“Federal agencies that collect personal and other information on American citizens would be required to report on those activities to Congress as part of a proposal coauthored by Senators Russell Feingold (D-Wisc.) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) that has passed the U.S. Senate.” [Link] See H.R. 4567, Making appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security for… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: September 2004
FTC Reviews Program to Reward Spam Whistleblowers
“The FTC today issued a assessing whether and how a system that rewards members of the public for tracking down spammers would or could help improve enforcement of the CAN-SPAM Act. That Act, which became effective on January 1, 2004, required the FTC to conduct a study and provide a report to Congress on a… Continue Reading
Web Search Engines Reveal Some Credit Card Data
Google Search Reveals Credit-Card Numbers: “In an effort to ascertain actual theft risk associated with ordering online, NewsFactor conducted an informal test of the Web… the test was conducted using basic search engines to determine how accessible personal-identity and credit-card information was to a more ordinary criminal mind.” Continue Reading
Conference Addresses Global Impact of Cybercrime
Council of Europe Cybercrime Conference: “Surveys prepared for the conference show that cybercrime is the fastest growing type of crime world-wide, with criminals adapting their methods to modern society, and creating networks that are harder for the police to crack.” Summary of the Organised crime situation report 2004 – Focus on the threat of cybercrime… Continue Reading
Transportation Procedures on Sensitive Security Information Cause Congressional Concern
Lawmakers question policy on transportation security information Lawmakers letter dated September 14, to the Government Accountability Office, on Sensitive Security Information (SSI). Related reference: CRS Report, – Sensitive Security Information and Transportation Security: Issues and Congressional Options, June 9, 2004. Continue Reading
GAO Highlights Critical Role of Leadership For Homeland Security Efforts
Intelligence Reform: Human Capital Considerations Critical to 9/11 Commission’s Proposed Reforms GAO-04-1084T, September 14, 2004. Highlights-PDF. “Recognizing that people are the critical element in transformation initiatives is key to a successful transformation of the intelligence community and related homeland security organizations.” Continue Reading
OMB Watch Releases Report on Administration’s Regulatory Record
Non-profit advocacy group OMB Watch today issued a report documenting the administration’s record on regulatory issues that include health, safety and the environment. [thanks to DC] “In this analysis, we looked at four agencies that are particularly important to the public interest: the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the National… Continue Reading
Request for E-voting Paper Trail in Maryland Denied on Appeal
News about this order, Schade v. State Board of Elections, from Federal Computer Week and the Washington Post, with my previous postings, Effort in Maryland to Prevent E-Voting Fails and Maryland Case Challenging Lack of E-Voting Paper Trail To Be Heard this Week Continue Reading
Official Release of Amazon’s Search Engine
Amazon’s search engine, A9, released as a beta in October 2003, received its offical launch last night. See this FAQ for more information about features. Related news: A9.com To Make Searching The Internet More Effective and Amazon to Take Searches on Web to a New Depth The A9 Toolbar may be downloaded here Amazon aims… Continue Reading
Regulating Internet Content
Internet Points of Control, by Jonathan Zittrain, Harvard Law School, Public Law Working Paper No. 54 , Boston College Law Review, Forthcoming [Link to abstract] “Early efforts to control the Internet have targeted the endpoints of the network – the sources and recipients of objectionable material – and to some extent the intermediaries who host… Continue Reading
E-Gov Site Assists in Hurricane Tracking and Emergency Response
“Geodata.gov is part of the Geospatial One-Stop E-Gov initiative providing access to geospatial data and information.” Use this link to learn about the site’s features. Continue Reading
Report on Open Government Laws
A new report prepared for Rep. Henry A. Waxman “analyzes how the Administration has implemented each of our nation’s major open government laws (the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), the Presidential Records Act, and the Federal Advisory Committee Act).” Report Table of Contents (Full Report, 90 pages, PDF) Secrecy in the Bush Administration Related legislation… Continue Reading
