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In an opinion filed December 26, 2002, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia sided with EPIC in their quest to test whether the Office of Homeland Security (now called the Department of Homeland Security) is subject to the Freedom of Information Act.
A new Pew Internet and American Life report released today indicates that the Internet has “become a mainstream information tool.” The 60% of Americans who have access to the Web rely on it as a primary information resource. They use it routinely to locate data from local, state and federal government agencies, to answer health …
This New York Times article focuses on the issues that will confront government agencies in 2003 as they work to comply with the requirements of the new E-Government Act. The act has the dual purpose of creating comprehensive, user-friendly portals to government documents that are currently widely dispersed among various agencies, along with providing a …
Recent news articles point to a growing controvery over proposed surveillance programs to collect and review personal data generated by daily online transactions by citizens. This New York Times article, Many Tools of Big Brother Are Up and Running, concludes that the foundation for much of the work to conduct widespread surveillance has already been …
Newsday reports that more than half of New Jersey’s county clerks are transitioning to e-filing for the processing of deeds and mortgages, resulting in faster turn-around time for documents. The remaining NJ counties are expected to similarly adopt e-filing within the next five years.
Beginning in 2003, the Federal District Court in New Jersey will switch from using snail-mail in favor of faxing documents to “consenting parties” as they transition to the implementation of an e-filing system, according to this law.com article.
The Washington Post reported on a municipal issue that could prove to have far reaching consequences for the government’s use of e-mail to conduct meetings. Fredericksburg Circuit Court Judge John Whittier Scott Jr. decided that a group of City Council members who used email to communicate about, and reach decisions, concerning critical issues that included …
On December 18, the SEC proposed: “the mandatory electronic filing of change of beneficial ownership reports required to be filed by officers, directors and principal security holders under Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, and Web site posting of such reports by issuers with corporate Web sites.”
For months there has been talk of the launch of a new government portal, sponsored by OMB, that will allow citizens and businesses to easily locate, and then comment on, new regulations proposed by the federal government. The url of this portal is http://www.regulations.gov, but after many announcements of its impending availability, it remains vaporware. …
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia issued Standing Order 02-01, Electronic Access to Public Records and Sensitive Information, on October 17, 2002. The document stipulates that effective January 1, 2003, the court “intends to make electronic access to court files available through PACER by imaging documents into the court’s computer system.”
This Federal Computer Week article heralds a new direction in comprehensive data mining as a means to dramatically extend information sharing efforts among U.S. and allied military forces. A process called operational net assessment (ONA – please note you have to scroll down the alpha list to find the description) is used to create a …
This Federal Computer Week article provides commentary and illuminating details on the Total Information Awareness program’s technology, objectives, data collection criteria, and funding. Far from being a small blip on the budget radar, the TIA project actually has at its disposal some $240 million in tax payer funds through 2003.
