PRIVACY + SECURITY BLOG

News, Developments, and Insights

How to Get a Free Copy of The Future of Reputation

Are you a blogger? Are you interested in the issues of Internet gossip, rumor, privacy, anonymity, and free speech? Are you interested in writing a short book review? If so, I’m offering you a free review copy of my new book, The Future of Reputation: Gossip, Rumor, and Privacy on the Internet.

Who, Exactly, Is a Journalist?

Is Howard Bashman a journalist? Bashman is the author of How Appealing, a very popular legal blog that many readers here read — and that anybody who wants to keep informed about new cases and legal developments should be reading. Bashman frequently posts or links to court decisions when they are released online, and a […]

The Boy Who Cried “National Security”: The Need for Greater Skepticism About Government Secrecy

I just blogged about an incident where the 2nd Circuit sought to have Howard Bashman remove an unredacted judicial decision from his site and replace it with a redacted version. Apparently, the redacted version attempted to remove information about a rather dicey interrogation technique the FBI used. According to Tony Mauro of the Legal Times:

Judge Strikes Down Part of USA Patriot Act

In Mayfield v. United States, U.S. District Judge Ann Aiken (District of Oregon) held that parts of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978, which were altered by the USA Patriot Act in 2001, are unconstitutional. The case was brought by Brandon Mayfield, a who was put under extensive surveillance and then detained for […]

The Lives of Others

I recently saw The Lives of Others and was thoroughly impressed with this film. After having seen the amazing Pan’s Labyrinth, I was stunned that another movie could win the Oscar for best foreign film of 2006 (one of the rare categories in the Oscars where worthy films actually win). But after finally seeing it, […]