By David | Published: March 31, 2005
CONTENTS [1] U.S. Supreme Court Hears Arguments in MGM v. Grokster [2] USACM Calls for Stronger Cybersecurity in Power Plants [3] Experts Begin Voter-Registration Database Study [4] Momentum Turns Toward Privacy Protection [5] Legislation on the Move [6] Innovation Finds Another Champion [7] Events to Watch In April [8] About USACM [An archive of all [...]
By David | Published: March 28, 2005
“The battle over online music piracy is usually presented as David versus Goliath: the poor student in his dorm hunted down by a music conglomerate. It is easy, in that matchup, to side with the student. But when the Supreme Court takes up the issue this week, we hope it considers another party to the [...]
By David | Published: March 28, 2005
“The entertainment industry is taking its battle against illegal downloading to America’s Supreme Court. But attacking the technology behind file-sharing could stifle innovation without tackling the industry’s long-term problems [...] THE music business should have stuck by Thomas Edison’s technology if it wanted to avoid the threat of piracy. His wax cylinders could record a [...]
By Cameron | Published: March 24, 2005
Originally Posted: (3/17/05) — Understanding the fundamentals underlying a debate often provides useful insight into policymakers’ thinking about an issue. Over the past two days, two different events highlighted a fundamental part of the MGM vs. Grokster debate. On Tuesday, the conservative Heritage Foundation held an event titled “Government’s Role In Protecting Constitutional Rights in [...]
By David | Published: March 22, 2005
“MARYLAND VOTERS will never know for sure whether their election choices last year were recorded correctly — and the same uncertainty could haunt them next year if lawmakers again fail to address a serious defect in the touch-screen voting machines used throughout the state. When functioning properly — and the state elections administrator, Linda H. [...]
By Cameron | Published: March 21, 2005
In a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), USACM advocates for stronger cybersecurity in power plants across the nation. The letter points out the critical role of computer-controlled safety systems in today’s power plants and the importance of securing these systems: “Cybersecurity experts often cite the importance of supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) [...]
By Cameron | Published: March 18, 2005
The Ides of March have come and gone, and apparently considering themselves safe, Senators have finally (and formally) organized the Senate Judiciary Committee. As we previously reported, Senator Orin Hatch (R-UT) will chair a newly created Senate Intellectual Property Subcommittee, which gives IP issues their own forum in an otherwise busy committee. Public Knowledge President [...]
By Cameron | Published: March 18, 2005
The White House released the long-awaited President’s Information Technology Advisory Committee (PITAC) report on cybersecurity today. The report, titled Cyber Security: A Crisis of Prioritization, calls for more funding for cybersecurity R&D and refocusing of the current R&D portfolio. Peter at CRA posted more detail on the report and is following this issue and report [...]
By Cameron | Published: March 18, 2005
Peter Harsha at the Computing Research Association reports, The House Science Committee marked up the High-Performance Computing Act on Thursday. The bill is almost the same as last year, when it passed the House but died in the Senate. USACM formally commented on the merits of the legislation to Science Committee Chairman Boehlert. The sponsors [...]
By David | Published: March 17, 2005
One thing became crystal clear during this week’s hearings involving the leaders of information brokers ChoicePoint and LexisNexis (among others) by a House Energy and Commerce subcommittee and the Senate Banking Committee (here and here): namely, the intent of policymakers to take action toward regulating the information brokerage industry. Indeed, the question now is less [...]
By Cameron | Published: March 11, 2005
The Business Section of today’s Washington Post has an interesting article suggesting that federal regulators are pushing industry harder on cybersecuity. “Patrick H. Wood III, the chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, warned top electric company officials in a private meeting in January that they need to focus more heavily on cyber-security. Wood also [...]
By David | Published: March 10, 2005
Some strong words from powerful policymakers in a NY Times article today: “I personally see no socially redeeming value in anyone having the right to give away and sell my personal information unless I approve it,” the chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Joe Barton, said yesterday. “Under current law these companies [information [...]
By David | Published: March 9, 2005
LexisNexis, a large international provider of legal and business data, announced today that it, too, had recently been the vicitim of identity thieves. A Washington Post article this afternoon describes how “data on 32,000 consumers was fraudulently gathered in a series of incidents.” Among the data were such things as names, addresses, Social Security numbers [...]
By David | Published: March 9, 2005
U.S. Rep. Mary Bono’s (R-CA) “Securely Protect Yourself Against Cyber Trespass Act (or “SPY ACT”) passed another hurdle earlier today as the full House Energy and Commerce Committee held a hearing to mark up H.R. 29. The measure has fairly wide bipartisan support and counts 58 cosponsors as of this writing.
By David | Published: March 8, 2005
“Have you ever wondered what good it does when they look at your driver’s license at the airport? Let me assure you, as a former bureaucrat partly responsible for the 1996 decision to create a photo-ID requirement, it no longer does any good whatsoever. [...] Congress is debating the Real ID bill [click here for [...]
By David | Published: March 4, 2005
“[...] For years, fears of identity theft and improper disclosure of private information have fueled calls for tighter regulation of the mountains of personal data now electronically available to employers, insurance companies, lenders and others. Those anxieties have risen since ChoicePoint revealed last month that alleged identity thieves had duped the company into selling the [...]
By Cameron | Published: March 2, 2005
USACM signed onto a Supreme Court amicus brief with sixty law professors in support of Grokster in the case of MGM vs. Grokster. MGM studios sued Grokster arguing that Grokster should be held liable for users downloading copyrighted material using their peer-to-peer software. This argument, if accepted, would overturn the landmark “Sony decision,” which created [...]
By David | Published: March 2, 2005
Maurice Solomon, a graduate student in information economics and policy at the University of Michigan School of Information, is spending the week working with the ACM and CRA Washington D.C. offices. The visit is part of the school’s Alternative Spring Break program, which seeks to help students gain experience and learn new skills though partnerships [...]
By David | Published: March 1, 2005
CONTENTS [1] Successful Policy Summit Focuses USACM’s Agenda [2] USACM Joins Legal Scholars To Protect Innovation [3] USACM Weighs in on High-Performance Computing Legislation [4] ChoicePoint Privacy Breach Getting Congressional Attention [5] Real ID Act Passes U.S. House of Representatives [6] Congress Organizes (Mostly): IT Policy Implications [7] Events to Watch In March [8] About [...]
