I just stumbled on this, which was published last summer, just after an underinformed European Parliament voted to overturn Europe's strong privacy protections and allow up to seven years of data retention:

An early draft of the White House's National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace envisions the same kind of mandatory customer data collection and retention by U.S. Internet service providers as was recently enacted in Europe, according to sources who have reviewed portions of the plan.

But a Justice Department source said Wednesday that data retention is mentioned in the strategy only as an industry concern -- ISPs and telecom companies oppose the costly idea -- and does not reflect any plan by the department or the White House to push for a U.S. law.

In Ireland, our government secretly brought in mandatory three-year retention a year ago as a 'temporary measure' and is now aiming to make that permanent. So far, only one invitation-only consultation session has been held. Interesting that the US, as early as last summer, was insisting it had no intention of bringing in a similar law, and accepts that it would be extremely costly for industry. In Ireland, we are still waiting for the heads of a Bill to be introduced on this issue. Since legislation must be in place by autumn, expect this draft legislation any time. And expect the proverbial crap to hit the fan at that point. Most businesses in Ireland -- and especially, most US multinationals -- are still completely unaware of these plans, and when I've spoken to them about them, expressed disbelief and shock. Even some key people in the Irish Industrial Development Authority, the body that promotes inward investment, are unaware of this proposal. No surprise when so far, it's been a deliberately stealthy imposition, via a secret Cabinet ministers motion, of a regime whose implications no one -- not even the pro-business-climate Progressive Democrats -- to whose party the relevant minister belongs -- seem to understand.

137 More Oil Wells Liberated for Democracy:

"For decades, these oil wells have suffered untold misery under Saddam Hussein's tyrannical rule," said U.S. Commander General Tommy Franks, speaking from southern Iraq's Rumailah oil fields, the site of the liberation. "With this victory, these long-oppressed wells will soon pump their first barrels of crude as free and equal wells in the global petroleum marketplace. They will join the ranks of the world's liberated oil wells, enjoying the same rights as their democratic brethren around the globe."

'Rowena said she still can't believe something in her artwork might have touched a chord in someone as evil as Saddam. "That would be a horrifying thought," she said. "He in his twisted mind must have read something into it."'

What can one say, but: "!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

Plan Would Use Software, Not Devices, to Fight Piracy. "Most people view this as a war between Hollywood and technology companies. But I view it as the security industry has done a terrible job of attempting to solve Hollywood's piracy problem." [New York Times: Technology]

And then there's this (of course, keep in mind that Diffie does work for M$ arch-rival Sun...): EE Times: Cryptographers sound warnings on Microsoft security plan. Whitfield Diffie, a distinguished engineer at Sun Microsystems Laboratories, said an integrated security scheme for computers is inevitable, but the Microsoft approach is flawed because it fails to give users control over their security keys. [Tomalak's Realm]