However, as the data shows, CAN-SPAM hasn't changed the United States' rank as the number one producer of spam e-mail. Despite a few high-profile arrests, CAN-SPAM is not getting the job done, much to the surprise of no one.
President Bush has asserted that he is not necessarily bound by the bills he signs into law, and yesterday a congressional study found multiple examples in which the administration has not complied with the requirements of the new statutes.Which paraphrased means he broke the law again.
Tags: Congress, George Bush
According to Computer World, we could be getting some strong privacy protections similar to what the European Union has now.
From the EU's privacy directive:
Only the minimum personal data needed should be collected, and it should be retained for the minimum time necessary.
...
The subject has the right to know whom is keeping and accessing their personal data, and the right to examine the data and to have the data removed or changed.
Those would go a long way towards ending data brokering issues.
Tags: Congress, Data Brokering
Today, I read an article that takes a look at the members of congress who are speaking loudly about copyright issues and noticing that most of them have had fairly significant campaign contributions from the RIAA and the MPAA (both well know organizations who attack individuals for alleged copyright infringement and supporters of the much hated DRM technology).
Tags: Congress, DRM, RIAA
A lot of the newsletters I subscribe to and groups that I follow are making more noise about this. The main point, from Defective by Design's e-newsletter:
The Department of Justice has drafted this outrageous legislative proposal that threatens ordinary Americans with jail time and the sort of property forfeiture penalties applied in drug busts for P2P users, mixtape makers, and mash-up artists. The law would stiffen penalties for "attempted infringement", basically removing the requirement that the government or Big Media companies actually prove that infringement occurred. The IPPA would also authorize massive wiretapping to investigate copyright infringement by individuals. The government has plenty of tools to investigate and prosecute large scale criminal enterprises engaging in bootlegging, the IPPA will target every citizen.The main point here is that it makes copyright infringement a criminal offense and that it only has to be attempted! Think of all the people who've already been served with lawsuits (many who were clearly innocent). Now imagine that they no longer have to prove infringement, only attempted infringement. This makes their case far easier to fight. But now it's a crime so the punishment would be stiffer as well.
Tags: Congress, DRM, P2P, Your Rights
People sure are quick to attack those they disagree with sometimes.
This may seem a vile accusation to lay against a grieving father. But in fact, it has become a staple of American political discourse, repeated endlessly by those keen to allow President Bush a free hand in waging his war. By encouraging "the terrorists," opponents of the Iraq conflict increase the risk to U.S. troops. Although the First Amendment protects antiwar critics from being tried for treason, it provides no protection for the hardly less serious charge of failing to support the troops -- today's civic equivalent of dereliction of duty.In what will hopefully end up with Gonzales fired or in jail and a trail of Bush cronies jumping ship leading to the big cheese himself, congress is finally starting to make noise about conflicts in Gonzales's testimony, questions about his fitness for the job, and most importantly, demanding that the details of the spying program come under proper review.
Tags: Alberto Gonzales, Congress, George Bush
This has promise. Apparently, the Credit Card Act of 2007 will ban some of the less consumer friendly practices of credit card companies.
Here are some of the provisions and what I think they mean (I am obviously not a lawyer):
SEC. 101. PRIOR NOTICE OF RATE INCREASES REQUIRED Not only do they have to give you advance warning that your rate will increase, but they can only apply the increase to balances that you add after the date of the increase. That means the new rate doesn't apply to your old debt.
Well duh. I can't believe they get away with this now.
SEC. 102. FREEZE ON INTEREST RATE TERMS AND FEES ON CANCELED CARDS If the terms, fees, or interest rate is going to change, you can cancel the card and keep the rates and terms from before the change. In other words, you can't be forced into new terms just because you have an outstanding balance.
My friend called me last night (literally) to ask me about this very question. I guess if there's a law in the works to "fix" this, then it's definitely broken now. I told him his only chance was to transfer the balance to a new card and I guess I was right (for now).
SEC. 103. LIMITS ON CHARGES OR FEES FOR TIMELY PAYMENTS OR NON-USE You can't be charged a fee for paying more than the minimum balance. You can't be charged for paying the card off. You can't be charged for not using the card.
Holy Guano Batman! There are companies that do this?
SEC. 104. PROHIBITION ON OVER-THE-LIMIT FEES FOR CREDITOR-APPROVED TRANSACTIONS You can't be charged a fee for going over your limit when it was a transaction the credit card company approved.
Because they approved you after all.
SEC. 105. PROHIBITION ON UNIVERSAL DEFAULTS This limits the ability of the credit company to raise you rates based on your credit score.
This doesn't actually prevent it entirely, but it requires that if they do, they have to make it extremely clear in the agreement before you get the credit.
SEC. 201. PAYOFF TIMING DISCLOSURES and SEC. 202. REQUIREMENTS RELATING TO LATE PAYMENT DEADLINES AND PENALTIES
These both have to do with being clear about the timing of your payoff balance and fees. This happened to me where I paid a card off completely only to find they charged the interest just before the payment hit thus leaving me a tiny balance to discover later. Bastids.
SEC. 301. EXTENSIONS OF CREDIT TO UNDERAGE CONSUMERS You can't give credit to minors unless there's parental permission, the minor shows the means to pay the debt themselves, and they have a certification of having attended a consumer credit counseling session PRIOR to taking the debt.
This one's a bit of a rub. Minors can already walk away from any debt because you can't enter into a contract with anyone under 18 anyway. I'm not certain that this changes anything other than for minors who don't realize thay can tell the credit company to shove off if that company is stupid enough to give them credit in the first place.
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