August 29, 2003
ISPs Announce Plans to Scan Email Attachments for Viruses
According to this Washington Post article, the nation's largest ISPs are responding to the recent escalation of email viruses (Blaster and SoBig.F) innundating customer accounts by planning to implement scanning applications to screen all attached documents. With as many as half of all incoming emails infected with viruses, AOL, Comcast, Microsoft, and Covad have already begun scanning, while EarthLink and BellSouth have indicated they plan to do so this fall. The process is costly, on both the IT side as well as in terms of additional customer support requirements.
Firm Addresses Privacy Issues Associated With Radio Frequency Tags
More news about radio frequency id tags, as RSA Security has published a detailed and informative white paper on the technology, which unbeknownst to many, is already ubiquitous in many aspects of our daily life, an example of which is the tags used by drivers on their car windshields which automatically scan and log toll payments. These tags may also in future track your travel itinerary, via RFID readers, as you traverse our nation's highways. The intertwined issues of privacy and authentication associated with these tags present considerable challenges to corporations using the technology to facilitate inventory controls, as well as to government use for security-related activities. However, negative consumer/citizen response to this passive tracking system is a major consideration, especially with a the growing use of employer-issued smartcards.
For reference, see the following related links on the controversy generated earlier this year when clothing manufacturer Benetton announced a plan to use the tags, which was then abruptly cancelled a short time later.
Public Access to Essential Gov't Docs
From the GPO: Essential Titles for Public Use in Paper Format: The list comprises 48 titles, along with associated web links as available.
"The dissemination of information products through the Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP) includes a variety of formats. As directed by Congress, the primary method of making publications available to the FDLP is in online format. There are, however, specific titles that are to remain available for selection in paper format, so long as they are published in paper by the originating agency. These titles contain critical information about the activities of the U.S. Government or are important reference publications for libraries and the public. Maintaining the availability of these titles for selection in paper format has been deemed essential to the purposes of the FDLP."
NY Port Authority Releases Transcripts of 9/11 Calls
From the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, this news on the release of "nearly 2,000 pages of transcripts of emergency calls made on September 11, 2001, to Port Authority police command from civilians and officers...under an order by Bergen County, N.J., Superior Court...Judge Sylvia R. Moses...The Times (New York Times) had told the court that the transcripts are a historical record of public employees doing their job during a national emergency and that they must be released under the states' open records laws."
Inside the Port Authority Tapes, and Fresh Glimpse in 9/11 Files of the Struggles for Survival.
According to an AP report, the Port Authority also plans to allow 9/11 family members access to these transcripts via a password protected site within a week's time. It has not been determined whether the public will also have access to this site.
Groups Send Letter to Ridge Concerning Freedom of Info and Homeland Security Act
From ALA, a pdf version of a three page letter sent to Dept. of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge, on August 27, concerning limitations on the public dissemination of "homeland security information" determined to be "sensitive but unclassified." ALA was one of 75 organizations that signed the letter (including journalists, evironmental groups, scientists and privacy advocates). The signatories seek public comment on the implementation of new procedures that would restrict the dissemination of critical federal and state and local data associated with homeland security, as interpreted by the Homeland Security Act.
Grant for Legal Research Centers for the Public in WV
Catching up on some news from earlier this month, a press release from the Supreme Court of Appeals, State of West Virginia, dated August 8 announced:
The West Virginia Supreme Court and the West Virginia Library Commission are working together to "establish legal research centers in three urban public libraries, three rural public libraries and three circuit court law libraries. The Court is surveying public and circuit court librarians to determine the best locations for the legal research centers. The first center will open on October 1, 2003. The remaining eight centers will open by March 2004."
August 28, 2003
Rain, Hail, Fallen Trees, and Power Outages
Sorry to say all of the above have been the gremlins in my machine the past couple of days. If you would like to read beSpacific postings for August 26 and 27, I invite you to visit the site.
GAO Report on Failures In Homeland Security Info Sharing
Homeland Security: Efforts to Improve Information Sharing Need to Be Strengthened. GAO-03-760, August 27. Highlights.
From ComputerWorld: "The Department of Homeland Security hasn't effectively coordinated the multitude of information-sharing efforts now under way throughout the nation, creating a situation where critical clues to impending terrorist attacks may once again go unnoticed."
Telemarketers Get Access to Do Not Call Registry September 2
This FTC press release from August 27 includes information, associated fees and links for use by telemarketers to obtain data from the national do not call registry when it is released on September 2.
Lawyer's Cmte. Rebuts Statements by AG on Patriot Act
The Lawyer's Committee for Human Rights issued a media alert that responds to specific statements in support of the Patriot Act made by Attorney General Ashcroft in a speech he delivered at the American Enterprise Institute on August 19.
LC to Acquire Significant 9/11 Archive
The Library of Congress announced the official acquisition, on September 10, 2003, of a collection comprising over 130,000 "written accounts, e-mails, audio recordings, video clips, photographs, websites, and other materials that document the attacks on New York City, Washington D.C., and western Pennsylvania and their aftermath." On that day, LC will also host a symposium, "September 11 as History: Collecting Today for Tomorrow." Details about speakers and the program schedule are here.
New Study on Regional Internet Use
The Pew Internet Project released a new report on August 27, Internet Use by Region in the United States. A link to the table of contents of the report is available here, or you may download the report in its entirety here.
From the summary: Internet usage among adult Americans reached 59% at the end of 2002, and "the regions of the country with the highest rates of Internet penetration are along the Atlantic seaboard (New England with 66% of the adult population using the Internet and the Capital region with 64% using the Internet) as well as the Pacific seaboard (the Pacific Northwest with 68% online and California with 65% Internet penetration)."
Purchasing Personal Data on the Web, Privacy and Legislative Conflicts
The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights (FTCR), a non-profit California advocacy group, is publicizing their purchase of personal data, including social security numbers and home addresses, of high ranking Bush administration officials, as a means of demonstrating the need for stronger privacy legislation. However, states such as California, which recently passed the strongest financial privacy law in the country, are concerned that proposed amendments (H.R. 2622) to the Fair Credit Reporting Act may undermine these new protections.
See also this related press release, California Privacy Act a Key Victory in Ongoing Financial Privacy Battle, ACLU Says.
Pop-Up Ads Raise Privacy Issues
Cryptome.org has a free link to this informative WSJ article from August 27, "A New Battleground In Web Privacy War: Ads That Can Snoop -Software Programs Track Where Users Go On Net, Then Target Them With Pop-Ups." Although certainly not a new story, it is nevertheless worth reading as it succinctly addresses privacy, copyright and trademark issues associated with spyware programs and consumer tracking applications, which can be associated with such frequent web activities as music downloading and online shopping.
August 27, 2003
Telecommuting Creates 24/7 Workers
Tethered by a high-tech leash - "Computers mean you can (must?) work anywhere, anytime." Sound familiar?
Small Business Screening of Potential and Current Employees
From the Utility Consumers' Action Network/Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, Employment Background Checks: A Guide for Small Business Owners: "This guide is intended to acquaint small business owners with basic information about screening applicants and current employees."
ACLU Respondes to DOJ Pro Patriot Act Website
PATRIOT Propaganda: Justice Department's PATRIOT Act Website Creates New Myths About Controversial Law. See also my previous posting on the Preserving Life & Liberty website.
Computer Security Groups Work to Stop Threat of Computer Worms
Sleuths Try to Stay Step Ahead of Online Worms. Computer security and antivirus companies around the world are working to stay one step ahead of viruses that are increasingly impacting corporations, government agencies and home users. These "virus sleuths" are also assisting the FBI to track down and minimize the damage from malicious worms such as the recent SoBig.F.
Circumventing Internet Censorship
Designing a protocol to circumvent Internet censorship:
"Peacefire has released a new set of instructions for circumventing Internet censorship. These instructions can be used to get around Internet blocking in China, for example, by having a friend outside China follow the instructions to set up a mini-Web-site that users in China can then connect to, circumventing the Chinese "Great Firewall". They can also be used to defeat most home blocking programs such as Cyber Patrol and Net Nanny, as well as getting around most blocking programs used in schools such as Bess, WebSENSE, and SmartFilter."
A Study on the Virtual Law Library
Feasibility and Viability of the Digital Library in a Private Law Firm - "The authors reveal the results of a research study on the feasibility and viability of the digital library. Using information derived from surveys of law librarians, legal publishers, and attorneys, they provide a snapshot of the current state of the digital library in a private law firm setting."
Interview With Copyright/Security Expert Ed Felten
Princeton University computer science professor, author, security expert, and of course, blogger (his blog is called Freedom to Tinker, Ed Felten warns in this interview of "A collision is happening between creativity and protecting intellectual property."
EPIC Files Amicus Brief in Supreme Court SS# Case
"EPIC has collaborated with numerous consumer and privacy organizations, legal scholars and technical experts to submit an amicus brief in Doe v. Chao, an important privacy case that will be heard by the Supreme Court later this year. This case concerns the wrongful disclosure of the Social Security Number by a federal agency and whether a person should be required to prove actual damages to obtain relief under the Privacy Act. Our view, and the view of most federal courts, is that it should only be necessary to show "adverse effects" to obtain the minimal $1,000 damages under the Act." [Link]
Blogs Find Niche at Regional Newspapers
Bloggers Train Sites on State Governments is an article which highlights several blogs that are published via newspapers in Washington state, Texas and California.
August 26, 2003
GAO Audit of White House Energy Task Force
Chronology of the GAO's Attempts to Obtain Information from the National Energy Policy Development Group, August 25, 2003.
Energy Task Force: Process Used to Develop the National Energy Policy. GAO-03-894, August 22. Highlights
"The General Accounting Office said in a long-awaited report that Vice President Dick Cheney's unwillingness to cooperate stymied efforts to find out which outside groups met privately with administration officials and what they discussed during the drafting of the energy plan in 2001." [
Link]
In his commentary on this GAO report, John Dean contends "that Vice Pres. Cheney made a false statement to Congress."
From Mother Jones, also worth reading, this article, The General Accounting Office has finally blinked.
Memorandum on Disabling Software Filtering
Memorandum of Legal Opinion, Library Procedures for Disabling Software Filtering and Unblocking Web Sites, by Janet M. LaRue, Chief Counsel, Concerned Women for America. (via LISNews.com)
UK and EU Plans to Track Vehicular Activity Via Microchip Technology
The proposed Electronic Vehicle Identification (EVI) system would require the installation of read-only microchips in all new vehicles whose purpose is to provide information on vehicular operation, including location and related activity such as speeding infractions, car theft, and parking violations.
See also this EU document, Intelligent Transport Systems, Electronic vehicle identification, that details the technology application and implementation, associated standardization requirements and mandated legislation, as well as establishing appropriate privacy policies associated with the collection and use of data on vehicle owners.
Also see the website of the EVI workgroup, a consortium tasked with studying the range of issues associated with EU-wide implementation of this proposed monitoring technology.
Police Dept. Adopts Wireless Tech
From Federal Computer News, this interesting article about the adoption of wireless laptops to expand information exchange between Syracuse, New York police officers in their vehicles and civilian counterparts in the office.
Radio Frequency ID Tags and the Food Industry
RFID Gussied Up With Biosensors. After noting that radio frequency id tags (RFID) are in use, and proposed, for a range of consumer items, it is important to mention that the associated privacy controversy also involves the food industry. Under the auspices of the Support Anti-Terrorism by Fostering Effective Technologies ("Safety") Act of 2002 (the SAFETY Act, subtitle G of the Homeland Security Act, P.L. No. 107-296), the industry wants to use "the multifunction RFID tags will track America's food supply "from birth to the bun."
See also RSA Seeks to Fix RFID Worries - "Researchers at RSA Security Inc.'s lab have come up with a technique they said will eliminate many of the privacy concerns surrounding the use of RFID tags and enable enterprises and consumers to use the technology without worry."
California ID Theft Laws
California Identity Theft Laws, Compiled July 2003, by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
Commentary on Patriot Act and CAPPS II
CAPPS II is very much in the news recently, with articles on the subject appearing in the Washington Times, Washington Post, and Federal Computer News.
Rights advocates slam new screening system: "Conservative and liberal advocates are banding together to oppose new airline passenger screening methods that they say will be a "quantum leap" in government surveillance programs."
Prosecutors Are Urged To Press Congress, Opponents of Patriot Act Are Targeted: "The Justice Department has urged U.S. attorneys to contact congressional representatives who voted against a key anti-terrorism provision of the USA Patriot Act, part of a broad-based publicity campaign on behalf of the law, according to internal department documents."
Dept. of Homeland Security Stands Behind CAPPS II: "Officials from the Homeland Security Department and Transportation Security Administration confirmed the government's intent to implement an effective airline passenger screening system and review public feedback throughout its development."
August 25, 2003
Tracking Your Location Through Wireless Devices
As a follow-up to my recent posting on radio frequency ID tags in consumer goods, here is an article, WhereWare, that describes how wireless devices (notebooks, PDAs, cell phones) will be used as location tools to track their "owners every movement."
DVD Code Copying Decision from CA Supreme Court
Today, the California Supreme Court issued a decision (53 pages, pfd) in DVD Copy Control Inc. v. Andrew Bunner, resolving "the apparent conflict between California's trade secret law and the free speech clauses of the United States and California Constitutions." Thanks to Jim Tyre for the heads-up.
For reference, see this EFF press release: "The California Supreme Court ruled today that publication of information regarding the decoding of DVDs merits a strong level of protection as free speech and sent a key case back to a lower court for a decision on whether a court can prevent Andrew Bunner from publishing this information, whether on the Internet, on a T-shirt, or elsewhere."
the DVD-CCA v. Bunner archive
and this law.com article from 5/30/03: California High Court Hears Clash of Speech, Trade Secrets Law.
FCC Extends the Effective Date of Amended Fax Advertising Rules
From the FCC press release, August 19: "The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has extended to January 1, 2005, the effective date of its new rules requiring written consent before sending advertising faxes. This action does not change the effective date for the comprehensive telemarketing rules, including other rules regarding faxes, adopted on June 26, 2003. This action also does not change the October 1, 2003 effective date for the national do-not-call registry."
From the August 25, Federal Register: Rules and Regulations Implementing the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991. Final rule; establishment of effective date.
Lifespan of CD-RWs Critically Short
cdfreaks.com reports on a study by the Dutch magazine, PC-Active, involving tests on 30 separate brands of recordable CDs to ascertain whether data and audio tracks saved on the disks was still readable after a 20 month period. The very bad news was that despite marketing indicating data is stable for up to ten years, many brands cannot be read less than two years after they are recorded. (via Slashdot)
Thomson Acquires Techstreet
From the Techstreet press release, August 25:
"Today, the Thomson Corporation (TSX: TOC; NYSE:TOC) announced that it has acquired Techstreet, Inc. a digital content delivery company that provides full-text industry standards and specifications to engineers, researchers, and technical and information professionals worldwide... The Techstreet unique offering also includes a large collection of technical books, materials property data, and technical training from over 1,000 publishers, industry associations, and technical societies worldwide. Searchable online, the content covers a broad range of subjects, including research, design, manufacturing, testing, and inspection in industries such as electrical and electronics, petrochemical, architecture and construction, food safety and public health, wastewater engineering, information technology, and aerospace/aviation."
H-P Develops Prototype E-book
From BBC News: "Researchers at Hewlett Packard have developed a prototype electronic book which can hold a whole library on a device no bigger than a paperback. The brushed metal device is about one centimetre thick and looks like an oversized handheld computer. The technological tome is dominated by a screen and a series of touch sensitive strips that allow the reader to navigate through the book. E-books are loaded on to the device using a standard USB port on a computer."
GAO Report Documents Problems for E-Archives
A recently released GAO report, Records Management: National Archives and Records Administration's Acquisition of Major System Faces Risks, documents significant problems with the develpment of the Electronic Records Archives (ERA). The "ERA will authentically preserve and provide access to any kind of electronic record, free from dependency on any specific hardware or software."
FindLaw Announces Aussie Law Firm Website Awards
The winners of the FindLaw Web Site Awards for 2003 were announced August 14. In the large firm category, the winner is Allens Arthur Robinson; in the mid-size firm category, Swaab Attorneys is the winner; and Immigration Solutions is the winner in the small firm category.
ACLU Hosts Online Forum on CAPPS II and Privacy
Links to resources from today's ACLU forum, "CAPPS II: Passenger Screening and Privacy Concerns," are as follows:
press release
Remarks by Laura W. Murphy, Director, ACLU Washington Legislative Office
Fact Sheet: The Five Problems With CAPPS II: Why the Airline Passenger Profiling Proposal Should Be Abandoned
Copyright Wars
The Escalating Copyright Wars by Peter K. Yu, Michigan State University-DCL College of Law, to be published in the Hofstra Law Review, Vol. 32, Spring 2004:
"Piracy is one of the biggest threats confronting the entertainment industry today. Every year, the industry loses billions of dollars in revenue and faces the potential loss of hundreds of thousands of jobs. To protect itself against Internet pirates, the entertainment industry has launched the latest copyright war. So far, the industry has been winning. Among its trophies include the enactment of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Vivendi Universal's defeat and purchase of MP3.com, the movie studios' victory in the DeCSS litigation, the bankruptcy and subsequent sale of Napster, the Supreme Court's rejection of the copyright bargain theory in Eldred v. Ashcroft, and the recording industry's recent success in RIAA v. Verizon Internet Services."
August 22, 2003
Browser Tools
Tools to Dress Up The Web Browser. This brief article directs readers to several useful search engine toolbars and bookmarklets.
Law Librarians Leverage Best of Online and Print
From the ABA Journal eReport: GOING BEYOND GOOGLE - Law Librarians Stress Legal Research by the Books.
The article's author, Hope Viner Samborn, a lawyer, is co-author of The Legal Research and Writing Handbook (Third edition, 2003).
RIAA Threats Effective in Deterring Music Downloads
RIAA's Subpoena Strategy is Chilling Downloads: "The possibility of a copyright infringement suit from the Recording Industry Association of America is apparently having a chilling effect on individuals who swap online music, according to new research from the NPD Group. The market research firm said households acquiring music files online illegally reached a high of 14.5 million in April of 2003, but that the number dropped off to 12.7 million households in May, followed by another drop to 10.4 million households in June."
2002 ABA Annual Technology Survey
From the ABA Legal Technology Resource Center:
"Over 3000 lawyers in private practice responded to the 2002 survey. The survey reports will be available for sale on August 22, 2003. You can read the methodology and executive summary below. Each of these is included in the survey report volumes. As in 2001, there are five volumes, covering: Law Office Technology (includes leading hardware and software product information), Litigation and Courtroom Technology, Mobile Lawyers, Online Research, Web and Communications, and Technology).
About the Survey
Executive Summary
USPTO Recognized As Top Reference Website by ALA
From the USPTO press release:
"The American Library Association (ALA) recently selected the Department of Commerce’s United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) Web site as one of the MARS Best Free Reference Web Sites of 2003. MARS is the ALA’s Machine-Assisted Reference Section of the Reference and User Services Association, and represents the interests of those concerned with attaining the highest possible quality in planning, developing, managing, teaching or conducting all forms of computer-based reference information services in libraries."
Who Has the Largest Search Index?
Press release from Overture: "Overture Services, Inc., a global leader in commercial search services on the Internet, today announced the launch of the world's largest search index of approximately 3.2 billion documents. The index was developed by the former Web search unit of Fast Search and Transfer (FAST), which Overture acquired in April."
Draft Copy of Victory Act
Here is a link to a draft of the Victory Act (89 pages, pdf), courtesy of Rich Allen, Winthrop Public Library. Rich found the link on PatriotWatch, a blog that has numerous links to related documents, most of which are hosted by advocacy groups. Many thanks Rich!
For reference, see my previous related posting, Controversy Accompanies Draft VICTORY Act Legislation.
As a reminder, here is a link to the draft version of the PATRIOT Act II legislation, from January 2003.
August 21, 2003
Report Measures Consumer Satisfaction With Web Engines, News
Consumers Rate Online Search, Portals, and News: the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly:
"E-businesses are getting better overall in the view of their customers—but performance varies widely from company to company, according to the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI) study released today. The report, which includes measurements of search engines, portals, and online news and information websites as part of the e-business category, identifies a few outstanding performers and shows that Google, Yahoo!, and others are pulling off the extraordinary feat of morphing their business models without losing customer satisfaction and loyalty, while other companies lag behind." (thanks Donna)
Please note, the text of this report is not available online.
Trio of Articles on E-Commerce
From the New Jersey Law Journal:
Is Open Source the Beginning or End of the Software Revolution?:
"The debate between open source and the traditional license model is gaining attention at all levels of the electronic universe."
Contract Law, Arbitration Agreements and the Internet: "Now that businesses have moved toward an increasing amount of e-commerce, courts have begun to address when an arbitration provision related to e-commerce is enforceable."
Online Dispute Resolution Process as a Component of E-Commerce: "One resolution to the legal difficulties raised by e-commerce has been the use of online dispute resolution processes -- the application of Internet-related technologies such as e-mail, Web sites, chat rooms and e-messaging to resolve disputes that arise from Internet transactions."
New Decision Protects ISPs, Website Owners
From News.com:
Internet service providers and Web site operators are breathing a collective sigh of relief following a court decision...from August 13 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit...that preserves a key aspect of their immunity under the Communications Decency Act.
Radio Frequency ID Tags
This presentation, RFID and the Public Policy Void, by Beth Givens, founder and director of the non-profit Privacy Rights Clearinghouse, was delivered to the Joint Committee on Preparing California for the 21st Century. Radio frequency ID tags, used by manufacturers and merchants in a wide range of products ranging from automobiles to clothing, are the subject of growing concern among privacy advocates.
See also this related article, California Legislature Probes RFID
and this Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Systems resource from EIPC.
Dept. of Ed. To Shut Down ERIC Clearinghouses
From a posting on Lisnews.com written by Nancy Macomber:
"The U.S. Department of Education has decided to shut down the 16 subject-specific ERIC Clearinghouses on December 31, 2003. The Department is running a competition to select a contractor to maintain the database portion of ERIC. This "new" ERIC is expected to begin operating in mid-October 2003. There will be a brief period of overlap as the Clearinghouses wind down operations and the centralized contractor gets up and running."
From the ERIC Clearinghouses FAQ: The ERIC Clearinghouses collect, abstract, and index education materials for the ERIC database.
Questions for Ashcroft On His Patriot Act Campaign
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press has issued a list of questions for reporters to ask Attorney General Ashcroft as he pursues his national PR campaign in support of the Patriot Act. The questions focus on the impact of Sec. 215 of the Act (Access to Records and Other Items Under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act).
Oxford Dictionary of English Adds 3,000 New Words
From the Oxford Dictionary of English press release, news of the addition of 3,000 new words and phrases to their database of 350,000 entries, including the following techie terms: blog, bounce (as in e-mail), CD-RW, CGI, click rate, cyberstalking, data smog, DNS, DoS, and many more. A full list of the new additions and their definitions are available here.
New GPO Access Training Resource
The GPO Access Training Booklet, July 2003, 73 pages in pdf, is available here. GPO Access is one of the premier e-gov resources, providing access to over 2,900 databases, including the daily editions of the Federal Register and the Congressional Record. This manual's content, which includes a number of screen shots, covers searching strategies, resources on GPO Access, finding aids, how to track legislation, and user support information.
Search Engine Tips and Tricks
Fishing for Information? Try Better Bait. Congrats to Tara Calishain whose book Google Hacks: 100 Industrial-Strength Tips and Tools receives much deserved recognition in the beginning of this article that focuses on advanced search features specific to the major search engines.
August 20, 2003
Financial Privacy Bill Passes California Legislature
The California State Senate passed SB 1 yesterday, by a vote of 32 to 6.
This bill would enact the California Financial Information Privacy Act, which would require a financial institution, as defined, to provide a specified written form to a consumer relative to the sharing of the consumer's nonpublic personal information.
See also, Lawmakers approve privacy bill in time to head off initiative.
ACLU Hails Milestone as California Legislature Enacts Toughest Financial Privacy Protections in the Nation
News and Resources on the New Version of Old Virus
Day Three of the W32/SoBig.F virus, which is hitting home users hardest. Counterpane Internet Security has identified 1,500 malicious file attachments associated with the virus, and counting. For more information, see the following links:
McAfee Security Virus Profile
Symantec Security Response, W32.Sobig.F@mm
The virus is apparently set to self destruct after two weeks, making that September 10.
Internetnews.com reports that the virus accounts for 70% of all e-mail traffic today.
This New York Law Journal article describes how law firms in NYC and around the country are addressing the challenges of the virus.
Press release: FTC Chairman Calls Spam "One of the Most Daunting Consumer Protection Problems FTC Has Ever Faced." Text of remarks, Timothy J. Muris, Chairman, Federal Trade Commission. He stated, "As you are no doubt aware, there are several legislative proposals to address spam. Parts of these proposals can help, but no one should expect any new law to make a substantial difference by itself."
DOJ Website Promotes Benefits of PATRIOT Act
The Department of Justice is hosting what can only be described as a PR website, Preserving Life & Liberty, that promotes the USA PATRIOT Act. The site links to documents that include: major speeches by Attorney General Ashcroft, a list of point/counterpoint statements that are presented using the caption "Myth" vs. "Realty"; a detailed Senate vote chart on the USA PATRIOT Act (House Republicans Voting Yes: 96%, House Democrats Voting Yes: 69%), statements from 2001 from various prominent Democrat and Republican Senators stating their support of the act's passage, a select group of excerpts from pro-Patriot Act news articles, a poll conducted by Fox News July 31 indicating public support for the act, and a link to the text of the act.
See also Justice Department Kicks Off PATRIOT Act Roadshow.
See also this press release from the U.S. Dept. of State, Ashcroft Says Patriot Act Is an Effective Tool Against Terrorism.
NJ Megan's Law Decision Overturned on Appeal
3rd Circuit OKs Posting Addresses of Convicts Under Megan's Law:
"The decision in A.A. v. State of New Jersey overturns a lower court's injunction that limited the state to posting only the offenders' county of residence on the Internet registry."
See also my previous posting on two Supreme Court rulings from earlier this year upholding the posting of such information online by the states of Alaska and Connecticut.
Web Search Services and Trademark Infringement
Internet Search Companies Could Face Fight on Ads: "Some of the biggest Internet search services (Google and Overture) could be setting the stage for a legal battle with companies that object to the way these sites are using their trademarks." (thanks Donna)
Entertainment Groups Appeal File Swapping Decision
From PCWorld: The RIAA, the MPAA and the NMPA "have asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to overturn the decision by U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson" denying the entertainment groups' request to shut-down music downloading services Grokster and Morpheus. For more details on the case, see my previous posting here.
From EFF, their MGM v. Grokster resource page, that includes links to amicus briefs filed with the Ninth Circuit.
August 19, 2003
Virulent E-Mail Virus Strikes and Spreads
Today I was spammed several hundred times, causing me to enable the overdrive level of my spam blocker. This is a first for me, but I know that unfortunately I was not alone, and sure hope tomorrow will be a quieter day in the e-mail realm. For my previous postings on spam, click here.
Website That Monitors Campaign 2004 Spam
Spam and political campaigns are developing a synergy, to which the growing number us who have been on the receiving end, through no effort on our part, can attest. So I was quite interested when I learned about a new website, Political Spam. This independently operated site, from Richard Paul Welty, was launched in early July, and reports on spam sent by all the various Presidential campaigns and related organizations, solicits their responses when queried about the mailings, and invites copies of offending e-mails from readers. There is also a related weblog.
State & Local Gov't Operating Without Critical Homeland Security Info
Press release from the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs, announcing a new report: "State and local homeland security officials – the first responders and preventers in the war on terror at home – have not yet been fully integrated into the Bush Administration’s national strategy on homeland security and continue to operate without critical information they need from the federal government."
State and Local Officials: Still Kept in the Dark About Homeland Security. (46 pages, pdf)
Libraries and Fair Use
From Library Journal (reg. req'd): Fair Use Under Fire - ALA's copyright expert gives her take on the challenges digital rights management presents for end users - and librarians:
"In the digital realm, DRM technologies are changing the ways in which information is accessed and experienced, and they are undermining fair use. If content providers' interests are allowed, through DRM, to use technology to "define" how patrons can access and use information, a DRM-enforced licensing situation will not only replace copyright and its user exemptions like fair use but will affect the basic ways we interact with information. Quantifying fair use, generally accepted as ten percent of a book, 30 seconds of a song, and so on, is technologically possible. But fair use philosophically cannot be quantified. Fair use is an unauthorized yet lawful activity. If one makes a "request" to use a work from a copyright holder through DRM, one is not exercising fair use."
Digital Records Preservation
The Cost to Preserve Authentic Electronic Records in Perpetuity: Comparing Costs across Cost Models and Cost Frameworks:
"This paper explores issues of cost modeling and proposes a possible methodology to evaluate costing frameworks and models to preserve authentic electronic records. The methodology could be adapted by institutions interested in the costs of the preservation strategy under consideration. For the purposes of this paper, the term electronic materials will refer to authentic electronic records in born-digital or born-again (reformatted) digital form."
Sen. Coleman Releases RIAA Response To File Sharing Inquiry
From the August 18 press release: "Acknowledging the recording industry’s cooperation in his inquiry into its wide-ranging crackdown on illegal file-sharing, Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, released the Recording Industry Association of America's response to his request for subpoenas and other documents related to his concerns that the industry was taking a 'shotgun' approach to identifying and prosecuting potential violators. In releasing the 11-page response from RIAA President and General Counsel Cary H. Sherman, Coleman said he was gratified by assurances that the industry is initially focusing on 'egregious offenders who are engaging in substantial amounts of illegal activity.' Coleman also revealed that the RIAA has promised to provide the Subcommittee with supplementary documents that confirm it is not targeting nominal users."
The text of the 11 page RIAA response is included as part of the press release.
There Are Alternatives to Google
This article is reprinted from the August 18 WSJ: Google Is Most Popular Search Site, But Others Sometimes Do It Better. Has Teoma surpassed Google's technology? Give it a try and make your own determination.
Children's Internet Protection Act (CIPA) Resources
A CIPA Toolkit - Answers to the most frequently asked questions about the Supreme Court's June ruling that upheld the filtering requirement in the Children's Internet Protection Act. (reg. req'd)
August 18, 2003
IRS Appoints New Privacy Officer
According to FCW.com, Maya Bernstein is the new "head of the office in charge of agency (IRS) policies for protecting taxpayers' personal information — an increasingly important job as data is handled by more electronic systems in the agency's modernization."
Controversy Accompanies Draft VICTORY Act Legislation
The National Consumer Privacy Coalition Group obtained a draft of the VICTORY Act (Vital Interdiction of Criminal Terrorist Organizations Act of 2003), which has been circulated on Capitol Hill, but a copy of which I have yet to find posted on the web (please contact me if you have a link). This article indicates that the legislation "is a grab-bag of enhanced police-state powers."
Update: GOP Bill Would Add Anti-Terror Powers, August 21, 2003.
Report on Children’s Internet Protection Act
Report to Congress, Children’s Internet Protection Act, Pub. L. 106-554, Study of Technology Protection Measures in Section 1703, August 15, 2003, Department of Commerce, National Telecommunications and Information Administration.
From the report's Conclusion: "In summary, existing technology protection measures have met many of the needs of educational institutions. While the education community has had success with technology measures, however, the education community also recognizes that comprehensive child protection solutions do not rest solely with technology."
Amazon Wins Domain Name Dispute
Amazon wins tussle over lookalike site:
"A Web site owner arguing that online retailer Amazon.com Inc. cannot lay exclusive claim to the name of the world's second longest river to sell goods on the Internet learned today that ... well, yes it can. Arbitrators for the United Nations copyright agency WIPO told the Arizona man behind amazonbooks.net and amazonbooks.org to hand them over to Seattle-based Amazon.com, which sells products around the globe."
Text of WIPO domain name decision, dated August 4, 2003, Amazon.com, Inc. v. Paul Horner, Case No. D2003-0071.
Patriot Act Facilitates Increased Gov't Demand for Customer Data
Although there has been considerable focus on the Patriot Act as it impacts libraries, this Atlanta-Journal Constitution article details the wider impact of law enforcement's significantly increased demand for customer data from businesses that range from scuba shops to telecommunications companies. Examples from the article include the following:
"Last year, before the Memorial Day weekend, the FBI requested customer information from scuba shops across the country....the Professional Association of Diving Instructors decided to voluntarily hand the information to the FBI...the group sent the FBI a ZIP drive with the names, addresses and other personal information of about 2 million people -- nearly every U.S. citizen who had learned to dive in the previous three years."
"Last year, BellSouth received more than 32,000 subpoenas for customer information, about half of those from law enforcement. In addition, the telecommunications giant received 636 court orders, mostly from the government, including requests for wiretaps."
In related news, "Attorney General Ashcroft this week will launch a cross-country barnstorming tour designed to shore up support for the USA Patriot Act....the country's 94 U.S. attorneys were instructed to help gin up support by convening community meetings, writing op-ed articles in local newspapers and ensuring that uniformed cops are seated in bleachers behind the A.G. during his visits."
Researcher Details Security Concerns and Hidden Data in Word Documents Online
Scalable Exploitation of, and Responses to Information Leakage Through Hidden Data in Published Documents, by Simon Byers, AT&T's Research Labs.
Mr. Beyer's research focused on the tools and techniques used to "search for hidden data in Word documents." The use of hidden text is routine in the process of creating documents using Word, so this article is worth reading for its clear and concise directions to protect these "hidden payloads" before documents are posted on the Web.
News Aggregators Gain Popularity
Aggregators Attack Info Overload : "Maniacally wired netizens who read a hundred blogs a day and just as many news sources are turning to a new breed of software, called newsreaders or aggregators, to help them manage information overload."
See also several of my previous postings on RSS and aggregators here and here and Dan Gillmor's posting from August 17, RSS Hitting Critical Mass.
Chinese Gov't To Eliminate Microsoft OS and Office
China blocks foreign software use in gov't:
"A new policy by China's governing body the State Council will rule that all ministries have to buy only locally-produced software at the next upgrade cycle. The move, aimed at breaking the dominance of U.S.-based Microsoft on desktop computers, will eliminate Microsoft's Windows operating system and Office productivity suite from hundreds of thousands of Chinese government computers in a few years' time."
August 15, 2003
GAO Report Documents IT Vulnerabilities of US Attorneys' Network
A GAO report released August 12 determined that the Executive Office for the U.S. Attorneys has serious security issues associated with the administration of IT systems, with specific concerns detailing the operation of a virtual private network (VPN) linking the 93 U.S. Attorney offices located throughout the US.
Information Technology: Executive Office for U.S. Attorneys Needs to Institutionalize Key IT Management Disciplines. GAO-03-751, July 25. Highlights.
Upcoming Hearings on Music Downloading
Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN), Chairman, Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations, announced hearings on the RIAA's aggressive anti-file sharing efforts targeting students and ISPs.
ISPs On Frontline of Power Outage
ISPs Among First to Detect, React to Outage:
"Throughout the United States, ISPs and network operators were among the first to detect an infrastructure problem thanks to sophisticated monitoring systems. In addition to a New York drop, carriers saw traffic elsewhere surge as users logged onto news sites.
A User's Guide to the Stored Communications Act
A User's Guide to the Stored Communications Act - And a Legislator's Guide to Amending It, by Orin S. Kerr, George Washington University Law School:
Abstract: Americans care deeply about their Internet privacy. But if they want to know how federal law protects the privacy of their stored Internet communications, they'll quickly learn that it's surprisingly difficult to figure out. The federal statute that protects the privacy of stored Internet communications is the Stored Communications Act (SCA, P.L. 99-508), passed as part of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act of 1986 and codified at 18 U.S.C. section 2701-11. But courts, legislators, and even legal scholars have had a very hard time understanding the method behind the madness of the SCA. The statute is dense and confusing, and that confusion has made it difficult for legislators to legislate in the field, reporters to report about it, and scholars to write scholarship in this very important area.
New World Factbook Available Online
From the CIA press release, the announcement about the availability of The World Factbook 2003:
"This reference work provides a snapshot, as of 1 January 2003, of wide-ranging, hard-to-locate information about the background, geography, people, government, economy, communications, transportation, military, and transnational issues for countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe. The nine primary information categories and 134 subcategories for most entities include geographic coordinates, Gross Domestic Product, number of telephones, natural resources, legal systems, political parties, illicit drugs, mortality rates, and more. Included among the 268 geographic listings is one for the "World," which incorporates data and other information summarized where possible from the other 267 listings.
Link to previous editions (2000-2002) of the Factbook (in zip format, download only).
Internet Proves Worthy During Outage but Electric Grid Questions Remain
Internet Survives Power Failure: The Internet was for the most part performing normally, despite the power failure, according to Internet performance tracker Keynote Systems.
Crash of System Predicted - North American Electric Reliability Council issued a warning to Congress two years ago. See the press release, NERC General Counsel Testifies on Electric Grid Reliabity. The testimony, from October 10, 2001 is here.
Examples of Major Bulk Systems Power Outages
NERC Still In Dark Over Blackout Cause
August 14, 2003
Law Library Microform Consortium Creating Virtual Library
According to the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the non-profit Law Library Microform Consortium is creating a digital library, called LLMC-Digital, that will eventually comprise 91,000 volumes (100 million pages) of legal materials, half of which are currently available on microfiche. The beta site is currently available for free, but will become a fee-based service next month.
"The model chosen for data delivery on LLMC-Digital will combine three digital formats. The primary format will be TIFF images; i.e., electronic microfiche. Backup formats will be OCRed text, which will permit searching, and a PDF text (which permits transfer of text into word processing applications).
Power Outage in NY State and Beyond
From Internetnews.com: "A massive power outage has unexpectedly darkened New York and most of New York state as well as other Northeast American cities including Detroit and Cleveland, as well as Toronto and Ottawa in Canada."
Energy/utility related links on blackouts is available from the IRE Resource Center (thanks to Carolyn Edds, Research Director and Jeff Porter, Data Library Director).
Another resource for updates on the blackout is My NYC.gov Portal which currently states: "Due to power outage, a State of Emergency has been declared for New York, Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania."
Google Toolbar Ready for Prime Time
From the Google press release: The Google Toolbar is out of beta, and available for download at http://toolbar.google.com. Google's free browser utility enables users to search from any page on the web and offers pop-up blocking, web form filling, and a new Blogger button that makes posting to Blogger.com weblogs quick and easy.
A Review of Presidential Candidate Websites
What Home Pages Tell (And Don't Tell) About A Candidate. This article provides screen shots and links to 9 candidate sites, and evaluates them based on the following categories: Ease of contributing money, Excitement, Clarity of purpose, Clarity of message, Amount of useful information, and Professionalism.
California Recall Election Resources
From the California Voter Foundation, Special Recall Election Resources includes links to the California Secretary of State website, campaign finance sites, recall election news from local, regional and national newspapers, pro and anti-recall organization links, and candidate websites (not all of those who have declared have one!)
From The Sacramento Bee, daily news updates from their Politics/Elections section.
The Condor, California Recall blog, with archives from July 31.
[http://www.jdlasica.com/blog/]
Top Ten Court Website Awards
From the Justice Served website, this announcement identifies the top ten court websites chosen from among 900 considered. Two court sites in Washington, D.C. were recognized: the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Columbia and the US District Court for the District of Columbia. [Rory Perry's Weblog]
New ABA Model Rules Available
Model Rule 1.6 was passed, and Model Rule 1.13 was amended earlier this week during the ABA Annual Meeting. See the following links: new Rule 1.6 and new Rule 1.13. Thanks to Brian Myers, Information Coordinator, ABA Division for Bar Services, for these links, as well as the text below:
RESOLVED, That Rule 1.13 of the Model Rules of Professional Conduct and its Comment be amended as follows: RULE 1.13
ORGANIZATION AS CLIENT
(b) If a lawyer for an organization knows that an officer, employee or other person associated with the organization is engaged in action, intends to act or refuses to act in a matter related to the representation that is a violation of a legal obligation to the organization, or a violation of law which reasonably might be imputed to the organization, and that is likely to result in substantial injury to the organization, then the lawyer shall proceed as is reasonably necessary in the best interest of the organization. Unless the lawyer reasonably believes that it is not necessary in the best interest of the organization to do so, the lawyer shall refer the matter to higher authority in the organization, including, if warranted by the circumstances, to the highest authority that can act on behalf of the organization as determined by applicable law.
See the Model Rules of Professional Conduct 2003 Edition, which will be updated soon, to reflect this week's changes.
Resignation Letter of John M. Poindexter
From the Washington Post via Cryptome, the resignation letter of John M. Poindexter (Director, Total Information Awareness Office) to Dr. Anthony Tether, Director, Defense Advanced Projects Agency (DARPA), dated 12 August 2003.
See also Poindexter Resigns but Defends Programs, Anti-Terrorism, Data Scanning Efforts at Pentagon Called Victims of Ignorance.
Publisher Sues Financial Services Firm for Copyright Violation
A decision from the U.S. District Court, Maryland, July 10, Lowry's Reports v. Legg Mason, found that the financial services firm had violated copyright terms stipulated by its subscription to Lowry's report, through the ongoing distribution of the publication's content on the company's firm-wide intranet and via e-mail. [From BNA's Internet Law News]
August 13, 2003
The Difference Between the Internet and the Web
"The Internet, of course, is the maze of phone and cable lines, satellites, and network cables that interconnect computers around the world. The Web is the name given to anything on the Internet that can be accessed using a Uniform Resource Locator, or URL." [Link]
Google Adds Web Calculator
Google Web Search Features - Calculator:
"To use Google's built-in calculator function, simply enter the expression you'd like evaluated in the search box and hit the Enter key or click the Google Search button. The calculator can evaluate mathematical expressions involving basic arithmetic (5+2*2 or 2^20), more complicated math (sine(30 degrees) or e^(i pi)+1), units of measure and conversions (100 miles in kilometers or 160 pounds * 4000 feet in Calories), and physical constants (1 a.u./c or G*mass of earth/radius of earth^2). You can also experiment with other numbering systems, including hexadecimal and binary."
New Study Addresses Rights of Digital Copyright Holders and Consumers
GartnerG2 and The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School released a study, Copyright and Digital Media in a Post-Napster World (46 pages, pdf), which addresses:
"the issues surrounding the current digital media ecosystem, including the legal and regulatory developments regarding copyright and related intellectual property issues; business models upset by digital media distribution and new models made possible; and shifts in consumer attitudes and behavior."
DOJ Appeals COPA Decision to Supreme Court
A follow-up to my March 7 posting: the Child Online Protection Act (COPA) was ruled unconstitutional for a second time by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, in a decision ACLU v. John Ashcroft, no. 19-1324, filed March 6.
Arguing that requiring net filters in public libraries is not sufficient, Solicitor General Theodore Olson filed a brief with the Supreme Court in John D. Ashcroft, Attorney General, Petitioner v. American Civil Liberties Union, et al. Docketed: August 11, 2003 Lower Ct: United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit - Case Nos.: (99-1324). Olson stated "children are unprotected from the harmful effects of the enormous amount of p***ography on the World Wide Web." [Link]
See also ALA's CPPA, COPA, CIPA: Which Is Which?
Opposition to EU IP Directive
From European Digital Rights, an association of privacy and civil rights organizations in Europe:
CODE Letter urging rejection of Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on measures and procedures to ensure the enforcement of intellectual property rights.
IP Justice White Paper on Proposed European Union IP Enforcement Directive
Recent Patriot Act Lawsuits
Watching the Watchers - First two lawsuits challenging the Patriot Act likely aren't the last.
For links to the first case referenced in the above article, see my July 30 posting, Lawsuit on Patriot Act.
A synopsis of the second lawsuit, Humanitarian Law Project, et al. v. Ashcroft, is provided by the Center for Constitutional Rights, along with this explanatory document, CCR Files Constitutional Challenge to Patriot Act.
August 12, 2003
FDIC Proposed Reg. on Financial Privacy
From the August 12 Federal Register:
Interagency Guidance on Response Programs for Unauthorized Access to Customer Information and Customer Notice: Among other things, the Security Guidelines direct financial institutions to: (1) Identify reasonably foreseeable internal and external threats that could result in unauthorized disclosure, misuse, alteration, or destruction of customer information or customer information systems; (2) assess the likelihood and potential damage of these threats, taking into consideration the sensitivity of customer information; and (3) assess the sufficiency of policies, procedures, customer information systems, and other arrangements in place to control risks.
Section 501(b) of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) required the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Office of Thrift Supervision to establish financial institution standards for protecting the security and confidentiality of financial institution customers' non-public personal information.
See also Financial Privacy: The Gramm-Leach Bliley Act, from the FTC.
Technology Preferences of Solo and Small Firm Attorneys
Small and Solo Firm Technology Use: A brief overview of technology use in solo and small firms based on the 2002 ABA Annual Technology Survey.
Webcams in Schools Raise Privacy Issue
Who's Watching the Class? According to this USA Today article, students in Biloxi, Mississippi schools will be continuously monitored while in their classrooms, all of which are equipped with webcams whose footage is stored on PC hard drives. The data may be viewed "on virtually any Internet-connected computer." The article also mentions the use of webcams in other school districts, as well as the privacy concerns associated with the use of this technology.
Google Announces Customers for Enterprise Search
From Reuters:
"Google, the No. 1 Web search engine in the United States....announced eight customers for its enterprise search appliance (Google Search Appliance)...that helps companies and organizations search for products and information within corporate intranets and Web sites. The company, seen by many in financial circles as an ideal candidate for an initial public offering, said pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc., the U.S. Army and the city of San Diego are among the new paying users of its enterprise search appliance...Other customers include Xerox Corp., Hitachi Data Systems, Nextel Communications Inc., Procter & Gamble Co., Discovery Communications, the San Diego Union-Tribune, PBS.org, Cisco Systems Inc. and Boeing Co."
See www.google.com/appliance for more information.
