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

Daily Archives: October 4, 2011

Report Release: Account Deactivation and Content Removal: Guiding Principles and Practices for Companies and Users

Account Deactivation and Content Removal: Guiding Principles and Practices for Companies and Users by Erica Newland, Caroline Nolan, Cynthia Wong, and Jillian York.

  • “This report explores these dilemmas, and recommends principles, strategies, and tools that both user-generated content (UGC) platforms and users can adopt to mitigate the negative effects of account deactivation and content removal. We use select examples to highlight good company practices, including efforts to balance complex and often competing considerations—the enforcement of site guidelines, responses to government pressure, the free expression and privacy rights of users, and the potential risks faced by activists—in consistent, transparent, and accountable ways. Importantly, this report does not put forth a one-size-fits-all solution for the complex set of challenges raised by Terms of Use (ToU) enforcement. Platforms vary in terms of history, mission, content hosted, size, and user base, and no single set of practices will be an appropriate fit in every case. Moreover, while the examples in this report focus on platforms that host social media, the recommendations are broadly applicable to companies that host different types of user-generated content.”
  • New GAO Reports: Coast Guard Deepwater Program,

    Coast Guard: Action Needed as Approved Deepwater Program Remains Unachievable, GAO-12-101T, Oct 4, 2011 Federal Reserve System: Opportunities Exist to Strengthen Policies and Processes for Managing Emergency Assistance, GAO-12-122T, Oct 4, 2011 Medicare Part D: Instances of Questionable Access to Prescription Drugs, GAO-12-104T, Oct 4, 2011 Medicare Part D: Instances of Questionable Access to Prescription… Continue Reading

    CDC report shows about 112 million annual incidents of people drinking and driving

    News release: “Adults drank too much and got behind the wheel about 112 million times in 2010—that is almost 300,000 incidents of drinking and driving each day—according to a CDC Vital Signs study released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The four million adults who drink and drive each year put everyone… Continue Reading

    Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2012

    Statistical Abstract of the United States: 2012 “This annual factbook contains more than 1,400 tables of social, political and economic facts about our nation and the world. Among the broad topics covered are marriage and divorce, health, education, law enforcement, national security, social insurance, business, science and technology, agriculture, natural resources, energy, information and communications,… Continue Reading

    Account Deactivation and Content Removal: Guiding Principles and Practices for Companies and Users

    Account Deactivation and Content Removal: Guiding Principles and Practices for Companies and Users, Erica Newland, Caroline Nolan, Cynthia Wong, and Jillian York. The Berkman Center for Internet & Society and. The Center for Democracy & Technology, September 2011 “This report explores these dilemmas, and recommends principles, strategies, and tools that both user-generated content (UGC) platforms… Continue Reading

    London Review of Books: It [Google] Knows

    Daniel Soar: “This spring, the billionaire Eric Schmidt announced that there were only four really significant technology companies: Apple, Amazon, Facebook and Google, the company he had until recently been running. People believed him. What distinguished his new ‘gang of four’ from the generation it had superseded – companies like Intel, Microsoft, Dell and Cisco,… Continue Reading

    A Four-Step Reference Guide to Recruiting, Hiring, & Retaining Employees with Disabilities

    October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month A Four-Step Reference Guide to Recruiting, Hiring, & Retaining Employees with Disabilities: “Resourceful and flexible, people with disabilities make excellent employees. But not all employers know how to recruit, hire and retain them. This quick reference guide outlines the advantages of hiring people with disabilities and gives four… Continue Reading

    European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers (Eurodoc)

    “EURODOC is the only European organisation to have successfully realised a large scale, pan-European survey on the situation of doctoral candidates and young researchers, in cooperation with the centre for Higher Education of Kassel. The questionnaire was launched on 9 December 2008, and stayed online until 30 April 2009. The data analysis and evaluation were… Continue Reading

    Pew: Fighting Poverty in a Bad Economy, Americans Move in with Relatives

    Fighting Poverty in a Bad Economy, Americans Move in with Relatives, By Rakesh Kochhar and D’Vera Cohn. October 3, 2011 “Without public debate or fanfare, large numbers of Americans enacted their own anti-poverty program in the depths of the Great Recession: They moved in with relatives. This helped fuel the largest increase in the number… Continue Reading