PRIVACY
Panel Endorses Monitoring of Judges (WIRED)
High-Tech FBI Tactics Raise Privacy Questions (WP)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Groups Align to Bridge World Tech Gap (WIRED)
Growth in online use slows (CNET)
No PC? Go Online At a Kiosk (WP)
PRIVACY
PANEL ENDORSES MONITORING OF JUDGES
Issue: Privacy
Federal judges and their employees should be blocked from downloading music
and should still be monitored for Internet misuse, a new report recommends.
Judges of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco protested
the monitoring of their computers by disabling the monitoring software in
May. They claimed the practice was improper and likely illegal as some
employees were unaware of the monitoring. The 9th Circuit judges complained
to the Judicial Conference of the United States, the courts' policy-making
group of 27 judges. The Judicial Conference refused to support an end to the
monitoring but endorsed the prominent display of Internet policy each time
computer users log on. The group also suggested revising court policies to
match those in a model used by federal agencies. Robert Hamilton, an
Internet attorney in Columbus, Ohio, said courts have repeatedly ruled that
employers may monitor Internet and e-mail use, even without giving notice.
"When the courts find themselves as not the arbitrators but the victims of
such a policy, all of a sudden you find judges saying 'this could very well
be a violation of ... our rights.'" "Now the judges are beginning to
understand how difficult this has been for the private sector for so long,"
he added.
[SOURCE: Wired, AUTHOR: Gina Holland, Associated Press]
(http://www.wired.com/news/reuters/story?story_id=20010813APAP-Judges-Privac
y.htmlt)
High-Tech FBI Tactics Raise Privacy Questions
HIGH-TECH FBI TACTICS RAISE PRIVACY QUESTIONS
Issue: Privacy
In their efforts to bring down Nicodemo Scarfo for alleged illegal gambling
and loan-sharking, Federal prosecutors have run afoul of privacy advocates
(again). Scarfo used PGP, a $50 encryption program to encrypt some of his
personal computer files. When the FBI was unable to crack the encryption on
files they obtained with a search warrant, they secretly installed a way to
capture every keystroke of his keyboard so they could learn his password.
Scarfo's defense team is trying to force the government to reveal how the
"key-logging" technology works as a possible prelude to asking that the
evidence it yielded be thrown out. At issue is whether the key logger was
planted on the basis of a simple search warrant and not a court-approved
wiretap order. Prosecutors refused to divulge how the technology works. "The
logical consequence of the government's argument is that the government will
never need to get a wiretap order for a computer," said Mark Rasch, a former
federal prosecutor who is now vice president of cyberlaw at Predictive
Systems, a Reston-based computer-security consulting firm. "With the
technology that's available today, the government can remotely install
software on a computer to capture all keystrokes and transmit that report to
its agents in real time." The judge gave prosecutors one last chance to
convince him otherwise, saying he would review the technology in secret
before making his final decision. Prosecutors have until tomorrow to
respond.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (A01), AUTHOR: Jonathon Krim]
(http://washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A55606-2001Aug9.html)
DIGITAL DIVIDE
GROUPS ALIGN TO BRIDGE DIGITAL DIVIDE
Issue: Digital Divide International
Two nonprofit groups announced a merger Monday. The International Executive
Service Corps (IESC), a group that places retired U.S. businessmen in poor
countries and Geekcorps, an organization that sent young techies to Ghana
announced a merger of "geezers and geeks" to try to stem the growing gap in
technology between rich and poor countries. It seems to be a good match: one
group distributes information technology, the other has handled business
development. Initially, the two groups will continue Geekcorps' work in
Ghana. Twenty-one Geekcorps and six IESC volunteers will build computer
networks and train employees in 50 Ghanaian companies. Later IESC will
expand Geekcorps' expertise into Jordan and Armenia.
[SOURCE: Wired News, AUTHOR: Jim Krane, AP]
http://www.wired.com/news/reuters/story?story_id=20010813APAP-Global-Tec...
p.htmlt
GROWTH IN ONLINE USE SLOWS
Issue: Internet
A Nielsen/Netratings report released Monday shows a slight drop in the
growth rate of new, home-based, Web users in the United States. The report
shows a growth rate of only 16 percent compared with a 41 percent increase
during the previous yearlong period, from July 1999 to July 2000. Over the
two-year period from July 1999 to this past month, Internet use has
increased 63 percent, and last month, 58 percent of Americans had Web access
in their homes. That compares with 52 percent a year ago and 39 percent in
1999. "We're way past the early adopters," Sean Kaldor, vice president of
analytical services at NetRatings said. "We're into mainstream America with
a variance of needs and interests." People sign up as they see the Net
addressing their individual needs.
[SOURCE: CNET News, AUTHOR: Gwendolyn Mariano]
(http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-200-6863380.html)
See Also:
CABLE MODEM ACCESS SURGES
[SOURCE: ZDNet News, AUTHOR: Reuters Wire]
(http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2803939,00.html?chkpt=zdnnp1t
p02)
NO PC? GO ONLINE AT A KIOSK
Issue: Access
WorldCom is installing kiosks with Web connections at Marine bases, to let
soldiers without computers communicate with people back home and take care
of other personal business. Worldcom is also marketing the technology to
government agencies that might wish to make services such as driver's
license renewal and voter registration accessible online for those without
Web access at home or work. "In society as a whole, there isn't 100 percent
penetration of PCs and laptops," said Tom Caravelli, a sales director at
WorldCom. "We believe the kiosks can provide that public Internet access."
The system includes a digital camera to let users take and send video of
themselves delivering a message.
[SOURCE: Washington Post (E05), AUTHOR: Neil Irwin]
(http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A7042-2001Aug13.html)
--------------------------------------------------------------