infrastructure (NSDI) [Executive Order establishing NSDI] supports the preparation for, prevention of, protection against, response to, and recovery from (1) threats to the nation’s population centers and critical infrastructures that are of terrorist, criminal, accidental, or natural origin and (2) related adverse events.” The… Continue Reading
