Computers and Public Policy Bob Ellis May 9, 2009 Copyright © 2009 by Robert A. Ellis. Permission to make digital or hard copies of all or part of this work for personal or educational use is granted without fee provided that copies are not made or distributed for profit or commercial advantage and that copies bear this notice and the full citation on the first page. To otherwise copy, republish, post on servers or redistribute in any manner requires specific prior permission. Introduction Concentrate on Internet, intellectual property and free speech My background Newspaper articles New laws and court actions Digital technology has become pervasive Copying examples (before digital vs. after digital) Contents Internet Services, Privacy and Security Intellectual Property and Copying E-Commerce Free speech Miscellaneous References Internet Services, Privacy and Security Firewalls, Antivirus, Malware, Encryption, etc. You know you need to worry about these, right? Encryption frequently disabled/crippled to make installation easier Recommend “safe surfing” How Do Broadband Services Differ From Dial Up? DSL and cable access under control of telecom companies, not independent third parties Internet has unresolved security & privacy problems Throttling, traffic shaping and bandwidth caps What’s This Net Neutrality All About? Net neutrality says all users should be treated equally Some say it means that users can’t be charged differently for different levels of service Opponents say network providers should be able to control their networks Proponents say the Internet is too important to give complete control to providers Internet services not governed by common carriage rules What Can Websites Do With the Information I Supply? In US anything they want subject to advertised policies Voluntary vs. legal ISPs, search engines, E-Commerce & social networking sites know a lot about users How long should personal data be stored? How is personal data protected? Are targeted ads a violation of personal privacy? Opt in vs. opt out When Will We Have Voting and Medical Records On the Internet? Security and privacy problems not solved Formats and cost are issues Voting machines have major problems - accuracy, security, privacy, reliability, accountability How Easy Should It Be To Access Personal Public Information Via the Internet? Such data has always been available, just difficult to access Cybersecurity Attacking a nation’s information infrastructure Not a lot about it in the popular press until recently Experts seem to agree US is vulnerable Does Every Computer Have To Be On The Internet? Most individuals’ personal computers not operating as servers Prefer to have my web pages on ISP’s servers Control systems, banking systems, voting systems, etc. Most individuals’ computers strongly isolated from Internet in professional environment Intellectual Property and Copying Much IP Law Not Codified, Many Interpretations Art. I, Sec.8 - “To promote … limited time … exclusive right to their … writings & discoveries Copyright - the right to make copies, perform and make derivative works Patent - the right to have exclusive use of an invention after publication Unique, not obvious, effort Trade secrets - keep business information private Trademarks - identifies business Required licensing Copyright Fair Use Open to interpretation Education, criticism and satire exceptions 3Ps: private, personal and no profit generally thought to be OK No quantifiable measures Copyright Test – Is It Legal To: Sell, lend or give away IP that I own? Make copies for my own personal use? Make copies to give to others? Use it at my place of business? Use it at a party? DRM – Digital Rights Management Technology to enforce IP law Fair use out the window? Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) - prohibits circumvention of protection After several debacles IP owners reconsidering its use Do I Still Own Material I Post On Websites? Probably, but the terms may dictate that they have a right to do whatever they want with it In 2/2009 Face book modified their terms to have a perpetual right to your material You Mean I Don’t Actually Own That Software I Bought? Software is usually licensed Common license terms Legality of current licenses questionable Recent court decisions have held that typical s/w license is more like a sale UCITA would have given undue power to software companies Can I Legally Own MP3 Copies Of Music Files? MP3 is just a form of compression MP3 files subject to copyright laws Many music files come with electronic restrictions on copying and storing Record companies starting to figure out what to do about digital formats What Can I Do With Copyrighted Material Legally Acquired? Same as any other copyrighted material Websites under pressure to block unauthorized copyrighted material Some copyright holders want ISPs to block unauthorized material Why Can’t I Get An Internet Domain Name The Same As My Business? Trademarks - geographical and line of business separation Joe’s Garage and Apple examples Etoys vs. etoy New top level domain names just more confusing Electronic Commerce Will I Ever Have To Pay Sales Taxes On My Web Purchases? Currently requires physical presence Use taxes Fairness and jurisdictional debate Effort to rationalize sales taxes How Can Gambling Sites Operate When It Is Illegal In The US To Use Telecom? Gambling sites located off shore US now in violation of WTO policies by restricting gambling sites Free Speech How Can Children Be Protected When Courts Keep Rejecting Protection Laws? Child protection vs. adult rights Filtering software has problems Monitor children's' activities How Can ISPs And Websites Restrict My Speech? Free speech guarantees only apply to actions of government in US Non-government organizations restrict speech all the time How Can Information Providers Help Oppressive Governments? Complex issue - generally have to observe laws in countries where operating Miscellaneous Why Should Government Fund Computing Research? Even pharmaceutical companies rely on government-funded research r and D - what most companies really do Most companies can't decide what's good basic research Federal research grants are peer reviewed Federal research is responsible for much of US economic growth Government and private enterprise work together How Can I Influence Policy? Informed citizen activity Access to policy makers Web is excellent resource Disclaimer Not an attorney or legal advice Personal opinions URL concerns Best effort to determine current validity of information References General Bob Ellis’ Tech Policy Bibliography - http://home.ix.netcom.com/~technology_policy/ The Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) U.S. Public Policy Committee (USACM) - http://www.acm.org/usacm/ ACM SIGGRAPH Public Policy Program - http://www.siggraph.org/pub-policy/ Internet Services, Privacy and Security Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) - http://www.eff.org/ Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) - http://www.epic.org/ Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) - http://www.ic3.gov/ OnGuard Online Homepage (FTC, DHS, SEC) - http://onguardonline.gov/index.html Stay Safe Online - Cyber Security and Safety - National Cyber Security Alliance - http://staysafeonline.org/ USACM on Encryption - http://www.acm.org/usacm/crypto/ USACM on Privacy - http://www.acm.org/usacm/privacy/ Wi-Fi Alliance - http://www.wi-fi.org/ Intellectual Property (Including Digital Rights Management) American Library Association (ALA) Policy Activities - http://www.ala.org/work/ Home Recording Rights Coalition (HRRC) - http://www.hrrc.org/ Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)/Motion Picture Association (MPA) - http://www.mpaa.org/ Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) - http://www.riaa.org/ USACM on Copyright - http://www.acm.org/usacm/IP/#copyright USACM Intellectual Property Library - http://www.acm.org/usacm/IP/ Free Speech American Civil Liberties Union - http://www.aclu.org/issues/cyber/burning.html Center for Democracy and Technology - http://www.cdt.org/ Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) - http://www.eff.org/ Internet Free Expression Alliance - http://www.ifea.net/ Responsibility in Free Speech - http://www.zondervan.com/green.htm USACM on Free Speech - http://www.acm.org/usacm/speech/ Broadband Internet Access BroadBand Internet - http://www.broadband-internet.org/ Broadband Wireless Internet Forum - http://www.bwif.org/ CableLabs - http://www.cablelabs.com/ DSL Forum - http://www.adsl.com/ Federal Communications Commission - http://www.fcc.gov/broadband/ NetAction - http://www.netaction.org/ Computing Research Support Computing Research Association (CRA) - http://www.cra.org/ USACM on Science Research Support - http://www.acm.org/usacm/funding/