National Security Letters (NSLs) have been a huge issue since the FBI and has abused them terribly since gaining the power. The worst part is that they include a gag order that prevents you from complaining about it or seeking help.
Not only did a lady win almost $3 million for suing equifax, but now they have to pay another half million in attorney fees. The story is that Equifax refused to fix her credit report after she was a victim of identity theft.
From the "Well flipping duh" committee as assisted by the "It's about freaking time" guild, a NJ court has ruled that we have privacy rights online and that "law enforcement officials need a grand jury warrant to have access to their private information".
The credit reporting industry has opposed such legislation relating to credit report freezes. One concern is that too many states will have different regulations, which would make it difficult for credit reporting bureaus to comply. That's a good argument, and it's why this issue needs to be addressed at the federal level. In the meantime, South Carolina was right to take action on the state level.
Imagine that! Different states have different laws! Oh wah wah, cry me a freaking river! If they wanted to do business in Mexico or Canada, do you think there might be some different laws? It's not as if there aren't companies who do business in tons of different countries in the world successfully despite all the different laws and customs.
This is such a bogus argument, I'm going to have to try to remember not to even bother getting worked up about it anymore.
Wikinews has learned that The Church of Scientology has warned the documents leaking site Wikileaks.org that they are in violation of United States copyright laws after they published several documents related to the Church. Wikileaks has no intentions of complying, and states that in response, they intend to publish thousands of Scientology documents next week.
Though the Virgina legislature examined payday lending, they only solution they brought forth was to limit them as far as interest rates and repayment periods. However, at least one small town has kicked out payday lenders via zoning laws. While this may not rate "big news" it is good news and caught my attention for this alone:
The sole proponent of amending the zoning was Randy Phelps, manager of the Advance America lending store in a nearby town. His company, whose Web site says it operates 2,800 stores nationwide, was seeking to open a cash advance store in a new strip shopping center, part of the town's new Wal-Mart complex.
"We're not evil people," Phelps protested to the council. "We provide a needed service."
"We're not evil people"…. Doesn't that give you chills? If pretending to hold a hand out in friendship while stabbing someone in the back with the other hand isn't evil I don't know what is. Of course, he could be oblivious to his own evil just like some other people.
A British company has developed a camera that can see through clothes, but unlike Backscatter, it doesn't provide pornographic photos of the target.
Depending on the material, the signature of the wave is different, so that explosives can be distinguished from a block of clay and cocaine is different from a bag of flour.
It shoots some rays at the target and reads the response. It's more like a sonar device than a camera and it if works, this will be not only more effective at detecting threats, but also much better for personal privacy.
If just-bought items are stolen out of your car in the parking lot, don't give up hope. The couple in this story went back to the store the items were bought from and warned them that someone would probably try to return them for cash later. That "someone" did and that "someone" was caught and arrested. The couple got their items back too
Comcastmustdie.com is a blog where people are invited to post their customer numbers so Comcast can get in touch with them to resolve issues. Given that people sometimes have vast difficulties that never seem to get resolved over the phone, this is a pretty good idea.
And according to the blog's comments, people have been getting results. It's worth checking out.
Of course, they still have their problems. The existing DNA registry is filled with data from criminals, but also people who were only suspects. Obviously criminals should have a reduced set of privacy rights, but people who have never been convicted is another story entirely. Still, props to the UK for having the brains to reject such a flagrant rights violation.
This one ruling could derail future (and past?) RIAA lawsuits and make filesharing a whole lot safer for the masses. Interestingly enough, the judge also helpfully offered the defendant a bunch of other possible defences that they could have used which the judge (presumably) would have ruled in their favor with.
Well it turns out that it's working well! The TSA has changed a policy that at least one airport put into effect that required passengers to remove all their electronics. It seems that the TSA didn't know it was happened, but stopped the practice.
Say what you want about Arnold, but there has been some really good laws and policies to come out of California since he became governor. Getting rid of payday loan scammers is another great ideal from the "Governator".
For what sounds like a scam if ever there was one, MissingMoney.com appears to be legitimate. The team over at Lifehacker have had a rush of successes listed in their comments after their first post of this service and having tried it myself, I was actually able to find an unclaimed rebate in my name!
For once, someone's using public record to actually help people and that's a good thing.
So I entered my name, found a record with one of my old addresses and clicked the link they gave me. It led to Washington State's web-based unclaimed funds service.
I had to create an account, but that was a simple process. There was a point where they ask for a SSN, but they give you the option of providing it offline (which I thought was a nice touch).
Afterward, they asked me to submit any kind of record that shows that I lived at that address (which I did) and it was a done deal. In theory, I should get my money in a while. I will update this page at that time.
Of course, if you do this, make sure that you're not providing sensitive documents as proof.
Update 1 - I checked for just about everyone I know, but it seems they're not hooked into every state yet. I just forwarded my friends and family to their local state's unclaimed property page for now, but if missing money manages to complete this service, it will be very valuable to people who have moved a lot.
Update 2 - According to the state unclaimed property site, my family has almost 10 claims! A few are for over $50 too. This is fun! I wonder how soon missing money will be hooked into all the states?
Update 3 - Got my rebate. It's for just over $30. Pretty neat.
I can't remember the last time I heard of a good decision being made in relation to Bush's name, but here's one. The budget will be posted online to save money and ease access by people wanting to browse through the monolithic document.
The RIAA has been able to run free for years suing just about anyone it can using dubious legal methods. Well, their glory days may be over. The Free Software Foundation has pledged funds to "pay fees and/or expenses of technical expert witnesses, forensic examiners, and other technical consultants assisting individuals named as defendants in non-commercial, peer-to-peer file sharing cases brought by the RIAA, EMI, SONY BMG, Vivendi Universal, and Warner Bros. Records, and their affiliated companies, such as Interscope, Arista, UMG, Fonovisa, Motown, Atlantic, Priority, and others".
