Wildlife campaigners are backing calls for the New Zealand government to support an industry that turns the alien brush-tailed possum species into coats and socks
The NSW Government has backed off repealing controversial internet censorship laws, putting the legislation in the deep freeze while it waits for a federal review
Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon and two legislators announced a plan to make spam illegal in the same way that the state already has put a stop to millions of unwanted telephone calls: through a No-Call Law
In a unique crackdown on illegal file-sharing, a Danish anti-piracy group mailed invoices to alleged pirates demanding compensation for downloading copyrighted materials off the Internet
The US Government has moved to relax emissions restrictions on older, mainly coal-fired power plants, drawing praise from the power industry but criticism from environmentalists
The increasing use of the internet by political activists could provide valuable lessons for the UK Government
The Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, has opted to switch to Linux from Microsoft for its Gyandooth programme — via Slashdot
The Japanese government is considering abandoning Windows in a plan to boost computer security within the government. The government is very interested in alternatives, especially Linux — via Slashdot
The Federal Privacy Commissioner is expected to get tough with business over privacy breaches in response to a record quadrupling of formal complaints in the past year
Homosexuals are to be offered legally-registered civil partnerships under UK Government plans to give them the same rights as married couples
The Federal Government has given its blessing to Commonwealth departments and agencies to investigate and adopt open-source software
The Federal Government has asked the telecommunications watchdog to investigate claims that Telstra provided misleading information to a Senate inquiry and the Victorian Supreme Court. The allegation has been made by a group of small business owners who have been involved in a long-running dispute with Telstra over telephone faults
A federal appeals court in San Francisco ruled that the government cannot revoke doctors’ prescription licenses for recommending marijuana to sick patients
With the US national elections just around the corner, Opensecrets.org, a web site focusing on Responsive Politics
recently published lobbying and donations info for the 2002 elections to date. They have a breakdown of Microsoft’s individual dossier, also, looking at the Top Donations by Industry
, Microsoft is, conspicuously, the only entry under Computers/Internet
— via Slashdot
Despite an FDA investigator’s public concern, the agency okays an implantable chip for humans — as long as it’s for security and safety reasons. No sooner had the ink dried on the FDA’s curiously quick approval of an implantable human chip than the company that produces it launches a national marketing campaign
The head of the National Security Agency said last week that Congress might want to aim the most powerful surveillance system in the world at American citizens. Lieutenant General Michael Hayden said the ongoing terrorist threat means America needs to debate where to draw the line between foreign and domestic surveillance. Currently the NSA is prohibited from spying domestically
Top US science advisers say that anti-terrorism security measures have caused scientific information to disappear from the Internet
Sean Penn weighed in on the international debate over a possible war with Iraq, paying for a US$56,000 advertisement in the Washington Post accusing the retarded monkey boy of stifling debate and threatening civil liberties
Conservative peers and bishops joined forces in the Lords last night to block Government plans to allow unmarried, homosexual and lesbian couples to adopt children
A new coalition — the Pacific Alliance for Wild Wolves — is forming to fight an anticipated reduction in federal protections for wolves that could migrate back into California, Nevada, Oregon and Washington from a population reintroduced in northern Idaho
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