The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted new privacy rules for telephone and wireless companies on Tuesday aimed at strengthening safeguards against pretexting , the disclosure of personal telephone records to unauthorized individuals. The new rules include carrier authentication requirements, additional notice requirements, and annual certification requirements. Commenting on the new rules, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin [...]
The Nigerian Court of Appeal ruled Tuesday that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has the right to disqualify presidential candidates for fraud, thus barring Nigerian Vice President Atiku Abubakar from running in the April 21 election. INEC removed Abubakar's name from the ballot because he was indicted on corruption charges , along with his [...]
Australian Attorney General Philip Ruddock said Tuesday that the gag order placed on Guantanamo Bay detainee David Hicks as part of his plea agreement cannot be enforced once he returns to Australia, and that Hicks could not be extradited if he were to violate the order. Lawyers for Hicks said that Hicks may have to [...]
Taiwanese Nationalist Party (KMT) leader Ma Ying-jeou pleaded not guilty Tuesday to corruption charges and said he plans to run in the 2008 presidential elections no matter what the court's verdict. The charges against Ma stem from $333,000 that he transferred from a city expense fund to his own private account during his term as [...]
Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych and leaders of the Ukrainian Parliament filed a lawsuit Tuesday seeking to block a decree from Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko to dissolve parliament and hold elections in May. Yushchenko issued the decree Monday, saying that his "actions are dictated by the crucial necessity to save the country's sovereignty and territorial [...]
Thousands of protesters rallied outside the Pakistan Supreme Court Tuesday wearing signs and shouting chants against Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf for suspending the country's chief justice last month as a hearing regarding the suspension took place inside the court. Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry was removed from his post by Musharraf for accusations that he abused [...]
JURIST Contributing Editor Marjorie Cohn of Thomas Jefferson School of Law, president of the National Lawyers Guild, says that the Supreme Court's failure to marshall enough votes to review the habeas-stripping provisions of the Military Commissions Act at this stage shows that the court cannot be relied upon to consistently provide justice and that Congress [...]
Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick has directed the Massachusetts Department of Public Health to register the same-sex marriages of 26 couples from outside the state whose licenses were not previously allowed to be included in state records by former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney . The couples were married in 2004 in four Massachusetts towns and cities [...]
The European Commission is investigating Apple's iTunes to determine if sales restrictions based on the buyer's country of residence violate EU antitrust laws, according to a commission statement confirming the probe Tuesday. Music buyers in Europe are currently only able to download songs or albums from the iTunes store in their own country, which the [...]
Massachusetts v. EPA, US Supreme Court, April 2, 2006 . Read the court's 5-4 opinion per Justice Stevens, along with a dissent from Justice Roberts and a second dissent from Justice Scalia. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.
