choofnagle

Christoper Rhoads and Loretta Chao report in today's Journal: ...the Iranian government appears to be engaging in a practice often called deep packet inspection, which enables authorities to not only block communication but to monitor it to gather information about individuals, as well as alter it…

Obama's honeymoon is over, and so is my intermittent blogging, because business groups have finally started their machines! Christopher Conkey reports in the Journal: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce said it will spend $100 million in an effort to stem the "rapidly growing influence of government over…

I'm very proud of the Know Privacy team, a group of three students who performed a broad analysis of online privacy issues for their master's project at UC Berkeley's School of Information. The study is featured today on the New York Times Bits blog. Several findings are notable: They found: "From…

San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom has proposed a $0.33 tax on cigarettes to address the problem of cleaning up butts! This follows an audit (PDF) of litter in the city that found cigarette butts to be a major problem (along with chewing gum, and unbranded napkins). The cigarette companies are…

Following up on my earlier post about Beyond Google and Evil, I just came across this article from the Wall Street Journal on one of Google's detractors, Consumer Watchdog. Believe it or not, Google went after their funding! ...In January, Consumer Watchdog circulated a press release alleging a "…

I apologize for the infrequent blogging. A tough semester. I did have time, however, to publish an essay about Google's rhetoric that might be of interest to Denialism readers. No, I'm not calling Google denialist, but am trying to explain what Google means when the company talks about privacy…

We're discussing a junk mail case from the 1970s in my information privacy law case. In Rowan, Justice Burger laments: ...the plethora of mass mailings subsidized by low postal rates, and the growth of the sale of large mailing lists as an industry, in itself, have changed the mailman from a…

This is one to watch. We might all get to learn more about the Harvard-Industrial Complex. The Times reports: Federal prosecutors have issued a subpoena seeking information about the work and statements of three prominent Harvard researchers who have been the focus of a Congressional…

Does this article about the Pennsyltucky judge who was sending kids to jail to collect kickbacks from a private prison remind anyone of the Chevy Chase movie called Nothing But Trouble?

Who cares about moral hazard anymore! AEI, Cato, where are you when we need you? It goes something like this: A group of companies that chose to put lead in children's toys, or to offshore their operations to countries with poor manufacturing controls in order to save money, are now upset that…

Phillip Reese and Andrew McIntosh of the Sacramento Bee report: If you give to a charity over the phone, there's a growing likelihood that most of your donation will go to the telemarketer instead, according to a Bee analysis of state records. More than a third of California charity telemarketing…

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that four young people have been arrested on suspicion that they harassed UCB and UC Santa Cruz animal researchers under the Animal Enterprise Terrorism Act. It is clear from the reporting that law enforcement is taking this issue seriously. The FBI and seven…

If you are socking money away in offshore banks, pay attention to this man's expression. He's saying, you're screwed. Yes, taxpaying citizens, you can rejoice, because tax cheats across the country are having panic attacks. They're thinking about refiling their tax returns, or going to the IRS to…

I'm very pleased with today's decision from the DC Circuit Court of Appeals on recently-strengthened privacy protections for phone records. The short history goes something like this: the FCC created strong opt-in (affirmative consent) provisions for the sharing of phone records (who calls whom,…

Obama has delayed am important political risk: he's pushed back the DTV transition. If the televisions stopped working on February 17th, we would probably have an impeachment trial (as soon as the televisions were back on again).

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that Elephant Pharmacy, a "holistic" drug store has closed and will file for bankruptcy. Why should you care? Elephant was an upscale store based in the Bay Area, the epicenter for wooishness. If this type of business fails here, how well will woo do elsewhere…

I'll be on Minnesota Public Radio this morning with LA Times consumer reporter David Lazarus, talking about identity theft. Here's the preview and I'll post the stream later. I'm going to be talking about my recent articles on identity theft: Identity Theft: Making the Known Unknowns Known and…

The toy companies that moved their production to China in order to save money apparently didn't calculate the full costs of offshoring. Testing their products for lead is just too expensive, they argue. They have successfully lobbied to delay lead testing rules for children's toys. Joseph…

In good Denialism blog form, the San Francisco Chronicle's C. W. Nevius has urged readers to just ignore this week's anti-abortion protest in San Francisco. He makes a good point: This is the fifth year in San Francisco for the "Walk for Life." Bolstered by supporters who are bused in from all…

"All that remains is . . . recognition of a man." Patrick McGoohan, the creator of one of my favorite television series, The Prisoner, has died at 80. The Prisoner was a challenging and entertaining series that explored civil liberties, privacy, individuality, and democracy. My favorite episodes…

Guess what? A natural therapy can cure cancer, but evil doctors don't want to tell you about it, because the medical establishment wants to make money with Mosanto and Dupont rather than cure your illnesses! Watch all about it. Update: Sorry, I missed Orac's successful attack on this thing.…

Sciblings, I really appreciate all of the suggested texts submitted for the Ayn Rand Deprogrammer. If you visit the comment thread, you'll see that the inevitable happened: Objectivists tried to hijack the discussion. I say ignore them. Eyes on the prize: a solid Ayn Rand Deprogrammer. Any…

are brought to you by mental floss. HT to Rebecca Tushnet via Frank Pasquale.

I am really proud of my colleagues here at UC Berkeley for performing a first of its kind (in the US) study of the efficacy of police surveillance cameras. Its findings are limited to San Francisco's system, but it is valuable in thinking through whether and how surveillance cameras should be…

Sciblings, I request your assistance in an important venture. I recently learned that Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead was a top read among UC Berkeley undergrads in 1987 and 1997. This dismaying fact drove me to start assembling a reader, The Ayn Rand Deprogrammer. I've spent the last several weeks…

If you want to get an idea of how crazy the Wall Street Journal editorial board is, read Friday's oped by their senior economist, Stephen Moore. The title itself says a lot: 'Atlas Shrugged': From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years." Some years ago when I worked at the libertarian Cato Institute, we used…

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Jeanne Whalen of the Journal reports that European officials are taking a step towards allowing drug marketing: The European Commission proposed legislation Wednesday that would let drug companies give consumers "objective and nonpromotional" information about their medicines in print and online.…

If you're looking for some fun, family fighting, the place to go is Chuck E. Cheese's. Who knew? The Journal reports: In Brookfield, Wis., no restaurant has triggered more calls to the police department since last year than Chuck E. Cheese's. Officers have been called to break up 12 fights, some…