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Spam / Regulating Online Speech. Week 3 - January 31, February 2. Spam, Phishing, and Spyware. Serge Egelman (see separate slide deck). Administrivia. Questions about retaking the quiz? Questions about proper citations and avoiding plagiarism? Questions about homework #2? Debate format
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Spam / Regulating Online Speech Week 3 - January 31, February 2
Spam, Phishing, and Spyware Serge Egelman (see separate slide deck)
Administrivia • Questions about retaking the quiz? • Questions about proper citations and avoiding plagiarism? • Questions about homework #2? • Debate format • Each debater will have up to 4 minutes to make their case and later up to 2 minutes for rebuttal • Adopt the persona you have been assigned throughout the debate and don’t switch sides!
Homework 1 discussion • How would your life be different without computers?
Research and Communication Skills CMU Libraries (http://www.library.cmu.edu) • Engineering and Science (a.k.a. E&S) • Location: 4th floor, Wean Hall • Subjects: Computer Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Physics, Science, Technology • Hunt (CMU’s main library) • Location: its own building (possibly 2nd ugliest on campus behind Wean), between Tepper and Baker • Subjects: Arts, Business, Humanities, Social Sciences • Software Engineering Institute (a.k.a. SEI) • Location: 4500 5th Avenue • Subjects: “Security, Software, Technology”
Research and Communication Skills Coolest Thing in CMU Libraries • Posner Memorial Collection at Posner Center • Rare books • Early prints of famous works • Original copy of the Bill of Rights
Research and Communication Skills START HERE: Cameo • Cameo is CMU’s online library catalog • Catalogs everything CMU has – books, journals, periodicals, multimedia, etc. • Search Cameo online at http://cameo.library.cmu.edu
Research and Communication Skills If it’s not in Cameo, but you need it today: Local Libraries • Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh http://www.carnegielibrary.org/index.html • University of Pittsburgh Libraries http://pittcat.pitt.edu/
Research and Communication Skills If it’s not in Cameo, and you can wait: ILLiad and E-ZBorrow • ILLiad and E-ZBorrow are catalogs of resources available for Interlibrary Loan from other libraries nationwide (ILLiad) and in Pennsylvania (E-ZBorrow) • Order items online (almost always free) • Wait for delivery – average 10 business days • Find links to ILLiad and E-ZBorrow online catalogs at http://www.library.cmu.edu/Services/ILL/
Research and Communication Skills Special needs: Other Useful Databases • Links to these and many more databases available at http://www.library.cmu.edu/Search/AZ.html • Lexis-Nexis • Massive catalog of legal sources – law journals, case law, news stories, etc. • IEEE and ACM journal databases • IEEE Xplore and ACM Digital Library • INSPEC database • Huge database of scientific and technical papers
Research and Communication Skills And of course… • Reference librarians are available at all CMU libraries, and love to help people find what they need – just ask!
Bill of Rights • First Amendment • Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
The Internet can’t be censored “The Net treats censorship as damage and routes around it.” - John Gillmore
Actually, none of this is true • It is easy to adopt a pseudonym or a persona on the Internet, but it is difficult to be truly anonymous • Identities can usually be revealed with cooperation of ISP, local sys-admins, web logs, phone records, etc. • The Internet can put up a good fight against censorship, but in the end there is still a lot of Internet censorship • Repressive governments and intellectual property lawyers have been pretty successful at getting Internet content removed
Communications Decency Act • Title V of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 • Prohibited Internet distribution of indecent or patently offensive material to minors • Created restrictions for the Internet similar to broadcast media • Introduced by Sen. James Exon (D-Nebraska) • Cited Marty Rimm study • Immediately challenged in court • Supreme Court struck down CDA in 1997 (Reno v. American Civil Liberties Union)
Opposition to the CDA • Over-broad, vague, unenforceable • CDA includes “indecency standard” • Obscenity and child pornography are already illegal to distribute (child pornography is also illegal to possess) • Obscenity - Miller test: • Whether the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest, • Whether the work depicts/describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by applicable state law, • Whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value. • But indecency is defined in CDA as “any comment, request, suggestion, proposal, image, or other communications, that, in context, depicts or describes, in terms patently offensive as measured by contemporary community standards, sexual or excretory activities or organs.” • What community do we look at when regulating the Internet? • Internet should not be regulated like broadcast • Law would chill free speech • Internet filters are a better solution
Support for the CDA • Senator James Exon (D-Nebraska), sponsor of Bill: Need to protect children from online pornography • Laws that restrict selling porn to children in other media should apply to the Internet • Filters are not sufficient • Parents may not be able to figure out how to use them • Children may access computers away from home
Platform for Internet Content Selection (PICS) • Developed by the World Wide Web Consortium • Specification for associating metadata with Internet content • Supports self-labels and third-party labels • Supports the development of many rating systems • Implemented in MS Internet Explorer and other products
Person ortool classifiescontent For what age group is it appropriate? Is it educational? Is it fun? Tool takes an action Suggest Search Inform Monitor Warn Block How technology tools work Internetcontent Web Usenet Email Chat Gopher FTP
Who does the classification? • Third-party experts • Automated tools • Local administrators • Content providers • Survey or vote
Classification scheme Good for kids Bad for kids Characteristics of content Age suitability Who created content
Math Science English Spelling History French Spanish Gym Art Music Drama A B B+ D- C A- F A+ B- C B Rating systems and vocabularies
Descriptive versus subjective Many variables complex simple Few variables Subjective Descriptive
? Can’t derive descriptive from subjective Characters not well developed Gratuitous sex and violence Bad acting? Boring plot? Bad script? Dull characters? Unbelievable premise? Unoriginal? Too much violence? Not enough violence?
Scope • Web sites • FTP, gopher, etc. • Chat • Instant messaging • Newsgroups • Email • Telnet
Actions Inform Suggest Search Block Monitor Warn
Suggest • Recommend appropriate content for children
Search • Select content that is appropriate for children and matches a query
Inform • Provide information about the content
Warn • Provide information about content and recommend against accessing that content before it is displayed
Block • Prevent children from accessing content
Monitor • Record for later inspection a list of the content accessed or attempted to be accessed by a user
Mechanisms and interface • Location • Updates • Customizability • Other features
Personal computer Server LAN or local proxy Remote proxy Internet service provider Search engine Web site Where are the tools located?
Updates • How are tools updated? • Manual updates required • Automatic updates • No updates required
Action Allow and block list elements Categories of content Words and phrases Time of day Policies for each user Customizability
Other features • Time limits • Separate settings for each child • Protect parents’ files • Block individual words and pictures vs. full page or whole site • Explanation of why blocked vs. silent blocking
Discussion • Diversity of tools in the marketplace is important • Need for increased transparency from vendors about the criteria used to classify content
CDA Sequels • Child Online Protection Act (COPA) - passed in 1998 • Banned commercial distribution of material harmful to minors • ACLU challenged this law - Supreme Court has twice upheld lower court injunctions against enforcement, going back to lower court in October 2006 • Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) passed in 1999 • Requires schools and libraries that receive federal funds for Internet access to filter out child pornography, obscene materials, and materials harmful to minors • Upheld by Supreme Court in 2003 • Many state laws • Most have been declared unconstitutional