Follow the E-Mail Trail - What you can learn from the data embedded in e-mail headers, by Mark A. Berman and Aaron Zerykier, The National Law Journal.
Boston Globe: Bush challenges hundreds of laws:"President Bush has quietly claimed the authority to disobey more than 750 laws enacted since he took office, asserting that he has the power to set aside any statute passed by Congress when it conflicts with his interpretation of the Constitution."
Archivists hone disaster plans: The loss of vital historical documents as a result of hurricanes Rita and Katrina have caused state archivists to re-evaluate the scope and effectiveness of the their disaster plans, as well as the need to establish different relationships with federal authorities.
Related sites:
"JURIST has been nominated for a prestigious Webby Award as the best Law website of 2006." Register, and please vote for JURIST.
"The mission of the Sunlight Foundation is to use the transformative power of the Internet and new information technology to enable citizens to learn more about what Congress and their elected representatives are doing, and thus help reduce corruption, ensure greater transparence and accountability by government, and foster public trust in the vital institutions of democracy." [Peggy Garvin]
PCWorld: Never Call Tech Support Again! "Why suffer though hours on hold when you can solve the problem yourself? Whether your PC won't boot, keeps crashing, is infested with adware, or can't get to the Net, we'll help you fix it."
AP: "The FBI secretly sought information last year on 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents from their banks and credit card, telephone and Internet companies without a court's approval..."
The Ins and Outs of Spyware [15 pages, PDF] April 24, 2006: "Lesley Herring discusses what spyware is, categories of spyware, types of spyware, symptoms of spyware, research sites to find out more information, prevention techniques, and removal tools in this contribution."
The Cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Global War on Terror Operations Since 9/11 (40 pages, PDF)
Press release: "Commission calls for ambitious objectives in the EU for 2010 - A plan that could lead to multi billion € annual savings for EU taxpayers and business was tabled by the European Commission today. With the eGovernment Action Plan the EU seeks to accelerate the delivery of tangible benefits for ALL Europeans."
State Legislative Bill Tracking: "If you are concerned about proposed legislation in the following 21 states, are you aware that these states offer a bill-tracking service on the web? The states are Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia and Wisconsin."
A Review of the FBI's Investigative Activities Concerning Potential Protesters at the 2004 Democratic and Republican National Political Conventions, Special Report, April 2006, PDF (Full Report, 37 pages)
AP reports that Sen. Specter Threatens to Block NSA Funds.
Historical Caseload Data - Updated to Include FY 2005: "A set of statistical tables that includes data on appellate, district and bankruptcy courts going back to 1988 and beyond has been updated with statistics for fiscal year 2005. New Tables. (April 27, 2006)"
Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared - Katrina Investigation Report Proposed by Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Chairman Collins and Ranking Member Lieberman (April 26 and April 27, 2006). The following documents are in PDF:
Press release: "The nation's governors teamed with the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL) and the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators (AAMVA) to bring state concerns about REAL ID to the attention of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). According to a joint analysis by NGA, NCSL and AAMVA, the statute in its current form will have a wide-reaching impact on citizens and states. The analysis, released April 26, provides a detailed summary of the issues raised by the statute, critical concerns of states, recommendations for effective implementation and identification of federal actions required to facilitate implementation. States remain committed to increasing the security and integrity of their state drivers license and identification card processes and look forward to working with DHS and Congress to establish reasonable and workable regulations to implement the objectives of REAL ID."
Following up on previous e-waste postings, Apple announced on April 21, 2006 a Free Computer Take-Back Program "...offering free computer take-back and recycling with the purchase of a new Macintosh® system beginning in June. US customers who buy a new Mac® through the Apple Store® or Apple's retail stores will receive free shipping and environmentally friendly disposal of their old computer as part of the Apple Recycling program. Equipment received by the program in the US is recycled domestically and no hazardous material is shipped overseas."
Follow-up to April 25, 2006 posting, White House and Congresss Repond to Rise in Gas Prices, this press release today from Sen. Specter, Bipartisan Legislation Seeking to Foster Competition and Reduce Oil & Gas Prices Receives Committee Approval: "Today the Senate Judiciary Committee overwhelmingly approved bipartisan legislation [Oil and Gas Industry Antitrust Act of 2006, S. 2557] that seeks to promote competition in the oil and gas industries in order to reduce fuel costs. The legislation was approved by voice vote. This legislation would keep fuel prices low by preventing companies from withholding oil and gas in an effort to raise prices. A joint federal and state task force is also created by the legislation to investigate information sharing between oil companies to determine if that practice has encouraged anti-competitive pricing."
Judging Secrets: The Role Courts Should Play in Preventing Unnecessary Secrecy, by Meredith Fuchs (General Counsel at The National Security Archive at George Washington University), Administrative Law Review, Winter 2006.
Today Judge Reggie B. Walton rejected (opinion, 31 page pages, PDF) Libby's motion to dismiss the charges against him related to the Plame CIA leak.
EPA Needs to Better Implement Plan for Protecting Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources Used to Respond to Terrorist Attacks and Disasters. Information on the initiatives in the full report is sensitive homeland security information and is not available to the [At a Glance - 1 page, PDF]
"The Unified Agenda (also known as the Semiannual Regulatory Agenda), published twice a year (usually in April and October) in the Federal Register (FR), summarizes the rules and proposed rules that each Federal agency expects to issue during the next six months. It is published by the Office of the Federal Register National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)."
Today GPO announced that the Social Security Administration has ceased print publication of the Social Security Handbook. Henceforth it will be available in digital format only.
"The Law Librarians' Society of Washington, D.C., Inc. (LLSDC) is pleased to announce the availability of a new site on its Legislative Source Book entitled Legislative Histories of Selected U.S. Laws in Electronic Format. The selected laws are organized in alphabetical and public law number order and primarily come from (and are linked to) the Department of Commerce (DoC) Law Library online catalog (pin is any characters you chose). The site also contains many explanatory notes while each law contains links to related bill information on the Library of Congress (LoC) THOMAS site, to a current related U.S. Code site, and to a current related C.F.R. site." [Rick McKinney]
"The Project on Extrajudicial Executions was established to conduct research into international legal regimes protecting the right to life and to support the work of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions in carrying out his mandate. The Project is directed by William Abresch."
OMB Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs Proposed Risk Assessment Bulletin
Senate Judiciary Cmte. press release, Grassley, Baucus Seek Oil Company Tax Returns: ".S. Senators Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, are asking the Internal Revenue Service to provide tax and financial information on the nation’s largest oil and gas companies." The text of the letter to IRS Commissioner Mark W. Everson is included in this release.
Audit of the Withdrawal of Records from Public Access at the National Archives and Records Administration for Classification Purposes - April 26, 2006
Following up on recent postings, the House today passed the Law Enforcement and Phone Privacy Protection Act of 2006 by a vote of 409-0.
Press release: "U.S. Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) today filed an amendment to provide immediate relief to American families at the gas pump by suspending the 18.4 cent federal gas tax for 60 days and repealing several billion-dollar tax giveaways to major oil companies. The Menendez Federal Gas Tax Holiday Amendment is a short-term measured geared toward easing the strain of energy costs already placed on American families."
Fact Sheet: President Bush's Four-Part Plan to Confront High Gasoline Prices
Federal Plan for Cyber Security and Information Assurance Research and Development, April 2006 (Preprint copy, 135 pages, PDF)
Prewar Intelligence: Is There A Double Standard On Leak Probes? by Murray Waas, National Journal: "On the eve of the invasion of Iraq, Sen. Pat Roberts was involved in disclosing sensitive intelligence information that, according to four former senior intelligence officers, impaired efforts to capture Saddam Hussein."
Related documents and references:
Drug Safety: Improvement Needed in FDA's Postmarket Decision-Making and Oversight Process. Full-text GAO-06-402,
Highlights, March 31.
From Moody's, Free Economic, Demographic & Financial Data - "Finding and downloading economic data has never been this fast, simple, or free...Moody's Economy.com data services teams in Asia, Europe, and the United States update FreeLunch.com's economic data as is it is released by the primary source."
Press release: "The National Security Archive's background paper on the new databases shows the strengths and weaknesses of the new on-line system as well as sample cables from 1973-1974..."
Following up on previous postings on e-waste, this USA Today article highlights the costs and consequences of manufacturer and consumer resistance to recycling gadgets. The toxic components of all sorts of discarded gadgets, such as PCs, TVs, PDAs and cell phones, result in millions of pounds of unrecycled waste each year.
Press release: "A new National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) issue brief, Protecting Privacy in Integrated Justice Systems, examines the impact of recent advances in justice information sharing on privacy protections. The brief also makes recommendations that states can adopt to continue the public safety gains made from justice information sharing while improving individual privacy protections."
Related Links:
ComputerWorld reports that Westchester County in New York is the first county in the nation to require all businesses with wireless networks that collect consumer related data to use "minimun security measures."
Pew Research Center for the People and the Press: Public Disillusionment with Congress at Record Levels - Anti-Incumbent Sentiment Echoes 1994, April 20, 2006
Financial Management Systems: Lack of Disciplined Process Puts Effective Implementation of Treasury's Governmentwide Financial Report System at Risk, Full-text GAO-06-413, Highlights, April 21, 2006.
FCW reports that the CIA network is hosting more than "1,000 internal blogs and an internal wiki with about 10,000 pages..."
GAO China Antidumping Database: "This e-supplement is a companion to GAO's report U.S.-China Trade: Eliminating Nonmarket Economy Methodology Would Lower Antidumping Duties for Some Chinese Companies, GAO-06-231 (Washington, D.C.: Jan. 10, 2006). The e-supplement contains a database of U.S. antidumping cases against China and selected other countries from January 1, 1980, through December 31, 2004. It also describes the scope and methodology of the study, for which GAO compiled this database."
ALA Business Reference and Services Section, 'Best of the Best' Business Web Sites
From the Official Google Blog: "Today we're launching a feature of Google Scholar which will make it easier for researchers to keep up with recent research...It's not just a plain sort by date, but rather we try to rank recent papers the way researchers do, by looking at the prominence of the author's and journal's previous papers, how many citations it already has, when it was written, and so on. Look for the new link on the upper right for "Recent articles" -- or switch to "All articles" for the full list."
Department of Defense, Office of the Inspector General -- Audit --Controls Over Exports to China - Report No. D-2006-067 PDF) - Project No. D2005-D000LG-0220.000, Date: March 30, 2006 (38 pages, PDF)
World Law Bulletin issues from December 2005 through March 2006
Press release: Federal Court Finds Air Force Engages in a Pattern or Practice of Violating the FOIA: "A federal court today granted partial summary judgment to the National Security Archive finding that the Air Force has violated the Freedom of Information Act and has engaged in a pattern or practice of violating the FOIA. In a suit brought by the Archive in March 2005, seeking to compel responses to 82 FOIA requests that had been pending between one and eighteen years, the court ordered the Air Force to provide the Archive with detailed information regarding each requested record and its FOIA processing, resolve each request with immediacy of attention and result, notify all agencies to which it has referred requests that it is operating under court order, and appear in court to discuss how to achieve results."
Press release: "The Center for Global Prosperity launches new Index of Global Philanthropy, 2006...the Index is the first comprehensive guide to the sources and magnitude of American charity abroad..." (83 pages, PDF)
China's Growing Demand for Oil and Its Impact on U.S. Petroleum Markets, April 2006 (58 pages, PDF)
Washington Times: "The new Open Source Center (OSC) at CIA headquarters recently stepped up data collection and analysis based on bloggers worldwide and is developing new methods to gauge the reliability of the content, said OSC Director Douglas J. Naquin."
Follow-up to two recent postings, Archivist Statement on Declassification of MOU Between National Archives and U.S. Air Force and NARA Participated In Keeping Gov Docs Secret After Declassification Occured, the following NARA press release, April 17, 2006: "On Thursday, April 13, 2006, Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein learned that a second classified Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) relating to the re-review of open records existed. He requested its immediate declassification. This MOU, drawn up by the CIA, was declassified on Friday, April 14, 2006, and is available to the public today. Because this agreement unlike the one with the Air Force was generic and procedural in nature, National Archives staff initially did not view it as part of the reclassification program."
Review of DHS' Progress in Adopting and Enforcing Equipment Standards for First Responders, OIG-06-30, March 2006 (PDF, 56 pages), 4/18/2006.
USDA Economic Research Service, Fruit and Vegetable Backgrounder, by Gary Lucier, Susan Pollack, Mir Ali, and Agnes Perez, Outlook Report No. (VGS-31301) 56pp, April 2006: "This report describes the economic characteristics of the U.S. fruit and vegetable industry, providing supply, demand, and policy background for an industry that accounts for nearly a third of U.S. crop cash receipts and a fifth of U.S. agricultural exports."
WSJ free feature: SEC Watchdog's Data Request Snags on Fee Fight: "A government watchdog may get the SEC records it wants -- but may have to pay millions of dollars for them." At a cost of $28 per hour for research fees into documents from 26 companies, the SEC claims that a company called SEC Insight could be charged with a fee as high as $2 million to obtain the records it has sought through a FOIA lawsuit.
Reuters reports that Time, the New York Times, and NBC News opposed attempts by Libby's defense to widen the scope of discovery pertaining to Plame CIA leak documents which may be in the possession of journalists and their respective employers.
The Chronicle of Higher Education reports today that the papers of political columnist Jack Anderson were bequeathed to George Washington University, but the FBI is blocking their public release pending an agency review to determine if any of the documents contain sensitive or secret information. His family is said to be "outraged."
"This Web site offers a library of resources to assist in managing a Web site using XML. It was designed and developed as a product of the Web Site Management Using XML Testbed, conducted by the Center for Technology in Government in 2005 - 2006. The library of resources is intended to grow over time and benefit from the contributions of its visitors and users. Future releases will contain more code samples and examples for different Web environments. This is the initial release of the Web site."
Press release: "The Department of State has released Foreign Relations of the United States, 1969-1976, volume VI, Vietnam, January 1969-July 1970, the first of five volumes to cover the end of the Vietnam war. The Presidential election of November 1968 had demonstrated just how divisive Vietnam had become in American society and politics. Vietnam was the new President's first priority. The volume demonstrates that in the early months of 1969 there was no specific plan to end the war. Rather, the Nixon administration searched for ways to demonstrate to the leaders in Hanoi that there was a new "firm hand at the helm" prepared to both talk and fight. Nixon and his advisers hoped to convince Hanoi that it was dealing with an adversary that would negotiate only from a position of strength. This volume documents the search for the formula to convince Hanoi: the secret bombing of Cambodia, Vietnamization and U.S. troops withdrawals, integration of the secret war in Laos with the conflict in Vietnam, covert operations against North Vietnam, and most importantly the U.S. and South Vietnamese attack on the enemy sanctuaries in Cambodia."
Electronic Frontier Foundation: Unintended Consequences: Seven Years under the DMCA, April, 2006. This document is version 4. (15 pages, PDF, and HTML version)
WSJ free feature: Restrictions on Cellphone Use While Driving Gain Traction - State, Local Officials Push For Tough Laws, Penalties; Enforcement Tactics Differ
Those Pesky Passwords - Too many and too complicated to remember, passwords make users crazy and incur help desk expense. What should you do about it? by Larry Ponemon:
From Microsoft Research, Photo2Search: Explore the Real World via Camera Phone
Information Sharing: The Federal Government Needs to Establish Policies and Processes for Sharing Terrorism-Related and Sensitive but Unclassified Information, Full-text GAO-06-385, March 17, 2006, Highlights.
From ALA, this guide to 2005-2006 Congressional PATRIOT Act Votes and Library Funding Support, which includes "a record of how your Members of Congress voted for the PATRIOT Act reauthorization and for funding for libraries. Please refer to their voting record when you meet with them during National Library Legislative Day."
"HealthNewsReview.org is a website dedicated to: improving the accuracy of news stories about medical treatments, tests and procedures ; helping consumers evaluate the evidence for and against new ideas in health care. We support and encourage the ABCs of health journalism: Accuracy, Balance, Completeness...HealthNewsReview.org reviews news stories that make a therapeutic claim about: specific treatments, procedures, investigational drugs or devices, vitamins or nutritional suppliments, diagnostic and screening tests."
Follow-up to April 4, 2006 posting, IRS Hearing on Privacy Standards and Sale of Taxpayer Data, this related April 3 press release: "Forty-seven Attorneys General submitted a letter (9 pages, PDF) to the Internal Revenue Service objecting to proposed IRS rules that would make it easier for businesses to share and use personal information included on tax returns. The Attorneys General said "the best, most prudent course" the IRS could take to protect individuals' privacy would be to ban tax preparers from sharing their customers' information for any purpose unrelated to the preparation of tax returns. If the IRS does not prohibit tax preparers from sharing customers' return information for marketing purposes, the Attorneys General recommended specific measures to significantly reduce the practice and strengthen privacy protections. The letter recommends that the IRS make the form and manner of the consent more protective of consumers by ensuring that consent is knowing and voluntary. The letter also recommends that the IRS prohibit making any service conditional on taxpayers' agreeing to share their return information; prohibit tax preparers from using or disclosing any tax return information not necessary to obtain the service or product sought by the taxpayer; and prohibit the use of raffles, lotteries, and other games as a means of inducing taxpayers to share their return information."
A Performance Review of FEMA's Disaster Management Activities in Response to Hurricane Katrina (PDF, 218 pages), 04/14/2006.
Blogging Libraries Wiki includes: Academic Libraries - Public Libraries - School Libraries - Special Libraries - Internal Blogs.
"..the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) conducted its second annual survey of the 55 state homeland security directors during December 2005 and January 2006. The results of this survey reflect the responses of 40 homeland security directors from the states, territories, and commonwealths comprising the United States....At all levels of government, homeland security organizations are still in their infancy."
Press release: "The Commission has authorized the staff to release publicly the 28th Annual Report to Congress on the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA). This report...summarizes the Commission's administration and enforcement of the FDCPA during 2005. It presents an overview of the types of consumer complaints received by the Commission, descriptions of the Commission's debt-collection law enforcement actions, and a summary of the Commission’s consumer and industry education initiatives."
"ISAR provides industry benchmarks for Web site development and is based on data collected from 9,748 Web site evaluations since 1997. The report evaluates average scores in more than 80 industries to create defined benchmarks in seven categories, including design, innovation, content, technology, interactivity, copywriting and ease of use."
A Performance Review of FEMA's Disaster Management Activities in Response to Hurricane Katrina (PDF, 218 pages), 04/14/2006.
Cheney Authorized Leak Of CIA Report Libby Says, by Murray Waas, National Journal:
Follow-up to yesterday's posting, New Libby Filing Demands Release of Documents Related to Iraq Intel ["The defense intends to show the jury that the controversy over intelligence failures during the spring and summer of 2003 led certain officials within the White House, State Department and the CIA to point fingers at each other...'], today from the Washington Post: Judge in CIA Leak Case Threatens Gag Order and the New York Times, Judge Threatens to Bar Leak-Case Comments.
ABA Journal: Understanding Search-Term Basics Ensures More Thorough E-Discovery Compliance
Timofeeva, Yulia A., "Establishing Legal Order in the Digital World: Local Laws and Internet Content Regulation". Available at SSRN.
Policy Statement of the Securities and Exchange Commission Concerning Subpoenas to Members of the News Media, April 11, 2006
Draft 2006 Report to Congress on the Costs and Benefits of Federal Regulations (59 pages, PDF)
Remarks by Governor Mark W. Olson - Update on the U.S. economy, At the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Little Rock, Arkansas, April 13, 2006.
DOJ Office of Justice Programs Information Technology Initiatives Privacy Policy Development Guide (83 pages, PDF), March 2006.
Follow-up to April 6, 2006 posting, AG's Statements to House Judiciary Cmte. Maintain Authority of Domestic Surveillance, this letter today from Sen. Barbara Boxer to AG Gonzales: "I am deeply concerned with your recent testimony before the House Judiciary Committee in which you suggested that the President has the authority to wiretap conversations between Americans on U.S. soil without a warrant."
Press release: "The iProspect Search Engine User Behavior Study reveals that 62% of search engine users click on a search result within the first page of results, and a full 90% of users click on a result within the first three pages of search results. These figures were just 48% and 81%, respectively, in 2002."
Another update on U.S. v. Libby, via FindLaw:
According to a Rand Publications Alert today, the updated site includes: Enhanced search capabilities, Browse by author, subject, or series to find related resources; Expanded online inventory of free, downloadable PDF titles.
Follow-up to previous postings on a Connecticut library oranization that was the target of a National Security Letter gag ordered, today the New York Times reported, Librarians Win as U.S. Relents on Secrecy Law: "After fighting ferociously for months, federal prosecutors relented yesterday and agreed to allow a Connecticut library group to identify itself as the recipient of a secret F.B.I. demand for records in a counterterrorism investigation."
Faces of the Fallen: "This information has been compiled from military releases, news service reports and local newspaper stories. The photographs come from news services, local newspapers and family members."
Supreme Court Votes to Allow Citation to Unpublished Opinions in Federal Courts, by Tony Mauro, Legal Times, April 13, 2006.
Press release: "EPA released the 2004 TRI Data on April 12, 2006. This page provides an overview of the 2004 TRI data and relevant TRI information (including analysis, tables, charts, maps, etc)."
"Welcome to the RHIO Wiki: The Only Online, Real-time Forum on RHIOs and Health Information Exchanges: The Center for Health Transformation, eHealth Initiative, and CHIME have partnered to create the RHIO Wiki. This forum will educate community leaders who are working on RHIOs and health information exchanges about other efforts, experiences, and best practices from initiatives across the country. The RHIO Wiki is an open, online, real-time tool for community leaders to collaborate on health information exchanges by: 1) searching a library of information on other local and regional efforts; 2) asking and receiving from other leaders their thoughts on specific challenges, issues, and opportunities; and 3) sharing with other leaders their own experiences, expertise, and knowledge."
OECD Broadband Statistics, December 2005: "The number of broadband subscriptions throughout the OECD continued to increase during 2005 from 136 million in June 2005 to 158 million by December 2005. Broadband penetration growth in the OECD held steady at 15% in the second half of the year reaching 13.6 subscribers per 100 inhabitants in December...In December 2005, four countries (Iceland, Korea, the Netherlands and Denmark) led the OECD in broadband penetration, each with more than 25 subscribers per 100 inhabitants...The United States has the largest total number of broadband subscribers in the OECD at 49 million. US broadband subscribers represent 31% of all broadband connections in the OECD."
"Windows Live Academic is now in beta. We currently index content related to computer science, physics, electrical engineering, and related subject areas. Academic search enables you to search for peer reviewed journal articles contained in journal publisher portals and on the web in locations like citeseer. Academic search works with libraries and institutions to search and provide access to subscription content for their members. Access restricted resources include subscription services or premium peer-reviewed journals. You may be able to access restricted content through your library or institution."
Proposed Legislation and Its Impact On Consumer's Use Of Broadband and IP Services: "An examination of the needs and expectations
for broadband content and applications by U.S. Seniors, Asian-Americans, African-Americans, Hispanic-Americans and others, April 11, 2006, US Internet Industry Association.
Follow-up to April 10, 2006 posting, Archivist Statement on Declassification of MOU Between National Archives and U.S. Air Force, this press release today from the National Security Archive: "The National Archives and Records Administration secretly agreed to a covert effort, led by the Air Force, the CIA, and other still-hidden intelligence entities, to remove open-shelf archival records and reclassify them while disguising the results so that researchers would not complain, according to a previously secret Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The secret agreement, made between the Air Force and the National Archives, was declassified pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act request by the National Security Archive and posted on the NARA website yesterday."
Follow-up to April 10, 2006 posting, President Defends Declassification of Pre-War Iraq Intel, this press release today from California Senator Barbara Boxer:
Iran: U.S. Concerns and Policy Responses - CRS Report (45 pages, PDF), April 6, 2006:
Washington Technology: "The 144-page document outlines the purpose and scope of the border surveillance technology program, which supplements other efforts to control the border and enforce immigration laws."
Madrid System for the International Registration of Marks: WIPO Marks E-Renewal System
Press release: Today the redacted Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the National Archives and Records Administration and the United States Air Force was released. Archivist of the United States Allen Weinstein said, "I applaud the release of this document. It is an important first step in finding the balance between continuing to protect national security and protecting the right to know by the American public. This release underlines the cooperation of our Federal partners. The National Archives continues to work together with them and with the public to ensure that the issue of inappropriate classification is fully investigated. Our findings will be issued by the end of this month in the audit report which is being conducted by the Information Security Oversight Office."
Federal Register: April 10, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 68)][Rules and Regulations][Page 18007-18008], National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Final Rule: "The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO), National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), is publishing this Directive pursuant to section 102(b)(1) of Executive Order 12829, as amended, relating to the National Industrial Security Program. This order establishes a National Industrial Security Program (NISP) to safeguard Federal Government classified information that is released to contractors, licensees, and grantees of the United States Government. Redundant, overlapping, or unnecessary requirements impede those interests. Therefore, the NISP serves as the single, integrated, cohesive industrial security program to protect classified information and to preserve our Nation's economic and technological interests. This Directive sets forth guidance to agencies to set uniform standards throughout the NISP that promote these objectives."
FCW.com: Agencies risk unwitting release of sensitive information using popular office software: "The causes of much of the hidden data problem are users' ignorance of how digital documents work and software companies' tendency to give customers too much of what they want — ease of use and flexibility."
Computerworld reports, "The Social Security numbers, driver's license information and bank account details belonging to potentially millions of current and former residents of Florida are available to anyone on the Internet because sensitive information has not been redacted from public records being posted on county Web sites."
Cyber Security Industry Alliance Board Urges Congressional Leadership on Consumer Data Protection: Letter to Congressional Leadership
As reported by AP today, newspapers including the Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle, and the Austin American-Statesman will carry topical blog content from over 600 sites, provided through a syndication agreement with BlogBurst.
Hurricane Katrina: Planning for and Management of Federal Disaster Recovery Contracts, Full-text GAO-06-622T, April 10, 2006. Highlights.
Follow-up to April 9, 2006 posting, Reports Substantiate WH Plan to Discredit Iraq War Critic Via Plame CIA Leak, President Bush Discusses Global War on Terror at The Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, The Johns Hopkins University, April 10, 2006:
As noted in a series of previous postings on the sale of cell phone records and associated privacy issues, it was reported on April 7, 2006 that the House Engery and Commerce Committee's demand for the business records of companies engaged in this commerce has not yielded reponses. Therefore, the committee issued subpoenas to 12 of the targeted companies, including those that manage the following sites: Anderson-pi.com, phonebust.com,reliatrace.com and reliablelitigation.com, efindoutthetruth.com, advsearch.com, csiofamerica.com, abika.com, sherlockinvestigations.com, datafind.org, locatecell.com, celltolls.com, and peoplesearchamerica.com sites, usaskiptrace.com, and telcosecrets.com.
Fake TV News: Widespread and Undisclosed - A multimedia report on television newsrooms' use of material provided by PR firms on behalf of paying clients - Diane Farsetta and Daniel Price, Center for Media and Democracy, April 6, 2006.
Federal Secrecy After September 11 and the Future of the Information Society, Volume 2, Issue 1 (2006), Journal of Law and Policy for the Information Society.
Press release: "Places & Spaces: Mapping Science uses maps, globes, and interactive illuminated diagrams to chart abstract concepts in and across a variety of scientific disciplines, tracking the emergence, evolution, and disappearance of topics to help identify the most promising areas of research. The exhibit is on view at The New York Public Library's Science, Industry and Business Library at 34th Street at Madison through August 31, 2006." Wow.
The Public Editor - The Times's New Blogs: More Information, Fewer Filters, by Byron Calame.
Report to Congress on Implementation of Section 1001 of the USA PATRIOT Act, Special Report, March 2006 (32 oages, PDF).
Press release: "Committee Approves Bill to End Secret Contacts between Lobbyists and Executive Branch Officials"
"Welcome to the new home for all of the BBC's weblogs. Although we have had blogs for a number of years, most notably our Scottish community site; Island Blogging and the excellent Ouch, this is the first attempt at bringing you a complete list, some news of new launches by journalists, DJs, and radio shows, as well as links and tips to help you find your way around."
Follow-up to April 7, 2006 posting, Plame Leak Controversy Focused on President With Release of New Info, see:
"Only 14 of the full 93 pages of the National Intelligence Estimate that President Bush authorized Vice President Cheney's chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, to disclose to New York Times reporter Judith Miller has actually been officially declassified, according to a posting [April 7, 2006]on the Web site of the National Security Archive at George Washington University. The estimate has apparently been released in four forms: one, a white paper that purportedly represented the substance of the estimate but actually left out most of the dissents and caveats; second, an abstract that Mr. Libby apparenlty used to brief New York Times reporter Judith Miller on July 8, 2003; third, the July 18, 2003, release by the White House of the "key judgments" section and parts of the dissents; and fourth, a Freedom of Information Act release to the National Security Archive on June 1, 2004, that included two additional pages but left the vast majority of the estimate whited out."
The Employment Situation: March 2006, Report prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics released April 7, 2006.
Press release: EFF Files Evidence in Motion to Stop AT&T's Dragnet Surveillance
Follow-up to posting on April 7, Plame Leak Controversy Focused on President With Release of New Info, from today's Washington Post, Testimony Adds New Element to Probe of CIA Leak: "...court papers filed late Wednesday night by Special Counsel Patrick J. Fitzgerald, in the perjury case of former White House official I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, implicate Bush as knowing about efforts to disseminate sensitive information -- and also as orchestrating them."
New York Times: Gonzales Suggests Legal Basis for Domestic Eavesdropping
Press release: "In a letter to President Bush, Rep. Waxman asks for a full accounting of the President's and Vice President's actions in authorizing leaks of classified intelligence about Iraq, while at the same time concealing the President's knowledge of serious doubts about Iraq's pursuit of nuclear weapons."
CNN - Court documents: Libby testified that Bush OK'd intelligence leak
"The Software & Information Industry Association's Anti-Piracy Division conducts a comprehensive, industry-wide campaign to fight software and content piracy. The pro-active campaign is premised on the notion that one must balance enforcement with education in order to be effective."
OMBWatch: "Nonprofit groups spoke out today against sunset proposals now being pushed by House conservatives. The proposals could create a single unelected commission to review every federal program, and would mandate that all federal programs automatically "sunset"--completely cease--after a fixed period, unless Congress intervened."
FCW.com: 'Where's My Refund?' Users flock to find out
Press release: "The World Factbook 2006 is now available on the Central Intelligence Agency Web site. The World Factbook remains the CIA's most widely disseminated and most popular product, now averaging almost 6 million visits each month."
Reuters, via Washington Post: Pentagon Says Improper Data in Security Database
Telecommunications: Weaknesses in Procedures and Performance Management Hinder Junk Fax Enforcement, Full-text GAO-06-425, April 5, 2006. Highlights.
The Office of Professional Responsibility Can Do More to Effectively Identify and Act Against Incompetent and Disreputable Tax Practitioners Report, prepared by the Department of the Treasury Office of the Inspector General, March 31, 2006. (43 pages, PDF)
USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005: A Legal Analysis (74 pages, PDF): "This report describes the USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 (the Act) and, where appropriate, discusses the modifications to law made by the USA PATRIOT Act Additional Reauthorizing Amendments Act of 2006."
DOD press release, April 3, 2006: "The Defense Department today released hundreds' more pages of unredacted detainee hearing transcripts taken at the U.S. Naval Station Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, facility, a senior Pentagon official said here today. DoD spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters the newly released documents included 2,000 pages of detainee administrative review board transcripts and about 600 pages of defense counsel submissions."
"The Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse (TRAC) today launched a unique new website providing extensive information about one of most important and politically sensitive subjects in America today -- immigration control... The purpose of the site...is to provide the American people, Congress, immigration groups, reporters and others with the authoritative information they need to judge the performance of the government in this critical area."
House Report Report 109-382, March 2, 2006. Referred to the House Calendar and ordered to be printed. Directing the Attorney General to Submit to the House of Representatives All Documents In the Possession of the Attorney General Related to Warrantless Electronic Surveillance of Telephone Conversations and Electronic Communications of Persons in the United States Conducted by the National Security Agency [186 pages, PDF].
Press release, April 3, 2006: "The European Commission is today publishing a study which examines the scientific publication system in Europe. Scientific publication ensures that research results are made known, which is a pre-condition for further research and for turning this knowledge into innovative products and services. Scientific publication is also an important part of certifying the quality of the work done. Given the scarcity of public money to provide access to scientific publications, there is a strong interest in seeing that Europe has an effective and functioning system for scientific publication that speedily delivers results to a wide audience. Today’s report, drawn up for the Commission by a panel of experts, makes a number of recommendations for future action, including improving access to publicly-funded research."
"The European Competition Network - the European Commission together with the national competition authorities in the EU – has launched a website providing businesses, their advisors, and citizens with information about antitrust enforcement, annual reports and background documents about the Network. The ECN website will inter alia provide one-stop access to news releases from all the national competition authorities, plus the Commission."
Following up on my February 20, 2006 posting, Report on the Response to Hurricane Katrina, today GPO made available a PDF copy of the Final Report.
The IRS held a public hearing today on proposed regs that will require taxpayers to specifically consent to the sale of their data as supplied to tax preparers.
Paid Tax Return Preparers: In a Limited Study, Chain Preparers Made Serious Errors, Full-text GAO-06-563T, April 4, 2006. Highlights.
Personal Information: Agencies and Resellers Vary in Providing Privacy Protections, Full-text GAO-06-609T, April 4, 2006. Highlights.
UK: Terrorism Act 2006 (47 pages, PDF): "An Act to make provision for and about offences relating to conduct carried out, or capable of being carried out, for purposes connected with terrorism; to amend enactments relating to terrorism; to amend the Intelligence Services Act 1994 and the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000; and for connected purposes. [30th March 2006]
FTC press release: "Federal regulators [March 31, 2006] released "Evolution of a Prototype Financial Privacy Notice," a report by Kleimann Communication Group summarizing consumer research commissioned by the regulators as part of their ongoing efforts to develop improved financial privacy notices...The report concludes that consumers need a context for understanding information in financial privacy notices. The research shows that while there is a general awareness of information sharing practices, most consumers do not understand them."
New York Times interview with DHS Director Michael Chertoff,by Deborah Solomon, April 2, 2006: Chertoff states, "I don't use e-mail. One reason is when you write an e-mail, you have to be mindful of the fact that nothing ever disappears. It can be deleted, but it is still in the system somewhere...They can get me. They don't need to e-mail me. There's a thing called a telephone."
America's Best Graduate Schools: "The 2007 rankings are in! The key disciplines include business, law, medicine, engineering, and education. Our directory covers more than 1,200 programs: admissions requirements, financial aid info, student body profiles, starting salaries in your field, and more." Included are:
Press release: The Anti-Spyware Coalition today released two new resources to help consumers and enterprises better protect themselves against spyware and unwanted adware...The coalition's two new documents walk consumers and network operators through the steps they should be taking to protect their machines against adware, spyware and other malicious software."
A series of recent articles name the high ranking government officials who are now the focus of the Plame CIA leak investigation:
Pew Internet and American Life press release: "How Americans use their cell phones: The cell phone has become an integral and, for some, essential communications tool that has helped owners gain help in emergencies. Fully 74% of the Americans who own mobile phones say they have used their hand-held device in an emergency and gained valuable help."
ICANN Publishes Third Annual Update on the InterNIC Whois Data Problem Report System, 31 March 2006.
Press release: "Eight in 10 adults (116 million) are reading the newspaper over the course of a week, and one in three Internet users (55 million) visit a newspaper Web site over the course of a month, according to the spring 2006 Newspaper Audience Database (NADbase) report released today by the Newspaper Association of America. Unique visitors to newspaper Web sites jumped 21 percent from January 2005 to December 2005, and page views increased by 43 percent over that same period, according to NADbase."
Press release: "An estimated 3.6 million households, or about 3 percent of all households in the nation, learned that they had been the victim of at least one type of identity theft during a six-month period in 2004, the Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. Forty-eight percent had experienced an unauthorized use of credit cards; 25 percent had other accounts, such as banking accounts, used without permission; 15 percent experienced the misuse of personal information and 12 percent experienced multiple types of theft at the same time. These findings represent six-month estimates based on interviews conducted from July through December 2004 for the BJS National Crime Victimization Survey."
Press release, March 30, 2006: "The Department of Justice announced today the release of its newest resource for technology and information sharing: Sharing Justice Information: A Capability Assessment Toolkit. The Capability Assessment Toolkit consists of detailed standards and guidelines, which provide law enforcement and criminal justice practitioners a step-by-step process to assess their respective agencies’ information-sharing capabilities. The toolkit helps identify risk and risk mitigation strategies and highlights what information is needed to improve information sharing."