dave-fu writes --- "This just in: webcasters can breathe a sigh of relief as common sense and good taste has won out over stuffed suits and greased pockets--CARP has been rejected. If you weren't aware of it, CARP would have imposed exorbitant fees on webcasters, effectively killing webcasting radiostations, or at least preventing them from playing all (American) copyrighted music." --- See our previous story, or saveinternetradio.org, or read through the Copyright Office page linked above for background information. I wouldn't rejoice just yet - while webcasters argued that the proposed rates were way too high, the RIAA argued that they were way too low. There will still be royalty rates set by the Copyright Office, and the final rates may not be anything to cheer about.

USATODAY.com - Worker background checks raise privacy concerns.

Employers are carrying out more rigorous background checks since Sept. 11, but critics say the practice is trampling workers' privacy rights by going beyond traditional checks.

In some cases, employers may look at credit reports, civil court records, driving records, workers' compensation claims and criminal records going back 10 or more years. Some are conducting background checks on current employees as well as new hires.

"For the most part, employers are free to conduct fairly intrusive background checks," says Barry Steinhardt in New York with the American Civil Liberties Union. "There's absolutely no regulation."

LendingIntelligence.com - Ford Security Breach Likely to Speed Compliance with New FTC Privacy Rule .

NEW YORK, May 20 (LendingIntelligence.com) -- The alleged snatching of 13,000 credit reports by hackers posing as employees of Ford Motor Credit Co. may hasten lender compliance with new Federal Trade Commission privacy regulations.

On Friday, the FTC issued a final ruling on the safeguarding of customer records and information for financial institutions. It will become effective a year after the ruling is published in the Federal Register, which is expected in the next few days, said Laura Berger, an attorney in the financial practices division of the FTC.

[ ... ]

Still, some companies think they have all the necessary protocols in place, when, in fact, they don't, said Paul G. Lewis, founder of computer security consultancy PG Lewis & Associates LLC, Asbury, N.J.

"Installing software and hardware will not result in the expected outcome if the systems are not installed properly in the first place -- and the vast majority are not," Lewis said. "Our records indicate that over two-thirds of the firewalls in place today are not even configured properly."

BBC News | SCI/TECH | Turning pictures into passwords.

Despite the problems of coming up with a good password and remembering it, Mr Sommer thinks it will remain the predominant security method for the foreseeable future.

"The advantage of passwords is that you are completely reliant on yourself," he said.

Technology News from Wired News - Hole Finder Wins 'Bug Bounty'.

A popular Internet privacy service that lets Web surfers visit sites anonymously has fixed several serious flaws, and now the service's founder is offering a reward to the finder of the bugs.

Bennett Haselton, an Internet filtering activist who runs the Peacefire website, found the problems with Anonymizer.com, a 5-year-old service that shields users from tracking by websites and their Internet providers.

Haselton "came up with a new way of exploiting (Web) standards," said Lance Cottrell, Anonymizer president. "They're pretty subtle."

Many major commercial sites cringe when security researchers find a hole. But Anonymizer actually encourages it through a "bug bounty."

Haselton's reward: three free years of the Anonymizer service, which costs $50 a year. Cottrell said the offer stands for anyone else who can find security holes in the service.

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Tech News - CNET.com - Siebel: No time for apologies.

Q&A Brash software CEO Tom Siebel explains why homeland security takes precedence over personal privacy and why enterprise app makers are screwing up big time.