News release: “State attorneys general received thousands of consumer complaints of online fraud and abuse in 2006 and 2007 and yet, with the exception of several notable standouts, brought few significant cases in response, according to a report released today from the Center for American Progress and the Center for Democracy and Technology, Online Consumers at Risk and the Role of State Attorneys General.”
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Daily Archives: August 12, 2008
New GAO Report: Tax Administration: Comparison of the Reported Tax Liabilities of Foreign- and U.S.-Controlled Corporations
Tax Administration: Comparison of the Reported Tax Liabilities of Foreign- and U.S.-Controlled Corporations, 1998-2005, GAO-08-957, July 24, 2008. “Concerns about transfer pricing abuse have led researchers to compare the tax liabilities of foreign- and U.S.-controlled corporations. (Transfer prices are the prices related companies charge on intercompany transactions.) However, such comparisons are complicated because other factors… Continue Reading
DHS OIG: A Review of the World Trade Center Captive Insurance Company
OIG-08-21 – A Review of the World Trade Center Captive Insurance Company (PDF, 53 pages) New 08/12/2008. “Due to the risks assumed by the city and its contractors working without commercial insurance coverage, Public Law 108-7 directed FEMA to provide up to $1 billion to create an insurance company. New York City, with funding from… Continue Reading
EIA: OPEC Revenues Fact Sheet and Short-Term Energy Outlook August 2008
OPEC Revenues Fact Sheet (08/12/2008): “EIA estimates that members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) earned $671 billion in net oil export revenues in 2007, a 10 percent increase from 2006. Saudi Arabia earned the largest share of these earnings, $194 billion, representing 29 percent of total OPEC revenues. On a per-capita… Continue Reading
Interactive Food & Beverage Marketing: Targeting Children and Youth in the Digital Age
“The Proliferation of the media in children’s lives has created a new “marketing ecosystem” that encompasses cell phones, mobile music devices, instant messaging, videogames, and virtual three-dimensional worlds. This report by Jeff Chester from the Center for Digital Democracy and Kathryn Montgomery from American University describes new marketing practices that are fundamentally transforming how food… Continue Reading
CBO: Contractors' Support of U.S. Operations in Iraq
Congressional Budget Office: Contractors’ Support of U.S. Operations in Iraq, August 2008. “From 2003 through 2007, U.S. agencies awarded $85 billion in contracts for work to be principally performed in the Iraq theater, accounting for almost 20 percent of funding for operations in Iraq. (Dollar amounts in this paper are in 2008 dollars.) More than… Continue Reading
Google Reports Virus Email Activity At All Time High In July 2008
Official Google Enterprise Blog: “In July, our Postini datacenters saw the biggest volume of email virus attacks so far in 2008, with a peak of nearly 10 million messages on July 24. One of the more prominent attacks in the month involved a spoofed UPS package-tracking link that was intended to lure recipients into clicking… Continue Reading
National Wildlife Federation: Proposed regulations would gut protections for Americas imperiled wildlife
News release: “The Bush Administration plans to rollback protections for Americas imperiled wildlife by re-writing the regulations of the Endangered Species Act. According to leaked documents obtained by the National Wildlife Federation, the proposed changes would weaken the safety net of habitat protections that have helped protect and recover endangered fish, wildlife and plants for… Continue Reading
Recent CRS Reports: Intel Reform at DOE, U.S. Secret Service, U.S. Nuclear Cooperation With India
Via FAS: Intelligence Reform at the Department of Energy: Policy Issues and Organizational Alternatives, July 28, 2008 The U.S. Secret Service: An Examination and Analysis of Its Evolving Missions, July 31, 2008 U.S. Nuclear Cooperation With India: Issues for Congress, updated July 30, 2008 Financing Issues and Economic Effects of American Wars, updated July 29,… Continue Reading
