The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled Friday that the US Interior Department does not have to disconnect its computers from the Internet despite the possibility of tampering by hackers. The dispute arose regarding the security of a US Interior Department website that contains information about royalty payments owed to American [...]

Signed into law by President Bush December 3, 2004 . Read the full text of the Act here. Reported in JURIST's Paper Chase here.

In Friday's environmental law news, John Thwaites, Minister of the Environment for the state of Victoria in Australia, has announced that he will be calling on the national Environment and Heritage Protection Council (EHPC) to adopt a plan that would require large emitters to report their greenhouse gas emissions annually. Currently, emitters have to report [...]

KGW-TV in Portland is reporting that Washington state Democrats have said they will pay for a full statewide hand recount of the ballots cast in the November Washington governor's race, which Republican Dino Rossi won on the night by 261 votes, but by only 42 votes after a machine recount. The hand recount, which will [...]

President Bush Friday signed into law H.R. 1350, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA), designed among other things to ensure that students with disabilities will have special education teachers with the skills and training to teach special education and their subject area. The President's remarks at this morning's signing are online from [...]

The US Supreme Court announced at midday Friday that it would hear appeals from the Federal Communications Commission and the cable industry on whether broadband services that offer computer users high-speed links to the Internet via cable are an "information service" subject to minimal regulation by federal or local authorities or whether, following lower court [...]

In Friday's corporations and securities law news, the Canadian unit of Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB) will pay Canadian regulators $1.5 million Canadian to settle allegations it improperly traded shares of BCE, Canada's biggest phone company. This is the second-largest fine given by Market Regulation Services, Canada's stock market regulator. The MRS press release is [...]

AP is reporting that Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has resigned from his post.

BBC News is reporting that the Ukrainian Supreme Court has invalidated the disputed presidential election poll and ordered fresh elections. 11:21 AM ET – Ukraine Channel 5 is broadcasting live video from Kyiv of crowds in the main square celebrating the ruling. They can be heard to chant "Yushchenko", the name of the opposition leader [...]

The Catholic Diocese of Orange County, CA, has reached a settlement with 87 victims over alleged clergy abuse that is larger than the $85 million settlement agreed to by the Boston Archdiocese last year. The terms of the agreement reached Thursday were not released under an order by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Owen Lee [...]