News Feeds for the Legal Community
Thanks to fellow blogger Dennis Kennedy for the mention of beSpacific in his article, Beating Information Overload with News Aggregators, from the November/December 2003 issue of ABA Law Practice Management.
Federal Agencies Receive Failing Grades for Info Security
Rep. Adam Putnam, (R-Fla.) in conjunction with the House Government Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Relations and the Census, issued a comparison chart, using an A through F grading scheme, to evaluate government agency information security in 2002 and 2003. It should be noted that the governmentwide average rose from an F …
New ID Task Force for California County
The San Diego County Californa Board of Supervisors will institute an ID Theft Task Force in cooperation with the DA and law enforcement as a means to combat the second highest rate of ID theft in the state. [Link]
New Microsoft Patent for Writing Windows Apps Using HTML
TechDirt posted on a patent awarded by the USPTO to Microsoft yesterday for a “Method and apparatus for writing a windows application in HTML.” See also Microsoft wins HTML application patent
Credit Industry and Workplace Procedures to Prevent ID Theft
From the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse: Testimony on December 9 by Beth Givens to the San Diego County Chairman’s Conference on Identity Theft–Prevent Identity Theft with Responsible Information-Handling Practices in the Workplace. “The keys to prevention are two-fold, involving the credit industry and the workplace: The credit issuing industry must drastically improve procedures for assessing the …
Are Paralegal Work and Legal Research Next to Go Offshore?
Information Week reported yesterday that law firms are actively considering sending white collar jobs offshore, where paralegal salaries are between $6 and $8 per hour, while the average in the U.S. is over $17. The statistics for this article were obtained from a research report sponsored by the University of California, Berkeley, Fall 2003, titled …
Largest E-Voting Machine Vendors Launch Trade Group to Counter Negative Press
Voting-Machine Makers To Fight Security Criticism From ZDNet: “As electronic voting machines prepare to go to the polls in large numbers, major vendors are collaborating to shore up support for them.” [Link] See the Information Technology Association of America Election Technology Council Press Kit, which includes a Press Release, a Statement of Principles, ETC Leadership …
Continued Controversy in Sale of Mexican Voter Database to U.S. Vendor
From EPIC: “EPIC has obtained a message under the Freedom of Information Act from the American Embassy in Mexico to US government officials regarding the acquisition of Mexican’s personal information by ChoicePoint. The message alerted the White House, the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies that Mexican newspapers and political leaders objected to the …
In New Twist on E-Gov, States Sell Goods on e-Bay
Cash-strapped states and localities nationwide are turning to eBay to sell everything from yachts to unclaimed goods in the possession of police departments, according to USA Today.
Global Information Technology Report
U.S. is No.1 in technology competitiveness Global Information Technology Report: “Covering a total of 102 economies, the Networked Readiness Index of the new Global Information Technology Report 2003-2004 measures how prepared economies are to participate in, and benefit from, information and communication technology (ICT) developments.” Networked Readiness Index Rankings Profiles of the Top Five Economies …
CAN-SPAM Bill Awaits President’s Signature
Congress approves anti-spam legislation CAN-SPAM Act
9-11 Commission Hearing on Privacy and Terrorism
The 9-11 Commission held a public hearing today on the topic Security and Liberty, that included witness testimony on “domestic intelligence collection, protecting privacy while preventing terrorism, and the use of immigration laws to prevent terrorism.” Prepared statement of EPIC Executive Director Marc Rotenberg. Links to additional testimony will be added as available.