Political Action Network » communications

FBI seeks to expand wiretapping powers online

admin — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 05:26:11 +0000

The Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Robert S. Mueller III, traveled to Silicon Valley to meet with top internet industry leaders to discuss a new proposal to make it simpler to conduct wiretaps on Internet users.

Facebook and Google were among the top companies, with whom Director Mueller met on his trip.

The proposal would expand upon a 1994 law, the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act, and impose regulations on Internet companies. Currently, Internet service providers are required to immediately respond to wiretap orders. This is not true for Internet companies, and this new proposal would change that entirely.

Some, including the Commerce Department, feel that this could hurt innovation and, by extension, hurt the US innovation-driven economy.

Fox Is Not The News

admin — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 20:12:24 +0000

John Steward has a great delivery–both entertaining and serious. In this episode, the Daily Show outlines the opinion-as-news approach to Fox News.

FTC To Regulate Blogs On Product Endorsement

admin — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:27:57 +0000

The Federal Trade Commission is seeking increased transparency with product endorsement on blogs and social networks. Paid product endorsements on blogs, Twitter, Facebook and other social websites will need to reveal their sponsorship, otherwise they will be faced with fines, a lawsuit or other penalties.

The new guidelines will come into effect on December 1st. The FTC however has not disclosed how bloggers or product endorsers should reveal their sponsorship.

Street View By Google May Contain Privacy Issues In Switzerland

admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:42:22 +0000

A government official in Switzerland is demanding that Google turn off its street view map service citing privacy issues. One cause of concern was that numerous vehicle license plates and human faces were not blurred in the street view maps. The official is asking that Google shut down the service until it conforms to Swiss law.

Google’s street-view map displays detailed street-level images of cities worldwide. Currently over 100 cities have been mapped using the street view service worldwide.

Greece’s Data Protection Authority already barred Google from photographing its streets to be included in the service.

Sale Of Nortel Sparks Protests In Canada

admin — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 05:02:32 +0000

Nortel was once the object of hatred for causing the savings of many Canadians to plummet following an accounting scandal and the drop of stock prices. Now the company is a surprising object of nostalgia in protests against its sale to foreign investors.

Many Canadians are asking their government to review the estimated $1.13 billion sale of Nortel’s wireless infrastructure business to Ericsson.

Iowa School System Considering Buying Cell Phone Jammers

admin — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 23:12:01 +0000

If deemed legal, an Iowa school system may purchase cell phone jamming equipment. Earlier this month, the school system passed a motion to allocate 5000 dollars to purchase technology to block cell phone signals at school.

The school would require that the cell phone jamming equipment would need to be capable of turning off easily and instantly should there be an emergency.

In 2005, a Federal Communications Commission law banned sale and use of transmitters that block cellular or personal communications signals.