Feds give Web access to lobbying records
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The Justice Department has launched a searchable online database that tracks the activities of foreign governments and companies lobbying the U.S. government.
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By PHIL MULKINS World Action Line Editor  Dear Action Line:   Your column Nov. 13 listed Internet addresses to find who your elected officials are. I am in my 80s, widowed and have never owned a computer or had Internet access. None of my friends do, either.
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White House aides made extensive use of political e-mail accounts for official government business, despite rules requiring that they conduct such business through official communications channels, according to new evidence disclosed yesterday by congressional investigators.
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Federal prosecutors are trying to force the A.C.L.U. to turn over copies of a document it received from a source.
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(InfoWorld) - Many of the Web sites for members of the U.S. Congress lack basic information such as information on office hours or where to go if the reader has problems with a federal agency, according to a report released Monday. The overall state of congressional Web sites is "disappointing," said the Congressional Management Foundation, a nonprofit group advocating for a more effective Congress. The group gave only about 14 percent of the 615 lawmaker and congressional leadership Web sites it surveyed A grades for user friendliness. The top group of A-graded sites earn CMF's Gold Mouse award. Thirteen percent of the congressional sites received F grades, and another 25 percent received D's. "It's things that are missing, things that aren't updated," said Beverly Bell, CMF's executive director. In many cases, congressional offices seem to see Web sites as one-way communication mediums, she said. About 49 percent of the sites did not include sufficient information on how to contact the office about a problem with a federal agency, CMF said in its report. Just over 26 percent told visitors the best way to communicate with their offices, and 32 percent did not include links to sponsored or cosponsored legislation. Just 11 percent of House Web sites and 5 percent of Senate Web sites posted their office hours. "It's how you view your Web site," Bell added. "Are you seeing your Web site as a service center for constituents? There's not as much of that as we'd like to see. Or, are you seeing it as one big press release for yourself?" CMF produced two previous reports, in 2002 and 2003. Only three lawmakers have received awards in each of the Gold Mouse Reports: Representative Mike Honda, a Democrat representing part of Silicon Valley in California, Senator Jeff Bingaman, a New Mexico Democrat, and Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat known for his interest in tech issues. But overall, Republican sites scored higher than Democratic sites, with 66 percent of Republican sites scoring at least a C compared to 56 percent of Democratic sites. In some cases, lawmakers seem to believe that Web sites create more work for their staffs, and congressional staffs haven't substantially increased in size since the 1970s, Bell said. But a well-designed Web site can reduce workload by cutting telephone calls from constitutions about information such as sponsored legislation or visitor tours, she said. The John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, the University of California-Riverside, and Ohio State University assisted CMF with the report.
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Federal agency now turns to Internet service providers for information on people under investigation.
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WASHINGTONÂ -- With the U.S. Congress winding down its work for 2004, technology lobbying groups are stepping up their push for lawmakers to pass several pieces of legislation, including extensions to a research and development (R&D) tax credit and an Internet access tax moratorium.
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A federal judge ruled yesterday that White House visitor logs created by the Secret Service are public records, and he ordered information involving the visits of nine conservative Christian leaders with Bush administration officials to be released to an advocacy group.
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When contact info for Republican delegates got posted on the web, the Department of Justice subpoenaed an ISP, but now seems to be backing off. Ann Harrison reports from New York.
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Government official calls for tools to help investigators sift through increasing amounts of data seized by law enforcement.
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Social networking Web sites like MySpace and Facebook would have access to a database of sex offenders for checking names and addresses against public profiles under a bill introduced Tuesday in Congress.
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By American News, Aberdeen, S.D.  Sep. 17--Giving citizens the ability to search and track federal spending through an Internet Web site is a wonderful idea.   Last week the House of Representatives passed a bill that will do just that.
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Legislation that would allow the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to seek civil penalties against businesses that obtain personal data under false pretenses may soon get a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.
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Using the Freedom of Information Act to get information from the government is like waiting for ketchup to flow from a new bottle. Both often take longer than they are supposed to.
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Some 50,000 files from the past 30 years are made public on the first working day of the Freedom of Information Act.
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Web "Portal" with secured services as : directory, job offers, etc ... especially for the use by Alumni associations   As of today, the first public version of this Intranet for Alumni's is available on sourceforge.net.
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(InfoWorld) - A group of civil liberties and other advocacy groups are urging supporters to contact the U.S. Congress as it moves ahead to approve an electronic surveillance program run through the U.S. National Security Agency (NSA). The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the American Civil Liberties Union, the First Amendment Foundation, and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers are among the groups encouraging voters to voice opposition to two bills that would authorize the NSA program. Both bills are scheduled to be considered by the Senate Judiciary Committee Thursday morning. Opponents say the program, reportedly used to spy on U.S. residents as well as foreigners, is illegal because the NSA has conducted surveillance without court-approved warrants. Officials in U.S. President George Bush's administration and some congressional Republicans contend that the program is legal and limited in scope. "This is an unprecedented expansion of government surveillance," said Kevin Bankston, a staff attorney at the EFF, which is spearheading a lawsuit against AT&T Inc. for allegedly participating in the NSA program. "We've encountered the ultimate nightmare scenario as far as electronic privacy is concerned -- an unchecked executive branch." U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales defended the program in August, calling it effective and legal. "It is a very narrow program ... focused on communications with al Qaeda where one end of the phone call [or] communication is foreign, outside of the United States," he said in a press conference. "It has been reviewed by a number of lawyers within the administration, including lawyers out at the NSA, including lawyers at the Department of Justice." Numerous U.S. intelligence officials have said the program is effective in tracking terrorist activity, Gonzales added. The legislation in Congress to authorize the program isn't necessary, but the Bush administration is working with bill sponsors, he said. Both Judiciary Committee bills would establish congressional oversight for terrorist surveillance programs conducted by the NSA or other government agencies. One bill, sponsored by Senator Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican and Judiciary Committee chairman, would largely give the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court jurisdiction for any terrorist surveillance programs. The court would have to approve new surveillance programs, as it has for past U.S. government surveillance operations. The second bill, sponsored by Ohio Republican Senator Mike DeWine, would allow the U.S. president to authorize surveillance programs for up to 45 days without a court order. The U.S. attorney general can then review the program and continue it for another 45 days without a court order. The DeWine bill requires that the president report the programs to congressional subcommittees, but it also allows a 15-year prison sentence and a US $1 million fine to anyone who leaks the details of secret surveillance programs. DeWine, in an August statement, called the NSA program a "critical tool to prevent America from being attacked." The DeWine bill would retroactively approve the NSA program, while the Specter bill would not, Bankston said. Lawsuits targeting the program, now moving forward in Michigan and California, could be stalled if Congress passes a retroactive bill, he said. "Let's let the courts finish the job," he added.