the body politek

The Global Network Initiative is hosting it's first public forum in Paris tomorrow (Dec. 4th) in conjunction with the International Seminar on Business and Human Rights, during the celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The evening's round table discussion will focus on how the GNI intends to address the complex and constantly evolving human rights challenges and opportunities presented by regulation and policy regarding the use of information and communications technologies and services. Through moderated discussion, the group hopes to draw out the participants' varied perspectives and encourage open and robust dialogue with the audience.

The conviction of a Missouri woman accused of creating a fake MySpace account to harass a girl who later committed suicide represents a gross and inappropriate expansion of federal power to regulate speech and communications over the Internet. Lori Drew was convicted of illegally accessing MySpace computers on the basis of having created false registration data using a law intended to prosecute criminal computer break-ins.  CDT, in court filings, warned that using that law to prosecute Drew had "dangerous ramifications" for Internet users.  If the current ruling stands, it "would convert the millions of Internet-using Americans" into instant criminals for nothing more than entering a convenient nickname for online identification purposes.  CDT believes the conviction should be overturned and further prosecutorial attempts abandoned.

Acting on a request from the Federal Trade Commission, a U.S. District Court has temporarily halted the sale of "stalker spyware," pending a decision on whether these products engage in unfair and deceptive practices by enabling and encouraging privacy invasion. Keylogger programs are often sold as "stalker spyware" and describe in detail how to spy on others without being detected, according to the FTC complaint. CDT applauds the hard work of the Electronic Privacy Information Center, which first brought a petition to the FTC to stop these deceptive, privacy invasive technologies.

Three public interest groups have filed a "friend of the court" brief urging a Kentucky appeals court to overturn a lower court ruling that authorized the seizure of more than 100 Internet domain names associated with websites operating around the globe. The brief, from CDT, Electronic Frontier Foundation and American Civil Liberties Union, says that if the lower court's ruling allowing Kentucky to seize the domain names is allowed to stand, it would wreak havoc with Internet free speech and governance. "If the Kentucky order is upheld, no speech that conflicts with any law, anywhere in the world, would be safe from censorship," said John Morris, general counsel for CDT.

Search engines have numerous technical measures at their disposal to enhance the privacy of their stored query logs, CDT's Alissa Cooper explains in the journal "ACM Transactions on the Web." The article assesses seven of these techniques against three sets of criteria: (1) how well the technique protects privacy, (2) how well the technique preserves the utility of the query logs for search engine companies, and (3) how well the technique might be implemented on an individual basis as a user control. For search engine companies navigating an increasingly complex privacy landscape, it is likely that these kinds of techniques in combination with policy measures will ultimately be required to develop a strategy that protects privacy and maintains the utility of query logs for many different purposes.

Google and groups representing authors and publishers announced a major settlement yesterday in the class action lawsuit over Google's creation of a search engine for books. The settlement, which still requires court approval, should pave the way for Google to offer expanded ability to find and review books in the home, library, and university contexts. Authors and publishers should benefit from new revenue opportunities. The settlement offers a good example of how copyright and technology interests can work together to create new business models and exciting capabilities for users, though it also means that legal questions about the fair use status of indexing and search will not get resolved in this case.

Today a diverse coalition of leading Internet companies, major human rights and free press organizations, investors and academics launched the Global Network Initiative to protect and advance freedom of expression and privacy in information and communications technologies. CDT and Business for Social Responsibility co-facilitated an 18-month effort by these groups to craft the key documents underlying this effort. The documents provide guidance for companies, NGOs, investors, academics and others working together to resist efforts by governments that seek to enlist companies in acts of censorship and surveillance that violate international standards. The documents also provide specific implementation commitments and outline a framework for accountability and learning.

On Oct. 22nd, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security issued a final rule for its Secure Flight program that will require all air passengers to provide full name, date of birth and gender. The DHS Transportation Security Administration will use the information to screen passengers against a watch list of potential terrorists, a function the airlines have been performing. TSA will retain passenger information for seven years, including travel itinerary, for anyone tentatively matched to a name on the watch list. TSA will retain that information even if it ultimately determines that the person flying is not the person on the watch list. Data on other passengers will be deleted after seven days.

CDT released a report today showing that Internet browser developers are increasingly competing to offer better privacy controls. This new competitive focus on privacy represents a boon to consumers who can now base their Web surfing decisions on which browser best suits their personal privacy needs. The report reviews and compares the privacy tools available for the latest versions of Mozilla Firefox, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Apple's Safari. The report compares the browsers in their offering of three key tools -- privacy mode, cookie controls and object controls – which can greatly reduce the amount of personal information users give up online and leave behind on their computers.

Once the election has passed, the presidential campaigns should publicly expose specific incidents in which overaggressive copyright claims have stifled political expression during this campaign cycle, CDT said in a letter to both campaigns today. The McCain-Palin campaign recently complained that campaign videos containing less than ten seconds of broadcast footage have been removed from YouTube at the demand of media companies who own the footage. Such "takedown" requests are improper because the use of brief clips of footage in political commentary is generally legal under the "fair use" provision of copyright law.

President Bush yesterday signed into law the PRO IP Act, an intellectual property enforcement bill that calls for expanding certain legal remedies, providing enforcement resources, and creating a new I.P. Enforcement Coordinator in the White House. CDT supports vigorous enforcement of existing intellectual property laws and appreciates improvements that were made to the bill during the legislative process. CDT still has concerns, however, about how certain provisions in the bill could operate in practice.

The National Security Agency is intercepting and retaining communications of innocent Americans in Iraq's so-called "Green Zone"; agency workers even pass around the most titillating conversations, according to explosive allegations made by two NSA whistleblowers in an ABC News segment airing tonight. According to the report, collection of telephone conversations U.S. soldiers and aid workers in Iraq had with their families in the U.S. continued even after NSA analysts knew that the telephone numbers on which they were eavesdropping belonged to Americans who had no ties to terrorism. The report calls into question assurances the NSA and Justice Department repeatedly gave Congress that internally enforced "minimization procedures" are adequate to protect the private conversations of Americans.

The Justice Department today issued new guidelines for FBI investigations, weakening the standards that have long been in place to ensure proper targeting of law enforcement and national security investigations. The guidelines represent another step in the creation of a domestic intelligence system in the United States. They permit FBI agents to go undercover to collect information, send in informants and tail citizens, all without suspicion of wrongdoing or connections to a foreign power.

In testimony submitted to the Senate Constitution Subcommittee today, CDT called for the next President and Congress to impose checks and balances on governmental national security measures. The testimony, submitted in connection with hearings exploring proposals to restore the rule of law, calls for an update of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act and for measures to ensure that intelligence collection complies with FISA and is subject to judicial oversight.

Random, intrusive searches of the contents of laptop computers at the border would be outlawed by legislation introduced on September 26 by Senators Feingold, Cantwell, Wyden, and Akaka. The Traveler's Privacy Protection Act (S. 3612) would require U.S. Customs and Border Patrol officials to have a "reasonable suspicion" of a crime before they could search a laptop computer and other data storage devices; a court order based on probable cause would be needed to seize a device. Travelers would have the right to be present while electronic devices were searched, discriminatory searches would be barred, and strict time limits for searching would be imposed. The bill, which limits its protection to residents of the US, would displace recently-disclosed Customs policies permitting suspicionless laptop searches at the border that could last for weeks.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy unveils a 26bn-euro ($33bn, £23bn) stimulus plan to help France fend off financial crisis.

The mother of a British schoolgirl, who reported her missing sparking a massive hunt, is convicted of kidnapping her.

The Bank of England has cut interest rates by one percentage point from 3% to 2%, their lowest level since 1951.

The European Central Bank delivers its biggest rate cut, lowering interest rates to 2.5% from 3.25%.