ALA Press Release:
Four Committee Chairmen in the U.S. House of Representatives have signed a letter to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Stephen Johnson requesting an update on the Agency’s recent activities with regard to its libraries.
With a deadline of May 4, 2007, the inquiry concerns recent reports about the continued disposal/ dispersal of library materials, [...]
Archive of entries posted on April 2007
Congressional Chairmen request briefing from EPA on recent activities
German government admits it is already conducting online searches
From Heise Online:
At a meeting of the Bundestag’s Interior Affairs Committee on Wednesday, the Chancellor’s Office admitted that Germany’s secret services have been conducting controversial, covert online searches of computers since 2005 after being given an order to do so by then-Interior Minister Otto Schily (SPD). Gisela Piltz, spokesperson for home affairs from the FDP [...]
Pentagon Proposes New Info Access Restrictions
From Secrecy News:
The Department of Defense has asked Congress to enact two expansive new provisions in the FY 2008 defense authorization act to help it restrict public access to information.
One of the provisions would create a new exemption to the Freedom of Information Act for certain unclassified information related to weapons of mass destruction (WMD). [...]
New Commerce Department Media Policy Fails to Protect Scientists from Political Interference, Groups Say
From the Union of Concerned Scientists:
A recently revised Commerce Department media policy is not strong enough to curb political interference in climate science at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), according to the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) and the Government Accountability Project (GAP). The two groups today sent a letter urging Secretary of [...]
Yahoo strikes deal to catalog lyrics online
From the Mercury News:
Yahoo has teamed up with Gracenote, an Emeryville company, to offer what it is calling “the largest catalog of legal, licensed song lyrics” on the Web.
“It fills a huge, gaping hole out there,” said Ian Rogers, general manager of Yahoo Music.
While there are plenty of Web sites offering lyrics, Gracenote is the [...]
Democrats take Justice Department to court over US Attorney firing FOIA request
From Jurist:
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) filed a federal lawsuit against the US Department of Justice Thursday, seeking the disclosure and release of DOJ records in accordance with the DNC’s March 19, 2007 Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request involving the controversial firing of eight US attorneys. The complaint alleges that the DOJ has failed [...]
Web sites get results-oriented – Agencies are working with Google to boost rankings and increase traffic
From Government Computer News:
When people search for federal information online, the vast majority reach first for search engines like Google or Yahoo.
Only 4 percent of visitors to www.nih.gov, for instance, got there by typing the URL into their browser’s address line, according to a ComScore research study released last year. The rest arrived by typing [...]
China stepping up Net control to spread party values
From News.com:
Chinese President Hu Jintao on Monday launched a campaign to rid the country’s sprawling Internet of “unhealthy” content and make it a springboard for Communist Party doctrine, state television reported.
With Hu presiding, the Communist Party Politburo–its 24-member inner council–discussed cleaning up the Internet, state television reported. The meeting promised to place the often unruly [...]
DoJ: foreign-lobbyist database to go online
From The Hill:
No more 50 cents per copy. No more limited opening hours. And no more flashing ID just to enter the reading room. The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) database is expected to go online soon.
The Department of Justice database is an exhaustive list of lobbyists representing foreign governments and politicians. For the online [...]
Chinese political prisoner sues Yahoo
From News.com:
A Chinese political prisoner and his wife sued Yahoo in federal court Wednesday, accusing the company of abetting the commission of torture by helping Chinese authorities identify political dissidents who were later beaten and imprisoned.
The suit, filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act and the Torture Victims Protection Act, is believed to be the [...]