October 31, 2005
Call for Hearings On WMD Documents Used to Justify Iraq War
Press release: "Congressman Jerrold Nadler today demanded the House Judiciary Committee investigate whether White House officials deliberately deceived Congress in order to obtain its authorization of the war in Iraq. In a letter to Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. calling for hearings [text of which accompanies this link], Congressman Nadler cited new evidence from the investigation led by Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald, as well as evidence compiled from media reports, that the Bush Administration knowingly marketed the war with fictitious evidence. It was originally expected that Fitzgerald would issue a final report, detailing all of his findings...Now that he has declined to do so...there is even greater need for hearings that will air the facts in a public forum."
Democratic Policy Report Reviews Ongoing Failures in Hurricane Reponse
Democratic Policy Committee Report, October 31, 2005: Bush Administration, Congressional Republicans Mismanage Hurricane Recovery - Thousands of Hurricane Survivors Still Face Immediate Needs
"While rescue and relief operations in the immediate aftermath of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita have been completed, thousands of hurricane survivors remain in dire need of assistance. Unfortunately, two months after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast region, the federal government's response has failed to get many of these survivors the help they need."
Join Your Colleagues At BlawgThink 2005
If you are interested in a community based learning experience on legal blogging, whether you are a librarian, attorney, marketing, CI or IT expert, take a look at the agenda for the upcoming BlawgThink 2005. Veteran blogger or novice, this forum offers a creative, interactive agenda, with presentations by, and conversations with, a range of experts who will look at all facets of the ever expanding and knowledge rich realm of blogging.
Global Computer Waste Exported to Africa
Following up on previous postings related to security risks associated with discarding PC hard drives, the parallel environmental toll of the expanding amount of e-waste generated by constant hardware upgrades, via the The Basel Action Network (BAN):
High-Tech Toxic Trash Exported to Africa
The Digital Dump: Exporting Re-Use and Abuse to Africa
Information Recovered from Discarded Hard Drives of Computers in Lagos, Nigeria.
Commentary Reviews 50 Years of Open Records Law
FOIA Falters - The law still works, but it needs a tune-up
Related resources: See FOIA Facts, by Scott A. Hodes
Publishers Offer Wider Public Access to Online Medical Literature
From UPI: "More than 50 medical and scientific non-profit publishers, representing more than 120 journals, have offered the National Institutes of Health access to their contents free of charge through their current links to the NIH's PubMed Central data archive."
From Washington D.C. Principles For Free Access to Science, in PDF, Leading Scientific & Medical Organizations Offer The NIH Direct Links To Their Journals To Make It Easy For The Public To Access Research
Feds and Industry Join Forces to Fight Spam
A new, joint federal law enforcement and industry initiative to fight Internet fraud, called LooksTooGoodToBeTrue, was launched today (press release, 5 pages, PDF). "This website was developed to arm you with information so you don’t fall victim to these Internet scam artists." The site provides consumers with documentation on: Types of Fraud; Victim Stories; FAQs & Tips; Information Regarding Phishing Scams; a Fraud Risk Test; and Links to help prevent you from being scammed.
Related references:
Consumer Reports WebWatch Finds Identity Theft Fears, Trust Concerns Turning Significant Number of U.S. Web Users Away, October 26, 2005
Leap of Faith: Using the Internet Despite the Dangers - Results of a National Survey of Internet Users for Consumer Reports WebWatch (42 pages, PDF)
October 30, 2005
Saddam Hussein Trial Blog
"As arguably the most important war crimes proceedings since Nuremberg, the trials of Saddam Hussein are likely to constitute a "Grotian Moment" — defined as a legal development that is so significant that it can create new customary international law or radically transform the interpretation of treaty-based law. This Website features key documents related to the Iraqi High Tribunal, answers to frequently asked questions, and expert debate and public commentary on the major issues and developments related to the trials of Saddam Hussein and other former Iraqi leaders."
CRS Report on Terrorist Capabilities for Cyberattack
CRS Report, Terrorist Capabilities for Cyberattack: Overview and Policy Issues, October 20, 2005.
New Executive Order Requires Interagency Cooperation on Terror Info Sharing
Executive Order 13388, Further Strengthening the Sharing of Terrorism Information to Protect Americans, October 25, 2005, published in the Federal Register on October 28, 2005.
"Duties of Heads of Agencies Possessing or Acquiring Terrorism Information...shall promptly give access to the terrorism information to the head of each other agency that has counterterrorism functions, and provide the terrorism information to each such agency, unless otherwise directed by the President.."
Related reference:
October 19, 2005 - Oversight Subcommittee Hearing on the Status of Implementation of the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, and the stand-up of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Witness statements, all in PDF: Newt Gingrich. Former Speaker of the House; Ret. Adm. William Studeman,
Former Commissioner, Presidential Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction; Zoe Baird, President of the Markle Foundation; Chairman Thornberry's Opening Statement; Ranking Member Cramer's Opening Statement
Notable Commentary Related to the Libby Indictment
Rep. John Conyers. Jr., ConyersBlog: "The truisms of Watergate are the same: it is not the crime, it is the cover up and, when there is a cover up, there is a crime. And the questions are the same: What did the President and Vice President know and when did they know it?"
Washington Post (reg. req'd), A Leak, Then a Deluge - Did a Bush loyalist, trying to protect the case for war in Iraq, obstruct an investigation into who blew the cover of a covert CIA operative?
The Nation, A Grave Indictment, but Grave Questions Remain: "If a senior White House official leaks classified information that identifies an undercover CIA officer to reporters in order to undermine a critic of the administration, he is not entitled to lie about it to FBI agents and a grand jury charged with the task of determining if such a leak violated the law."
Washington Post (reg. req'd), Valerie Plame, the Spy Who Got Shoved Out Into the Cold "...After she was named in a syndicated column by Robert Novak, Plame had no chance of working again in her chosen field, her friends say, and the strain of remaining at the agency has taken its toll."
LA Times (reg. req'd), Our 27 months of hell, by Joseph C. Wilson IV
Postscript:
Interview of Tim Russert by MSNBC, October 20, 2005: "Remember, it was George W. Bush, who in the campaign of 2000 said, "When I put my hand on the Bible I will restore honor and integrity to the Oval Office."
Washington Post (reg. req'd), October 30, 2005, from a new Washington Post-ABC News survey: "Barely a third of Americans -- 34 percent -- think Bush is doing a good job ensuring high ethics in government, which is slightly lower than President Bill Clinton's standing on this issue when he left office."
Lee Strickland - professor, information law and policy, and director, Center for Information Policy, University of Maryland; former senior intelligence officer, CIA: "A critical lesson in this indictment is that intelligence and politics don't mix. Attempts to politicize intelligence are crucial errors and, whether an administration attempts to influence analysis or deprecate it through leaks, the nation is ill-served. The criminal acts being investigated not only harmed the intelligence abilities of the United States but may also be proven to have been perpetrated to further a political agenda that led to the current costly and inconclusive war in Iraq. There can be no surer example than this to demonstrate the risk of mixing politics and intelligence. The damage from the leak of Ms. Plame’s identity goes far beyond preventing her from continuing to serve the government in her past role. It truly endangers everyone with whom she has had official contact -- from new CIA officers she may have recruited to work in secret roles, to foreign nationals she contacted to provide vital intelligence information on terrorism and other national threats. This is the very pernicious effects of leaking."
Paper Examines Liability Issues and WiFi Access
Hale, Robert V., Wi-Fi Liability: Potential Legal Risks in Accessing and Operating Wireless Internet. Santa Clara Computer and High Technology Law Journal, Vol. 21, p. 543.
"Suppose you turn on your laptop while sitting at the kitchen table at home and respond OK to a prompt about accessing a nearby wireless Internet access point owned and operated by a neighbor. What potential liability may ensue from accessing someone else's wireless access point? How about intercepting wireless connection signals? What about setting up an open or unsecured wireless access point in your house or business? Attorneys can expect to grapple with these issues and other related questions as the popularity of wireless technology continues to increase. This paper explores several theories of liability involving both the accessing and operating of wireless Internet, including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, wiretap laws, as well as trespass to chattels and other areas of common law. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of key policy considerations."
Study Reviews Role of Wikis and Blogs in Intelligence Community Info Sharing
Andrus, D. Calvin, The Wiki and the Blog: Toward a Complex Adaptive Intelligence Community. Studies in Intelligence, September 2005.
"US policy-makers, war-fighters, and law-enforcers now operate in a real-time worldwide decision and implementation environment. The rapidly changing circumstances in which they operate take on lives of their own, which are difficult or impossible to anticipate or predict. The only way to meet the continuously unpredictable challenges ahead of us is to match them with continuously unpredictable changes of our own. We must transform the Intelligence Community into a community that dynamically reinvents itself by continuously learning and adapting as the national security environment changes. Recent theoretical developments in the philosophy of science that matured in the 1990's, collectively known as Complexity Theory, suggest changes the community should make to meet this challenge. These changes include allowing our officers more autonomy in the context of improved tradecraft and information sharing. In addition, several new technologies will facilitate this transformation. Two examples are self-organizing knowledge websites, known as Wikis, and information sharing websites known as Blogs. Allowing Intelligence Officers and our non-intelligence National Security colleagues access to these technologies on SIPRNet, will provide a critical mass to begin the transformation."
October 29, 2005
Commentary on the Past, and Future, of Libraries
The Future of Libraries - Beginning the Great Transformation, by Thomas Frey, Executive Director of the DaVinci Institute.
October 28, 2005
Pew Report Tracks Public Decline in Satisfaction With Gov't and Business
Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, Public Sours on Government and Business - DeLay, Rove Viewed Unfavorably, Released: October 25, 2005:
"Americans express increasingly negative views of a wide range major institutions, reflecting strong discontent with national conditions. Over the past year, ratings have tumbled for the federal government and Congress. And it is not just Washington institutions that are being viewed less positively. Favorable opinions of business corporations are at their lowest point in two decades. In the face of high energy prices, just 20% express positive opinions of oil companies." [Full report, 20 pages, PDF)
Google's Book Scanning Project Continues
Google Won't Shelve Google Print
Bibliography of News and Gov. Docs on Libby Indictment
Full Text (HTML): U.S. v. Libby Indictment, Office of Special Counsel, Friday, October 28, 2005; 1:49 PM
Link to indictment from DOJ website (22 pages, PDF)
US Newswire - White House Official I. Lewis Libby Indicted on Obstruction of Justice, False Statement, Perjury Charges
AP - 'Official A' stands out in indictment
President's Remarks on the Resignation of Scooter Libby, 3:51 P.M. EDT
Bloomberg - Libby Indictment Shows Campaign to Discredit Iraq War Critic
WSJ free feature - At Root of Leak Probe Is Prewar Dispute/ CIA-White House Clash Over Intelligence Set Stage for Fitzgerald's Investigation
Editor and Publisher - Fitzgerald at Press Conference Explains Libby Charges, Miller's Role in Probe, Why Reporters Were Vital
Washington Post - Cheney Adviser Indicted in CIA Leak Probe Vice President Accepts I. Lewis 'Scooter' Libby's Resignation 'With Deep Regret'
US Department of Justice, Office of Special Counsel, Press Release, October 28, 2005
US Department of Justice, Office of Special Counsel, October 28, 2005 Media Advisory
Cheney Adviser Indicted in CIA Leak Case
CBSNews.com - Top Cheney Aide To Be Indicted
New York Times - Cheney Aide Likely to Be Indicted Today; Rove Under Scrutiny
Browsable Constitution of the United States
"Constitution of the United States, Analysis & Interpretation: The 2002 Edition & 2004 Supplement of The Constitution of the United States of America, Analysis & Interpretation are now available in PDF format on GPO Access. Prepared by the Congressional Research Service, this document contains an annotated Constitution and analysis of cases decided by the Supreme Court of the United States."
New Bill and Report Track Katrina Recovery
Legislative Text of HR 4100, the "Louisiana Recovery Corporation Act" (PDF), Failing to Protect and Defend: the Federal Emergency Response to Hurricane Katrina - UPDATE (PDF) - Report prepared by the Minority Staff of the House Science Committee, 10/21/2005
October 27, 2005
Key Docs. on WMD Withheld From Senate Intelligence Cmte.
Cheney, Libby Blocked Papers To Senate Intelligence Panel, by Murray Waas, special to National Journal: "Vice President Cheney and his chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, overruling advice from some White House political staffers and lawyers, decided to withhold crucial documents from the Senate Intelligence Committee in 2004 when the panel was investigating the use of pre-war intelligence that erroneously concluded Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, according to Bush administration and congressional sources."
New York Times: Aide to Cheney Appears Likely to Be Indicted; Rove Under Scrutiny
Census Bureau Report Shows Increased Computer Use By Americans
U.S. Census Bureau: Computer Use and Ownership - Current Population Survey (CPS) Reports.
GAO Report Reviews Voter Registration and Local Elections
Elections: Views of Selected Local Election Officials on Managing Voter Registration and Ensuring Eligible Citizens Can Vote, GAO-05-997, September 27, 2005, Highlights.
"GAO's past work and the work of others has shown that challenges processing voter registration applications and maintaining voter registration lists can result in individuals arriving at polls on Election Day to find they were not listed as registered."
GAO Report Examines Gap Between US and Indian Data on Offshoring
International Trade: U.S. and India Data on Offshoring Show Significant Differences, GAO-06-116, October 27, 2005. Highlights.
Courts and Contractual Innovation
Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, Working Paper 05-27, Mitchell Berlin and Yaron Leitner, Courts and Contractual Innovation: A Preliminary Analysis. [s.f.]
Canadian Model Protocol for Personal Information in Judgments
From the Canadian Judicial Council, a model protocol: Use of Personal Information in Judgments and Recommended Protocol and in (PDF) [Kate Welsh]
October 26, 2005
Portal Links for State Occupational Licensing Boards
"BRB has added a significant upgrade to their Portal of Free Public Record Searches. Over 4,500 direct connect URLs to search state occupational licensing boards."
October 25, 2005
Indictments Expected Tomorrow, But Investigation May Be Extended
See the following sources for additional information:
Financial Times: Indictments in CIA leak 'about to be handed down'
New York Times: Leak Counsel Is Said to Press on Rove's Role
Washington Post: White House Aides Brace For CIA Leak Charges
LA Times: Prosecutors Focus on Rove Again
Locating SEC Staff Comment Letters
From TheCorporateCounsel.net Blog, this entry includes information about and directions on how to locate SEC staff comment letters on the agency's website.
Eleventh Circuit Upholds Open Court Standard
Press release, The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press: "Secret docketing procedures used by a federal court in Miami are unconstitutional, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Atlanta (11th Cir.) has ruled, meaning federal trial courts in three states must provide written explanations when they decide that sealing documents is warranted.
The court's opinion
The Reporters Committee's amicus brief
ICANN and Verisign Agree to Settle Lawsuits
Press release from October 24, 2005: "ICANN today announced that it has reached an proposed agreement to end all pending litigation over its long-standing dispute with VeriSign. The proposed agreement documents are being posted for public comment and are subject to final approval of the ICANN Board. This settlement will clear the way for a new and productive public/private partnership in coordinating technical management of the Internet's domain name system."
Special Meeting of the Board: Preliminary Report
Proposed Settlement Agreements
Related links to domain name issues
News of VPs Role in Plame Leak Raises More Questions
From the New York Times today: Cheney Told Aide of C.I.A. Officer, Lawyers Report
Internet Librarian Conference, Monterey California, October 24-26
Live Blog Coverage of Presentations and Events at IL from the Info Today Blogging Crew
October 24, 2005
Prosecutor in Plame Leak Examined Falsified Niger Uranium Report
As reported by UPI today: "NATO sources have confirmed to United Press International that Fitzgerald's team of investigators has sought and obtained documentation on the forgeries from the Italian government. Fitzgerald's team has been given the full, and as yet unpublished report of the Italian parliamentary inquiry into the affair, which started when an Italian journalist obtained documents that appeared to show officials of the government of Niger helping to supply the Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussein with Yellowcake uranium. This claim, which made its way into President Bush's State of the Union address in January, 2003, was based on falsified documents from Niger and was later withdrawn by the White House."
Related court filing, Brief of the United States, Appellee, from the website of the Office of Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald
GAO Report Addresses Impediments to Implementing E-Disability Claims
Electronic Disability Claims Processing: SSA Is Proceeding with Its Accelerated Systems Initiative but Needs to Address Operational Issues GAO-05-97, September 23, 2005. Highlights.
"Through an initiative known as AeDib, the Social Security Administration (SSA) is implementing a system in which medical images and other documents that have traditionally been kept in paper folders will be stored in electronic folders, enabling disability offices--including SSA's 144 Office of Hearings and Appeals sites and 54 state disability determination services--to process disability claims electronically."
EPIC FOIA Lawsuit Produces Documents on Illegal Surveillance Operations
From the Washington Post: FBI Papers Indicate Intelligence Violations Secret Surveillance Lacked Oversight
From EPIC: "Documents obtained by EPIC under the Freedom of Informaton Act describe thirteen cases of possible FBI misconduct in intelligence investigations. The documents were released by the Bureau in response to an EPIC open government request for information about the FBI's use of provisions of the PATRIOT Act. EPIC has written a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee highlighting the need for the Attorney General to report to Congress on potentially unlawful intelligence investigations."
October 21, 2005
Commentary Focuses on Google's Indexing Technology and the Print Program
Indexing Versus Caching & How Google Print Doesn't Reprint
Related links on the Google Print program
National Security Archive Posts Third Kerr Report on National Intelligence and Iraq
Intelligence and Analysis on Iraq: Issues for the Intelligence Community, 29 July 2004; approved for release August 2005. (12 pages, PDF)
"This is the third in a series of reports by the Kerr Group (Richard Kerr, Thomas Wolfe, Rebecca Donegan, and Aris Pappas) supporting the Director of Central Intelligence's evaluation and critique of intelligence and analysis associated with the war in Iraq that began in 2003. The analysis and judgments in this report were informed by the Group's two previous reports...The Intelligence Community's uneven performance on Iraq over the past two years has raised significant questions concerning the condition of intelligence collection, analysis, and policy support. This third report assesses the performance of the Intelligence Community from a broad perspective, focusing on systemic issues that channeled analysts' evaluations and analyses. The discussion of shortcomings and failures in this report is not meant to imply that all surprises can be prevented by even good intelligence. There are too many targets and too many ways of attacking them for even the best intelligence agencies to discover all threats in time to prevent them from happening. Nonetheless, improving performance requires an acknowledgement of past mistakes and a willingness to change."
Related links:
From LLRX.com, Reinventing the Empire of Secrecy: An Agenda for the First DNI
From the New York Times, Report Says White House Ignored C.I.A. on Iraq Chaos
DHS Final Rule on Classified National Security Information
Federal Register, October 21, 2005 (Volume 70, Number 203)[Page 61211-61217], Department of Homeland Security,Office of the Secretary6 CFR Part 7, RIN 1601-AA02.
"Summary: This final rule revises the Department of Homeland Security's procedures for managing classified national security information. This rule implements procedures required under Executive Order 12958, "Classified National Security Information," as amended by Executive Order 13292, and amends the initial procedures established when the Department was created in January 2003. Further, this rule delegates to the Chief Security Officer of the Department of Homeland Security the responsibility of serving as the "Senior Agency Official" pursuant to Executive Order 12958, as amended. Date: This final rule is effective October 21, 2005."
GAO Report: Continued Federal Efforts Needed to Improve Electronic Voting
Cmte. on Government Reform Minority Office: "Rep. Waxman led twelve members of Congress today in releasing a new GAO report that found security and reliablity flaws in the electronic voting process. In a joint press release, Rep. Waxman said, "The GAO report indicates that we need to get serious and act quickly to improve the security of electronic voting machines. The report makes clear that there is a lack of transparency and accountability in electronic voting systems -- from the day that contracts are signed with manufacturers to the counting of electronic votes on Election Day. State and local officials are spending a great deal of money on machines without concrete proof that they are secure and reliable.
The GAO report found flaws in security, access, and hardware controls, as well as weak security management practices by voting machine vendors. The report identified multiple examples of actual operational failures in real elections and found that while national iniatives to improve the security and reliability of electronic voting systems are underway, "it is unclear when these initiatives will be available to assist state and local election authorities.
Rep. Waxman also released a fact sheet summarizing the report's key findings."
Elections: Federal Efforts to Improve Security and Reliability of Electronic Voting Systems Are Under Way, but Key Activities Need to Be Completed, GAO-05-956, September 21, 2005
Fact Sheet
Press Release
Preserving Democracy: What Went Wrong in Ohio, Staff Report of the House Judiciary Committtee Democractic Staff, January 2005. (102 pages, PDF)
Commentary on the Plame Investigation
Waiting For The Valerie Plame Wilson Grand Jury: The Big Question Is Whether Dick Cheney Was a Target, by John W. Dean. Dean highlights the sources and publications he believes have best covered this unfolding investigation. Interesting to note they include the National Journal, Editor & Publisher, Bloomberg, the blog - Talking Points Memo.
October 20, 2005
Google CEO Responds to Controversy Over Google Print Program
In following recent postings on opposition to the Google Print Program by publishers and authors, see these corporate responses, from the Official Google Blog:
Why we believe in Google Print: "We've been asked recently why we're so determined to pursue Google Print, even though it has drawn industry opposition in the form of two lawsuits, the most recent coming today from several members of the American Association of Publishers. The answer is that this program, which will make millions of books easier for everyone in the world to find, is crucial to our company's mission..."
The point of Google Print: a reprint, with permission, of Google CEO Eric Eric Schmidt's October 18, 2005 Op-Ed in the WSJ: "Google's job is to help people find information. Google Print's job is to make it easier for people to find books. When you do a Google search, your results now include pointers to those books whose contents, stored in the Google Print index, contain your search terms. For many books, these results will, like an ordinary card catalog, contain basic bibliographic information and, at most, a few lines of text where your search terms appear."
Hearing on FEMA's Response to Hurricane Katrina
U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs
hearing: Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans: A Flooded City, a Chaotic Response, October 20, 2005.
Witnesses Testimony, Panel 1, Marty Bahamonde [PDF], Regional Director, External Affairs, Region One, Federal Emergency Management Agency, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. ""There was a systematic failure at all levels of government to understand the magnitude of the situation..."
Related documents:
From AP, FEMA Official Says Boss Ignored Warnings
Text of Prepared Remarks for Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales At Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force Conference, October 20, 2005.
Hurricane Katrina Fraud Task Force
October 19, 2005
New on LLRX.com
Reinventing the Empire of Secrecy: An Agenda for the First DNI, by Lee S. Strickland
The Authors Guild v. The Google Print Library Project, by
Jonathan Band
Researching U.S. Treaties and Agreements - Revised and Updated, by Marci Hoffman
Criminal Justice Ethics Sources on the Internet, by Ken Strutin
In the Wake of Katrina – Where to Find Answers about Courts, Lawyers, by Robert Ambrogi
FOIA Facts: FOIA Appeals, the Unspoken Problem, by Scott A. Hodes
CongressLine by GalleryWatch.com: Its Not Just A Bill, Its An Amendment, by Paul Jenks
After Hours: 2005 Holiday Gift Guide: Maximum Wow, by Kathy Biehl
Burney's Gadgets for Legal Pros: Good Sounds and Good Scans, by Brett Burney
LLRX Bookstore
LLRX Court Rules, Forms and Dockets, the unique, free searchable database, maintained and continually updated by Margaret Berkland
Schumer Asks For Details About Rove-Bush Conversations On Plame
Press release from New York Senator Charles Schumer: "Today, Sen. Chuck Schumer sent the attached letter to President Bush asking him to detail his conversations with his top political adviser, Karl Rove, about the White House's leak of the identity of covert CIA operative, Valerie Plame."
Related news, from the New York Times: No Final Report Seen in Inquiry on C.I.A. Leak. Not the response sought by Rep. Conyers.
Five Publishers Sue Google Contending Print Program Copyright Violations
Reuters via CNN International: Publishers throw book at Google
Related documents and links:
Complaint (FindLaw, 36 pages, PDF), McGraw-Hill Companies, et al. v. Google, Inc., October 19, 2005.
beSpacific postings on Google Print Program
The Authors Guild v. The Google Print Library Project
Enterprise Blogging Catches On
Executive Summary from the Guidewire Group Market Cycle Survey, October 2005: Blogging in the Enterprise (8 pages, PDF)
Key findings (140 individual survey respondents):
"Corporations of all sizes across a wide array of industries are adopting blogging technologies and practices. 89% of respondents are either blogging or are planning to blog."
"Smaller companies have been quicker to adopt blogging as a part of their communications strategies, followed by mid-sized."
"Internal blogs are used for communication within a company - knowledge-sharing (63%)"
Yahoo! White Paper on RSS
Yahoo! White Paper on RSS (12 pages, PDF)
Blogs Increasingly Become Target Of and Vehicle for Spam
From the Wall Street Journal free content today: 'Splogs' Roil Web, and Some Blame Google.
Definition of splog from Wikipedia.
Supreme Court Nominee Miers' Responses to Judiciary Questionnaire, Financial Data and Texans United for Life
From the New York Times (reg. req'd), links to the following documents in PDF:
Senate Judiciary Committee's Questionnaire (57 pages, PDF)
1989 Questionnaire From Texans United for Life (2 pages, PDF)
Financial Statement/Net Worth (2 pages, PDF)
Financial Disclosure Report - Nomination Filing (6 pages, PDF)
From AP: Disclosure forms of Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers. All are in PDF format.
Related news also from the New York Times:
Nominee Backed Ban on Abortion in 1989 Campaign
Nominee's Financial Disclosures Show Worth of Less Than $1 Million
New York Times Magazine article, Sunday, October 16, 2005: The Woman's Seat
Related news from the Wall Street Journal and CNN:
Wall Street Journal free content today: Miers Disclosures Could Boost Conservative Support
Senators demand more information from Miers Response to questionnaire described as 'incomplete to insulting'...Miers confirmation hearings to begin November 7
From Sen. Patrick Leahy:
Response Of Harriet Miers To Leahy Letter Requesting Additional Information From Judiciary Committee Questionnaire, October 19, 2005
Specter-Leahy Request More Information From Miers, October 19, 2005
Access to Commercial Email Services Abroad Blocked By Armed Forces
As reported by Stars and Stripes today, "On Tuesday, the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps blocked all access to commercial e-mail services, such as Yahoo!, Hotmail, America Online and Google, from overseas government computers...The block includes access to e-mail services from computers at base libraries and liberty centers that are connected to an official government network."
October 18, 2005
Updated Citizen's Guide on Using FOIA To Obtain Gov't Docs.
House Report 109-226: A Citizen's Guide on Using the Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act of 1974 To Request Government Records (85 pages, PDF), September 20. 2005.
October is National Cyber Security Awareness Month
"Microsoft has teamed up with the National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA) to help increase Internet security through a month-long awareness-raising campaign that provides information and sponsored events for consumers, small businesses, educators, and families. This year, the National Cyber Security Awareness Month campaign begins October 1, 2005...Events for this year's campaign include conferences and workshops in several cities across the U.S. For more information and a list of events, visit the NCSA Web site."
H. Res. 491 - Expressing the sense of the House of Representatives with respect to raising awareness and enhancing the state of computer security in the United States, and supporting the goals and ideals of National Cyber Security Awareness Month.
CBO Paper on Cost of Current Defense Plan
"What level of budgetary resources might be needed in the long term to execute the Administration's current plan for defense, and what effect on that level would alternative defense plans have? This Congressional Budget Office (CBO) paper addresses those questions." (The Long-Term Implications of Current Defense Plans and Alternatives: Summary Update for Fiscal Year 2006
October 2005, 53 pages, PDF)
Groups Seek Halt to Database of Personal Info on Students for Military Recruiting
On June 23, 2005 I posted Privacy and Consumer Groups Oppose Collection of Student Info For DoD Database. As a follow-up, today news that a coalition of 100 groups sent a letter to Sec. of Defense Rumsfeld requesting that he discontinue the Joint Advertising and Market Research Studies (JAMRS) Recruiting Database, which they state was created in violation of the Privacy Act. For additional information, see EPIC's DOD Recruiting Database
Page.
Declassified Gov't Documents and Reports on 30 Years of Human Rights Abuses in Iraq
From the National Security Archives press release today: "The National Security Archive today posted a series of declassified U.S. intelligence documents and other U.S. agency reports on Saddam Hussein's human rights abuses, one of which is the subject of the first trial of Saddam which begins tomorrow in Iraq." The documents span the period from 1975 to 2004. The final document posted, by the U.S. Agency for International Development, titled Iraq's Legacy of Terror: MASS GRAVES, January 2004 (16 pages, PDF), quotes British Prime Minister Tony Blair's statement from November 20, 2003, "we've already discovered just so far the remains of 400,000 people in mass graves."
FEMA's Flood Maps Are Outdated and the Program Lacks Adequate Funding
Links from the Committee on Government Reform Minority Office: "A new report from the Department of Homeland Security IG finds significant deficiencies in FEMA's program to upgrade flood maps, including insufficient funding, poor management, and contractor failures."
Released on October 18, 2005: Department of Homeland Security, Office of Inspector General report, Challenges in FEMA's Flood Map Modernization Program, September 2005. (61 pages PDF)
Fact Sheet on Underfunded Flood Maps
Related reference: FEMA Flood Mapping Data
Goals of Google Scholar Search Outlined in Recent Presentation
A recent ppt presentation, Searching Scholarly Literature: A Google Scholar Perspective, by Google Scholar principal engineer Anurag Acharya, states that the goal of the service is to "find all scholarly work...journals, conferences, reprints, reports...[from] all countries, all languages, all sources..." The presentation briefly highlights coverage by publisher, by category (with medical at 22%), and lists the countries with the most queries (US, UK, Australia, Germany, Mexico and Brazil). [SiteLines]
Updated CRS Reports on Katrina Related Issues
U.S. Agriculture After Hurricane Katrina: Status and Issues (23 pages, PDF)
The Role of HUD Housing Programs in Response to Disasters (21 pages, PDF)
Hurricane Katrina: Medicaid Issues (34 pages, PDF)
Tax Policy Options After Hurricane Katrina (17 pages, PDF)
Hurricane Katrina: DOD Disaster Response (21 pages, PDF)
2005 Gulf Coast Hurricanes: The Pubic Health and Medical Response (31 pages, PDF)
Cleanup after Hurricane Katrina: Environmental Considerations (30 pages, PDF)
The Impact of Hurricane Katrina on Biological Resources (12 pages, PDF)
Blog Usability Review
Jakob Nielsen's Alertbox, October 17, 2005: "Weblogs are often too internally focused and ignore key usability issues, making it hard for new readers to understand the site and trust the author...The more focused your content, the more focused your readers. That, again, makes you more influential within your niche. Specialized sites rule the Web, so aim tightly."
October 17, 2005
Assurance Sought for Public Report on Special Prosecutor's Investigation into Plame Leak
October 11, 2005 - Text of Letter from Reps. Conyers, Harman, Lantos and Holt to U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald Concerning a Final Report on the CIA Leak Investigation (PDF)
"We write to seek your assurance that, upon completion of your long running investigation into the leak of a CIA operative's name, you will submit a final and public report to the Congress of all indictments, convictions and any decisions not to prosecute."
New Non-Profit Organization Will Champion Government Use of Open Source Software
"Welcome to the National Center for Open Source Policy and Research (NCOSPR), a non-profit organization established to promote the use of open source software solutions within government IT enterprise environments for the benefit of government agencies, and public sector entities. NCOSPR accomplishes this by serving as a facilitator and administrator of development and implementation services among government, academic, open source community and information technology (IT) industry developers, distribution and user communities."
Business Awareness of Spyware Does Not Result in Minimizing Threat
Press release from Trend Micro, October 11, 2005: "Trend Micro, Inc., a leader in antivirus and Internet content security, today announced key findings from a study that reveals that more than 87 percent of corporate end users are aware of spyware, and yet 53 percent of survey respondents demand greater education from IT to better understand the threat. The findings indicate that awareness does not translate to knowledge, and as a result users are looking to their IT departments departments to play a more protective role."
GAO Report Explains Annual Financial Report of US Gov't
Understanding the Primary Components of the Annual Financial Report of the United States Government, GAO-05-958SP, October 1, 2005.
Google Search Tips 2005
Google Search Tips 2005, from Google Blogoscoped, by Philipp Lenssen. Not affiliated with Google™.
Guidance Issued on E-Banking Authentication
Press release, October 12, 2005: "The Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC) today released updated guidance (14 pages, PDF) on the risks and risk management controls necessary to authenticate the identity of customers accessing Internet-based financial services. The guidance, Authentication in an Internet Banking Environment, was issued to reflect the many significant legal and technological changes with respect to the protection of customer information, increasing incidents of identity theft and fraud, and the introduction of improved authentication technologies and other risk mitigation strategies."
October 16, 2005
Google.org – the philanthropic arm of Google
"Google.org will include the work of the Google Foundation, some of Google’s own projects using Google talent, technology and other resources, as well as partnerships and contributions to for-profit and non-profit entities. While we continue to define the goals, priorities and approach for Google.org, we will focus on several areas including global poverty alleviation, energy and the environment."
From the Official Google Blog, About Google.org
Google's Updated Privacy Policy
Google Privacy Policy Highlights, October 14, 2005:
"At Google we recognize that privacy is important. This document outlines the types of personal information we receive and collect when you use Google's services, as well as some of the steps we take to safeguard information. We hope this will help you make an informed decision about sharing personal information with us...Google processes personal information on our servers in the United States of America and in other countries. In some cases, we process personal information on a server outside your own country."
Google's full-text privacy policy
Seattlepi.com: Google offers glimpse at data collection
October 14, 2005
Website Copyright Infringement Extends to Images on Blogs
From WSJ free features today, Photo Agencies Scour the Web For Copyright Violations.
CBO Report on Federal Deficits
From the Congressional Budget Office, this new report, Long-Term Economic Effects of Chronically Large Federal Deficits, October 13, 2005 (6 pages, PDF).
Dept. of Education IG Investigating Potential Fraud Associated With Gov't Propaganda
Follow-up to previous postings on Bush administration violations of the propaganda policy, this press release today from Sen. Lautenberg: "The Inspector General of the Department of Education has informed United States Senator Frank R. Lautenberg (D-NJ) that he has referred the investigation into the payments by the Bush Education Department to journalist Armstrong Williams to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia. The U.S. Attorney is now actively investigating the matter. The request for the IG to specifically investigate potential fraud in the contract was made by Senator Lautenberg."
Remarkable Discovery Impacts Debate on Origin of Noodles
After listening to this report on NPR yesterday, it seemed like a good idea to also share this related National Geographic article: 4,000-Year-Old Noodles Found in China.
New Locator Map to Federal Courts
From the Federal Judiciary Newsroom, "a new locator map...helps you find all federal courts and probation and pretrial services offices. It is searchable by city and state, zip code, county and state, and area code."
Guide to Making Your Enterprisewide Email System Safer
The Complete Guide to E-mail, Inc. Magazine, October 2005: "What follows is a guide to the biggest e-mail concerns, particularly security, compliance, and archiving. We'll give you tools for building an e-mail policy now, which can save headaches later, and also advice on buying the right system."
October 13, 2005
Redesigned Website for NIBIB
The National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering "website has undergone significant improvements in the areas of content, navigation and design, making it easier to find information and answers to questions in a clear and user-friendly manner. The website will also serve as a showcase for NIBIB grantees whose work is featured heavily throughout the site." Improvements include a Google powered search engine, a searchable funding opportunities database, and browse capabilities for the Resource Centers to facilitate research about new technologies and techniques.
European Civil Liberties Network (ECLN)
The European Civil Liberties Network (ECLN) will be launched on Wednesday, October 19, 2005. [d.c.]
"Participating organisations share the common objective of seeking to create a European society based on freedom and diversity, a society of fundamental civil liberties and personal and political freedoms, of free movement and freedom of information, and equal rights for all in Europe."
Free Medical Journal Articles on Impact of Katrina
From the October 13, 2005 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, the following essays, available at no cost to non-subscribers, "discuss the immediate challenges [physicians] faced and address the public health concerns in the aftermath."
Volunteer Work — Logistics First
Public Health Response — Assessing Needs
Finding Supplies
Aftershocks
Evacuated Populations — Lessons from Foreign Refugee Crises
Lethal Levels
Triaging Tragedy
Unexpected Necessities — Inside Charity Hospital
Establishment of the National Clandestine Service (NCS)
News release: "Today, the Director of National Intelligence (DNI) and the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency announced the President's approval of the establishment of the National Clandestine Service (NCS) within the CIA. The new Director of the NCS will report directly to the Director of the CIA and will work with the Office of the Director of National Intelligence to implement all of the DNI's statutory authorities...The NCS will serve as the national authority for the integration, coordination, deconfliction, and evaluation of human intelligence operations across the entire Intelligence Community, under authorities delegated to the Director of the CIA who serves as the National HUMINT Manager...The NCS was established in response to recommendations made in March 2005 by the President's Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction."
Related links:
Commission on the Intelligence Capabilities of the United States Regarding Weapons of Mass Destruction, Report to the President, March 31, 2005
Related beSpacific postings on WMD
9/11 National Security Protection Act, National Intelligence Service organizational flowchart
Undercover CIA official to lead human spying
Presidential Teleconference With Troops Scripted
Additional update to this issue, as the controversy escalates, October 14, 2005 Washington Post (reg. req'd): Caught on Tape
Follow-up to my postings on the expanding controversy associated with federal government sponsored news, see also today's AP article, Bush Teleconference With Soldiers Staged.
Related link:
White House press release: President Addresses U.S. Troops in Iraq in Video Teleconference
Survey Says Patients and Physicians Support E-Health System
Press release: "Eighty-six percent of U.S. physicians surveyed said that a health-care system that adopted information technology such as electronic health records would improve the quality of health care patients receive. In addition, 79 percent of patients also believe that, according to national surveys commissioned by the Technology CEO Council."
Related links:
Technology CEO Council, A Healthy System Report, October 12, 2005 (44 pages, PDF)
Tech executives push for digital medical records
Are consumers missing from the health IT picture?
New Online Tool for CI Research
Press release: "LexisNexis, a leading provider of legal, news, business information and risk management services, announces the addition of a powerful new search capability for its Anti-Money Laundering, Risk Management, and RiskWise(R) applications. Called Negative News, the new feature searches over 13,000 news sources for negative news content relating to a specific subject person or business entity."
October 12, 2005
New Report on State Enterprise Architecture Programs
The States and Enterprise Architecture: How far have we come? Findings from the NASCIO 2005 EA Assessment, October 2005 (PDF)
International Legal Research Tutorial
News of a collaborative project between Duke University School of Law and University of California, Berkeley, School of Law: International Legal Research Tutorial.
"This tutorial is designed to teach students research strategies and methodology for researching both print and electronic sources of international legal materials. The tutorial includes review questions and a final review to give students an understanding of how these materials are organized, and to teach them how to locate international legal documents such as treaties, agreements and the documentation of international organizations."
October 11, 2005
U.S. Government Manual, 2005-2006 Edition
U.S. Government Manual, 2005-2006 Edition: "The United States Government Manual provides comprehensive information on the agencies of the legislative, judicial, and executive branches. It also includes information on quasi-official agencies; international organizations; and boards, commissions, and committees." Quick keyword search or browse sections (in PDF).
DOE IG Report on Cyber Security Program
From the Dept. of Energy Office of Inspector General, Report IG-0704, dated October 6, 2005: Evaluation Report - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Unclassified Cyber Security Program - 2005.
GAO Compares and Contrasts Role of CIO in Government and Private Sector
Chief Information Officers: Responsibilities and Information Technology Governance at Leading Private-Sector Companies, GAO-05-986, September 9, 2005. Highlights.
"The CIOs of most of the 20 leading private-sector organizations GAO met with had either sole or shared responsibility for 9 of the 12 information and technology management functional areas."
GAO Examines Program to Create Governmentwide E-Rulemaking System
Electronic Rulemaking: Progress Made in Developing Centralized E-Rulemaking System, GAO-05-777, September 9, 2005. Highlights.
"The E-Government Act of 2002 requires regulatory agencies, to the extent practicable, to ensure there is a Web site the public can use to comment on the numerous propos