Identity Theft is Soaring; Congressional Report Tough on FBI; Colleges Unhelpful to Recording Industry

Identity Theft is Soaring

The Federal Trade Commission said it logged 161,886 complaints of identity theft last year, and is on track to record more than 200,000 this year, as more people exploit flaws in Internet commerce, according to a story in the Washington Post. The Post reports that a survey by Gartner estimated that 7 million U.S. adults were victims of identity theft in the year ending last month, a 79 percent increase over the previous year. Congressional Report Tough on FBICNN.com. CNN reports that the report also criticizes the intelligence agencies for failing to collect enough intelligence on al Qaeda activities in the United States and in their training camps in Afghanistan.

The FBI is expected to bear much of the criticism from the joint congressional committee investigating the September 11 attacks, which is to release its final report Thursday, according to a report by

Colleges Unhelpful to Recording IndustryBoston Globe. The Globe reports that the moves represent one of the first major obstacles for the recording industry in its campaign against ordinary computer users who share copyrighted music.

Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, citing concerns about student privacy, moved yesterday to quash subpoenas issued by the recording industry to discover the identities of students the industry says are illegally distributing copyrighted music, according to a story in the