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“Copying is Theft …” And other legal myths in the looming battle over peer-to-peer, by Mark D. Rasch, J.D., former head of the Justice Department’s computer crime unit, and now Senior Vice President and Chief Security Counsel at Solutionary Inc. “The RIAA, MPAA and copyright holders describe P2P users as “pirates” – invoking images of …
From today’s Boston Globe editorial, which refers to yesterday’s debacle on the DARPA FutureMap Program : “The Defense Department should sever its ties with Poindexter (TIA Director John Poindexter) before he can humiliate Americans again. Indeed, President Bush should have dismissed him last year and owes the nation an explanation of how his administration nearly …
From SearchDay: “Yahoo News is now incorporating more than 3,500 sources from Moreover’s public metabase of near real-time news content. This is in addition to the full-text coverage provided by dozens of providers, and a wide range of editorially selected coverage.”
On Thursday, July 31, the ACLU will be hosting a live online chat discussing the FBI’s broad new surveillance powers under the USA PATRIOT Act. Hear about the Fourth and First Amendment defects to a provision in the law that allows the government to obtain records or personal belongings from any person or entity, including …
The Citizens’ Protection In Federal Databases Act, introduced yesterday by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR), is being hailed by civil liberties groups. Wyden is intent on putting an end to the Admiral John Poindexter’s infamous Total Information Awareness Program (TIA), which works hand-in-hand with DARPA…”to integrate technologies developed by DARPA (and elsewhere as appropriate) into a …
In the July 29 press release announcing the cancellation of the FutureMap program (see my July 28 posting on this subject here), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) stated: “The FutureMAP research project was meant to explore the power of futures markets to predict and thereby prevent terrorist attacks. Futures markets have proven themselves …
From CNN: “President Bush on Tuesday rejected calls to release classified sections of a congressional report on the September 11, 2001, attacks, saying his administration must protect intelligence sources during the war on terrorism.” See my July 24 posting on the report here. “ACCESS DENIED” to Joint Inquiry on 9-11 by Bush Administration – commentary …
From the Center for Democracy and Technology: Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) is introducing legislation (S. 1484) requiring all government agencies that use commercial data for law enforcement and intelligence purposes to report to Congress about their activities and the potential privacy implications of those programs. Citizens’ Protection in Federal Databases Act (pdf), to require a …
From today’s WSJ: “As the second anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks approaches, Ready.gov, the Department of Homeland Security’s high profile Web site, provides information only in English. Meanwhile, advocates for non-English speakers say they’d like to see government sites become more accessible — but particularly emergency-information sources like Ready.gov.” According to the article, …
Talk about a fast resolution: This program, about which I posted very early this morning, has been cancelled due to the uproar on Capitol Hill. See below for details. According to AP, the Pentagon’s DARPA division has a website called FutureMap (Futures Markets Applied to Prediction), describing a progam for predicting the probably of terrorist …
Attorney General Ashcroft promotes antiterrorism law: Speaking at a homeland security conference on Monday, “Ashcroft said the USA PATRIOT Act preserved traditional checks on library, bookstore and business records because a “federal judge must first issue a warrant” and because it is for “foreign intelligence that doesn’t affect U.S. persons.” Statement of Barbara Comstock, Director …
Diverging Estimates of the Costs of Spam: “Spam is costing the U.S. economy billions in network resources, diminished productivity and forgone Internet sales. But how many billions?” See also Spam Battle Plans– “Companies are relying on multilevel spam-fighting strategies that include e-mail filtering tools, blacklist services and employee education.”
