The book is fast-paced and highly focused on each topic. It begins with an excellent discussion of marketing vs. privacy, which is an important opening topic because many analysts believe that the failure of e-business to meet its potential is because of consumer mistrust of information that is collected about their buying habits. With the big issue out of the way, the author goes into a succinct and clearly explained chapter intended to be a primer on privacy law. This sets the context for the rest of the book.

Each subsequent chapter addresses a specific topic. Each is well written and the range of topics spans every aspect of e-business privacy both in the U.S. and in Europe. The chapter titles are:

Healthcare Law Mandates Security and Privacy, Privacy of Personal Financial Information,Internet Privacy for Children, European Union Privacy Protection Mandate, Information Privacy and Compliance Programs, Internal Protection Controls, Creating and Communicating Policies, Digital Signatures Liberate Electronic Commerce, Biometric Security Systems, Encryption Security for Electronic Commerce, Protecting Proprietary Information, Secrecy and Noncompete Agreements, Computer Insurance: Risks and Protection, Audit Checklists and Monitoring.

As you can see, the topics are divided among general purpose privacy (i.e., privacy of personal financial information), technical (i.e., biometric security systems) and industry- or region-specific (i.e., healthcare law; EU privacy protection mandate).

With such a short page count and wide scope this book is not going to provide detailed answers. However, it will force you to see the bigger picture and carefully examine which areas you will need to address in more detail. From there you can obtain consulting services, training for in-house staff and/or additional books that address your specific areas of interest at the level of detail you require. I personally think this book is valuable for the reasons stated above and highly recommend it to anyone who needs to see e-business privacy at a macro level.

Roz

The Sipiera book did not disappoint. It is chock-full of fascinating photos and simple, easy-to-understand text. What really stands out about the True book series is this: much science literature for young children consists of information tidbits. The True Book series caters to the same age group but introduces children to a sustained narrative. I can't help but think this does them far more good than disconnected facts. Also, phonetic pronunciations for unfamiliar words are provided throughout.

My son and I had a great time with this book and I think your children will too, whether or not they've been through an earthquake before.

Regardless, the text itself is basically an analysis of the life and events of Jesus Christ. He begins with the various prophecies relating to the birth of Jesus, and then quickly moves on to such issues as the Virgin birth, his childhood, and so on. Throughout the work, the absurdities, distortions, and dogmas of the New Testament are given no credence. This is especially evident when the many "miracles" performed by Jesus are discussed. These events, quite astutely, are attributed more to the crafty nature of Jesus as well as the extreme credulity of those who he chooses to dupe. In addition to this, he also places the moral doctrines of Jesus under strict scrutiny, ultimately revealing them to be destructive of society as well as contrary to the very nature of man.

Some of his sharpest comments however, are reserved for the death of Jesus and his supposed resurrection. The resurrection is revealed to be a complete sham and myth, utterly unsupported by any reasonable, coherent, or objective documentation. Instead, he holds that it was merely a ploy used by his close inner circle to bring the foolish statements of their deceased leader to their fruition, and thus advance their cause even further. Nonetheless, his most caustic comments are reserved for the last two chapters, in which he reviews his critique of Jesus' life and teachings, and extends his analysis to the history of Christianity following his death. Here he concludes that Christianity is not only destructive in itself, but that its actual application and institutionalisation has caused the world an endless amount of suffering by allowing tyrants both temporal and spritual to oppress, rob, exploit, and enslave the bulk of mankind, while stiffling true learning, science, morality, and progress. His solution, to all of this, is of course the complete renunciation of religion, and the construction of a rational morality based upon the solid foundation of nature. For this, however, one will have to consult his other great works, in particular his great tome, "The System of Nature." This volume, however, is primarily an exercise in destruction. While this is almost certainly too strong a medicine for most "believers," those who have freed their minds from the shackles of faith will find this a welcome addition to their libraries.