Think back 20 years ago. What were you doing? Whatever answer you came up with, it probably had nothing to do with the Internet, which was just coming of age. As James Carafano points out in his article in the Washington Examiner today, the discovery a valuable new world brings with it the need to protect that world. Nearly everything in our lives today is connected to the Internet. You possibly woke up to your iPhone buzzing from an e-mail from your boss and then turned on the lights that … More
No Comments »
On Monday, the Supreme Court issued an important ruling on the subject of surveillance in light of today’s technologies. Its opinion in United States v. Jones makes the rules for surveillance much less clear, which perhaps is not surprising given the rapid technological change and the need for further legislative and judicial action to address these complex new issues. Law enforcement long has used surveillance to track the comings and goings of suspects, probationers, and parolees as well as suspected spies, terrorists, and the like. Surveillance was oftentimes necessary and … More
No Comments »
A District of Columbia city council member is calling on the city’s taxicab commission to allow competition to its “mediocre and unreliable” taxi services in the wake of a sting operation aimed at shutting down an innovative car service that officials say violates a number of city laws. If current law prohibits such competition, stated Mary M. Cheh (D-Ward 3), the law should be amended to allow for “improve[d] transportation options for residents and visitors alike.” Cheh’s statement comes days after city officials conducted a sting operation on Uber, an … More
No Comments »
Would you be outraged if the Department of Justice shut down The Foundry without any warning and blocked access for more than a year? That’s exactly what happened to a hip-hop blog called Dajaz1.com, which was falsely accused of criminal copyright infringement. The blog posted music from artists promoting their work. But federal authorities viewed it differently. They seized the domain name, then shared virtually no information with its owner for more than year. Only recently did they quietly drop the case. The government’s handling of this hip-hop blog is … More
No Comments »