On August 17, US District Court Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ordered a halt to the National Security Agency's controversial wiretapping program. In the ruling, she said the NSA was violating the privacy and free speech rights of US residents. Now, another potential court case on the issue of consumer privacy could reignite the debate on just how much leeway the government or private companies have in this regard.

The Washington Post is reporting the Justice Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a House subcommittee have probes into how Hewlett-Packard Co. investigators obtained private phone records in an attempt to identify a source of company leaks to the media.

The company revealed yesterday in a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had been contacted by the U.S. attorney's office for the Northern District of California for information regarding its investigation.

A spokesman for the FBI said the agency also was looking into the methods of HP's investigation. The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on oversight and investigations has asked HP to submit information as part of the committee's broader look at breaches of private information. Last week, the California state attorney general's office launched its own investigation, and the Federal Communications Commission requested information from AT&T Corp. about the disclosure of the phone records.

The first entry of any new blog should be informative and have an introductory feel. So let's get to it. The premise of Technolitics is simple - how information technology is effecting politics and often influencing political campaigns. From fundraising techniques to electronic voting applications, my goal for Technolitics is to provide you with news and opinion on the recent marriage of politics and cutting edge information technology from an often centrist but always non-partisan perspective.

Perhaps you've never given much thought to how big a role technology is playing in our political process. But so much happens behind the scenes before you cast a vote, and more has to do with IT than ever before. E-newsletters, for example, deliver information on issues and campaigns much quicker and more efficiently than direct postal mail. Political fundraising has taken on a new dimension with millions being raised online.

So what kind of things can you look for in upcoming election cycles? Well, just late last month, former Virginia governor and 2008 Presidential hopeful Mark Warner may have provided a glimpse with what is believed to be the first virtual political press conference.

Using Second Life, a popular virtual world where people can interact, do business, play, and essentially lead a "second life," Warner spoke for a crowd in a cyber-theater. In fact, he flew onto the stage (you can do that in Second Life. Cool, huh?)

"I feel a little disembodied," Said Warner as the avatars in attendance virtually clapped.

Many wondered why Warner would embark on such a, well, geeky online adventure. But when one considers the impact blogging has made on the political landscape in recent years, this type of high-tech envelope pushing may prove to be ground breaking. Warner plans a virtual town hall meeting this month, and other campaigns will surely join him should these virtual events prove to be successful.

Opposition research for political campaigns just got a lot easier with Google's announcement that they plan to make news articles dating back over 200 years available for the first time online. According to SearchEngineWatch:

"The goal of this service is to allow people to search and explore how history unfolded," said Anurag Acharya, Google distinguished engineer, who played a major role in shepherding the new product.

Google has partnered with news organizations including Time, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, the Guardian and the Washington Post, and aggregators including Factiva, LexisNexis, Thomson Gale and HighBeam Research, to index the full-text of content going back 200 years."

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