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COM NET NEWS Vol. 1 No. 2
COM NET NEWS
Vol. 1 No. 2 May 1994
>From the Editor
Welcome to the second issue of COM NET NEWS. It has been and
interesting and hectic month since the first issue was published. First,
I want to thank everyone for the enormous amount of interest in CNN
and the many kind words about the newsletter. This issue is coming
out late because I, like many others on the Net, was writing an NTIA
TIIAP proposal.
One of the major events that occurred over the last month was the
Apple Computer/Marino Foundation "Ties that Bind" conference held
at Apple in Cupertino, California. There will be much said about this
conference on the Net over the next few weeks, and as I was unable to
attend, it will not be covered in CNN.
I would like to remind everyone, if you have information or articles of
interest to the community/commercial network communities, please
feel free to send me articles, information, or pointers. If you have
comments or criticisms, please let me know.
Richard W. Bryant, Editor
RW Bryant Associates
P.O. Box 1828
El Prado, NM 87529
Tel/fax: 505-758-1919
rbryant@hydra.unm.edu
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SAN LUIS VALLEY RURAL TELECOMMUNICATIONS
PROJECTPPRURAL TELECOMMUNITY EXPO '94
The first San Luis Valley (SLV) Rural Telecommunications ProjectPP
Rural Telecommunity Expo was held on 30 April 1994 in Alamosa,
Colorado. The meeting brought together over 100 interested people
throughout the San Luis Valley in Southern Colorado, other parts of
Colorado, and Northern New Mexico.
The SLV Rural Telecommunications Project is looking into hooking up
the San Luis Valley, a large, sparsely populated agricultural region
that is roughly 110 miles north to south and 60 miles wide in South-
central Colorado. Alamosa, the largest SLV town, sits at the southern
end of the valley. Because of the long distances between towns, and
the very remote nature of these towns, connection through a
telecommunity would result in benefits for all.
Attendees included: Jerry Cook, Coordinator for the SLV Rural
Telecommunications Project; a number of SLV farmers; a contingent
from Florence and Canon City, Colorado, who are attempting to start
up their own community network; Tom Bonomo, "techno wizard; "Alan
Wehe from Blanca Telephone (a tiny local telephone company serving
two small towns in Southern Colorado); Flo Raitano, Executive
Director of the Colorado Rural Development Council; Jeff Richardson,
Director of the Colorado Advanced Technology Initiative; John
Kuenhold, District Judge; Dan Jones from the SouthCentral Colorado
Tourism Region; David Edwards from the Colorado State University
Cooperative Extension Service; a representative from the Governor of
Colorado's office; Richard Bryant and Barbara Lazar from the La
Plaza Telecommunity Foundation, Inc.; and many other interested
individuals.
The one-day meeting provided a medium for regional discussion and
dialog and demonstrations of ongoing activities. The emphases of the
project are healthcare, education, government, and agriculture. At the
end of the day a forum was convened to discuss the day's activities,
plans, problems, and where to go in the future.
The diversity of people that came together for this meeting was very
encouraging. and the meeting was characterized by a great deal of
enthusiasm for the project and the resources that it will provide. It
was unclear how the project would be funded. However, the State of
Colorado apparently has some interest in these types of endeavors.
This group is at the very beginning of its process and currently
developing community support of the project.
TAOS WORKSHOP ON ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
The Town of Taos (New Mexico) recently held a number of workshops
covering economic development, education, environment, and
sustainable land use. I chaired the economic development workshop in
which a wide range of representatives attended. Without going into all
of the details, one of the most commonly mentioned issues was access
to online systems--particularly the Internet. In fact, those who showed
the most interest were 9th-grade civics class students who
participated in these workshops. They felt that access to the Internet
and all of its resources was very important for their education, so that
they could be better prepared for the job market once graduating from
high school.
COMMERCE ON THE INTERNET From Edupage
CommerceNet, to be operational by September, is being billed as the
first large-scale effort to transact business on the Internet. Backers of
the effort include Apple Computer, BankAmerica, Hewlett-Packard,
Lockheed and Sun Microsystems. The service will start with about 50
companies offering products, services, and on-line banking, and will
expand to include brokerage and notary services as well.
CommerceNet has an initial investment of $12 million with half of its
funding to come from government. "This is the first industrial park in
Cyberspace," notes author Daniel Dern. (Wall Street Journal 4/8/94
B2)
ON-LINE SHOPPING
IDG's is planning a computerized on-line shopping service for 1995; it
will feature product reviews, articles, and messages from advertisers,
and will allow users to shop for hardware and software by ordering
from their networked computers. (Folio 4/1/94 p.25)
LAWYERS CAPITALIZE ON INTERNET FLAMING
Canter & Siegel, a husband-and-wife law firm that found itself
scorched by flame mail last month for advertising on the Internet, has
decided to launch a new service, Cybersell, to help other businesses do the
same thing. Cybersell will charge $500 for access to 6,000 news groups.
"People like Canter & Siegel are taking grotesque advantage of liberating
technology that supports the free and open exchange of ideas," says the
president of the Internet Company. Retorts Siegel, "Our fate has been that
we're making a lot of money. If a bunch of hysterics want to scream and
yell and make fools of themselves, then I don't feel they warrant respect."
(Wall Street Journal 5/9/94 B2)
WOMEN FAVOR E-MAIL OVER E-MALL
A survey conducted by an online publication reveals that more than
66% of the women surveyed log on to an electronic service at least once a
day and the same number spends at least $20 a month on online fees. Top on
their list is interacting with editors, writers and other readers, with
Internet access ranking second. Only 6% considered shopping, banking or
travel services a priority. (Tampa Tribune 5/9/94 B&F3)
SURGE OF ELECTRONIC NEWSPAPERS
More than 2,700 newspapers are now experimenting with one or
another kind of electronic venture, says The Kelsey Group, compared to only
42 in 1989; part of the urgency for the experiment is that almost half of
young people 18 to 24 years old don't read newspapers at all. The Palo Alto
Weekly (http://www.service.com/PAW/home.html) is the only
general-circulation newspaper now on the Internet. (U.S.News & World Report
5/16/94 p.60)
INTERNET TOP TEN BEST-SELLING BOOKS
CPU Publishing Update says the top ten best-selling books on the
Internet are: 1. Whole Internet User's Guide (Krol); 2. The Internet
Complete Reference (Hahn & Stout); 3. Internet for Dummies (Levine); 4. Mac
Internet Tour Guide (Ventana); 5. Complete Internet Directory (Braun); 6.
The Internet Companion Plus (LaQuey); 7. Internet Starter Kit for the Mac
(Hayden); 8. The Internet Navigator (Glister); 9. Connecting to the
Internet (Estrada); 10 Zen and the Art of the Internet (Kehoe). (Internet
Business Report May 94 p.5)
BATTLE WAGED OVER NSFNET CONTRACT
The National Science Foundation will spend $50 million on an
upgraded NSFNet backbone, and has selected MCI for the vBNS (very
high-speed backbone network services) portion of the project. Sprint is
raising objections, and the lawyers are preparing to do battle. Sprint
claims that NSFNet management had a too-cozy relationship with MCI during
the evaluation process, and that a National Science Board member also has a
possible conflict of interest with MCI. (Telecommunications 5/94 p.15)
HIGH-TECH BANKING COMMUNICATIONS
The Royal Bank will build a state-of-the-art communications center
in New Brunswick to enable customers to obtain account balances, pay bills
and carry out other transactions using home computers, phones and
ultimately through info-highway connections to their TVs. (Toronto Globe &
Mail 5/12/94 B4)
According to Washington Telecom Week, Sen. Inouye will introduce, this week
or early next, a new bill to set aside "reserve capacity on the National
Information Infrastructure (NII) for use by non-profit or public
institutions [incl. NGOs, schools, local govt., civic organizations, etc.]
at little or no cost". The bill is expected to be "married to"
Holling's S1822, the Senate counterpart of the Markey/Fields HR3636.
Sounds interesting, though this bill, like S1822 and HR3636 seems set up,
for some reason, so that the FCC should be involved in this process, which
may turn out to be a hazardous proposition, given the censorious and
iron-fisted behavior of FCC in the past and present.
From: Stanton McCandlish * mech@eff.org * Electronic Frontier Found.
Online Activist
SENIOR PC SALES UP
Sales of PCs and on-line services to those over 65 are strong, and
a director at Compaq Computer notes that the robust senior market is "one
of the most overlooked facts or one of the best-kept secrets of the
business." Prodigy and Compuserve each report some 200,000 subscribers
over age 55. (St. Petersburg Times 4/11/94 Business p.11)
AUTHORS GUILD PROTESTS CONTRACT
The Authors Guild is protesting a new Random House standard
contract, calling its clause on multimedia rights "a brazen attempted land
grab on the electronic frontier." One source of irritation is the reduced
royalty rate for electronic products -- 5% as opposed to the usual 10% on
hardcover books. (Wall Street Journal 4/12/94 B9)
FAX FACTS
A Gallop poll has found that fax transmission account for 36
percent of telephone bills at Fortune 500 companies, and that e-mail has
made little headway in being used routinely for corporate communications,
in spite of its considerable cost advantage. ANS (Advanced Network
Services) says that a one-page e-mail message sent by network costs less
than 2 cents, compared to 29 cents for a letter sent by mail and an even
higher cost for a fax message. (New York Times 4/19/94 C3)
A WINDOW ON THE INTERNET
Bill Gates predicts by year's end that Microsoft Windows will come
equipped with built-in access to the Internet. Gates also unveiled a
technology that enables users to simultaneously send data and converse over
a single phone line. (Investor's Business Daily 4/20/94 A1)
WIRELESS INTERNET ACCESS
*Wireless Internet Access. The "Internet Anywhere" Consortium has
established a joint venture to develop a software/hardware systems
solution to allow wireless access over Morbitex to the Internet/CANet
news, mail, and data transfer services. Those involved in contributing
core technologies and performing research and development efforts
include Mortice Kern Systems Inc. (MKS), the Information Technology
Research Center (ITRC), and Research in Motion Limited (RIM). Contact:
Erin Hintz, Voice 519-883-4371; Fax 519-884-8861.
INTERNET STATISTICS: THE NET KEEPS GROWING AND GROWING
Traffic on the NSF backbone growing by a stunning 20.7 percent -
nearly 2 terabytes - during the month of March -- the largest single jump
in the history of the Internet. Gopher traffic grew by 17.6 percent and
http (WWW) grew by 32.9 percent to a new total of one-half terabyte per
month. Http traffic grew by a total of 0.7 percent of total NSFNet
traffic. (Internet Society)
NEWS FROM EDUCOM'S CORPORATE ASSOCIATES
*NTalk. NTalk provides a graphical interactive computer network that
allows institutions to maintain newsletters and other documents on the
network at no cost. Subscribers who join for $8 per month receive local
or 800 access to internet email, government research reports, directory
of embassies, forums, shareware, and a daily national electronic
newspaper featuring business, finance and markets, international news,
sports, features, and more. Contact: 513-241-7753.
NETWORKING
*Sonoma County Library. Sonoma County is now the first public library in
California to offer access to the Internet as a basic menu option on its
public access online catalog. Librarians are able to look at other
library catalogs and burrow to gophers, as well as use the system's
reference tools to answer questions. A lively curious icon named
Communicat helps explain the system through a user friendly booklet at
each terminal. For more information, contact Paul Kiley at 707-545-0831
or pkiley@sonoma.lib.ca.us.
POT HOLES ON THE INFORMATION SUPERHIGHWAY
It appears as if the Information Superhighway is proving to be a
lucrative new business for lawyers. Two of the short articles below mention law
suits
regarding postings on the Internet. There have several other cases
recently that illustrate how dangerous it is to exercise free speech in the
Internet. The judicial system must begin to deal with these issues and
set up equitable guidelines before it becomes impossible for the small
publisher to publish for fear of offending someone and being the subject of a co
stly lawsuit.
Sure, the Internet is a new frontier. But, before there are too many more
shoot-outs, some semblance of order must be put into place to protect
everyone. The government is putting a lot of effort into snooping (AKA
the Clipper Chip, see article below), but little has come out about
protecting freedom of speech and the press. editor.
DAVID AND GOLIATH ON THE INFO SUPERHIGHWAY
The La Plaza Telecommunity Foundation, Inc. (La Plaza) recently put
out a call for help on the Net. The posting asked that sympathetic
individuals email Senator Jeff Bingaman's office and the Provost at
the University of New Mexico in regard to alleged untoward behavior
on the part of a number of groups in New Mexico who were allegedly
attempting to subvert the La Plaza project.
Apparently, the call for help resulted in a large amount of email being
delivered to both offices. Dialogs with Senator Bingaman's and the
Provost's offices were started. Apparently, the Net really does
empower the little guy or gal.
More on this later...
E-MAIL EAVESDROPPING
One in five companies admits that it eavesdrops on its employees by
searching computer files, voice mail or e-mail, but a spate of lawsuits is
beginning to curb the habit. If a company plans on monitoring employees, it
should tell them in advance to avoid legal trouble later. (Investor's
Business Daily 4/19/94 A4)
LIBEL SUIT ON THE INTERNET
In the first lawsuit of its kind, the editor of Cyberwire Dispatch
was sued by the owner of Suarez Corporation Industries for "flaming" his
product on the Internet. The plaintiff ventured on-line to advertise free
Internet access and a "get-rich-quick" scheme, and was denounced by the
defendant as a "slick direct-mail baron." The exchange escalated and Suarez
filed a defamation suit. (Wall Street Journal 4/22/94 B1)
ARCHEOLOGIST WINS INTERNET DEFAMATION SUIT
An archeologist, formerly at the University of Western Australia,
has won a lawsuit filed in Australia against an anthropologist, claiming
comments made about him on an Internet bulletin board were defamatory.
Damages equal to $28,000 were awarded after a psychiatrist testified to the
plaintiff's anxiety and depression suffering caused by the remarks.
(Chronicle of Higher Education 4/27/94 A30)
MORE ON THE CLIPPER CHIP
Forwarded message from:
Date: Fri, 6 May 1994 11:17:38 -0400 (EDT)
From: Stanton McCandlish <mech@eff.org>
Subject: Stewart Baker (NSA) - Admin doesn't care what you say about
Clipper (fwd)
This from Steve Miller in New York, originally posted to ECHO's
"Internet" conference.
53:37) Sharp 23-APR-94 10:20
Stuart Baker is a lawyer who works for NSA. His duties presently include
traveling the country to explain his agency's position on the Clipper
chip, a telephone encryption device that the government would like to see
become a standard. If you live under a rock, you also need to be told that
part of the standard includes decryption keys that are kept in escrow for
use by legal wiretappers in their law enforcement efforts. It is safe to
say, I think, that most of the online community is opposed to this
idea. I
listened to Baker's remarks at yesterday's conference on "Lawyers and the
Internet" at the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. I took
some notes, and offer the following reconstruction of some of his
statements:
- The debate caused by the Clipper proposal is a culture clash among
"netheads." This is all really an overreaction to the government having
said it was going to buy these chips and "use them for its own purposes."
- Privacy would be preserved at least at its present level because it
won't be any easier to obtain a wiretap warrant than before.
- The government doesn't know what a world with perfectly secure
communications would be like, and that's disturbing because the Mafia and
child pornographers would be able to use it. Those groups have never used
state-of-the-art technology in the past, but they'd use this. We're not
sure how the world would be affected by such things, so we're moving to
prevent those effects.
- Objections to our efforts come mostly from would-be "cybernauts" who
picture themselves in "bandoliers and pocket-protectors." These are really
just people who "couldn't go to Woodstock because they had to do their
trigonometry homework."
- Some say that Clipper will only assist law-enforcement if criminals are
very stupid. But, criminals are very stupid. Many felons, for example,
attempted to buy guns in stores even after the Brady bill passed. The NSA
is much smarter than they are.
- The government is a trustworthy organization that wouldn't abuse this
standard once it was in place. After all, records of who does what and
what warrants are obtained over whose testimony are kept, so no one can do
anything sneaky or sly.
Well, I very nearly embarrassed myself in front of the audience of 200
with remarks of my own, but didn't get to do so; the conference chairman
(who knows just how embarrassing I can get) spotted me turning crimson in
the audience and (I think) advised Mr. Baker not to take questions from me.
Since I was one of those young people who felt studying nature and science
was more important than rock and roll, I did get upset by this spy's
words.
Fortunately, Mike Godwin of EFF spoke next and, I think, made Mr. Baker
look like the toady he is. Mike asked the audience to consider why
something as wholly useful as Clipper is claimed to be must so often (in
Baker's traveling road show) be sold on its child pornography prevention
platform. Probably, he suggested, that is because appeals to the emotions
sometimes work when actual merits are lacking. He said much more, and
with
an eloquence I found almost moving (and Mike don't always move me the way
he'd like, he knows), but I'll let him make his own case. I mention this
response to kid porn, though, for two reasons. First, Baker must have
mentioned kid porn and pedophilia at least six times in his thirty minute
presentation. Second, after Mike spoke, Baker was allowed a response. He
defended the emphasis on kid porn upon the notion that the online community
is already known to be full of young boys with poor social skills; that
they are easy prey for pedophiles.
That's it, friends. To your government, we are would-be nerds-in-arms who
don't deserve a hearing of our objections because we lacked the social
grace that goes with attending rock concerts. We aren't people worth
taking seriously; we're much more fun to laugh at.
The scary thing is (and Godwin put it best, this way), nothing we can say
will change the NSA's mind. The audience was polled, and about a fourth
were opposed to Clipper, a fourth were undecided, none held up their hands
in support (and some just didn't hold up their hands; why is that?). If
this proposal, essentially "trust us, we love you little dweebs," is to be
defeated, it will not be by discourse and debate. The other side isn't
listening. Logic is out. We must use the political process. You know the
rap: write your congressman, join EFF, send letters to editors. But do
it, folks. Stuart Baker doesn't care what you say, but he wants the power
to listen in the dark. Stop him.
_____ end ________
--
Stanton McCandlish * mech@eff.org * Electronic Frontier Found. Online
Activist
"In a Time/CNN poll of 1,000 Americans conducted last week by Yankelovich
Partners, two-thirds said it was more important to protect the privacy of
phone calls than to preserve the ability of police to conduct wiretaps.
When informed about the Clipper Chip, 80% said they opposed it."
- Philip Elmer-Dewitt, "Who Should Keep the Keys", TIME, Mar. 14 1994
ITALIAN CRACKDOWN ON COMMUNITY NETS
From: Bernardo Parrella <berny@WELL.SF.CA.US>
On May 10-12 1994, the first nationwide crackdown on telecom nets was
operated by Italian police.
Acting after a warrant issued by a Prosecutor in Pesaro, about 60 Bullentin
Board Systems throughout the country have been visited and searched by
police officials.
Dozens of people were formally accused of "distribution of illegally copied
software and appropriation of secret passwords" under the law approved by
Italian Parliament in January this year.
In several cases police officials didn't know what to search for, thus
seizing computers, floppy disks, modems along with electric outlets,
answering machines, audiotapes, personal effects.
The raids also hit private houses and belongings, and in some places
sleeping people were abruptly woken up facing machine guns.
After searching probably around one third of the entire network - that
includes more than 300 BBSes - police officials closed several Fidonet
nodes, but no arrests were made.
A still inaccurate figure of people were charged with software piracy, and
dozens of computers and related devices were seized - along with thousands
of floppy disks,
CD-Roms, W.O.R.M.S.
Moving after a suspected software piracy ring run by people involved in a
Fidonet node, the crackdown started in the night between May 10 and 11 in
Milano, targeting in the two following days BBSes in Pesaro, Modena,
Bologna, Ancona, Pisa and other cities.
Fidonet Italia, member of the worldwide Fidonet network, is a non-profit
organization devoted to distribution of shareware and freeware programs as
well as to electronic forums on topics ranging from technological to social
issues.
An essential communication tool for several groups and individuals
throughout the country, Fidonet Italia became an active multi-cultural
vessel and distributor of several different nodes dedicated to specific
issues: Peacelink (solidarity, human rights), Cybernet (cyberpunk), Ludonet
(games), Scoutnet, Amynet, and others.
For thousands of Italian people, Fidonet BBSes today are invaluable tools of
information-exchange, social activism and professional activities.
The network policy strictly prohibits any distribution of illegally copied
software and fraudulent appropriation of secret passwords.
Also, Fidonet is one of the few International organizations which has always
stated and pursued a clear position against unauthorized copying software.
At the moment, the raids seems to be motivated by accusations against two
people involved in a Pesaro-based BBS who were using Fidonet contacts to
allegedly distribute illegal copies of computer programs.
However, there are no reasons for such a vast law enforcement operation.
Most likely the prosecutor acted simply on the basis of the Fidonet
telephone numbers list (publicly available) owned by the two suspected of
software piracy.
The vast majority of the people searched don't have any kind of relationship
with the suspected, and many of the search warrants stated a generic
"conspiracy with unknown" for the crime of software piracy.
Particularly, the random and arbitrary seizures of floppy disks and personal
computers are completely unmotivated, because every BBS is a completely
independent structure and each sysop is running his/her own hardware and
software.
The seizures will resolve in a great economic loss for these people and
their professional activities will be surely affected from negative
publicity.
Some of them own small computer-related companies while others are
physicians, hobbyists, students who risk personal savings to run their
services.
Because police officials also seized electronic and paper archives
containing data and numbers of the people who logged onto Fidonet nodes, it
is evident that investigations are going even further - thus violating the
constitutional right to privacy.
The first result of this crackdown is that many Fidonet operators decided to
shut down immediately their systems all over the country, fearing heavier
police intrusions in both their public activities and private lives.
While the Italian Parliament recently approved specific laws about copyright
and piracy of computer software, there are still no rules to protect
personal privacy in the electronic medium.
This legislative void inevitably makes the sysop the only responsible person
about anything happens onto and around his/her own BBS.
Fidonet operators do not want and can not be the target of undiscriminated
raids that, forcing them to closing down their activities, cause serious
damages to themselves as well as to the entire community.
In an article published Friday 13 by the newspaper "La Repubblica",
Alessandro Marescotti, Peacelink spokesperson, said: "Just when the
worldwide BBS scene is gaining general respect for its important role at the
community level, in Italy the law hits those networks that have always been
strongly against software piracy. Charging
dozens of honest operators with unmotivated accusations, the main goal of
this crackdown is directed against the social activities of small community
nets - thus clearing the space for commercial networking."
While terms and figures of the entire operation should still be clarified,
on Sunday 15 Fidonet Italia operators will meet in Bologna to study any
possible legal counter-action.
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Please send an email message to Richard W. Bryant, Editor &
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rbryant@hydra.unm.edu
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COM NET NEWS is solely under my editorship, and is unrelated
and independent of the La Plaza Telecommunity, of which I am
vice president. The editorial comment is my own and does not
reflect in any way on La Plaza.
You may reproduce or publish any parts of this newsletter and
distribute it electronically or in paper format. However, any
reproduction or publishing of CNN material must be accompanied
by the following reference:
>From COM NET NEWS:
Richard W. Bryant, Ph.D., Editor & Publisher
RW Bryant Associates
P.O. Box 1828
El Prado, NM 87529
Tel/fax: 505-758-1919
rbryant@hydra.unm.edu
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