Ashcroft and the Internet – A Perspective
In 1997, then Senator Ashcroft of Missouri published a statement called, Keep Big Brother’s Hands Off the Internet. Fast forward to the Patriot Act.
Category «Internet»
E-Gov Handbook Published by CDT
The Center for Democracy and Technology has published an E-Government Handbook, conceived as a global resource on how to implement technology applications to best serve the needs of citizens by making information easily and readily available online.
China Censors Danish Websites
The Copenhagen press reported that the Chinese government has systematically censorsed access to the Danish search engine, Jubii. This is in no small measure due to the fact this engine provides access to sites banned by the Chinese government, including Amnesty International and the Falun Gong spiritual movement. Note: I was not familiar with Falun …
DOE Removes PubScience Website
The Software Information Industry Association (SIAA) issued a press release supporting the Department of Energy’s (DOE) decision to remove the free PubSCIENCE database from the web. Users are now redirected to the DOE’s Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI) site to conduct journal searches. The SIALL argued for the removal of PubSCIENCE due to …
Computer Troubles Persist at Dept. of the Interior
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. …
Medical Diagnosis Via E-Mail
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.
Microsoft Challenges PDF Domination
This is an excellent example of how the power of Microsoft’s marketing power can thrust a new application into the limelight way in advance of its actual final release, which may be some time to come. EPeriodicals technology will supposedly revolutionize the entire process of publishing and distributing digital documents, via handhelds and tablet devices.
Online Voting Info for Races Nationwide
Project Vote Smart is a non-profit, non partisan campaign information resource on candidates and issues throughout the country, on the Congressional, state, local and city level. The site is very easy to use, and provides links to candidate bios, campaign finance data, party and issue related web sites, as well as legislative tracking data by …
Support for the Global Internet Freedom Act
The Lawyer’s Committee for Human Rights indicated their support for the Global Internet Freedom Act via this letter to Reps. Hyde and Lantos. For more details and background about this bill, H.R. 5524, please see my previous postings here, here, and here.
Child Online Protection Act Back in Court
The controversial Child Online Protection Act which specifies the “requirement to restrict access by minors to materials commercially distributed by means of the World Wide Web that are harmful to minors,” is currently under review again by U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit. In May 2002, the Supreme Court remanded the case, Ashcroft v. ACLU, …
Supreme Court to Review CIPA Case
The Supreme Court will review a number of cases this week, including United States v. American Library Association, No. 02-361, requiring the use of filtering software by all libraries receiving federal funds. For up-to-date information on this case, see the American Library Association web site on CIPA.
Politics and the Web
Political Web, launched on July 30, is a useful site for research studies on the growing use of the Internet by Congressional and gubernatorial candidates. Funded by the The Pew Charitable Trusts, researchers from the Washington State University issue regular short press releases on their findings, as well as longer, topical reports, such as this …
