[Sigifp-l] Information Policy Digest 12/12

[TAMaxwell at aol.com]

SECURITY

Was Pearl Harbor A Surprise Attack?
<http://www.independent.org/tii/news/021202Stinnett.html>
Did U.S. naval cryptographers crack the Japanese naval codes before the 
attack? Did Japanese warships and their commanding admirals break radio 
silence at sea before the attack?  This article suggests that there has been 
an intentional block of access to the information that may be able to answer 
these questions.

Cyber Attack on Boston Hospital.
<http://www.boston.com/dailyglobe2/330/science/Got_paper_P.shtml>
The attack came in mid November and forced the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical 
Center to close down for four days.

2nd Track for Terror Suspects - Those Designated 'Combatants' Lose Legal 
Protections
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58308-2002Nov30.html>
The Bush administration is developing a parallel legal system in which 
terrorism suspects -- U.S. citizens and non-citizens alike -- may be 
investigated, jailed, interrogated, tried and punished without legal 
protections guaranteed by the ordinary system.

Feds Raid Software Company Suspected of Terror Ties.
<http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,72345,00.html>
Federal agents late Thursday night raided a Quincy, Mass., company that 
provides critical software to major U.S. agencies and is suspected of having 
ties to Bin Laden and Al Qaeda terrorists.

SPEECH

Free Speech is Messy, but Restricting it is Messier.
<http://www.freedomforum.org/templates/document.asp?documentID=17338>
At issue is a municipal ordinance that effectively bans all private displays 
in Fountain Square, Cincinnati, during the holiday season.

Critics Say Government Deleted Web Site Material to Push Abstinence.
<http://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/26/national/26ABST.html>
Information on condom use, the relation between abortion and breast cancer 
and ways to reduce sex among teenagers has been removed from government Web 
sites, prompting critics to accuse the Department of Health and Human 
Services of censoring medical information in order to promote a philosophy 
of sexual abstinence.
Note: Need to be a registered user to view this article.

PRESS

Berkeley Mayor Admits To Daily Cal Theft After Police Investigate.
<http://www.splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=518>
Berkeley mayor Tom Bates admitted Thursday to being involved in stealing and 
trashing copies of the Nov. 4 edition of The Daily Californian. The edition, 
which carried an editorial endorsement of his mayoral opponent, incumbent 
Shirley Dean, was stolen one day before the election.

INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

FatWallet.com and the DMCA.
<http://www.law.berkeley.edu/cenpro/samuelson/news/pressrelease.pdf>
Day After Thanksgiving sales and the Digital Millenium Copyright Act are the 
concern as FatWallet challenges the major retailers who forced them to 
remove information from their website.

INTERNATIONAL INFORMATION POLICY

CDT Publishes E-Government Handbook for Developing Countries.
<http://www.cdt.org/egov/handbook/>
The report uses case studies and models from around the world to illustrate 
the phases, opportunities and challenges of e-government.

Canadian Courts Decide on Higher Life Form Patent.
<http://cbc.ca/stories/2002/12/05/scc_mouse021205>

A genetically modified mouse has been ruled to be not patentable because it 

is not a –manufacture- or -composition of matter- within the meaning of 

-invention- in the Patent Act.



ICANN Out of Control.

<http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/policy/2002/12/05/karl.html>

Richard Koman talks to Karl Auerbach, a public board member of ICANN and one 

of the Internet governing body's strongest critics.



Ofcom Won’t Ban Spam.

<http://uk.news.yahoo.com/021205/152/dg4qk.html>
An attempt to force Ofcom, the new regulator for Britain's 
telecommunications and broadcasting sectors, to take action on pornographic 
spam is likely to be unsuccessful.

Dutch Tapping Room Not Kosher.
<http://www.fnl.nl/ct-nl/archief2003/ct2003-01-02/aftappen.htm>
According to anonymous sources within the Dutch intelligence community, all 
tapping equipment of the Dutch intelligence services and half the tapping 
equipment of the national police force, is insecure and is leaking 
information to Israel.
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