The Associated Press reports another story involving online anonymity and outing critics. In this case, a Wisconsin newspaper turned over the identity of a critic without any subpoena or court order…. and subsequently regretted it. The incident generated discussion, yet again, about whether anonymous critics are entitled to protection of their anonymity. Getting named the…
Facebook to shut down Beacon to settle lawsuit
Juan Carlos Perez reports: Facebook has agreed to shut down its much maligned Beacon advertising system in order to settle a class-action lawsuit. The lawsuit, filed in August of last year, alleged that Facebook and its Beacon affiliates like Blockbuster and Overstock.com violated a series of laws, including the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, the Video…
DOJ says court should reject Google book search settlement
Juan Carlos Perez reports: The U.S. Department of Justice has come out against the proposed agreement to settle copyright lawsuits that authors and major publishers filed against Google over the search company’s book search program. “This Court should reject the Proposed Settlement in its current form and encourage the parties to continue negotiations,” reads a…
The 2008-2009 Annual Report to Parliament on the Privacy Act
From the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada: The Privacy Act came into effect On July 1, 1983. This Act imposes obligations on federal government departments and agencies to respect the privacy rights of individuals by limiting the collection, use and disclosure of personal information. The Act also gives individuals the right of access…