Data retention: Apropos of data retention issues noted below, this is from a Reuters article published in early October. The irony is that the "change in regime" we are now beginning to see across the EU, rather than strengthening protections, would instead loosen them insofar as how much information may be retained and for how long (the proposed Irish law would *increase* the typical time that data is kept under existing EU data protection directives by about 12 times):

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union is looking into possible amendments to its strict law for the protection of personal data after an online survey showed broad dissatisfaction with the current regime. A European Commission online survey involving over 10,000 respondents showed EU citizens felt their personal information was not sufficiently protected.

"The most striking result of the survey is that few citizens would define the level of data protection as high," Philippe Renaudiere, head of unit at the European Commission's Internal Market directorate general, told a conference...

Interested in sending a FAX or EMAIL to the Department of Justice on this issue? In my experience a fax or typed letter is more effective than an email.

DOJ fax number: +353 - 1 - 661-5461

Minister Michael McDowell: minister@justice.ie

5:59:32 PM  #   your two cents []

Napster's Assets Go for a Song. Roxio, maker of CD-burning software, buys Napster's assets for a mere $9 million. Now it faces competition among file-trading services and will no doubt fall under the entertainment industry's watchful eye.  [Wired News]
11:30:04 AM  #   your two cents []

NASA: Spinning Off Tech or Pork?. A federal program helps small businesses find practical applications for space technology. But some say a few powerful congressmen are hijacking the effort for political ends. Wired News]
11:29:06 AM  #   your two cents []

Literary Devices. What happens when the Internet takes over from Shakespeare and Goethe? A short story by Richard Powers. [Salon.com]
9:45:35 AM  #   your two cents []

From Boing Boing Blog: Get your Thanksgiving on. With, uh, Henry Kissinger and John Poindexter.. There's a new slew of "Get Your War On" comics online, posted 11-26-02.

Link

9:44:46 AM  #   your two cents []

Laurence J. Peter. "Speak when you are angry--and you will make the best speech you'll ever regret." [Quotes of the Day]
9:43:54 AM  #   your two cents []

Textual gratification. Online: Text messaging took a while to take off, but now it's a natural part of life, writes Victor Keegan. [Guardian Unlimited]
9:43:23 AM  #   your two cents []

A Peek Into the Google [Slashdot]
9:42:31 AM  #   your two cents []

Bond Gadgets Not Just Movie Magic. The disappearing car in the new James Bond film, Die Another Day, isn't as farfetched as you might think. Like a lot of gadgets from previous 007 films, it's based on real technology. [Wired News]
9:41:51 AM  #   your two cents []

Data retention: The Finnish branch of the Electronic Frontier Foundation has obtained and posted a leaked European Council of Ministers document on data retention plans of EU states. Ireland's answers are extremely interesting -- especially in the context of Justice Minister Michael McDowell's response on News At One yesterday to my story that his Department plans to introduce a data retention bill to require information about every Irish citizen's emails, faxes, web-surfing, mobile and landline calls to be retained for a minimum of three years. He claims his legislation is in extremely early draft form with no timeline or details decided and emphasised he has plans to consult widely with industry etc on the issue. As you can see from the document, for several months now Ireland has had plans to introduce the three+ year time period and notes that it has not consulted with industry and doesn;t seem to think it necessary as it doesn;t believe industry will "cause any problems". Amazing.

Here's the second, longer story on data retention that ran yesterday and here's one that is running today. The Minister is trying to play this down but it's a very serious civil rights and privacy issue.

Under the Department's proposals, Ireland would introduce one of the longest periods of data retention in the EU -- a total about-face to the pro-privacy stance taken in our 2000 E-Commerce Act, which is considered model legislation in this area. I urge anyone concerned to make an opinion known to the Department of Justice. For further information on the kinds of pan-European data retention moves afoot, see Statewatch.

9:14:17 AM  #   your two cents []