Follow-up to previous postings on the port operations deal

Released: February 28, 2006 - U.S. Troops in Iraq: 72% Say End War in 2006

Follow-up to recent postings on Internet companies and operational issues concerning censorship in China, see this commentary from The Nation, America's Online Censors by Rebecca Mackinnon.

Hearing: Wartime Executive Power and the NSA's Surveillance Authority II, Senate Judiciary Committee, Full Committee, February 28, 2006.

How to Digitize a Million Books - Needed: scanning software for 430 languages and a system to organize the next big leap in the information age.

Outsmarting the Online Privacy Snoops - Internet privacy controversies drive interest in tools for anonymous Web surfing.

The terrific co-operative blog Slaw posted The Marshall Rothstein Pages, documenting the opinions and writings of the nominee for the Supreme Court of Canada, as well as related news. Thanks to Connie Crosby for the update.

Follow-up to the article that started the relentless investigation into the issue of domestic surveillance...news this evening that the New York Times has sued the Dept. of Defense pursuant to a FOIA request to obtain documents related to the government's monitoring of citizen communications.

Press release: "Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Susan Collins has introduced a resolution disapproving of the deal that would enable Dubai Ports World (DPW) to purchase Peninsular & Oriental (P & O) without an additional national security review and Congressional consultation. The Senator's resolution directs the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) to conduct a 45-day investigation to ensure that the sale will not have an adverse effect on national security and to brief Members of Congress on the findings of the investigation before the transaction is allowed to proceed." Senator Collins' floor statement on her resolution is included in this release.

NPR: Identity Theft - Protecting Your Good Name, February 27, 2006. (17 pages, PDF)

New York Times: Cyberthieves Silently Copy Your Passwords as You Type

Strengthening Port Security Through a Multi-Layered Strategy, February 24, 2006: "The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has implemented a multi-layered strategy to keep U.S. ports safe and secure. Since 9/11, federal funding for port security has increased by more than 700 percent, new technologies have been deployed, and additional technologies are being developed. To bolster security, $630 million has been provided to our largest ports, including $16.2 million to Baltimore; $32.7 million to Miami; $27.4 million to New Orleans, $43.7 million to New York/New Jersey; and $15.8 million to Philadelphia."

"The ABA Standing Committee on Law and National Security, the ABA Section of State and Local Government Law and the ABA Section of Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice have just released a report evaluating current legal authorities available to meet national disasters and emergencies. The purpose of this study was to examine the legal authorities available to guide the preparation and response to a catastrophic incident, whether from terrorism, accident or natural causes." (55 pages, PDF)

Homeland Security: DHS Is Taking Steps to Enhance Security at Chemical Facilities, but Additional Authority Is Needed, GAO-06-150, January 27, 2006. Highlights.

Follow-up to postings on Google's ongoing legal battle with DOJ on the release of database search records, CDT provides a PDF copy of the latest round of briefs, Gonzales v. Google, February 24, 2006, 26 pages.

Follow-up to Calls for Congressional, GAO and Treasury IG Investigations of Port Deal, this announcement from Treasury today: "The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) today welcomed the announcement by Dubai Ports World (DPW) that it will submit for review its proposed acquisition of control of U.S. port terminal operations. Specifically, DPW has asked for a CFIUS review, including the 45-day investigation under the Exon-Florio amendment, based on a restructured transaction that the company intends to file with the Committee. Upon receipt of the new notification, CFIUS will promptly initiate the review process and fulfill DPW's request for a full investigation."

Following up on one, two, three recent posting related to increasing focus on issues related to net neutrality, open access, and e-commerce, see an article today from AP: Future of the Internet Highway Debated. It includes a discussion of the commercial, technical and socio-political issues associated with Internet traffic management (packet prioritization - ) the ability to specify different priority levels for different applications).

Follow-up to National Journal Article Claims Curtailed Gov't Surveillance Program Still Active, from today's New York Times, Taking Spying to Higher Level, Agencies Look for More Ways to Mine Data: "...by fundamentally changing the nature of surveillance, high-tech data mining raises privacy concerns that are only beginning to be debated widely. That is because to find illicit activities it is necessary to turn loose software sentinels to examine all digital behavior whether it is innocent or not."

New York times: Ruling May Undercut Google in Fight Over Its Book Scans

See also this related commentary:

AP reports that Judge Reggie B. Walton has delayed a pivotal decision on whether Libby's defense may have access to highly classified White House briefing documents. "Walton said he is concerned that Libby's request could "sabotage" the case because President Bush probably will invoke executive privilege and refuse to turn over the classified reports."

Follow-up to Correspondence on Libby Indictment Mentions Missing Emails, this report by Jason Leopold states, "The White House turned over last week 250 pages of emails from Vice President Dick Cheney’s office...Sources close to the probe said the White House "discovered" the emails two weeks ago and turned them over to Fitzgerald last week. The sources added that the emails could prove that Cheney lied to FBI investigators when he was interviewed about the leak in early 2004. Cheney said that he was unaware of any effort to discredit Wilson or unmask his wife's undercover status to reporters."

Related legal documents on Libby case:

Press release: "Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (OH-9), a strong opponent of the outsourcing of U.S. port operations to foreign owned firms, today called for investigations by both the House Government Reform Committee and the Treasury Inspector General into the Bush Administration's approval of the management of U.S. ports by Dubai Ports World. Kaptur also asked the Treasury Inspector General to review any conflict of interest regarding the participation of Treasury Secretary John Snow who chairs the Committee on Foreign Investments, the group which approved the recent contract with Dubai Ports World."

TIA Lives On, by Shane Harris, National Journal, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2006: "A controversial counter-terrorism program, which lawmakers halted more than two years ago amid outcries from privacy advocates, was stopped in name only and has quietly continued within the intelligence agency now fending off charges that it has violated the privacy of U.S. citizens."

"The Federation of American Scientists has created an internet resource for biosecurity policy, bioterrorism information, and biodefense research. The organizations listed here represent various perspectives on what actions individual scientists, research institutions, science journals, the public, and government can do to minimize the threat of bioterrorism while maximizing the benefits of life science research."

DoD Press release: Report Charts Iraqi Political, Economic, Security Progress

Why Should Anyone Worry About Whose Communications Bush and Cheney Are Intercepting, If It Helps To Find Terrorists? by John W. Dean

Follow-up to February 22, 2006 posting, Agency Documents Increasingly Withheld From Public Access Through Sensitive Designation, see this press release the same day from NARA:

The National Science Board has released its biennial report to the President, Science and Engineering Indicators 2006, and a companion document, America's Pressing Challenge - Building a Stronger Foundation.

NARA press release: "Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein and Google Co-Founder and President of Technology Sergey Brin today announced the launch of a pilot program to make holdings of the National Archives available for free online. This non-exclusive agreement will enable researchers and the general public to access a diverse collection of historic movies, documentaries and other films from the National Archives via Google Video as well as the National Archives website."

The following articles appear in the February 24, 2006 New York Times:

From the White House today, The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned (Table of Contents in HTML, and PDF version of report, 228 pages). See also the Fact Sheet: The Federal Response to Hurricane Katrina: Lessons Learned

Related government documents:

FTC press release: "In the largest known compromise of financial data to date, CardSystems Solutions, Inc. and its successor, Solidus Networks, Inc., doing business as Pay By Touch Solutions, have agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that CardSystems' failure to take appropriate security measures to protect the sensitive information of tens of millions of consumers was an unfair practice that violated federal law. According to the FTC, the security breach resulted in millions of dollars in fraudulent purchases. The settlement will require CardSystems and Pay By Touch to implement a comprehensive information security program and obtain audits by an independent third-party security professional every other year for 20 years."

Related documents:

U.S. Government Bookstore - the official online bookstore for U.S. Government publications for purchase from the U.S. Government Printing Office. [via Peggy Garvin]

Guide to Port Databases Online (compiled by Nathan Estey, posted by Michael Ravnitzky)

Committee on Foreign Investments in the United States (CFIUS)

Press release: "A Canadian defendant and his business are permanently banned from selling business directories and listings in those directories to U.S. consumers. To settle the Federal Trade Commission charges they were fraudulently telemarketing directories and listings, the defendant and his mother, another director of the business, will also forfeit all rights to uncashed checks they received because of their scheme. The FTC will be able to return to U.S. consumers those checks that have been seized from the defendants' U.S. mailboxes, worth more than $36,000."

New York Times: Dow Jones Plans to Merge Online and Print Divisions

This DSpace Wiki hosts an alphabetical listing of college and university sponsored searchable, open source repositories, from around the world. Content includes a wide range of topics: biomedical and health sciences, theses, business and economics, library science, history, education, art, architecture, and engineering. Take a look. This is a terrific resource. [Metafilter]

EURES - The European Job Mobility Portal: The easy way to find information on jobs and learning opportunities in Europe.

Related resources:

From OMB Watch: "The explosion in the use by federal agencies of Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU) designations to withhold information since the 9/11 terrorist attacks has resulted in uneven policies across agencies and unnecessary restrictions on public access to information, according to a recent American Bar Association report. Such problems have manifested themselves in Connecticut, where state officials are trying to access, and make public, safety information pertaining to a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant, in order to determine and reduce any risk to the public posed by the plant." [thanks m.r.]

CRS Report: USA PATRIOT Act Additional Reauthorizing Amendments Act of 2006 (S. 2271) - "S. 22711 amends the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and the five federal statutes providing national security letter (NSL) authority to federal intelligence investigators in the following manner: (1) it grants recipients of a Section 215 order the express right to petition a FISA judge to modify or quash the nondisclosure requirement that accompanies such an order; (2) it removes the requirement that recipients of Section 215 orders or recipients of NSLs must provide the FBI or the authorized government authority with the name of the attorney they consulted to obtain legal advice concerning the production order or the NSL; and (3) it clarifies that libraries, the services of which include offering patrons access to the Internet, are not subject to NSLs, unless they are functioning as electronic communication service providers."

Follow-up to yesterday's posting, Proposed Sale of Port Operations Raises Serious Concerns on the Hill, related news and government documents, as the controvery escalates:

SUMMARY: The Department of the Army is revising our rule in support of the Freedom of Information Act as required by public law and updating the provisions for access and release of information from all Army information systems (automated and manual) that further supports the Army's Records Management Program. This rule finalizes the proposed rule that was published in the Federal Register on December 28, 2004. [Federal Register: February 22, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 35)][Rules and Regulations][Page 9221-9254] (34 pages, PDF)

Inside Look: Internet Explorer 7, Beta 2, by Wei-Meng Lee

CDT: "A new report by CDT details a widening gap between the technology that collects sensitive personal data and the laws designed to protect that data against government misuse. The National Security Agency's domestic spying program, the Justice Department's efforts to obtain millions of Internet search records, the government's use of cell phones to track suspects, and other developments highlight the law's failure to keep pace with technological advances, according to "Digital Search & Seizure: Updating Privacy Protections to Keep Pace with Technology." Stronger laws are needed to ensure that Americans retain their constitutional privacy protections, the report finds."

EPIC: "In a letter sent to state ethical and professional responsibility boards, EPIC warned that there is mounting evidence that attorneys are major purchases of "pretexting" services. Pretexting is the practice of using false pretenses to trick a company into releasing personal information. EPIC urged state boards to evaluate pretexting under ethics rules, and to issue opinions to attorneys advising them not to pretext or hire investigators who use pretexting to obtain information."

Related references:

"Summary: NARA is revising our regulations to provide for the appropriate management and disposition of very short-term temporary e-mail, by allowing agencies to manage these records within the e-mail system." Federal Register, February 21, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 34)] [Rules and Regulations][Page 8806-8808].

WSJ free feature today: In Search of Presidential Earmarks Pork, a Capitol Hill Staple, Also Is White House Custom, But Much Tougher to Track.

Press release: "Senator Susan Collins, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Ranking Member Joseph Lieberman sent letters today to Department of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and Department of Treasury Secretary John Snow expressing "serious concerns" with the proposed sale of operations at six major U.S. ports to Dubai Ports World (DPW), a company owned by the Dubai-government. The letter was also signed by Senators Norm Coleman (R-MN), Chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations and Ranking Member Carl Levin (D-MI)."

New York Times: Too Many New Gadgets, Too Much Information at Risk: Loss, theft and viruses are major issues as corporate use of handheld devices and pocket PCs increases. Pre-emptive security options are available however, as this article describes.

National Security Archive press release: "The CIA and other federal agencies have secretly reclassified over 55,000 pages of records taken from the open shelves at the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), according to a report published today on the World Wide Web by the National Security Archive at George Washington University. Matthew Aid, author of the report and a visiting fellow at the Archive, discovered this secret program through his wide-ranging research in intelligence, military, and diplomatic records at NARA and found that the CIA and military agencies have reviewed millions of pages at an unknown cost to taxpayers in order to sequester documents from collections that had been open for years."

Pacer press release: "In the spirit of the E-Government Act of 2002, modifications have been made to the District Court CM/ECF system to provide PACER customers with access to written opinions free of charge. The modifications also allow PACER customers to search for written opinions using a new report that is free of charge. Written opinions have been defined by the Judicial Conference as "any document issued by a judge or judges of the court sitting in that capacity, that sets forth a reasoned explanation for a court's decision." The responsibility for determining which documents meet this definition rests with the authoring judge."

"GPO Access is providing a link to a preprint version of "A Failure of Initiative: Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina" that is hosted on the servers of the Committee. Users should note that this version is not final and is subject to changes and updates at unknown frequencies. The final, official version of the Report, expected in early April and coinciding with the delivery of the official printed version of the Report, will be hosted on GPO Access servers."

M-06-06, Sample Privacy Documents for Agency Implementation of Homeland Security Presidential Directive (HSPD) 12 (February 17, 2006)

"The Business Plan for the Office of Inspector General (OIG) at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)...combines the Strategic Plan for fiscal years 2006 through 2011 and Performance Plan for fiscal year 2006....The FDIC OIG is an independent and objective unit established under the Inspector General Act of 1978, as amended (IG Act). The OIG's mission is to promote the economy, efficiency, and effectiveness of FDIC programs and operations, and protect against fraud, waste, and abuse to assist and augment the FDIC's contribution to stability and public confidence in the nation's financial system. In carrying out its mission, the OIG conducts audits, evaluations, and investigations; reviews existing and proposed legislation and regulations; and keeps the FDIC Chairman and the Congress currently and fully informed of problems and deficiencies relating to FDIC programs and operations."

Managing Cybersecurity Resources: A Cost-Benefit Analysis "details guidelines for using sound and measurable principles of cost-benefit analysis, as a compliment to gut instinct, to efficiently allocate and manage cybersecurity resources within your organization. Written by two globally acknowledged leaders in the increasingly critical area of cybersecurity (Lawrence A. Gordon and Martin P. Loeb), this comprehensive exploration presents:

They Haven’t Got Mail - The Katrina hearings haven’t only revealed critical information about White House responses to the hurricane. They’ve also uncovered the online secrets of Donald Rumsfeld and Michael Chertoff: "...congressional investigations of government responses to Hurricane Katrina have revealed that two of the nation's key crisis managers, the secretaries of Defense and Homeland Security, do not use e-mail...Spokesmen for the two officials maintain that Rumsfeld and Chertoff were kept informed during Katrina the same way as they keep in touch during other crises: through aides and a variety of other communications methods..."

New York Times: That Which We Call a Blog...

More terrific research by Michael Ravnitzky has been posted to the Memory Hole. Minutes of the Legislative Reference Service, 1947-1953, The Forerunner of the Congressional Research Service (26 pages, PDF).

Following up on a controversial demand made by DOJ to major search engine companies for extensive database records, Google this afternoon posted the following response on their official blog: "In August, Google was served with a subpoena from the U. S. Department of Justice demanding disclosure of two full months' worth of search queries that Google received from its users, as well as all the URLs in Google's index. We objected to the subpoena, which started a set of legal procedures that puts the issue before the Federal courts. Below is the introduction to our response to the Department of Justice's motion to the court to force us to comply with the subpoena. You can find the entire response here. (This is a 25-page PDF file.)"

Disaster Preparedness: Preliminary Observations on the Evacuation of Hospitals and Nursing Homes Due to Hurricanes, GAO-06-443R, February 16, 2006.

Corporate Integrity Agreements (CIAS) and Settlement Agreements with Integrity Provisions, 2/16/06.

AP, Judge Weighs Libby's Request for Documents - The special prosecutor contends that Libby's demand for unprecedented access to an extensive range of classified White House documents "is a transparent effort at 'greymail'."

Relevant government documents (via firedoglake):

FTC press release: "The primary reforms to the merger review process establish presumptions that the FTC will: (1) limit the number of employees required to provide information in response to a second request, provided the party complies with specified conditions; (2) reduce the time period for which a party must provide documents in response to the second request; (3) allow a party to preserve far fewer backup tapes and produce documents on those tapes only when responsive documents are not available through more accessible sources; and (4) significantly reduce the amount of information parties must submit regarding documents they consider to be privileged."

Follow-up to a series of recent postings on the growing controversy concerning NASA's policy to limit public access to accurate scientific documents on global warming.

"Five independent investigators of the United Nations Commission on Human Rights are calling on the United States to close immediately the detention centre in Guantánamo Bay and bring all detainees before an independent and competent tribunal or release them." (The report, 54 pages, PDF).

Follow-up to yesterday's posting, Investigation into Domestic Spying Program Blocked, today AP reports Justice Argues Against Ashcroft Testimony, and the New York Times reports Senate Panel Decides Against Eavesdropping Investigation, at Least for Now.

"In response to a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit (PDF) filed by EPIC, a federal judge has ordered (PDF) the Department of Justice to process and release documents related to the Bush Administration's warrantless surveillance program by March 8. It is the first court opinion addressing the controversial domestic spying operation. "President Bush has invited meaningful debate about the warrantless surveillance program," U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy wrote. "That can only occur if DOJ processes [EPIC's] FOIA requests in a timely fashion and releases the information sought."

Responding to Security Incidents on a Large Academic Network: by Jamie Riden 02/14/06 (9 pages, PDF). "This paper describes a series of security incidents on a large academic network, and the gradual evolution of measures to deal with emerging threats."

DHS Has Not Implemented An Information Security Program for Its Intelligence Systems (Unclassified Summary) (PDF, 3 pages), 2/16/2006.

From Marcus P. Zillman, news of his latest Accessibility Resources White Paper Link Compilation.

Social Security Numbers: Coordinated Approach to SSN Data Could Help Reduce Unauthorized Work, GAO-06-458T, February 16, 2006. Highlights.

Follow-up to yesterday's posting, Declassifying Gov. Docs. For Libby Defense, today Steven Aftergood provides a detailed analysis of the powers of the President and Vice President, respectively, in declassifying national security information. As Steven explains, Executive Order 13292, issued by President Bush, contains language that "dramatically elevates the Vice President's classification authority to that of the President..." However, Aftergood notes that the VP's authority to declassify documents atuhored by other executive branch agency heads (such as CIA) is not necessarily clear. Please refer to his posting for more details.

Follow-up to postings on Plame CIA leak [see specifically Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information,
by Murray Waas, National Journal, Thursday, Feb. 9, 2006], tonight AP reports: "Vice President Dick Cheney disclosed Wednesday that he has the power to declassify sensitive government information, authority that could set up a criminal defense for his former chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby."

Commission Staff Working Directive, 20/1/06.

Follow-up to House Cmte. Seeks Operations Docs. from Websites Selling Cell Phone Records, "House Energy and Commerce Committee investigators have identified people behind 22 Web pages that may offer criminals, stalkers and any other paying customer the detailed records of a person's private telephone calls."

House of Representatives Committee on International Relations, Subcommittee on Africa, Global Human Rights and International Operations, February 15, 2006 Hearing, The Internet in China: A Tool for Freedom or Suppression?

Links to statements and testimony below are in PDF:

Washington Post (reg. req'd), 325,000 Names on Terrorism List - Rights Groups Say Database May Include Innocent People: "The National Counterterrorism Center maintains a central repository of 325,000 names of international terrorism suspects or people who allegedly aid them, a number that has more than quadrupled since the fall of 2003, according to counterterrorism officials."

Pew Internet Project Data Memo, Growing Numbers Surf the Web Just for Fun, 2/15/2006, by Senior Research Fellow Deborah Fallows: "Nearly a third of internet users go online on a typical day for no particular reason, just for fun or to pass the time. Two-thirds of all internet users have tried surfing the Web just to pass the time, according to a survey we conducted in December 2005. Some 40 million people said they were surfing for fun on a typical day during the month. This number is up from 25 million people who were browsing for no particular reason in November 2004, the most recent time when this question was asked by the Pew Internet Project."

A Failure of Initiative: The Final Report of the Select Bipartisan Committee to Investigate the Preparation for and Response to Hurricane Katrina, Washington, February 15, 2006:

Blogs to Riches - The Haves and Have-Nots of the Blogging Boom, by Clive Thomson, New York Magazine.

Related references, all from the 2/20/2006 issue of New York Magazine:

National Security Archives press release: "Under pressure from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit, the Justice Department on February 10 conceded in federal court that it could begin releasing as early as March 3 the internal legal memos relied on by the Bush administration in setting up the controversial National Security Agency warrantless wiretapping program. The National Security Archive, along with the American Civil Liberties Union ("ACLU"), this week joined the Electronic Privacy Information Center in a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the Department of Justice seeking to compel the immediate disclosure of the internal legal justifications for the surveillance program. The filing this week by the Archive and the ACLU was consolidated with a suit filed on January 19, 2006, by the Electronic Privacy Information Center ("EPIC") that requested the federal court in Washington to issue a preliminary injunction requiring the release of relevant documents within 20 days-which Judge Henry H. Kennedy, Jr. considered at a formal hearing today."

House Committee on Government Reform Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations -- hearing on National Security Whistleblowers in the post-9/11 Era: Lost in a Labyrinth and Facing Subtle Retaliation, February 14, 2006.

There have been several recent congressional communications and related articles addressing whether or not authors of CRS reports on issues pertaining to domestic surveillance have demonstrated bias in their research. Links to relevant documents are in chronological order, as follows:

Press release: "Under President Bush’s proposed budget, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is slated to shut down its network of libraries that serve its own scientists as well as the public, according to internal agency documents released today by Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER). In addition to the libraries, the agency will pull the plug on its electronic catalog which tracks tens of thousands of unique documents and research studies that are available nowhere else."

The following documents, included in the press release, are in PDF:

FDIC Consumer News, Winter 2005/2006 - Fires, Floods and Other Misfortunes: Are You Prepared Financially?. Alos in this issue, see Consumer Alert: Beware of Disaster-Related Financial Scams.

Press release: "Today, U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman unveiled the results of a top-to-bottom review of U.S.-China Trade Policy at a news conference. The report, U.S. - China Trade Relations: Entering a New Phase of Greater Accountability and Enforcement (29 pages, PDF), is the first comprehensive statement of U.S. trade policy towards China since it joined the WTO in 2001. The report was provided to Congress this morning with a cover letter (2 pages, PDF) from Ambassador Portman to the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the Senate Finance and House Ways and Means Committees. In this letter, he outlined his objective of closer collaboration with Congress on U.S.-China trade policy."

Related documents:

Lessons from the Sony CD DRM Episode, February 14, 2006 (27 pages, PDF), by J. Alex Halderman and Edward W. Felton.

Follow up to February 10, 2006 posting, Survey on Spy Program Reflects Public Concern With Constitutional Freedoms, this news today from the ABA Task Force on Domestic Surveillance in the Fight Against Terrorism:

Following up on recent postings: Yahoo Issues Statement on Chinese Net Censorship, Net Censorship Abroad - Free Speech Colides With E-commerce? and Hearing Focuses on Internet Censorship in China, related news today via this State Dept. press release - statement of Under Secretary of State for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs Josette Shiner: "I'm pleased to join you here today...to announce State's Global Internet Freedom Task Force. Since its launch a little over a decade ago, the internet has proven to be the greatest purveyor of news and information in history. From a small band of university researchers sharing documents to people -- over a billion people connecting in real-time around the globe, the internet has proven to be a force multiplier for freedom and a censor's nightmare, as efforts by repressive regimes have failed to fully restrict or block growth and access to the internet. Nevertheless, there are severe challenges to this openness. It's a top priority for the State Department and the U.S. Government to do all we can to ensure maximum access to information over the internet and to ensure minimum success by censors to information or silence legitimate debate in this global town hall."

Additional news on Internet freedom:

State of the World 2006 - Special Focus: China and India, January 2006 ($). "This year, Worldwatch Institute's annual State of the World report provides a special focus on China and India, examining the global impact as these two nations join the United States and Europe as major consumers of resources and polluters of local and global ecosystems. The report explains the critical need for both countries to "leapfrog" the technologies, policies, and even the cultures that now prevail in many western countries for the sake of global sustainability—and reports on some of the strategies that China and India are starting to implement."

Review of FOIA Countries Worldwide - February 1, 2006 (10 pages, PDF), by Roger Vleugels, an independent Dutch-based legal consultant and FOIA expert.

Press release, February 10, 2006: "U.S. Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL) today renewed his call to stop the sale and fraudulent use of private telephone records. In letters sent today [text of which are included in this release], Durbin requested a hearing from the Senate Judiciary Committee, and investigations from the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Department of Justice.

From the American Motorcycle Association, a searchable database of state motorcycle laws, requirements, regulations and safety information for on and off road riders. [thanks r.r.]

Media Contracts: Activities and Financial Obligations for Seven Federal Departments GAO-06-305, January 13, 2006. Highlights.

Following-up on recent postings, Net Censorship Abroad - Free Speech Colides With E-commerce? and Hearing Focuses on Internet Censorship in China, see today's press release: "Yahoo!: Our Beliefs as a Global Internet Company - As a leading provider of Internet-based services, Yahoo! is committed to open access to information and communication on a global basis. We believe information is power. Citizens across the globe are benefiting greatly from increased access to communications, commerce and independent sources of information. The Internet has helped transform the way business is done, advanced consumer cultures, increased competition, allowed entrepreneurship to flourish, and provided citizens with more freedom in how they live, work, exchange ideas and make choices. Doing business in certain countries presents U.S. companies with challenging and complex questions. We are deeply concerned by efforts of governments to restrict and control open access to information and communication. We also firmly believe the continued presence and engagement of companies like Yahoo! is a powerful force in promoting openness and reform. Private industry alone cannot effectively influence foreign government policies on issues like the free exchange of ideas, maximum access to information, and human rights reform, and we believe continued government-to-government dialogue is vital to achieve progress on these complex political issues..."

U.S. Census Bureau: U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services Highlights, February 10, 2006. Goods and Services Deficit Increases in 2005. Also from Census, U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services - Current, Prior and Compressed

"The Economic Report of the President is an annual report written by the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors. It overviews the nation's economic progress using text and extensive data appendices. The Economic Report of the President is transmitted to Congress no later than ten days after the submission of the Budget of the United States Government. Supplementary reports can be issued to the Congress which contain additional and/or revised recommendations. Documents are available as ASCII text and PDF files."

Follow-up to postings on government censorship of dissemination of scientific data, this February 11, 2006 article from the Washington Post - Censorship Is Alleged at NOAA Scientists Afraid to Speak Out, NASA Climate Expert Reports: "James E. Hansen, the NASA climate scientist who sparked an uproar last month by accusing the Bush administration of keeping scientific information from reaching the public, said Friday that officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration are also muzzling researchers who study global warming."

Related references and resources on global warming issues:

Follow-up to Agreement Reached on Patriot Act Reauthorization:

Follow-up on yesterday's posting, CIA Leak Disclosure and VP - Political Not Legal Ramifications?, another turn on a crooked road: AP reports today that "Special Counsel Patrick Fitzgerald should investigate Vice President Dick Cheney and others in the CIA leak probe if they authorized an aide to give secret information to reporters, Democratic and Republican senators said Sunday."

The Brad Blog posted the text of an e-mail message to House Judiciary Committee members and staff alerting them to an "Unclassified briefing by DOJ on NSA surveillance program" to "be held at 3 pm on Monday, Feb 13th." Escalating bipartisan congressional demands to be provided with more extensive documentation on the domestic surveillance program has apparently resulted in heightened awareness that that this issue is not fading from interest.

Following up on February 9, 2006 posting, Investigation into Plame CIA Leak Involves Other White House Officials, this WSJ free feature, Cheney Role Risks Political Fallout: CIA-Leak Case May Hand War Critics Momentum, But Legal Issues Are Slim - "The disclosure that Vice President Dick Cheney may have authorized his former chief of staff to release classified information to justify the war in Iraq has political consequences for the White House, but the legal fallout may be muted."

"The goal of National Computer Security Survey (NCSS) is to produce reliable national and industry-level estimates of the prevalence of computer security incidents (such as denial of service attacks, fraud, or theft of information) against businesses and the resulting losses incurred by businesses. The first national survey of thousands of businesses is being conducted in 2006. Sponsors: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, National Cyber Security Division (NCSD)."

Related government documents:

Intelligence, Policy, and the War in Iraq, by Paul R. Pillar, From Foreign Affairs, March/April 2006

Follow-up to February 2, 2006 posting, Hearing Focuses on Internet Censorship in China, this WSJ free feature today: Internet Censorship - Web Firms Face Grilling on China.

Related news:

New York Times, Inquiry Into Wiretapping Article Widens: "Federal agents have interviewed officials at several of the country's law enforcement and national security agencies in a rapidly expanding criminal investigation into the circumstances surrounding a New York Times article published in December that disclosed the existence of a highly classified domestic eavesdropping program, according to government officials."

February 3, 2006: Draft Special Publication 800-88: Guidelines for Media Sanitization: "NIST's Computer Security Division has completed the initial public draft of Special Publication 800-88, Guidelines for Media Sanitization (40 pages, PDF). This guide is intended to assist organizations and system owners in making practical sanitization decisions based on the level of sensitivity of their information. It does not, and cannot, specifically address all known types of media however; the described draft sanitization decision process can be applied universally to all forms of media and categorizations of information."

Press release: "The Federal Communications Commission today launched a proceeding to examine whether additional security measures could prevent the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive customer information held by telecommunications companies. In a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) adopted today, the Commission seeks comment on a variety of issues related to customer privacy, including what security measures carriers currently have in place, what inadequacies exist in those measures, and what kind of security measures may be warranted to better protect consumers’ privacy. The Notice grants a petition for rulemaking filed by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) expressing concerns about whether carriers are adequately protecting customer call records and other customer proprietary network information, or CPNI. EPIC claims that some data brokers have taken advantage of inadequate security standards to gain access to the information under false pretenses, such as by posing as the customer, and then offering the records for sale on the Internet. The practice is known as pretexting."

Press release: "Republican Senators John Sununu (R-NH), Larry Craig (R-ID), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), and Chuck Hagel (R-NE) (on 2/9) announced they have reached agreement with the White House regarding the reauthorization of the USA PATRIOT Act. The package includes modifications to the Conference Report in three specific areas to better protect civil liberties while still providing law enforcement with expanded tools to conduct terrorism investigations.

Delivering Open Access: From Promise to Practice - "Derek Law predicts how the open access agenda will develop over the next ten years."

ABA press release: "According to a poll commissioned by the American Bar Association and released today, 52 percent of respondents said that in the fight against terrorism, the President of the United States alone cannot suspend constitutional freedoms, with an additional 25 percent saying he must obtain authorization by a court of law or Congress. Thus 77 percent of Americans express deep reservations about the president's secret surveillance program."

Vice President Cheney and The Fight Over "Inherent" Presidential Powers: His Attempt to Swing the Pendulum Back Began Long Before 9/11, by John W. Dean.

AP: Agreement Reached on Patriot Act Changes

01/27/06 The Federal Government Debt: Its Size and Economic Significance -- Updated

EFF press release: "Google today announced a new "feature" of its Google Desktop software that greatly increases the risk to consumer privacy. If a consumer chooses to use it, the new "Search Across Computers" feature will store copies of the user's Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets and other text-based documents on Google's own servers, to enable searching from any one of the user's computers. EFF urges consumers not to use this feature, because it will make their personal data more vulnerable to subpoenas from the government and possibly private litigants, while providing a convenient one-stop-shop for hackers who've obtained a user's Google password."

Related references:

Data Security: Federal and State Laws, February 03, 2006

"Lifeine Link-Up provides information and resources regarding federal and state Lifeline and Link-Up programs. Lifeline and Link-Up are programs that help ensure everyone has access to telephone service. These programs provide discounts to income-eligible individuals for both the initial installation costs of telephone service and for monthly telephone bills."

Cheney 'Authorized' Libby to Leak Classified Information, by Murray Waas, National Journal, Feb. 9, 2006: "Vice President Dick Cheney's former chief of staff, I. Lewis (Scooter) Libby, testified to a federal grand jury that he had been "authorized" by Cheney and other White House "superiors" in the summer of 2003 to disclose classified information to journalists to defend the Bush administration's use of prewar intelligence in making the case to go to war with Iraq, according to attorneys familiar with the matter, and to court records."

Yesterday's posting, Judiciary Cmte. Requests Extensive Info On Domestic Spying Program From Attorney General, relied heavily on links to the Washington Post, and for good reason. The newspaper's investigative reporting on the domestic spying issue has been picking up steam, with yet another must read article in today's issue, Secret Court's Judges Were Warned About NSA Spy Data - Program May Have Led Improperly to Warrants. After registering to read the article, be sure to also read this CRS Memo to Senate Cmte. on Intelligence Describes Probable Cause, and refer to related postings on domestic surveillance. The ramifications of this body of government documents and related expert commentary makes one wonder when it will all reach critical mass.

Related references:

Press release: "Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), the ranking Democrat on the Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, today introduced the Eliminate Warehousing of Consumer Internet Data Act of 2006 (6 pages, PDF) – designed to strengthen consumer' Internet privacy and prevent companies from storing personal information for indefinite periods of time."

Follow-up on House Cmte. Seeks Operations Docs. from Websites Selling Cell Phone Records and Sale of Cell Phone Records Subject of House Hearing and State AG Action and Bill to Prohibit Sale of Cell Phone Records Gains Momentum, news from AP tonight that several sites targeted by congressional investigation have ceased operations.

John Batelle posted the text (PDF) of University of Michigan President Mary Sue Coleman's keynote address at the Association of American Publishers Conference, February 6. She defended her university's participation in the Google Library Project as well as the overall value and importance of library digitization programs in general.

Follow-up to Gov't Climate Change Expert Contends Censorship of Data and NASA Chief Calls for "Scientific Openness" Amidst Claims of Gov't Secrecy, today this report from the New York Times on the resignation of a presidential appointee at NASA responsible for ordering revisions of data available to the public on the agency website.

Jennifer Laycock provides a brief but useful comparison of the two satellite services, Google Earth and Windows Live Local - beta.

The Christian Science Monitor: US plans massive data sweep - Little-known data-collection system could troll news, blogs, even e-mails. Will it go too far?

Congressional Research Service, Memorandum to Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Subject: Probable Cause, Reasonable Suspicion, and Reasonableness Standards in the Context of the Fourth Amendment and the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, January 30, 2006 (via FAS).

Following up on AG Gonzales Testimony to Judiciary Cmte. Generates Strong Response, news today about Congressional requests for additional information on the NSA spy program: Press release: "House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner, Jr. (R-Wis.) today sent a Judiciary Committee oversight letter to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales requesting extensive answers about the National Security Agency’s (NSA) terrorist surveillance program. The 14-page oversight letter requests that the Attorney General respond to the 51 questions by March 2nd. Chairman Sensenbrenner stated, "Questions have been raised about the President's authority to establish the NSA's terrorist surveillance program, which was created to protect Americans against a dangerous enemy intent upon using any means possible to destroy Americans and the freedoms we cherish. Fulfillment of Congress's oversight responsibility about this program no doubt will involve highly classified information that cannot be publicly released without harming national security. Nonetheless, I'm confident the unclassified responses to these questions will both assist the Committee's oversight efforts and better inform the people that the program is designed to protect."

Related resources and references:

Press release: "Representative Edward J. Markey (D-MA), the ranking Democrat on the Telecommunications and Internet Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, today introduced the Eliminate Warehousing of Consumer Internet Data Act of 2006 – designed to strengthen consumers' Internet privacy and prevent companies from storing personal information for indefinite periods of time...Rep. Markey’s bill would require owners of Internet websites to destroy obsolete data that can be used to individually identify a consumer, including credit card numbers, bank numbers, and date of birth, home address and Social Security numbers. The bill directs the Federal Trade Commission to set standards and enforce this act."

Follow-up to Preserving an Open Internet through Net Neutrality, see this hearing today: Net Neutrality, Full Senate Commerce Committee, Tuesday, February 7, 2006. Member and Witness statements (in PDF, including those from Vinton Cerf and Lawrence Lessig), are available here.

Suspicions Confirmed: This January the Warmest Ever Recorded in America and Scientists Warn of Melting Ocean Ice and Rising Oceans in the Arctic Because of Global Warming.

Follow up on previous postings, Executive Order Mandates Chief FOIA Officers for Each Agency by January 13, 2006 and President Issues New Order on FOIA Disclosures, this posting by Steven Aftergood documents new directives for agency responses to FOIA requests.

Hurricane Katrina: Managing Law Enforcement and Communications in a Catastrophe, February 6, 2006

Yes, that would be a reference to all the librarians, researchers, info pros, information specialists, etc., who deserve a big collective shout out for all the terrific services they provide each and every day, in all arenas of the profession. Take a moment to read this article, and enjoy (I sure do miss Monty Python -- "get me a shrubbery" --- and long live Firesign Theatre).

Follow-up to posting yesterday, Gallup Internet Poll Reports E-mail Remains Dominant With Blogs Making Decent Showing, related news and statistics on the State of the Blogosphere, February 2006 Part 1: On Blogosphere Growth.

"The content on ExpectMore.gov is developed by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and Federal agencies. Together, we assess the performance of every Federal program and hold ourselves accountable for improvement."

Follow-up to yesterday's posting, AG Alberto R. Gonzales Testifies Before Senate Judiciary Cmte. Today, the following transcript of the AG's answers to Sen. Specter's questions (11 pages, PDF), via CDT.

Related references:

H.R. 4659/P.L. 109-170 - To amend the USA PATRIOT ACT to extend the sunset of certain provisions of such Act. (Feb. 3, 2006; 120 Stat. 3; 1 page).

Press release: Mail and News Are Main Internet Attractions Some e-commerce picking up; blogs still marginal, by Lydia Saad: "A recent Gallup Poll examining Americans' online habits finds e-mail use almost universal among the three-quarters of U.S. adults who use the Internet. Checking the news and weather ranks second on the list of 13 Internet activities measured, although not as many Americans surf for news frequently as e-mail frequently."

Whose Credit Report is it, Anyway? It's Time for States to Pass Credit Freeze Laws that Give Consumers Control Over their Credit Profiles, by Anita Ramasastry.

Following up on February 4, 2006 posting, VP Informed Libby About Plame Identity, Michael Isikoff reports The CIA Leak: Plame Was Still Covert.

Follow-up to February 2, 2006 posting, Commentary on Forces Competing to Determine "Digital Destiny", this related article from the UK Times Onlines - Rumours mount over Google's internet plan, by Benjamin Cohen: "Google is working on a project to create its own global internet protocol (IP) network, a private alternative to the internet controlled by the search giant, according to sources who are in commercial negotiation with the company."

Declan McCullagh reports: "A survey by CNET News.com has identified 15 large telecom and Internet companies that are willing to say that they have not participated in the NSA surveillance program, as well as another 12 that declined to reply."

Good Fences Make Bad Broadband - Preserving an Open Internet through Net Neutrality, 2006/02/06, A Public Knowledge White Paper, by John Windhausen, Jr.: "This paper analyzes the Net Neutrality debate in more detail. The paper is divided into four parts...Part I is a reference guide on the Net Neutrality issue; Part II makes the case in favor of a Network Neutrality rule; Part III responds to four arguments against Net Neutrality raised by the network operators; Part IV provides an outline of a possible Net Neutrality rule or statute."

Trial of Saddam Hussein: "This website is intended to provide the viewer with essential information related to the relevant trials. It will also set out a selection of reference materials that will further explain important aspects of the trials. In making this selection, the Law Library of Congress does not endorse or attest to the authenticity of any such referenced materials or information."

"Wartime Executive Power and the NSA's Surveillance Authority"
Senate Judiciary Committee Full Committee, February 6, 2006 [Note: according to video and the transcript of the testimony, GOP Senators voted not to have Gonzales sworn in.]

Budget of the United States Government: Fiscal Year 2007: "Issued by the Office of Management and Budget, the Budget of the United States Government is a collection of documents that contains the budget message of the President, information about the President's budget proposals for a given fiscal year, and other budgetary publications that have been issued throughout the fiscal year. Other related and supporting budget publications, such as the Economic Report of the President, are included, which may vary from year to year."

Budget of the United States Government, Fiscal Year 2007

"The WTC Health Registry is a comprehensive and confidential health survey of those most directly exposed to the events of 9/11/01. Those who enrolled answered a 30-minute telephone survey about where they were on 9/11/01, and were asked to report the status of their health. This will allow health professionals to compare the health of those most exposed to the events of 9/11/01 with the health of the general population."

PBS Now, February 3, 2006: David Brancaccio's interview on Iraq Pre-War Intelligence, with Lawrence B. Wilkerson, who was Chief of Staff at the Department of State, August 2002 to January 2005.

Press release: "The 2006 Identity Fraud Survey Report - released by the Council of Better Business Bureaus and Javelin Strategy & Research - provides new facts on how identity fraud occurs, counterintuitive insights that challenge conventionally accepted beliefs about these crimes, and steps consumers can take to further protect themselves against this problem...people are not helpless in protecting themselves from identity theft. Contrary to popular belief, consumers do not bear the brunt of financial losses from identity fraud, Internet use does not increase the risk of identity fraud; and... seniors are not the most frequent targets of fraud operators." The press release includes key data from the report, but the full text (57 pages) must be purchased from Javelin Strategy & Research.

Related resources:

Of Wiretaps, Google Searches and Handguns - Who's Counting: Ineffective Government Screenings Not Worth Loss of Privacy, by John Allen.

AP reports today the Senate Judicary Committe Chairman Arlen Specter "said he believes the administration violated a 1978 law specifically calling for a secretive court to consider and approve such monitoring."

Additional resources:

'State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration,' by James Risen - Spies and Spymasters, Review by Walter Isaacson.

Press release: "The Department of State is updating its main website at www.state.gov to improve usability and increase awareness of important news items. The new design streamlines the number of content sections from nine to four: Issues and Press, Travel and Business, Youth and Education, and About the State Department. The redesigned homepage will feature the main news story of the day, along with other important news. The homepage also will provide easy access to information about Secretary Rice, multimedia resources, and interactive options for users to subscribe to state.gov content as well as quick links to key topics in each of the website sections."

Declan McCullagh and Elinor Mills: "To find out what kind of information the four major search companies retain about their users, CNET News.com surveyed America Online, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo.
We asked the same seven questions of each company. Their answers are reproduced... with the responses sorted by the companies' names in alphabetical order."

Follow-up to February 3, 2006 posting, Judiciary Cmte. Democrats Again Request Data on Domestic Surveillance From AG, which referred to an AP article, Papers: Ford White House Weighed Wiretaps...George H.W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney are cited in the documents, see this additional documentation from the National Security Archive:

Gallup: More Than Half of Americans Feel Bush Deliberately Misled Country on Iraq WMD

"The Copyright Office has completed its study of problems related to 'orphan works'—copyrighted works whose owners may be impossible to identify and locate. As requested by Senator Orrin Hatch and Senator Patrick Leahy, the Office submitted its Report on Orphan Works to the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 31, 2006. The Report is also available for download on this page in two versions, the Full Report with Appendices (207 pages, PDF), and the Main Text (no appendices) (133 pages, PDF)."

FAQ: When Google is not your friend, by Declan McCullagh: "Google's recent legal spat with the U.S. Department of Justice highlights not only what information search engines record about us but also the shortcomings in a federal law that's supposed to protect online privacy."

Related references:

Follow-up to recent postings, Gov't Climate Change Expert Contends Censorship of Data, and Sen. Boxer Calls For Hearings on Censorship of Gov't Scientists, the New York Times reports that NASA Administrator Michael Griffin issued a "statement of scientific openness" to agency employees, saying, "NASA has always been, is and will continue to be committed to open scientific and technical inquiry and dialogue with the public."

Related reference:

"The All Party Parliamentary Internet Group (APIG) [held] an oral evidence session [February 2, 2006] at the House of Commons, as part of its public inquiry on Digital Rights Management(DRM)...The inquiry...is seeking to establish how consumers, artists and the distribution companies should be protected in a continually evolving market place...Regrettably, this session will not be open to the public but a full transcript of the sessions will be made publicly available when the final report is published in April."

AP: Congress Extends Patriot Act Five Weeks

Quadrennial Defense Review - U.S. Department of Defense: "This 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review is submitted in the fifth year of this long war. The QDR is part of the continuum of transformation in the Defense Department. Its purpose is to help shape the process of change to provide the United States with strong, sound and effective warfighting capabilities in the decades ahead."

Follow-up to February 2, 2006 posting, Correspondence on Libby Indictment Mentions Missing Emails, news today that the Libby trail date has been set for January 8, 2007 in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia:

Follow-up to February 1, 200 posting, Sale of Cell Phone Records Subject of House Hearing and State AG Action, the following related news:

Press release: "U.S. Senators Harry Reid, Charles E. Schumer, Ken Salazar, and others sent a letter [text included in this release] signed by a majority of Democrats to Attorney General Alberto Gonzales asking him to appoint a special counsel to continue the investigation into and prosecution of the Jack Abramoff corruption scandal."

Press release: "The Committee Democrats first asked Attorney General Alberto Gonzales for correspondence, memoranda and legal opinions on January 27 in a letter. Senators sought the information in anticipation of the Feb. 6 hearing the committee is holding on the controversial surveillance program. So far, the Department has not responded. The text of the letter sent today as well as the underlying request for documents is [included in the text of this release -- also available in PDF].

Related references:

Nuclear Weapons: NNSA Needs to Refine and More Effectively Manage Its New Approach for Assessing and Certifying Nuclear Weapons, GAO-06-261, February 3, 2006. Highlights.

Senate Intelligence Committee hearing: Current and Projected National Security Threats to the United States, Thursday, February 2, 2006.

Partial transcript which includes statements by Sen. Russ Feingold. Witnesses are listed as followed (please note only Negroponte statement is currently available): Ambassador John Negroponte, Director of National Intelligence; General Michael V. Hayden (USAF), Principal Deputy, Director of National Intelligence; Robert S. Mueller III, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Porter J. Goss, Director of the Central Intelligence Agency; General Michael D. Maples (USA), Director of the Defense Intelligence Agency; Charles Allen, Chief Intelligence Officer, Department of Homeland Security; Carol Rodley, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research.


Related news:

Boston.com: Specialists doubt legality of wiretaps - Many rebut assertion of presidential powers.

Letter Report: A Review of Border Patrol's Compliance with Public Law 108-334 and the Use of Checkpoints within the Tucson Sector, OIG-06-08, November 2005 (PDF, 22 pages), released February 2, 2006.

American Competitiveness Initiative: Leading the World in Innovation -Domestic Policy Council, Office of Science and Technology (27 pages, PDF).

Congressional Human Rights Caucus Members' Briefing: Human Rights and the Internet - The People's Republic of China, Wednesday, February 1, 2006: "China has one of the most sophisticated content-filtering Internet regimes in the world. The Chinese government employs sophisticated methods to limit content online, including a combination of legal regulation, surveillance, and punishment to promote self-censorship, as well as technical controls. Informational websites, including that of the BBC, Radio Free Asia, Voice of America and the public encyclopedia, Wikipedia, have been partially or completely blocked in China."

Related references:

Iraq, Niger, And The CIA - By Murray Waas, special to National Journal, Feb. 2, 2006: "Vice President Cheney and his then-Chief of Staff I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby were personally informed in June 2003 that the CIA no longer considered credible the allegations that Saddam Hussein had attempted to procure uranium from the African nation of Niger, according to government records and interviews with current and former officials."

UK Home Office: Updated Estimate of the of the Cost of Identity Fraud to the UK Economy, 2 February 2006 (4 pages, PDF).

Follow-up to January 29, 2006 posting, Gov't Climate Change Expert Contends Censorship of Data - today Sen. Barbara Boxer issued a press release that included the text of her letters to ranking members of two Senate committees stating, "It has come to my attention that the director of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Dr. James E. Hansen, has had his public papers and statements on critical scientific matters severely restricted by Bush Administration officials. Considering the gravity of these allegations, I strongly urge you to hold a hearing to investigate these charges."

CBO: Testimony on The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2007 to 2016 - February 2, 2006 (9 pages, PDF)

The End of the Internet? by Jeff Chester: "The nation's largest telephone and cable companies are crafting an alarming set of strategies that would transform the free, open and nondiscriminatory Internet of today to a privately run and branded service that would charge a fee for virtually everything we do online...According to white papers now being circulated in the cable, telephone and telecommunications industries, those with the deepest pockets--corporations, special-interest groups and major advertisers--would get preferred treatment."

Late last night AP reported that Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald stated in legal correspondence [the full text of which is available here in PDF] related to discovery in the Libby CIA leak indictment, that White House email from 2003 failed to be properly archived. The article quotes the response of noted government secrecy expert Steven Aftergood to this disclosure as follows - "Bottom line: Accidents happen and there could be a benign explanation, but this is highly irregular and invites suspicion."

New York Times, February 2, 2006: Panel Rebuffed on Documents on U.S. Spying: "The Bush administration is rebuffing requests from members of the Senate Judiciary Committee for its classified legal opinions on President Bush's domestic spying program, setting up a confrontation in advance of a hearing scheduled for next week, administration and Congressional officials said Wednesday."

Press release: "HighBeam Research, Inc. has announced a series of upgrades to its collection of content on the HighBeam Research Engine, offering more than 1.5 million full-text articles to individual researchers for free and adding reference and news articles from Knight Ridder, Oxford University Press, and The Washington Post. Full-text articles from more than 200 sources are now offered for free, permanently, to all HighBeam users, even those who are not registered. For the free offering, HighBeam selected BusinessWire, Financial Management, Science News, USA Today magazine and other sources from its HighBeam Library--a collection of articles from more than 3,000 business, trade, academic, special interest, and general interest publications."

"Bright Ideas for Sunshine Week - This 72-page, full-color book features examples of some of the different ways Sunshine Week was observed in 2005. Sections include news and features, editorials and commentary, graphics and presentation, broadcast reports, online presentation, and ideas for 2006. The entire book is posted [online], broken out by section for easier downloading. Click on each chapter heading to open the PDF file."

Review of the Transportation Security Administation's Use of Pat-Downs In Screening Procedures (Redacted) OIG-06-10, November 2005 (PDF, 14 pages), released February 1, 2006.

Statement by Comptroller General David M. Walker on GAO's Preliminary Observations Regarding Preparedness and Response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (9 pages, PDF), released February 1, 2006: "GAO has undertaken a body of work to address federal, state, and local preparations for, response to, and recovery from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. This correspondence contains GAO's preliminary findings."

Phone Records For Sale: Why Aren't Phone Records Safe From Pretexting?, Full Committee on Energy and Commerce, February 1, 2006.

Five Ways To Keep Your Google Searches Private: "Word that the government has been seeking search data from Google has struck fear into the hearts of Internet Explorer and Firefox users. Here are five simple steps to keep outsiders from uncovering private information about your Web browsing habits."