New Hampshire to Reject REAL ID

New Hampshire is about to become the first state to reject the federal REAL ID proposal.

Governor John Lynch has said he will sign a pending bill which would reject the proposed new federal standards for driver's licenses, and the money that goes with them.

The bill has passed the state House, and was approved on April 26 by the state Senate committee considering it.

The leader behind the move to reject REAL ID is Rep. Neal Kurk, well-known for his privacy advocacy. The effort is drawing national attention.

He and others in the state see REAL ID as ineffective and an intrusion on individual privacy.

Arizona Enacts Shredding Law

Arizona has enacted a law (House Bill 2484) requiring businesses to shred or otherwise destroy documents containing sensitive individual information before discarding it. Information would include a person's name and Social Security Number, driver's license number and certain account numbers.

Fines ranges from $500 to $5,000 per violation.

The law takes effect October 1st, 2006.

AT&T Wants NSA Infomation Kept Secret

AT&T has aked Judge Vaughn Walker to order the Electronic Frontier Foundation to return to AT&T "highly confidential" documents, regarding their work the National Security Administration, and to order the EFF not to refer to the information in the documents in court filings.

This is in reference to the suit filed by the EFF concerning NSA domestic spying.

The documents apparently describe how technicians worked with the NSA to allow phnoe calls to be routed through NSA analyzers.

The EFF wants to the information made public. The documents are currently under seal.

EFF Sues AT&T over NSA Wiretaps

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) is suing AT&T, alleging that AT&T assisted the NSA in spying on Americans in violation of the law.

Apparently a former AT&T employee gave copies internal AT&T documents detailing what AT&T did, which has AT&T and the NSA concerned.

The suit alleges that the government needed, and received, AT&T's help to get access to people's phone records and the actual content of phone calls and e-mails.

Eliot Spitzer Files Adware Lawsuit

On Tuesday the New York State Attorney General, Eliot Spitzer, filed a lawsuit against Direct Revenue LLC, for installing spyware/adware on user's computers without their consent.

The company gives away software with games and utilities causes pop-up ads, the complaint alleges.

Eliot Spitzer filed, and later settled, an "adware" case with ntermix Media for $7.5 million.

Direct Revenue settled an adware case in llinois and is working on another one in California.

Congress To Protect Phone Records

The United State Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee has approved a proposed bill which would makes it illegal to acquire, use or sell a phone records.

The issue has been gaining traction for several months, after a journalist/blogger obtained General Wesley Clark's cell phone for a small fee.

The FCC would able to levy fines of up to $30,000 for each violation, up to $3 million.


The bill would also creates a private right of action with awards of up to $11,000 per record, up to a limit of $11 million.