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EDUCAUSE Signs Letter Urging Congress to Support Pro-Broadband Legislation

cluckett — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:07:41 -0500

In a letter delivered this week, EDUCAUSE and several other groups have asked that Congress pass the Broadband Data Improvement Act and the Broadband Census of America Act before the 110th Congress ends. The groups say this legislation "would improve information-gathering about current broadband deployment and assist in targeting resources to areas in need of such services." Learn more, and access a related press release regarding EDUCAUSE’s proposed new approach to making high-speed Internet services available across the country.

Project Bamboo Workshop 1d

jfgreen — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 16:25:18 -0500

I just got back from the Project Bamboo workshop at Princeton University. This was basically a two and one-half day brainstorming session that brought together people from five areas: arts and humanities research, computer science, information science, libraries/archives, and central IT. The topic was cyberinfrastructure to support arts and humanities research. I'm going to try to put together some bullet points from my notes when I get a chance. As a central IT guy I found it refreshing to get the chance to interact with faculty, and the discussions I participated in were very lively. For more information, check out the project web site: http://projectbamboo.org.

When the ISP Tracks Your Every Move: The Power (and Abuse) of Deep Packet Inspection

agould — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:55:23 -0500

As the temperatures rise in a typical Washington summer, so grows the pressure on some online advertising firms.

Yesterday the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s Telecommunications and the Internet Subcommittee held a hearing on the questionable methods for advertising currently being used by some Internet service providers (ISPs). The hearing was entitled, “What Your Broadband Provider Knows About Your Web Use: Deep Packet Inspection and Communications Laws and Policies.” Panelists included: Bob Dykes, the CEO for NebuAd, David Reed, an early Internet pioneer and professor at MIT, Alissa Cooper, the Chief Computer Scientist for the Center for Democracy and Technology, Scott Cleland, President of Precursor, LLC, and Bijan Sabet, a General Partner at Spark Capital.

Committee members expressed concerns about ISPs working with third party advertising firms that monitor their customers’ web habits for advertising purposes. Several people compared deep packet inspection techniques on the Internet with the United States Postal Service opening people’s packages. They said a basic level of privacy is violated when an ISP employs DPI for the sake of increasing revenue, especially when unwitting customers are not aware their web browsing is being monitored.

DPI is a computer network packet filtering that allows for the inspection of data for viruses, spam, or other content. In other words, this inspection process would provide an ISP or other entity with the power of conducting data mining, eavesdropping or even censorship. While DPI has benefits, panelist Bijan Sabet said the Comcast/BitTorrent debacle demonstrates that is also has its drawbacks. A few weeks ago, it was revealed that Comcast was blocking BitTorrent on its network through the use of DPI technology.

This marks the second week that advertising firm, NebuAd, has testified before Congress on its “robust” security practices. Last week, NebuAd faced questioning by the Senate Commerce Committee. The firm says targeted advertising “provides consumers with significant benefits, serving them with more relevant ads, which they want, while ensuring they have robust privacy protections and control over their online experience.”

Taking NebuAd to task, Chairman Ed Markey said DPI “can indicate every site a user visits and much more.” He said he would not expect the postal service or UPS to open up his packages, and believes tactics used by firms like NebuAd are subjecting Americans to unwarranted invasions of privacy. Furthermore, he said the notices that are provided to users are lost in the fine print or ignored.

“When people use the world wide web, they don’t want it to turn into the wild, wild west when it comes to their personal information,” said Markey.

Ranking Member Cliff Stearns, on the other hand, urged Members to use caution when approaching this issue, saying the FTC testified last week that no new regulations were needed for the online advertising arena.

“As the overall economy continues to take a downturn, the government shouldn’t be contemplating how to make it harder for small businesses to succeed. Targeted advertising may be essential for small businesses to compete with larger ones,” said Stearns. “Let’s look very closely at these issues before we leap to legislative proposals that even the FTC is not calling for at this time.”

Other Members said a policy of opt-in should be the norm, rather than the current opt-out choice.

“Why is the burden [of opting out] on me?” asked Representative Greg Walden. “I think for the Internet to succeed as an instrument of commerce,” people need to opt-in to the system.

Citing another issue, Representative Hilda Solis said she was concerned that vulnerable populations, like the elderly or those who cannot speak English, may be targets for predatory advertising tactics.

WHAT THEY SAID: Here is a brief summary of the panelists’ testimonies.

Bob Dykes (NebuAd)- Dykes said his company, which he says does not use personally identifiable information, has designed a service “so that no one- not even the government- can determine the identity of our users.” Dykes said they do not store raw data that can be linked to individuals. He also said they provide users “with prior, robust notice.” Dykes, who faced tough questioning from Chairman Markey and others, said they continue to innovate on privacy controls, including the development of better notices. He said the Internet “is more than 50% supported by advertising,” so it is imperative that firms like his have access.

David Reed (Professor, MIT)- Reed, who began working on the Internet in the late seventies, said he believes DPI is “not at all necessary” for operating the Internet. He said DPI technologies “actually violate long-agreed standards and principles that have been part of the Internet’s design from the beginning.” Furthermore, Reed said they “pose major risks to the economic successes of the Internet … by normalizing non-standard and risky technical activity on the part of telecom operators who may choose to exploit captive customers.” He said DPI is particularly harmful for unwitting customers, especially when they do not know how their information is being tracked (or even that it is tracked in the first place). Reed said users must have informed consent and know exactly how their data is being used.

Alissa Cooper (Chief Computer Scientist, CDT)- Cooper said that while DPI is benign and even beneficial at times, it “runs the risk of violating the trust of consumers for the Internet.” She said this technology allows networks to see the political or religious sites a user may visit, while providing little notice they are doing so. Cooper suggested that current online advertising techniques may violate federal wiretapping laws and might also interfere with normal Internet use. She urged Congress to seek more information from ISPs and other companies about how they are using DPI, and asked that they consider a larger, comprehensive privacy bill to protect consumers.

Scott Cleland (President, Precursor, LLC)- Cleland said the hearing should have focused on the search engines like Google and Yahoo, which he says have a double standard when it comes to consumer privacy. He said the committee should focus on “a comprehensive approach to Internet privacy,” rather than attacking the ISPs alone. He said firms like Google are truly “Orwellian” in that they have access to a full spectrum of people’s information through Google searches, Gmail, Picasa pictures, Google health, Google calendars, etc… Cleland said, “We are worried about perfect blinds on the windows when there are no walls on the house.” For full disclosure purposes, he noted that his business involves working for ISPs, but said he was speaking on his own behalf.

Bijan Sabet (General Partner, Spark Capital)- Sabet said DPI is a significant technology breakthrough, which provides consumer and economic benefits. But he said DPI could be used to thwart net neutrality, since it allows ISPs to slow down or turn off third party services or applications. Sabet warned that a closed Internet will not thrive as incentives for innovation decrease.

In a press release, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) warned consumers about the “privacy landmines inherent in DPI.”

“The expanding use of DPI is increasingly sophisticated, complicated and lacking in transparency. The risk to Americans’ privacy is massive,” said Timothy Sparapani of the ACLU. “Every time we visit the Internet, everything we read, everything we see- all of it is up for grabs with DPI. … Congress must be Americans’ firewall on this issue.”

Southwest Regional Conference 2009: Submit a Presentation Proposal

cluckett — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:58:11 -0500

The call for proposals is now open for the 2009 Southwest Regional Conference, "Balancing Acts: Making IT Work for Everyone,” February 24–26 in San Antonio. Note: This year, the conference begins on a Tuesday and ends on a Thursday.

The deadline for submissions is September 9.

The program for this leading event in higher education IT will follow these tracks:

Act 1: Balancing IT's Role in the Enterprise
Act 2: Balancing Innovation and Operations
Act 3: Balancing Learning 2.x
Corporate and Campus Solutions

2008 Data Breach Investigations Report

ckeller — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 11:01:52 -0500

The 2008 Data Breach Investigations Report draws from over 500 forensic engagements handled by the Verizon Business Investigative Response team over a four-year period. Tens of thousands of data points weave together the stories and statistics from compromise victims around the world. This report seeks to answer the following questions;

Who is behind data breaches?
How do breaches occur?
What commonalities exist?
Where should mitigation efforts be focused?

EDUCAUSE Review Gains New Honors from Publishing Community

cluckett — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 17:11:41 -0500

EDUCAUSE Review and Publisher/Editor D. Teddy Diggs recently gained honors from two prestigious publishing awards programs. Read more in the press release.

Ford Policy Forum 2006

ckeller — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 16:24:17 -0500

Ford Policy Forum 2006 contains the papers presented and discussed at the Ford Policy Forum, held during the Forum’s 2005 Aspen Symposium. The Ford Policy Forum studies key economic issues affecting higher education and is designed to develop policy recommendations and initiatives. The 2005 Ford Policy Forum focused on racial, economic, and political diversity in higher education. Scholars include Marta Tienda, Shirley Ort, and Edwin Feulner. The monograph opens with an introduction by the Ford Policy Forum’s co-chairs, Michael McPherson of the Spencer Foundation and Morton Owen Schapiro of Williams College.

Google-Yahoo, Continued...

agould — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:22:47 -0500

Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee's Antitrust Subcomittee and the House Judiciary Committee's antitrust task force questioned representatives from Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft about the proposed Google-Yahoo advertising partnership. (Google and Yahoo signed the agreement, which allows Google to assist with Yahoo's targeted ads, on June 12.) Both House and Senate members have expressed concerns about competition and consumer privacy issues. In Tuesday's hearings, they wanted to learn more about the deal by speaking directly with the players involved.

Microsoft attempted to enter into a partnership with Yahoo, but Google ultimately won approval from Yahoo's board. In testimony before the House and Senate Judiciary Committees, Microsoft senior Vice President and general counsel warned that the Google-Yahoo deal would result in Google dominating 90% of the online search advertising market. He said Google currently controls 70% of this market, while Yahoo has 20%.

However, Google and Yahoo maintain that their partnership will result in targeted ads that are more relevant to users and consequently, make Internet advertising more efficient. Indeed, Yahoo went one step further and said this agreement will make them a stronger competitor against Google.

"Yahoo is here to stay and we intend to compete across countless platforms," said general counsel Michael Callahan. "We have every intention of fighting [Google] and winning in this and in other areas for years to come." (quote source: CongressDaily)

Currently, the U.S. Department of Justice and a few state attorneys general are investigating the Google-Yahoo deal. Meanwhile, Google and Yahoo contend that Congress has no power on this issue and cannot interfere with their business dealings.

Messaging and Communication Survey

ckeller — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 14:06:39 -0500

This July 2008 survey is a critical component of the EDUCAUSE Center on Applied Research (ECAR) study of messaging and communication in higher education. It seeks to understand the provision, policies, use, and emerging trends related to telephony, mobile communications, e-mail and calendaring, and emergency notification systems in colleges and universities.

How To Cite This Work: EDUCAUSE Center for Applied Research. "Messaging and Communication Survey" (Survey Instrument). Boulder, CO: ECAR, 2008, available from http://www.educause.edu/ecar.

Tune In July 22: Free Web Seminar on Kuali Student, a Next-Generation Administrative System

pkurkowski — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 15:44:17 -0500

Administrative systems should be affordable, flexible, and customizable. They should help end users plan for and achieve their goals and help them complete tasks along the way.

In this free July 22 EDUCAUSE Live! web seminar, Kuali Student: A Next-Generation Administrative System, presenter Richard Spencer, executive director of IT, University of British Columbia, will show how the vision, principles, and design for Kuali Student are aligned with these objectives and discuss why community source development was selected for this project.

Those unable to attend may wish to visit the archives after the event or browse related EDUCAUSE resources on Administrative Systems and Student Information Systems.