EBay Asks U.S. Court to Ban User for Bad Language Censorship7/13/2000; 10:18:59 AM 'Internet "trading community" eBay Inc. (EBAY) said that it had asked a federal judge to bar a Chicago man from its Web site for using foul language and flouting its own attempts to ban him.''Although the company has "terminated 40 to 45 of his accounts in the last three months alone," Anderson has circumvented the company's moves by re-registering under other identities, Pursglove said.

Websites Facing 'Privacy Storm' Privacy from Companies 7/13/2000; 10:07:48 AM "The message: People are worried, politicians are aware of it, and laws are coming. So, be ready."

ACLU: Law Needs 'Carnivore' Fix Surveillance and Privacy from Government 7/13/2000; 10:05:56 AM 'The American Civil Liberties Union, on Tuesday, urged Congress to amend outdated electronic privacy laws following news of an FBI system capable of large-scale email interception and analysis. "There's no clear law that authorizes Carnivore," said ACLU associate director Barry Steinhardt. "But the FBI and the Justice Department ... will argue that there's no clear law that prohibits it.

Just Say No To Reading About Drugs Free Speech 7/13/2000; 9:00:56 AM Slashdot links to a lot of articles regarding the House "Bankruptcy Reform Act"... which has a rider that looks an awful lot like Senate bill 486 this year, covered here by this site. Lots of good info. Ignore the user comments unless you want to read about why drugs should be made legal.

Disney offers to buy Toysmart's customer list Privacy from Companies 7/12/2000; 1:40:31 PM '"If the bankruptcy court...allows us to purchase the list, we will do so and retire the list," Disney said. "If we are not allowed to purchase the list, we will urge the court, as the Federal Trade Commission has, to permit a sale only to a purchaser of all the assets of Toysmart who will maintain the confidentiality of the information contained in the list.

FBI system, "Carnivore", covertly searches e-mail Surveillance and Privacy from Government 7/12/2000; 1:38:56 PM "Essentially a personal computer stuffed with specialized software, Carnivore represents a new twist in the federal government's fight to sustain its snooping powers in the Internet age. But in employing the system, which can scan millions of e-mails a second, the FBI has upset privacy advocates and some in the computer industry. Experts say the system opens a thicket of unresolved legal issues and privacy concerns.

Draconian cyber-surveillance near in Britain Country Watch: Britain 7/12/2000; 1:37:33 PM "The legislation is called the Regulation of Investigatory Powers bill, or RIP, and its passage in Parliament may be imminent. Growing recognition of the bill's potentially disastrous impact has triggered some second thoughts. But the government is pressing ahead, and foes of the legislation say their chances of heading it off remain, at best, 50-50." Dan Gillmore links to the government's opinion (see the links "

U.N. Calls on G8 Nations to Address Digital Divide Digital Divide 7/12/2000; 1:31:57 PM '"I urge you to commit yourselves to the goal of making IT accessible to all the world's people and to make a major commitment of resources for that purpose," said [United Nations Secretary General] Annan in a letter addressed to the Group of Eight (G8) Summit, which has already begun in western Japan.' The real digital divide.

Metallica, Napster Go to Washington Music & MP37/12/2000; 1:26:03 PM I've held off on posting this until I could just post a good summary, because there wasn't really much new about this. Still, it worth knowing that Senate Judiciary Committee has been holding meetings with people from both sides of the Great Digital Music debate, and they told their sides.The only truly interesting anecdote I've seen was the the committee apparently downloaded a song on Gnutella during the hearings, joining the rest of us as "

Companies Hiring "CPO"'s (Corporate Privacy Officers) Privacy from Companies 7/12/2000; 12:46:33 PM 'Lamb reports to AT&T's general counsel, Jim Ciccone. "If they don't comply, I go to the CEO," Lamb said. "We will not roll out a service where we do not comply with our privacy policy."' .... so what? Security policies already stink anyhow. That your services meet those 'requirements' is virtually irrelevent. "We only screw you as much as we warn you on those dense legalese pages, and we've double-checked that it's true!