] What I really need you to do is to talk to your constituents and
] find out where the American people want that line between security
] and liberty to be.

I'll modify this post after I've had time to think about this.

NSA director's testimony to the joint intelligence committee

"Rapid diffusion of Internet technology raises questions whether the Internet might help overcome barriers to democratic participation in international organizations. Important insights about these issues can be gained from a recently created organization: the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN). This paper recounts the recent history of the grassroots user movement to promote democracy in ICANN and identifies lessons for social movements use of the Internet."

Hans Klein's Papers

"A series of commentaries on the ICANN and Internet governance."

Hans Klein (@gatech.edu) is publishing a series of critical articles on DNS governance.

Klein seems to suggest that ICANN offers lessons about citizens using the Internet for all kinds of democractic participation in the future.

The Cyber-Federalist :: Hans Klein

"The domestic "threat environment" is as bad as it was in the summer of 2001, before the September 11 attacks, Tenet said. "

I'm watching this hearing on CSPAN right now. Its very interesting. Tenet in particular looks very smart here. I think he is well regarded for good reason.

Thompson pointed out that Tenet's warning seems to be in conflict with the executive threat level (currently yellow). Tenet says he is planning to talk with the executive on this, but he is letting his opinion be known regardless.

The basic issue here is FBI and CIA communications SYSTEMS and information SYSTEMS. This is essentially computer geek stuff. (Mueller specifically mentions that he is running Oracle 9i. :) ) The new methods of information operation in the FBI may cause concern. Whereas before the FBI tried to avoid collecting information which is not admissable, they are trying to change this culture. This makes sense from an intel perspective. I think they are going the right direction there. What is the civil liberties impact of this? It could be quite serious. It could also be nothing to worry about (what is not admissable is still not admissable). The problem is that this concern was only mentioned in passing and not seriously discussed. There may need to be a new balance here.

Catch this on CSPAN if you can...

I need to do more thinking about this.

CIA tells Congress we're about to be hit again.

"Especially put into the context of other types of terrorist alerts (e.g., against bridges, water supply facilities, nuclear reactors, airports, or embassies abroad), one is left wondering whether these alerts are strategically distributed according to a planned agenda, with the additional benefits of indirectly putting blame on countries or technologies that stand in the way of U.S. global political, economic, and cultural hegemony, by carefully injecting them into the text of these warnings."

This paper attempts to make a case that articles about Al'Q's use of steganography are in effect protecting the government from the possibility of political dissent even if this is unintentional.

Hacktivists or Cyberterrorists? The Changing Media Discourse on Hacking

"Though the other side had written literally 300 pages trying to show all the good CTEA did (and pronounce it like it is a disease -- sateeeya), the Court hadn't bought any of it. Congress was not acting to promote progress, it was acting to reward "court favorites." The only question the Court was struggling with is whether it has the power to do anything about it. "

Lessig on the Eldred hearing

"This chart is a visual representation of amici's understanding of the decline of the growth of public domain as a result of repeated copyright term extensions."

Growth Rate of the Public Domain

"One point we didn't initially mention is that the issue that had intrigued a number of legal commentators is whether or not the court was interested in extending the precedent set in Lopez, which for the first time in many years constrained Congress' power to regulate interstate commerce. Some have thought that this issue would be raised by analogy from the commerce clause to the copyright clause. The Chief Justice is the only one who raised the issue in a single question to Prof. Lessig. The question was oblique, and only implied the question, but Prof. Lessig recognized it and provided the appropriate answer, which seemed to please the Chief Justice. It was not raised by any other justice, nor was the Solicitor General provided a similar question. "

What the Supremes do in oral arguements is effectively "forensics" style debate. They are trying to pick both arguements apart and see how well they stand to scrutiny. Can they poke holes? Where do things break down?

I think they ought to webcast the supreme court. This system of only letting a limited number of people into the room and then only letting some of them take notes is just so antiquated it hurts. There is no need to protect the public from the commercial press if I can just turn on my damn TV and hear the arguements.

LawMeme: Live From Eldred v. Ashcroft

"The House of Representatives, in a "suspension" vote that bypasses the usual committee process, has just passed H.R. 5469, the bill which amends the copyright law to include the royalty rate compromise reached last night by small commercial webcasters and the record industry. "

Your favorite stations will be back on the air by Thanksgiving.

Internet Radio resolution will be acheived

"In its current form, the tentative deal would allow small Internet radio stations, with gross revenue less than $1.5 million over the last four years, to pay music royalty fees calculated as a percentage of revenue. The rate would increase from 8 percent to 12 percent by 2006, sources say."

Mercury News | 10/02/2002 | Webcaster royalty compromise pushed