Even lawyers can be victims... Note that this is the entire story – what do you suppose they had on their computers?
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-mcfbriefs24_507jan24,0,6292858.story?coll=orl-news-headlines-orange
Law firm robbed
January 24, 2007
Orlando -- Thieves made off with 18 laptop computers from one of Orlando's most prominent law firms late Monday or early Tuesday, stealing them from the 19th floor of the AmSouth building downtown.
The theft was from the offices of Foley & Lardner LLP. In a statement, the firm said business operations were not affected and client information was safeguarded. It said the computers automatically encrypt data and render information on them unusable to others. [Remember, this could be a “bet the business” level risk. Bob
Management had no clue?
http://www.blogs.oregonlive.com/oregonian/businessupdates/default.asp?item=449134
Xerox workers discover months-old data theft
Posted by The Oregonian business desk January 22, 2007 14:43
A union representing Xerox Corp. workers in Wilsonville said today that the technology company failed for months to alert them to a records breach that affected about 300 current and former employees.
Members of UNITE HERE Local 14Z said a laptop stolen from a locked vehicle at a human resource manager's home last fall contained an unencrypted file with social security numbers, pay figures and home addresses of 300 current and former employees.
The theft occurred in late August, but union officials said Xerox didn't inform employees of the breach until Dec. 18.
"They should've at least erred on the side of caution and let us know," said Anthony Irwin, a union steward and manufacturing worker at Xerox. Irwin said that since October, his social security number has been used without his approval to open eight cellphone accounts with three different carriers. "It's cost me time and effort. I didn't know what was going on."
Xerox spokeswoman Erin Isselmann said the delay occurred because the company had to conduct a forensic examination of the laptop's files. [Which they don't have? Bob] The laptop was not backed up, she said, requiring Xerox to contact everyone who had e-mailed the Xerox employee to track the laptop's contents.
The personnel data was attached to an e-mail that had been sent more than a year earlier, Issellman said. She said the laptop's contents are password protected. Xerox employs 1,800 in Oregon, including 1,600 in Wilsonville, but the theft affected only the 300 union members.
Xerox has offered to provide one year of daily reports of affected workers' credit ratings. Isselmann said Irwin has been unwilling to work with Xerox in investigating his claims.
"It's going to be hard to figure out if that was ever tied to this," she said.
http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/544949
Vital NSSF data stolen
Publication date: Tuesday, 23rd January, 2007 spotlight@newvision.co.ug BY F. AHIMBISIBWE
THE Police are investigating an incident in which over 36 computers of the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) were vandalised and their hard disks stolen amid fears that vital information could have been lost.
The Head of the Fraud Unit, John Bwango, said yesterday unknown thugs broke into the NSSF offices at Amamu House located on George Street and destroyed the computers before extracting their operating systems. [Not your typical “let's steal a computer” then... Bob]
He said the incident, which took place ‘some days before Christmas’, hinted at an inside job.
... NSSF communications and marketing manager, Charles Muhoozi, downplayed the incident.
“Our operations department confirmed that it was a small incident which can not affect our operations,” he said. [See, self-serving PR is not limited to US business... Bob]
... NSSF has over one million registered members.
This is a follow-up...
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/business/business.php?story=241942
Insurer’s customer data was swiped
Identity-theft concern is low, Nationwide says
By Denise Trowbridge The Columbus Dispatch Wednesday, January 24, 2007
The personal information of tens of thousands of Nationwide customers has been stolen.
The company said yesterday that a lockbox of backup tapes containing the personal data of 28,279 Nationwide Health Plans customers, most in central Ohio, was stolen from the Waymouth, Mass., office of Concentra Preferred Systems.
... In the Nationwide case, the tapes contained medical claim information, health data and Social Security numbers.
... The theft occurred Oct. 26 and Nationwide was made aware of the incident two weeks later. Letters notifying customers were mailed last week by the company. A notice about the theft appeared on Concentra's Web site Dec. 1.
... Nationwide determined that the risk of identity theft as a result of this incident is very low, Switzer said.
... Ohio law requires companies to notify customers of data breaches within 45 days, but only if the company believes there is a "material risk of identity theft."
... Still, customers are usually mad when they find out months later that their data was compromised, said Paul Stephens, policy analyst with the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse in San Diego.
"It shouldn't take that long to notify customers," he said, but businesses "have no financial incentive to tell them" about a breach.
... The stolen tapes also contained personal information for participants in several other health-insurance plans, including 130,000 Aetna and 42,000 Group Health Insurance customers, according to the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
Those companies notified customers of the breach in mid-December.
Here's a quick analysis from Gartner...
http://www.gartner.com/DisplayDocument?doc_cd=145963&ref=g_homelink
TJX Retailer Data Attack Points to Need for Bank Action
23 January 2007 Avivah Litan
Cyber thieves have stolen customer data from a large retail chain. Banks must also own up to this problem and change their payment systems so that, even if data is stolen, it is useless to the thieves.
tjx_retailer_da...pdf (114.8KB)
This didn't take long...
http://www.suntimes.com/news/politics/224519,CST-NWS-data23.article
Social Security data puts 1.3 mil. voters at risk: suit
Elections Board hit with suit over breach
January 23, 2007 BY ART GOLAB Staff Reporter
The release of more than 1.3 million registered voters' Social Security numbers by the Chicago Board of Elections has triggered a class action lawsuit, which was filed Monday in County Circuit Court.
Lead plaintiff in the suit is 43rd Ward aldermanic candidate Peter Zelchenko, who discovered the security breach and who also uncovered a similar problem last October on the board's Web site. The most recent release of at least 100 compact discs to alderman and ward committeemen, with another six discs unaccounted for, was revealed on Monday in the Sun-Times.
The suit, filed by attorney Nicholas Kefalos, alleges the board violated the Illinois Personal Information Protection Act and seeks unspecified compensation for all Chicago voters whose Social Security numbers were disclosed.
"Actual damages could be $50 or $100 for each person to at least establish a credit watch," Kefalos said.
The CDs also included birth dates, phone numbers and addresses.
"You couldn't have come up with a better threat for identity fraud if you had orchestrated it," [“IF?” This is Chicago! Bob] Zelchenko said.
Law requires notification
But board spokesman Tom Leach said most of the CDs were distributed three years ago, and that since then there has been "absolutely no evidence" of identity theft. [Perhaps they just didn't know who was responsible? Bob]
"We don't want the message to get out that there should be panic in the streets," Leach said.
The board is attempting to retrieve the discs.
Though required by law to notify voters of the breach, Leach said the board will not do so individually, but will instead advertise. [Does this meet the requirements of the law? Bob]
So, right now, voters have no way of knowing whether their information was exposed.
But since the board stopped collecting full Social Security numbers about three years ago, those who registered earlier are at greater risk.
Plaintiff's site may aid voters
Kefalos said that people who register with Zelchenko's Web site, Re4m.org, will be notified if their Social Security numbers were exposed as soon as the courts give permission.
He intends to file a similar suit in federal court today.
In a separate action, other class action lawsuits were filed against the Chicago Board of Elections in Cook County and federal courts by Meliza Aldea, Romeo Aldea and Robert Green, noting concerns about privacy rights.
If all it takes is to call them stupid, the world would be a much safer place...
http://www.cokepubandbar.co.uk/CokePubandBar/lic_news.jsp?article=18040745
Cops cut red tape on hooligan photos
(23/01/2007 : 17:00:31)
A police force has backed down on its ban on releasing photographs of known pub hooligans following protests that it was barmy. [Okay, you have to use the British term for stupid... Bob]
As reported here last week, Greater Manchester Police had previously said that releasing photos could breech data protection laws and could be abused, a decision that stunned licensees who wanted to keep out troublemakers.
“Let's build a system that allows you to 'guess' at valid SSANs and the government will then confirm they are valid.” Oh, great!
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0107/012307cdam2.htm
Lawmakers decry firewall limiting DHS agency's investigations
By Terry Kivlan, CongressDaily
Stung by federal immigration raids on Swift and Company meat-packing plants in their states, a group of senators vowed Monday to tear down the legal wall limiting the Homeland Security Department's access to Social Security information.
Due to the wall, the department's "Basic Pilot" database for checking the employment eligibility of newly hired non-citizens allows employers to weed out only workers using false Social Security numbers, not actual numbers obtained through identification theft.
... Current law bars the Social Security Administration from giving information on applicants to the Social Security system who were rejected because their numbers might have been obtained through fraud. Since the information comes from tax returns, it is protected by IRS privacy rules, said SSA spokesman Mark Lassiter.
This got me thinking... Should I set a number of challenges for my “How to Hack” class, such that they MUST break in to each to get an “A?”
http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=63092
Students hack into school system, change grades
written by: Jeffrey Wolf , Web Producer and Nelson Garcia , Reporter created: 1/12/2007 9:37:35 PM Last updated: 1/12/2007 10:34:03 PM
Students hacked into Golden High School's computer system and changed grades. 9NEWS at 10 p.m. January 12, 2007.
GOLDEN – All is not golden at Colorado’s oldest school. Administrators are investigating reports that hackers got into Golden High School’s computer system and changed grades.
Students say it’s causing lots of confusion and frustration at the end of the first semester.
“I think it's pretty extreme and almost pathetic really,” said Jamie Hamilton, a senior.
Investigators are looking into whether students hacked into the campus portal system, which is meant to give parents access to grades, schedules and attendance records.
“People started giving themselves A’s,” said Hamilton.
“And everyone was getting accused of doing it,” said Hannah LaFalche, a sophomore. [Because there are no records? Bob]
Golden High School students say the hackers changed the grades for themselves and others just before winter break and the end of the first semester.
“I didn’t think students could get in so easily,” said Brooke Palmer, a sophomore.
Students’ reactions range from frustration to amusement.
“I think it’s kind of sad that people feel they have to cheat like that,” said Hamilton.
“Pretty naughty, but I give them props for getting in,” said a laughing Palmer.
Administrators do not even know how many grades may have been changed. [Typically, ANY change to a database should be logged, if only for backup purposes... Bob] It could be low as 15 students or as high as 200.
Students are now being asked to go back and prove what grade they should be receiving.
“The teachers don’t know what to do because they don’t keep their hard files, they just keep them on the computers,” said LaFalche.
Students say teachers are asking them to bring back what they can; tests, notebooks, anything and everything.
“That was a big deal, having to bring back all of your homework,” said LaFalche.
Jefferson County Schools Superintendent Cindy Stevenson declined to go on camera for 9NEWS but says her staff is working hard to find out how it happened. When they do, she says security will be improved.
The district will not say if any students have been caught or how many are suspected of hacking into the system.
Stevenson says parents can have confidence in the integrity of the campus portal system. [Nonsense! Bob]
Golden students say they wonder if they can have confidence in their grades.
...but then, it may already be a national sport...
http://www.toledofreepress.com/?id=4718
Clay High School student hacks into Oregon schools data
By Autumn Lee Toledo Free Press Staff Writer
Oregon City Schools Superintendent John Hall confirmed an information security breech occurred Jan. 12 when a Clay High School student obtained confidential student and staff information through inappropriate means.
Hall has sent out letters notifying the local community about the incident.
Hall said the student, who he didn't name, shared with another student that he or she had accessed the information. The student who learned of this told a staff member midday.
The administration immediately investigated the situation and has taken the computers pertinent to the incident for analysis. [Must be considerd in your Disaster Planning... How many can you afford to lose? Bob] The administration learned the student had transferred the information to portable 30-gigabyte storage device. That device has been confiscated. [Unless the student swapped them... Bob]
... Zale said she has some forensic analysis work to do on some of the high school's computers. She confirmed that Oregon police are now in possession of the student's portable storage device. From investigation work she has completed, she has ascertained the student's external device has district-wide personal information, such as names, addresses, birthdays and Social Security numbers of students, and information on Clay faculty and staff. [No mention of a notice to those impacted? Bob]
Shouldn't you know what a “Critical communication” will look like? I would want them flagged and sent to AT LEAST one human.
http://digg.com/tech_news/Google_lost_domain_because_they_didn_t_deny_an_automated_transfer_request
Google lost domain because they didn't deny an automated transfer request
Yesterday Google lost its German domain google.de for several hours when they failed to respond to an automated transfer request. A user of web hosting startup Goneo had claimed to be the owner of the domain and tried to transfer it to the hoster. DeNIC, the registry for the .de TLD, asked Google and read their lack of reply as OK (common practice)
http://news.monstersandcritics.com/business/news/article_1250365.php/Googles_German_site_briefly_hijacked
Today, my loyalty cards. Tomorrow, your RFID credit cards!
http://digg.com/software/Sweet_webapp_consolidates_all_your_shoppers_club_cards_into_a_single_card
Sweet webapp consolidates all your shoppers club cards into a single card!!
"The goal is to fix the problem of having to carry around tens of loyalty, discount, and club cards every time I go shopping. I finally broke down and created this page when I realized my wallet was way too thick and 3/4 of the thickness was from the various supermarket and other loyalty cards."
http://www.justoneclubcard.com/
A “grate” idea? Business opportunities are where you find them...
http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20070123005258&newsLang=en
January 23, 2007 08:00 AM Eastern Time
TrustedID Unveils World’s First Free Search Engine To Check For Theft of Personal Information
Consumers can search more than 2 million pieces of compromised information including credit cards and social security numbers
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--TrustedID, a leading provider of identity management and protection solutions, today announced the first-ever free global service that allows consumers to check a secure database to find out if their personal information has been stolen or compromised. The new service -- StolenID Search -- is powered by the world’s largest aggregation of stolen and compromised data and contains more than 2 million pieces of information. [Where did they get this? Bob]
... StolenID Search will initially cover two types of information: credit cards and social security numbers. Individuals can enter their information into a secure search engine (www.stolenidsearch.com) -- to learn if any of their information has been stolen or compromised.
On the other hand...
http://techdirt.com/articles/20070123/094946.shtml
Identity Theft Search Engine Not Such A Wise Idea
from the look,-there's-me dept
With all of the data breaches that have been in the news lately, it's understandable that many people would like to know if their personal information was part of the lost data (hint: it probably was). To meet this need, a new site is offering a way for users to search a database of social security numbers and credit cards that have been exposed. This seems problematic for several reasons. As some are pointing out, it seems dangerous to get internet users into the habit of submitting their personal data on the internet to anyone but the most trusted sites. Even if this particular site is completely legitimate, its mere existence will probably spawn shadier imitators. Furthermore, because the site also offers anti-identity theft solutions, that require the user to enter in more personal information, its own database is likely to be a juicy target for attackers. And then there's the problem of what the user is to do once they see their social security number in the database. Obviously the site would like people to sign up for its own service, but barring that, there's no obvious next step after someone discovers that at some point their personal data may have been disclosed. While monitoring may be an important tool in combating identity theft, throwing a service out there as a come on for a specific identity theft solution, does not seem like a particularly good idea.
Isn't this what that other King George did?
http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/24/0024258&from=rss
US Attorney General Questions Habeas Corpus
Posted by kdawson on Tuesday January 23, @08:33PM from the exact-words dept. The Courts United States Politics
spiedrazer writes "In yet another attempt to create legitimacy for the Bush Administration's many questionable legal practices, US attorney General Alberto Gonzales actually had the audacity to argue before a Congressional committee that the US Constitution doesn't explicitly bestow habeas corpus rights on US citizens. In his view it merely says when the so-called Great Writ can be suspended, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the rights are granted. The Attorney General was being questioned by Sen. Arlen Specter at a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on Jan. 18. THe MSM are not covering this story but Colbert is (click on the fourth video down, 'Exact Words')."
From the Baltimore Chronicle and Sentinel commentary: "While Gonzales's statement has a measure of quibbling precision to it, his logic is troubling because it would suggest that many other fundamental rights that Americans hold dear (such as free speech, freedom of religion, and the right to assemble peacefully) also don't exist because the Constitution often spells out those rights in the negative. It boggles the mind the lengths this administration will go to to systematically erode the rights and privileges we have all counted on and held up as the granite pillars of our society since our nation was founded."
Might as well challenge all of those pesky amendments.
http://www.pogowasright.org/article.php?story=2007012406142548
Consent Searches and the Fourth Amendment: What's Wrong With "Apparent" Consent? (commentary)
Wednesday, January 24 2007 @ 06:29 AM CST - Contributed by: PrivacyNews - In the Courts
On January 11, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed a lower court's refusal to suppress a criminal defendant's password-protected computer files. The police had located the files in question during a warrantless search of the defendant's computer, authorized by his wife.
The court found that the wife, on the facts, lacked actual authority to consent to the search in question, but, it determined, because the police reasonably believed that she had had the requisite authority, the search did not violate the Fourth Amendment.
The case provides a useful illustration of why the "apparent authority to consent" doctrine does not keep faith with the protection of privacy guaranteed in the Fourth Amendment.
Source - FindLaw
Attorney Stephen Rynerson an all around smart guy (I mean wise guy – only not in the New Jersey sense)... Anyway, Stephen suggests this video clip might be of interest. He says, “The President and Attorney General are apparently not Andy Griffith fans (it has audio, so turn on your speakers if necessary)”
http://www.youtube.com/v/4CvoC551i2E
Tales of the future?
http://techdirt.com/articles/20070123/123753.shtml
Evidence Of Tremendous Fraud Found In Brazilian E-Voting System
from the no-major-problems,-huh? dept
Just as we point to claims from some think tanks that e-voting works great as is, and things like verifiable paper trails aren't needed, there are reports coming out suggesting that there was a massive amount of fraud in the latest Brazilian elections, which made extensive use of e-voting machines. The reports claim that more than one-third of the e-voting machines used in the state of Alagoas show signs of manipulation.
The number of ballots stored by the machines is less than the number of voters.
Some of the votes apparently come from e-voting machines that don't exist, and
some machines appear not to have registered a single vote.
Are those think tanks going to explain this away as "user error" as well?
Trends...
http://www.technewsworld.com/rsstory/55316.html
Report: Cybercriminals Favor Web Browser Attacks
By Fred J. Aun TechNewsWorld 01/23/07 10:58 AM PT
A new report from global IT security company Sophos says that hackers are moving away from the devious practice of using e-mail attachments as conduits for virus attacks and increasing Web browser attacks. The report also says the United States tops the list of nations having computers that are both spewing e-mail spam and hosting bad Web sites.
Bad news outweighs the good in the new "Threat Report 2007" issued Monday by Sophos, the global IT security company. [Registration required to download Bob]
The good news, which might provide significant hope, is that computer users are finally refraining from opening attachments connected to unsolicited e-mail.
Because of that, according to Sophos, hackers are moving away from the devious practice of using those attachments as conduits for virus attacks. Sophos said it found only one e-mail for every 337 was infected in 2006, while one in 44 were infected in 2005.
Heeding Warnings
The figures prove that repeatedly warning people about something can eventually work, according to Ron O'Brien, a senior security analyst for Sophos.
"The single most effective defense that the public can aspire to is education," O'Brien told TechNewsWorld. "We see that in the e-mail space. The typical user is not as likely to click on an attachment in an e-mail from an unknown source. That's taken a number of years to become a common practice."
The bad news documented in the Sophos report is that the criminals didn't give up. As the effectiveness of infected e-mail declined, the hackers began focusing their nefarious efforts on Web browsers.
... While it's good that people aren't clicking as often on e-mail attachments, the danger posed by clicking on spammed URLs or browsing the Web with unprotected computers is significant. Merely visiting a bad site is all it takes to infect a PC, O'Brien noted. "All you have to do is click on it," he said.
... General Web browsing is becoming more risky, agreed Natalie Lambert, a senior analyst with Forrester Research. "I think malicious code writers are really refocusing their efforts on ways to infect as many computers as possible in the shortest amount of time," she said. "There's a lot of money to be made in creating malware these days."
The debate continues...
http://www.lessig.org/blog/archives/003686.shtml
Paul Heald’s free data about free culture
University of Georgia Professor Paul Heald has been working for a long time to understand the right balance in copyright. He’s got a fantastic new empirical study posted at SSRN that evaluates the effect on access from work passing into the public domain. Recall one argument for extending a copyright term is that it gives the copyright owner incentives to keep old works alive. Heald tests this hypothesis by looking at the availability of best sellers after the pass into the public domain.
The study is interestingly rich, and the conclusions are interestingly contingent. But the bottom line for books is that a work’s passing into the public domain increases access at a lower price. Or put differently: if you want to make sure the classics are preserved, the public domain is a good tool to do just that.
The paper has not been published yet. But consistent with the ideals of science, Heald is making all the data freely available so others can test the hypothesis. The data is being housed at Science Commons just now. So download (paper/data), test, re-test, and see if Heald is right.
One thing’s for sure, however: this is the right way to make scientific knowledge available. Bravo, Professor Heald.
Towards automated lawyers...
http://news.com.com/2100-1030_3-6152761.html?part=rss&tag=2547-1_3-0-5&subj=news
Police blotter: Heirs sue over will-making software
By Declan McCullagh Story last modified Wed Jan 24 06:07:32 PST 2007
"Police blotter" is a weekly News.com report on the intersection of technology and the law.
What: Insurance agent sued for "unauthorized practice of law" after he uses Quicken software to help a 91-year-old woman create a will.
When: Supreme Court of South Carolina rules on January 22.
Outcome: Use of computer software ruled to be "unauthorized practice of law."
What happened, according to court documents:
Ernest Chavis is a South Carolina insurance agent who previously had some business dealings with a 91-year-old woman named Annie Belle Weiss. On July 20, 2004, Chavis visited her and, at some point in the conversation, Weiss asked him "Can you help me make a will?"
Weiss said she was asking because she wanted "someone objective" and told Chavis how she wanted her property divided up. Chavis used Quicken software--apparently Quicken WillMaker or Quicken Family Lawyer--to fill in the blanks and then brought the completed will to her in the hospital. Weiss signed it on July 31, 2004, and died two months later.
What makes this case relevant to Police Blotter is the question of whether Chavis was engaging in the unauthorized practice of law by typing information into the Quicken program.
Beth Franklin and Julianne Franklin, Weiss' grand-nieces, filed a lawsuit contesting her will and claiming Chavis engaged in the unauthorized practice of law, or UPL. Chavis was named as Weiss' personal representative, but not as a beneficiary. (He would be, however, entitled to up to 5 percent of the estate's value under state law because of his duties as personal representative.)
UPL is a remarkably vague concept that has led even some lawyers to refer to state bar associations as "cartels" that act to restrict competition and boost their own incomes.
One scholarly paper, for instance, estimates that bar association cartels inflate attorneys' starting salaries by at least $10,000 and cost consumers more than $3 billion annually in extra fees. The Texas Bar Association has targeted Nolo, a California book publisher that sells self-help books like 8 Ways to Avoid Probate, and tried to ban the sale of Quicken Family Lawyer. Paralegals offering basic services on their own -- even after they had done the identical work at a law firm--have been sued out of business.
To bar associations, UPL is a deadly serious business. As far back as 1941, a Pennsylvania court ruled that "furnishing advice" about the practical issues that wills and insurance policies raise "constitutes the practice of the law."
In this case, too, the Supreme Court of South Carolina took an expansive view of UPL violations. Instead of acting as a mere "scrivener" or stenographer, the court said that Chavis did the work away from the hospital outside of Weiss's presence and was guilty of a UPL violation.
The court did not order that Chavis be removed as personal representative, but did order that he should not receive the customary fee for his work (because, again, it allegedly derived from his UPL offense). The judges did refuse to throw out the will in response to the grand-nieces' requests, concluding "if the July 31 will was in fact drafted pursuant to Ms. Weiss's true wishes, it should not be invalidated simply because it was drafted by a non-lawyer." [So UPL has no real consequence? Bob]
Excerpts from the Supreme Court of South Carolina's opinion:
The preparation of legal documents constitutes the practice of law when such preparation involves the giving of advice, consultation, explanation, or recommendations on matters of law. Even the preparation of standard forms that require no creative drafting may constitute the practice of law if one acts as more than a mere scrivener.
The purpose of prohibiting the unauthorized practice of law is to protect the public from incompetence in the preparation of legal documents and prevent harm resulting from inaccurate legal advice. ("The amateur at law is as dangerous to the community as an amateur surgeon....").
The novel question here is whether respondent's actions in filling in the blanks in a computer-generated generic will constitute the practice of law. Respondent selected the will form, filled in the information given by Ms. Weiss, and arranged the execution of the will at the hospital. Although these facts are not in themselves conclusive, the omission of facts indicating Ms. Weiss's involvement is significant. There is no evidence Ms. Weiss reviewed the will once it was typed. The will was not typed in her presence and although respondent relates the details of what Ms. Weiss told him to do, there is no indication he contemporaneously recorded her instructions and then simply transferred the information to the form.
We construe the role of "scrivener" in this context to mean someone who does nothing more than record verbatim what the decedent says. [This seems key. If you faithfully enter data as instructed, and the software selects options based on that data, the software is practicing law. Bob] We conclude respondent's actions in drafting Ms. Weiss's will exceeded those of a mere scrivener and he engaged in the unauthorized practice of law...
Perhaps Congress will read this before attempting to ban/regulate blogs? Nah.
http://www.bespacific.com/mt/archives/013705.html
January 23, 2007
Study Focuses on Understanding the Political Influence of Blogs
Understanding the Political Influence of Blogs: A Study of the Growing Importance of the Blogosphere in the U.S. Congress, April 2006, by T. Neil Sroka.
Abstract: "Using a survey of congressional offices conducted between January and March 2006, I attempt to gain a picture of the readership, usage, and opinion of blogs and blogging on Capital Hill, in order to make the case for blogging’s direct effect on the modern legislative process. I conclude that, although more study is needed to know how blog readership and usage directly impact policy decisions, the high levels of blog readership and the widely held view that blogs function as the “watchdog” of the mainstream media clearly suggest that the blogosphere has a much stronger voice being heard by legislators than previously considered."
