Nebraska State Law Library Targeted for Closure
As reported by the Omaha-World Herald, the Nebraska State Law Library is in jeopardy of losing its funding due to budget cutbacks, although the library has the support of the Supreme Court judges.
Author archives
Erosion of Civil Liberties Post 9/11
From the Lawyer’s Committee on Human Rights, a new report, Imbalance of Powers, How Changes to U.S. Law and Policy since 9/11 Erode Human Rights and Civil Liberties (PDF), focuses on the following areas: (1) Open Government; (2) Right to Privacy; (3) Treatment of Immigrants, Refugees and Minorities; and (4) Security Detainees and the Criminal …
GAO Report on OMB's E-Gov Initiatives
Electronic Government: Success of the Office of Management and Budget’s 25 Initiatives Depends on Effective Management and Oversight, by Joel C. Willemssen, managing director, information technology, before the Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations, and the Census, House Committee on Government Reform. GAO-03-495T, March 13. The report Highlights are here. From CIO Magazine’s March …
Cybercrime, File Sharing and College Students
On March 13, the Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property held an Oversight Hearing on “International Copyright Piracy: Links to Organized Crime and Terrorism” Links are as follows to the:Witness List, John Malcolm, Rich LaMagna, Joan Borsten Vidov, Jack Valenti. Although not a focus of the hearing, campus-wide file sharing was mentioned. See …
Kansas Considers Library Net Filters
The Kansas House Committee on Federal and State Affairs is considering HB 2420, requiring the installation of Internet filters on all public library computers accessible to those under the age of 18. According to this letter to the committee from the state’s budget director, the yearly cost “would be approximately $573,750 to purchase filtering devices …
Sen. Leahy Introduces New FOIA Legislation
On March 12, Senator Patrick Leahy(D-VT), joined by Senators Levin (D-MI), Jeffords (I-VT), Lieberman (D-CT) and Byrd (D-WV), introduced new legislation, S. 609, the Restoration of Freedom of Information Act (“Restore FOIA”). See Leahy’s statement here. See Levin’s statement here. See also this Letter to Senate leaders on the Restoration of Freedom of Information Act …
Legal Protection of Digital Information
Professor of Computer Science Lee A. Hollaar has made available, at no fee, virtually the entire text of his treatise, Legal Protection of Digital Information, published by BNA. The Table of Contents provides direct links to each chapter and respective sections therein, which include the following topics: Copyright Overview, Software, Copyright, Digital Copyright, Patent Overview …
Blog for College and University Attorneys
Check-out UnivAtty, a new blog launched this month by attorney Chris Holmes, of the Office of General Counsel at Baylor University, in Waco, Texas. The postings so far are on topics such as copyright, licensing, DMCA and file sharing.
Federal Gov't Info Continues to Disappear
According to this Washington Post article, Seek and Ye Shall Not Find, add another government document to the “disappeared” list as a result of the administration’s paperwork reduction policy. The OMB will not publish the detailed and comprehensive annual report, Budget Information for States (BIS) in 2004 and perhaps thereafter as well. The current report …
Search Engine Guide
If you are interested in a top rate site to help you stay current on search engines, that also offers a free daily email newsletter, then head over to Search Engine Guide. The site Editor/Webmaster Robert Clough provides an excellent range of resources, including a Search Engines Directory database that can be searched or browsed, …
Gov't Portal Wins Accolades
The Institute for Government Innovation at Harvard University has included the government web portal FirstGov among its fifteen finalists for the 16th Annual Innovations Awards.
Civil Liberties and Security: Some Perspective
From the New York Times article, Measuring Lost Freedom vs. Security in Dollars, this statement, “In a notice published last month, the budget office asked experts from around the country for ideas on how to measure “indirect costs” like lost time, lost privacy and even lost liberty that might stem from tougher security regulations.” The …
