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The Citizens Action Project is sponsored by the College of Journalism and Communications at the University of Florida. This organization has created a database detailing specifically what public records pertaining to sex offenders are made available by states via their respective Web portals. Information provided includes references to state statutes and case law, but no …
According to a GAO review, the Department of the Interior continues to have major administrative problems, including those that include their IT infrastructure. Federal Computer Week (FCW) has updated readers on the issues that continue to plague the agency some 11 months after U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth’s order to shut down all online systems. …
This case, State of Washington v. Donald Theodore Townsend, addresses the privacy of e-mail and instant message (IM) communication in a police sting operation involving an adult and a fictitious minor. Townsend’s messages were stored on a police officer’s PC, printed, and used as evidence. The court determined that Townsend’s messages were not covered under …
See ICANN’s announcement on recommendations for new Top Level Domains (TLDs) as well as a comment period which will end December 10. According to this related Washington Post article, ICANN is in favor of creating three new top level domains that target specific users, rather than the current dot-com grab-bag approach.
According to this article in digitalMass, a father-son programming team is marketing a software application that allows users to copy DVDs onto CDs. Hollywood is none too pleased with consumers copying their films, and is commited to battling against the creation and distribution of applications that allow them to do so. See also this related …
As a profession, doctors have traditionally communicated with their patients in person or by telephone. However, the tide may be turning, as some doctors pioneer fee-based virtual medicine, by which they communicate and diagnose patients via secure e-mail.
In an effort to respond to consumer demand for movie downloads, five major studios launched a new fee-based service, called Movielink. See the WSJ article via Yahoo here.
The Samuelson Law, Technology and Public Policy Clinic at Boalt Hall is actively involved in educational efforts focused on privacy law, digital rights management and copyright issues. The site maintains a BriefBank, to which public interest groups and legal scholars contribute briefs on law, technology and public policy. The site has a basic search engine …
The non-profit citizen advocacy group Public Citizen conducted a state-by-state survey of disciplinary data, and the information is current as of April 3, 2002. It may be viewed in an oveall quick chart format here. Specific information provided includes the direct, state sponsored e-gov address where doctor data is located, whether the state provides disciplinary …
The Council of Europe Committee of Ministers issued a press release on November 7 stating their adoption of a supplemental protocal to the Convention on Cybercrime. It is titled, Additional Protocol to the Convention on Cybercrime Concerning the Criminalisation of Acts of a Racist and Xenophobic Nature Committed Through Computer Systems. See also their Explanatory …
This New York Times article details plans for a Pentagon database currently under development that would be used to mine, collect and analyze personal data collected from the Web, e-mail, telecommunications, government documents and online transactions. The stated purpose of this unprecedented effort: homeland security. This program has the support of the executive director of …
E-government information, reports and related documents are certainly in the news as of late. The Performance Institute released a new study on October 30, in PDF: Creating a Performance-Based Electronic Government, Fiscal Year 2002 Progress. The report is subtitled, “The State-of-the-Practice on How e-Government Initiatives in Federal Agencies are Progressing Toward Achieving Cost Efficiencies and …
