Uniform Electronic Legal Material Act Drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform Law – approved and recommended for enactment, July 18, 2011 “A new act approved [July 12, 2011] by a national law group establishes an outcomes-based, technology-neutral framework for providing online legal material with the same level of trustworthiness traditionally provided by… Continue Reading
Accurate, Focused Research on Law, Technology and Knowledge Discovery Since 2002
Monthly Archives: July 2011
FTC Returns Nearly $108M to 450,000 Homeowners Overcharged by Countrywide for Loan Servicing Fees
News release: “The Federal Trade Commission is mailing 450,177 refund checks worth almost $108 million to homeowners who were allegedly overcharged by Countrywide Home Loans, Inc. As part of the FTCs efforts to protect financially distressed homeowners, the FTC reached a settlement with Countrywide last year over allegations that the company collected excessive fees from… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports: IRS Oversight Process, USDA Systems Modernization
Investment Management – IRS Has a Strong Oversight Process but Needs to Improve How It Continues Funding Ongoing Investments, GAO-11-587, July 20, 2011 USDA Systems Modernization, Management and Oversight Improvements Are Needed, GAO-11-586, July 20, 2011 Continue Reading
Canadian Monetary Policy Report – July 2011
Bank of Canada, Monetary Policy Report – July 2011: “A quarterly report of the Bank of Canadas Governing Council, presenting the Banks base-case projection for inflation and growth in the Canadian economy, and its assessment of risks. The Canadian economy is projected to expand by 2.8 per cent in 2011, 2.6 per cent in 2012,… Continue Reading
Office of Thrift Supervision Integration; Dodd-Frank Act Implementation
“The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) is adopting amendments to its regulations governing organization and functions, availability and release of information, post-employment restrictions for senior examiners, and assessment of fees to incorporate the transfer of certain functions of the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) to the OCC pursuant to Title III of… Continue Reading
The Spillover Report and Selected Issues on China
PEOPLE’S REPUBLIC OF CHINA SPILLOVER REPORT FOR THE 2011 ARTICLE IV CONSULTATION AND SELECTED ISSUES “Issues. Spillover reports explore the external effects of policies in systemic economies, focusing on issues raised by key partners. In the case of China, these partners saw benefits from its growth, especially during the crisis, but were also concerned to… Continue Reading
NYT: U.S. to Close 800 Computer Data Centers
NYT: “The federal government plans to shut 40 percent of its computer centers over the next four years to reduce its hefty technology budget and modernize the way it uses computers to manage data and provide services to citizens. Vivek Kundra, chief information officer for the government, said cloud computing could save the country billions… Continue Reading
Somalia: In the line of fire – Somalias children under attack
In the line of fire – Somalias children under attack, Amnesty international, July 2011 “South and Central Somalia1 has been the scene of armed conflict since the collapse of Siad Barres government twenty years ago. Children born in 1991 in this part of Somalia and who are entering their 20th year have never known respect… Continue Reading
BEA Survey of Current Business July 2011
GDP and the Economy: Third Estimates for the First Quarter of 2011 – Real GDP rose 1.9 percent after rising 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2010. Imports turned up, consumer spending and nonresidential investment slowed, and federal government spending decreased more. Real Inventories, Sales, and Inventory-Sales Ratios for Manufacturing and Trade for the… Continue Reading
Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips
Google Effects on Memory: Cognitive Consequences of Having Information at Our Fingertips – Betsy Sparrow, Jenny Liu, Daniel M. Wegner. Science DOI: 10.1126/science.1207745, Published Online 14 July 2011. See also Google’s Effects on Memory, PBS NewsHour via YouTube. “The advent of the Internet, with sophisticated algorithmic search engines, has made accessing information as easy as… Continue Reading
The Cost Structure of the Postal Service: Facts, Trends, and Policy Implications
The Cost Structure of the Postal Service: Facts, Trends, and Policy Implications, “a recently released white paper by the OIGs Risk Analysis Research Center, examines significant trends and cost drivers for the major cost categories of the U.S. Postal Service, which include labor, non-labor and capital. The paper also presents insights with implications for the… Continue Reading
New GAO Reports: Bankruptcy, Mortgage Reform, Pakistan Assistance,
Bankruptcy – Complex Financial Institutions and International Coordination Pose Challenges, GAO-11-707, July 19, 2011 Mortgage Reform – Potential Impacts of Provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act on Homebuyers and the Mortgage Market, GAO-11-656, July 19, 2011 Pakistan Assistance – Relatively Little of the $3 Billion in Requested Assistance Is Subject to State’s Certification of Pakistan’s Progress… Continue Reading
