Technology News: Politics

Ron Paul Campaign Swept Up in Botnet Spam Scandal
November 01, 2007

Presidential candidate and Texas congressman Ron Paul has an ardent following of tech-savvy supporters -- at least one of which may have employed the use of hijacked PCs from around the world to spread pro-Paul spam. Several security researchers have noted a blast of spam e-mail messages sent earlier this week purporting to support Paul's bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

Will Bloggers' Netroots Movement Replace Grassroots Politics?
August 03, 2007

Approximately 1,500 online activists -- bloggers, for the most part, that are collectively called the "netroots" -- are meeting in Chicago for the 2007 YearlyKos Convention, an event named after the super popular, left-leaning Daily Kos political blog. The convention is the second of its kind ever held, and already it's so important that the nation's top Democrats attend.

GOP Front-Runners Keep YouTubers at Arm's Length
July 27, 2007

The CNN/YouTube Democratic Party candidate debate on Monday has sparked a wide variety of commentary. Much of it has been fairly positive despite a few moments during the event that bordered on ridiculous. The debate invited YouTube users across the country to record themselves asking the candidates questions and post the videos on the site.

YouTube to Flex Political Muscle With CNN Presidential Debate
July 23, 2007

In a major change to most stodgy political debates, YouTube and CNN are teaming up to let regular YouTubing Americans ask the nation's most influential politicians the hard-hitting questions. YouTubers have posted about 3,000 videos of themselves asking questions that CNN will select and present live to viewers and the Democratic Party candidates vying for the party's presidential nod.

Civil Liberties, ISPs and the FBI's Letter-Writing Campaign
July 13, 2007

Citing information from documents obtained from the Federal Bureau of Investigation under the Freedom of Information Act, a civil liberties group this week alleged the federal agency has had chronic problems with its use of anti-terror letters to collect personal information about American citizens.

Open Source, Transparency and Electronic Voting
April 18, 2007

Transparency has become a rallying cry for critics of existing electronic voting systems made by secretive corporations jealously guarding the software code inside their products. One way to assure transparency in voting systems, those critics maintain, is to require the disclosure of any code used in a voting system or use open source software for those systems.

Elections Commission Toughens E-Voting Standards
December 08, 2006

Hoping to boost confidence in electronic voting, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission has voted to create standards for the certification testing of the often-controversial e-voting machines. The commission voted Thursday to adopt the Voting Systems Testing and Certification Program, a manual focused on evaluating and certifying e-voting machines.

Americans Plug Into Internet for Election Info
November 01, 2006

More than a third of Americans are turning to the Internet for information about the elections next week, according to a poll released by the Associated Press and America Online last Friday. The telephone survey showed that 35 percent of Americans are using the Internet to get information about the upcoming elections.

E-Voting Still Stirring Controversy as Mid-Term Elections Approach
October 27, 2006

With millions of voters set to cast ballots in key mid-term elections in just over a week, a long-simmering controversy over voting machines continues to percolate. New reports suggest a major manufacturer of e-voting kiosks quietly repaired a flaw without informing election officials.

Green Energy, Part 4: Not Politics as Usual
August 03, 2006

For many people in the biofuels movement, it is inspiring to witness and play even a small part in the huge amount of grass roots-driven, Web-based activity the energy issue is presently generating in the U.S. All this concern and activity raises a crucial question: To what degree is all this activism being heard and acted upon by government leaders?

Legislation: Schools, Libraries No Place for Internet 'Friends' to Meet
May 12, 2006

Lawmakers are ratcheting up their attempts to provide some level of protection to minors who might be victimized by online predators. Rep. Michael G. Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., has introduced a bill that would prohibit anyone under 18 from using school or library computers to access online communities such as the wildly popular MySpace.com and other chat rooms or online forums.

States Beef Up E-Voting Security After Report on Weaknesses
May 12, 2006

A report saying that a popular electronic voting machine can be tampered with to alter or erase votes has prompted states that have purchased the devices to order increased security ahead of upcoming elections. On Thursday, Black Box Voting, a nonprofit group, issued a report based on the findings of Harri Hursti, a Finnish computer expert.

Bush: Math and Science Critical to Global Competition
February 02, 2006

President Bush urged spending more federal funds to improve math and science programs in U.S. schools during his State of the Union address Tuesday night, a call to action that won approval from private sector execs in the tech industry as well as science professors at universities.

Microsoft Not Out of Bay State Woods Yet
December 01, 2005

In recent days Massachusetts has softened its tough stance on what file formats it will store its documents in -- a stance that placed it squarely at loggerheads with Microsoft -- but, according to one state legislator, the software giant should not start breathing easy yet.

House Dems Debut New Strategy for Technology Economy
November 15, 2005

House Democrats today will introduce a new "innovation" strategy for the U.S. economy in a speech at the National Press Club by House Democratic Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi. After convening a number of regional roundtables with business, technology and academic leaders, House Democrats are launching what they call an "Innovation Agenda."

Lawmakers Eye Piracy Prevention Legislation
November 02, 2005

Lawmakers have revived legislation that could provide a huge boost to efforts by music and movie studios to curb online piracy by letting federal agencies write rules that outlaw tactics used to copy programs when they are broadcast. Two bills on Capitol Hill dealing with so-called broadcast flags are now being circulated for comment.