Well, our elected officials are at it again. Presumedly as a part of their efforts to free commerce, Representative Pete Sessions (R-Dallas, TX) has decided it would be in all of our best interests if the Federal Government banned the creation of WiFi networks by municipalities to let the free …

CNet is reporting that Bank of America has announced plans to roll out two technologies to help the firm (and customers) fight against phishing (the use of email and web sites to gain personal information from users). The strategy includes adding features to their web site and leaving a trail …

At the last minute, it appears that the US Senate has diverted (for now) from the path of a rule change that would modify the handling of the filibuster for judicial nominees. Having not done any specific investigation into the nominees that they all agreed to give a vote to …

I know it's been a long time since the Feds and Microsoft finished their row over Microsoft's monopolistic practices, and I understand that the Court of Appeals "let Microsoft off" with a slap on the wrist after basically reducing Thomas Penfield Jackson's original decree null-and-void. However, I'm thinking that it …

Don't bother trying to do any anonymous surfing in the library in Naperville, IL after the beginning of the summer. As a matter of fact, don't borrow your friend's library card either, because it won't work. Starting in June, the library will be replacing their library card+PIN security system …

According to an article from Wired, the State Department is indicating that they may be considering more secure methods for adding RFID capability to the US Passport. The current frontrunner is an idea called BAC (Basic Access Control) that will require reading of a key from the inside of the …

There is an absolutely brilliant animation, obviously done by somebody in Europe, on software patents. With the exception of the (gasp!) photographic representation of Richard Stallman (of the FSF, with whom I generally do not share views). But, the point is still valid that software patents are (in their current …

According to an article from Wired, the list of people complaining about the State Department's plans to embed RFID tags into US Passports is on the rise. Most recently, the Business Travel Coalition and the Association of Corporate Travel Executives have announced their opposition to the plan. At issue is …

Karl has another well thought piece on cavebear about copyright.This time he advocates skipping 3 bad movies that you would otherwise go see and instead going to live shows. A fine idea, I think!

Well, it appears that the over-zealous FCC is once again on the verge of diminishing choice and competition in an area that has been dominated by monopolies for years. An article from CNet this morning discusses the likely overriding of state laws that currently require (in some jurisdictions) the incumbent …

AOL, the world's largest ISP and foremost purveyor of instant messaging, has made a change to their Terms of Service to "clarify certain things and explain it a little better to our users" about their privacy rules for AOL, according to a report from eWeek. The whole issue comes about …

Money magazine has an article describing a new law passed in Ohio that may require residents of that state to become licensed auctioneers ($200 license fee, 1 year apprenticeship, $50,000 bond) to sell items through online auctions. The law was intended to regulate auctioneers in Ohio to prevent them …

In another interesting approach to fighting recent software (and hardware, for that matter) patents, one CNet reader has written in to extoll the virtues of the Star Trek Defense. Although less likely to win you the case than to gain some laughter (and perhaps sympathy) from the jury, the approach …

The article in the Post Gazette (of Pennsylvania, John Gilmore's home state) provides a pretty good overview of Mr. Gilmore's basic background and privacy concerns. Ignoring for the moment the somewhat aberrant UNIX commentary, it does a nice job of explaining Gilmore's concerns and the EFF's position on privacy and …

Well, you know the "nannycam", which is aimed at stopping abuse of children by babysitters through having their actions watched via video (and sometimes even the net). What's good for the young is apparently good for the old, or so think some lawmakers in Arkansas. According to reports from the …

As reported in this article from ARS Technica, the DMCA lawsuit by Lexmark against a producer of chips to work-around Lexmark's toner reuse hack is not progressing well. It may be the first sign of a serious crack in the much-vaunted DMCA protections for everything from software to toner.

According to reports from everywhere, Tim Barnett of Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UCSD has presented a new paper at the annual AAAS (American Academy for the Advancement of Science) conference showing new and supposedly conclusive evidence of the human component of global warming. Details are scant at this point …

According to an article from the Washington Post, the Virginia Assembly has rejected another 5 bills aimed at extending red light cameras for beyond their expiration in July of this year. Proponents of the extension argue that the cameras cut side-impact collisions at traffic lights. Opponents argue that they increase …

FactCheck.org, a favorite of mine during the campaign, is back on the trail again with a couple of articles on the current campaign on social security. MoveOn.org has a new Social Security Ad that is under scrutiny for falsely claiming a cut in benefits from the new Bush …

A staple of interesting election information is now back in the fact checking game! Factcheck.org has posted their first new article since the end of the 2004 election. The article discusses Social Security advertising, finding fault with an AARP ad and finding that a Bush-supporting ad used correct statistics …