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Daily Archives: February 22, 2010

GPO and Cornell University Law School Open Government Initiative Project

News release: “The U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) and Cornell University Law School are beginning a year long pilot project to evaluate a conversion process of The Code of Federal Regulations(CFR) in XML (extensible markup language) format. The CFR is the codification of the general and permanent rules published in the Federal Register by the executive departments and agencies of the federal government. The Cornell Legal Information Institute will convert various titles into XML and place them on the university’s Web site for students to research. GPO and Cornell will apply lessons learned from this pilot project and share the information with members of the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) to find ways of providing the public openness to government documents…GPO recently announced the conversion of the CFR into XML and placed online at GPO’s Federal Digital System and the Government’s site for Government data. Initially the CFR’s from 2007 to present are available and those dating back to 2000 will be added over the next few months. This project and the Cornell pilot are part of the on going effort to meet President Barack Obama’s challenge to Federal agencies to create a more open and transparent Government. GPO’s Federal Digital System (FDsys), a world-class information management system for Federal publications, is instrumental in enabling this enhanced capability for the CFR.”

New GAO Reports: 2010 Census, Support for Low-Income Individuals and Families, FDA and OPM Recruitment

2010 Census: Operational Changes Made for 2010 Position the U.S. Census Bureau to More Accurately Classify and Identify Group Quarters, GAO-10-452T, February 22, 2010 Support for Low-Income Individuals and Families: A Review of Recent GAO Work, GAO-10-342R, February 22, 2010 Border Security: Better Usage of Electronic Passport Security Features Could Improve Fraud Detection, GAO-10-96, January… Continue Reading

House Energy and Commerce Committee Send Letters to Secretary LaHood and President of Toyota USA Prior to Hearing

Follow up to previous documents on Toyota recall, today News release [note – this release contains linsk to over two dozen related documents]: “Chairman Henry A. Waxman and Subcommittee Chairman Bart Stupak wrote to James E. Lentz, President and Chief Operating Officer of Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A. and Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood in… Continue Reading

New York District Court Releases Opinion and Order in SEC vs. Bank of America

Follow on to SEC Charges Bank of America for Failing to Disclose Merrill Lynch Bonus Payments, see the Opinion and Order in SEC v. Bank of America, Issued by the District Court for the Southern District of New York, February 22, 2010. “So should the Court approve the proposed settlement as being fair, reasonable, adequate,… Continue Reading

Google Book Search Legal Saga Continues in NY District Court

Follow up to postings on Google Book Search resources and related litigation, the latest news from The Laboratorium – GBS: Fairness Hearing Report [held February 18, 2010, U.s. District Court, Southern District of New York], with Part I here and Part II here. These report cover the arguments of settlement supporters and opponents; and the… Continue Reading

Baucus, Grassley Release Finance Committee Report on Diabetes Drug Avandia,

News release: “Senator Max Baucus, Chairman of the Committee on Finance, and Senator Chuck Grassley, Ranking Member, today released a committee report based on a two year inquiry of the diabetes drug Avandia. The senators also asked the Food and Drug Administration to describe what steps the agency has taken to protect patients in an… Continue Reading

EPA Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

News release: “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa P. Jackson has released an action plan to guide the Obama Administration’s historic efforts to restore the Great Lakes. The action plan, which the administrator unveiled at a Sunday meeting with governors from the Great Lakes states, lays out the most urgent threats facing the Great Lakes… Continue Reading

The Detection and Deterrence of Mortgage Fraud Against Financial Institutions: A White Paper

The Detection and Deterrence of Mortgage Fraud Against Financial Institutions: A White Paper, Produced by the July 13 – 24, 2009 FFIEC Fraud Investigations Symposium. “This White Paper is intended to raise the awareness of and assist examiners in identifying various mortgage fraud schemes perpetrated against financial institutions. The White Paper also provides best practices… Continue Reading