Just how well do Fortune 500 companies measure up in regard to online customer support? According to the 2002 Online Customer Respect Study of Fortune 100 Companies, undertaken by CustomerRespect.com, 37% of customers never received any response, and 41% received a response after more than three days. It would appear that big companies still do not understand the value and importance of e-mail in customer transactions.
The Table of Contents for the 430 page report, and details about the metrics used, in addition to purchase information, is available here.
Web site privacy issues have received their share of press recently, accompanied by proposals to facilitate a greater sense of security for users concerning the collection and distribution of their personal data. However, there has been little in the way of associated follow-through in this area, on either the part of large, mainstream e-commerce sites or small independent ones.
ZDNet reviews the status of a privacy solution called the Platform for Privacy Preferences (P3P), created by the World Wide Web Consortium. Once thought to be a viable application that will allow web site users to ascertain and opt-in or out of personal data collection, interest in and adoption of P3P has remained stagnant.
Further undermining the further implementation of P3P is this report from EPIC released on November 1, "Why is P3P Not a PET?". EPIC clearly enumerates the qualifications of privacy enhancing technologies (PETs) protocals and why P3P fails to protect personal data mining.
The Free Expression Project, founded in 2000, is sustained by grants from a diverse group of backers that include the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts and the Rockefeller Foundation. The organization advocates in court, through the publication of reports and surveys, and by the sponsorship of conferences, for an end to restrictions of expression on publicaly funded organizations such as libraries, museum, and universities.
Enterprise solution company Intentia filed criminal charges with the Swedish Criminal Investigation Department against Reuters on Monday, October 28 after posting this announcement on their site on October 26.
According to this Wired article, Intentia claims that an unauthorized entry into their server occurred during which time a Reuters news reporter obtained access to the company's current corporate information report, for which a link had yet to be provided on their public website.
ZDNet Australia reports that Reuters contends there was no theft or malicious act, but rather that their reporter obtained the information from Intentia's web site by guessing the correct url for the document.
Professor David Favre of Michigan State University-Detroit College of Law College of Law, has launched a new, informative web site on animal law, Animal Law & History Web Center, that is still under development, with plans to extend content to include U.S. and global resources.
Currently the site is providing access to 100 state, federal and UK cases and 120 statutes, searchable by topics, subjects and species, via drop-down menus. Also available are links to the full-text of the following laws: from Brazil - Environmental Crimes Law; from Malawi - National Parks and Wildlife Law; from Poland - Animal Protection Act; and from Taiwan - Animal Protection Law.
The Memory Hole reports that a group of 12 members of Congress, lead by California Rep. Henry Waxman sent a letter to HHS Secretary Thomson expressing concern over the removal of data from HHS web sites. Specifically, content removed included, "scientific information related to abortion and HIV prevention, appointment of scientific experts based on ideology or ties to industry, and discriminatory audits of HIV prevention groups that do not agree with the Administration's "abstinence only" policy."
E-government initiatives that serve citizens and businesses alike are gaining in popularity as localities realize more efficiency and cost savings via online solutions. BusinessWeek described a number of such efforts in this article. There is also mention of BusinessLaw.gov, an excellent example of an e-gov site that provides a wealth of easy to use content and tools on establishing a small business.
The Streamlined Sales Tax Project is alive and well according to this article in the Denver Post. With states running huge deficits, as many as 29 of them are considering supporting the initiative when it comes to a vote on November 13. Check-out the chart at the end of the article that shows the state-by-state projected loss of sales tax revenue from e-commerce in 2006.
Senator Jesse Helms stopped the vote on the compromise webcasting agreement which had passed the House and seemed very likely to pass the Senate. Opposing reasons for his action are mentioned in this Raleigh-based News & Observer article. Either he was trying to protect the webcasters by negotiating even lower rates for them, or he is working on behalf of religious broadcasters who oppose the bill. It certainly can't be both!
See some of my previous posting on this issue here, here, and here.
A dispute over unpaid bills for an e-mail account from a Canadian subsidiary of a U.S. ISP has resulted in a law suit in federal court in Canada. Nancy Carter's e-mail was held hostage in lieu of payment, disrupting her professional life.
The GAO today released their report, Employee Privacy: Computer-Use Monitoring Practices and Policies of Selected Companies.
Balancing the employee's right to privacy and the employer's right to protect their organization against inappropriate use of PCs were key factors in this investigation. Information for the report was gathered through interviews and surveys completed by 14 of the Fortune 1000 companies, and includes data on computer use policies, monitoring policies, and disciplinary actions taken against employees.
E-mail is a ubiquitous and essential business tool. Consultant Robert Eisenberg reviews the reasons why all companies should implement an e-mail management system not only for the sake of efficiency, but also for its defensive and preventative applications.
See also this ABCNews.com article, The Trouble With E-Mail, which reviews recent cases in which e-mail played an important role, as well as providing basic advise on using workplace e-mail safely.
Rep. Adam Smith is a strong advocate for tech giant Microsoft, one of his principal campaign contributors. Post 9/11 however, there has been a growing movement in Congress to use open source software such as Linux for cybersecurity related agency applications. Rep. Smith is quoted in this article as stating that such software is "problematic and threaten(s) to undermine innovation and security."
ICANN has published the text of their agreement for administration of the .org Top Level Domain by The Internet Society (ISOC). According to internet.com, the ISOC claimed they established a separate entity, the Public Interest Registry (PIR), to "carry out the registry functions." A FAQ on the PIR is available here.
The CyberJournalist.net published the results of the Nielsen/NetRatings September 2002 survey of top news sites. CNN, MSNBC and Yahoo topped the list.
Senator Jon Kyl (R., Ariz.), Rep. Christopher Cox (R., Calif.), and Rep. Tom Lantos (D., Calif.) authored this commentary on China's censorship of their citizen's access to the Internet. Cox and Lantos, co-sponsors of the Global Internet Freedom bill, want to focus attention on how China is blocking access to a wide range of content sites, which include the New York Times and Washington Post. China has also attempted to block access to search engines Google, Yahoo and AltaVista.
To read about other efforts on behalf of Chinese Web users, in this case by computer techies, see Guerrilla Warfare, Waged With Code.
See also Replacement of Google with Alternative Search Systems in China Documentation and Screen Shots, last updated 9/24/02.
The highly controversial P2P hacking bill, H.R.5211, introduced by Rep. Howard Berman, will apparently be subject to major revisions according to this ZDNet article.
The bill would have allowed copyright holders access to the PCs of individuals suspected of software piracy. For additional background, see Rep. Berman's press release on the bill from July 25, 2002.
Formerly the UK Information Commissioner, Elizabeth France is now the "UK's first telecommunications ombudsman." She will be a forceful advocate on behalf of individual's whose personal data has been disseminated without their knowledge or permission. Some background on the role of the ombudsman is here.
This BBC commentary by Bill Thompson reviews the much discussed actions of search engine giant Google who has exluded content from their German and French search results. Content that is no longer available originates in what be called hate sites that are actually banned in these countries. See this excellent report, Localized Google search result exclusions, for details.
The FBI, via its National Infrastructure Protection Center, is investigating the DoS attack on the Internet that occurred October 21 (see my previous posting, http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/000375.html).
A joint "outreach letter" from the associations representing the motion picture, music and songwriters groups was sent to the Presidents/CEOs of Fortune 1000 companies. Similar to the "polite" warning sent to college and university presidents (see my previous posting at http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/000292.html), this letter warns that there is extensive music and video piracy in the corporate environment which must be addressed.
Advocacy groups the ACLU, EPIC, the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression and the Freedom to Read Foundation have sued the DOJ under FOIA in an effort to obtain documents related to the implementation of the Patriot Act that involve libraries, bookstores and newspapers.
According to the Chicago Sun Times, Adobe will offer by year's end a server based solution for government and corporate clients that will allow the use of digital signatures on PDF documents.
See this informative Financial Times article for a perspectives on US and EU copyright laws provided by Prof. Lawrence Lessig of Stanford Law School, Thomas Hazlett, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research, law professor Richard A. Epstein, University of Chicago, Edward Welbourne, and Frank Walker, chief executive of the Newspaper Licensing Agency Limited.
Iwon.com has responded swiftly to a 10/22/2002 report by TechTV.com documenting iWon's use of a malicious spyware program users were encouraged to downloaded as part of a promotional effort to win money. Not only was the use of this software in violation of iWon's own stated privacy policy, it has proved to be almost impossible to remove from user's hard drives. TechTV reported today that iWon has installed a new version of the software in question that will not report user data.
Many news outlets reported what was described as an historic denial of service attack(DoS) that began on Monday, and lasted about an hour. Reports vary, but at least 9 of the 13 root servers were affected. See the Washington Post coverage here, and CNN's coverage here.
The E-Government Act of 2002 would establish the position of Federal Chief Information Officer within the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), and with an agenda to further development in the delivery of government services to citizens via web sites. The Senate has passed their version of the bill (S. 803), and the House verion (H.R. 2458) still awaits passage.
See this analysis of the Senate bill from the American Library Association's Government Roundtable.
The trusted computing model is advocated by an alliance of technology heavyweights - Compaq, HP, IBM, Intel and Microsoft, and involves issues such as privacy, digital rights management, and the marginalization of open source software.
The implementation of increasingly complex proprietary encryption programs automatically installed on PCs via software applications and required upgrades has resulted in diminishing user control over computers. See this article,
Who controls your computer? by Richard Stallman, for a well documented review of the legal consequences of this evolving technology.
There are hidden consequences to downloading freeware programs from web sites. The cost of free software is often an agreement to be subjected to a constant barrage of pop-up ads. However, there is a higher price that may be involved - spyware programs that often tag along in download process. Once activated, spyware programs can result in the continual profiling of your web usage, as well as the dissemination and sale of your personal data.
Consumer Web Watch has an informative article on spyware, advice on how to remove such programs from your hard drive, and recommendations on ad blocking sofware.
See also my related posting on iwon.com's use of spyware.
The ABA has published a new book focused on protecting companies from claims associated with employee use of e-mail and the Web. The book is titled
Employee Use of the Internet and E-Mail: A Model Corporate Policy With Commentary on Its Use in the U.S. and Other Countries. See the press release here.
The International Association of Privacy Officers (IAPO) has posted a PowerPoint presentation by attorney F. Lisa Murtha, titled "Privacy Law in Brief." It is useful outline on the topic.
The text of the order granting motion to dismiss from the U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida, in Access Now Inc., v. Southwest Airlines is available in PDF here. Judge Patricia Seitz determined that Title III (Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Disability by Public Accomodation in Commercial Facilitites) of the American's With Disabilities Act does not apply to Southwest Airline's website, www.southwest.com, as it is not a "place of public accomodation."
This Chronicle of Higher Education article profiles this shy man whose love of the great books and his fight to make them freely available on the web has resulted in a national focus on the Supreme Court case that bears his name.
Consumers have indicated that they doubt the safety of online credit card transactions, a fear that is borne out by the $1 billion in merchant loses per year. The New York Times reports that a group of large, high profile merchants have joined together to create a database to fight credit card fraud.
The House Judiciary Committee released the text of the DOJ's 28 answers from a total of 50 questions submitted by Representatives Conyers and Sensenbrenner concerning privacy, surveillance and data collection issues associated with the implementation of the Patriot Act. Many of the answers however remain classified.
The ACLU is certainly not satisfied with the answers, and has responded by launching a media campaign. Rep. Sensenbrenner on the other hand, stated, "I am satisfied that the Department of Justice has produced answers that are sufficient for the Committee’s oversight and legislative efforts at this time. These responses provide basic information regarding implementation of the USA-PATRIOT Act (“Act”) that will permit the Committee to understand how it is working in practice and to continue oversight of the use of these new authorities in the future." His press release is here.
The California Office of Privacy Protection, opened in November 2001, is lauded as tops among all the states in country by the Privacy Journal, published monthly in hard copy. This is according to an article from SignOnSanDiego.comarticle.
The National Academies of Sciences have issued a statement on Science and Security in an Age of Terrorism. They are seeking to maintain a "balance between scientific openness and restrictions on public information." The group also references further information in the form of the "Background Paper on Science and Security in an Age of Terrorism."
Via R.R. Donnelley Financial's RealCorporateLawyer.com, you will find the text of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and links on the subject to general memos written by several dozen of the top law firms in the country.
Although the Senate adjourned without voting on H.R. 5469, the compromise crafted by the House between webcasters and broadcasters, the Washington Post is reporting that an interim deal has been worked out. SoundExchange, an organization that represents hundreds of large and small recording labels by licensing, collecting and distributing copyright fees, has announced a temporary payment plan: "by October 21st, these eligible small webcasters may instead pay only the $500 annual minimum fee set by the Librarian of Congress for each year or portion thereof they have been in operation since 1998 (a maximum of $2500) until this Congress has had the opportunity to act on the pending legislation."
The Australian Office of the Privacy Commissioner provides links to the country's Federal Privacy Law, links to other government sponsored privacy sites, and resources on how to protect your privacy online and while using e-mail.
Copyright fees go into effect on October 19 for all webcasters streaming music to listeners. See this article.
A bi-partisan, bi-cameral resolution (S.J. Res. 51), sponsored by Rep. Cox (R-CA) and Senator Wyden (D-OR), calls for a Consumer Technology Bill of Rights. The sponsors seek changes to current copyright law for consumers who have legitimately purchased CDs, DVDs, e-books and subscriptions to satellite TV broadcasts. Such consumers should have the right to record or copy digital content for their own use/viewing at a future date.
RAIN: Radio and Internet Newsletter reports that the Small Webcaster Amendments Act of 2002 (a.k.a. H.R. 5469), which would have provided webcasters a "percentage of revenue" option to the "per-performance" rate determined by the Librarian of Congress, failed to reach the Senate floor on the final day of the Congressional session -- reportedly the victim of a "hold" by North Carolina Republican Senator Jesse Helms.
See also this Blogcritics.com post that provides details of the pros and cons of the agreement and the behind the scenes maneuvering by certain Senators to stall its passage.
Bret A. Fausett, Partner, Los Angeles Hancock, Rothert & Bunshoft, has published an article on deep linking in New Architect Magazine.
A posting on the Tech Law Advisor blog by Kevin J. Heller, Esq. expands on Bret's views.
The Supreme Court transcript in Eric Eldred, et al., Petitioners
v. John D. Ashcroft, Attorney General, No. 01-618 October 9, 2002, Wednesday, Washington, D.C., was posted here.
GPS technology in cell phones from a growing number of providers facilitate the real-time tracking of individuals, be it for emergency situations, or simply to play "big brother." See this Mercury News article for more information.
More homeland security related legislation is in the spotlight, with the passage of H.R.3394 , the Cyber Security Research and Development Act. The focus of the programs included in the legislation are grants by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NTIS to support research to protect government and corporate computer systems from terrorist attacks. See this House Committee on Science press releasefor more information.
The 8th Circuit is considering an appeal in United States v. Dale Robert Bach, No. 02-1238). D.C. based Steptoe & Johnson posted a copy of the Memorandum and Order, United States v. Dale Robert Bach, Crim. File No. 01-221 (PAM/ESS), United States District Court for the District of Minnesota on their site.
Publicly Available Personal Information and Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act was commissioned by the government agency Industry Canada. This 59 page PDF documents the controversy over expanding efforts by the private sector to collect and disseminate personal data via the Web, as well as the availability of such data from court records and government databases. Part 3 of the study reviews how the U.S., the EU, New Zealand and Australia are confronting this issue.
For reference, please see Canada's Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, whose implementation began in 2001 and will be completed in 2004.
The USA Today reports that the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) has not been properly implemented on two important fronts: the U.S. borders where the installation of scanners is overdue and in terms of training personnel at the institutions tasked with monitoring non-immigrant students.
The Department of Energy's CIO issued this report, E-Government Strategic Action Plan, A Roadmap for Delivering Services, which was digitally signed by Spencer Abraham, Sec. of Energy. The DOE is pioneering the use of digital signatures to facilitate the dissemination of official documents electronically, saving printing costs. The technology used is from Adobe Systems and Entrust CygnaCom.
This statement by Laura W. Murphy, Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office, details the organization's new $3.5 million "Safe and Free Campaign" to keep attention focused on post 9/11 privacy and security measures that threaten individual freedoms.
See the ICANN annnouncement indicating the choice of theInternet Society to operate the huge .org top level domain (TLD). The decision has stirred controversy according to an internet.com article, Will Big Business Dictate Public Interest?
Declan McCullagh reports that the Director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office, James E. Rogan, stated in an October 15 lecture at the Heritage Foundation that the tide has turned on the high acceptance rate for patent applications. Previously, 65-70% of applications were granted, and now that same percentage are rejected.
The lecture was titled "Reaffirming Intellectual Property Rights in an Information Age," but it appears that the text was not made available online either by the Heritage Foundation or by the USPTO.
OMB Watch is reporting on government web site scrubbing in a follow-up on this issue that was highlighted in a 9/18/02 article by Education Week.
Federal government web sites are updated regularly, but the sites of Senators running for re-election cannot be updated within 60 days of a primary or the election according to U.S. Senate Internet Services Usage Rules and Policies. Consequently, a tool acknowledged to be a key asset in maintaining effective communication with consitutents is off-limits. See this Washington Post article and this USA Today article on the issue.
"The State of eCommerce 2002: Beyond the Bubble, Beware the Barriers" is a new report by Netchoice.org, a coalition of businesses that promote e-commerce. The organization also issued an accompanying fact sheet summarizing the report's conclusions. Although online retail sales continue to grow, and high profile companies such as eBay and Amazon are generating profits, barriers in the form of state laws are viewed as significant impediments.
According to this USA Today article, the National Religious Broadcasters and the National Association Broadcasters are not pleased with the webcasting royalty rate compromise reached by the House, which may derail its chances for passage by the Senate.
Legislation (H.R. 4561) that would require federal agencies to "prepare preliminary and final privacy impact statements as part of their rulemaking processes" passed the full House October 7 by voice vote. The measure now moves to the Senate.
Testimony in support of the bill from the ACLU is here, and from Privcilla.org here.
This Copyright Office notice of inquiry seeks comments by December 18, 2002 on the "exemption to the prohibition on circumvention of copyright protection systems for access control technologies."
An interesting interview with Jeffrey Hunker, dean of the H. John Heinz III School of Public Policy and Management at Carnegie Mellon University that focuses on what is at stake in the battle over digital rights management from the perspective of consumers and industry. Privacy, security, and revenue are key factors.
The Community Technology Network Project (CTNP) is a joint program by the Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the New Internet Computer Company (NIC) to provide thousands of Section 8 housing residents with free access to the Web and e-mail. The press release on this program is here.
This story via Reuters offers insight into the role that the Internet is playing in countries where censorship is commonplace.
Looking for links to public records for the seven counties in Northeast Ohio. Click here. See also Ohio - Online Access to Court Records, and my previous post on September 27.
See Lawrence Lessig's blog for a first person narrative about his Supreme Court experience.
Testimony by the FTC before the House Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection Committee on Energy and Commerce on September 26 is here, and the agency's follow-up workshop, Possible Anticompetitive Efforts to Restrict Competition on the Internet, held October 8-10, provides additional documentation.
The Senate and the House have approved DOJ spending via The 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act that now awaits the President's signature. Bundled into this authorization is a revision to Section 110(2) of the U.S. Copyright Act, called the Educational Use Copyright Exemption. The title of the Senate version is "Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization Act," or the "TEACH Act." This law now permits the fair use, wihtout permission, of portions of copyrighted images, text and sound during the course of instructional programs only by "accredited nonprofit educational institution(s)."
For additional information on the background and implications of this law, please see the American Library Association's (ALA) resource, The Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act. See also this related article from the Chronicle of Higher Education, Congress Eases Copyright Restrictions on Distance Education.
The California Secretary of State's website has an extensive, searchable database called Cal-Access that allows users to easily locate up-to-date campaign finance information from candidates, donors and lobbyists.
Some government officialsin Waukesha County, Wisconsin are re-evaluating their decision to provide online access to property records via their website . The privacy and safety of homeowners are at issue, but others argue that restricting this information amounts to censorship and a violation of the state's open records law.
Students are taxing the capacity of high speed Internet connections provided by their colleges and universities through unrestricted downloading, without appropriate permissions or fees, of audio, video and text files. The ubiquitous RIAA has informed college presidents about the "theft of copyrighted works that is plaguing college campuses." The associations representing college and university presidents received the message loud and clear, and dispatched their own letter to all members urging them to act swiftly to address the problem.
The Office of Science and Technology Policy, was established in 1976, to...."provide a comprehensive survey of ways and means for improving the Federal effort in scientific research and information handling." On October 1, the office issued Final Guidelines for Ensuring the Quality of Disseminated Information, pursuant to OMB guidelines.
The Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS), a joint effort of the INS, DOJ and Dept. of Education, facilitates the collection and dissemination of data on students who are in the U.S. as non-immigrants and exchange visitors.
Professor Jonathan Zittrain and law student/Technology Analyst Ben Edelman are conducting research on Internet filtering in countries worldwide. July 15 marked the release of the first study in the series, reporting some 2,000+ web pages blocked in Saudi Arabia.
Zittrain and Edelman have also posted another article, Real-Time Testing of Internet Filtering in China, which provides users with a mechanism to test whether specific sites are blocked.
Frustrated victims of online fraud are looking for alternatives to fight back after receiving little or no assistance from e-commerce sites. According to Business Week, consumers can check the database of CardCops to see if their credit card information is available on the Web. The site also supports an e-mail service, NeighborNetWatch, to which consumers can report credit cards believed to be compromised after an online transaction.
Supremes sympathize in copyright immortality case; Justices Hear Arguments in Challenge to Copyrights;
U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Copyright-Protection Case; Justices Doubt Free Speech Link; Case puts copyright in public spotlight;Declan Mccullagh's photos of Lessig after the oral argument on the steps of the Supreme Court; and The New York Times published "Excerpts From Arguments in Copyright Case," but did not make the article available online. The print citation is October 10, 2002, Thursday, Late Edition - Final, Section C; Page 10; Column 3; Business/Financial Desk.
This article highlights the emerging trend toward the creation of legal blogs by law schools, courts and attorneys.
O'Reilly Network Weblogs published the transcript of the Digital ID World 2002 conference panel discussion on Digital Rights Management, featuring Appellate litigator and blogger Denise Howell.
The Voice of Webcasters (VOW) provides information and resources on the effort to "promote and defend the industry," and seeks support for passage of H.R. 5469 , the bill to suspend for 6 months the implementation of royalty rates. The group also sponsors a moderated listserv for members of the industry.
The Washington Post has published a useful background report outlining the issues of the Edlred case argued in the Supreme Court on October 9. Included are links to primary documents, a list of organizations and their web sites that support Eldred and the government's position respectively, and reactions to the arguments from the American Library Association and the Motion Picture Association of America.
From the peer-reviewed Internet journal First Monday, Understanding the Privacy Space this report reviews "133 different privacy-related software tools and services."
Wonder which filtering software program your company is using? Perhaps it is this one.
This ZDNet article states that the Patent Policy Working Group's Royalty-Free Patent Policy has been approved, albeit not published in final version to date.
The University of California at San Diego has taken alot of flack for their attempt to force a student site to remove web links to revolutionary groups on university owned servers. See my previous posting on this topic.
The University has now decided to recind their demand on basis of the students right to free speech, but maintains that the students should remove link to terrorist organizations from another site they operate.
According to Declan McCullagh, Duke University law school's Center for the Study of the Public Domain will be in the position to advocate aggressively against the DCMA and copyright extensions with their new $1 million anonymous grant.
Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren certainly has strong support in Silicon Valley for the Digital Choice and Freedom Act she introduced on October 2.
Please see my previous post which provides more details on H.R 5522.
New legislation signed by the President has altered the copyright landscape for distance educators who may now use excerpts from recordings of dramatic literary and musical works -- such as plays, musicals, and operas -- on course Web sites without seeking permission from the copyright owners.
The EU Competition Commissioner has issued a regulation that approves the administration of licensing rights for web broadcasting by 18 countries (15 EU members and three European Economic Area (EEA) countries.
Via his blog, Professor Lessig shares some thoughts prior to his oral argument in Eldred v. Ashcroft.
The Google News Beta has a quick and easy canned search to follow news stories on the Eldred v. Ashcroft case.
http://www.theconnection.org/shows/2002/10/20021010_a_main.asp
Jurist, the legal education network, a terrific site of legal news, views and resources, has added daily links to Supreme Court news .
The Virginia Transportation Department took actions against 86 employees ranging from firing to suspension of pay for two weeks. The majority of the employees were accessing Internet porn.
The International Labour Organization sponsors the ILOLEX searchable database, available in English, French and Spanish. Users may choose to browse in categories of documents (including ILO Constitution, ILC Standing Orders, ILO Conventions and ILO Recommendations), use the Universal Query Form or conduct a free-text search.
The Student Press Law Center is a non-profit organization that advocates on behalf of the legal rights of student journalists. The site boasts excellent graphics and useful content that includes news releases, a legal resource center with links to materials on Press Freedom & Censorship, Access to Records, Meetings & Places, Cyberlaw: Internet & Online Media, Libel & Privacy Invasion, Protecting Sources & Information, Copyright Law and Advertising, and a State Open Records Law Request Letter Generator.
As a promotional vehicle for their book, "Lawyer's Guide to Marketing on the Internet, 2nd ed.," the authors have launched a blog with intermittent updates and topical links. Great idea!
H.R. 4561, the "Federal Agency Protection of Privacy Act" now moves to the Senate. The legislation would require all federal agencies when promulgating new rules to consider their impact on the privacy of individuals.
Key logging software has been around for quite awhile. Companies use it to 'virtually' stand over the shoulders of employees and read every letter typed on their keyboards. But this software is also used by hackers to commit identity theft, as was the case with nefarious installations on the computer systems of major universities throughout the country, as reported this past June.
Anti-key logging programs are available to detect monitoring (SpyCop and Anti-keyloggers are two examples). However, TechTV reports that a "black code" written into the key logging programs causes PCs to crash when the defensive software is detected.
This Cincinnati Post article chronicles the inevitable privacy hazards that result from lack of coordination between state agencies and courts and inappropriate database management of potentially damaging online personal data.
Attorney Martin Schwimmer launched his Trademark Blog in May, 2002. Via the blog you may access his SchwimmerLegaltrademark metasearch database that facilitates searches for marks in the United States, Finland, WIPO (Madrid), Canada, the UK, Japan, Hungary EC (CTM), Brazil and France that contain a specific search string.
The Center for E-Commerce, sponsored by the Stanford Program in Law, Science and Technology, was launched on October 8. It is a non-partisan effort that brings together academics, business leaders, in-house counsel and law firm attorneys in a joint effort to review and recommendations for the successful implementation of e-commerce strategies.
On October 8, JunkBusters sent a letter to the attorneys general of 15 states and the FTC, elaborating on their continued concerns about Amazon's collection, transfer and disclosure of personal data collected on its customers.
The JunkBusters site is free, and the organization seeks to promote worldwide the extensive resources it makes available to fight junk e-mail.
Rory Perry, Clerk of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia, is a pioneer who has transformed the dissemination of his court's decisions via his summaries and direct links to cases on hisweblog.
The Difficult Balance Between Liberty and Security is an op-ed by George Washington University law professor Jeffrey Rosen. He notes that there will not likely be much balance in regard to upcoming decisions involving security and technology issues in light of the broad application of the Patriot Act.
Via MSNBC.com, you can read an article by Steven Levy, Glitterati vs. Geeks
Two heavyweights, Hollywood and Silicon Valley, take the fight over content to the Supremes.
According to the Radio and Internet Newsletter (RAIN), this afternoon the House passed by voice vote a manager's amendment on H.R. 5469, agreed to last night by the respective parties. It allows royalties to be paid as a percentage fee of revenue rather than on a per-song fee basis. Please see 148 Cong.Rec. H7043-01 for the text of the bill, in which Sensenbrenner states, in part, "I am happy to report that introduction of this bill placed a burr under the saddle of both the copyright holders and the small webcasters to conclude negotiations on these matters that began last summer. Since last week, the parties have negotiated around the clock. They have now arrived at a deal that sets new rates and payment terms that will obviate the need for further legal and administrative intervention. The manager's amendment simply codifies the terms of that deal."
The RIAA and Voice of The Webcasters (VOW) issued a brief joint statement on the House voice vote on H.R. 5469.
On October 4, Amazon posted their new privacy policy indicating what personal data the site collects from customers, as well as how and what personal data it repurposes for third party use.
The U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in Specht v Netscape on October 1, according to this InternetNews article. This facts of the case were the topic of previous article on July 2000, Lawsuit Accuses Netscape of Eavesdropping. Netscapes' SmartDownload
http://laws.lp.findlaw.com/getcase/2nd/case/017860&exact=1
http://www.atnewyork.com/news/print.php/1474381
http://www.internetnews.com/bus-news/article.php/3_410521
cyberSLAPP.org maintains a library of briefs for researchers to track cases in which users of e-mail or web sites were sued for their speech and ISP's were sued for access to personal data on such individuals.
Internet content solutions company N2H2 and Harvard law student Benjamin G. Edelman are battling over his project to obtain and disseminate a list of sites that N2H2 software blocks. The case summary and documents are here.
An Online Journalism Review article posted on October 3, focuses on the intensifying debate over the availability of personal data on the Web, and specifically on the evolution of California case law on privacy rights.
It is important to note that personal data finds its way to the Web through a number of database streams, some of which are within our control, and others are currently out of our hands. Individuals frequently divulge a range of identifying information when engaged in such activities as genealogy research on the Web, attempting to re-establish contact with old friends through high school and college alumni sites, registering for free and fee-based access to online versions of newspapers and periodicals, and conducting e-commerce transactions. Personal data is also routinely mined fromt the Web, aggregated, used for marketing purposes, and sold to third parties. Some telemarketers have jumped into the act and are soliciting and obtaining personal data under false pretenses which they then sell to online services. As an example, see this October 3, 2002 Missouri Attorney General press release on a law suit against AXS Marketing, a Canadian telemarketing company that violated the states consumer protection laws.
State, local and federal government agencies collect and process a huge volume of vital record information, much of which is still disseminated only in print form but can be ordered and paid for via Web sites. Following on the issue of government dissemination of data is the controversy over public access to court records. Watch for continued legislative activity on the state and local level in response to growing consumer demands for controls on the dissemination of such data.
There is a growing concern in the U.S. about state sponsored Internet censorship in countries throughout the world. Jonathan Zittrain and Benjamin Edelman at Harvard are skillfully documenting this activity. Now Congress is responding to Web filtering with a bi-partisan legislative initiative, H.R. 5524. This bill seeks to "develop and deploy technologies to defeat Internet jamming and censorship."
Public Knowledge (PK) is a relatively new advocacy group whose agenda is to maintain free and open public access to digital data. According to President and co-founder Gigi B. Sohn, PK seeks to "promote a balanced approach to copyright policy that reflects the "cultural bargain" intended by the framers of the constitution - creators and innovators get incentives to create, which results in a robust public domain of shared knowledge."
The site boasts an excellent design that clearly identifies the range of resources that the organization is providing to the public. These include: press releases, news headlines and news archive, commentary, many topical links to papers, articles, speeches and books, links to related advocacy groups, and historical information on patents.
Declan McCullagh's coverage of the RIAA v. Verizon cases notes that at issue are copyright, privacy and free speech arguments. The two companies are battling over access to the identity of a subscriber accused of file trading. Declan links to an amicus brief filed on behalf of Verizon by high profile advocacy groups that include EPIC and the EFF, which also happens to maintain an archive of links to legal documents on this case.
For those that are interested, the RIAA v. Verizon Complaint is here, and Verizon's reply is here.
On October 2, ICANN issued its Final Implementation Report and Recommendations of the Committee on ICANN Evolution and Reform. See also the Markle Foundation Report, dated September 18: Enhancing Legitimacy in the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers - Accountable and Transparent Government Structures.
Researchers from MIT have developed a scheme, called Infranet, that ensures anonymity and access to Web content that has been blocked or censored, for users around the world. An abstract of their paper titled Infranet: Circumventing Web Censorship and Surveillance provides links to the full-text of the paper in HTML, PDF and PostScript.
Rep. Boucher of Virginia issued a press release on his new bill, the Digital Media Consumers' Rights Act (DMCRA).
On his website, Boucher has provided a Section-by-Section Description of the DMCRA, and a Digital Media Consumers’ Rights Act handout.
This privacy policy, added on 10/1/2002, clearly states that the site uses cookies and web beacons.
The addition of this privacy policy is a result of a recent controversy discussed in my posting "Search Engine AllTheWeb Collects and Sells User Data," on 9/21/02.
Rep. Chris Cox (R-Calif.) issued a press release on October 2 announcing the introduction of H.R. 5524, cited as the Global Internet Freedom Act, to defeat Internet jamming and censorship around the world. Specific reference is made in the bill to Saudi Arabia, Syria, Cuba and other countries that actively prevent citizens from freely accessing information on the Internet.
In addition, the legislation calls for the establishment of the Office of Global Internet Freedom within the International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB). The IBB is funded by the U.S. government and administers non-military broadcasting services around the world.
See also this report, Documentation of Internet Filtering Worldwide, authored by Jonathan Zittrain and Benjamin Edelman, Berkman Center for Internet & Society, Harvard Law School.
The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office is making available for sale the complete collection of 65 million U.S. patents that were granted from 1790 to today, on a set of 423 DVDs.
NeuStar.com, manager of the ".kids.us" domain, has another government contract that highlights its competitive edge in the realm of data collection, according to a July 8, 2002 article in Forbes. The company owns a database of 160 million telephone numbers for North American customers, and it routinely updates telecom companies when changes and additions occur. Future implications of monetizing this database include repurposing and interfacing phone numbers to become part of a larger data stream connecting consumers email, web, cell-phone, and pager information for e-commerce transactions.
A three year old web defamation case is in the news again. It began when Judge Joan Orie Melvin of the Pennsylvania Superior Court filed a defamation suit in Loudon County, Virginia in 1999 against an anonymous webmaster who published comments to his site, hosted by AOL. The AOL legal department posted copies of decisions and litigation in this case, which was dismissed.
In November 2000, Allegheny County (PA) Judge R. Stanton Wettick ruled that Judge Melvin's attorneys should be provided with the names of the webmaster and the 12 individuals who posted critical comments anonymously on the site, but that the names could not otherwise be revealed until the case went to trail.
Judge Melvin has continued to demand to know the names of 13 cyber-critics who posted to the site, called Grant Street '99, which is no longer on the Web. She is pursuing the case in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The ACLU has filed a brief on behalf of the 13 anonymous cyber-critics.
The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) issued a guidance detailing the procedures necessary for the transfer of email messages and attachments to the agency.
Today the Pew Internet & American Life Project released a report, How local officials use the Internet and the civic benefits they cite from dealing with constituents online. The report states "that local officials have embraced the Internet as part of their official lives and most now use email to communicate with constituents."
Democratic Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren of California has introduced legislation that seeks to balance the right of copyrightholders of digital content, with the right of consumers who purchase and make personal copies of materials including CDs, DVDs and e-books. A press release on the legislation is available on her website, as well as a link to the full text of the Digital Choice and Freedom Act of 2002.
The three attorney law firm of Goldstein Howe PC in Washington, D.C. whose practice is focused on Supreme Court litigation, introduced their new blog, SCOUTSBlog, on October 1.
According to the firm founder Tom Goldstein, "We intend to cover the Supreme Court comprehensively -- all of its opinions and orders -- but we want to focus our attention on the most important cases. So, we'll likely include quick summaries of the cases involving minor circuit splits while providing a fair amount of detail -- including, for example, reports on oral arguments -- for the major cases."
The House Committee on the Judiciary, Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property, held an oversight hearing on "Piracy Of Intellectual Property On Peer-to-Peer Networks," September 26, 2002. The Statement of Gigi B. Sohn, President, Public Knowledge, is here. The Statement of Hilary Rosen, Chairman and CEO, Recording Industry Association of America, is here.
An advocacy group, the Save Internet Radio Campaign, is rallying supporters of streaming media to support passage of H.R. 5469, introduced by Rep. Sensenbrenner.
Cyber-critics, free speech and online anonymous web postings have become a combustable combination. The result is cyberSLAPP law suits, which seek to force ISPs to reveal the names of those who have posted anonymous statements critical of high profile individuals.
An example of just such a case involves a Pennsylvania judge and a now defunct web site, which I discussed in my posting, Judge v. Anonymous Web Critic.
To monitor cases and information on this issue, I recommend cyberSLAPP.org, founded in July 2002, and "sponsored by a coalition of civil liberties and privacy groups." Here you will find links to full-text of cyberSLAPP briefs and opinions.
North Carolina State Attorney General Roy Cooper has secured the support of the state Senate, and now the House, for an identity theft bill. See House Bill 1100 for the text of the legislation.
Internet Community Supports Verizon's User Privacy Defense. See my previous related posting which provides background on this case.
House Judiciary Chairman Sensenbrenner, sponsor of H.R. 5469, a bill that would have given webcasters a six month grace period before enactment of copyright royalty fees, pulled his bill before the vote. He did so based on a potential agreement under discussion between the recording industry and webcasters.
CNN is reporting that the NSA will shell out $282 million to significantly enhance technology applications used to monitor and evaluate e-mail, telephone and other communications in its ongoing anti-terrorism efforts.
The Electronic Government Act of 2002 (H.R. 2458), was passed by the House Technology and Procurement Policy Subcommittee , and sent it on to the House Government Reform Committee. The Senate companion bill is S. 803.
Federal agencies are issuing their information quality guidelines as specified by OMB (see my previous posting here.)
The Patent Office guidelines are available at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/infoqualityguide.html. The Federal Register notice about these guidelines is here.
The ACLU placed an ad in publications including the Congressional Quarterly Daily Monitor and Congress Daily, demanding "that any Homeland Security bill contain five basic civil liberties protections."
According to this Washington Post article, "From now on, virtually every piece of information that the federal government makes public -- through a rulemaking, a publication or a Web site -- becomes open to challenge for its accuracy and veracity."
See the OMB guidelines at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/iqg_oct2002.pdf.
ZDNet UK is reporting that a coalition of prominent U.S. high tech companies, calling themselves the Global Privacy Alliance (no web site available) wants the EU to relax its data protection laws to stimulate international e-commerce through the transfer of personal data collected on customers.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act H.R.556, passed the House and was referred to the Senate. The bill would prevent banks, financial institutions and credit card companies from transferring payments to Internet gambling sites, most of which are offshore.