Author Archives: Michael Froomkin

TSA Wants to Opt-Out of All Oversight for ‘Secure Flight’

Posted on August 15, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Bruce Schneier has a good analysis of the latest horrible idea to emerge from the TSA.

Schneier on Security: Secure Flight News

According to Wired News, the DHS is looking for someone in Congress to sponsor a bill that eliminates congressional oversight over the Secure Flight program.

The bill would allow them to go ahead with the program regardless of GAO’s assessment. (Current law requires them to meet ten criteria set by Congress; the most recent GAO report said that they did not meet nine of them.) The bill would allow them to use commercial data even though they have not demonstrated its effectiveness. (The DHS funding bill passed by both the House and the Senate prohibits them from using commercial data during passenger screening, because there has been absolutely no test results showing that it is effective.)

In this new bill, all that would be required to go ahead with Secure Flight would be for Secretary Chertoff to say so.

There’s lots more.

Posted in Civil Liberties | 1 Comment

Pictures of Camp Casey

Posted on August 14, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Cryptome carries photos of Cindy Sheehan’s Bush Ranch Protest. Her campaign is getting lots of coverage in the press and a lot of national support. Digby has the best theory I’ve seen yet as to why so many people support Cindy Sheehan, and why, as he puts it, “she’s driving the Republicans crazy” (example).

Posted in Iraq | 3 Comments

Random Notes from the Florida Supreme Committee on Privacy and Court Records

Posted on August 12, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

I am in Orlando today, attending yet another we-hope final meeting of the Florida Supreme Court's Committee on Privacy and Court Records, being held in the beautiful Orange County courthouse. It's nice to see a building buck the trend towards cheap and ugly public buildings, a trend most visible in the ghastly prison-like high schools dotting the landscape.

The court building, or at least the conference room, has a wireless network, but outsiders are firewalled out from it. I found a plug and jacked into it. Internet access! But even there, there's a “Websense” proxy or firewall. Why would the court want to prevent its employees from using gmail?

Posted in Internet | 2 Comments

The Price of Water

Posted on August 12, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Bottle of Dasani (glorified tap water) in Orlando Marriott hotel room: $3.

Slightly smaller bottle of Dasani in hotel vending machine down the hall: $1.

Glass of water from tap, or ice water from hotel bar: $0

Posted in Econ & Money | 2 Comments

Fleeting Fame For a Price

Posted on August 11, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

Cool fundraising: Sixteen noted authors will auction the right to have your name (or in some cases the name of a willing designate) be affixed to a minor character, a storefront, or otherwise appear in an upcoming novel. All proceeds benefit the First Amendment Project. (via Copyfight).

I love Neil Gaiman, but all in all do I want my name on a fictional tombstone? Probably not.

Posted in Internet | 1 Comment

NewSpeak Reigns in DC

Posted on August 11, 2005 by Michael Froomkin

The Carpetbagger carps,

How ‘free’ will our ‘Freedom Walk’ be? There are any number of reasons to find the upcoming “America Supports You Freedom Walk” disconcerting. This is an event, organized by Rumsfeld’s Defense Department, which will honor the fourth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks with a “freedom walk” from the Pentagon’s parking lot, past Arlington National Cemetery, to the reflecting pool on the National Mall. …

Some have said that this is ham-fisted nationalism gone awry. Others have noted the distastefulness of exploiting the attacks like this. Salon mentioned the less-than-subtle effort to connect 9/11 to Iraq. ….

But here’s the part that caught my attention: to participate in the “Freedom Walk,” you’ll need to register with the Department of Defense. …

That’s right, in order to participate in a government-sponsored “Freedom Walk” on public streets past public monuments, from one outdoor public landmark to another, you have to give your name address, phone number, and email address to the Pentagon.

Double plus ungood.

Posted in Civil Liberties | 3 Comments