“In an effort to inform voters where major presidential candidates stand on family-relevant issues, family policy doctoral students in the Department of Family Studies at the University of Maryland compiled this family issues voting guide. We present an objective, non-partisan collection of information comparing candidates on important family policies. Readers will find this a useful… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: October 2004
Lack of Compromise Ensures No Induce Act This Session
The controversial Inducing Infringement of Copyrights Act of 2004 (Induce Act), S. 2560, is stopped in its tracks, at least for this session. But via Corante and Ernest Miller, see this posting, with details on H.R. 4077 the Piracy Deterrence and Education Act of 2004, “To enhance criminal enforcement of the copyright laws, to educate… Continue Reading
FTC Files Case Against Two Companies Who Market Spyware
From the FTC, this announcement, Law Enforcement Action Targeting Spyware: “Press conference (October 12) to announce a law enforcement action targeting “spyware” software that takes control of consumers’ computers or monitors their Internet use without their consent. A copy of the complaint (14 pages, PDF) is available via the Center for Democracy and Technology,… Continue Reading
Will Supreme Court Agree to Hear File Sharing Case?
From AP: “The Supreme Court was asked Friday to hold two Internet file-sharing services responsible for their customers’ online swapping of copyrighted songs and movies.” MGM v. Grokster: Petition for a Writ of Certiorari (46 pages, PDF), via EFF. For reference, Ninth Circuit Rules Distributors of P2P File Sharing Networks Not Liable For Copyright Infringement Continue Reading
Report Compares 9/11 Commission Recommendations to Proposed Legislation
Press release, October 6, 2004: “Rep. Turner, Ranking Member on the Select Committee on Homeland Security, and Rep. Waxman release a new analysis that compares the 41 recommendations made by the 9/11 Commission to H.R. 10, the legislation developed by House Republican leadership being considered tomorrow on the House floor. The analysis finds that the… Continue Reading
Google Launches Beta Service for Wireless Devices and PDAs
“Google SMS (Short Message Service) enables you to easily get precise answers to specialized queries from your mobile phone or device. Send your query as a text message and get phone book listings, dictionary definitions, product prices and more. Just text. No links. No web pages. Simply the answers you’re looking to find.” [Link to… Continue Reading
Recent CRS Reports on Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act
From Steven Aftergood and the Federation of American Scientists, the following links: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: An Overview of the Statutory Framework and Recent Judicial Decisions, updated September 22, 2004 (90 pages, PDF) Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act: Selected Legislation from the 108th Congress, updated September 30, 2004 Continue Reading
Second Anti-Spyware Bill Passed By House This Week
“The House Judiciary Committee passed the Internet Spyware (I-SPY) Prevention Act of 2004, H.R. 4661, which was introduced by Representative Bob Goodlatte. This bipartisan legislation addresses the most egregious activities that are conducted via spyware and make those activities criminal offenses.” [Link to press release from Rep. Bob Goodlatte] See also House Rpt. 108-698 –… Continue Reading
Appeals Court Will Rehear Email Wiretapping Case
Appeals Court Re-Opens E-Mail Snooping Case: “Privacy advocates and the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) will get their day in court, again, to appeal a three-judge panel ruling that allows e-mail providers to store and copy their customers’ e-mails.” Via EPIC, Order, U.S. Court of Appeals, First Circuit, United States v. Councilman, October 5, 2004.… Continue Reading
Global Database of Free, Independent, Online News Sites
Via CyberJournalist.net, news about the launch of Newspaperindex.com: “We only include websites with free public access that have a local editorial staff of independent journalists and in most cases a print version as well.” Continue Reading
Leading Scientific Publisher Plans to Digitize Content Dating Back 100 Yrs.
From Reuters: “German science publisher Springer Science + Business Media will start in January to put all back issues of its 1,250 scientific journals on the Internet, some of which date back to 1886, it said on Wednesday.” [Link] Continue Reading
Google Launches Feature to Read Book Excerpts and Links to Purchase
This news may remind readers of Amazon’s Search Inside the Book service, launched last October. But this time the source is Google, who announced that their Google Print service is no longer in testing mode: “Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. Since a lot of the… Continue Reading
