ACLU’s Jameel Jaffer to direct Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University

Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger today announced his appointment of Jameel Jaffer, deputy legal director at the ACLU, as founding director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University. Last month, Columbia and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation announced the creation of the new institute which will work-through litigation, research and public advocacy-to preserve and expand the freedoms of expression and the press in the digital age.

Activists, DoJ spar over Rule 41 changes to enhance FBI searches

EFF and privacy activists oppose Rule 41 changes, while the Department of Justice claims that the changes do not alter 'traditional protections' under Fourth Amendment. The fight over changes to Rule 41 kicked into high gear this week as privacy rights activists and tech firms joined forces to protest the changes in an open letter to Congressional leaders, urging them to block the changes before they become permanent at the end of the year.

Appeals court rules that cops don’t need a warrant to get your cell phone location

Police don't need a warrant to obtain mobile phone location data for a criminal investigation, a US appeals court ruled Tuesday in a case closely watched for digital-era privacy implications. The case decided by the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Virginia is among several pending in the courts on "location privacy," or whether using the digital data violates constitutional guarantees against unreasonable searches.

Why Governments Hate It When Other Countries Have Low Taxes

During a visit to the World Bank this week, I got a sobering lesson about the degree to which the people working at international bureaucracies, including the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, dislike tax competition. For years, these organizations-which are funded with our hard-earned tax dollars-have bullied low-tax nations into changing their tax privacy laws so uncompetitive nations can track taxpayers and companies around the world.

Government Favors Open Hearing in Bridge Co-Conspirator Case

Unsealed filings in the George Washington Bridge lane-closing case released Monday show federal prosecutors sided with media organizations in seeking a public hearing for an unidentified person trying to block the publication of a list of unindicted co-conspirators. The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals already ruled last Friday the June 6 oral arguments in Philadelphia are to be open.