With obscenity complaints at an all-time high, the FTC has launched an informational site to "educate" the public and to provide more information to people who file a complaint. With 160,000 complaints filed only this year, the FTC obscenity site tries to explain what is considered obscene under Supreme Court law and answers frequently asked question.

The FTC obscenity site.


[Via InternetNews.com -]

Who is best prepared to tackle the problem of identity theft? According to security expert Bruce Schneier in his Wired article, it is the banks who need to do more to prevent this problem.

"Financial institutions make it too easy for a criminal to commit
fraudulent transactions, and too difficult for the victims to clear
their names," warned Schneier. "They can put security countermeasures
in place to prevent fraud, detect it quickly and allow victims to clear
themselves."

This approach makes sense - banks (and financial institutions in general) are the custodians of the private information which is then used to steal a person’s identity - as such custodians, they are in the best position to put measures and protections. Considering the current high level of identity theft, it is hard to believe that the market has not demanded better protections from the banks. If customers demanded better security and guarantees by the banks of the security of their information, banks would have already done so. In similar cases, when market forces are unable to correct this problem, it is the government that needs to step up.

There are several states which have identity theft statutes on their books, and there are federal bills pending in Washington to create uniform protection against one of the fastest growing crimes.