April 18th 2008
Currently, federal authorities can only collect DNA from convicted criminals. That may soon change, so that anyone arrested for a crime, or merely detained, can be forced to provide a DNA sample. Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) is fronting the legislation, which was passed by the Senate Judiciary Committee recently. The argument is that the new […]
April 17th 2008
Are you curious about how lawmakers spend money on their own offices? The website LegiStorm publishes publicly available financial details, including salaries and expenditures on Congressional staffers, in an attempt to keep our complex government transparent to citizens. However, even public scrutiny shold have its limits. You might want to take a look at the […]
April 14th 2008
This week, Alaska and Idaho passed laws that prohibit the state from taking measures to comply with the REAL ID act of 2005. That now makes nine states who refuse to participate in the new federal identity system, which is due to start operation in about a month. My friend and former state government colleague, Dazza […]
April 12th 2008
Have you heard about the brutal beating of a 16-year-old cheerleader by eight teenagers, who recorded the assault for broadcast on YouTube? That’s right, the attack was both to get someone back and to gain fame. And naturally, the Net is being cited as the main culprit. Shelly Palmer blogs a fantastic analysis of ethical and media issues […]
April 11th 2008
Fair Use is a legally protected right of access to copyrighted materials, and deals with the limitations of copyright holders in the public interest. Reporting, education, criticism and parody are all protected under the Fair Use section in U.S. copyright law. “Big Content” (aka content providers who are part of Big Business) wants to change […]
April 9th 2008
Last week I wrote about how Craigslist benefited from a 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that it is not liable for discriminatory housing messages posted by users in its forums. The court ruled the site serves as an intermediary party, not a publisher. Therefore it was protected by the safe harbor provision of […]
April 8th 2008
Credit card numbers were selling for as little as 40 cents each and access to bank accounts was going for $10 in the second half of 2007, according to the latest twice-yearly Internet Security Threat Report from Symantec, which you may download here. As highlighted in our earlier article, Big Business Big Brother, data breaches […]
April 8th 2008
This week, the House Subcommittee on Telecommunications and the Internet held the first-ever Congressional hearing to learn about virtual worlds. Committee Chair, Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, convened the meeting, which took place both in the Rayburn Building in Washington and in a virtual Rayburn Building in Second Life. Representatives asked questions such as: Could Second […]
April 6th 2008
On rare occasions, the media both gets something right and comprehends its importance. One such example is the CNBC special called “Big Brother, Big Business” hosted by David Faber. I cannot recommend this two-hour program highly enough (the link above takes you to the video available online). I follow this stuff, and I was amazed […]
April 5th 2008
Last week Deutsche Telekom, owners of the global T-Mobile brand, sent the website Engadget a late birthday present: a hand-delivered letter direct from their German legal department, requesting the prompt discontinuation of the use of the color magenta on Engadget Mobile. However, rather than gaining cooperation, T-Mobile has generated a host of unintended consequences. Engadget […]
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