New from Amazon’s A9.com Search – Yellow Pages on A9.com: “Using trucks equipped with digital cameras, global positioning system (GPS) receivers, and proprietary software and hardware, A9.com drove tens of thousands of miles capturing images and matching them with businesses and the way they look from the street.” Web Yellow Page Search Gets Image Boost:… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: January 2005
Call for Oversight on GPO Initiatives
From the American Library Association Washington Office Newsline: (proposed changes effective October 1, 2005) “…GPO would produce and distribute in print only the 50 titles listed on the Essential Titles for Public Use in Paper Format. The Essential Titles list, last revised in 2000, does not include important materials including maps, geological information, administrative decisions… Continue Reading
New Guide on How to File FOIA Requests
“A new First Amendment Center Online research compilation examines the ins and outs of filing requests for government information under the federal Freedom of Information Act. The FOIA article by Taylor Holliday provides an introduction to the act, as well as information on the Privacy Act, how to get started on an FOIA filing, what… Continue Reading
Updated CRS Report on Spyware and Privacy
CRS Report – Spyware: Background and Policy Issues for Congress, Updated December 22, 2004. “Internet privacy issues encompass concerns about the collection of personally identifiable information (PII) from visitors to government and commercial websites, as well as debate over law enforcement or employer monitoring of electronic mail and Web usage. This report discusses Internet privacy… Continue Reading
Report on ID Theft Points to Greater Offline Threat
New Research Shows That Identity Theft Is More Prevalent Offline with Paper than Online: “The 2005 Identity Fraud Survey Report – released by the Better Business Bureau and Javelin Strategy & Research as an update of the Federal Trade Commission’s 2003 Identity Theft Survey Report and Javelin’s 2003 Identity Theft Report – shows that despite… Continue Reading
State Legislators’ Financial Disclosure Filings Online
“Ever wonder what outside financial interests a legislator in your state might have? Now you can find out with a couple of clicks of your mouse. Putting the country’s government ethics laws to work, the Center for Public Integrity …made thousands of state legislators’ outside interest disclosure filings available to online users. Researchers at the… Continue Reading
Advocacy Group Asks New Congress for Privacy Protection and Action Against Spyware
“Testifying at the year’s first hearing of the House Commerce Committee, CDT reiterated that baseline privacy legislation was the best way to deal with the snowballing spyware epidemic and head off further threats to online privacy. CDT also highlighted the growing problem of affiliate networking, and called for stepped up enforcement against spyware purveyors and… Continue Reading
Musicians and Industry File Briefs in P2P File Sharing Case
From Internet News – Hollywood: P2P is Not About Technology: “The entertainment industry urged the U.S. Supreme Court Monday afternoon not to give the companies developing peer-to-peer (P2P) music file swapping software a “perpetual free pass” to engage in “mind-boggling” copyright infringement. In a 67-page brief filed in advance of the March 29 Supreme Court… Continue Reading
NARA Guidance on Managing Web Records
“Web site operations are an integral part of an agency’s program. Managing web records properly is essential to effective web site operations, especially the mitigation of the risks an agency faces by using the web to carry out agency business. This guidance will assist agency officials in this regard, including agency program staff, webmasters, IT… Continue Reading
GAO Reports on Government Fraud and Waste
High-Risk Series: An Update, GAO-05-207, January 1, 2005, Highlights (PDF). “GAO’s audits and evaluations identify federal programs and operations that, in some cases, are high risk due to their greater vulnerabilities to fraud, waste, abuse, and mismanagement…This year, GAO is designating four new high-risk areas. The first new area is establishing appropriate and effective information-sharing… Continue Reading
Spammers Settle Case With Earthlink
From ComputerWorld: “Earthlink claims victory in another spam case – The spammers sent out more than 250 million e-mail messages.” Continue Reading
New Developments in Internet Search
From Scientific American, Seeking Better Web Searches: “Deluged with superfluous responses to online queries, users will soon benefit from improved search engines that deliver customized results.” Continue Reading
