Author archives

Library Patriot Act Resolutions

The American Library Association (ALA) has a useful resource available on their site: USA Patriot Act Resolutions of State Library Associations. It offers an alphabetical list of states, along with either direct, or sometimes circuitous links, to their respective resolutions endorsing the ALA USA Patriot Act Resolution.

Subjects: Libraries, Patriot Act, Privacy

Summit on Web Credibility

Building Trust on the Web, Consumer WebWatch’s First National Summit on Web Credibility, April 24, 2003. Presentation topics include: Health Web Sites, Search Engines, Guidelines & Best Practices on the Web, Scams & Schemes: Why Don’t Consumers Trust the Web?, and Toward a More Credible Web. See this link for Jim Guest’s opening remarks.

Subjects: ID Theft, Internet, Privacy

FCC Adopts New Rules For E-Rate Program

Today’s news release from the Federal Communications Commission states that the agency “adopted new rules to simplify and streamline the operation of the schools and libraries program of the universal service fund (USF). The measures adopted today seek to improve program administration, create a more efficient application process for program participants, and improve program oversight …

Subjects: E-Government, Internet, Libraries

More Students Targeted for File Sharing

College students are increasingly discovering that file sharing has serious consequences. Just ask 220 Penn State students accused of using an LAN to bypass the university’s network bandwidth restrictions. They have lost the privilege of Web access in their dorm rooms. See also my previous posting on four college students who were sued by the …

Subjects: Copyright

Wall Street Journal's New Afternoon Report

The Wall Street Journal recently launched The Afternoon Report, an opt-in e-mail update of breaking news, in text version, provided to subscribers twice daily. Yesterday, the e-mail update became available in HTML, and is now accompanied by lots of advertising as well. Readers may also choose to read the updates via a link on the …

Subjects: Internet

EPIC Alleges Amazon COPPA Violation

EPIC, along with a coalition of 10 advocacy groups, filed a complaint with the FTC today stating that Amazon.com is violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (“COPPA”) by collecting and disclosing personal information about children. EPIC provides specific examples of children, with key information redacted to protect their privacy, who are registered …

Subjects: Privacy