CRS – ACA: A Brief Overview of the Law, Implementation, and Legal Challenges, July 3, 2012 “On June 28, 2012, the Supreme Court issued its decision in National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, finding that the individual mandate is a constitutional exercise of Congresss authority to levy taxes. However, the Court held that it… Continue Reading
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Monthly Archives: July 2012
CRS Report – Foreign Holdings of Federal Debt
Foreign Holdings of Federal Debt – Justin Murray, Information Research Specialist and Marc Labonte, Specialist in Macroeconomic Policy. July 3, 2012 “Foreign ownership of federal debt has become a growing concern among some Members of Congress because of the nations large and rising trade deficit. During the past three decades, U.S. national saving has not… Continue Reading
The Development of High Speed Rail in the United States: Issues and Recent Events
CRS – The Development of High Speed Rail in the United States: Issues and Recent Events, June 28, 2012 “The provision of $8 billion for intercity passenger rail projects in the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA; P.L. 111-5) reinvigorated efforts to expand intercity passenger rail transportation in the United States. The Obama Administration… Continue Reading
CRS – Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions
Federal Laws Relating to Cybersecurity: Discussion of Proposed Revisions. Eric A. Fischer, Senior Specialist in Science and Technology, June 29, 2012 “For more than a decade, various experts have expressed increasing concerns about cybersecurity, in light of the growing frequency, impact, and sophistication of attacks on information systems in the United States and abroad. Consensus… Continue Reading
FAS posts CRS Reports on FDA Approval Processes for Drugs and Devices
How FDA Approves Drugs and Regulates Their Safety and Effectiveness, Susan Thaul, Specialist in Drug Safety and Effectiveness – June 25, 2012 FDAs Authority to Ensure That Drugs Prescribed to Children Are Safe and Effective, Susan Thaul – Specialist in Drug Safety and Effectiveness, June 25, 2012 FDA Regulation of Medical Devices, Judith A. Johnson,… Continue Reading
USTR Introduces New Copyright Exceptions and Limitations Provision at San Diego TPP Talks
“For the first time in any U.S. trade agreement, the United States is proposing a new provision, consistent with the internationally-recognized 3-step test,” that will obligate Parties to seek to achieve an appropriate balance in their copyright systems in providing copyright exceptions and limitations for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and… Continue Reading
Specific Risk Factors in the Laundering of Proceeds of Corruption – Assistance to reporting institutions
Via the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), an inter-governmental body: “The report Specific Risk Factors in the Laundering of Proceeds of Corruption [June 2012] was written to assist reporting institutions to better analyse and better understand specific risk factors that may assist them in identifying situations posing a heightened risk of corruption-related money laundering risk.… Continue Reading
Paper – Measuring the Cost of Cybercrime
Via the 11th Annual Workshop on the Economics of Information Security – Measuring the Cost of Cybercrime – Ross Anderson, Chris Barton, Rainer Rainer Bohme, Richard Clayton, Michel J.G. van Eeten, Michael Levi, Tyler Moore, Stefan Savage “In this paper we present what we believe to be the rst systematic study of the costs of… Continue Reading
CRS – Chinas Economic Conditions
Chinas Economic Conditions, Wayne M. Morrison, Specialist in Asian Trade and Finance, June 26, 2012 “Some economic forecasters project that China will overtake the United States as the worlds largest economy within a few years, although U.S. per capita GDP levels are expected to remain much larger than that of China for many years to… Continue Reading
DARPA Fog Computing Leak Prevention Software Design Report
Via public intelligence: “The following design document was produced by Allure Security and sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). It describes a system for preventing leaks by seeding believable disinformation in military information systems to help identify individuals attempting to access and disseminate classified information. For more information on the document, see… Continue Reading
Twitter Transparency Report
“Wednesday marks Independence Day here in the United States. Beyond the fireworks and barbecue, July 4th serves as an important reminder of the need to hold governments accountable, especially on behalf of those who may not have a chance to do so themselves. With that in mind, today were unveiling our first Twitter Transparency Report.… Continue Reading
Federal Reserve releases public section of resolution plans filed by the first group of largest banking organizations
Resolution Plans [links to each plan are available at this link] “The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires that bank holding companies with total consolidated assets of $50 billion or more and nonbank financial companies designated by the Financial Stability Oversight Council for supervision by the Federal Reserve submit resolution plans annually… Continue Reading
