Category «United States Law»

Fenced-off culture, the privatized Internet, and why book publishers lean on a 30-year-old doctrine

The Internet Archive (IA) “is a non-profit digital library offering free universal access to books, movies & music, as well as 624 billion archived web pages.” The IA offers users unrestricted access to its expansive ecosystem of knowledge and educational resources from the public domain. Andy Oram, prolific author, editor, publisher, and technical expert on all aspects of computing, undertook an extensive examination of a game changing case, Hachette v. Internet Archive, that may dismantle this unique, invaluable digital library. In this article Oram examines what the publishers are trying to protect and why they have to wield a large and heavy cudgel to protect it. His inquiry leads to a look at how culture has been privatized as it has become digitized—an effect quite opposed to the hopes of most public advocates who maintain the view that the Internet and the World Wide Web should remain focused on public access, not private sector monetization.

Subjects: Archives, Congress, Copyright, E-Books, Internet Resources, KM, Legal Research, Legislative, Libraries & Librarians, Publishing & Publishers (Legal), Search Engines, United States Law, Virtual Library

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 17, 2022

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Consumer Data: Increasing Use Poses Risks to Privacy; Border Agents Surveil Americans’ Phones Without Warrants: Wyden; Social Media Execs Submit to Time-Honored Public Lashing Before Congress; and You should know that most websites share your in-site search queries with third parties.

Subjects: Civil Liberties, Congress, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Data Mining, Government Resources, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media, Travel, United States Law

What’s going on with the Greenland ice sheet? It’s losing ice faster than forecast and now irreversibly committed to at least 10 inches of sea level rise

Alun Hubbard is a field glaciologist who has worked on ice sheets for more than 30 years. The past few years in particular have been unnerving for the sheer rate and magnitude of change underway. Current teachings that ice sheets respond over millennial time scales is definitely not what we’re seeing today. If every year were like 2012, when Greenland experienced a heat wave, that irreversible commitment to sea level rise would triple. That’s an ominous portent given that these are climate conditions we have already seen, not a hypothetical future scenario.

Subjects: Climate Change, Energy, Environmental Law

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 10, 2022

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: U.S. bank regulator warns of crisis risk from fintech proliferation; Supply chain risk is a top security priority as confidence in partners wanes; FBI Warns Individuals Employed in the Healthcare Industry of the Ongoing Scam Involving the Impersonation of Law enforcement and Government; and IST to launch new guidance on security risks of telehealth and smart home integration.

Subjects: Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Email Security, Healthcare, Privacy, Social Media

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, September 3, 2022

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Why your organization should plan for deepfake fraud before it happens; FTC Sues Broker Kochava Over Geolocation Data Sales; Google Chrome Bug Lets Sites Silently Overwrite System Clipboard Content; and Chrome extensions with 1.4 million installs steal browsing data.

Subjects: Computer Security, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Financial System, Internet Trends, Legal Research, Privacy, Search Engines, Social Media, Spyware, Technology Trends

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, August 27, 2022

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Five highlights from this week: Video scans of students’ rooms during online tests ruled unconstitutional; TikTok’s In-App Browser Includes Code That Can Monitor Your Keystrokes, Researcher Says; Google Flagged Parents’ Photos of Sick Children as Sexual Abuse; Third-party app attacks: Lessons for the next cybersecurity frontier; and Russia’s ‘Oculus’ to use AI to scan sites for banned information.

Subjects: AI, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Free Speech, Freedom of Information, KM, Privacy, Social Media

A new US data privacy bill aims to give you more control over information collected about you – and make businesses change how they handle data

With rare bipartisan support, the American Data and Privacy Protection Act moved out of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Energy and Commerce by a vote of 53-2 on July 20, 2022. The bill still needs to pass the full House and the Senate, and negotiations are ongoing. Given the Biden administration’s responsible data practices strategy, White House support is likely if a version of the bill passes. Legal scholar and attorney Professor Anne Toomey McKenna, who studies and practices technology and data privacy law, has been closely following the act, known as ADPPA. McKenna contends that if passed this legislation will fundamentally alter U.S. data privacy law.

Subjects: Congress, Cyberlaw, Cyberlaw Legislation, Cybersecurity, Federal Legislative Research, Legal Research, Legislative, Privacy, United States Law

Pitching the Difficult Case: Working With Prosecutors

Jerry Lawson provides ideas and examples showing how investigators can successfully pitch difficult cases—ones that look unattractive on the surface. Lawson approaches the topic from his perspective as a former federal prosecutor and counsel to federal criminal investigators, but most of the ideas apply just as well to state and local law enforcement agencies.

Subjects: Criminal Law, Legal Profession, Legal Research

You don’t have to be a spy to violate the Espionage Act – and other crucial facts about the law Trump may have broken

Joseph Ferguson, Co-Director, National Security and Civil Rights Program, Loyola University Chicago and Thomas A. Durkin, Distinguished Practitioner in Residence, Loyola University Chicago are both attorneys who specialize in and teach national security law. While navigating the sound and fury over the Trump search, this article highlights important things to note about the Espionage Act.

Subjects: Criminal Law, Digital Archives, Government Resources, Legal Research, Public Records, United States Law

Pete Recommends – Weekly highlights on cyber security issues, August 20, 2022

Privacy and cybersecurity issues impact every aspect of our lives – home, work, travel, education, health and medical records – to name but a few. On a weekly basis Pete Weiss highlights articles and information that focus on the increasingly complex and wide ranging ways technology is used to compromise and diminish our privacy and online security, often without our situational awareness. Four highlights from this week: Google blocks largest HTTPS DDoS attack ‘reported to date’; Spy group abuses Microsoft OneDrive to steal credentials in hack-and-leak campaigns; Reps. Nadler, Thompson Send Letter to FBI, DHS on Personal Data; and Digital Medical Companies Funnel Patient Data To Facebook For Advertising.

Subjects: Big Data, Cybercrime, Cybersecurity, Economy, Financial System, Healthcare, Legal Research, Privacy, Social Media