Law Commons^™

Electronic Communications Privacy Act And The Revolution In Cloud Computing : Hearing Before The Subcomm. On The Constitution, Civil Rights, And Civil Liberties Of The H. Comm. On The Judiciary, 111th Cong., Sept. 23, 2010 (Statement By Adjunct Professor Marc J. Zwillinger, Geo. U. L. Center), Marc J. Zwillinger

Testimony Before Congress

ECPA has functioned fairly well during its first 20 years in striking the right balance between law enforcement needs and the privacy expectation of U.S. citizens. But when it was initially passed in 1986, Congress recognized that the “law must advance with the technology to ensure the continued vitality of the fourth amendment.” Based on my experience as an ECPA practitioner for the past 13 years, I believe the time is ripe for another advancement. I hope you will consider these perspectives in crafting legislation that balances law enforcement needs and user privacy in a manner that reflects the reality …

Online Privacy, Social Networking, And Crime Victimization : Hearing Before The H. Subcomm. On Crime, Terrorism, And Homeland Security Of The H. Comm. On The Judiciary, 111th Cong., July 28, 2010 (Statement By Adjunct Professor Marc Rotenberg, Geo. U. L. Center), Marc Rotenberg

Testimony Before Congress

Mr. Chairman, Facebook is a tremendous service, with the scope of email, the telephone, and even the Internet itself. It is also the source of many of the privacy concerns of users today. The critical problem is not what users post; it is that the Facebook changes the privacy settings too frequently and Facebook makes it too difficult for users to selectively post information. Self‐regulation has not worked because the FTC has been reluctant to pursue investigations. So, EPIC recommends changes to ECPA in Title 18 that would give users greater control of their information and reduce risk when they …

Planning For The Future Of Cyber Attack Attribution : Hearing Before The H. Subcomm. On Technology And Innovation Of The H. Comm. On Science And Technology, 111th Cong., July 15, 2010 (Statement By Adjunct Professor Marc Rotenberg, Geo. U. L. Center), Marc Rotenberg

Testimony Before Congress

Steve Bellovin, another security expert, noted recently that one of risks of the new White House plan for cyber security is that it places too much emphasis on attribution. As Dr. Bellovin explains:

The fundamental premise of the proposed strategy is that our serious Internet security problems are due to lack of sufficient authentication. That is demonstrably false. The biggest problem was and is buggy code. All the authentication in the world won't stop a bad guy who goes around the authentication system, either by finding bugs exploitable before authentication is performed, finding bugs in the authentication system itself, or …

Tanf And Low-Income Family Support: Hearing Before The H. Subcomm. On Income Security And Family Support Of The H. Comm. On Ways And Means, 111th Cong., Mar. 11, 2010 (Statement Of Professor Peter B. Edelman, Geo. U. L. Center), Peter B. Edelman

Testimony Before Congress

TANF should be a work-based safety net that strengthens families. The history of the past fourteen years shows the way to improving it for the future. It would be more successful in promoting work if it analyzed the individual needs and challenges of recipients and provided tailored education, training, support services, and other assistance to help people get and keep jobs. It would be more successful as a safety net if benefits were increased and if people in need could succeed in greater numbers in gaining access to the program.

Problems In Mortgage Servicing From Modification To Foreclosure: Hearing Before The S. Comm. On Banking, Housing, & Urban Affairs, 111th Cong., Nov. 16, 2010 (Statement Of Associate Professor Adam J. Levitin, Geo. U. L. Center), Adam J. Levitin

Testimony Before Congress

The mortgage foreclosure process is beset by a variety of problems. These range from procedural defects (including, but not limited to robosigning) to outright counterfeiting of documents to questions about the validity of private-label mortgage securitizations that could mean that these mortgage-backed securities are not actually backed by any mortgages whatsoever. While the extent of these problems is unknown at present, the evidence is mounting that it is not limited to one-off cases, but that there may be pervasive defects throughout the foreclosure and securitization processes.

The problems in the mortgage market are highly technical, but they are extremely serious. …

The State Of The American Child: Securing Our Children’S Future: Hearing Before The Subcomm. On Children & Families Of The S. Comm On Health, Educ., Labor & Pensions, 111th Cong., Nov. 18, 2010 (Statement Of Professor Peter B. Edelman, Geo. U. L. Center), Peter B. Edelman

Testimony Before Congress

You have asked me to reflect on the achievements and disappointments of recent decades with regard to child poverty in our country, on lessons learned, and on what we need to do going forward.

It is impossible to understand child poverty trends without placing them in a context of what has happened to the American economy and to the distribution of income and wealth. Except for the last half of the 1990s, the economic history of the past four decades has been one of near‐stagnation for people with jobs that pay below the median wage in the country ‐‐ the …

Robo-Signing, Chain Of Title, Loss Mitigation, And Other Issues In Mortgage Servicing: Hearing Before The Subcomm. On Hous. And Cmty. Opportunity Of The H. Fin. Serv. Comm., 111th Cong., Nov. 18, 2010 (Statement Of Associate Professor Adam J. Levitin, Geo. U. L. Center), Adam J. Levitin

Testimony Before Congress

The US is now in its forth year of a mortgage crisis in which over 3 million families have lost their homes and another 2.5 million are currently scheduled to lose theirs. Repeated government loan modification or refinancing initiatives have failed miserably. To this sad state of affairs, there now come a variety of additional problems: faulty foreclosures due to irregularities ranging from procedural defects (including, but not limited to robosigning) to outright counterfeiting of documents; predatory servicing practices that precipitate borrower defaults and then overcharge for foreclosure services that are ultimately paid for by investors; and questions about the …