Press release: Grassley Questions Nonprofit Investment Group’s Practices, Seeks IRS, SEC Comment [6 pages, PDF, includes text of letter from Grassley to National Association of Investors Corp. President as well as letter to etter to SEC Chairman Christopher Cox]
According to security technology expert Bruce Schneier, the NSA data mining surveillance program "won't uncover any terrorist plots until they are very accurate, and that even very accurate systems will be so flooded with false alarms that they will be useless."
Following up on previous postings about Connecticut librarians gagged by the FBI's use of the National Security Letter provision of the Patriot Act, news from an ACLU press conference on the identity of the librarians and their respective statements as follows:
Annual Report on International Religious Freedom 2005, April 2006 (871 pages, PDF): "Submitted to Congress annually by the Department of State, this report supplements the most recent Human Rights Reports and includes individual country chapters on the status of religious freedom worldwide."
Directory of Published Proceedings: search by subject (Science/Technology, Medical/Life Sciences, Pollution Control/Ecology, Social Sciences/Humanities), sponsor and publisher, country, State/Province and year the event took place. [D.C.]
A Briefing On Public Policy Issues Affecting Civil Liberties Online from The Center For Democracy and Technology - Veterans Data Breach Highlights Inadequate Privacy Protections.
Michael Ravnitzky's FOIA requests for FBI files on Bacteriological Warfare in the United States, from 1950-1971 [709 redacted pages], are now available in PDF, with further releases forthcoming, according to Russ Kick at the Memory Hole.
"The Census Bureau conducts a census of governments at five year intervals, and an annual survey for the intervening years. The state and local government finances are available in files and viewable tables. The statistics cover government financial activity in four broad categories of revenue, expenditure, debt, and assets." [Available data]
Press Briefing: CIA Declassifies Operational Materials As a Result of New Disclosure Policy under Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act
Cases and Materials on American Federalism, Douglas G. Amber, J.D.
Purdue University Calumet, [Last Revision Date: May 29, 2006].
According to the New York Times, Arizona's rapid population growth combined with a "heavy traffic in methamphetamine" are signficant factors in the state's ranking at the top of the list for ID theft complaints recorded by the FTC.
IRS Final and Temporary Regulations, Federal Register: May 30, 2006 (Volume 71, Number 103)][Rules and Regulations][Page 30591-30608]- Summary: "These regulations affect taxpayers that file Federal income tax returns. They simplify, clarify, or eliminate reporting burdens and also eliminate regulatory impediments to the electronic filing of certain statements that taxpayers are required to include on or with
their Federal income tax returns."
From the Energy Information Administration, Côte d'Ivoire Country Analysis Brief (05/30/2006): "For information on the energy situation in Côte d’Ivoire, please see our updated Country Analysis Brief (HTML or PDF). Also included are a map, graph, and links to other related web sites."
Follow-up to recent postings, Theft of Data on Over 25 Million Veterans Renews Calls for Greater Security and VA Launches Website and Call Center After Theft of Personal Data, from the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse: The VA's Data Breach – Tips for Veterans and Action You Can Take under Federal Law
BBC: "The European Court of Justice has annulled an EU-US agreement requiring airlines to transfer passenger data to the US authorities."
CIA website updated to reflect that General Michael V. Hayden, USAF succeeded Porter J. Goss as Director, Central Intelligence Agency.
The CCH Payroll Management Guide reports "Maryland employers, including the State, counties, and municipal corporations, may no longer print an employee's Social Security number on wage payment checks."
"In recognition of National Internet Safety Month (June 2006), National Criminal Justice Reference Service presents this compilation of Internet safety resources."
"This web site provides information in four topic areas regarding the Inventory and Evaluation of Clinical Research Networks (IECRN) project. The four primary objectives of the IECRN project are as follows: To develop an inventory and database of clinical research networks; To describe organizational and operational characteristics of a sample of networks in several key areas; To identify and examine networks best practices that lead to successful achievement of specified outcomes, including increased efficiency, promotion of interactivity within the network or across networks, and broadening of research scope; To conduct a National Leadership Forum to discuss the study findings, highlight selected best practices and disseminate this information to the research community."
Industry Report: Product Liability: A Trend Still Worth Watching (PDF, 4 pages)
This New York Times article describes the obstacles used by the SEC to obstruct public access to corporate records, even if a third party expert is used to facilitate document retrieval using a FOIA request.
National Association for Business Economics 3rd Annual Professional Development Seminar, How to Find and Use Economic Statistics
"Irrepressible.org will harnass the power of the internet to mobilise people all over the world to take a stand against repression." [Link] "...Chat rooms monitored. Blogs deleted. Websites blocked. Search engines restricted. People imprisoned for simply posting and sharing information. The Internet is a new frontier in the struggle for human rights. Governments – with the help of some of the biggest IT companies in the world – are cracking down on freedom of expression. Amnesty International, with the support of The Observer, is launching a campaign to show that online or offline the human voice and human rights are impossible to repress."
According to News.com, text from a 25 page redacted brief (PDF) filed on behalf of AT&T on whether the NSA surveillance case can be litigated without compromising state secrets, has been recovered to reveal the company's response to alleged cooperation with the government phone surveillance program.
POGO: "The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) has obtained a version of the May 2005 Defense Department Inspector General (DoD IG) report on the Boeing Tanker Lease scandal that shows the original report hid the text of Boeing emails and references to Boeing executives from the public. Redactions made by the White House Counsel office still remain in the newly released version...POGO is in the process of filing and administrative appeal to have the remaining redactions made public."
Press release, May 26, 2006: "Today the National Security Archive announces the publication of the most comprehensive collection ever assembled of the memoranda of conversations (memcons) involving Henry Kissinger, one of the most acclaimed and controversial U.S. diplomats of the second half of the 20th century. Published on-line in the Digital National Security Archive (ProQuest) as well in print-microfiche form, the 28,000-page collection is the result of a seven-year effort by the National Security Archive to collect every memcon that could be found through archival research and declassification requests. According to Kissinger biographer and president of the Aspen Institute Walter Isaacson, "Henry Kissinger's memos of conversation are an amazing, fascinating, and absolutely indispensable resource for understanding his years in power."
Follow-up to the latest extensive incident of ID theft involving government records and citizen personal data, see this OMB Memoranda M-06-15, Safeguarding Personally Identifiable Information, May 22, 2006.
Related government documents and news:
NARA: The Information Security Oversight Office (ISOO) has released its Report to the President for 2005 (32 pages, PDF). The Report profiles data about the Government-wide security classification program, primarily during Fiscal Year 2005. In his transmittal letter to the President included in the Report, ISOO Director J. William Leonard notes: One of the most notable developments is that the Public Interest Declassification Board is now holding regular sessions. This Board will contribute to the declassification process by identifying records on specific subjects that are of extraordinary public interest. These records will be identified when it is deemed that declassification will not undermine the national security interests of the United States."
DOJ: "Testimony in the jury trial of former Enron chief executives Jeffrey K. Skilling and Kenneth L. Lay concluded on Monday, May 8, 2006 after fifty-three days of trial proceedings. Closing arguments were presented to the jury May 15, 2006 through mid-morning of May 17, 2006, at which time the jury retired to begin its deliberations. On its sixth day of deliberations, Thursday, May 25, 2006, the jury returned its verdicts. Lay was convicted on all of the six counts with which he was charged: Conspiracy, two counts of Wire Fraud and three counts of Securities Fraud. Skilling, was convicted on 19 of the 28 counts pending against him: Conspiracy, 12 counts of Securities Fraud, one count of Insider Trading, and five counts of Making False Statements to Auditors. Skilling was acquitted of nine Insider Trading counts. A bench trial concerning charges against Kenneth L. Lay of bank fraud and making false statements to banks began on Thursday, May 18, 2006, before U.S. District Judge Sim Lake and concluded on Tuesday, May 23, 2006. Judge Lake announced his verdict on Thursday, May 25, 2006, immediately after the jury’s verdicts were read. Judge Lake convicted Lay of all the charges against him in the Bench Trial: one count of Bank Fraud and three counts of Making False Statements to Banks."
The LA Times reported (reg. req'd) today that the controvery over the government propaganda campaign is also an issue for 77 news stations throughout the country, who have aired content that is now under investigation by the FCC.
"An Insider’s View of the U.S. Serial Set is a free whitepaper authored by Andrea Sevetson, former documents librarian at University of California, Berkley, and 1996-97 GODORT Chair who is now an Information Professional Consultant with LexisNexis."
Refereed technical papers from 11 research areas are available from the WWW2006 Conference, May 23-26, 2006. Topic areas include: business success, next wave, education and science, security and health.
Justice Department Probe Foiled, by Shane Harris and Murray Waas, National Journal: "An internal Justice Department inquiry into whether department officials -- including Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and then-Attorney General John Ashcroft -- acted properly in approving and overseeing the Bush administration's domestic eavesdropping program was stymied because investigators were denied security clearances to do their work. The investigators, however, were only seeking information and documents relating to the National Security Agency's surveillance program that were already in the Justice Department's possession, two senior government officials said in interviews."
Related legal documents, commentary, opinion and postings:
Rove-Novak Call Was Concern To Leak Investigators, by Murray Waas, National Journal: "On September 29, 2003, three days after it became known that the CIA had asked the Justice Department to investigate who leaked the name of covert CIA officer Valerie Plame, columnist Robert Novak telephoned White House senior adviser Karl Rove to assure Rove that he would protect him from being harmed by the investigation, according to people with firsthand knowledge of the federal grand jury testimony of both men."
NIST's National Vulnerability Database: Search for Vulnerabilities - Enter vendor, software, or keyword.
"The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has released for public comment the initial draft of its Guide for Developing Performance Metrics for Information Security, 49 pages, PDF (SP 800-80). The guide provides a methodology for linking agencies' IT security program performance to agency performance, "tying information security controls, implementation, efficiency and effectiveness to an agency's success in its mission-critical activities."
Follow-up to previous postings on net neutrality, today the House passed the Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006 [H.R. 5417], on a 20-13 vote.
Follow-up to posting yesterday, Theft of Data on Over 25 Million Veterans Renews Calls for Greater Security, this news from the government today: "Over the weekend following the recent theft of 26.5 million veterans' records, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) quickly put in place a call center and website to answer questions about the implications of the theft and the steps veterans can take to protect themselves from misuse of their personal information. The call center, at 1-800-FEDINFO, operates from 8:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. (EDT) Monday to Saturday. It can handle up to 260,000 toll-free calls a day. The latest information on VA data security is posted on Firstgov.gov, the U.S. government's official Web portal."
Related news and government documents:
From Government Computer News, this 1 page PDF indicates programs ranked by 2006 spending. "The Federal government is spending over $192 million on the 24 quicksilver E-Gov initiatives in fiscal 2006."
NASCIO Research Brief -- The IT Security Business Case: Sustainable Funding to Manage the Risks (15 pages, PDF)
"The Library of Congress preserves the nation's cultural artifacts and provides enduring access to them. The Library's traditional functions of acquiring, cataloging, preserving and serving collection materials of historical importance to the Congress and the American people to foster education and scholarship extend to digital materials, including Web sites...In 2004, the Library’s Office of Strategic Initiatives created a Web Capture team to support the goal of managing and sustaining at-risk digital content. The team is charged with building a Library-wide understanding and technical infrastructure for capturing Web content. The team, in collaboration with a variety of Library staff, and national and international partners, is identifying policy issues, establishing best practices and building tools to collect and preserve Web content."
Press release: "The U.S. Treasury Department today announced it is conceding the legal dispute over the federal excise tax on long-distance telephone service. The Department of Justice will no longer pursue litigation and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will issue refunds of tax on long-distance service for the past three years. Taxpayers will be able to apply for refunds on their 2006 tax forms, to be filed in 2007."
Press release, May 24, 2006: "U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Arlen Specter (R-PA) today introduced legislation (22 pages, PDF) that would reaffirm that the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) is the exclusive means by which our government can conduct electronic surveillance of U.S. persons on U.S. soil for foreign intelligence purposes."
Indoor Air Chemistry: Cleaning Agents, Ozone and Toxic Air Contaminants, Principal Investigator: William W. Nazaroff. University of California, Berkeley. April 2006. ARB Contract No. 01-336.
NIH Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network: "These NIH Rare Diseases Clinical Research Network (RDCRN) studies—organized by city—have been approved to open as of May 1, 2006. Additional studies are being planned. Please note that each study is taking place at multiple sites."
Google Accounts for Half of all U.S. Searches in April according to Nielsen//NetRatings
A Review of the FBI's Handling and Oversight of FBI Asset Katrina Leung, Special Report, May 2006, 24 pages, PDF (Unclassified Executive Summary)
Constitution Project's Guidelines for Public Video Surveillance: A Guide to Protecting Communities and Preserving Civil Liberties (60 pages, PDF) - "Liberty and Security Initiative released their Guidelines for Public Video Surveillance: A Guide to Protecting Communities and Preserving Civil Liberties today. The report provides practical assistance to state and local governments that have established – or are seeking to install – video surveillance systems. It demonstrates how communities can set up systems that enhance security, while safeguarding residents' civil liberties."
The Use of RFID for Human Identification (PDF, 15 pages). "The DHS Emerging Applications and Technology Subcommittee of the Privacy Advisory Committee is seeking comments on this draft report. This report will be considered by the full Committee during the June 7, 2006 public Advisory Committee meeting in San Francisco, CA."
Follow-up to previous postings on domestic surveillance of telephone calls, this press release today - ACLU Launches Nationwide Action Against NSA Snooping on Americans' Phone Calls: "ACLU affiliates in 20 states today filed complaints with Public Utility Commissions or sent letters to state Attorneys General and other officials demanding investigations into whether local telecommunications companies allowed the NSA to spy on their customers."
Related news:
Statement of Secretary of Veterans Affairs R. James Nicholson on the Status of the Veterans Data Theft (5/24/06): "I am outraged at the loss of this veterans' data and the fact an employee would put it at risk by taking it home in violation of our policies. I am also concerned about the timing of the Department's response once the burglary became known. I will not tolerate inaction and poor judgment when it comes to protecting our veterans."
NIH Posts Information on Research Results for the Public - May 16, 2006. Currently, fact sheets are available (PDF), on the following topics: Doubling Accomplishments-Selected Examples; Chronic Kidney Disease and Kidney Failure; Heart Disease; Research Into What Works Best; Rheumatoid Arthritis; Parkinson's Disease; Amazing Research, Amazing Help; New Efforts for FY 2007; Driving the Transformation to Predictive, Personalized and Preemptive Medicine; and Stroke (additional documents will be added in future).
May 21, 2006 press release: "During the year that ended last June 30, the nation's prison and jail population grew 2.6 percent, reaching 2,186,230 inmates behind bars, the Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) announced today. Two thirds were in state or federal prisons (1,438,701) and the other third (747,529) were in local jails."
WSJ free feature: Americans Growing Less Confident In FDA's Job on Safety, Poll Shows
Press release: "Leadership in Customer Service: Building the Trust (108 pages, PDF) is Accentures seventh global report on government service delivery. The report showcases insights from in-depth interviews with 45 high-ranking government executives from the 11 countries that consistently top Accenture’s annual survey of governments' use of technology in customer service: Canada, the United States, Denmark, Singapore, Australia, France, Japan, Norway, Finland, the United Kingdom and Ireland."
From PERC: Patient Education Resource Center [U-M Comprehensive Cancer Center], "lists of information sourcesrelating to a specific cancer diagnosis or issue. The purpose is to help newly diagnosed patients and their loved ones find sources of information and support. The guides are not meant to be comprehensive, but rather to provide starting points for information seeking."
As reported by USAToday.com, marketing objectives are displacing statistical data in a growing number of corporate annual reports, whose appearance may now be slanted toward style over substance, at least from the researcher's perspective. [D.C.]
Follow-up to recent postings, EFF Can Use Critical AT&T Documents in Surveillance Lawsuit and Does Domestic Telephone Surveillance Violate Communications Act?, today Wired published Whistle-Blower's Evidence, Uncut [note related link, 29 pages, PDF, documenting domestic surveillance program activities and technical descriptions]
Related news and documents:
WSJ free feature: New Domain Name -- .Mobi -- Could Spur Wireless Web
Israel: Background and Relations with the United States - Congressional Research Service Report, Updated 5/18/2006 (19 pages, PDF)
ABC News This Week, May 21, 2006: "Gonzales also defended the NSA wiretapping program, insisting the Justice Department has not been reviewing the "content" in journalists' phone records without a court order. The attorney general reiterated that the rights of a free press cannot trump national security but added, "I understand very much the role the press plays in our society." "...When asked whether journalists should be prosecuted for publishing classified material, Gonzales answered, "It depends on the circumstances...We have an obligation to make sure the people are protected.""
The Final Report on the fiftieth session of the Commission on the Status of Women is now available.
Press release, May 19, 2006: "U.S. Senators Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND), members of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, today introduced legislation that would preserve the open and democratic character of the Internet. The Internet Freedom Preservation Act (9 pages, PDF) would ensure that all content, applications and services are treated equally and fairly on the Internet by prohibiting broadband network operators from blocking, degrading, or prioritizing service on their networks. Rules to that effect were in place when the Federal Communications Commission reclassified broadband services, but the FCC neglected to adopt meaningful and enforceable safeguards."
BusinessWeek.com: Life On The Web's Factory Floor - Who do you think turns all those words into an easy click?
Press release, May 18, 2006: "Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen Specter (R-PA), Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT), and Senator Charles Schumer (D-NY) today introduced the Free Flow of Information Act (12 pages, PDF), a bill seeking to protect the public's right to information through a free press. This legislation would provide appropriate protections for professional journalists and their employers from having to reveal information that a journalist learned under a promise of confidentiality and in the course of carrying out news-gathering functions."
CRS Report, Government Access to Phone Calling Activity and Related Records: Legal Authorities, May 17, 2006 (19 pages, PDF)
Via BBC, the Advance Unedited Version (11 pages, PDF), Conclusions and Recommendations of the Committee against Torture, May 19, 2006.
"Resignations from the federal bench, once rare, now are increasingly frequent. Since January 1, 2005, nine judges have resigned or retired from the federal bench. As a result, 2005 witnessed the single largest exodus from the federal bench ever." [Link]
May 17, 2006: Report on the Progress of the DNI in Implementing the "Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004" (12 pages, PDF)
From the Google Librarian Center: "Looking for tools to help teach your patrons how to use Google more effectively? By popular demand, we’re now offering free downloadable teaching tools. While we've started small, we're planning on making more materials available soon, including additional posters, cheat sheets, tent cards – even trainings. Feel free to download and distribute these materials as widely as you'd like."
DisabilityInfo.gov "contains links to information of interest to people with disabilities, their families, employers, service providers and other community members." This site is the May 2006 recipient of the Gold Award from the American Association of Webmasters for outstanding design and content.
Follow-up to previous related postings, ona May 17, 2006 the CDT sent a letter to Congress, signed by more than 180 organizations (including ALA and AALL), urging that public access to data from the EPA's Toxic Release Inventory program not be subject to limitations.
John Cornyn, Immigration Reform: Back to the Future, Yale L.J. (The Pocket Part), May 2006.
H.R. 5126, the Truth in Caller ID Act of 2006 Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet, Hearing, May 18, 2006.
Senate Intelligence Committee Open Hearing: Confirmation Hearing of General Michael V. Hayden to be the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, May 18, 2006.
BBC Poll, Trust in Media press release: "More people trust the media than their governments, especially in developing countries, according to a ten-country opinion poll for the BBC, Reuters, and The Media Center." [thanks to D.C.]
CRS report, Immigration Legislation and Issues in the 109th Congress, May 12, 2006 (37 pages, PDF)
Press release: "Wireless Internet access can free you from the confines of cords, but not from the need for security. Without taking the proper precautions, it's easy for others to use your wireless network connection to access the Internet, or even to access the information on your own computer. The Federal Trade Commission is introducing a new section of OnGuard Online to teach computer users how to protect their personal wireless network connections – and the computers on them – from unauthorized use. The information also is available in Spanish."
From the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights:
The Library of Congress Global Legal Monitor, May 2006 (1 G.L.M. 2006), 50 pages, PDF. "The Global Legal Monitor is a new electronic publication of the Law Library of Congress intended for those who have an interest in legal developments around the world. It draws upon information selected from official national legal publications and reliable press sources and is arranged by broad subject topics." [Donna Scheeder, Director, Law Library Services, Law Library of Congress]
"SmartLinks provides 'pre-queried' searches on health policy topics (Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Electronic Medical Records, Children's Health Coverage, Public Health Preparedness, Drug Safety and Regulation, Stem Cell Policy, Drug Reimportation, VA Health System) in several different internet search engines. You'll get results from: PubMed, Kaisernetwork Daily Headlines, HighBeam Research, Google Uncle Sam, Google Scholar, and NY Academy of Medicine Grey Literature Report."
Fromt he Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured:
Disaster Preparedness: Preliminary Observations on the Evacuation of Vulnerable Populations due to Hurricanes and Other Diasasters, Full-text report GAO-06-790T, and Highlights, May 18, 2006.
Follow-up to May 15, 2006 posting, EFF Reports Government Files Secret Motion to Dismiss AT&T Surveillance Case:
Privacy: Key Challenges Facing Federal Agencies, Full text report GAO-06-777T, adn Highlights, May 17, 2006.
Social Security Numbers: Internet Resellers Provide Few Full SSNs, but Congress Should Consider Enacting Standards for Truncating SSNs, Full-text report GAO-06-495, and Highlights, May 17, 2006.
Information Sharing: DHS Should Take Steps to Encourage More Widespread Use of Its Program to Protect and Share Critical Infrastructure Information, Full-text report GAO-06-383, and Highlights, April 17, 2006.
"Welcome to the first edition of The Hoover's 100, a monthly list of the most searched-for companies on Hoover's. Derived by tracking the search requests of Hoover's subscribers, The Hoover's 100 provides insight about which companies are being watched most closely by corporate executives, as well as sales, marketing, and business development professionals, who represent a large portion of Hoover's customers."
Treaties in Force: "This publication lists treaties and other international agreements of the United States on record in the Department of State as being in force as of January 1 of the specified year. It is arranged in three sections."
Monitoring Needed to Assess Impact of EPA's Clean Air Mercury Rule on Potential Hotspots, Report No. 2006-P-00025 [Report - PDF, 33 pages] [At a Glance - PDF], May 15, 2006.
An interesting article in today's National Law Journal (free) discusses issues associated with the integrity of digital evidence, including email, photos, and metadata.
Joint Status Report on Microsoft's Compliance with the Final Judgments - May 15, 2006 (25 pages, PDF)
Statistical Portrayal of the Criminal Investigation Function's Enforcement Activities From Fiscal Year 2000 Through Fiscal Year 2005
Report Date: 05/12/2006, (48 pages, PDF)
Hurricane Katrina: Better Plans and Exercises Needed to Guide the Military's Response to Catastrophic Natural Disasters, Full-text of GAO-06-643, and Highlights, May 15, 2006.
5-11-06: Three-level security flaws found in Diebold touch-screens. Critical Security Alert: Diebold TSx and TS6 voting systems by Harri Hursti, for Black Box Voting, Inc. (12 pages, PDF)
Following up on May 12, 2006 posting, Info On Pentagon Phone Surveillance Program Generates Legal and Political Ramifications, see today's press release from Rep. Ed Markey, Letter to FCC Regarding the Legality of Telco Complicity in Phone Records Mining:
The Safety of Internet Search Engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN, AOL, Ask), May 12, 2006, by Ben Edelman and Hannah Rosenbaum.
Press release: "Early Saturday morning, the United States government filed a motion (32 pages, PDF) to dismiss the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF's) class-action lawsuit against AT&T for illegally handing over its customers' telephone and Internet records and communications to the National Security Agency. The government claims that its legal brief and two affidavits from senior intelligence officials that accompanied the motion are classified, preventing even the parties to the lawsuit, EFF and AT&T, from seeing them. While EFF was not permitted to see the government's entire brief, in a redacted version made publicly available the government said that the case against AT&T should be immediately terminated because any judicial inquiry into the whether AT&T broke the law could reveal state secrets and harm national security."
Cybersecurity Enhancement and Consumer Data Protection Act of 2006 (H.R. 5318), To amend title 18, United States Code, to better assure cyber-security, and for other purposes, introduced 5/9/2006, by Rep. James F. Sensenbrenner Jr.
Washington Post: NSA Program Further Blurs Line on Privacy - Consumers Grow Accustomed to Surrendering Personal Data: "Phone companies know every number we dial. Grocery stores watch what we buy, search engines track what we look for on the Internet, banks count each penny we deposit or withdraw."
New York Times Magazine, Scan This Book!, by Kevin Kelly, "senior maverick" at Wired magazine and author of Out of Control: The New Biology of Machines, Social Systems and the Economic World.
AP: "A little-known spy agency that analyzes imagery taken from the skies has been spending significantly more time watching U.S. soil."
Eight Reasons Solo Lawyers Should Use Law Libraries, by Mary Whisner.
May 11, 2006 press release: "Complete back issues covering nearly 200 years of historically significant biomedical journals are being made freely available online as a result of a landmark project launched today at the Wellcome Trust headquarters in London. On completion, the Medical Journals Backfiles Digitisation Project will deliver over three million pages of medical journals to the archive, free to anyone through standard search tools such as PubMed and Google."
Follow-up to May 11, 2006 posting, Domestic Call Records Mined for Expansive Pentagon Database Program, see the following related news and commentary:
Follow-up to May 10, 2006 posting, EPA Reports Almost Half of the Nation's Streams Are Polluted, see the Committee on Appropriations, Minority report, May 11, 2006: Love that Dirty Water: The Republican Record on Clean Water.
Follow-up to yesterday's posting, Lawful Intelligence and Surveillance of Terrorists in an Emergency by NSA Act Introduced Today, see Whispering Wires and Warrantless Wiretaps, by Kim Taipale, N.Y.U. REV. L. & SECURITY, No. VII Supl., "Bulletin: The NSA and the War on Terror," (Spring 2006).
"The Health and Consumer Protection Directorate-General is pleased to present the Health-EU Portal (the official public health portal of the European Union) and the wide range of information and data on health-related issues and activities at both European and international level. The main objective of this thematic Portal is to provide European citizens with easy access to comprehensive information on Public Health initiatives and programmes at EU level. The portal is intended to help meet EU objectives in the Public Health field, it is an important instrument to positively influence behaviour and promote the steady improvement of public health in the 25 EU Member States."
Solove, Daniel J. and Hoofnagle, Chris Jay, A Model Regime of Privacy Protection (Version 3.0). Illinois Law Review, Vol. 2006, p. 357, 2006.
FTC press release: "The Federal Trade Commission today told the Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce Committee that in the effort to reconcile the beneficial uses of Social Security Numbers with the threats to consumer privacy, "The challenge is to find the proper balance between the need to keep SSNs out of the hands of identity thieves, while giving businesses and government entities sufficient means to attribute information to the correct person."
Press release: "Reps. Jane Harman (D-CA) and John Conyers (D-MI) today introduced the “Lawful Intelligence and Surveillance of Terrorists in an Emergency by NSA Act” (The LISTEN Act). The Act makes clear that any attempt to listen in on Americans or collect telephone or e-mail records must be conducted in accordance with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 (FISA), or Title III of the criminal code. In both cases, court warrants based on probable cause are required. The Act states that FISA is the exclusive way to conduct electronic surveillance of U.S. persons on U.S. soil for intelligence purposes. It also states and that the Authorization to Use Military Force, passed by Congress in October 2002, did not constitute authority to engage in electronic surveillance outside of FISA."
USA Today reported that the nation's three major telecommunications carriers have provided the Pentagon with call records for "tens of millions of Americans." The paper also published this related editorial: NSA has your phone records; 'trust us' isn't good enough.
Related government documents and news:
Press release: "An ideologically diverse committee of experts, led by former FBI Director and federal judge William S. Sessions and former Congressman Mickey Edwards (R-OK), today released Ten Principles for Preserving Courts' Role in American Democracy. These principles, articulated by the Steering Committee of the Constitution Project's Courts Initiative, recommend that legislative and executive branch officials work to preserve courts' ability to decide cases impartially and to ensure meaningful access to the courts for all individuals."
Fact Sheet: The President's Identity Theft Task Force: "This task force will marshal the resources of the Federal government to crack down on the criminals who traffic in stolen identities and protect American families from this devastating crime."
"The Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) has released its official investigations into the 7 July 2005 terrorist attacks. The Government has also released their response to the ISC report."
"With Google Trends, you can compare the world's interest in your favorite topics. Enter up to five topics and see how often they've been searched on Google over time. Google Trends also shows how frequently your topics have appeared in Google News stories, and in which geographic regions people have searched for them most...Google Trends analyzes a portion of Google web searches to compute how many searches have been done for the terms you enter, relative to the total number of searches done on Google over time. We then show you a graph with the results -- our search-volume graph -- plotted on a linear scale."
As reported by Declan McCullagh, the text of new legislation to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to require recipients of universal service support for schools and libraries to protect minors from commercial social networking websites and chat rooms.
"The Committee on Energy and Commerce, to whom was referred the bill (H.R. 4127) to protect consumers by requiring reasonable security policies and procedures to protect computerized data containing personal information, and to provide for nationwide notice in the event of a security breach, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with an amendment and recommend that the bill as amended do pass." [House Report 109-453 - Part 1 - Data Accountability and Trust Act (DATA), Ordered to be printed May 6, 2006]
SEC press release: "The Securities and Exchange Commission today filed a civil injunctive action against Morgan Stanley & Co. Incorporated for failing to produce tens of thousands of e-mails during the Commission's IPO and Research Analyst investigations from Dec. 11, 2000, through at least July 2005. The Commission alleges in its complaint that Morgan Stanley did not diligently search for back-up tapes containing responsive e-mails until 2005. Morgan Stanley also failed to produce responsive e-mails because it over-wrote back-up tapes."
Press release, May 8, 2006: New EPA Collaborative Partnership with Farmers in Growing Economy, Cleaning Up the Environment
World Bank: State and Trends of the Carbon Market 2006: "In the past year the carbon market has grown faster and broader than nearly any other emerging market,” said Andrew Ertel, President of Evolution Markets LLC. “The increase in volume and considerable price volatility are a sign of a healthy market. They indicate emissions reductions are being made, and real investments are being made in both compliance nations and developing countries."
World Bank: "The Little Green Data Book (240 pages, PDF) represents a succinct collection of information from the World Development Indicators and its accompanying CD-ROM. It is a collaboration between the Development Economics Data Group and the Environment Department of the World Bank."
FTC press release: "A title company that promised consumers it maintained "physical, electronic and procedural safeguards" to protect their confidential financial information, but tossed consumer home loan applications in an open dumpster, agreed to settle Federal Trade Commission charges that its inadequate storage and disposal procedures for sensitive consumer information violated federal laws. The settlement with Nations Title Agency, Inc., Nations Holding Company, and Christopher M. Likens bars deceptive claims about privacy and security policies, and requires that they implement a comprehensive information security program and obtain audits by an independent third-party security professional every other year for 20 years."
Performance Data for the Senior Medicare Patrol Projects: April 2006 Performance Report (OEI-02-04-00363), (92 pages, PDF).
Press release: "Today, Google Inc. announced new technologies to enhance and improve the search experience. Three new products – Google Co-op, Google Desktop 4, and Google Notebook – advance the state of the art in search by helping users worldwide find and share more relevant information. The products all incorporate new capabilities that leverage user communities, enabling users to either share more information with others or benefit from other users' expertise to improve the accuracy of search results. The company also introduced Google Trends, a new tool that enables users to examine billions of searches conducted on Google to gain insight into broad search patterns over time."
"The draft Wadeable Streams Assessment: A Collaborative Survey of the Nation's Streams (WSA) is a first-ever statistically-valid study of the biological condition of small streams throughout the U.S. It establishes a national baseline we can use to compare to results from future studies. This information will help us evaluate the successes of our national efforts to protect and restore water quality. The draft WSA is available for public review and comment [until June 30, 2006]."
From askSam: "Free Searchable Version - Search and analyze the text of the Central Intelligence Agency's Intelligence Factbook. This document is an overview of the organization, history, and mission of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States."
Mass Digitization: Implications for Information Policy , May 9, 2006 (NCLIS).
The RFID Hacking Underground, by Annalee Newitz: "They can steal your smartcard, lift your passport, jack your car, even clone the chip in your arm. And you won't feel a thing. 5 tales from the RFID-hacking underground."
"Contacting the nearest federal court, or the federal court you need, is easier than it used to be. You now can search for the right court, or court office, by city, zip code, area code, and more."
Amendments to Sentencing Guidelines - US Sentencing Commission, May 1, 2006 (30 pages, PDF)
Report of Investigation: John G. Roberts' Missing File by the Office of Inspector General, National Archives and Records Administration, 27 September 2005. "This report has not been previously released. It was supplied in paper form to Washington, DC-area researcher Michael Ravnitzky by the National Archives and Records Administration."
Preventing Identity Theft and Data Security Breaches: The Problem With Regulation, by Clyde Wayne Crews and Brooke Oberwetter, Competitive Enterprise Institute, May 9, 2006 (24 pages, PDF)
Press release: "When it comes to technology, kids often are way ahead of adults. But kids, even teens, still need guidance regarding safe use of new technology. Social networking sites are one of the newest ways to interact online. According to comScore Media Metrix data, the three most popular social networking sites are MySpace.com, Facebook.com, and Xanga.com. While they provide ways to keep in touch with friends, they can also be risky if users aren’t cautious about the information they post online. The Federal Trade Commission is offering an explanation of social networking sites, and guidance for both parents and their kids about how to safely use them."
Federal Emergency Management Agency: Factors for Future Success and Issues to Consider for Organizational Placement, by William O. Jenkins, Jr., director, homeland security and justice, before the House Committee on Homeland Security, Full Report GAO-06-746T, and Highlights, May 9, 2006.
"The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has published a Beginners' Guide to important investment portfolio strategies that is most helpful for the beginner as well as the more advanced investor (and their financial advisers). Why is the guidance so helpful? The SEC finds "magic" in diversification: "By picking the right group of investments, you may be able to limit your losses and reduce the fluctuations of investment returns without sacrificing too much potential gain."
"Open J-Gate is an electronic gateway to global journal literature in open access domain. Launched in 2006, Open J-Gate is the contribution of Informatics (India) Ltd to promote the Open Access Initiative (OAI). Open J-Gate provides seamless access to millions of journal articles available online. Open J-Gate is also a database of journal literature, indexed from 3000+ open access journals, with links to full text at Publisher sites."
Crime or Privilege? Leaking Classified Information, by Joan Indiana Rigdon, Washington Lawyer, May 2006.
LA Times: The Fine Art of Legislation Appellation - "If you want your bill to be noticed, a snappy acronym beats S. 1955 any old time."
Yahoo! Tech: reviews, help and how-to advice for buying and using personal electronics
Press release, April 20, 2006: "The Center for Public Integrity has launched a new "In Your State" tool. Accessible by link from the Center's home page, the In Your State feature provides easy access to all Center research and analysis on a particular state... users can view the actual disclosure filings of the given state's legislators, including nearly 7,000 reports filed by legislators in 2005 that the Center posted on its Web site today."
From the White House: President Nominates General Michael Hayden as Director of the Central Intelligence Agency and Fact Sheet: General Michael V. Hayden: the Right Leader for the CIA.
And from the press:
Sarbanes-Oxley Act: Consideration of Key Principles Needed in Addressing Implementation for Smaller Public Companies,
Full Report GAO-06-361, and Highlights, April 13, 2006.
Building and Implmenting a Successful Information Security Policy, by John J. Pak, May 8, 2006 (25 pages, PDF).
Information Security Series: Security Practices Clean Air Markets Division Business System [Report - PDF, 14 pages] [At a Glance - PDF], May 4, 2006.
Population Displacement and Post Katrina Politics: The New Orleans Primary, by John. R. Logan, Director, American Communities Project, Brown University, April 28, 2006 (22 pages, PDF)
Press release, May 3, 2006: "The Federal Trade Commission has filed federal court complaints charging five Web-based operations that have obtained and sold consumers’ confidential telephone records to third parties with violating federal law. The agency is seeking a permanent halt to the sale of the phone records, and has asked the courts to order the operators to give up the money they made with their illegal operations."
Govexec.com: Agencies' e-gov grades slump
Law Library of Congress Report, Immigration Law Sanctions and Enforcement in Selected Foreign Countries (Brazil, Egypt, Japan, Mexico, Sweden and Switzerland), April 2006 (40 pages, PDF)
Press release, May 4, 2006: "NASA does not have the resources necessary to maintain a vigorous science program, complete the International Space Station, and return humans to the moon, says a new congressionally mandated report from the National Academies' National Research Council."
Press release, May 4. 2006: The Federal Trade Commission today launched an enhanced oil and gas Web site designed to provide consumers with clear information on the issues surrounding the price of gasoline and what they can do to get the most out of every gallon they buy...[the site] has newly developed tips for consumers on what they can do to conserve and save gas, as well as a gas column dedicated to summarizing for consumers current market conditions that may be impacting prices and the FTC's role in petroleum industry enforcement. A special feature of the new page is a bumper-to-bumper interactive guide to saving money at the pump. The FTC today also is releasing a related consumer alert with tips on saving gas.
Follow-up to yesterday's posting, FCC Orders VoIP and Broadband IP Compliance With Law Enforcement Surveillance - today Reuters reports that in a case [American Council of Education v. FCC, 05-1404] before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, the FCC's surveillance order was met with skepticism by Judge Harry Edwards, who called the agency's position "totally ridiculous."
Telecommunications: Broadband Deployment Is Extensive throughout the United States, but It Is Difficult to Assess the Extent of Deployment Gaps in Rural Areas. Full text GAO-06-426, and Highlights, May 5, 2006.
Press release: Consumer Reports Finds Personal Privacy Concerns In Planned Uses Of Radio Frequency Identification Tags (RFIDs): "RFID tags are currently being used in credit cards, prescription-medicine packaging, computer equipment, TVs, clothing, cell phones, and the workplace. Soon the tags will be embedded in tires for safety recalls."
Press release: "The American Civil Liberties Union and the ACLU of Georgia today released new evidence that the Federal Bureau of Investigation is using counterterrorism resources to spy on peaceful faith- and conscience-based advocacy groups. School of the Americas Watch (SOA Watch) and its multinational faith-based network is the latest organization uncovered by the ACLU to have been subject to Federal Bureau of Investigation counterterrorism surveillance."
Press release, May 3, 2006: "Two of the world's largest membership-based information organizations have agreed to come together. The combined organization will offer an integrated product and service line, and will give libraries, archives and museums new leverage in developing services, standards and software that will help them support research and disseminate knowledge online."
"RadTown USA is a virtual community showing a wide variety of radiation sources and uses as you may encounter them in everyday life...Everyday activities and environmental factors in common locations such as homes, schools, or offices contribute to an individual's radiation exposure. Being aware of the sources in these locations allows you to better control your personal radiation exposure."
AP: More Web Sites Feature Outside Blogs: "The Web sites of dozens of newspapers are starting to feature outside blog postings on travel, health and other topics in a further blurring of the line separating traditional and new media."
Follow-up to yesterday's posting, GAO Report on Medicare Website Highlights Overall Lack of Usability, today from the White House, Setting the Record Straight: GAO's Inaccurate, Incomplete, And Outdated Medicare Report.
Press release: "In response to media requests, a list of Hurricane Katrina-Related Audits has been prepared by the Office of the Deputy Inspector General for Auditing."
Press release: FCC Adopts Order to Enable Law Enforcement to Access Certain Broadband and VoIP Providers, May 3, 2006:
California Online Voter Guide: "Now in its 13th edition, the 2006 guide serves up nonpartisan information on the statewide propositions and all of the congressional, legislative, and statewide constitutional office candidates in this election. This voter guide will be updated throughout the election season."
Press release, May 3, 2005: "Rep. Waxman, along with Reps. Dingell, Rangel, Stark, and Sherrod Brown, releases a GAO report that finds that the information provided by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services about the complicated new drug benefit is rife with problems. According to GAO, the federal handbooks, website, and 1-800 Medicare hotline failed to provide information that was "consistently clear, complete, accurate, and usable."
PandemicFlu.gov: "One-stop access to U.S. Government avian and pandemic flu information. Managed by the Department of Health and Human Services. In the event of a pandemic, this will be the authoritative site for U.S. government information on the pandemic." The site recently added a News Room (updates available via RSS) offering topical news items, news releases, speeches, and testimony.
Related government documents:
Press release, April 26, 2006: "The Department of Homeland Security announced today the unprecedented predesignation of five teams that will coordinate the Federal government's role in support of state and local governments in preparing for, and responding to, major natural disasters this storm season. In total, 27 Federal officials have been appointed, each with unique expertise and considerable experience."
Monitoring Medicare Part B Drug Prices: A Comparison of Average Sales Prices to Average Manufacturer Prices (OEI-03-04-00430), 36 pages, PDF, May 3, 2006.
Press release, May 2, 2006: "In an effort to increase taxpayers' access to federally funded research, U.S. Senators Joe Lieberman (D-CT) and John Cornyn (R-TX) introduced the bi-partisan Federal Research Public Access Act of 2006, today. The bill requires every federal agency with an annual research budget of more than $100 million to implement a public access policy. The policy must ensure that articles generated through research funded by that agency are made available online within six months of publication."
Senate Committee on the Judiciary hearing on FBI Oversight, May 2, 2006.
EPA Provided Quality and Timely Information on Hurricane Katrina Hazardous Material Releases and Debris Management
[Report - PDF, 28 pages] [At a Glance - 1 page, PDF]
Podcasting Legal Guide - Rules for the Revolution (38 pages, PDF), by Colette Vogel and Mia Garlick. Published under a Creative Commons license, with an accompanying wiki.
Press release, May 1, 2006 - New ALM/West Strategic Partnership Brings ALM Content Exclusively to Westlaw: "Specific material from ALM to be offered exclusively on Westlaw includes the full content of ALM magazines, state and national newspapers, including The American Lawyer®, The National Law Journal®, Corporate Counsel®, New York Law Journal® and Legal Times®, as well as all newsletters, jury verdict and expert witness databases, books and case collections, ALM directories, and settlement data and publications."
Special Report 2006: "North Koreans live in the most censored country in the world, a new analysis by the Committee to Protect Journalists has found. The world's deepest information void, communist North Korea has no independent journalists, and all radio and television receivers sold in the country are locked to government-specified frequencies. Burma, Turkmenistan, Equatorial Guinea, and Libya round out the top five nations on CP's list of the "10 Most Censored Countries."
AP reports: Libby Needs Media Records: "In a 45-page filing, Libby's lawyers said reporters have "no right - under the Constitution or the common law - to deprive Mr. Libby of evidence that will help establish his innocence at trial."
Text of legal documents provided by JustOne Minute:
Federal Bureau of Investigation: Weak Controls over Trilogy Project Led to Payment of Questionable Contractor Costs and Missing Assets, Full Report GAO-06-698T, and Highlights, May 2, 2006.
Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs - Hurricane Katrina: A Nation Still Unprepared, updated 05/02/06
(749 pages, PDF)
Press release: "This network neutrality bill has essentially three parts. The first part articulates overall broadband and network neutrality goals for the country, and spells out exactly what network neutrality means and puts it into the statute so that it will possess the force of law. The second part embodies reasonable exceptions to the general rules, such as to route emergency communications or offer consumer protection features, such as spam blocking technology. And the final part of the bill features an expedited complaint process to deal with grievances and violations within thirty days."
Consumer Reports Medical Guide: "...a comprehensive, independent information source to help consumers make key healthcare decisions."
Resources from the U.S. Courts on Law Day, which is celebrated throughout May.
HealthNex blog, sponsored by IBM, is a joint effort by industry and consumer groups, focused on sharing resources pertaining to e-health records and other IT related issues (such as RFID technology and patient privacy).
From the State Department, the following resources on Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) - U.S. Government Resources - Background Information; International Organizations - Resources; Avian Flu Experts; Publications/Documents; Fact Sheets; and Congressional Research Service Reports (CRS).
PCIE and ECIE - Oversight of Gulf Coast Hurricane Recovery, A Semiannual Report to Congress (PDF, 226 pages) - 05/02/2006.
Yahoo!Babel Fish allows users to translate English text into 12 other languages. See also this Official Google Reearch Blog posting on their hybrid machine and human translation engine, currently available only for Arabic-English and English-Arabic.
Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction (SIGIR): Review of Data Entry and General Controls in the Collecting and Reporting of the Iraq Relief and Reconstruction Fund, April 30, 2006. (full text report, 363 pages, PDF)
White House Fact Sheet: CAFE Reform for Passenger Cars, April 28, 2006
ALA's new e-advocacy site (requires free registration). Currently has sources arranged in the following areas: Federal Issues, Grassroots Resources and a Media Center (that provides links to radio, TV, newspaper and magazines specific to your zip code).
In celebration of 10 years online, use this link for full access to WSJ.com content (the site will be free to non-subscribers for 10 days).
Information Technology: Near-Term Effort to Automate Paper-Based Immigration Files Needs Planning Improvements, Full text GAO-06-375, Highlights, March 31, 2006.
Search Engines: Where We Were, Are Now, and Will Ever Be - "Phil Bradley takes a look at the development of search engines over the lifetime of Ariadne and points to what we might anticipate in the years to come."
Follow-up to April 28, 2006 posting, FBI Used NSLs to Collect Info on Thousands of Americans, the following related documents from the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts:
The Market Intelligence Resources Professional Internet MiniGuide ($) is an 81 page resource by research expert Marcus P. Zillman.