Fingerprints come to office -  Biometrics 

This new technology has a growing number of companies checking out their employees’ fingerprints and raising privacy concerns in the process.  Companies use fingerprint technology to verify that applicants have no criminal record.  Other employees use the technology as time clock: Workers punch in and out using fingerprint scans.  Instead of wearing ID cards, employees enter buildings after touching a fingerprint scan.  Instead of using a password, they log onto their computers with a touch (USA Today).

Hindustan Times 7.12.2002

Landmark Australian ruling rewrites web defamation rules 

Melbourne, December 10:  Australia’s highest court handed down a landmark ruling today that publishers fear will curb free expression on the internet and leave them vulnerable to defamation actions from anywhere in the world, regardless where the offending article was written.  Legal experts said the High Court decision, believed to be a world first, would force publishers to handle online material more cautiously and hamper free debate on the internet.  Editor of Melbourne’s Age newspaper Michael Gawenda said if the ruling became an international precedent, publishers would have to consider potential legal action not only in their own country but in every country where their articles could be downloaded from the internet. 

The Indian Express 11.12.2002

Food For Thought

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion, but the tranquil and steady dedication of a lifetime."

Adlai E. Stevenson Jr.