Archive for the ‘Law & Politics’ tag
Lawyers Furthering Public Disgust of Lawyers
Ropes & Gray: We know better than medical professionals.
[From Ire raised as firms stockpile flu remedy - The Boston Globe]
Pros and Cons of Asymmetric Cryptography
Quick disclaimer: I love cryptography. I don’t fully understand the math that goes into it, but I love it all the same.
Something that has baffled me for quite some time is why we don’t see more cryptography in consumer computing. Passwords, simple authentication tokens, are ubiquitous, even on single-user Windows computers. Real encryption, on the other hand, in virtually non-existant.
Why?
FTC: Sears Violated Customer Privacy Through the Sin of Omission
The Federal Trade Commission today entered a consent order today finding that Sears Holdings Management Corporation (Sears and Kmart) by which Sears settled FTC charges of failing to disclose the scope of collection and usage of customer data and web activity. This, according to a statement by the FTC, constituted a deceptive practice.
Affected customers were members of the “My SHC Community”, who would pay $10 to participate. These customers would then be asked to download research software. A description of the nature of the software was buried in a “lengthy user license agreement.”
Under the settlement, Sears will not only destroy the information collected by the “research software” but also make a separate disclosure as to the nature and purpose of any future web tracking software, including any possible sale of the data to third parties.
The proposed settlement is open for public comment until July 6, 2009. Those interested can visit the FTC website for further information.
Creating a New Site
For some time now, I’ve been contemplating starting a new website. Unlike this site, which is my all-purpose soapbox, this new site would be more focused in its scope. That would not only allow me to create a more focused forum, but it would give me the opportunity to practice other skills, such as marketing and promotion.
My first instinct is to write about law and technology issues. After all, this is where I have the most training and experience. I also enjoy researching and writing about both. Of course, I also need to figure out who my audience will or should be. Do I want to appeal to technology geeks, law geeks, the general public, or some mix thereof?
One of the aims for the new site would be a more “professional” style and appearance, whatever that may mean. What sort of standards would I need to follow? Should I try to create something on par with a traditional media outlet, or should aim for a more “blog” like approach, preferring breadth to depth? Should I try to engage in original journalism, such as attending court or regulatory hearings? Do I simply take the Huffington Post route and copy/paste content from other sources?
What about issues of cross posting? Do I share content on both sites, or do I link between the two? How do I address issues of intellectual property? Do I want to try and have multiple contributors? Do I really think this site could become a serious media outlet, or would I be better served creating a site for my own amusement, like my current website.
These are early issues I am trying to work through. If any of my readers has any useful suggestions, I am open to your wisdom.
