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Events: Security and Privacy Conference

Security, Privacy & Technology: Shaping a 21st Century Public Information Policy
April 24-25, 2003
Georgetown University Law Center
www.securityandprivacyconference.com

Register.Com Sued for Re-Direction
Posted by Steven Wu on Wednesday, April 23 @ 17:18:21 EDT News

From the New York Law Journal:

The [class action] suit, filed in state Supreme Court in Manhattan, alleges that Register.com, which registers domain names for a $35 fee, misused the Internet addresses of new customers by redirecting those links to a "Coming Soon" Web page until the customers developed Web sites of their own.

The "Coming Soon" page contained advertisements for Register.com and other companies.

. . . .

[The lead plaintiff claims that] Register.com used his Web address without his permission to direct others to the company's own site and to sell advertisements.

(comments?)

Links: Siva Vaidhyanathan Interview: Copyright, Libraries, Media, Privacy
Posted by James Grimmelmann on Wednesday, April 23 @ 10:59:01 EDT Free Expression
Anonymous writes "There's a wide-ranging interview with Siva Vaidhyanathan at Eyeteeth:
Both democracy and creative culture share this notion that they work best when the raw materials are cheap and easy and easily distributed. You can look at any cultural development that's made a difference in the world-reggae, blues, crocheting-you can look at any of these and say, y'know, it's really about communities sharing. It's about communities moving ideas between and among people, revision, theme and variation, and ultimately a sort of consensus about what is good and what should stay around.
"

(comments? | Links)

Record Labels Suing Napster VC Firm
Posted by James Grimmelmann on Wednesday, April 23 @ 10:52:23 EDT Copyright
miladus writes "ZDNet reports that Universal Music Group and EMI are suing Hummer Winblad Venture Partners, best-known as Napster's venture capital source, for allegedly contributing to "rampant music theft through the former file-swapping network.""

(Read More... | 1 comment)

Links: Cisco to Make Router/Stool Pigeon Combo
Posted by Ren Bucholz on Tuesday, April 22 @ 13:42:21 EDT Privacy

C|Net reports that Cisco Systems will be building "lawful interception" technology into their routers. Curiously (or not), the company is choosing not to build audit trails into the hardware, a feature that would make it more difficult for law enforcement to overstep the bounds of a surveillance order. In a bit waffling, Cisco's Fred Baker can't seem to settle on who's asking them to do it:

C|Net: Have you had requests for this capability, directly or indirectly, from government agencies?

Baker: Yes and no. We got the request from our customers. The laws relate to the ISPs, which are our customers. Certainly, if we get a request from our customers that we can't support, there are penalties that accrue. [...]

We've had discussions with government agencies, but (they're generally not) asking us to build a product. They do that with ISPs, who then come to us.

(Read More... | 1 comment | Links)

Links: The Losing Battle Against Spam
Posted by Steven Wu on Tuesday, April 22 @ 02:59:55 EDT News

The New York Times writes today that the "Internet Is Losing Ground in Battle Against Spam." The article runs through the growing problem of spam, people's attempts to deal with it, the problems with these attempts, and the devious ways that spammers get around any (temporary) solutions.

The article lists the reasons that the spam problem has grown:

The Internet e-mail system, designed to be flexible and open, is fundamentally so trusting of participants that it is easy to hide where an e-mail message is coming from and even what it is about. . . . The microscopic cost of sending e-mail, compared with the price of postal mailings, allows senders to make money on products bought by as little as one recipient for every 100,000 e-mail messages.
Another problem is the unthinking trust that people sometimes have when online: "Many people still will type virtually their life history into an unknown Web site that claims to be offering a chance to win a Lexus."

And then there are these final words from the spammers:

"These antispammers should get a life," she said. "Do their fingers hurt too much from pressing the delete key? How much time does that really take from their day?"

By contrast, she said, "70 million people have bad credit. Guess what? Now I can't get mail through to them to help them."

(Read More... | 3 comments | Links)

Links: Ninth Circuit Rules on Testimony via Closed-Circuit Television
Posted by Steven Wu on Tuesday, April 22 @ 02:38:50 EDT Governance

The Ninth Circuit case of United States v. Etimani, No. 01-10435/01-10440 (9th Cir. Apr. 21, 2003), decided earlier today, in part concerns the use of closed-circuit television for the testimony of child victims. From the introduction and conclusion of the relevant section, a summary of the court's holding:

18 U.S.C. § 3509 sets forth the procedure by which an alleged child victim can testify outside of the physical presence of the defendant via two-way closed circuit television. The statute requires, among other things, that the defendant's televised image be transmitted into the room where the child is testifying. We hold today that the television monitor must be called to the child's attention and be readily visible from where she is seated, but that it does not have to be in her direct field of vision while she is facing forward.
. . . .
In sum, we hold that 18 U.S.C. § 3509 is not unconstitutional. We also hold that § 3509 does not require that the television monitor in the witness room be located directly in the child’s field of vision while she testifies. Rather, it is sufficient (1) if the presence of the monitor has been called to the child’s attention, (2) if the child can see the monitor, if she wishes, with little effort from where she is seated while testifying, and (3) if the jury is able to observe whether or not the child looks at the monitor during her testimony. In this case, all of those conditions were met. There was no error.
(Link via How Appealing.)

(comments? | Links)

Publishers Losing Big Money to Their DRM Fixation; Solution Proposed
Posted by James Grimmelmann on Sunday, April 20 @ 15:09:17 EDT Copyright
davidrothman writes "No standard e-book format for consumers after nearly five years of spec-setting at the production level. VHS-v.-Beta times ten. That's the Open eBook Forum for you

E-book maven Jon Noring, an OeBF participant, has a very specfic solution for the e-book-spec-setting group, complete with provisions for DRM. Now--if only the OeBF will listen to him. More details via the TeleRead Web log. You can also learn about Microsoft and the Proprietary Format Promoters' Forum. Be interesting to see if consumer and library groups finally latch on to this issue and if the publishers themselves can wake up.

For whatever it's worth, the OeBF will hold an annual meeting May 29 in Los Angeles."

(comments?)

DoJ Files Brief Supporting RIAA Against Verizon
Posted by James Grimmelmann on Saturday, April 19 @ 12:22:02 EDT News
lithorn writes "The Justice Department has filed a brief in the DC District Court, supporting RIAA's effort to force Verizon to disclose the identity of a user suspected of violating copyrights. According to this article, the brief argues that allowing RIAA to force Verizon to disclose the user's identity will not harm First Amendment or Due Process values."

(Read More... | 4 comments)

Links: 911 Cell-Phone Taxes Not Spent on 911
Posted by James Grimmelmann on Friday, April 18 @ 19:48:30 EDT Telecommunications

The FCC has given states until 2005 to roll out "E911" services that can trace the location of cell-phone callers. But cash-strapped states have been dipping into the cell-phone surcharges earmarked for E911 purposes to fill other budgetary holes. New York alone has "diverted" $162 million, while spending nothing on E911. The FCC has scheduled hearings on E911 delays nationwide.

(Read More... | 2 comments | Links)

Links: Product Activation Bug Hits Businesses Running MS Office 2000
Posted by James Grimmelmann on Friday, April 18 @ 11:03:51 EDT Consumers

Software bugs are one thing. But what happens when the security features in the software on your computer are buggy? Well, corporate customers of Microsoft running a particular configuration of Office 2000 are being asked to register Office again . . . and again . . . and again. The recommended 23-step workaround includes uninstalling and reinstalling Office.

Of course, if this had happened to Office XP, with its machine-specific product activation system, there might not be a workaround . . .

(comments? | Links)

e-Information and Misinformation about SARS
Posted by Tara Swaminatha on Friday, April 18 @ 02:38:49 EDT News

A Hong Kong cell phone service is now available to notify customers which nearby buildings have housed SARS victims.

On a related topic, an article examines the fact that the fear of this serious epidemic is apparently travelling even faster than the deadly disease itself. Some of the information circulating is legitimate and some rumor-filled. Read the article here.

Legitimate government communication measures, disease information and other rumors discussed in the article include:
  • A Hong Kong intensive care specialist who (correctly) warned of the severity of SARS on his far-reaching mailing list when the disease was first identified. (Sadly, SARS cases have increased from 260 to 1268 since then.)
  • Earlier this week the Center for Disease Control (CDC) placed the entire nucleotide sequence of the virus suspected to be responsible for SARS online.
  • A teenager's Web hoax claiming Hong Kong's borders would be closed prompted runs on canned foods and toilet paper.
  • (comments?)

    The Internet: The Great Equalizer
    Posted by Tara Swaminatha on Thursday, April 17 @ 21:02:06 EDT Digital Divide

    David Kirkpatrick of Fortune.com notes with regret that the economic and digital disparity between affluent and poor countries today is astounding. Kirkpatrick takes a look at the five biggest tech trends and is refreshingly optimistic about the possible effect on the digital divide. He predicts these trends, including decreased costs and increased efficiency, might just contribute to raising the standards of living in struggling, war-torn or otherwise impoverished countries. If technology is readily available to any country, Kirkpatrick posits, we might be looking at closing the gap instead of further driving in the wedge between the "little guys" and the big ones.

    (comments?)

    DC lawyers sue against traffic cameras
    Posted by Steven Wu on Thursday, April 17 @ 11:59:28 EDT Privacy

    From the Washington Times:

    Two D.C. lawyers have filed suit to force the city to return all fines from traffic cameras because they violate constitutional due process rights.
    . . . .
    "There is no proof that the owner is driving the car and the only way to get out of the ticket is to submit an affidavit identifying the person who was driving your car," Mr. Ruffin said.
    . . . .
    Tickets are issued to car owners based on photographs of the rear license plates as vehicles speed past a radar camera or run red lights at intersections.

    (comments?)

    Homeland Security privacy czar
    Posted by James Grimmelmann on Thursday, April 17 @ 07:46:21 EDT Privacy
    lithorn writes "Secretary of Homeland Security Tom Ridge announced today that Nuala O'Connor Kelly will be the Department's first "privacy czar." Kelly previously lead DoubleClick's privacy division. The Washington Post has the story here."

    (comments?)

    Features: Penn State, Free Speech and Copyright Infringement
    Posted by Paul Szynol on Wednesday, April 16 @ 17:20:21 EDT Free Expression

    Just a handful of days after the RIAA sued four students at other universities, Penn State's Executive VP and Provost Rodney Erickson sent an email to 110,000 people at Penn State, in which he warned about the evils of copyright infringement. Penn's student-run newspaper reports here.

    According to the article, among the self-help methods employed by the University is a 1.5 GB limit on each user's weekly Internet transmissions. In order to limit copyright infringement, in other words, Penn State limits free speech -- to roughly 1.5 GB every seven days.

    Some students at Penn State are worried about their rights to free speech. And understandably so -- these restrictions raise First Amendment concerns.

    (Read More... | 4518 bytes more | 17 comments | Features)

    Links: Court hears appeal about portability of numbers
    Posted by Steven Wu on Wednesday, April 16 @ 03:49:39 EDT Telecommunications

    The Federal Communications Commission is trying to encourage competition by allowing cellphone users to keep the same number when they switch services, the same way that landline users can keep the same number if they switch local services. The theory behind this is that many customers stick with a particular plan because they've come to rely on a particular cellphone number, e.g., by distributing that number to their friends or business associates.

    The cellphone industry has appealed to the DC Circuit Court of Appeals to stop the FCC's efforts, arguing that such a regulation will cost at least $1 billion and that it is unnecessary because the cellphone market is already so competitive.

    Read the story here.

    (comments? | Links)

    Links: Shock and Awe
    Posted by Paul Szynol on Tuesday, April 15 @ 23:44:59 EDT Trademark

    If Sony itself did not shock and awe when it first disclosed its intent to trademark the phrase, it certainly raised a few eyebrows. Citing "inappropriate judgment", however, the company has since withdrawn the application.

    (Read More... | 1 comment | Links)

    Links: Research Moves Offshore, Thanks to Michigan's Super-DMCA
    Posted by James Grimmelmann on Tuesday, April 15 @ 23:21:28 EDT Digital Millennium Copyright Act

    Niels Provos is a graduate student at the University of Michigan, where he does research in steganography and hacker detection, both activities apparently now criminalized by Michigan's version of the "Super-DMCA." So he's moved his papers and software to a server in the Netherlands and now requires downloaders to assert that they are not downloading into the U.S. It's strange to be nostalgic for the days of the export control, but at least back then, the fear was only that encryption would get out of the country., not into it.

    (comments? | Links)

    YJoLT: 2002-03 Issue Posted
    Posted by James Grimmelmann on Tuesday, April 15 @ 22:39:30 EDT Legal Technology

    The Yale Journal of Law and Technology's 2002-03 issue is now live. In this issue:

    • Mine Your Own Business!, by Tal Z. Zarksy.
      This Article addresses the use of data mining applications in analyzing personal information and its impact upon society. . . . Among others, it addresses issues such as discrimination, threats to autonomy, misuse of data and the consequences of erroneous information. . . . After focusing on the role of public opinion, the Article concludes by outlining a public opinion campaign which may prove useful in finding solutions to the legal problems data mining tools create.
    • Lessons from the United States Trade Policies to Convert a “Pirate”: The Case of Pharmaceutical Patents in Argentina, by Hernan L. Bentolila.
      This analysis describes the radical transformations in pharmaceutical intellectual property protection in Argentina during the 1990s. Most importantly, it highlights the consequences of the use by the United States of unilateral trade weapons to pressure Argentina to adopt certain standards in this field.
    • Professional Piece: Message Deleted? Resolving Physician-Patient E-mail through Contract Law, by Michael A. McCann.
      This article examines the impact of e-mail on the physician-patient relationship, and how contract law can resolve the uncertainties incumbent in this nascent form of communication. . . . Instead of waiting for judicial guidance, physicians and patients can employ specialized contracts to clarify the role that e-mail plays in their relationship.
    • Student Note: Copyright’s Digital Reformulation, by Brodi Kemp.
      In this article, I will argue that content providers are “recreating the bottle” around their intellectual property, using digital technologies to reinforce their business models and supplant copyright. . . . I will argue that the particular resolution of the copyright debate arguably has powerful implications beyond the content industries or the balance of intellectual property.

    (comments? | YJoLT)

    DMCA Chills XBox Hacker
    Posted by Paul Szynol on Tuesday, April 15 @ 13:37:11 EDT Free Expression
    Anonymous writes "An MIT grad student named Bunnie Huang wrote a book about how he hacked Microsoft's XBox. But nobody will publish or distribute the book for fear of a DMCA lawsuit from Redmond.

    Interview with the author at http://news.com.com/2008-1082-996787.html?tag=fd_nc_1"

    (comments?)

     
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    Results
    Polls

    Votes: 67
    Comments: 0
    Past Articles
    Tuesday, April 15
    · HIPAA Compliance required as of yesterday (0)
    · Update from the Electronic Frontier (0)
    Monday, April 14
    · Security Panel Cancelled on DMCA Threat (3)
    Sunday, April 13
    · The Tie and the Crest available online (0)
    · ''Democracy in the Digital Age'' Conference Report (1)
    Saturday, April 12
    · Playboy, Sex Court settle (1)
    · Sixth Circuit finds no trademark violation in post-domain paths (1)
    · Seventh Circuit finds Internet ban excessive (0)
    Friday, April 11
    · Rip. Mix. Burn. (2)
    · Singapore To Enforce SARS Quarantines with Webcams (0)

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