A GAO report calls for ratification of the Basel Convention. However, without concurrently passing the Ban Amendment, exporting of e-waste from the US to other Ban parties will actually become legal.

A bill recently passed in North Carolina requires manufacturers to register with the state, create a recycling plan and pay an annual fee.

Fake recyclers run recycling programs with well-respected organizations. However, instead of recycling the electronics, they simply export the e-waste to a country with lax environmental regulations.

New legislation proposed in New Jersey would require all records stored on a digital copying machine's hard drive be erased or irrecoverably modified when that device is being resold, returned at the end of a lease, decommissioned or discarded.

Senate Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy has proposed the Personal Data Privacy and Security Act setting national standards for data breach notifications to consumers.

From the Wall Street Journal, Ryan Knutson reports on the effects state and city laws are having on electronic firms that require them to pay the costs for electronic recycling programs of their products.

The Basel Action Network reports on another incident where materials are exported to and cause harm to workers and the environment. In this instance, an electronic recycling company offers fundraising programs to charities where the charities earn money on the amount collected at free electronic recycling events. Responsible recyclers don't see how this program can be profitable unless the electronics are being brokered to overseas buyers.

The UK's Daily Mail reports that British researchers studying the data on 300 second-hand hard drives purchased through various sources found sensitive details of the SCUD missile defense system used in Iraq as well as other confidential personal and corporate data.

Electronics recycling volume increased by 7% according to an index released by the National Center for Electronics Recylcing. The index is based on the per capita recycling totals from 6 collection areas.

Senators Olympia Snowe and John D. Rockefeller have drafted a cybersecurity bill that would establish a real-time information system to track the security status of federal systems, require the licensing of cybersecurity professionals and give federal officials new powers to create and enforce data security standards for businesses in critical infrastructure industries.

The House Science and Technology Committee held hearings on draft legislation to fund grants to higher education programs related to e-waste management. The new bill would also award research and development grants for improved product design, reuse and recycling of potential e-waste including sustainable design frameworks.

In their fourth annual study of data breaches, the Ponemon Institute found that a data breach costs an organization an average of $6.6 million in 2008.

USA Today reports that though the exportation of e-waste to poor nations remains a problem, the E-Steward Intitiative and other programs are signs that the public and recycling industry are beginning to actively work to reduce the fraud in the system.

A news station in Ft. Myers was able to easily recover personal information from some used hard drives purchased on eBay. And the data recovered included customer information from major retailers.

The CBS News Program 60 Minutes recently aired a story on the underground dumping of CRT monitor and televisions from the United States being shipped to Hong Kong and China.

On September 17th, the GAO released a report on e-waste blasting the EPA for not enforcing current rules on exporting CRTs and calling for broader controls over other potentially hazardous electronics.

As news such as Greenpeace's latest expose on the effects of e-waste exported to Ghana become more widely known, Congress has taken the first step towards joining other nations in banning the exportation of electronic waste.

The ever-increasing popularity of certain electronics has created a demand for the rare metal coltan, which has helped spawn a brutal conflict in the hillsides of the Democratic Republic of Congo where the metal is found in abundance.

According to a survey conducted by Green Electronics Daily, nearly twice as many state and city legislatures have considered electonic waste laws so far in 2008 as have in the previous four years combined.

The United Nations estimates that roughly 20 to 50 million tons of e-waste are generated worldwide each year, with an estimated 70 percent of that waste being illegally dumped or crudely processed in many of the poorer Asian and African countries.

A recent incident involving a stolen laptop from an AT&T employee highlights the problems of deficient data security and privacy procedures.

Originally scoffed at when it was first introduced, Green IT is no longer only part of a company's corporate and social repsonsibility strategy. CIOs have found that they can save money by implementing specific Green intitiatives. VARs that believe and promote Green IT open an avenue for new customers and new deals.

Earth Day 2008 is April 22, 2008. We have selected a few of our favorite clean-tech tips and facts from a recent PCMag article to help you celebrate.

With Earth Day approaching, you may be considering making your business more green. This New York Enterprise Report article examines the risks and advantages of a green strategy including the environmentally responsible cost-saving advantages and disadvantages of digital mailings and invoicing, energy buy-back programs and the green disposal of office equipment.

Any given month we can choose from a myriad of articles reporting how identity theft has crippled an individual or business. This month we link to a report on yet another incident in Lexington, KY. as well as an article with some important tips to remember and a link to the U.S. Department of Justice to help you if you think you may be at risk.

The February 2009 mandatory switchover from analog to digital televisions will create a glut of unwanted TV's at one time. Dawn Carlson of consumeraffairs.com elaborates on the now mainstream media news of this conversion.

Governor Corzine signed the "Electronic Waste Recycling Act" into law on Sunday January 13th. The Act establishes a new program for the disposal of electronic devices, including televisions, computers, and related components and subcomponents in New Jersey.

Microsoft partners that are recycling firms or refurbishers offering refurbished PC's can now be competitive in the market with properly licensed equipment with two new licensing mechanisms that allow those PC's to be loaded with Windows XP Professional or Windows XP for Home.

The Top 10 strategic technologies for 2008 as cited by leading research organization Gartner Group include Green IT, Unified Communications and Business Process Management.

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