From Government Computer News:
Government agencies are finally catching on to the World Wide Web. Ten years ago, most government executives saw the Web as a sort of electronic brochure. Now they have come to realize that the Web can be the primary form of interaction with constituents. . .
. . . So when we sought [...]
Archive of entries posted on August 2008
These 10 sites show agencies putting the power of the Web to work
Judges consider whether FBI violated free speech
From Yahoo! News:
A panel of federal appeals court judges pushed a U.S. government lawyer on Wednesday to answer why FBI letters sent out to Internet service providers seeking information should remain secret.
A panel of three judges from the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on whether a provision of the Patriot Act, which [...]
Panel reverses English-only policy for libraries
From the San Francisco Examiner:
The Frederick County Commissioners voted to eliminate an English-only restriction on audio books bought by the Frederick County Public Libraries.
Four commissioners voted on the issue Tuesday after Commissioner Kai Hagen asked the board to reconsider the policy. John Thompson Jr. voted against the reversal.
The restriction was imposed last week on a [...]
Turkish court lifts YouTube ban after online censorship protest
From the Guardian:
A court in Turkey has lifted a ban on YouTube, the video sharing website, after hundreds of sites voluntarily blocked themselves in protest at growing internet censorship.
Access to YouTube had been blocked since May in the latest of a series of bans triggered by the posting of videos deemed insulting to Mustafa Kemal [...]
OCLC pilots WorldCat Copyright Evidence Registry
OCLC Press Release:
OCLC is piloting a new service for libraries that encourages librarians and other interested parties to discover and share information about the copyright status of books.
The WorldCat Copyright Evidence Registry is a community working together to build a union catalog of copyright evidence based on WorldCat, which contains more than 100 million bibliographic [...]
Experts: Internet filtering and censorship rife
From CNN:
Believe the conspiracy theories: Out of sight and without your knowledge, governments truly are filtering what you see on the Internet.
The recent conflict between Georgia and Russia has highlighted many of the issues at play with Internet filtering, as its increasing use by governments raises serious doubts about the freedom of the Web.
Georgian authorities [...]
Government web pages to enter archive
From Kable’s Government Computing:
The National Archives will start copying and making available online all central government website content from November.
The organisation will expand its existing arrangement with the not-for-profit European Archive in Paris, so it will take copies of the content from 1,800 central government websites approximately three times a year.
The European Archive already copies [...]
Out in the open: Some scientists sharing results
From The Boston Globe:
Barry Canton, a 28-year-old biological engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, has posted raw scientific data, his thesis proposal, and original research ideas on an online website for all to see.
To young people primed for openness by the confessional existence they live online, that may not seem like a big deal.
But [...]
Surveillance made easy
From New Scientist:
“This data allows investigators to identify suspects, examine their contacts, establish relationships between conspirators and place them in a specific location at a certain time.”
So said the UK Home Office last week as it announced plans to give law-enforcement agencies, local councils and other public bodies access to the details of people’s text [...]
Bush’s Bureaucratic Dark Arts: Why the Federal Register Is the Most Important Publication in America Right Now
From AlterNet:
Bush has vowed to sprint through the final five months of his Administration, and you better believe him.
Because he is pulling all the bureaucratic levers in the Executive Branch to advance his right-wing agenda.
Unable to accomplish his goals legislatively, Bush is trying to get them done by fiat.
If you look at proposed regulatory changes [...]