BLAST
Section of Science and Technology Law
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Chicago, IL 60610

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IN THIS ISSUE MAY 2001

• Greetings from the Chair
• Impact of Fraud on E-Commerce
• Information Security Committee Releases Draft "PAG" for Public Comment
• Will Biometrics Obsolete PKI?
• New FCC May Bring New Approach To Technology Issues
• Jurisprudent Therapy and the Role of Mental Health Science in Federal Sentencing
• Annual Meeting in Chicago

GREETINGS FROM THE CHAIR
Chicago Sizzles
- Bonnie Fought

Thought provoking and provocative -- This summer at the Annual Meeting in Chicago (August 4-6, 2001) the Section of Science and Technology Law has put together a sizzling agenda of programs which cover topics from Napster to HIPPA to e-privacy to the future of science, technology, and the law in the third millennium. Join leading scientists, technologists, and lawyers as they provide their visions of the key issues that are likely to affect society, such as biogenetic engineering, neuroscience, nanotechnology, and information technology. Hear E-privacy discussed by the privacy officers of major corporations. Learn how to respond to attacks on your (or your clients') computer networks. Discuss recent changes in expert witness law and the Daubert trilogy. This issue of BLAST includes a detailed program description and a schedule of Section events in Chicago.

For those occasional or infrequent attendees, this summer's program is one of those sessions you will likely reflect upon for years to come - and a good reason to get more active in our Section if you are not already involved.

In addition to the vast array of CLE programs, the Section will be premiering several new publications which will be available for advance purchase at the Annual Meeting:

• The E-Commerce Legal Arsenal: Practitioners Agreements and Checklists
• Scientific Evidence Review V
• Surfing the Law & Technology Tsunami

Also, look for a draft of the PKI (Public Key Infrastructure) Assessment Guidelines: guidelines to help assess and facilitate interoperable trustworthy public key infrastructures online at http://www.abanet.org/scitech. This draft will be available for public comment until Fall 2001.

For additional information on these publications or the program, contact the Section at (312) 988-5599 or by email at ScienceTech@abanet.org.

I hope that you can join us this summer in Chicago!

Impact of Fraud on E-Commerce
On September 19, 2001 at 1:00 p.m. eastern, the Section is presenting a one-hour CLE teleconference on "Internet Privacy Issues." U.S. companies doing business on the Internet need to know how to comply with new privacy laws and regulations. At least 45 separate privacy bills are pending in Congress, the Gramm-Leach Bliley Financial Service Modernization Act (passed in 1999) becomes effective in July, the EU is set to start enforcing its own privacy regulations, which prohibit the collection of customers' personal data by foreign countries that don't have their own strict laws. The FTC also has been cracking down on U.S. web sites that misrepresent how they will handle customers' personal data. In this climate of new rules and regs, what should business lawyers be telling their clients? How should a company construct a privacy policy? Should a company self-certify that it will maintain strict privacy policies, or will that hamstring the company in what it can do with its data? Worse, will an unintentional breach of that policy bring down heavy fines from the FTC? What kind of technical hardware and know-how are needed to monitor a company's compliance with its own privacy policies? Of the pending U.S. legislation, which should companies pay attention to? This teleconference will answer those questions and give practitioners an up-to-date overview of how to deal with privacy issues in a way that satisfies both U.S. and global regulations. The program is a no-cost benefit to ABA members. Continuing Legal Education credit has been applied for in states that accept the teleconference format. To register, call the ABA at 1-800/285-2221 from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Eastern weekdays, beginning Monday, August 20th or register online by Friday, September 14th at www.abanet.org/cle/connection.html. If you are unable to participate in the live teleconference, the program is available, at no cost, for one month, on the ABA CLE web site at http://www.abanet.org/cle/connection.html. Tapes of the program are available to ABA members for $50.00 two weeks after the program. To order a tape call the ABA Service Center at 1-800-285-2221.