EU Coalition Opposes Data Retention

This recommendation to the Council of the European Union from 38 Members of Parliament from 7 political groups, conveys the groups opposition to the EU Data Directive which permits data mining, document retention and electronic surveillance programs involving citizens. The group states that these actions are “a violation of art. 8 of the European Court …

Subjects: EU Data Protection, Privacy

Reverse Number Lookup

Do you ever jot down a telephone number and forget to note the name associated with it? I sure do. Here is a quick, easy to use, free Reverse Number Lookup service from Verizon that requires only that you type in a ten digit telephone number to obtain the name and address of the owner, …

Subjects: Legal Research

New Sentencing Guidelines for Cybercrime

The United States Sentencing Commission (USSC) is seeking public comment on proposed amendments to guidelines applicable to persons convicted of crimes related to the misuse of computers (i.e., hacking, cracking, writing and disseminating viruses, ID theft, web-related fraud, etc.). These new guidelines have garnered a new level of attention due to significantly increased incidences of …

Subjects: Cybercrime, ID Theft

E-Gov Takes A Hit From Congress

The administration’s proposed plans for e-government initiatives have been dealt a significant blow by Senate appropriations actions which cut $40 million from the requested total of $45 million for FY 2003. Through the E-Government Act of 2002, agencies are working on a coordinated effort to streamline, standardize and improve the management and operation of online …

Subjects: Congress, E-Government, Government Documents

Digital National Security Archive

The Digital National Security Archive currently hosts 35,000 declassified documents, comprising 15 distinct collections on U.S. security policies and decision making. For example, you may access documents from the Cuban Missle Crisis, Iran-Contra Affair, and Presidential Directives on National Security from Truman to Clinton. There is also a Documents of the Month section, and the …

Subjects: Freedom of Information, Government Documents, Legal Research

Search Engines AllTheWeb and Teoma Announce New Features

From Fast Search & Transfer™ (FAST), this press release announces new features for AlltheWeb.com™ that include Automatic Language Mapping (the site determines the user’s language and provides query responses accordingly), new search tools, full support for common Boolean operators, and a Query Language Cheet Sheet. Teoma 2.0 was launched this week, highlighting the new Advanced …

Subjects: Legal Research, Search Engines

RIAA Wins Battle With Verizon Over Customer Data

Judge John D. Bates, United States District Court for the District of Columbia, has ruled in favor of RIAA in their high profile case against Verizon to compel the ISP to provide personal data on customers’ use and online distribution of music obtained using P2P downloading applications. See Recording Industry of America v. Verizon Internet …

Subjects: Digital Rights, E-Commerce, Internet, Privacy

Sen. Kennedy's New Site Meets Accessibility Guidelines

Senator Edward Kennedy is breaking new ground with a completely redesigned web site that meets the requirements of The Rehabilitation Act Amendments (Section 508). For more information on how federal agency sites must provide web site access and associated online services for individuals with disabilities, refer to this site, Section 508: The Road to Accessibility, …

Subjects: Web Site Accessibility and Usability

FTC Report on Consumer Fraud and ID Theft

This FTC press release provides an overview of their new 2002 National and State Trends in Fraud Identity Theft Report (in PDF). ID theft accounts for 43% of total complaints made, with fraud associated with Internet auctions accounting for 13% of complaints. See also another new FTC report, ID Theft: When Bad Things Happen To …

Subjects: Cybercrime, ID Theft

TIA Activities Under Continued Scrutiny

Via AP, this article indicates that Department of Defense Inspector General Joseph E. Schmitz communicated with Sen. Charles Grassley about an audit on a joint FBI-Pentagon plan to expand the TIA data mining program. The Senator stated in a letter to Attorney General Ashcroft, “I am very concerned that DOJ and the FBI may have …

Subjects: Privacy

E-Commerce Dispute Resolution

For the past two years, an ABA task force of the Section of Dispute Resolution has studied the issue of consumer disputes as they apply to e-commerce transactions. A draft of their final report, that included recommendations and proposed guidelines, was released in April 2002. This ABA press release indicates that there is now a …

Subjects: E-Commerce