Edupage, May 21, 2003

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the intelligent use of information technology.
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TOP STORIES FOR WEDNESDAY, MAY 21, 2003
  Pentagon Tries to Calm Fears about Data-Mining Program
  DHS Still Not Sharing Well
  E-Mail Advertiser Calls for Anti-Spam Legislation
  New Chips from Intel
AND
  Academic Support for Verizon
  Web Group Accepts Patent Policy


PENTAGON TRIES TO CALM FEARS ABOUT DATA-MINING PROGRAM
This week the Pentagon continued recent efforts to address negative
public reaction to its data-mining project. The Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency, which oversees the project, submitted a
report to Congress about some of the details of the project, which the
report said remains in very early stages of development. According to
the report, "safeguarding the privacy and civil liberties of Americans
is a bedrock principle." The report also pointed out that the
project's name has been changed from Total Information Awareness to
Terrorism Information Awareness. Opponents generally were not swayed by
the report. Lee Tien of the Electronic Frontier Foundation said, "After
more than a hundred pages, you don't know anything more about whether
TIA will work or whether your civil liberties will be safe against it."
Lori Waters of the Eagle Forum, a conservative political organization,
said the TIA is based on the idea that "anybody is guilty until proven
innocent in America."
Wired News, 21 May 2003
http://www.wired.com/news/privacy/0,1848,58936,00.html

DHS STILL NOT SHARING WELL
Tom Ridge, secretary of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), told
Congress this week that the agency continues to have difficulty
exchanging information with other agencies. After the September 11
attacks, questions were raised about why the CIA did not share its
watch list, which included two of the hijackers, and why a report from
an FBI field agent about non-citizens taking flying lessons was also
not shared. Ridge told members of the House Select Committee on
Homeland Security that DHS has not worked out technical issues for
sharing information or resolved who should be on a watch list. Rep. Jim
Turner (D-Tex.) had harsh words for Ridge and DHS's performance so
far. Turner said DHS was created to "connect the dots" of intelligence
but that he was unconvinced that the department was effectively doing
this.
Federal Computer Week, 21 May 2003
http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2003/0519/web-ridge-05-21-03.asp

E-MAIL ADVERTISER CALLS FOR ANTI-SPAM LEGISLATION
E-mail marketer Ronald Scelson appeared this week before the U.S.
Senate Commerce Committee and said the federal government should pass
strict anti-spam legislation. Such a move, he said, would allow his
compnay to become legal. Scelson said his mass e-mails used to include
return addresses and opt-out choices but that heavy-handed filtering
has necessitated masking tactics typical of many spammers. Scelson told
the committee that he obtained all the addresses on his lists legally,
including AOL's entire customer directory, which he said he purchased.
Secelson said federal regulations would distinguish legitimate e-mail
marketers like himself from those dealing in pornograpy or online
scams. Scelson urged the committee to hold Internet service providers
(ISPs) responsible for overzealous filtering because, he said, users
should be in control of what e-mail they receive, not the ISPs.
Internet News, 21 May 2003
http://dc.internet.com/news/article.php/2210551

NEW CHIPS FROM INTEL
New processors and chip sets from Intel are said to bring high-end
technology to lower-priced machines. Intel has released three new
processors that include hyper-threading technology, which allows a
computer to perform multiple tasks simultaneously without significantly
slowing down. For example, a computer could run an anti-virus
application while compressing files and encrypting e-mail, all without
bogging down. Two new chip sets based on the processors will reportedly
give consumers better performance for video applications, such as games
and other high-bandwidth uses.
Reuters, 21 May 2003
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?storyID=2781880

AND
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ACADEMIC SUPPORT FOR VERIZON
In its ongoing struggle to protect the identity of some of its users,
Verizon Communications has won support from academic-library and other
academic groups. The Recording Industry Association of America has
subpoenaed Verizon to reveal the identities of suspected music pirates,
citing a provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Many in the
academic community worry about the repercussions if the subpoena is
upheld. If it is, they fear the recording industry could make similar
demands for the identities of students thought to be using campus
networks for illegally trading files. Supporters of Verizon in the case
object to the fact that the law allows subpoenas to be issued without
judicial review and without proof that the individual being sought is
guilty of the allegation.
Chronicle of Higher Education, 19 May 2003
http://chronicle.com/free/2003/05/2003051901t.htm

WEB GROUP ACCEPTS PATENT POLICY
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has finally accepted a policy for
the contentious issue of patents and royalties for them. The W3C has
long maintained that its development of Web standards and
recommendations should not include royalty payments for patented
components of those standards. Under the terms of the new policy, those
involved in developing standards must disclose information about
possible patents included, and those who review recommendation drafts
must be similarly forthcoming. The policy does include a provision,
however, to include patented content in Web standards in special
circumstances. The new policy, according to W3C Director Tim
Berners-Lee, gives the group a clear road "to successfully develop
royalty-free Web standards in the current patent environment."
Internet News, 21 May 2003
http://www.internetnews.com/dev-news/article.php/2210201

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