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The Electronic Government Act of 2002 (H.R. 2458), was passed by the House Technology and Procurement Policy Subcommittee , and sent it on to the House Government Reform Committee. The Senate companion bill is S. 803.
Federal agencies are issuing their information quality guidelines as specified by OMB (see my previous posting here.) The Patent Office guidelines are available at http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/ac/ido/infoqualityguide.html. The Federal Register notice about these guidelines is here.
The ACLU placed an ad in publications including the Congressional Quarterly Daily Monitor and Congress Daily, demanding “that any Homeland Security bill contain five basic civil liberties protections.”
According to this Washington Post article, “From now on, virtually every piece of information that the federal government makes public — through a rulemaking, a publication or a Web site — becomes open to challenge for its accuracy and veracity.” See the OMB guidelines at http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/inforeg/iqg_oct2002.pdf.
ZDNet UK is reporting that a coalition of prominent U.S. high tech companies, calling themselves the Global Privacy Alliance (no web site available) wants the EU to relax its data protection laws to stimulate international e-commerce through the transfer of personal data collected on customers.
The Unlawful Internet Gambling Funding Prohibition Act H.R.556, passed the House and was referred to the Senate. The bill would prevent banks, financial institutions and credit card companies from transferring payments to Internet gambling sites, most of which are offshore.
If you are interested in following the developments in the Enron case, a former hot news story that has been moved to the back burner in recent months, then visit The Daily Enron. This public interest site maintains an active collection of news, commentary, book reviews and documents on corporate and government accountability.
On October 9, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the much heralded case of Eldred v. Ashcroft that challenges the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act (CTEA), which extended by 20 years (and in some cases even longer) the duration of existing and future copyrights. Stanford Law School Professor Lawrence Lessig, will represent Eric Eldred, …
The Privacy Commissioner of Canda functions as an independent advocate on behalf of citizens with the power to investigate complaints and present cases to the Federal Court, as well as to research and publish advisory reports on privacy issues. The Commission’s website, in French and English versions, is simple, well designed and content rich. There …
The Hamilton County Clerk of Courts, Ohio, website has generated controversy as a result of the state’s Open Records Law , (see Chapter 149 section 43), allowing online access to “sensitive personal data” concerning Ohio citizens. James C. Cicell, Clerk of the Courts, has proposed safeguards for data that still protect the dissemination of court …
The International Association of Privacy Officers provides links to a range of advocacy, corporate, government and academic sites.
A report commissioned by the Markle Foundation, “Enhancing Legitimacy in the Internet Corporation for Assigning Names and Numbers: Accountable and Transparent Governance Structures, has been published which recommends specific actions that ICANN can take to improve confidence and trust in its actions as well as focus its mission.