CONTENTS
[1] Newsletter Highlights
[2] President Calls for Doubling of NSF and New Science and Math Education Programs
[3] USACM Urges Congress to Adopt a Broader View of Data Security, ChoicePoint Gets Hammered by the FTC
[4] Quest for More Information on NSA Spying Continues
[5] Senate Commerce Confronts Broadcast Flag Issue
[6] Sony BMG Settling “Rootkit” Cases
[7] Upcoming Events
[8] About USACM
[An archive of all previous editions of Washington Update is available here.]
[1] NEWSLETTER HIGHLIGHTS
Below are highlights of our top stories for January – more information on each item is available following the highlights and on our weblog:
* During his State of the Union address, President Bush outlined a new competitiveness/innovation initiative built on new research funding and science and math education programs, prompting ACM President David Patterson to comment that the White House’s commitment to increased investment in education and basic research is the key to sustaining innovation.
* USACM urges members of Congress to adopt a broader approach to crafting data security legislation, an approach based on Fair Information Practice principles.
* Senate Commerce Committee hears from both sides on the contentious broadcast flag issue.
* NSA spying controversy is set to flare up again as an important Congressional hearing into the matter approaches.
* Sony BMG settling many of the lawsuits filed against it following revelations that some of the company’s music CD products were installing ‘rootkit’ like code on users’ computers.
[2] PRESIDENT CALLS FOR DOUBLING OF NSF AND NEW SCIENCE AND MATH EDUCATION PROGRAMS
Anyone who has paid the slightest bit of attention to the swirling national competitiveness debate in the media knows the President’s remarks in his State of the Union speech reflect what most of the science and technology community has been saying for some time. Until last night, however, there was little agreement between the Bush Administration and the community on what to do about it. President Bush is now embracing a comprehensive competitiveness/innovation agenda that reflects much of the science and technology community’s “wish list,” including new investments in research and education and reforming immigration and workforce programs. In a statement issued today in response to the President’s American Competitiveness Initiative, ACM President David Patterson said the Administration’s renewed focus on funding for education and research reflects the priorities of the technology community. Patterson went on to say that the White House’s commitment to increased investment in education and basic research is the key to sustaining innovation; his full statement is available from
http://www.acm.org/usacm/weblog/index.php?p=347
Let’s look at the some of the initial details of the President’s proposal:
On Research:
* Double funding for the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy Office of Science, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology over the next 10 years. Specifically, he will propose an increase in each agency’s budget by 9.3 percent, or about $910 million in total, next year. The National Information Technology Research and Development program will be a key piece of the agenda.
* Make the corporate research and development tax credit permanent.
On Education (an increase of about $380 million for the following programs):
* Placement/International Baccalaureate Program (AP/IB) focused on expanding AP opportunities for low-income students through increasing training of AP/IB teachers.
* Adjunct Teacher Corps focused on getting math and science professionals to teach their field in high-school classes.
* “Math Now” for elementary schools, promoting research-based learning in math and science to prepare kids for more rigorous programs in higher grades.
* “Math Now” for middle schools, to help schools that are performing below their grade level on standardized math and science tests.
On Workforce:
* With the goal of retraining approximately 800,000 workers annually, implement flexible self-managed reemployment accounts for new training and education. (This is an old proposal that President Bush has been pushing for a while.)
On Immigration:
* Reform policies to attract and retain high-skilled workers from abroad, which will include addressing ongoing student visa problems and possibly may include changes to the high-skilled workers’ visa program (also known as H1B).
The debate about how to address global competitive pressures now moves over to an already receptive Congress. The Senate has two major bills pending that hit on many of these issues, and the House of Representatives won’t be far behind in proposing their own legislation to implement the President’s agenda. Further, because the President is proposing specific increases in funding for science agencies, Congress will have much more room to actually allocate funding for research this year instead of just authorizing a cap that will never be reached. Instead of fighting for scraps, much of the science community will be able to tell Congress collectively, “Fund the President’s request.” That is a powerful ask of Congress.
This is a stunning change from where we were just one year ago. Prospects have never been better to improve the research and education systems that underpin America’s economic growth. Now it is up to the community to make sure Congress understands that this is top priority.
[3] USACM URGES CONGRESS TO ADOPT A BROADER VIEW OF DATA SECURITY, CHOICEPOINT GETS HAMMERED BY THE FTC
Following last year’s numerous high-profile data breaches (which we’ve been covering closely here and on the weblog), there are now numerous pieces of data security and privacy legislation pending in Congress – coming under the jurisdiction of numerous committees and using a range of different approaches. Indeed, the field is so crowded that it’s difficult to tell which bills have the best chance for success. It will take a concerted effort on the part of members to piece together a proposal that is agreeable to the committees, members, and other interests who have staked claims in this area. If and when that might happen is also unclear.
Given these multiple moving targets, USACM released a letter to members of Congress expressing some of the technical community’s concerns regarding data security legislation and urging policymakers to adopt a broader approach. Rather than supporting any specific bill or specific model of data security, the letter seeks to call policymakers’ attention to the principles undergirding the long-established Code of Fair Information Practices (FIPs):
* Security
* Limitation/Minimization
* Access/Participation
* Accuracy/Integrity
* Accountability
* Notice
* Choice/Consent
The committee feels that these principles should be a part of any legislation enacted by Congress, and the letter examines several major bills through the lens of these principles.
The full letter is available at
http://www.acm.org/usacm/weblog/index.php?p=345
Meanwhile, ChoicePoint, the data broker at the center of the data breach controversy that started it all, has received a $10 million fine from the Federal Trade Commission and has agreed to contribute another $5 million to a fund aimed at helping those who were harmed following the compromise of their data. According to the Washington Post, the fine is the “largest civil penalty [that the FTC has] ever imposed” and gives a pretty clear indication of just how seriously the FTC is taking such matters:
“The message to ChoicePoint and others should be clear: consumers’
private data must be protected from thieves,” FTC Chairman Deborah
Platt Majoras said in a statement.”
For more information, see the full WaPo article and the FTC’s formal statement, respectively, at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/26/AR2006012600917.html
http://ftc.gov/opa/2006/01/choicepoint.htm
[4] QUEST FOR MORE INFORMATION ON NSA SPYING CONTINUES
Following a brief lull in developments surrounding the revelation that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been conducting a secret program of eavesdropping on the communications of people within the United States, the stage is set for things to heat back up next week. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Arlen Specter has scheduled a full committee hearing into the situation for Feb. 6; see
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=1727
The hearing is expected to focus on the legality of the NSA program. Among the witnesses will be Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who last week received a letter from Senator Specter containing a host of questions that he should be prepared to answer during the hearing.
Meanwhile, in a related bit, the Baltimore Sun ran an article recently about a troubled systems development program at NSA:
“A program that was supposed to help the National Security
Agency pluck out electronic data crucial to the nation’s safety
is not up and running more than six years and $1.2 billion
after it was launched, according to current and former
government officials.
[…] Although the Bush administration spent much of the past
week defending the NSA’s eavesdropping work as vital to keeping
Americans safe from terrorism, virtually no attention has been
paid to the agency’s failure to deliver the system the NSA
said was key to fulfilling that mission.”
The full article is available at
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/custom/attack/bal-te.trailblazer29jan29,1,1444424.story
[5] SENATE COMMERCE CONFRONTS BROADCAST FLAG ISSUE
The Senate Commerce Committee recently held a hearing looking into one of the more controversial issues associated with the nation’s conversion to digital television, the so-called “broadcast flag.” Many in the content and entertainment industries wish to include such a component in new digital television signals as an anti-piracy measure. Presumably, a broadcast flag could be used to indicate whether or not there are any restrictions on copying a given program, and new digital television hardware would be equipped to recognize and enforce these restrictions.
Last May, an appeals court struck down the Federal Communications Commission’s regulatory attempt to create a broadcast flag requirement – see
http://www.acm.org/usacm/weblog/index.php?p=266
Speculation at that time was that the fight for a broadcast flag would then move to Congress – which it has.
The hearing included testimony from two witnesses who often find themselves pitted against each other in such settings, Gary Shapiro (president of the Consumer Electronics Association) and Mitch Bainwol (CEO of the Recording Industry Association of America). Other witnesses included Jonathan Band from the American Library Association and Leslie Harris from the Center for Democracy and Technology.
For more information on this hearing, including a video archive and links to testimony, see
http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=1704
Also, see a recent CNET article on the hearing at
http://news.com.com/Senate+may+hoist+broadcast+flag+again/2100-1025_3-6030454.html
[6] SONY BMG SETTLING “ROOTKIT” CASES
Sony BMG has reached tentative settlements in a number of class-action law suits brought against the company as a result of the recent “rootkit” fiasco (described in our November newsletter). According to a recent Wall Street Journal article at
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB113589764409834170.html
the settlements provide that “consumers would be able to exchange compact discs that included the copy-protection software for a new, unencumbered copy of the album either on CD or via digital download, plus various other forms of compensation, depending on which kind of software was included on their CD purchases. The settlement agreement has been submitted to a judge in U.S. District Court in Manhattan and is scheduled for review by the court in a hearing early next month [i.e., early January].”
It’s not clear what the eventual cost of all this will be for Sony BMG or how the controversy will effect the use or development of digital rights management (DRM) systems. However, at least one prominent thinker in this area, USACM’s own Ed Felten, believes that we haven’t heard the last of security/privacy problems related to DRM systems – see item (7) in Felten’s Predictions for 2006
http://www.freedom-to-tinker.com/?p=953
[7] UPCOMING EVENTS
February 6: Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, “Wartime Executive Power and the NSA’s Surveillance Authority.” See
http://judiciary.senate.gov/hearing.cfm?id=1727
February 7: Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing focusing on “Net Neutrality.” More information at
http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=1705
February 8: Congressional Internet Caucus “State of the Net” conference, Washington, D.C.
http://www.netcaucus.org/conference/2006/
February 9: Anti-Spyware Coalition Public Workshop, Washington, DC. More info at
http://www.antispywarecoalition.org/events/feb2006agenda.htm
February 9: Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee hearing on “TSA’s Secure Flight and Registered Traveler Programs.” See
http://commerce.senate.gov/hearings/witnesslist.cfm?id=1720
February 13-17: RSA Conference in San Jose, Calif. See
http://2006.rsaconference.com/us/
[8] ABOUT USACM
USACM is the U.S. Public Policy Committee of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). ACM is an educational and scientific society uniting the world’s computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field’s challenges. ACM strengthens the profession’s collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking. For more information about USACM and ACM, see
http://www.acm.org/usacm/about.html
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http://www.acm.org/usacm/update/
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