Tag: LEGISLATION

Our commenters give us a lot of heat for hating on Facebook (e.g., "Whassamatta, AOL? Jealouz??"), but we have to admit that, from time to time, we love to use the social network to stalk. And, frankly, who doesn't? Employers have known for a few years now that some of the best insight into a job applicant's life is through their unvarnished Facebook profile. Those knee-jerk rants and party pics ...

The violent conflict between governmental and rebel forces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may not make the front pages of many Western news outlets, but it has definitely caught the attention of U.S. lawmakers. As the AP reports, a newly passed American law, which was signed into effect in conjunction with Obama's economic overhaul, will now require all gadget manufacturers to disclose ...

What do you call a porn-free Internet? Here, we'd say "our worst nightmare," (bad-um), but for Indonesian web surfers, they might soon have to call it "reality." That's because the world's most populous country of Muslim majority is planning on invoking an anti-pornography law to restrict any online fun smut that might soil its citizens' computers. Gatot Dewa Broto, a spokesman for Indonesia's ...

In April, we told you about the unfortunate plight of Justin Kurtz, a 21-year-old college student who found himself battling defamation charges after creating a group on Facebook to publicize his dissatisfaction with a local towing company. Not long after its birth, the group began growing, with many Kalamazoo, Michigan locals flocking to the forum in order to air their own grievances with the ...

The Louisiana Senate recently passed a bill requiring a minimum 10-year sentence for any terrorist who uses virtual online maps to plan his or her attack. And no one's really sure why. According to NOLA.com, the bill, proposed by Republican Senator Robert Adley, "defines a 'virtual street-level map' as one that is available on the Internet and can generate the location or picture of a home or ...

Senator Chuck Schumer (D-New York) and Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) have proposed a piece of legislation that would require consumers to present an ID before purchasing a prepaid cell phone, and would force direct providers to keep those customers' information on file for 18 months after deactivation. The bill comes on the heels of the failed Times Square bombing by Faisal Shahzad, who ...

The FCC won't unveil its long-awaited National Broadband Plan until next week, but it has already hinted at what would be one of its most intriguing items: free wireless access. As Reuters reports, the Commission was pretty mum on details, but did say in a statement that offering a "free or a very low cost wireless broadband service" to specific swaths of the population may significantly boost ...

We've been talking a lot recently about how the U.S. has gradually begun to lag behind the rest of the developed world when it comes to broadband Internet access. Now, a new study from the Commerce Department shows just how dire the situation has become. As the Huffington Post reports, about 40-percent of all Americans do not have high-speed Internet access in their homes. As you'd imagine, the ...

People continue to text message and use other portable devices while driving, despite knowing what a dangerous habit it can be. Just look out your window while rolling down the interstate, and you'll see that businessman glued to his BlackBerry or a teenage girl texting away. But glance a little higher, and you might behold an even scarier sight. Truck drivers rely heavily on electronic devices ...

A recent Harris Interactive poll reveals that the overwhelming majority of U.S. cell phone users have, at some point, witnessed inappropriate public cell phone use. Nearly none of them, however, seem ready to admit that they are guilty themselves. According to Matt Richtel's investigative piece for the New York Times, that same hypocritical obliviousness especially applies to texting and ...

It's a stoner's dream come true. California residents can get dope delivered straight to their doors. All it takes is a doctor's recommendation and a simple tweet, and, just like that, there's a doorbell ring and a dime bag waiting. The medical marijuana delivery service, which is the brainchild of Artists Collective founder Dann Halem, aims to provide shut-ins with weed while using the profits ...

A House bill could soon stop airport employees from getting an eyeful of passengers as they pass through airport checkpoints. The House recently approved legislation that would stop the use of "virtual strip searches" at airports, according to CNET News. Using a low-energy, X-ray machine, airport security personnel can currently view a detailed image of the naked figure that includes every body ...

Republicans in Congress are pushing for a new data retention law that will require anyone providing access to electronic communication to keep records of users for at least two years. Europe has similar requirements for Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and telephone providers, but the new proposal in the U.S. legislature goes far beyond the European regulations. The proposal requires all ...

New York Republican Representative, Pete King, has made the news circuit lately with his proposed Camera Phone Predator Alert Act. Essentially, the bill would require that all cell phone cameras make a sound when taking a picture, no exceptions, to help combat the spread of photos taken in dressing rooms and other public places. In celebration of King and his bill, the nice ol' fellas at ...

Over the past few years we've covered the various copyright trials and tribulations of Google-owned video superpower YouTube as it struggles to survive in a word full of legislation. We're sad to say the company has seemingly caved to pressure from the recording industry, enacting a rather harsh fix to the problem of users adding copyrighted tunes to the background of their videos: tThe site is ...