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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 05, 2003 Passenger-Screening Program Upsets Privacy Advocates Government Seizure of Domain Names Causes Concern Study Shows Lack of IT Disaster Plans AND Library Filters Go Before Supreme Court Copyright Enforcement Heats Up on Campus Group Releases Benchmarking Software for Linux PASSENGER-SCREENING PROGRAM UPSETS PRIVACY ADVOCATES Delta Airlines's upcoming test of the government's Computer Assisted Passenger Prescreening System (CAPPS II) has at least one activist up in arms over what he sees as the system's threat to privacy. Bill Scannell, who led the Boycott Adobe campaign to protest the arrest of programmer Dmitry Sklyarov, is now calling for a boycott against Delta. CAPPS II assigns a rating of green, yellow, or red to every airline passenger based on that person's credit, banking, and criminal history. According to developers of the system, the ratings indicate a passenger's security threat level; people with yellow ratings will be subject to extra security checks at airports, while passengers identified as red can be prevented from flying. Scannell said the system sacrifices individuals' right to privacy while doing nothing to increase security. Barry Steinhardt of the American Civil Liberties Union shares Scannell's concerns. "CAPPS II threatens our liberty," said Steinhardt, "but its security benefits are far from clear." Wired News, 5 March 2003 http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,57909,00.html GOVERNMENT SEIZURE OF DOMAIN NAMES CAUSES CONCERN The federal government's recent tactic of seizing not just ill-gotten property and items used in committing crimes but also Internet domain names has civil libertarians and Internet registrars worried. Registrars have routinely argued that domain names represent a contract and are not subject to seizure. If domain names are considered property, according to computer-law attorney Michael Overly, registrars will "find themselves at the heart of no end of litigation." Civil libertarians worry that if the government seizes a domain--rather than simply confiscating the hardware that runs a site--the government gains access to user logs for that site, which would remain active until government officials turned it off. The government could, critics argue, seize a site and then identify all visitors to that site. The federal government recently seized the domain names for a number of sites selling drug paraphernalia, and Attorney General John Ashcroft said law enforcement agencies have asked that 15 to 20 more sites be redirected to the Drug Enforcement Administration. Associated Press, 4 March 2003 (registration req'd) http://www.nandotimes.com/technology/story/791690p-5659158c.html STUDY SHOWS LACK OF IT DISASTER PLANS A recent study by Dataquest Inc. determined that many U.S. companies are not prepared for disaster recovery and have not adequately invested in contingency planning. Security risks, even for the prepared, are heightened by a possible war with Iraq. The study found that both government and businesses are unprepared and cautioned that one in three businesses could lose critical data or operability if disaster-recovery spending is not increased immediately. According to Dataquest principal analyst Tony Adams, "Budget constraints are forcing an average of 40 percent of respondents to rely on a best guess to determine potential risk rather than obtaining formal assessments, which would be too costly." Although the study focused on the central role of IT managers, an industry insider noted that a company's CEO, COO, and board of directors are ultimately responsible for investing in security planning. ComputerWorld, 4 March 2003 http://www.idg.net/ic_1192210_9677_1-5046.html AND ***************************************************** LIBRARY FILTERS GO BEFORE SUPREME COURT This week the U.S. Supreme Court will hear arguments over the Children's Internet Protection Act, which requires libraries to install Internet filters if they want to receive federal funding. Supporters of the requirement argue that preventing online access to pornography is akin to libraries' decision not to offer patrons printed pornographic magazines. They also say that blocking some non-offensive material is not reason enough to reject Web filters. Groups including the American Library Association that oppose the filters contend they block considerable amounts of non-objectionable material, including information about health, scientific, social, and political issues. Opponents also say that filters disproportionately affect low-income and rural users, who don't have the same opportunities to online access at home or at work as higher-income and urban users. Last year a panel of three federal judges ruled that the law violated the First Amendment. San Jose Mercury News, 5 March 2003 http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/5321221.htm COPYRIGHT ENFORCEMENT HEATS UP ON CAMPUS Last week Universal Studios stepped up efforts to control copyright infringement by sending an unspecified number of complaints to colleges and universities across the country. On Friday, the University of Wisconsin at Madison received complaints about 127 computers on its campus, and the University of Maryland at College Park received 155. Rodney J. Petersen of the University of Maryland said his institution receives about two or three notices on an average day. Officials from both universities said the notices represent an enormous amount of work; a representative of the University of Wisconsin said that by the end of the day his institution had only tracked and contacted 12 of the 127 violators identified in the complaints. Friday's flurry of notices has so far not been repeated, but university administrators see the need to have policies and procedures in place to deal with the potentially large number of complaints that could come from other studios. The problem of movie piracy may become as significant as that of music piracy, according to one university official. Chronicle of Higher Education, 5 March 2003 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/daily/2003/03/2003030501t.htm GROUP RELEASES BENCHMARKING SOFTWARE FOR LINUX New software from the Open Source Development Lab (OSDL) allows Linux developers to establish three common benchmarks for their applications. The software, which is free, tests three performance areas similar to those tested by the Transaction Processing Performance Council: retrieving specific data from a large data set, operating an online book store, and employing an inventory-tracking system. Analyst Bill Claybrook said that although comparing the OSDL benchmarks to those for AIX or Windows systems is difficult, the fact that the new tests exist represents an important step for Linux. Linux has become an important platform, but a lack of standardized tests and benchmarks has hindered the operating system's development. The new software, said Claybrook, indicates the maturation of Linux. NewsFactor Network, 3 March 2003 http://www.newsfactor.com/perl/story/20890.html ***************************************************** EDUPAGE INFORMATION To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change your settings, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html Or, you can subscribe or unsubscribe by sending e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To SUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SUBSCRIBE Edupage YourFirstName YourLastName To UNSUBSCRIBE, in the body of the message type: SIGNOFF Edupage If you have subscription problems, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For past issues of Edupage or information about translations of Edupage into other languages, visit http://www.educause.edu/pub/edupage/edupage.html ***************************************************** OTHER EDUCAUSE PUBLICATIONS EDUCAUSE publishes periodicals, including "EQ" and "EDUCAUSE Review," books, and other materials dealing with the impacts and implications of information technology in higher education. 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