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Life After Identity Theft
by Chloe Albanesius
Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist on Tuesday unveiled a new Web site aimed at helping Floridians victimized by identity theft.
The Identity Theft Resource and Response Center is intended as a resource for people coping with the aftermath of ID theft. The site will feature a step-by-step resource guide, as well as a list of organizations or federal agencies to contact so victims can clear their names.
"Identity theft is a rapidly growing crime that is victimizing millions of individuals across the country, turning their lives upside-down," Crist said in a release. "This site gives citizens a place to go. It's a one-stop shop that very clearly and simply lets victims know who to call and what to do when they discover that their identity has been stolen."
In addition, victims will be able to receive certificates indicating that their IDs have been compromised. Applicants for the certificates must provide local law enforcement with fingerprints to prove identity, and approved applications give the Florida Law Enforcement Department the authority to remove personal identifiers from state criminal histories or local agency files. Victims then receive documentation stating that certain illegal activities in their names are not their fault.
The initiative also will include public seminars in various Florida cities. The first one is scheduled for Oct. 28 in St. Augustine. And the attorney general's Office of Statewide Prosecution will hold one-day seminars for law enforcement on how to handle cases of ID theft. The first seminar will be held Nov. 4 in Orlando.
Va. Governor Outlines Higher Education Goals
Virginia Gov. Mark Warner on Tuesday detailed plans for improvements to higher education as part of his statewide initiative to improve education.
Warner's plan calls for the state's colleges and universities to award 10,000 more degrees each year and to increase research and development spending to $1 billion by 2010. The project's goals include encouraging distance learning and use of the Virginia Virtual Library, as well as putting state-of-the-art technology in all classrooms.
Warner will announce his education initiatives for pre-kindergarten next week.
Where The Deer And The Elk Play
A Michigan task force charged with studying a chronic disease affecting the state's deer and elk population asked the state to audit Michigan's industry for captive deer and elk and to keep a centralized database and record-keeping system on the animals' movements.
"After the extensive testing of over 6,000 animals, there is no evidence that chronic wasting disease has made its way into Michigan," task force co-Chairman Howard Tanner said. To avoid that possibility, however, the state needs "to conduct a complete audit and maintain all of the continuous data in one real-time database."
Chronic wasting disease is a debilitating neurological condition passed from animal to animal via soil or other surfaces.
Using The Airwaves In Mount Airy
Mount Airy, N.C., will be the latest city to provide its patrons with wireless Internet access come Oct. 23. Merchants within the range of the service based on the Wi-Fi technology will be given Internet hotspot signs so shoppers will know where their laptops and handheld devices will work.
The town's chamber of commerce paired with local Wi-Fi company 802Link to provide the service. "Downtown Mount Airy is joining the ranks of Starbucks and McDonald's in offering this service," Chamber of Commerce Chairman Betty Ann Collins. "I think we are one of the very few communities of our size to offer this service."
Elsewhere in North Carolina, the FCC's "localism" task force will be in Charlotte on Oct. 22 for the first of six public hearings on local broadcasting. The first half of the meeting will consist of invited guests and panelists making introductory remarks, followed by a discussion with FCC commissioners. The public then will be allowed to ask questions or make comments.
FCC Chairman Michael Powell created the task force in August as a way to gather public opinion and empirical data on promoting localism in television and radio broadcasting. The first field hearing will be held at the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Government Center from 6-9:30 p.m.
Brooklyn Man Jailed For Music Piracy
A Brooklyn man was sentenced to six months in jail in the District of Columbia, supervised release and more than $3,000 in fines last month for selling pirated copies of compact discs over the Internet. Alvin Davis also is banned from using a computer for one year.
The criminal prosecution for copyright infringement was the first of its kind for the District.
Davis operated the Web site www.empirerecords.com from July 2000 to October 2002, offering for sale more than 100 music compilations. An undercover FBI agent in 2002 bought a total of 209 CDs from Davis on three separate occasions, and Davis shipped the material from New York to Washington, D.C. Davis was fined $15.50 for each CD sale, bringing his total to $3,329.50.
Center Opens Its Doors To Small Homeland Security Companies
Three National Security Agency (NSA) officials presided over the opening of the Anne Arundel County Chesapeake Innovation Center in Maryland last week, The Washington Post reports.
The center, located in Annapolis, is the country's first incubator for homeland security companies. The small companies will be paired with clients, industry leaders and outside business managers to assist in the development of their products. All of the companies chosen for the center are developing products intended to thwart terrorist attacks.
Real User is working to strengthen password codes for governments and businesses so that computer networks are less vulnerable to hackers. Meanwhile, Rich Vanderhide, the chief operating officer of Secure Processing, said his company is developing methods for businesses to keep their computer networks safe from insiders.
These types of professional services "make all the difference in the way the nation succeeds," NSA Deputy Director William Black said.
In other news, the Georgia Tech Broadband Institute is pairing with Maryland-based Spirent Communications to provide more efficient, high-bandwidth and extended Internet service, Reuters reports.
Spirent will give testing technologies to the institute's laboratory for digital subscriber lines that offer high-speed service. The technologies are designed to replicate various real-world conditions. The company also eventually will provide testing in the institute's software radio laboratory and its laboratory focused on hybrid fiber-optic, coaxial cable services.
"The combination of Spirent's leadership in the area of test technologies with Georgia Tech researchers and laboratory facilities provides tremendous resources for our research sponsors," institute Director Nikil Jayant said.
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