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BRIEF: Last week, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that the federal Office of Homeland Security must prove it has no authority other than helping advise the President, if it wants a lawsuit against it to be dismissed. The lawsuit was filed by the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center, which sued after being denied information by the Homeland Security Office. The center wanted information about plan proposals for national drivers' licenses and a "trusted flyer" program that relies on biometric information to identify airline fliers. The U.S. Office of Homeland Security has consistently claimed that it is not an agency, and thus does not have to give information about its activities to scholars, journalists and other members of the public that request it under the Freedom of Information Act. However, all of this will change on January 24, when the Office becomes the federal Department of Homeland Security. E-mail Brandon Moeller at brandonmoeller@hotmail.com . This story was broadcast on January 3, 2003.