FC: Declan's Capitol Letters (privacy, gop.gov, wiretapping, etc.)

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[Here's my weekly column. Stuff this week includes conservative-libertarian
split on privacy, more on IETF and wiretapping, digital signatures. I was busy
yesterday so I also borrowed from what I sent out on politech. --DBM]

http://www.wired.com/news/print/1,1294,32057,00.html

                     WHOOPS.GOV: Last week we told you
                     about a new Republican Web site called
                     -- what else? -- gop.gov. 

                     Well, it turns out that the House
                     Republican Conference site could be
                     called a lot of other things instead. And,
                     according to the rules controlling
                     government Web sites, it probably should
                     be. 

                     The Federal Networking Council-drafted
                     document says, "The .GOV domain is for
                     registration of US governmental entities
                     on the federal level only ... Subsidiary,
                     non-autonomous components of top-level
                     or other entities are not eligible for
                     separate registration." 

                     Translation: Register gop.house.gov
                     instead. 

                     Besides, some veteran Internet types
                     wonder, if the GOP can grab GOP.gov,
                     what about the socialists, libertarians,
                     and greens? 

                     "As a Libertarian I am a firm believer in
                     self-government," says John Gilmore,
                     board member of the Electronic Frontier
                     Foundation. "Can the Libertarian Party,
                     one of the GOP's peers and rivals, register
                     SELF.GOV?" 




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