Genealogy’s Star: Reclaim the Records Files the Biggest Lawsuit Ever. “If you are a genealogist and you are unfamiliar with Reclaim the Records, you should be not only familiar with them, but actively supporting them. Record access is one of the major obstacles to genealogical research. Granted, some records, such as the 1890 U.S. Federal Census have been lost through bungling and mismanagement. Other records have been lost through natural disasters and poor conservation practices. But here in the United States, many valuable genealogical records are merely unavailable to genealogical researchers either because they have been hidden behind a paywall or, what is worse, a bureaucratic wall. These obstacles affect all of us, whether we are searching out our ancestors or not.”
legal
Techdirt: Sixth Circuit Court Dumps Lawsuit Seeking To Hold Twitter Responsible For The Pulse Nightclub Shooting
Techdirt: Sixth Circuit Court Dumps Lawsuit Seeking To Hold Twitter Responsible For The Pulse Nightclub Shooting. “Another one of 1-800-LAW-FIRM’s lawsuits has been tossed for a second time. After being shut down at the district level for attempting to hold social media companies responsible for the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, Florida, the law firm asked the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals to take another look at its dubious legal theories.”
The Verge: Russian lawmakers approve plan to take more control over internet traffic
The Verge: Russian lawmakers approve plan to take more control over internet traffic. “Russian lawmakers are moving ahead with a proposal to take further control over internet traffic in the country, The Associated Press reports. Under the proposal, Russian internet traffic would be required to be sent through servers in the country, according to the AP, giving the country more leverage to surveil and censor information. The bill was approved by the State Duma, and it will now head to the upper legislative chamber before going to President Putin’s desk for a signature.”
Patch: GA City Officials May Be Allowed To Sue Social Media Critics
Patch: GA City Officials May Be Allowed To Sue Social Media Critics. “City officials are considering passing a law that would allow them to sue anyone on social media who they believe have defamed them. The ordinance, set to come before the Peachtree City council on Thursday, would allow a council member, the city manager or any city worker to sue its residents, at taxpayer expense, for damages.”
Computer Weekly: Facebook takes extraordinary legal steps to contain document leak
Computer Weekly: Facebook takes extraordinary legal steps to contain document leak. “Facebook is taking extraordinary legal measures in an attempt to contain further leaks of highly confidential internal documents provided to a US court that have come into the possession of international media organisations, including Computer Weekly.”
TikTok Ban: Government Asks Apple and Google to Take Down TikTok From App Stores (News18)
News18: TikTok Ban: Government Asks Apple and Google to Take Down TikTok From App Stores. “India’s Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has reportedly asked Google and Apple to remove the Chinese video sharing application TikTok from their app stores. This development comes just a day after the Supreme Court had rejected TikTok’s plea to stay a Madras High Court order from April 3, to put a ban on the app’s downloads.”
Center for Public Integrity: You Elected Them To Write New Laws. They’re Letting Corporations Do It Instead.
Center for Public Integrity: You Elected Them To Write New Laws. They’re Letting Corporations Do It Instead.. “USA TODAY and the [Arizona] Republic found at least 10,000 bills almost entirely copied from model legislation were introduced nationwide in the past eight years, and more than 2,100 of those bills were signed into law. The investigation examined nearly 1 million bills in all 50 states and Congress using a computer algorithm developed to detect similarities in language. That search – powered by the equivalent of 150 computers that ran nonstop for months – compared known model legislation with bills introduced by lawmakers.”
