Schwarzenegger signs telephone privacy bill
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California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a law on Friday making it a crime to buy telephone records or obtain them through deceit, an issue that has become important amid a furor over Hewlett-Packard Co.'s attempts to track down boardroom leaks to the press.
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The agreement settles a California civil suit over its pursuit of private phone records to trace a news leak.
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Bloomberg - Feb. 8 (Bloomberg) -- A group of 21 U.S. House Democrats said they would support a Senate measure that shields phone companies from privacy lawsuits for helping the government eavesdrop on suspected terrorists.
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California Gov. Arnold  Schwarzenegger signed a bill on Friday creating a single  statewide market for cable television by eliminating  city-by-city franchises, opening the market to competition from  telephone companies.
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California Gov. Arnold  Schwarzenegger, who has admitted taking steroids during his  bodybuilding years, signed a law on Wednesday that bars the  sale of performance-enhancing supplements to minors.
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Popular California Gov. Arnold  Schwarzenegger endorsed Republican presidential candidate John  McCain on Thursday, giving the Arizona senator a boost in his  drive to gain his party's nomination for the White House.
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(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Congress has wrapped up its work for the year by passing a bill that would make it illegal to obtain a person's phone records without permission. The Senate late Friday passed the Law Enforcement and Phone Privacy Protection Act, spurred in part by revelations in September that Hewlett-Packard Co. (HP) investigators had used deceptive means to gain access to phone records of reporters and company board members. The bill, sponsored by Representative Lamar Smith, a Texas Republican, would make illegal the act of pretexting -- tricking phone companies into giving up private records by pretending to be a customer. The bill, which passed by voice vote in the Senate, allows prison sentences of up to 10 years and fines of up to US$500,000 for deceiving phone companies into handing over records such as phone logs. The bill, which now awaits President George Bush's signature before it becomes law, also outlaws the sale of phone records and adds penalties for people who obtain phone records as a way to help commit a violent crime. Privacy advocates have worried that criminals are using phone records obtained through pretexting to stalk potential victims. Smith praised the Senate for passing the legislation. "This data fraud can adversely affect Americans' lives," he said in a statement. "A careful study of these records may reveal details of our medical or financial life. It may even identify our occupation or physical location â a serious concern for undercover police officers and victims of stalking or domestic violence." Members of Congress began raising concerns about the sale of phone records a year ago, after the Electronic Privacy Information Center in mid-2005 filed a federal complaint about dozens of Internet-based companies selling phone records for less than $100. The issue gained traction late this year after HP officials revealed that investigators there had used pretexting to gain access to board members' and reporters' phone records in an effort to find which board members were leaking details of meetings. After members of Congress lectured HP officials about the use of pretexting in a September hearing, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer in October filed felony charges against former HP Chairman Patricia Dunn, a former HP legal counsel and three private investigators. Last week,Â HP agreed to a $14.5 million settlement in the California civil lawsuit related to the company's spying scandal. The civil suit made the same allegations that the state made in its criminal filing in October against the HP executives and investigators. Trade group USTelecom, representing large telecom carriers, praised the Senate for passing the pretexting bill. The legislation will "reinforce the efforts of telecom carriers to ensure that customer records remain secure," Walter McCormick Jr., president and chief executive of USTelecom, said in a statement. Â
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A cell phone directory is in the works, along with legislation to keep it private. Is this a good thing?
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates asked the U.S. Congress to pass a comprehensive privacy law this year, allowing consumers to control how their personal information is used. Gates repeated past Microsoft calls for a wide-ranging privacy law during a speech at advocacy group the Center for Democracy and Technology's (CDT) annual gala dinner Wednesday. A comprehensive privacy bill should allow consumers to control their personal data, should provide transparency about what their data is used for, and should notify them when their data has been compromised, Gates said. Gates said he believes the U.S. can achieve a balance between privacy and protecting the country against terrorists and other criminals. But the balance will not be an easy one to create, Gates said. While many U.S. residents would say they want as much privacy "as possible," law enforcement needs to be able to track criminals, Gates said. "These privacy issues are not as easy as you might think," he told the crowd. Gates hinted that some privacy protections can go so far that they become annoying to consumers. He talked about the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), passed by Congress in 1996, which puts strict controls on the release of information. HIPAA too often asks patients to sign documents allowing the release of their medical records, he said. HIPAA is evidence "we don't always get it right the first time," Gates said. "All I know is I keep signing those forms." Another balance Congress needs to strike is between emerging technologies and privacy, said Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat and chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Leahy also called on Congress to pass a privacy law. But a privacy law cannot restrict new technologies, Leahy said. "I don't want to stop the technologies, I want to protect our privacy," he during the gala dinner. "I think we can do both." The U.S. government spying on its residents is of particular concern, Leahy said. "I don't want to put a brake on technology, but on what my government can learn about me without letting me know," he said. Leahy and Gates both said they have great hopes for the future of the Internet. "The Internet is a great tool," Leahy said. "Let's keep it a free tool." The world is just at the beginning of the potential of the Internet coupled with personal computers, Gates added. Coming advances in storage, in bandwidth and in user-created content will make the Internet and even greater tool for democratic ideals, he said. "We're just at the very beginning," he said.
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California legislators neared the end of their current session on Friday by handing some stinging setbacks to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and leaving him with bills to sign that will test his political convictions.
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Tokyo -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in an interview today that he will make public his daily schedule, a move that open government advocates say will provide an unprecedented look at how his administration determines public policy.
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Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed  a law on Friday that would post information on sex offenders on  the Internet, giving Californians easier access to details on  violators.
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California&#39;s perpetually buff Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed a bill barring children under 14 from going to tanning salons in his sunshine-filled state.
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California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed on Wednesday a bill that would have required the state's employers to give workers written notification if e-mail and other Internet activity is being monitored at work.
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Breaking with Republican  lawmakers who oppose gun control and a Hollywood film career  filled with gun play, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has  signed a bill banning .50-caliber BMG rifles, an aide said on  Tuesday.
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California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has vetoed legislation that would have required basic protections against the abuse of RFID data, saying the measure was "premature."
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Having sex with corpses is now  officially illegal in California after Gov. Arnold  Schwarzenegger signed a bill barring necrophilia, a spokeswoman  said on Friday.