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From a June 25 Recording Industry Association of America press release: “Starting tomorrow, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) will begin gathering evidence and preparing lawsuits against individual computer users who are illegally offering to “share” substantial amounts of copyrighted music over peer-to-peer networks….The RIAA expects to use the data it collects as the …
The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals (“The nation’s largest — and most controversial — appeals court…”) ruled in favor of website publishers in Batzel v. Cremers (41 page pdf), stating that “providers and users of interactive computer services…..are immune from liability for defamatory or obscene speech…when the material is provided by someone else.” See the …
FTC Outlines Steps to Assist Identity Theft Victims. Prepared Statement of the Federal Trade Commission on Identity Theft: Prevention and Victim Assistance, Presented by J. Howard Beales, III, Director, Bureau of Consumer Protection, Before the Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit Subcommittee of the Financial Services Committee, United States House of Representatives, June 24, 2003.
From this AP article: “The nation’s librarians, set back by a Supreme Court ruling upholding requirements for Internet filters to block p*****graphy, plan to step up pressure on software vendors to disclose more about how their products work.” Related articles worth a look: Questions and Answers on Web Filtering and this EFF webpage on Examples …
According to Declan McCullagh’s News.com article, Sen. Ron Wyden continues to shine a spotlight on the Pentagon’s TIA surveillance program as he relentlessly pursues the answers to specific questions regarding “the project’s scope, its implications for privacy and civil liberties, and which private-sector and government databases would be linked into the system.” Sen. Wyden’s June …
New Annenberg Report Examines Americans Understanding of Online Privacy – “Do Americans understand the purpose on internet privacy policies? Do they know how websites use information about them? Do they trust government to protect their personal information?” Press release The report, 37 pages in pdf, Americans and Online Privacy, The System is Broken, A Report …
Major Information Brokers Face Class Action for Invasion of Privacy. Class actions lawsuits filed May 30, 2003 in U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida W. Palm Beach. docket in 03-CV-80490, Levine v. ChoicePoint, Inc. et al docket in 03-CV-80491, Levine v. Reed Elsevier, Inc. Docket sheets courtesy of CourtExpress.com
Congress Finds Rare Unity in Spam, to a Point. Promises abound that this will be the year when Congress enacts anti-spam legislation, as bi-partisan support, consumer demand and corporate frustration have reached a crescendo. See my related postings on current legislation here and here, and this June 20 article, Senate Once Again Backs Stringent Penalties …
From today’s Washington Post, Overview: Short History of Copyright in the Digital Age, Internet Sparks a Copyright Fire. From the battles between the entertainment industry, “fair use rights” advocates, consumers and copyright holders, this article touches on the complex, high-stake issues, legislative initiatives and key players making news in this arena.
Vivisimo, co-winner of the 2002 Search Engine Watch award for Best Meta Search Engine, is featured in this new article, CMU (Carnegie Mellon) trio develops Internet search tool that sorts results in helpful clusters. (via Search Engine News). For more information, see the company’s Clustering Engine webpage.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and the Online Policy Group (OPG) yesterday announced the release of their joint report, Internet Blocking in Public Schools, A Study on Internet Access in Educational Institutions. “The study found that blocking software overblocked state-mandated curriculum topics extensively — for every web page correctly blocked as advertised, one or more …
Microsoft’s press release: Microsoft Hires Peter Cullen as Chief Privacy Strategist – Internationally Recognized Privacy Industry Leader Brings Extensive Consumer Protection Experience to Microsoft. See also Trustworthy Computing, Microsoft White Paper, October 2002, and One year on, is Microsoft ‘trustworthy’?
