Spammers are industrious creatures. They know how to capitalize on an opportunity, and they move quickly. Since President Barack Obama took office a little more than a month ago, I’ve begun to receive emails allegedly from Obama himself, promising me a share of a variety of stimulus packages and government handouts. I doubt very much [...]

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News from the online privacy front: another court ruling on COPA.
COPA is the Child Online Protection Act, enacted in 1998 (not to be confused with COPPA, which we posted about before). According to the COPA Commission, which was the Congressional panel formed along with the law, “The purpose of the Act is to prohibit online sites [...]

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Do you surf the web but wonder how those sites you visit seem to know you? Many sites gather data, such as IP addresses and search parameters, from users who visit the site. Some pages also leave cookies or “spyware” on the user’s computer so that the site can differentiate users and customize content based on [...]

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On July 9, 2008, the U.S. Senate committed to protecting telecommunications companies. From what, you might ask? From the lawsuits that have been springing up against the telecoms for aiding the government in wiretapping Americans without court authorization.
First, some background: The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), which went into effect in 1978, created a court [...]

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