GovTechGuy - Slashdot User

Submission + - Online poker legalization bill coming next week (thehill.com)

Submitted by GovTechGuy on Friday June 17, 2011 @01:59PM

GovTechGuy writes: Rep. Joe Barton (R-Texas) could introduce his bill to legalize online poker as soon as next week. The bill would legalize the game in all 50 states but sites could only be set up in states where gambling is already legal, so they can be licensed through existing gaming commissions. States could choose to opt-out of the law and ban online poker by referendum or a vote of the state legislature. The bill would also create a federal regulatory body to oversee the game.

Submission + - Bill would make streaming movies online a felony (thehill.com) 1

Submitted by GovTechGuy on Thursday June 16, 2011 @08:58PM

GovTechGuy writes: The Senate Judiciary Committee reported a bill from Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) that would make it a felony to illegally stream movies online. S. 978 would punish 10 or more instances of streaming copyrighted works for commercial purposes over a 180-day period with up to five years in prison. Cracking down on online piracy and illegal streaming has broad support from both parties and the White House.

Submission + - Federal CIO Kundra leaves a mixed record (thehill.com)

Submitted by GovTechGuy on Thursday June 16, 2011 @05:30PM

GovTechGuy writes: Federal chief information officer Vivek Kundra will leave a mixed track record of progress when he leaves the Obama administration later this summer. Kundra will head to Harvard University in mid-August to serve as a joint fellow at the Kennedy School of Government and the Berkman Center for Internet and Society. Upon taking office Kundra quickly established himself as a champion of outsourcing federal web applications to the cloud in order to reduce costs and increase flexibility. But other high-profile projects championed by Kundra have drawn criticism, such as the online data warehouse Data.gov.

Submission + - Franken bill would protect consumers location data (thehill.com)

Submitted by GovTechGuy on Wednesday June 15, 2011 @02:37PM

GovTechGuy writes: Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) unveiled a new bill on Wednesday that would require firms like Apple and Google to obtain consent from consumers before collecting or sharing their smartphone location data with third parties. The bill would cover all mobile devices including tablets and require firms to inform consumers when they collect their data and allow them to delete it when requested.

Submission + - Lulzsec Ties FBI Detroit Phones (twitter.com)

Submitted by

ctrimm

on Wednesday June 15, 2011 @01:52PM

ctrimm writes: "At approximately 1pm EST, Lulzsec tweeted that everyone should call their number (614LULZSEC), for a fun surprise. A couple minutes later the group reports that magnets.com customer support was going insane. After magnets.com, the group moved on to World of Warcraft customer support and then to the FBI Detroit office. They are currently taking requests of who to "Phone DDoS" next."

Submission + - Chambliss release first Senate iPhone app (thehill.com)

Submitted by GovTechGuy on Wednesday June 15, 2011 @12:37PM

GovTechGuy writes: Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.) released an official application for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, making him the first Senator to offer an official mobile application. The Chambliss app allows the public to call Chambliss' offices directly from the app and find in real-time information on the Senator's positions on current political topics.

Submission + - Former White House spokesman joins Facebook (thehill.com)

Submitted by GovTechGuy on Tuesday June 14, 2011 @10:55PM

GovTechGuy writes: Facebook has hired former White House press secretary Joe Lockhart to serve as vice president of global communications, the company announced late Tuesday. Lockhart is currently the founding partner and managing director of the Glover Park Group, a Washington-based communications firm. He will join Facebook July 15 and start off splitting time between D.C. and California before eventually moving to the West Coast full-time. He is the latest high-profile Washington insider to join the social networking giant, which has drawn increasing scrutiny from lawmakers ahead of the upcoming debate on consumer privacy legislation. He will manage the corporate, policy and international communications teams.

Submission + - Senators wants answer on Playstation Network (thehill.com)

Submitted by GovTechGuy on Tuesday April 26, 2011 @02:34PM

GovTechGuy writes: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) wrote to Sony Tuesday calling the firm's lack of updates or disclosure on the attack that took down the Playstation Network last week "troubling." Blumenthal wants Sony to pay for free credit reports and insurance for affected consumers for up to two years.

Submission + - Sen. Kerry: Online privacy bill coming soon (thehill.com)

Submitted by GovTechGuy on Thursday March 31, 2011 @12:36PM

GovTechGuy writes: The settlement announced Wednesday between Google and the Federal Trade Commission underscores the need for legislation that outlines how businesses can use consumer information collected online, according to a statement from Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.).

“Baseline privacy protections in law remain common sense and this case proves it,” Kerry said. “Google has admitted error, but Google is far from alone in the collection, use, and distribution of immense amounts of our information.

Kerry, who heads the Senate Commerce Committee's Communications subcommittee, is currently working on a privacy bill that he has promised to deliver this year. The White House has signaled its support for online privacy legislation as well, while the FTC has recommended firms take voluntary measures to protect consumers, such as adding Do Not Track tools to Web browsers.

Submission + - RIM will remove drunk-driving BlackBerry apps (thehill.com)

Submitted by GovTechGuy on Wednesday March 23, 2011 @04:12PM

GovTechGuy writes: The maker of the BlackBerry line of smartphones has agreed to remove applications that assist drivers in evading DUI checkpoints after pressure from Senate Democrats.

Research in Motion said it would comply by Wednesday with a request from Senate Democrats that it get rid of the application. Democrats who had pressed for the action quickly hailed the move.

Submission + - More than half of adults get political news online (thehill.com)

Submitted by GovTechGuy on Thursday March 17, 2011 @02:20PM

GovTechGuy writes: A new survey from the Pew Research Center shows more than half of U.S. adults used the Internet for political reasons during the last election cycle. According to Pew's Internet & American Life project, 54 percent of adults (73 percent of adult Web users) went online to get news or become involved in a campaign during the 2010 midterm elections. Thirty-two percent got most of their news on the campaign from online sources. In addition, 22 percent of online adults use Twitter or another social networking site for political purposes in 2010.

Submission + - Bill would mean free WiFi in all federal buildings (thehill.com)

Submitted by GovTechGuy on Saturday December 04, 2010 @03:48AM

GovTechGuy writes: Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Mark Warner (D-Va.) introduced legislation on Friday that would require all public federal buildings to install WiFi base stations in order to free up cell phone networks.

The Federal Wi-Net Act would mandate the installation of small WiFi base stations in all publicly accessible federal buildings in order to increase wireless coverage and free up mobile networks. The bill would require all new buildings under construction to comply and all older buildings to be retrofitted by 2014. It also orders $15 million from the Federal Buildings Fund be allocated to fund the installations.

FTC Proposes Do Not Track List For the Web 173

Posted by samzenpus on Wednesday December 01, 2010 @04:06PM from the don't-follow dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The Federal Trade Commission proposed allowing consumers to opt out of having their online activities tracked on Wednesday as part of the agency's preliminary report on consumer privacy. FTC chairman Jon Leibowitz said he would prefer for the makers of popular web browsers to come up with a setting on their own that would allow consumers to opt out of having their browsing and search habits tracked."

FCC To Vote On Net Neutrality On December 21 319

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday December 01, 2010 @11:41AM from the get-your-voice-on dept.

GovTechGuy writes "The FCC just released its tentative agenda for the December 21st open meeting, where the Commission will vote on whether to adopt rules to preserve net neutrality. According to the agenda the FCC will consider 'adopting basic rules of the road to preserve the open Internet as a platform for innovation, investment, competition, and free expression.' House Republicans have already promised to oppose any solution put forth by FCC chairman Julius Genachowski."

Submission + - FCC to vote on net neutrality on December 21 (thehill.com)

Submitted by GovTechGuy on Wednesday December 01, 2010 @01:27AM

GovTechGuy writes: The FCC just released its tentative agenda for the December 21st open meeting, where the Commission will vote on whether to adopt rules to preserve net neutrality. According to the agenda the FCC will consider "adopting basic rules of the road to preserve the open Internet as a platform for innovation, investment, competition, and free expression." House Republicans have already promised to oppose any solution put forth by FCC chairman Julius Genachowski.

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