A recent article by the Electronic Frontier Foundation indicates that Gov. Sarah Palin’s e-mail hacker may be difficult to prosecute due to current disagreements on the interpretation of the term “electronic storage”. The Stored Communications Act (SCA) indicates that protection includes all e-mail stored on electronic devices or in electronic communications, however the Department of Justice (DOJ) has disagreed, indicating a far more lenient interpretation of what email is protected.

According to the Stored Communications Act (SCA) electronic storage, which is protected under privacy laws, is defined as “any temporary, intermediate storage of a wire or electronic communication incidental to the electronic transmission thereof.” In otherwords, both opened and unopened e-mails residing on electronic storage devices or electronic communication devices would be protected.

The DOJ, however, disagrees with this definition of electronic storage, thus muddling the privacy question. According to this report, the DOJ has argued:

If the recipient chooses to retain a copy of the communication on the service provider’s system, the retained Read the rest of this entry »

There can be no question that this year’s election campaign is the widest, most accessible election in this nation’s history. Hard-to-reach voters are being charged up, in a big way, as a result of social media efforts by individual citizens.

One obvious example of this - YouTube. Used early in the campaign by Barack Obama’s folks, YouTube was successfully deployed to build massive interest within a typically de facto disenfranchised group, America’s young voters.

The Obama campaign recognized early on that this election would be won or lost based on social media efforts; a smart move for a grass roots campaign.

While the John McCain campaign has ignored these efforts, their strategy instead was to energize a nearly as politically uninspired group, stay-at-home moms. This group is one of the largest growing groups actively utilizing social media networks to stay in touch with other moms, and stay informed.

The problem for the McCain camp, however - those who don’t support him know these social networks better and know how to use them.

Here’s a good example of these efforts at work - YouTube videos contrasting John McCain’s election promises over the years with what he has been saying recently in this campaign of “change”. These are not opinion talk pieces, but instead are a collection of network news interviews and sound bites showing how his position has changed from election year to election year. The results are explosive!

Sound bites may last for a few days, or maybe even a week, but CNN reports captured on video, held in posterity for all eternity by each and every individual who desires it through mediums like YouTube, makes Read the rest of this entry »