According to the Editors of The Crime Report, the movement to ban shackling pregnant prisoners is gaining momentum. On August 26, 2009, Governor David Paterson of New York signed a bill (now NY Chapter 411 2009) banning the practice for all but the most unruly inmates. What is happening in…
Articles Posted in Commentary and Opinion
Cybercrime: Rogue Computer Conficker Continues to Counfound Security Experts
The program, known asConficker( http://www.us-cert.gov/cas/techalerts/TA09-088A.html), uses flaws in Windows software to co-opt machines and link them into a virtual computer that can be commanded remotely by its authors. With more than five million of these zombies now under its control government, business and home computers in more than 200 countries…
Government, Cookies, and Federal Web Sites – Continued
After posting two articles on this Web site here and here related to the Obama administration seriously considering allowing much greater flexibility regarding the use of cookies and tracking devices on government Web sites, I thought I was finished with the topic. That is until this morning August 25 when…
Transparency Chic According to Katherine Mangnu-Ward
In her interesting and provocative article, “Transparency Chic”, Katherine Mangu-Ward, Senior Editor at Reason Magazine, writes: “…Privacy is dead. But one kind of information is still cozily tucked away, the law…[W]ith the possible exception of the ever-leaky CIA, no aspect of government remains more locked down than the secretive, hierarchical…
CLLB Information Security Newsletter – Cookies
Volume 2 Number 8 August 2009. From the Desk of David G. Badertscher Mmmm… cookies – chocolate chip and oatmeal with raisins! Cookies are one of the most popular snacks that exist today. Did you know you can get “browser” cookies almost every time you go on the Internet? These…
Citations and Hyperlinks To Materials in Court Opinions on the Web
The following article published in the July 2009 issue of The Third Branch: Newsletter of the Federal Courts discusses a project conducted by U.S. Circuit librarians in the federal courts, and organized by the Fudicial Conference Committee on Court Administration and Case Management (CACM). The project involved observation and recording…
Hacking Attacks Exposed
A summary of an article, “Black Hat to expose attacks,” by Tim Greene August 5, 2009 This summary was forwarded by Judge Herbert B. Dixon,Jr of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia with the permission of the Center for Legal and Court Technology, formerly the Courtroom 21 project,…
New York Times Multimedia: Murder in New York City
Source:: NYTimes.com . Looking at the New York Times website, I discovered links to a multimedia representation of dynamic homicide activity in New York City..This presentation leads to a variety of useful information including a June 19, 2009 article by Andrew W. Lehren and Al Barker, ” In New York,…
Report: Investigation of the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor
As has been widely reported in the news media, the State of New York Office of the Inspector General has just released its Report and Investigation of the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor. This is a Report grew out of a complaint of alleged misconduct on the part of…
Should Cookies Be Used on Federal Web Sites?
David Badertscher* The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) within the White House is considering whether federal web sites should be permitted to use cookies and other web tracking technologies and is asking for input from the public. According to Michael Fitzpatrick, an associate administrator with the OMB Office of…