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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2003 Maryland Keeps E-Voting System, Promises Fixes Library Groups Side with P2P Companies Congress Provides No Funds for Controversial Pentagon Office Congress Calls for Study of CAPPS II Program IU Adds Password Screensaver Requirement MARYLAND KEEPS E-VOTING SYSTEM, PROMISES FIXES After an independent review uncovered security flaws in electronic voting systems purchased by Maryland, state officials said the maker of the systems, Diebold Elections Systems Inc., would address the flaws and the state would honor its contract with Diebold. Science Application International Corp., which conducted the review, found 328 flaws in Diebold's AccuVote system, of which 26 are critical. Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. said that "Maryland voters will have one of the safest election environments in the nation" as a result of the review and revisions to the e-voting systems. Others remain unconvinced. Aviel Rubin of Johns Hopkins University, who in July wrote an extremely critical assessment that prompted the review of Diebold's e-voting systems, said that despite a very thorough review, the state and Diebold cannot adequately address all of the problems. He called the action plan "unrealistic and naive" and faulted the system for relying on human poll workers who can make human mistakes. Washington Post, 25 September 2003 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A60825-2003Sep24.html LIBRARY GROUPS SIDE WITH P2P COMPANIES Five U.S. library organizations are expected to file an amicus brief in federal court supporting the position of peer-to-peer (P2P) companies Streamcast Networks and Grokster in their legal battle with the recording industry. Organizations signing the brief include the American Library Association, the Association of Research Libraries, the American Association of Law Libraries, the Medical Library Association, and the Special Libraries Association. In the brief, the library groups argue that a judge ruled properly in April when he said that the two companies are not responsible for copyright infringement committed by individuals using the peer-to-peer tools the companies developed, just as makers of VCRs are not responsible if individuals use them to make illegal copies of movies. The brief reportedly makes clear that the groups do not condone violations of copyright law but that the recording industry should not be given "veto power over the development of innovative products and services" that have legitimate, noninfringing uses. CNET, 26 September 2003 http://news.com.com/2100-1032_3-5082684.html CONGRESS PROVIDES NO FUNDS FOR CONTROVERSIAL PENTAGON OFFICE Congress has approved a spending bill that includes no funds for the Pentagon's Information Awareness Office, effectively eliminating it. The office and its former head, John Poindexter, had been criticized by civil-rights and privacy groups for initiatives including the Total Information Awareness program (later called the Terrorism Information Awareness program) and a futures market on terrorism, which was ended almost immediately after details of its intended operation were made public. A few of the office's programs, specifically training, will continue but will be transferred elsewhere within the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. New York Times, 26 September 2003 (registration req'd) http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/26/politics/26SURV.html CONGRESS CALLS FOR STUDY OF CAPPS II PROGRAM A congressional committee reconciling Senate and House versions of the 2004 budget for the Department of Homeland Security retained the wording of the Senate version, which would prohibit deployment of the Transportation Security Administration's CAPPS II program until the General Accounting Office (GAO) can assure Congress that the system will not have an unacceptable level of false positives. The GAO study will also address the CAPPS II system's effectiveness in identifying terrorists and whether it offers an appeals process for those delayed or prohibited from flying. The existing CAPPS system checks passenger names against a list of suspected terrorists. The new system uses additional information supplied by passengers to check against commercial databases and a terrorist watch list, color coding each passenger according to the system's pattern-matching algorithms. Wired News, 26 September 2003 http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,60600,00.html IU ADDS PASSWORD SCREENSAVER REQUIREMENT Administrators at Indiana University-Purdue University have implemented a new policy at the university's Fort Wayne campus that requires faculty and staff to use password-protected screensavers on their computers. The policy, which stipulates entering a password to access a computer that has been idle for more than 15 minutes, is an attempt to strengthen security and prevent unauthorized access. Part of the rationale for the policy is compliance with a range of recent legislation, including the USA PATRIOT Act and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. Officials said the implementation is going smoothly and that "for the most part everybody understands what the goal is," despite a few vocal opponents. Chronicle of Higher Education, 25 September 2003 (sub. req'd) http://chronicle.com/prm/daily/2003/09/2003092501t.htm ***************************************************** 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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