ACM WASHINGTON UPDATE
USACM Concerned with Congressional Attempt to Mandate Technology
USACM Expresses Concern with Georgia Database Proposal
USACM Concerned Over Future Direction of ICANN
USACM Co-Chair Eugene Spafford Meets with U.S. Policy-Makers
Senate Voting Reform Bill Withdrawn from Consideration
USACM Co-Chair Barbara Simons to be a Panelist at CFP2002
Senator Wyden Introduces Legislation to Create a 'NetGuard'
ICANN Meets in Accra, Ghana
IT Virtual Job Fair Scheduled
Opportunity to Offer Input on US Cybersecurity
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March, 2002
Volume 6.3
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INTRODUCTION
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USACM Concerned with Congressional Attempt To Mandate Technology
Senator Ernest Hollings (D-SC), the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce,
In a March 29 letter to Chairman Hollings, USACM acknowledged that the use of computing
On March 14, USACM sent a letter to the Senate Judiciary commenting on their hearing entitled,
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USACM Expresses Concern with Georgia Database Proposal
On March 25, USACM sent a letter to a panel of the Georgia State House of Representatives
To review a 1998 letter expressing concerns with database legislation signed by ACM and other =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
USACM Expresses Concern over Future Direction of ICANN
On March 29, USACM expressed concerns with the current state of Internet governance and the status
To review a copy of the RIPE Network Coordination Centre letter to ICANN,
see the web site: RIPE Letter
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USACM Co-Chair Eugene Spafford Meets with U.S. Policy-Makers
Earlier this month, USACM co-chair Dr. Eugene Spafford met with a number of U.S. policy-makers
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Senate Voting Reform Bill Withdrawn from Consideration
The Senate version of voting reform legislation has been withdrawn from consideration due to a filibuster
The House passed version of the legislation includes key provisions of a bill reported by the House Science
USACM recommendations regarding voting technology and standards, are outlined in a March 2001 Letter to
To review relevant Congressional testimony of ACM members Douglas Jones, Rebecca Mercuri, and Ron Rivest
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USACM Co-Chair Barbara Simons to be a Panelist at CFP2002
The 12th Conference on Computers, Freedom and Privacy 2002 (CFP2002) will be held April 16 to 19 in
For more information about CFP2002, see the web site: http://www.cfp2002.org/program/
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Senator Wyden Introduces Legislation to Create a 'NetGuard'
Newly introduced legislation would create a volunteer network of technologists who are willing to assist
Rep. Sherwood Boehlert (R-N.Y.) is reported to have plans to introduce similar legislation in the House.
To review a summary of the bill prepared by its sponsors, see the web page:
S. 2037
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ICANN meets in Accra, Ghana, Continuing a tradition of remote locations, ICANN held its quarterly meeting in Ghana.
Of particular concern at the ICANN meeting included the policies for .ORG as it is spun-off
Earlier this year, ICANN and the Department of Commerce announced that Verisign must spin
The ICANN Board accepted the first recommendation, but declined the second. According to ICANN
Much more controversial was the debate surrounding the proposed restructuring of ICANN. Considered
USACM has written < a href="http://www.acm.org/usacm/IG/ICANN_Letter.htm">a letter to ICANN leaders =+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
IT Virtual Job Fair Scheduled The federal CIO Council has chosen April 22-26 for its nationwide "virtual" information technology
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Opportunity to Offer Input on US Cybersecurity
The President's Critical Infrastructure Protection Board (PCIPB) is seeking advice from the public on
The questionnaire is posted on the System Administration, Networking and Security Institute (SANS) Web site.
For more information on the Critical Infrastructure Protection Board, see the web site: White House
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Should you have questions, comments, suggestions or recommendations regarding
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Science, and Transportation, recently introduced S.2048, the Consumer Broadband and
Digital Television Promotion Act (CBDTPA). An earlier draft version of the legislation
was circulated as the Security Systems Standards and Certification Act (SSSCA). The CBDTPA
mandates the use of copyright-protection technologies in general purpose computers, devices,
and software.
and communications technology poses challenges to digital copyright protection, but stated
that "the solution is not to be found in legislation imposing limits on the technology that may be
developed, purchased, or used by law-abiding citizens". USACM concluded that the CBDTPA-
restrictions will threaten the ability of individuals to engage in critical research,will interfere in the
otherwise legal exchange of ideas and information fundamental to innovation, will seriously restrict
the quality of computing education, and will threaten national security. Finally, USACM noted that
entertainment is only one, relatively minor use (compared to all uses) of networks and computing
technology. Therefore, legislating constraints on technology to aid any minority interest has the
potential to cause widespread and severe damage to society at large.
"Competition, Innovation, and Public Policy in the Digital Age: Is the Marketplace Working to
Protect Digital Creative Works?".
Judiciary Committee expressing concerns with the proposed Georgia Database Protection and
Economic Development Act of 2002, SB214. The proposal would allow a producer or publisher
of a database unprecedented control over uses of information, including the downstream use
of facts. While acknowledging the need to protect investments made in large data collections,
USACM commented that the continued vibrancy of nonprofit publishers, students, researchers, and
the general public should not be threatened by new intellectual property protection efforts. USACM
concluded that by creating additional restrictions on the use of facts, SB214 would have a "chilling
effect" on the U.S. scientific research enterprise since facts are the building blocks of knowledge and
support innovation and the advancement of learning. On March 27, the Judiciary panel voted to reject
SB214.
scientific societies, see the web site: 1998 Letter
of the Internet Corporation for Assigning Names and Numbers (ICANN). In a letter to M. Stuart Lynn,
President of the ICANN, and Members of the ICANN Board, USACM associated itself with the
statement the RIPE Network Coordination Centre (RIPE NCC) in calling for a "return to ICANN's core
tasks, namely the coordination of Internet resources on a technical level." USACM called on ICANN to
scale down its operations and to focus on its core technical mission. The USACM letter also urged
ICANN to work more closely with the technical community. Finally, the USACM letter stated that at
least half of the ICANN Board members should be elected representatives of the public, especially if it
continues its current course of making policy as well as technical decisions.
to ICANN
in Washington, DC. In discussing computer crime and security issues with the staff of the House Judiciary
Committee, Dr. Spafford articulated in clear terms that USACM is opposed to terrorism and criminal
behavior, but concerned about legislative efforts to extend the definition of on-line crime and terrorism to
include acts currently considered vandalism or "ordinary" criminal behavior. Dr. Spafford also expressed
concern with legislative initiatives that broadly focus on constraining, prohibiting, or mandating technology
rather than narrowly penalizing criminal behavior. In meeting with the staff of the Senate Committee on
Commerce, Science and Transportation, Dr. Spafford shared USACM testimony and other recommend-
ations to enhance the security of information and infrastructure. Finally, in meeting with the Computer
Crime and Intellectual Property Section of Department of Justice to discuss the enforcement of the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), Department officials were emphatic that the criminal enforcement of
the law is not viewed to include the legitimate work of computing researchers and other technologists.
started by disagreements over provisions in the bill. The filibuster prevailed because issues regarding provisions
of the bill to address voter fraud could not be resolved through negotiations nor did the leadership have the 60
votes required to stop discussion on points of contention and allow further consideration of the bill. A filibuster
is an informal term for any attempt to block or delay Senate action on a bill or other matter by debating it at length,
by offering numerous procedural motions, or by any other delaying or obstructive actions.
Committee,H.R. 2275, regarding the development of technical standards to improve voting systems and test voting
equipment. The standards and technology provisions of the House bill directs the National Institute of Standards
and Technology to work with state and local election officials and experts in engineering and computer security to
develop relevant standards. Finally, the House provisions direct NIST to coordinate research to improve the
accuracy, integrity, usability and security of new voting equipment. An amendment to the Senate bill was expected
which would have added the House standards and technology provision. Further Senate consideration of the voting
reform bill has not been scheduled.
Science Committee Chairman Boehlert.
see the web pages:
Mercuri Testimony
Rivest Testimony
San Francisco. The annual meeting is a leading Internet policy conference, shaping the public debate on the
future of privacy and freedom in the online world for more than a decade. This year's event covers a range
of topics important to the ACM community, including: consumer privacy, broadband issues, wireless privacy
and security, digital divide, critical infrastructure issues, public records, filtering, Internet governance, usability
and others. Of particular interest, USACM co-chair Dr. Barbara Simons will participate in Plenary Session #8:
The DMCA and You. Other panelists include Computer Science Professor Ed Felten and representatives of
the law firm representing Dmitry Skylarov.
in recovery efforts after catastrophic events. The legislation, the Science and Technology Emergency Mobilization
Act, S. 2037, was recently introduced by Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Senator George Allen (R-VA).
The sponsors of the legislation intend for it to make it easier for those in need of assistance to connect those
who have highly specialized technical expertise and training immediately following a major crisis on a scale
comparable with the events of September 11, 2001. This effort, dubbed "NetGuard", will be modeled after
the National Guard's urban search and rescue and medical emergency response teams. S.2037 establishes a
comprehensive database of equipment and emergency help that could be accessed quickly and would result in
a national clearinghouse and test bed for innovative technologies relating to emergency prevention and response.
By Kathy Kleiman
Director of the ACM Internet Governance Project
The four days included a variety of meetings, including the traditional smaller meetings of
the individual ICANN constituencies (such as the Noncommercial Constituency, in which ACM's
Internet Governance Project is a member) and the large public forum in which members of the
public talk directly with the ICANN Board on a variety of topics.
from Verisign this year, and the At Large Membership's future in ICANN.
off .ORG in 2002 and .NET by 2005. This fall, the Names Council of ICANN's Domain Name
Supporting Organization took up the issue of policies in .ORG. With unanimous support from
all constituencies, the Names Council report recommended that ICANN keep .ORG open for all
registrants on a first come, first-served basis (to allow .ORG domain names to continue to be
registered for a wide variety of uses by noncommercial organizations and individuals). The Report
also recommended that .ORG be transferred to a registry which could show broad international
support from the noncommercial community.
Chair Vint Cert, .ORG will remain open for broad noncommercial DNS registration. However, the Board
found no need for the new registry to be either nonprofit or broadly representative of the noncommercial
community. Requests for applications will probably open within the next few months. ACM's Internet
Governance Project worked hard to keep .ORG open for the whole of the noncommercial community.
by many to be an abandonment of the democratic promises of ICANN, the President of ICANN, on February 24,
announced a bold plan for restructuring ICANN which includes the dissolution of the At Large Membership and
the nine Board seats it is currently entitled to fill. Despite moving and emotional opposition from the
noncommercial community and many others, such as the RIPE Reform Proposal, the ICANN Board adopted a
resolution to move forward with plans for restructuring, including creation of the "Evolution and Reform" committee.
expressing deep concern for the proposal and calling on ICANN "to scale down its operations and to focus on
its core technical mission."
To see ICANN's Preliminary Report
Federal Computer Week
job fair, the first of its kind. Job seekers can go to OPM's USAJobs Web site where a specially
designed logo will link them to agencies that are hiring in the GS-2210 IT category. The logo —
an eagle and a flag developed with the aid of the Industry Advisory Council — urges job seekers
to "join our IT team and shape tomorrow today."
how national cybersecurity can be improved. The board is currently working to draft a national strategy to
protect cyber space.
SANS is a technology research and education group based in Bethesda, Maryland will collect the answers for the
board. Responses to the questionnaire are due by April 20, 2002. The survey can be found at SANS
public policy issues or USACM activities, please contact the ACM Public
Policy
Office located in Washington, DC, by e-mailing usacm_dc@acm.org or calling
(202)659-9711. The ACM Public Policy Office would also be pleased to assist
ACM members in contacting or meeting with their elected officials in
Washington, DC.