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DHS Awards $844 Million to Secure Nation's Critical Infrastructure

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) announced today more than $844 million in grant awards as part of its Infrastructure Protection Activities (IPA) grant program. Grant awards will strengthen security at ports and enhance transit, trucking and intercity bus systems. Funds provided will be used to prevent, protect against, respond to and recover from terrorist attacks, major disasters and other emergencies.

“With this year’s funding, the department will have provided roughly $3 billion in grants for securing the nation’s critical infrastructure and transportation systems,” said Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff. “As capabilities mature, we're encouraging state and local governments and the private sector to prioritize IED prevention and protection, communications capabilities, information sharing, and regionally based security cooperation.”

Fiscal Year 2008 IPA awards represent a 29 percent increase from last year. They include:

Details Here: www.govtech.com/gt/articles/323917

first published week of:   05/19/2008

DoJ fits Microsoft for a 2-year oversight leash

In a ruling issued yesterday, a federal judge extended the duration of sanctions imposed on Microsoft by a 2002 consent decree agreement. The sanctions were initially scheduled to expire last month, but have been extended until November 2009.

According to Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, Microsoft failed to provide protocol specification documents to competitors as required by the consent decree agreement. The protocol documentation, which was supposed to be made available by February 2003, still hasn’t been fully published by Microsoft.

Details Here: arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080130-doj-fits-microsoft-with-another-two-year-long-leash.html

first published week of:   01/28/2008

DoJ: room for improvement on Microsoft antitrust compliance

The Department of Justice says that Microsoft has made a number of positive steps to comply with the 2002 antitrust consent decree by increasing interoperability with third-party products, including publishing more technical documentation and reducing royalties. Microsoft and the DoJ have issued a joint status report in order to outline the progress made by Microsoft since... well, the last status report, and focused on the challenges in providing the required documentation to other companies.

Details Here: arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080618-doj-room-for-improvement-on-microsoft-antitrust-compliance.html

first published week of:   06/30/2008

Don’t Pilfer Public For Info

Citizens be forewarned, a [Connnecticut] bill now quietly moving through the legislature will, if passed into law, reduce the public’s access to information paid for with your tax dollars. The mechanism to reduce disclosure would be higher fees.

“An Act Exempting Certain Public Service Company Records and Adjusting the Cost of Obtaining Public Records,” would do two things — one reasonable, but the second an affront to the public’s right to open government.

The act would extend to public utilities — such as municipal electric, water and sewer departments — the right to deny access to some information in the interest of homeland security. The intent is to prevent bad guys from using such things as technical specifications and vulnerability assessments to sabotage infrastructure.

This is a reasonable proposal, but added safeguards are necessary. The language is too broad, applying not only to specific kinds of records, but also to any “other materials” the disclosure of which may cause a security risk. Such broad language invites abuse. The bill must strictly define which types of information would pose a security problem.

Details Here: www.theday.com/re.aspx?re=c5db0959-9f20-40c0-a63d-0e3ea4608748

first published week of:   03/03/2008

E-Mail Deletion Policy Under Scrutiny in Missouri Legal Dispute

Earlier this week, Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Director Doyle Childers requested e-mails from the Attorney General’s Office, related to a lawsuit over the Booneville Bridge. Union Pacific, which owns the bridge, plans to move it. According to a release from the DNR, there is a concern that Attorney General Nixon’s Office tried to force DNR to take over the bridge at the urging of supporters of his political campaign, and that a Nixon spokesman told media that e-mail are deleted on a regular basis in the AG’s Office.

Childers’ request includes the following:

• All electronic records related to the Boonville Bridge located in Boonville, Missouri, from December 1, 2004, through March 15, 2008.
• All electronic records related to the Boonville Bridge lawsuit filed by the Attorney General’s Office in 2005 against Director Childers and the Department of Natural Resources.
• All electronic records related to the Attorney General’s Office 2005 appeal of a water quality certification issued to the Union Pacific Railroad Company, which is pending in front of the Missouri Clean Water Commission.
• All electronic records which discuss or explain why the Attorney General’s Office attempted to force the department to take the bridge from Union Pacific, the rightful owner as determined by Missouri courts.
• All electronic records that demonstrate how many staff and how much time and expense the Attorney General’s Office devoted to the Boonville Bridge litigation referenced in #2 and #3 above.
• All timesheets and expense sheets for each AGO staff involved in and related to the Boonville Bridge litigation referenced in #2 and #3 above.
• All e-mail sent to or from John Fougere, Mary Still, and Scott Holste, jointly or independently, for the requested period, including e-mail communications with political and environmental groups including, but not limited to, Trailnet, the Audubon Society, the Greenway Network, and the Sierra Club.
• All electronic records indicating all outside groups and individuals the Attorney General’s Office staff consulted or coordinated with prior to filing the 2005 lawsuit against the department.

first published week of:   03/17/2008

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Volume 31

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