BTW News Briefs

Patriot Act Under Fire Again
On Wednesday, August 6, a legal advocacy group, the New York City-based Center for Constitutional Rights, filed papers in federal court in Los Angeles challenging the constitutionality of the USA Patriot Act, as reported by the Washington Post. The group contends that the Patriot Act violates free speech protections because it outlaws "expert advice and assistance" to groups that the Justice Department labels terrorist organizations, even if the assistance is humanitarian in nature, the Post article noted. --DG

Senator Wyden Introduces Bill to Protect Privacy
On July 29, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced the Citizens’ Protection in Federal Databases Act of 2003 (S. 1484), which aims to hold government agencies accountable for the use of private and personal information. The legislation is a response to the Defense Department’s Terrorism (formerly Total) Information Awareness (TIA) Program, among other federal initiatives, that propose to gather private information on law-abiding Americans from numerous public and private databases. For a previous article on TIA, click here.)

Currently, there are no comprehensive privacy laws regulating the federal government’s access to, or use of, public and private databases. The Wyden proposal would require the Attorney General, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Homeland Security, the Secretary of Treasury, the Director of Central Intelligence, and the Director of the FBI to provide to Congress a detailed report explaining the use of databases for law enforcement or intelligence purposes.

"Now, nearly two years after the tragedies of September 11, the Congress has the opportunity and the duty to strike the proper balance between security and civil liberties," said Wyden in a press statement. "This legislation would hold the government accountable to Congress and the American people when federal agencies seek to dig through an American’s most personal information." --DG

Admiral Poindexter Announces Resignation
Admiral John Poindexter, chief of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Information Awareness Office, has resigned, as reported by EPIC Alert. Poindexter headed up a number of research projects, including the very controversial Terrorism Information Awareness (TIA) program. TIA came under fire from civil liberties groups and received well publicized criticism from Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), who, in February, won passage of an amendment requiring the Defense Department to report to Congress on the cost, scope, and privacy and civil liberties implications of its TIA program. (see story above)

In a joint statement, Wyden and Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) said, "As Congress contemplates the future of [TIA] after the resignation of Dr. Poindexter, we want to make one point clear: even with today’s announcement, the proposed … program would still be the biggest spying and surveillance overreach in America’s history, and it should be shut down. Congress will have the opportunity to do just that in the conference for the defense appropriations bill in the fall and we hope to see this program de-funded once and for all." --DG

Norton Acquires Berkshire House Publishers
On August 6, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc. announced that it had agreed to acquire the assets of Lee, Massachusetts-based Berkshire House Publishers, Inc. The Berkshire House list will become part of Norton's Countryman Press division based in Woodstock, Vermont. "We have built our business on the basis of titles with strong regional identity," said Kermit Hummel, editorial director of Countryman Press, "and it is our intention to further build and extend that regionally based publishing program with the addition of the Berkshire House titles to our list." --DG

Da Capo Press Announces New Imprint
On July 28, Da Capo Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group, announced the establishment of a new imprint, Da Capo Lifelong Books. The new imprint will feature a broad spectrum of titles in the categories of pregnancy, parenting, health, fitness, and relationships. According to publisher John Radziewicz, "Our goal is to apply the Da Capo editorial and marketing approach to a whole new realm of books that have long been key to the Perseus Books Group, to booksellers, and to readers -- while at the same time giving them their own home." The Da Capo Lifelong Books imprint will officially launch with the press’s Winter 2004 list. --DG