Policy and Law: Federal and Privacy

An interesting article in today's New York Times online edition talks about higher education institutions resisting the call to upgrade their online systems so they can be monitored by the government.  University IT departments are balking because of the high price of conversion:

The action, which the government says is intended to help catch terrorists and other criminals, has unleashed protests and the threat of lawsuits from universities, which argue that it will cost them at least $7 billion while doing little to apprehend lawbreakers. Because the government would have to win court orders before undertaking surveillance, the universities are not raising civil liberties issues.

Is there money in your budget to do this?  If not, there might be some relief around the bend:

The F.C.C. says it is considering whether to exempt educational institutions from some of the law's provisions, but it has not granted an extension for compliance.

The PATRIOT Act was mentioned several times at our recent Policy and Security conferences. Earlier today, I ran across a press release from the President of the American Library Association about provisions of the Act that may sunset at the end of this year. Read more at the link below ...

• http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050408/cgf002.html?.v=4