WASHINGTON -- If you've been worried about face-recognition cameras, relax.
It seems like the technology -- surveillance cameras melded with face-recognition systems -- is just about as effective as a Ralph Nader presidential campaign.
This week the ACLU reported the results of its perusal of records turned over by the Tampa police department, which installed Visionics Corporation's Face-IT software to survey public streets.
"Operator logs obtained by the ACLU show that the system not only has not produced a single arrest, but it also has not resulted in the correct identification of a single person from the department's photo database on the sidewalks of Tampa," the ACLU report says. In fact, a Tampa police detective 'fessed up that the system was such a waste of time that cops stopped using it.
That didn't stop Visionics from claiming, two weeks after the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes, that Face-IT was perfect for "general surveillance of crowds at airports, preventing the issuance of travel documents to known terrorists and detecting tampered and fraudulent travel documents."
Penny-pinching lawyers: When David Carney started his daily newsletter reporting on Internet law, he hoped to make money through Internet advertising.
No such luck. It proved harder to sell ads on his Tech Law Journal website or newsletter than Carney, a 46-year old lawyer with a PhD in political science, ever thought.
"I was selling banner ads. I wasn't making much money off of it. I was having problems with some companies not paying their bills. And I was having problems with some ad companies trying to influence the content of Tech Law Journal," says Carney, who specializes in writing about regulatory developments in Washington and counted thousands of lobbyists and lawyers among his subscribers.
So Carney decided to charge $250 a year for his website and newsletter, starting Jan. 1. "I thought this was going to be simple and easy. I thought people would subscribe well before January. In fact, very few did. I received a rush of subscription payments in late December ... I have received about $10,000 in payments."
$10,000 a year may be better than nothing, but it's hardly enough to live on -- and Carney says he has no other significant source of income.
If more people don't ante up? "I would stop publishing. I would make refunds and look for other work," Carney says. "It's something I don't want to do, but if this doesn't work, it's what I will do."
Lynx hair hoax: Federal auditors are investigating the strange case of government scientists who submitted fraudulent samples of lynx hair, reports The Washington Times. Turns out the scientists allegedly wanted to prove a rare lynx was living nearby so federal lands could be closed, but got tripped up when DNA tests revealed the truth.
Postal Net plagues: The U.S. Postal Service's big Internet plans have been plagued by shoddy management, with revenues less than one percent of what was expected. "USPS continues to have difficulty defining, identifying and classifying its Internet-related initiatives, including e-commerce initiatives. Additionally, inconsistency remains in the implementation of its processes and controls for developing, approving and monitoring the performance of e-commerce initiatives," government auditors reported on Dec. 21.
State privacy watch: The Baltimore Sun reported this week that Maryland police want to make it easier for them to wiretap. The stated reason: pharmaceutical retail entrepreneurs -- better known as drug dealers -- using disposable cell phones.... A bill in the Virginia legislature says all drivers must submit "a thumbprint or other biometric identifier" before they could receive licenses in the future.... The "Model State Emergency Health Powers Act" is drawing fire for granting government officials the power "to control, restrict and regulate ... food, fuel, clothing and other commodities, alcoholic beverages, firearms, explosives and combustibles." Paul Weyrich, founder of the conservative Free Congress Foundation, has called it a "Draconian move by the 'we know best' lobbies representing the public health establishment."
Copyright update: Dmitri Sklyarov, a Russian programmer accused of violating the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, has returned home -- at least for now.... The U.S. has levied 100 percent tariffs on Ukraine exports of fuel oil, sneakers, paper and diamonds. Ukraine has not enacted laws to limit CD piracy. The Recording Industry Association of America says it "heartily endorses" this week's decision.
