Senators Ask FBI to Explain Flawed 'National Security Letter' to Internet Archive - Via Threat Level: A bipartisan group of U.S. senators is asking FBI head Robert Mueller to explain why the feds sought records from the Internet Archive, a digital library, using a controversial administrative subpoena ...

Entertainment Industry Leaned On Los Angeles Politicos to Declare Piracy a 'Public Nuisance' - Via Threat Level: A Los Angeles County ordinance adopted last week giving authorities the legal muscle to shutter property used to produce counterfeit DVDs and CDs was the result of intense pressure from Hollywood ...

I got this question from one of our partners yesterday. The application developed by my client is an add-in for PowerPoint. One of the features it provides involves adding custom items to the context menu of shapes and pictures using the Office object model. This add-in works perfectly well in 2003, ...

Minnesota Passes Veto-Proof Anti-Real ID Bill - Via ACLU Blog - Privacy & Technology: Last night, Minnesota joined 18 other states in rejecting Real ID, the Department of Homeland Security's attempt at a national ID card. More states are jumping on the anti-Real ID bandwagon. Noam Biale, Advocacy ...

While the default mechanism for deploying VSTO v3 Add-Ins is ClickOnce, there there's now also a documented way to deliver VSTO solutions via an MSI installer. By extension, this should mean you can push it out via group policy (or SMS or whatever). Mary Lee's done a good post on this: http://blogs.msdn.com/vsto/archive/2008/04/10/deploying-an-office-solution-using-windows-installer-mary-lee.aspx. ...

FISA: Deal or No Deal? - Via ACLU Blog - Government Spying: Here in Washington, rumors are swirling about a deal on FISA being brokered by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer and Ranking Intelligence Committee Member Senator Kit Bond. We’re taking the news to heart and getting ready for the other shoe ...

Report: Government's Cyber Security Plan Is Riddled With New Spying Programs - Via Threat Level: Major elements of the Bush administration's proposed $17 billion "cyber security" initiative have little to do with protecting government networks, and a lot to do with spying, according to a budget report ...

In an upcoming interview, you will read me say the following: I hate labels and putting people in boxes. That’s why blogging and the web is so exciting to me and I’ve long been one of its stanchest fans and advocates. I don’t care if you are black, brown, green, yellow, or chartreuse. I don’t care if ...

Air Force Aims for 'Full Control' of 'Any and All' Computers - Via Wired News: Security Blanket: The Air Force wants a suite of hacker tools, to give it "access" to -- and "full control" of -- any kind of computer there is.  And once the info warriors are in, the Air Force wants them to keep tabs on ...

NBC-Vista copy-protection snafu reminds us why DRM stinks - Via Ars Technica : Handfuls of Windows Vista Media Center users found themselves blocked from making recordings of their favorite TV shows this week when a broadcast flag triggered the software's built-in copy protection measures. The flag ...