DOJ Fact Sheet, December 20, 2005 – Civil Liberties Safeguards in the USA PATRIOT Act Conference Report: “After months of debateincluding 23 Congressional hearings with over 60 witnessesthe Senate must act to reauthorize the USA PATRIOT Act before these key provisions expire. Last week, the House of Representatives voted to reauthorize the bill with strong… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: December 2005
Pelosi Requests Declassification of Her Letter on NSA Activities
Press release: “House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi released the following statement today on her request to the Director of National Intelligence to declassify a letter she wrote several years ago to the Bush Administration expressing concerns about the activities of the National Security Agency.” “When I learned several years ago that the National Security Agency… Continue Reading
Advocacy Group on Free Expression Issues Report Calling for Strengthening Fair Use
Will Fair Use Survive? Free Expression in the Age of Copyright Control (76 pages, PDF), by Marjorie Heins and Tricia Beckles, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU School of Law, Free Expression Policy Project, December 2005. “The report recommends: creating a clearinghouse for information, including sample replies to cease and desist and “take down” letters;… Continue Reading
Bipartisan Group of Senators Call For Joint Inquiry into Domestic Surveillance
Press release, December 20, 2005: “U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and a bipartisan group of Senate Intelligence Committee members today called for a joint inquiry by the Judiciary and Intelligence Committees into the President’s authorization of domestic electronic surveillance of U.S. citizens.” Related reference: Press release: “The American Civil Liberties Union today submitted records requests… Continue Reading
Report Highlights 3rd Anniversary of the E-Government Act
Office of Management and Budget report, Expanding E-Government: Improved Service Delivery for the American People Using Information Technology, December 2005. Continue Reading
U.S. Congress of Mayors Issues Hunger and Homelessness Survey
A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America’s Cities – A 24-City Survey, December 2005 (105 pages, PDF) Continue Reading
House Judiciary Cmte. Democratic Staff Report Confronts Iraq War Issues
Report prepared by the Minority Staff of the House Judiciary Committee, The Constitution in Crisis; The Downing Street Minutes and Deception, Manipulation, Torture, Retribution, and Coverups in the Iraq War (273 pages, HTML link to Table of Contents) Press release by Rep. John Conyers, Jr. “…the report examines the Bush Administration’s actions in taking us… Continue Reading
Report on Internet Usage and Global Demographics
Jakob Nielsen’s Alertbox, December 19, 2005: “The Internet is growing at an annualized rate of 18% and now has one billion users. A second billion users will follow in the next ten years, bringing a dramatic change in worldwide usability needs…According to Morgan Stanley estimates, 36% of Internet users are now in Asia and 24%… Continue Reading
Yahoo Introduces Time Saving Search Shortcuts
From the Yahoo Search Blog: Open Shortcuts (beta) are custom keywords that take you directly to a site, a search, or start a task right from the search box…To use an Open Shortcut, you type !(exclamation point) followed by the name of the shortcut in the Yahoo! Search box. For example, type: !ebay lamps. This… Continue Reading
FTC Reports on CAN-SPAM Act Effectiveness and Enforcement
Effectiveness and Enforcement of the CAN-SPAM Act: A Federal Trade Commission Report to Congress, December 2005 (116 pages, PDF): “In addition to the analysis of effectiveness and enforcement, the report proposes three steps that could improve the efficacy of the CAN-SPAM Act. First, Congress should enact the US SAFE WEB Act, to improve the FTC’s… Continue Reading
Federal Judge Issues Decision Against Teaching “Intelligent Design”
U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III (M.D. PA), Kitzmiller v. Dover (139 pages, PDF) Kitzmiller, et al v. Dover School District, et al – docket and link to decision AP article, ‘Religious alternative’ to evolution barred from public-school science classes Federal Judge Rules Intelligent Design Unconstitutional Continue Reading
AG, VP Issue Statements on Legal Underpinnings of Electronic Surveillance Program
In following postings on the revelations on the Domestic Surveillance Program, see the text of this Press Briefing by Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and General Michael Hayden, Principal Deputy Director for National Intelligence, December 19, 2005. “The President confirmed the existence of a highly classified program on Saturday. The program remains highly classified; there are… Continue Reading
