October 31, 2003
Challenge to Browser Patent by Web Consortium
From the World Wide Web Consortium:
"Acting on the advice of the W3C HTML Patent Advisory Group, W3C has presented the United States Patent and Trademark Office with prior art establishing that US Patent No. 5,838,906 (the '906 patent) is invalid. W3C Director Tim Berners-Lee has written an unprecedented request to US Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property James E. Rogan to take action to remove the patent to allow operation of the Web. Please refer to the briefing."
Google's IPO and Talks With Microsoft
Today's New York Times reported that Google seems intent on pursuing an IPO in early 2004 (with an offering of 10-15% of the company's stock), and that talks with Microsoft have not resulted in any form of agreement.
AALL Comments on DMCA Ruling
New Copyright Rules Fail to Provide Fair Access in the Digital World:
"In his second triennial rulemaking under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), the Librarian of Congress James Billington has again issued narrow exceptions to the law's prohibition on circumventing technological locks intended to prevent access to copyrighted digital works. Libraries expressed disappointment that the law will continue to disallow legitimate and customary uses of digital materials by libraries and schools."
Report Reviews Diminished Access to Gov't Docs On the Web
Ths new report, by Stephen Pizzo, chronicles some of the most significant examples of how the current administration has curtailed public access to critical government documents.
From the report: ""Gary Bass, executive director of OMB Watch, an independent public advocacy group, says that the United States, is moving from a society based on the right to know to one based on the need to know."
Fires in California Close Many Libriaries
"Multiple fires in southern California have affected library services and wreaked havoc on staff. No facilities have been damaged, though sporadic closings of public and academic libraries have been reported due to dangerous high winds, approaching fires, and dangerous air quality." [Link]
Compliance With New EU Data Privacy Rules Begins Today
"As from today EU Member States must comply with the Directive on Privacy and Electronic Communications, which sets EU standards for the protection of privacy and personal data in electronic communications. The Directive includes basic obligations to ensure the security and confidentiality of communications over EU electronic networks, including internet and mobile services. It sets out specific conditions for installing so-called “cookies” on users' personal computers and for using location data generated by mobile phones. Notably, the Directive also introduces a 'ban on spam' throughout the EU." [Link]
Background information on the new rules is available here
Background information on the specific Commission plans on spam is available here
October 30, 2003
Is Google Toolbar Blocking Legitimate Content?
According to this New York Times article, the Google toolbar is so effective in blocking unwanted pop-up ads that millions use it daily. However, website designers point out that along with blocking ads, the toolbar has the unintended consequence of blocking legitimate website content that is delivered via pop-up windows.
UK Database of Personal Data Expands to Collect More Info
The UK Office of National Statistics plans to expand their collection of personal data on citizens for a new electronic dossier that will include information on births, deaths and marriages. [Link]
See also this response from the Foundation for Information Policy Research on the proposed database.
Advocacy Group Responds to Copyright Ruling
Press release from IP Justice: Consumers Still Unable to Make Lawful Use of Digital Media:
"Its disappointing that the US Copyright Office and Librarian continue to relinquish their power to protect the rights of American consumers to lawfully use their own property as Congress had intended when it created this rulemaking proceeding in 1998."
Please note, this press release includes a useful chronology of links to 2003 US Copyright Office DMCA Proceedings and Rulemaking Proceedings.
Are KM Portals Losing Ground to Customized Solutions?
Deconstructing Knowledge by Nicholas Carroll, a project manager with Hastings Research, comments on the recent KM World-Intranets Convention, and "the disappearance of total end-to-end solutions."
Links to over 2 dozen presentations from the conference are here. If you are interested in intranets, portal, and KM, these materials are worth your review.
In addition, see Catherine Monte's new article on LLRX.com, To Portal or Not to Portal - That is the Question.
USPS Changes Course on Identifying Senders of Mail
According to an article in today's Washington Times:
"The U.S. Postal Service is withdrawing a notice in the Federal Register because its wording suggests that a plan to identify senders of bulk mail is the first step to identifying the senders of all mail."
Statement of Vice President, Pricing and Classification, Stephen M. Kearney
See my previous posting, USPS Wants to Institute Intelligent Mail
Pacer Extends Cap on Document Fee
From the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, Pacer Service Center:
30 Page Cap Will Soon Include Docket Sheets
See also the Chronology of the Federal Judiciary's Electronic Public Access (EPA) Program
October 29, 2003
Personal Data Must Be Redacted from Paper and Electronic Filings Before Year's End
From today's Daily Business Review:
"To prevent identity theft and other criminal uses of data as more court documents go online, the policy-making arm of the federal courts [U.S. Judicial Conference] has approved a plan that requires attorneys to delete selected personal data, including Social Security numbers, from both their paper and electronic filings [effective on December 1].
See also the Conference Adopts Policy on Electronic Access to Court Files, as well as the Report on Privacy and Public Access to Electronic Case Files.
Online Cost Recovery for Legal Research
Taming Online Research: Tracking, Reporting, & Cost Recovery:
"Law firm libraries and information centers have new and better oppurtunities to track usage of online research, and participate in cost recovery endeavors. Software vendors, both new comers and old timers, help make better reporting possible."
Google to Compete With Amazon on Searchable Book Database
With Amazon having significantly increased the stakes in the e-commerce arena with the recent introduction of their Search Inside the Book service, news that a formidable new adversary may be actively exploring entering the same market. An article from yesterday's Publishers Weekly,The Amazoning of Google? Search Firm Looks for Book Content, indicates that "Google has said it has reached agreements that allow it to enter as many as 60,000 titles in its database and also presented extensive mock-ups to publishers of how book-relevant searches will look."
New Center to Assist Victims of ID Theft
The Financial Services Roundtable, with 100 financial services member companies, announced plans to launch a free Identity Theft Assistance Center, with a pilot program available by Spring 2004.
New Study on the Information Explosion
A team of researchers from the School of Information Management and Systems University of California, Berkeley released a new study today, How Much Information? 2003, that chronicles the information explosion over the past several years. According to the team, during the period of 1999 to 2002, "new stored information grew about 30% a year." Additional facts:
"Print, film, magnetic, and optical storage media produced about 5 exabytes of new information in 2002. Ninety-two percent of the new information was stored on magnetic media, mostly in hard disks."
"The World Wide Web contains about 170 terabytes of information on its surface, in volume this is seventeen times the size of the Library of Congress print collections."
"Email generates about 400,000 terabytes of new information each year worldwide."
For context, see the team's How Much Information? 2000
October 28, 2003
Growing Number of Organizations Press for WHOIS Database Privacy
CircleID reports that a letter to ICANN, seeking increased privacy for the wealth of personal data available in the WHOIS database, has been signed by a coalition of 50 organizations, including the American Library Association (ALA). The ICANN Meeting is currently underway in Carthage, Tunisia through October 31, and a link to the agenda is here.
House Speaker May Force Vote on Anti-Spam Bill
Internetnews.com reports that Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert may push forward with a full floor vote on the Can Spam Act (passed by the Senate on October 22) tomorrow. The goal of passing an anti-spam bill by the end of the year is questionable in light of objections to various provisions of the Act.
Consumers of E-Publications More Web Savvy and Affluent
According to a new Nielsen//NetRatings study (link not available, and commissioned by Newsstand), "users of so-called e-editions of print publications are shown to be more affluent, better educated and heavier users of the Internet than the average online user." [Link thanks to dc]
See also this pbs.org interview by Terence Smith that "examines the growing trend of electronic newsprint editions, and how newspaper publishers are working to keep pace with changing technologies."
HHS Releases Website Guidelines for E-Gov Websites
Research-Based Web Design and Usability Guidelines covers 17 areas of website design, navigation, organization and content, and offers 187 site optimization guidelines developed primarily for federal government website managers and designers. The guide was created by the National Cancer Institute's Usability.gov section.
Growing Influence of Librarians in Debate on Patriot Act
From Page One of today's WSJ, an article titled, Patriot Act Riles An Unlikely Group: Nation's Librarians- [subtitled] Fears About Terrorism Clash With Principles of Privacy As Online Searches Surge:
"The Patriot Act has generated protests from the left and the right since it passed, almost unanimously, six weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. But few critics are more stubborn than the librarians, who see it as an assault on such basic civil liberties as reading privacy and intellectual freedom."
See also beSpacific's previous postings on the Patriot Act.
Related news - this quote from September 16 deserves renewed mention: "Attorney General John Ashcroft today accused the country's biggest library association and other critics of fueling "baseless hysteria" about the government's ability to pry into the public's reading habits."
Privacy Trust Survey Shows Public Has Concerns
Today the WSJ reported on a the results of privacy study conducted last month by the Ponemon Institute, an organization "dedicated to advancing ethical information and privacy management practices in business and government." There is no link available to the text of the study. However the article states that its author, Larry Ponemon, "a pioneer in the development of privacy audits" found that "of more than "5,500 individuals contacted last month, 36% of respondents agreed with the statement that [the Department of] Homeland Security is "committed to protecting the privacy of my personal information." Forty-three percent in the study disagreed, while 21% were unsure."
Columbia Accident Investigation Board Report
The Columbia Accident Investigation Board released Volumes II-VI of its report on October 28, 2003.
Use this link to the website where you may access the table of contents and the full text of report volumes I-IV, in pdf.
Public Access to CRS Reports Temporarily Curtailed?
Each year the Congressional Research Search (CRS) publishes approximately 1,000 reports of which the public may have access to several hundred. In an interesting change of policy, Secrecy News reports that access to selected reports previously provided via the websites of two members of Congress, Rep. Mark Green (R-WI) and Rep. Christopher Shays (R-CT), has been terminated. However, the Committee on House Administration apparently indicated that access via Congressional websites is still permitted with appropriate arrangements.
For background on the CRS and detailed information on how to locate reports, see CRS Reports, by Stephen Young
See also the U.S. Dept. of State website for links to selected Congressional Research Service (CRS) Reports and Issue Briefs from 1999 to present.
October 27, 2003
Southern California Fires
Below I have posted part of an email message sent to law-lib late this evening by one of our colleagues, Amy Hale-Janeke:
"The San Diego County Public Law Library will be closed tomorrow, Oct. 28th due to the fire disaster. We were also closed today. For those of you who have not been watching the news, much of Southern California is on fire. I never thought I could imagine what hell might look like, but I think I have a better idea now. It looks like San Diego- walls of flame, tons of ashes, a weird orange glow over everthing instead of the sun, and lots of people suffering. The ash outside is getting larger and coming down more heavily. It looks like a gigantic bag of confectioners sugar has exploded. The sky is a weird orange color and it is so smoky that it looks like fog."
Clash of Financial Privacy Laws
California's pioneering Financial Information Privacy Act SB 1, signed by Gov. Gray Davis on August 27, is in serious jeopardy of being preempted by amendments to the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
Congress Is Close to Eliminating a Privacy Law
Privacy bill may curtail safeguards in state law
White House Refuses Doc. Request for 9-11 Investigation
AP reports that the White House has failed to cooperate with the bi-partisan commission investigating the 9-11 attacks. This action takes the form of refusing to provide essential documents to the commission despite the threat of a subpoena. The panel is facing a May 27, 2004 deadline to complete its work.
According to an October 26 New York Times article, "The chairman (of the 9-11 Commission), Thomas H. Kean, the former Republican governor of New Jersey, also said in an interview on Friday that he believed the bipartisan 10-member commission would soon be forced to issue subpoenas to other executive branch agencies because of continuing delays by the Bush administration in providing documents and other evidence needed by the panel."
See my related posting of October 16, Commission Investigating 9/11 to Issue Subpoena to the FAA.
See also Statement by the 9-11 Commission, October 15, 2003.
USPS Wants to Institute Intelligent Mail
Post Office Wants to ID the Mail:
"A small change in labeling requirements for bulk mailings announced Oct. 21 requires bulk mailers to identify themselves on the outside of the envelope with a valid address. This marks the first step in the Postal Service's desire to create "intelligent mail."
See Embracing the Future: Making the Tough Choices to Preserve Universal Mail Service
Controversy Concerning Amazon's Inside the Book Service
This link is to the text of an email sent by the Author's Guild to its 8,000 plus members, voicing concerns about Amazon's new Search Inside the Book database:
The Guild questions whether proper permissions were received from the authors of the 120,000 books in Amazon's database. In addition, the organization has deteremined that it is possible to print more than 100 consecutive pages, free, from works that include best selling books.
See also Amazon Offer Worries Authors
New GAO Report Favors Competition in Cable Market
Telecommunications: Issues Related to Competition and Subscriber Rates in the Cable Television Industry. GAO-04-8, October 24. Highlights.
"Competition leads to lower cable rates and improved quality. Competition from a wide-based company is limited to a very few markets. However, where available, cable rates are substantially lower (by 15 percent) than in markets without this competition."
MIT Students Devise Innovative Music Sharing System Using Cable TV
Today the New York Times reports on two students MIT students who, with the backing of their university, have devised a music sharing system called the Libraries Access to Music Project (LAMP), which they contend will eliminate the contentious copyright issues currently associated with file sharing on campuses nationwide. Their work is financed by Microsoft, through which music from 3,500 CDs is provided via the university's cable TV network.
"The students get access to a broad array of music, and the copyright owners get paid. This is where we should all be heading," said Fred von Lohmann, EFF senior staff attorney. "I hope the record industry takes note and realizes this is a whole lot more promising than suing people."
October 24, 2003
New Survey Highlights Lack of Gov't Website Accessibility
Achieving E-Government for All: Highlights from a National Survey, published October 22, by Darrell M. West, Director, Taubman Center for Public Policy, Brown University.
More than 1,600 local, state and federal websites were reviewed using the free Bobby Accessibility Test.
Several key facts: government data is increasingly migrating to the web; more than 100 million Americans are not online, more than 50 million Americans have "some level of disability," and 90 million adults are identified as "low literate."
"Information on most government websites is skewed to the needs and abilities of highly educated English speakers."
"...47 percent of federal sites satisfied the W3C standard of accessibility, 33 percent of state sites did and 20 percent of city government sites met the test. With the stricter Section 508 guidelines, 22 percent of federal sites were in compliance, compared to 24 percent of state sites and 13 percent of city websites."
California Wins First Anti-Spam Lawsuit
Today California Attorney General Bill Lockyer announced that the state won a judgment of $2 million against a spammer (The People of the State of California v. PW Marketing, Santa Clara County Superior Court) in what will be a model for future cases involving unsolicited email. As I posted previously, the state's new anti-spam law (in effect on January 1, 2004) prohibits an individual or entity, either from within the state or from outside the state, from distributing unsolicited commercial email advertising.
Ban on Media Coverage of Homecomings for U.S. Casualties in Iraq
This article from the October 21 Washington Post answers the question of why there is no longer any media coverage on the return of our military personnel who have died in Afghanistan and Iraq. Apparently this past March, the Pentagon issued a directive stating:
"There will be no arrival ceremonies for, or media coverage of, deceased military personnel returning to or departing from Ramstein [Germany] airbase or Dover [Del.] base, to include interim stops."
E-Government Funding Lacks Congressional Support
Federal Computer Week reports on the continued lack of support for funding e-government initiatives, as the Senate approved a paltry $5 million of the $45 million requested by the President for Fiscal 2004. According to the OMB's Statement of Administration Policy:
"As has been demonstrated by successes from the modest $5 million invested in each of the last two years (including e-Rulemaking, recreation.gov, e-Authentication, geodata.gov, e-Training and firstgov.gov), the e-gov fund can bring significant improvements across agencies while reducing the need for each agency to 'reinvent the IT wheel."
More On the New Amazon Inside the Book Service
From the December 2003 issue of Wired Magazine, this article provides background and details about the development and implementation of Amazon's new Search Inside the Book service comprised of more than 120,000 books that have been scanned into an electronic archive.
"The archive is intentionally crippled. A search brings back not text, but pictures -- pictures of pages. You can find the page that responds to your query, read it on your screen, and browse a few pages backward and forward. But you cannot download, copy, or read the book from beginning to end. There is no way to link directly to any page of a book. If you want to read an extensive excerpt, you must turn to the physical volume -- which, of course, you can conveniently purchase from Amazon."
Google IPO in 2004?
Google considers online auction of IPO shares:
"Google is considering holding a massive online auction of shares early next year in an initial public offering that investment bankers predict could value the internet search-engine company at more than $15bn. An electronic auction would be designed to prevent a recurrence of the sort of financial scandals that have engulfed Wall Street since the collapse of the dotcom bubble, according to a person close to the company."
October 23, 2003
GPO Responds to Speculation of Fee-Based Future for Gov't Docs
As I posted yesterday, Roll Call published an article that seemed to indicate the GPO was evaluating whether it would continue providing free public access to a range of government documents. The library community apparently reacted swiftly and strongly to this information, and late this afternoon, the Superintendent of Documents, Judith C. Russell, posted the text of a clarification letter to the article's author on several library listservs. Excerpts from the letter are as follows:
"...we have no immediate plans for the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) to charge for our GPO Access databases. The GPO is merely exploring options for the sales program as the agency evaluates all of our current services and looks to the future...This discussion focused on the future of the GPO's sales program, not its Federal Depository Library Program (FDLP). GPO remains strongly committed to providing free public access to Federal government information through the FDLP."
House Bill to Amend Patriot Act Joins Companion Senate Bill
The House version of the Security and Freedom Ensured Act of 2003 (SAFE) Act, introduced October 21, H.R. 3352, mirrors the companion Senate version (S. 1709, introduced October 2), but it modifies the definition of domestic terrorism to "involve acts dangerous to human life," thereby excluding political protests.
New Aussie Search Engine Takes Aim At Google
A new Australian search engine (it is in beta) was launched on October 22 by a company called Mooter Search. The CEO, Liesl Capper, stated that Mooter is unique in that it "look(s) at the long lists of results from other search engines and then...group(s) them using artificial intelligence algorithms. But also we look at what you're doing and while you're working we actually move with you and push up things that you seem to be interested in." [Link]
Second Anniversary of Patriot Act on October 26
Press release from the website of Sen. Russ Feingold:
"October 26 marks the second anniversary of the enactment of the USA-PATRIOT Act. I was the only Senator to vote against the Act at the time because I believe that it goes too far in allowing the government to obtain personal information about law-abiding Americans who are not suspected terrorists or spies. Today, I am pleased to be working with Senators from both parties who agree that portions of the law must be changed."
Predicting the Outcome of Supreme Court Cases
The Supreme Court Forecasting Project, from Washington University in St. Louis, consists of a computer model that was used to predict the votes of the judges for each pending case of the 2001-2002 term. These forecasts were juxtaposed with those made by an expert panel of "law professors or appellate practitioners who specialize in one or more areas of the Supreme Court's docket."
"For the 2003 term, we are providing real time statistical forecasts based on a statistical model updated with the cases decided during the 2002 term. Anyone can use the Forecasting Engine to obtain model-based forecasts for cases of interest. For each case, we will be posting our forecasts (obtained using the engine) as well as the final decisions as they are reached. We also will post the manner in which we coded the variables on which the forecasts are based."
New Pew Internet Study Details Negative Impact of Spam
From the Pew Internet Project, a new report released October 22, Spam: How it is hurting email and degrading life on the Internet:
"Spam is beginning to undermine the integrity of email and degrade life online. The huge increase in email spam in recent years is beginning to take its toll on the online world. Some email users say they are using electronic mail less now because of spam. More people are reporting they trust the online environment less. Increasing numbers are saying that they fear they cannot retrieve the emails they need because of the flood of spam. They also worry that their important emails to others are not being read or received because the recipients’ filters might screen them out or the emails might get lost in the rising tide of junk filling people’s inboxes."
See also this related New York Times article: A Change of Habits to Elude Spam's Pall:
"With In boxes deluged, e-mail users are taking evasive action. Sometimes they just pick up a phone."
Senate Passes Bill to Regulate Unsolicited Email
The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, S. 877, which was approved by the Senate Commerce Committee by voice vote on June 19, yesterday passed the full Senate by a vote of 97-0. An amendment to authorize the Federal Trade Commission to implement a nationwide "Do Not E-mail" registry was proposed and agreed to.
Senate Anti-Spam Bill Ups Ante for House Action
See also this press release from Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.): "Legislation gives consumers more control over unwanted e-mail, promises stiff punishment for senders of unlawful, deceptive spam." Included is a link to the pdf version of S. 877 (61 pages).
Book Buyers May Now Search Text Prior to Purchasing
In a posting on September 10, I noted that Amazon was preparing a new service for mid-September release, called Look Inside the Book II. A press release today from Amazon announced that an expansion to the service has been launched, Search Inside the Book, that enables "customers to find books at Amazon.com based on every word inside more than 120,000 books -- more than 33 million pages of searchable text. Customers can also preview the inside text of these books. Search Inside the Book is integrated into Amazon.com's standard search and includes books from all genres."
See this How It Works page for screen shots and examples of the service. The Search Inside the Book FAQ page provides further details.
October 22, 2003
No More Free Gov't Docs from GPO?
From Roll Call Newspaper Online, this free excerpt (subscription req'd to read complete article) on news about GPO and future public access to government documents:
"In an effort to reverse declining sales revenue at the Government Printing Office, Public Printer Bruce James announced Tuesday that the agency will consider charging fees for many of the publications it now offers to the public at not cost."
Marketing Association Seeks To Preempt CA Privacy Law
California's pioneering anti-spam law, set to go into effect January 1, 2004 is the target of Congressional lobbying by the Direct Marketing Association (DMA).
From a DMA press release dated October 21: "The DMA is working with numerous coalitions to pass a federal spam law that would set national standards and preempt state law, including SB 186. The DMA is also working with coalitions in California discussing amendments to the law with the original Senate sponsor. A coalition is discussing approaching the new governor, and another coalition is discussing potential legal action."
Congressional Reactions to Growing Criticism of Patriot Act
Patriot Act Misunderstood, Senators Say:
"Even as some members of the Senate Judiciary Committee said they want to see elements of the Patriot Act modified, others contended that some of the attacks on the anti-terrorism legislation have been unfair."
"The Justice Department's push to defend the Patriot Act was in full swing Tuesday as senior officials told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the law has been vital to preventing terrorism." [Link]
Crime Database Loses Participation of Another State
Georgia takes a pass on anti-terror crime database: Georgia has joined five other states that have opted to suspend participation, due to privacy concerns, in the DOJ initiated MATRIX (Multistate Anti-Terrorism Information Exchange) project.
According to a statement by Gov. Sonny Perdue, "The State of Georgia will not transfer any additional information to the company responsible for the MATRIX project. I have held serious concerns about the privacy issues involved with this project all along, and have decided it is in the best interest of the people of Georgia that our state have no further participation in the MATRIX pilot project."
Law Firm Memo Subject of NY Times Front Page Article
Is this a parody or a real-world look behind the scenes of a large law firm paralegal assignment:
Legal Research? Get Me Sushi, With Footnotes.
An excerpt of the memo is here. Note that it may not have the same resonance for those who do no work in NYC, but nevertheless may strike a familiar chord.
October 21, 2003
Update on RIAA's Lawsuit Notification Letters
PBS.org Online NewsHour published an article yesterday with details on the statements made in letters the RIAA sent to 204 individuals last week notifiying them of impending lawsuits as a result of illegal music downloads in excess of 1,000 songs.
"The letter begins with the warning that recording companies intend to file a lawsuit against you shortly for copyright infringement, because we have gathered substantial evidence that you have been using a peer-to-peer network for illegal activities....The recipient has 10 days to contact the RIAA and discuss a settlement to avoid litigation. Otherwise, lawsuits will be filed by the end of the month."
3rd Circuit Upholds Internet Royalty Fees for Broadcasters
From the United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, Bonneville International Corporation et al v. MaryBeth Peters (United States Register of Copyrights), No. 01-3720, October 17, 2003: the court affirmed the Copyright Office ruling that broadcasters who stream music on the web must pay royalty fees to recording companies, composers and musicians.
Industry reacts to Court's denial of b'caster royalty exemption plea
Survey Names Top Ten Online Legislatures
The Center for Digital Government announced the results of the 2003 Digital Legislatures Survey. Participation for the survey was solicited from all fifty states, and the Nevada Legislature Online was chosen the "most digitally advanced legislature in the country." The Minnesota State Legislature and South Dakota Legislature websites were named second best. The rest of the top ten are comprised of the following states: Louisiana, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Utah, Virginia and Washington (tied), Rhode Island, and New Mexico.
Hearing on DOJ's Investigation and Prosecution of Terrorists
"Protecting Our National Security from Terrorist Attacks: A Review of Criminal Terrorism Investigations and Prosecutions," Senate Judiciary Committee
Full Committee, October 21, 2003.
Official Hearing Notice, Witness List, Member Statements, and Testimony.
New Advocacy Website Addresses Issue of Open Government
OpenTheGovernment.org, Americans for Less Secrecy, More Democracy, is a new website formed by "a coalition of organizations united in our belief that we must remain a free society in which an open government helps the public make informed choices, hold government accountable, and address our most pressing needs." The site is still under construction. The Steering Committee includes among its members Mary Alice Baish, Associate Washington Affairs Representative, American Association of Law Libraries (AALL).
Enterprise Blogging as a Communications Tool
Blogging for Business:
"This article takes a look at the emerging role of blogs and how they could be used in business to improve communication internally and externally."
EPA's New Compliance Database
The EPA's Enforcement & Compliance History Online (ECHO) database was released in final version this past August, with the current data updated through September.
"Use ECHO to determine whether: Compliance inspections have been conducted by EPA or State/local governments; Violations were detected; Enforcement actions were taken and penalties were assessed in response to environmental law violations."
Users may search data by category (all data, air data, water data, hazardous waste data, multiple ID search), or use Quick Search (using zip code, city or state).
Google Adds Glossary and Stock Quote Links
From the Google Weblog, news that Google has incorporated a glossary feature:
Use "define" along with a search term to retrieve a web definition - example: define habeas corpus. At the end of the definition, you will see the phrase "More definitions," which will provide you with a list of definitions from a range of website sources.
In addition, searches for specific companies include a link to related stock quotes.
See also Google Further 'Defines' Search
October 20, 2003
Recommendations to Improve PC Security and Privacy
The Great American Privacy Makeover:
"An exclusive PC World survey reveals that even savvy Web users can do more to safeguard their privacy and data."
Sen. Coleman Online Today to Discuss File Sharing Controversy
From today's Washington Post: The RIAA and the Music Piracy Debate:
"Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) was online to talk about his efforts to rein in the recording industry's aggressive legal war against people who illegally trade music online. Piracy is wrong, Coleman agrees, but so too are some of the industry's tactics.
GAO Report on Electronic Rulemaking
Electronic Rulemaking: Efforts to Facilitate Public Participation Can Be Improved. GAO-03-901, September 17. Highlights.
This report reviews whether agency websites are efficient at serving the public by providing access to proposed rules, permitting comments on those rules, access to related materials, and to the comments of others.
Annual Survey on First Amendment Released
The First Amendment Center has released their current State of the First Amendment survey (44 pages, pdf), released every year since 1997. "In 2003, Americans’ support for their First Amendment freedoms – shaken by the events of Sept. 11, 2001 – appears to be returning to pre-9/11 levels."
Advocacy Group Releases White Paper on Free Trade
"International civil liberties group IP Justice published a report today entitled "FTAA: A Threat to Freedom and Free Trade," that analyzes key sections of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) Treaty. The FTAA Treaty will govern the lives of 800 million Americans in the Western Hemisphere in 2005. Similar to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the FTAA Treaty seeks to bind the 34 democracies in the Western Hemisphere (including the US) to a single trade agreement. It will require all countries to change their domestic laws on a wide range of topics, including intellectual property rights." [Link to the press release]
This link provides access to the report's table of contents, as well as to the full text, available in the following formats:
White Paper as HTML Page (221 kb)
White Paper as PDF File (289 kb)
White Paper as MS Word Document (177 kb)
New MS Office Includes Self Destructing E-Mail Feature
The BBC reports that Microsoft Office 2003, available tomorrow, will include new e-mail privacy and security features, including the ability to designate specific readers, prevent message forwarding and printing, and a "time-stamp" which results in email deletion on a specified date.
For more product details, see also Inside Office 2003, from PCWorld.com
Advanced Search Feature Added for Ask Jeeves
From Ask.com, the newly available Ask Jeeves Advanced Search Options providers users with features to focus search requests by indicating the requirement of an exact phrase, inclusion/exclusion or words/phrases, the location of words/phrases in a document, the document language, geographic region, date/date range the page was modified. See also this Help page for more information.
National Geographic Explores the Good and Bad Aspects of Increased Surveillance
From National Geographic, an excerpt of this article, Watching You, The World of High-Tech Surveillance, from the November 2003 issue:
"In our high-tech world, machines track personal records, see through walls, and screen facial features. Will electronic surveillance mean better security, or an end to privacy?"
Strategies to Improve the Navigation of Portals, Websites and KM Apps
Sitemaps and Site Indexes: What They Are and Why You Should Have Them, by Chiara Fox:
"Sitemaps and site indexes are forms of supplemental navigation. They give users a way to navigate a site without having to use the global navigation. By providing a way to visualize and understand the layout and structure of the site, a sitemap can help a lost or confused user find her way. Sitemaps are more widely implemented than site indexes, but both have their place and fulfill a unique information need."
Perspectives on File Sharing
This article from OpenP2P.com, by Preston Gralla, offers advice to those who continue to download music files:
"But if you do decide to continue sharing files despite the potential legal problems, there are some things you can do to make it unlikely that the RIAA will target you. In this article, we'll look at ways you can continue to share music and other files using file-sharing software, without fear."
"This means that if you keep your music collection relatively small, you're less likely to be targeted by the music industry enforcers."
"The RIAA sued only those who made their own files available to others, not those who only downloaded them. So, for example, if someone downloaded files, but didn't allow others to download from their collection, the RIAA left them alone."
From the Bulletin of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Oct/Nov 2003, this related article, Copyright's Digital Dilemma Today: Fair Use or Unfair Constrainsts? Part 1: The Battle Over File Sharing, by attorney and law professor Lee. S. Strickland.
October 17, 2003
Microsoft and USPS Partner on Postmark App
From the USPS:
"Just click the USPS EPM icon in the Microsoft Word toolbar, apply a USPS EPM to your document (contract, letter, agreement), and sign. This gives your document tamper protection against fraud and the ability to verify document authenticity with a click of the USPS EPM signature block." Free for individual users who have Microsoft Office XP and Office 2003.
RIAA Prepares New Round of Lawsuits
In a change of tactics, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has contacted 204 alleged file swappers by letter in an effort to negotiate settlements prior to filing lawsuits.
See also this EFF press release which comments on the RIAA "litigation crusade" and provides a link to an EFF video which addresses the file swapping copyright controversy.
"The 204 persons targeted by the recording industry are being accused of distributing an average of 1,000 copyrighted music files each, according to the RIAA. Copyright law allows the industry to collect $750 to $150,000 for each song file distributed." [
Link]
Pioneering Free Online eBook Website Marks Publication of 10,000 texts
On October 15, Project Gutenberg marked a milestone in the publication of free ebooks online, with this link to the Magna Carta. The pioneering project has now published 10,000 ebooks since its inception in 1971. [Slashdot]
JetBlue Privacy Issue Now the Focus of Senate Cmte. Inquiry
According to today's New York Times, Chairman Susan Collins and Ranking Member Joseph Lieberman, Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, sent a letter on October 16 to Sec. of Defense Donald Rumsfeld about the escalating privacy controversy concerning JetBlue Airways' acknowledgement that the company shared millions of passenger data records with government contractor Torch Concepts, news of which was reported by Wired on September 18. The letter to Rumsfeld stated that the Senators believed that this matter raised "disturbing questions about the reliability of safeguards in place at the Defense Department to protect Americans' privacy," and asked if the Pentagon had considered the issue of whether this constituted a violation of the Privacy Act.
UK University Hosts Portal to European Law
The European Legal Studies (CELS) of the University of Exeter hosts the European Private Law Homepage, which "provides a starting point for legal research on European private law. It contains original material in the form of a comprehensive overview of all secondary Community law relevant to private law scholars and practitioners."
FTC Do Not Call Registry Is Alive and Well
From the FTC press release:
"Consumers registered with the National Do Not Call list have filed more than 15,000 complaints against telemarketers who continue to call them. The Do Not Call list, which opened to consumer registrations on June 27, 2003, currently contains 53.7 million telephone numbers. Telemarketers began accessing the Registry on September 2, 2003, through a Web site specifically developed for telemarketers, telemarketing.donotcall.gov."
State-by-state chart on National Do Not Call Registry
Total Registrations through October 14, 2003.
Minnesota Cannot Regulate Internet Telephony
Yesterday Judge Michael J. Davis of the United States District Court of Minnesota released a 22 page decision, Vonage Holdings Corporation, Civil No. 03-5287 (MJD/JGL) Plaintiff, v. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, following his October 8 bench ruling.
From the Judge's summary: "Plaintiff Vonage Holdings Corporation ("Vonage") provides a service that permits voice communications over the Internet. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission ("MPUC") issued an order requiring Vonage to comply with Minnesota laws that regulate telephone companies. Vonage has asked this Court to enjoin the MPUC, arguing that it provides information services, and not telecommunications services. The Court concludes that Vonage is an information service provider."
From the Discussion: "The Court concludes that based on the previously-discussed congressional intent to leave Internet and information services unregulated, granting an injunction is in the public interest."
October 16, 2003
State of Florida Outsources its Web Portal
From the USA Today: "The State Technology Office is privatizing several of its functions, including the MyFlorida Web site and maintenance of the state's technology systems."
Virginia Newspaper Provides Blog on Sniper Trial
The Virginia Pilot (Hampton Roads, Virginia) has a blogger (Kerry W. Sipe, News Online Coordinator) providing real-time updates on the trial of John A. Muhammad, one of the two alleged Beltway snipers. TV coverage of the trail has been banned.
Commission Investigating 9/11 to Issue Subpoena
The Congressional Joint Inquiry Commission on 9/11 will issue its first subpoena, "to the Federal Aviation Administration because of serious deficiencies in (that) agency's production of critical documents." [Link]
House Subcmte. Approves Database Protection Bill
This afternoon the House Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property Committee on the Judiciary approved the Database and Collections of Information Misappropriation Act of 2003, (H.R. 3261). See my previous postings on this legislation here and here. The Chair of the Committee, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX), one of the bill's co-sponsors, stated: "Databases require substantial investments of time, personnel and money...Information companies must dedicate resources to gathering and verifying factual material, presenting it in a user-friendly way, and keeping it current. In cyberspace, technological developments represent a threat as well as an opportunity for collections of information. Digitally copying factual material from a third party's collection, and using it to form a competing information product is cheaper and easier than ever." [Link]
VeriSign Announces Sale of Network Solutions and Possible Re-Launch of Site Finder
From VeriSign's press release: "VeriSign, Inc, the leading provider of critical infrastructure services for the Internet and telecommunications networks, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to sell the Network Solutions business unit to Pivotal Private Equity. Under the terms of the agreement, VeriSign will receive approximately $100 million..." The company will retain its VeriSign Naming and Directory Services, which "is the backbone of a global .com and .net domain name infrastructure that handles over 10 billion interactions per day." [Link]
There is also news that VeriSign plans to relaunch their controversial web-typo service, Site Finder. See also ICANN grills VeriSign over Site Finder service.
Advocacy Group Seeks DOJ Docs in Patriot Act Lobbying Campaign
EPIC filed an action under FOIA in the U.S. District Court, DC, "seeking the expedited release
of Justice Department records concerning the lobbying efforts of federal prosecutors to oppose revisions to the controversial USA PATRIOT Act. Despite widespread media coverage of the lobbying campaign, and questions as to its legality, DOJ has refused to expedite EPIC's disclosure request."
Researchers, Gov't and Corporations Look to Evolving Info Management Applications
This New York Times article focuses on the growing interest in, and use of "text mining, a technique that academics have been experimenting with for years but for which tools have only recently become commercially available. The prospect of rapidly scanning through reams of documents is stirring interest among researchers and analysts faced with more material than they can handle."
See also this article, What Is Text Mining? by Marti Hears, Associate Professor, SIMS, UC Berkeley.
Bipartisan Group of Senators Introduce Bill to Amend Patriot Act
On October 15, Idaho Senator Larry Craig was joined by colleagues from both sides of the aisle as co-sponsors to S.1709, the Security and Freedom Ensured Act of 2003 (SAFE Act), to amend the USA PATRIOT ACT to place reasonable limitations on the use of surveillance and the issuance of search warrants, and for other purposes. Sen. Craig's press release indicates that the legislation focuses on four disputatious sections of the USA PATRIOT Act:
delayed notice or "sneak and peek" warrants
John Doe roving wiretaps
library searches
and nation-wide search warrants
See also this article from today's Washington Times that states: "A bipartisan group of lawmakers and advocacy groups have formed a "Coalition of Conscience" to roll back sections of the Patriot Act they say encroach on civil liberties."
OMB Launches Redesigned Website
The Office of Personnel Management launched its redesigned website on October 14. From the main page, users will find quick links to federal forms, news & events, HR tools and resources, OPM publications, and e-gov initiatives.
October 15, 2003
Consumer Data Protection Guidelines for Financial Institutions
Federal Agencies' Guidelines [proposed August 12, 2003, by the FDIC, OCC, Federal Reserve and OTS] regarding Notification by Financial Companies when a Security Breach Compromises Customer Data and Exposes Individuals to Identity Theft: comments submitted by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse on October 14.
How to Locate and Evaluate Reliable Primary Web Resources
Using Primary Sources on the Web: "This brief guide is designed to provide students and researchers with information to help them evaluate the internet sources and the quality of primary materials that can be found online." [via LisNews]
Privacy and Court Records
Chris Jay Hoofnagle, EPIC Deputy Counsel, will present the following paper, Public Records and Privacy (pdf), to the National Conference of Bankruptcy Judges 77th Annual Meeting on October 17. He examines the rights and responsibilities of data collectors and data subjects in the evolving system of online public records.
Microsoft Obtains Patent on Unique User IDs
United States Patent 6,632,248, Customization of network documents by accessing customization information on a server computer using uniquie (note: the word unique is misspelled in the patent document itself) user identifiers.
"The customization options may include a wide variety of information such as, for example, network addresses (e.g., URLs) of a user's favorite sites, types of news that the user wants to see, display information that determines how the information is presented to the user, stock ticker symbols for which the user wishes to receive stock quotes, or the city for which the user wishes to receive a weather report."
Search Tips From Google Expert
20 Great Google Secrets, by Tara Calishain, author of Google Hacks, offers useful suggestions to make your use of the search engine more effective.
California Online Privacy Law Goes Into Effect July 2004
From the website of California State Assemblyman Joe Simitian:
Assembly Bill 68 - Online Privacy Protection
The Online Privacy and Disclosure Act of 2003 requires commercial Web site operators that collect personal information online from California residents to post a conspicuous privacy policy stating what information they collect and with whom they share the information. The bill also requires those Web site operators to comply with the provisions of their posted privacy policies. Signed by the Governor. Chaptered by Secretary of State - Chapter 829, Statutes of 2003.
GAO Report on Social Security Numbers Issued to Non-Citizens
Social Security Administration: Actions Taken to Strengthen Procedures for Issuing Social Security Numbers to Noncitizens, but Some Weaknesses Remain. GAO-04-12, October 15. Highlights.
Unusual Article Located By Airport Screeners
I don't really know how to classify this story, but it just had to be shared:
From nbc4.com: An elderly passenger was stopped at Reagan Washington National Airport Tuesday after security screeners found a sword hidden in his cane. The sword is 20 inches long."
Prosecutors Request That Computer Fraud Conviction Be Reversed
Bret McDanel, a former employee of Tornado Development, Inc., served a 16 month sentence for violating the Computer Fraud & Abuse Act. After leaving Tornado, a provider of Unified Messaging (UM) solutions, he sent an email to thousands of the company's customers detailing a corporate email security flaw. End of story? Apparently not, as today AP reported that Assistant U.S. Attorney Ronald L. Cheng (LA) requested that the court reverse Mr. McDanel's conviction, stating that an "error" had been made, as McDanel did "not intentionally impair the [email] system by reporting its security flaws."
October 14, 2003
Best City, County and State Websites
The Center for Digital Government announced that from 216 jurisdictions considered, the state of Utah, Montgomery County, Maryland and Washington, D.C. represented the best examples of e-gov portal services. Also included in this announcement are links to other Best of the Web winners in various categories.
Advocacy Groups Request Tighter Controls on Bank Security Notices
From EPIC.org:
"In comments to the Department of the Treasury, EPIC and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group urged the agency to strengthen a proposed guidance on security notices to bank customers. The proposed guidelines specify when a financial institution must give notice to a customer when their personal information has been accessed without authorization."
Marketing Associations Issue E-Mail Guidelines
From the press release:
"Based on direct input from members, the American Association of Advertising Agencies (AAAA), the Association of National Advertisers (ANA), and the Direct Marketing Association (The DMA) today released a set of nine guidelines that call on marketers to institute certain practices that will defend and enhance the viability of legitimate e-mail marketing."g
The nine guidelines, in pdf, are here.
New Consumer Product Recall Website
Nolo and Justia have launched a new free recall and warnings site, which focuses on products, food, drug and car recall data. The site is arranged so users may view data by category (currently there are 11), review government notices on recent recalls, or choose to read one of a half dozen featured recall notices from the main page. These notices may also provide photos of the respective products, video clips, and charts. Thanks to Tim Stanley for the link.
Supreme Court Will Review Child Online Protection Act
Today the Supreme Court agreed to review, again, the appeal of the Child Online Protection Act. Links to resources on the Act, as well as related resources, are available in my August 13 posting, DOJ Appeals COPA Decision to Supreme Court.
Print Publishers Still Unsure of Internet
A recent GartnerG2 survey: Print Publishers Are Uncertain About Their Digital Future [Link]
October 13, 2003
Survey of Intranet Design Winners
Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, October 2003, Ten Best Intranets of 2003:
175-page Intranet Design Annual with 97 screenshots of the ten winners is available for download, pdf, $98. [Link]
The ten winning intranets are: Amadeus Global Travel Distribution, Spain; ChevronTexaco; Design Matters, Inc., a Web design agency; FIGG Engineering Group, a consultancy specializing in bridges, Fujitsu Siemens Computers, Germany Landor Associates, a brand strategy consultancy; Mayo Clinic, a non-profit medical center; North Tyneside College, U.K.; United States Coast Guard; Wachovia Corporation, the 5th largest bank in the United States.
Wired District Courts
AP published a list of the 26 (of the 94) district courts that currently provide electronic filing and case management.
Initiative Works Towards Open Internet Policies
Weblog of the Global Internet Policy Initiative (GIPI):
"The Global Internet Policy Initiative supports adoption in developing countries of the legal and policy framework for an open and democratic Internet. The project works with local stakeholders in consultative, coalition-based efforts to promote the principles of a decentralized, accessible, user-controlled, and market-driven Internet. [thanks to Robert Horvitz, the site's Project Manager]
See also the website of the Global Internet Policy Initiative
New Scientific Journal at Vanguard of Free Access Publishing Movement
The premier issue of the first free journal from the Public Library of Science, PLoS Biology, is now available online, although traffic to the site since the announcement has resulted in intermittent access. From the editorial statement:
"PLoS Biology, and every PLoS journal to follow, will be an open-access publication–everything we publish will immediately be freely available to anyone, anywhere, to download, print, distribute, read, and use without charge or other restrictions, as long as proper attribution of authorship is maintained." Content is available in multiple formats: Abstract, Full Text, PDF, and Suppleme 