Friday, March 16, 2007

Governor Announces Florida First in Nation to Access National Crime Database. Governor Announces Florida First in Nation to Access National Crime Database. "This powerful tool will help protect both the victims of child abuse and neglect and the public servants charged with protecting them." [GT: Security and Privacy] 3:50:03 PM

Antispyware advocates try, try again in Congress. Antispyware advocates try, try again in Congress. A U.S. House subcommittee heard repeated praise today for an antispyware proposal similar to two previous bills that won passage in the House -- only to fail when they got to the Senate. [Computerworld Privacy News] 3:46:19 PM

More Than 100 Security Breaches Reported Under Law to Thwart ID Thieves. More Than 100 Security Breaches Reported Under Law to Thwart ID Thieves. "Consumers who get notice can act fast to protect their good names." [GT: Security and Privacy] 3:31:47 PM

FT.com - Web censorship spreading globally Internet censorship is spreading rapidly, being practised by about two dozen countries and applied to a far wider range of online information and applications, according to research by a transatlantic group of academics. The warning comes a week after a Turkish court ordered the blocking of YouTube to silence offensive comments about Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey, marking the most visible attack yet on a website that has been widely adopted around the world. A recent six-month investigation into whether 40 countries use censorship shows the practice is spreading, with new countries learning from experienced practitioners such as China and benefiting from technological improvements. OpenNet Initiative, a project by Harvard Law School and the universities of Toronto, Cambridge and Oxford, repeatedly tried to call up specific websites from 1,000 international news and other sites in the countries concerned, and a selection of local-language sites. The research found a trend towards censorship or, as John Palfrey, executive director of Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet and Society, said, "a big trend in the reverse direction", with many countries recently starting to adopt forms of online censorship. Ronald Deibert, associate professor of political science at the University of Toronto, said 10 countries had become "pervasive blockers", regularly preventing their citizens seeing a range of online material. These included China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Burma and Uzbekistan. New censorship techniques include the periodic barring of complete applications, such as China's block on Wikipedia or Pakistan's ban on Google's blogging service, and the use of more advanced technologies such as "keyword filtering", which is used to track down material by identifying sensitive words. Methods such as these are being copied as countries new to censorship learn from those with more experience. "There's a growing awareness of best practice - or rather, worst practice," Mr Deibert said. 3:14:16 PM

Web Censorship on the Increase. Web Censorship on the Increase.  mid-devonian writes "Close on the heels of the temporary blocking of YouTube by a Turkish judge, a group of academics has published research showing that Web censorship is on the increase worldwide. As many as two dozen countries are blocking content using a variety of techniques. Distressingly, the most censor-heavy countries (which includes China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, Burma and Uzbekistan) seem to be passing on their technologically sophisticated techniques to other areas of the world. 'New censorship techniques include the periodic barring of complete applications, such as China's block on Wikipedia or Pakistan's ban on Google's blogging service, and the use of more advanced technologies such as 'keyword filtering', which is used to track down material by identifying sensitive words.'"   [Slashdot: Your Rights Online] 3:10:15 PM

NPR Takes First Step To Fight Internet Royalties. NPR Takes First Step To Fight Internet Royalties. jmcharry sent in an article that opens, "After the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) decided to drastically increase the royalties paid to musicians and record labels for streaming songs online, National Public Radio (NPR) will begin fighting the decision on Friday, March 16 by filing a petition for reconsideration with the CRB panel." [Slashdot: Your Rights Online] 2:57:50 PM

CDT Applauds House Passage of Open Government Bill. CDT Applauds House Passage of Open Government Bill. The House on Wednesday voted overwhelmingly to approve legislation that strengthens the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). CDT applauded the House vote and in a letter Tuesday thanked the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform for its leadership on the measure. H.R. 1309 -- sponsored by Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.), Rep. William Lacy Clay (D-Mo.) and Rep. Todd Platts (R-Pa.) -- makes improvements to FOIA that have been long sought by the open government community. [Center for Democracy and Technology] 2:48:11 PM

PATRIOT Act Apologist Site Didn't Get the Memo. PATRIOT Act Apologist Site Didn't Get the Memo. Last week, the Department of Justice Inspector General's office released a damning report documenting the FBI abusing its powers under the PATRIOT Act and violating the law to collect Americans' telephone, Internet, financial, credit, and other personal records about Americans without judicial approval. It appears that not everyone at the DOJ got the memo. The DOJ's Life and Liberty website, a site dedicated to defending the honor of the PATRIOT Act during the re-authorization process last spring, still reads as if nothing has changed. Particularly in the light of the newly revealed truth, many of the quotes now seem (at best) naive. Under the headline of "Examining the Facts", the DOJ asserts that PATRIOT has "four-year track record with no verified civil liberties abuses." The site quotes an op-ed by former House Judiciary Committee Chairman James Sensenbrenner: Zero. That's the number of substantiated USA PATRIOT Act civil liberties violations. Extensive congressional oversight found no violations. Six reports by the Justice Department's independent Inspector General, who is required to solicit and investigate any allegations of abuse, found no violations. Wow, that sure sounds good. Unfortunately, the new report reveals that is is simply not true: the inspector general identifies dozens of instances in which extra-judicial demands for personal information -- known as National Security Letters -- may have violated laws and agency regulations. In the Archive section, the site includes quotes from an op-ed by Senator Pat Roberts responding to critics like ourselves: I regret to say it, but the rhetoric of those opposed to permanently authorizing the act has no substance and borders on paranoia. Opponents have criticized the act for years but can cite only hypothetical abuses. Facts are stubborn things. The actual record is quite clear - there have been no substantiated allegations of abuse of Patriot Act authorities, period. Critics could only point to hypothetical abuses because the fox was guarding the hen house. Senator Roberts also opined that: Through aggressive congressional oversight, we know the FBI uses Patriot Act authorities within the law. It's now clearer than ever that the oversight was not aggressive enough, with the report documenting that the FBI decieved Congress about its use of the letters. The report is likely only the tip of the iceberg. Immediate and thorough oversight hearings are necessary to uncover the truth and hold the Administration accountable. Tell Congress to defend your privacy now. [EFF: Deep Links] 2:45:28 PM

© Copyright 2007 Paul Hardwick. Last update: 3/18/07; 6:12:35 PM.