A new political party, designed by software devs and engineers, is joining the race in California. If elected, PlaceAVote‘s Congressional candidates vow to decide on every bill based on the majority vote of their constituents—as measured via online polling. Could that sort of direct, digital democracy improve how Congress works? Would it make government more dysfunctional? (Is the latter even possible?)
Under the U.S. Wire Act, online gambling was considered illegal. Towards the end of 2011, a Justice Department ruling essentially neutered the online gambling provisions of the Wire Act. Since the ruling several states have legalized online gambling, New Jersey, Nevada and Delaware to be precise. Other states, including California, are considering this as well. Congress doesn’t seem to be too happy about it. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Representative Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) today introduced joint legislation that seeks to ban all forms of online gaming except horse racing and fantasy sports.
Online Gaming Could Be Hit By Congressional Ban original content from Ubergizmo. 
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It’s time for Congress to follow the Sixth Circuit’s lead and update one of the main online privacy laws—the Electronic Privacy Communications Act (ECPA).
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The NSA responded today to Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ letter asking if the agency spies on members of the U.S. Congress and other elected officials. Its response says the NSA treats Congress the same as regular citizens. Which seems like a roundabout way of saying "yes."
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That pesky government shutdown is still causing all kinds of problems, and this one’s a doozy. Starting Thursday, some 90 percent of the workers who watch over America’s 100 nuclear reactors will be furloughed. Since these guys are sort of the first line of defense in a nuclear disaster, that’s really bad news.
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The government started to shut down on Tuesday morning after Congress embarrassingly failed to come to an agreement on the budget. It’s bad news. While science and technology programs as a whole took a hit
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The clock is ticking as a full-fledged government shutdown looms on the horizon. House Republicans remain resolute in their mission to keep Obamacare from kicking in on October 1, the first day of the new fiscal year. The science and tech communities, meanwhile, are bracing for the worst—again
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Well, look who finally showed up to the patent party! The Federal Trade Commission announced on Friday that it has opened an inquiry into "patent assertion entities," a.k.a. patent trolls. Start popping some popcorn, folks. This could get good.
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Following a wave of polls showing a remarkable turn of public opinion, Congress has finally gotten serious about bringing limits, transparency and oversight to the NSA’s mass surveillance apparatus aimed at Americans.
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The rascals over at Anonymous are still pretty upset over the recent revelations about the NSA spying on seemingly everyone so they’re acting out in the only way they know how: hacking. Specifically, releasing the supposed email accounts—and passwords—of seemingly everybody on Capitol Hill.
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