Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002

Daily Archives: November 15, 2009

World Wide Web Foundation Launches Global Operations

News release: “World Wide Web Foundation (Web Foundation), a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing the Web to empower people, announced the launch of global operations including the existence of its first projects. Speaking at the 2009 Internet Governance Forum in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, a Web Foundation board member, unveiled the organization’s new partnerships with VU University Amsterdam (VU) in the Netherlands and CDI (Center for Digital Inclusion) based in Brazil. Web Foundation is delighted to announce a partnership with the VU to expedite “re-greening” initiatives throughout the African continent. This new program, Web Alliance for Re-greening in Africa (W4RA), will train and assist local developers to implement and deploy mobile Web- and voice-based platforms to improve communication between agricultural specialists and farmers in Burkina Faso, Mali and other countries.”

  • Related – see also The History of the Internet in a Nutshell
  • ACLU Report – Building American Institutions to Protect Privacy in the Face of New Technology and Government Powers

    “The American Civil Liberties Union today released a new report, Enforcing Privacy: Building American Institutions to Protect Privacy in the Face of New Technology and Government Powers, November 2009, written by Jay Stanley, recommending steps Congress should take to create the vigorous privacy oversight institutions that are desperately needed in the United States to counterbalance… Continue Reading

    Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act Now Law

    Follow up to previous postings on the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act, the New York Times reports: “The most important new antidiscrimination law in two decades — the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act — will take effect in the nation’s workplaces next weekend, prohibiting employers from requesting genetic testing or considering someone’s genetic background in hiring, firing… Continue Reading

    Leaders and Laggards A State-By-State Report Card of Educational Innovation

    “Two years ago, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Center for American Progress, and Frederick M. Hess of the American Enterprise Institute came together to grade the states on school performance. In that first Leaders and Laggards report, we found much to applaud but even more that requires urgent improvement. In this follow-up report, we… Continue Reading

    Terrorism Information Sharing and the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Report Initiative: Background and Issues for Congress

    CRS Report R40901 – Terrorism Information Sharing and the Nationwide Suspicious Activity Report Initiative: Background and Issues for Congress, November 05, 2009 “The 2004 National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States (the 9/11 Commission) cited breakdowns in information sharing and the failure to fuse pertinent intelligence (i.e., “connecting the dots”) as key factors… Continue Reading

    Pakistan, Nuclear Weapons, Extemists and Ameican Security

    Defending the Arsenal – In an unstable Pakistan, can nuclear warheads be kept safe? by Seymour M. Hersh “Pakistan has been a nuclear power for two decades, and has an estimated eighty to a hundred warheads, scattered in facilities around the country…[the Obama] Administration has been negotiating highly sensitive understandings with the Pakistani military. These… Continue Reading

    100 Milestone Documents From National Archives and Records Administration

    100 Milestone Documents – “The following is a list of 100 milestone documents, compiled by the National Archives and Records Administration, and drawn primarily from its nationwide holdings. The documents chronicle United States history from 1776 to 1965.” “The list begins with the Lee Resolution of June 7, 1776, a simple document resolving that the… Continue Reading