Author archives

Opposition to EU IP Directive

From European Digital Rights, an association of privacy and civil rights organizations in Europe: CODE Letter urging rejection of Proposal for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on measures and procedures to ensure the enforcement of intellectual property rights. IP Justice White Paper on Proposed European Union IP Enforcement Directive

Subjects: EU Data Protection

Recent Patriot Act Lawsuits

Watching the Watchers – First two lawsuits challenging the Patriot Act likely aren’t the last. For links to the first case referenced in the above article, see my July 30 posting, Lawsuit on Patriot Act. A synopsis of the second lawsuit, Humanitarian Law Project, et al. v. Ashcroft, is provided by the Center for Constitutional …

Subjects: Patriot Act

FDIC Proposed Reg. on Financial Privacy

From the August 12 Federal Register: Interagency Guidance on Response Programs for Unauthorized Access to Customer Information and Customer Notice: Among other things, the Security Guidelines direct financial institutions to: (1) Identify reasonably foreseeable internal and external threats that could result in unauthorized disclosure, misuse, alteration, or destruction of customer information or customer information systems; …

Subjects: E-Government, Privacy

Webcams in Schools Raise Privacy Issue

Who’s Watching the Class? According to this USA Today article, students in Biloxi, Mississippi schools will be continuously monitored while in their classrooms, all of which are equipped with webcams whose footage is stored on PC hard drives. The data may be viewed “on virtually any Internet-connected computer.” The article also mentions the use of …

Subjects: Privacy

Google Announces Customers for Enterprise Search

From Reuters: “Google, the No. 1 Web search engine in the United States….announced eight customers for its enterprise search appliance (Google Search Appliance)…that helps companies and organizations search for products and information within corporate intranets and Web sites. The company, seen by many in financial circles as an ideal candidate for an initial public offering, …

Subjects: Knowledge Management, Search Engines

GPO And National Archives Unite In Support of Permanent Online Public Access

From the GPO press release: “Archivist of the United States John W. Carlin and United States Public Printer Bruce R. James announced today an agreement whereby the Government Printing Office (GPO) and the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) will ensure the documents you see today on GPO Access, the GPO web site that provides …

Subjects: E-Government, Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Libraries

Tide Shifting in Lawyer-Client Confidentiality?

This week, Jonathan D. Glater of the New York Times, authored several articles on lawyer-client confidentiality. The first article, from August 11, An Issue Of Lawyer-Client Confidentiality (linked here as reprinted on lexisOne), focuses on efforts by the IRS to obtain the identity of 600 Jenkens & Gilchrist tax clients. The second article, Bar Association …

Subjects: Privacy

Microsoft Will Appeal $521M Patent Infringement Verdict

Microsoft loser in patent suit: $500 million verdict in Net case: “Microsoft was told by a jury to pay $521 million to the University of California and a Chicago-area company that claimed they invented technology used in the Internet Explorer browser.” See United States Patent 5,838,906 Microsoft Statement on Eolas Technologies Jury Verdict – Aug. …

Subjects: Internet, Microsoft, Patent and Trademark

Accuracy of Health Insurer Website Data Challenged

Errors Infect Doctor Lists on Web – Wrong Numbers, Dead Practitioners Found on Health Insurers’ Online Directories: “…some spot-checking by The Washington Post in recent days found a number of inaccuracies in the online directories of four large health insurers that serve the Washington region. They include wrong phone numbers and addresses and doctors who …

Subjects: Internet

Dems on House Intelligence Cmte Call for Declassification of 9/11 Report

Press release from Rep. Jane Harman, August 7, 2003: House Intelligence Democrats Call on Administration to Declassify Major Portions of 9/11 Report and Request Committee Investigation of Foreign Support for Terrorists. Congressional Reports: Joint Inquiry into Intelligence Community Activities before and after the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001

Subjects: E-Government, Freedom of Information, Government Documents

IRS Online Child Tax Credit Calculator

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) launched a website, Where’s My Advance Child Tax Credit, for taxpayers to obtain information on the status of their credit. This release coincides with the following: Beginning the last week of July, eligible taxpayers who claimed the Child Tax Credit on their 2002 tax returns will automatically receive an advance …

Subjects: E-Government