Category: Uncategorized
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Hacking newspapers vs. hacking elections
The past few days have revealed that the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post have all been hacked by Chinese government-affiliated organizations, for the purpose of spying on reporters. The Washington Post says that the attacks were detected over a year ago, and had been going on for at least a year…
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My Bill to #OpenPACER in memory of #aaronsw – Open for Comment and Available on Github
I unveiled a draft bill at an event on Capitol Hill this week. It is drafted in Legislative XML, allows you to comment, and the code is available on github. Here’s the video: The Open PACER Act provides for free and open access to electronic federal court records. The courts currently offer an expensive and…
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Personal Democracy Robots?
A few weeks ago I wrote a post for Slate arguing that it is time to consider developing—and maybe even using—democracy robots on Twitter. Preprogrammed messages released on a strategic schedule could have an impact on public opinion in sensitive moments for an authoritarian regime. The EFF’s eloquent Jillian York retorted “let’s not”. In short,…
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Announcing the Aaron Swartz Memorial Grants
Last week, our community lost Aaron Swartz. We are still reeling. Aaron was a fighter for openness and freedom, and many people have been channeling their grief into positive actions for causes that were close to Aaron’s heart. One of these people is Aaron Greenspan, creator of the open-data site Plainsite and the Think Computer…
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Grieving Aaron Swartz
Aaron took his life yesterday. The world has lost a good soul. Aaron was brilliant, inventive, generous, and passionate. The intense pressure on Aaron was unfair, and it was a direct result of his well-intentioned fight to make the world a better place. I feel sad, angry, and even guilty. Experts will tell you that…
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Congressman Issa's "Internet Law Freeze": Appealing but Impractical
This week, Congressman Darrell Issa released a draft bill that would prevent Congress and administrative agencies from creating any new internet-related laws, rules, or regulations. The Internet American Moratorium Act (IAMA) is a rhetorical stake in the ground for the notion that the government should “keep its hands off the internet.” In the wake of…
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CITP Call for Fellows, Postdocs, and Visiting Professors for Fall 2013
The Center for Information Technology Policy (citp.princeton.edu) is an interdisciplinary research center at Princeton that sits at the crossroads of engineering, the social sciences, law, and policy. CITP seeks Fellowship and Postdoc applicants for the 2012-2013 school year from academia, industry, government, and civil society. These are one year appointments — usually from July 1st…
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Grading the absentee-in-person experience in Virginia
[Each year, I write a “my day as a pollworker” report. This year, I’m not a pollworker, or election officer in Virginia parlance, for a variety of reasons, so I decided to write about my voting experience.] I just got back from “in-person absentee voting”. This is similar to but not the same as early…
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NJ Lt. Governor invites voters to submit invalid ballots
On November 3rd, the Lieutenant Governor of New Jersey issued a directive, well covered in the media, permitting storm-displaced New Jersey voters to vote by e-mail. The voter is to call or e-mail the county clerk to request an absentee ballot by e-mail or fax, then the voter returns the ballot by e-mail or fax:…
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"E-Voting: Risk and Opportunity" Live Stream Tomorrow at 1:30pm Eastern
Despite the challenges due to Hurricane Sandy earlier this week, the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton is still hosting “E-Voting: Risk and Opportunity,” a live streamed symposium on the state and future of voting technology. At 1:30pm (Eastern) on November 1, 2012, electronic voting experts from across the United States will discuss what…