Edupage, May 09, 2003

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Edupage is a service of EDUCAUSE, a nonprofit association
whose mission is to advance higher education by promoting
the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR FRIDAY, MAY 09, 2003
  GOP Senators Drop Effort to Extend Patriot Act
  FISA Wiretaps Jump 30 Percent
  Spammer Fined, Barred from Sending Unsolicited E-Mail
  Owner of Web Sites Accused of Exploiting Do-Not-Call List
AND
  MIT Pulls Out of Media Lab Asia
  E-Rate Forum Raises the Call for Reform


GOP SENATORS DROP EFFORT TO EXTEND PATRIOT ACT
In a highly negotiated deal this week, Sen. Orrin G. Hatch withdrew a
proposal to make the expanded law-enforcement powers of the USA Patriot
Act permanent. Civil liberties groups, many Democrats, and a few
Republicans strongly opposed extending the surveillance powers, which
are scheduled to expire in 2005. Timothy Edgar of the American Civil
Liberties Union called the withdrawal a "major victory" and suggested
that many believe that "the government has already gone too far with
the Patriot Act." As part of the compromise not to extend the Patriot
Act, the Senate voted 90 to 4 supporting a bill that gives government
officials broader authority to obtain warrants for surveillance. Some
argue that such authority could have prevented the September 11
attacks. The Senate bill now moves to the House, where the level of
support is uncertain.
New York Times, 9 May 2003 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/09/international/worldspecial/09TERR.html

FISA WIRETAPS JUMP 30 PERCENT
Privacy advocates and civil liberties groups report that the FBI
increasingly submits wiretap requests to the Foreign Intelligence
Surveillance Court, which was created in 1978 by the Foreign
Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), rather than to state and federal
courts. Warrants granted under FISA give broader authority for searches
than Title III wiretaps, granted by the courts, and receive less
scrutiny. Despite a report last year that the FBI had misled FISA on 75
occasions, FISA has never rejected a wiretap request. Last year the
number of wiretap applications to FISA jumped 30 percent, from 934 to
1,228, while the number of wiretaps approved by state and federal
judges dropped from 1,491 to 1,359. Critics of the system point out
that the FISA court meets privately and all records from the court's
proceedings are sealed, even to those prosecuted by FISA orders. Beryl
Howell, who served as general counsel for the Senate judiciary
committee from 1993 to 2003, said, "When it comes to FISA, there are
virtually no reporting requirements."
Wired News, 9 May 2003
http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,58774,00.html

SPAMMER FINED, BARRED FROM SENDING UNSOLICITED E-MAIL
Internet service provider EarthLink has won a lawsuit against Howard
Carmack for sending as many as 825 million spam e-mails to EarthLink
subscribers. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. ruled that
Carmack must pay EarthLink $16.4 million and is permanently prohibited
from sending, or helping anyone else send, unwanted e-mail. Carmack
allegedly used stolen credit cards, identity theft, and banking fraud
to set up e-mail accounts to send spam and help others send spam.
Neither Carmack nor an attorney representing him appeared in court.
Last year EarthLink won damages of $25 million in a case against
another spammer, though the company said it has not collected that
money. An attorney for EarthLink said the injunction against Carmack is
much more significant than the damages.
Washington Post, 7 May 2003
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A26343-2003May7.html

OWNER OF WEB SITES ACCUSED OF EXPLOITING DO-NOT-CALL LIST
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) this week filed a complaint against
Ken Chase, the operator of two Web sites that federal officials say
misled consumers about the upcoming federal do-not-call list. The two
sites, www.free-do-not-call-list.org and
www.national-do-not-call-list.us, reportedly offered consumers free
registration on the federal do-not-call list as well as services to
remove consumers from many marketing lists. When the FTC's list goes
into effect later this year, however, the agency will not accept
registrations from third parties. The FTC expressed concern that the
registration services Chase offered were misleading and were used as a
"pretext for gathering personal information about people." Chase said
he had no intention of misleading anyone but wanted to help consumers
fight back against telemarketers. Chase said, "It seems we've
blundered, but it was only an attempt to help the public."
San Jose Mercury News, 9 May 2003
http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/5822642.htm

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MIT PULLS OUT OF MEDIA LAB ASIA
Citing disagreements with the new Indian minister of information, the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has decided to end its
participation in Media Lab Asia. The lab was started two years ago to
perform research that would benefit the Indian people, and funding was
supposed to come from the Indian government, corporations, and MIT. To
date, all funding has come from the Indian government, and the new
minister of information reportedly disagreed with the approach to
salaries at the lab and with the lab's research focus. Management of
the program will be turned over to the Indian government, though the
name may remain Media Lab Asia. MIT said despite this decision, the
institution remains interested in supporting similar labs in other
countries.
New York Times, 8 May 2003 (registration req'd)
http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/08/business/08LABS.html

E-RATE FORUM RAISES THE CALL FOR REFORM
This week the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held a forum to
investigate the troubled E-Rate Program, which has been accused of
rampant fraud and has seen recent rules changes. Representatives from
schools and libraries, the intended beneficiaries of the program, said
policy and procedural complexities left many applicants confused and
willing to cede responsibility to vendors. A representative from
BellSouth, one of the program's largest vendors, said policies should
be changed to discourage schools and libraries from taking advantage of
the system. "Applicants do not have enough incentive to control project
costs, and service providers have too much incentive to inflate costs,"
said Margaret Greene of BellSouth, which supports lowering the discount
cap of 90 percent to around 75-80 percent. All speakers at the forum
supported recent rules changes made for the program.
Internet News, 9 May 2003
http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/2203861

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