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805 lines
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Computer underground Digest Tue Jun 8, 1995 Volume 7 : Issue 47
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ISSN 1004-042X
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Editors: Jim Thomas and Gordon Meyer (TK0JUT2@MVS.CSO.NIU.EDU
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Archivist: Brendan Kehoe
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Shadow Master: Stanton McCandlish
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Field Agent Extraordinaire: David Smith
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Shadow-Archivists: Dan Carosone / Paul Southworth
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Ralph Sims / Jyrki Kuoppala
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Ian Dickinson
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Triviata: How many bytes in a nibble?
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CONTENTS, #7.47 (Thu, Jun 8, 1995)
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File 1--Thebes
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File 2--A Seduction In Cyberspace (Update from CuD 7.46)
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File 3--Letter to AOL in response to "Damien Starr" incident
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File 4--adult only
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File 5--Can Parents prevent Web page viewing? (Re: CuD 7.46)
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File 6--THE COMPUTER LAW REPORT - June '95 (fwd)
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File 7--CDT POLICY POST #16 -- SEN. DOLE TO INTRODUCE SWEEPING INTERNET
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File 8--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 19 Apr, 1995)
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CuD ADMINISTRATIVE, EDITORIAL, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION APPEARS IN
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THE CONCLUDING FILE AT THE END OF EACH ISSUE.
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---------------------------------------------------------------------
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Date: Wed, 07 Jun 1995 06:12:51 -0700 (MST)
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From: Waiting for the summer to hit hard <Joel_M_Snyder@OPUS1.COM>
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Subject: File 1--Thebes
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((MODERATORS' NOTE: Joel Snyder, a Latin undergrad, came the
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closest. The (politically) correct answer was: THE WORKERS!))
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Amphion and Zethus built the walls around Cadmus' city.
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------------------------------
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Date: 07 Jun 95 21:06:54 EDT
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To: cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu
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Subject: File 2--A Seduction In Cyberspace (Update from CuD 7.46)
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On May 18, 1995, Daniel Montgomery -- a 15-year-old teenager
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living in a Seattle area community known as Maple Valley -- left home
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using a bus ticket provided by someone else. Early in June,
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Montgomery's disappearance became a hot item for the local press.
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Details were not clear, and changed radically with each passing day.
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Through a period of less than one week since the news media picked up
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the story, this case may have come to some form of final resolution.
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Here is where things stand.
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Montgomery, who was 15 at the time but turned 16 on 6-4-95, met
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someone calling himself "Damien Starr" in a gay & lesbian chat room on
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America Online. Starr suggested that Montgomery join him in San
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Francisco. Starr eventually sent Montgomery a bus ticket. Upon
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receiving the bus ticket by mail, Montgomery left Seattle. Thus, Bill
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and Ruth Montgomery -- Daniel Montgomery's parents -- notified
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authorities and began a search for their son. By the time news media
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coverage had transformed the situation into a major Seattle news
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story, Montgomery's parents were asserting that Daniel had probably
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been seduced to run away by someone Daniel met on America Online. Bill
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and Ruth Montgomery only knew that Daniel had been communicating with
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"Damien Starr" online and offline prior to leaving Seattle, and that
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both Starr and Daniel had contacted the Montgomerys a short time after
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Daniel arrived in San Francisco.
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A user profile for Starr had indicated he was 18 and gay. This
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apparently, in part, led the Montgomerys to believe their son was the
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potential future victim of some gay sex group. Between 5-18-95 and
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6-2-95, Daniel Montgomery had contacted his parents via E-Mail twice,
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and Starr had called to assure Daniel's parents that Daniel was ok no
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less than four times. It was also on 6-2-95 that the Montgomery
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run-away story became so prominent that Seattle area TV stations were
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interviewing Bill Montgomery. With little doubt, Bill Montgomery
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voiced his fears as to a theory that Daniel was being "groomed" for
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sex. However, only two days later, Daniel was found in a San Francisco
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airport. His parents flew down to San Francisco to meet Daniel. At
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that time, Daniel returned to Seattle. Approximately two days later,
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the news media of Settle was reporting that America Online had
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released information concerning Starr to the FBI. Upon investigating
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Starr, the FBI found that Starr is 16, not 18. They also learned that
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"Damien Starr" was NOT an alias. With these discoveries, all thought
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of possibly charging Starr for violation of the Mann Act evaporated.
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In a Previous posting to CuD (See CuD 7.46, File 1), I reported
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that this case was not finished. I now believe it may indeed be closed
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as of today, 6-7-95. But, of course, a new specter seems to have taken
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its place in the form of another run-away case involving a 13-year-old
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Louisville, Kentucky girl -- Tara Noble. And so, it seems the
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Merry-go-round has not stopped; it has only taken new riders. Perhaps
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someone in Louisville can tell us what's going on there.
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------------------------------
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Date: 09 Jun 1995 01:00:06 -0000
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From: moseman@PWRLINE.PO.MY(Larry Moser)
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Subject: File 3--Letter to AOL in response to "Damien Starr" incident
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To: sales@aol.com (I hope this address works.)
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Found in a recent listserv posting:
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>In the past two days, some news media organizations have
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>statedAOL was under some pressure to reveal information on a
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>subscriberusing the alias "Damien Starr." However, other news
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>mediaorganizations were stating that AOL was resolute in its
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>policy not toreveal information about subscribers. Even so,
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>today, [6-6-95] severalbroadcast organizations (KING-TV, KIRO-TV,
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>KIRO radio, and KOMO radio)now report that AOL has terminated the
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>person who used the DamienStarr alias. KOMO radio broadcast the
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>following in a news program thismorning. America Online says
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>it's complying with a subpoena and giving investigators
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>information about the account of Damien Starr. That's the name
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>used by a man suspected of luring a teenaged boy to San
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>Francisco. The computer service has also terminated the man's
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>account.
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I'm not gay and I don't proposition anyone on the net, but if it's
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true that you were so easily intimitdated by The Law and the media
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hype concerning the above, I will recommend to everyone I meet NOT to
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subscribe to your service.
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Sent via FirstClass (R) UUCP Gateway of Persatuan Komputer Brunei
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Darussalam (Brunei Computer Society).
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------------------------------
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Date: Thu, 08 Jun 1995 00:10:46 -0400
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From: christij@UNIX.ASB.COM(Joseph Christie)
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Subject: File 4--adult only
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In CUD 7.46 comp-academic-freedom-talk@EFF.ORG is quoted
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In the next version of the Web navigators, just introduce a new HTML
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tag <adult_only>. If a WWW browser encounters this tag enclosed inside
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the <head> </head> part of a HTML document, then the browser will
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simply refuse to load or render the document. The author of a Web page
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should put that tag in all of his pages containing materials that he
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does not want to be seen by young children.
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This makes it incumbent on everyone who maintains a page to not only
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police their own page. What if I'm not sure about the standards for
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which I am being held liable. Not necessarily pornography but adult
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discussions of current events which may include occasional referrences
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to things many parents would not want their children exposed to like
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the sexual escapades of sports or movie idole or rock musicians.
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I think it makes more sense to have "children OK" sites rather than
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"adult only" sites. This way you are not individually excluding
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specific sites with a large group of sites being included for access
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by accident, ignorance or laziness. If you forgot to label it "adult
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only" it might be an honest mistake, but if you specifically label it
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"kids OK" and it's contains offensive material you can't plead
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accidental oversight.
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It just seems that "kids OK" is more enforceable and easier to
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implement and manage than "adults only"
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This brings to mind a second question.
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What if I link to Happy Harry's cartoon page because he has great
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Disney images. So I label it as a great site for the kiddies. Next
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week Harry decides to put up a Fritz the Cat section. Am I liable for
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pointing the kiddies to an X rated site if Harry doesn't protect his
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site or is it strictly his problem?
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------------------------------
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Date: Wed, 7 Jun 1995 16:03:12 -0500
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From: Gerald Anderson <gander@TECH3.COX.SMU.EDU>
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Subject: File 5--Can Parents prevent Web page viewing? (Re: CuD 7.46)
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I would like to respond to the text in issue 7.46 re: Can the
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parents prevent their children from viewing unwanted Web pages?
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I think that the idea put forth is quite a good example of how we
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should all be facing this problem. It is well known that if we, the
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net.community, don't fix our own problems, the government(s) will fix
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them for us. This, to me anyway, is terrifying. Therefore we must be
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putting every effort in to reasonably solving these problems before it
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is too late.
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The solution this person (Author is unknown :-( ) presented, is a
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spirit of cooperation between providers of 'controversial materials'
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and the publishers of Web browsing software. He/She (Will use He in
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the future, no offense.) suggested that the producers of Web browsers
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institute (in HTML 3.0?) a a standard header tag that tells the Web
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client that this document is adult in nature. (The tag he suggested
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was <Adult_Only>) When a family member installs the Web client on
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their home machine it would ask for a password and this password would
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be required to access any pages with the above tag. This is a pretty
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good idea, a good place to start at least.
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In his text he stated (truly) that we can't guarantee %100
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effectiveness of any procedure as there are kids out there who will
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find ways to get what they want, we DO indeed have to focus on the one
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we CAN control. (Note: Even government legislation is not going to
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control the kids that want it. There will always be someone to
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provide, and someone to receive if they are both interested enough)
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I, at one time was one of these kids. If I would have been in a
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situation where my parents password protected a program I would have
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gotten out debug and found out what it was. I think a few EASY steps
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can be made to insure better security and greater flexibility.
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1) Upon install have option of protecting or not.
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2) Upon deciding to protect when installing, the password will be
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automatically sent to the server of the Client publisher
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to be stored with the hostname. (This may present
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problems with dynamic slip though) An easy CGI program could
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handle this. I don't think this would be much more
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of an issue than we are already discussing.
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3) When accessing a protected document, go to the old
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3 strikes your out password scheme. At the third
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failure the client locks up and needs a secondary
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password GIVEN to the INSTALLER at install time
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(A crypto based on the installer provided password?)
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to unlock the client again. IF this type of security
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is enabled it could allow for parents to track or
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audit what their children are seeing (request logs from
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provider, or whatever). If the installer decides NOT
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to use this protection his privacy is as thorough as it
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is today.
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This is a pretty off the top idea, but at least should give those
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interested in thinking about it a few ideas. These ideas keep the
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children away who can be kept away and protects the privacy of those
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adults who are viewing these sites. If anybody can think of anyway to
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simplify this or to make it even more secure, feel free to email me.
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Also, I would consider putting together an open mailing list for the
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discussion of such techniques for all forms of Internet tools. If
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you're interested in this type of mailing list or have any comments
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email: gander@mail.cox.smu.edu.
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Gerald D. Anderson
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P.S. Perhaps a Content-Type could also be used. (sorry, I'll stop now ;-)
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------------------------------
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Date: Sun, 4 Jun 1995 13:09:25 -0500 (CDT)
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From: David Smith <bladex@BGA.COM>
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Subject: File 6--THE COMPUTER LAW REPORT - June '95 (fwd)
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---------- Forwarded message ----------
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**********************************************
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THE COMPUTER LAW REPORT
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JUNE, 1995
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PREPARED BY WILLIAM S. GALKIN, ESQ.
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galkin@aol.com
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**********************************************
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ARTICLES CONTAINED IN THIS ISSUE:
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(1) E-MAIL CONFESSIONS IN COURT
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(2) LICENSE RESTRICTIONS CAN BACKFIRE
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(3) RAIDING EMPLOYEES
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* PLEASE READ *: If you have any questions about the material
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contained in The Computer Law Report, or would like to discuss issues
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related to computer or technology law, please contact William S.
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Galkin, Esq.: e-mail (galkin@aol.com), telephone (410-356-8853), fax
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(410-356-8804), or mail (10451 Mill Run Circle, Suite 400, Owings
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Mills, MD 21117). The Computer Law Report is distributed free, and
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designed for the non-lawyer. To subscribe, please respond via e-mail.
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All information contained in The Computer Law Report is for the
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benefit of the recipients, and should not be relied on or considered
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as legal advice. When necessary, proper professionals should be
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consulted.
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++++++++++++E-MAIL CONFESSIONS IN COURT++++++++++++++
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E-mail is the most efficient means of communication
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available today. However, this efficiency and ease of use can become a
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huge liability in the future.
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A case in point involves a recent trade secrets suit by
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Vermont Microsystems, Inc. (located in Winooski, Vermont) against
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Autodesk, Inc. (located in Sausalito, California). Microsystems
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argued that Autodesk had reason to know that trade secrets known by a
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former Microsystems software engineer were incorporated into an
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Autodesk software product.
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In court Microsystems introduced internal e-mail
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records of Autodesk which evidenced knowledge by Autodesk management
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of the trade secrets. There was also evidence that computer files had
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been deleted from the software engineer's computer, suggesting foul
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play. The judge awarded Microsystems $25 million. The judgment has
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been appealed.
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However this case ultimately turns out, it highlights
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the use (and danger) of e-mail and other records in court actions.
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Usually, e-mail goes unmonitored in companies. For one thing,
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employees do not feel comfortable having their communications
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monitored. Additionally, monitoring e-mail is a complicated and time
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consuming task.
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Paper records are usually subject to a much higher
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level of control. Paper is either filed (which provides a control
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process), or is destroyed through normal disposal means or shredding.
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However, e-mail is much easier to maintain, and then be forgotten
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about. Additionally, the volume of information that e-mail contains is
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much greater than with paper information because of its ease of use.
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What's more, e-mail is difficult to permanently destroy, because once
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deleted, it can still be recovered.
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We can anticipate that e-mail and other computer
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records will provide at least some portion of evidence in a majority
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of business-related litigation from now on. Employment discrimination
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and sexual harassments suits quickly come to mind as likely
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candidates. Imagine if all conversations in a company were recorded,
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and available to be produced in court. To a lesser extent, this is
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what e-mail records provide - threads of communications on virtually
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all subjects relating to the inner workings of a company.
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The problem lies in the fact that companies are not
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aware of what information is being maintained. What should a company
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do? First, an information policy should be developed and disseminated
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to employees, regularly, as to what type of communications are to be
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communicated over e-mail. Furthermore, the policy should categorize
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different types of information and require that different categories
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are subject to deletion after given time periods. Lastly, the company
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should conduct periodic house-cleaning of the entire system in order
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to monitor compliance with the information policy, and also to get an
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idea what type of information is on the system.
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There is no advice being given in this article to
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intentionally destroy evidence of wrongdoing. However, the true enemy
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to be confronted is the uncontrolled accumulation of vast amounts of
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information, which does not need to be maintained, and which may be
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used against a company in the future.
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++++++++++++LICENSE RESTRICTIONS CAN BACKFIRE+++++++
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Licensors of software usually dictate the terms of the
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license agreement under which they will license their software. For
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example, the license agreement may require the licensee to only use
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the software for internal use (i.e., may not act as a service bureau),
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or to only use the software on a specified computer.
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In the Fourth Circuit case of Lasercomb America, Inc.
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v. Reynolds, Lasercomb developed and licensed a CAD/CAM
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(computer-assisted design/computer-assisted manufacture) software
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program known as Interact, which is used for making steel dies which
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cut and score paper and cardboard for folding into boxes and cartons.
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Lasercomb's standard license agreement included the following
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provision: "Licensee agrees during the term of this Agreement that it
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will not permit or suffer its directors, officers and employees,
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directly or indirectly, to write, develop, produce or sell
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computer-assisted die-making software."
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The license also prohibited the licensee from assisting
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others to do any of the prohibited activities. The term of the
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agreement was 99 years.
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In clear violation of Lasercomb's copyright, one
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licensee, Holiday Steel Rule Die Corporation, made unauthorized copies
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of the software and began marketing it. Lasercomb sued Holiday for
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copyright infringement.
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The court held that the terms of Lasercomb's license
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agreement amounted to a misuse of the copyright in the software by
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Lasercomb and, based on a copyright misuse defense, the court denied
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Lasercomb's infringement claim -- even though copyright infringement
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did occur.
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The court reasoned that Lasercomb attempted to use its
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copyright to inhibit competition in a manner that exceeded the
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protection provided under the copyright laws. The license agreement
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prohibited licensees from developing or selling computer-assisted
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die-making software during the ninety-nine year term of the license
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agreement. This extension, beyond the copyright protection, to
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restrict licensees from all competitive efforts relating to
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computer-assisted die making was determined to be misuse, because such
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protection extended into the "idea" of CAD/CAM for making rule dies,
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and "ideas" are not protectable under the copyright laws.
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The copyright misuse defense is likely to be followed
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in other circuits and will certainly be raised by defendants in
|
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copyright suits.
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Therefore, the lesson is clear: examine your current license
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agreements for any noncompetitive provisions, otherwise you run the
|
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risk of not being able to enforce your copyright against infringers.
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|
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++++++++++++RAIDING EMPLOYEES+++++++++++++++++
|
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|
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The computer industry, more than other industries,
|
||
often sees companies luring away key personnel from competitors. This
|
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competition for employees stems from the great value to a computer
|
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company of the personal skills of its employees.
|
||
Generally, a company may freely attempt to hire away
|
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its competitor's employees. Accordingly, "raiding" other companies'
|
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employees is permissible, though it may be viewed as unfair by the
|
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victim-company.
|
||
Although raiding is permissible, restrictions on
|
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misappropriation of trade secrets still apply. Encouraging an
|
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employee to join a company with the tacit understanding that part of
|
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the job will require disclosure of trade secrets is an actionable
|
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wrong.
|
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It is difficult to prove an intent to lure away
|
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employees for the purpose of disclosing trade secrets, because there
|
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is a fine line between hiring a competitor's employee because of his
|
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or her learned expertise (which is permissible) or for the purpose of
|
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making use of and disclosing trade secrets (which is not permissible).
|
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While employees may compete with a former employer,
|
||
during the time that the employee is still working for the employer,
|
||
the employee may not divert or attempt to solicit any customers to a
|
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competitor. Such solicitation, if known by a competitor, might result
|
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in the competitor being enjoined from doing business with the
|
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solicited customer.
|
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There are three important protections that an employer
|
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concerned about being raided can put in place. The first is to have
|
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key employees sign employment agreements. A company is not permitted
|
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to attempt to lure a competitor's employee if leaving would cause the
|
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employee to be in breach of the employment agreement. However, an
|
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employment agreement will also limit the ability of the employer to
|
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fire the employee.
|
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The second protection is having the employee enter into
|
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a confidentiality agreement. Such an agreement may be incorporated
|
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into an employment agreement and sets forth the type of information
|
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that the employer considers confidential. Such an agreement is an
|
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invaluable piece of evidence when claiming a former employee is
|
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revealing trade secrets.
|
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The third and most powerful protection is a
|
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noncompetition agreement, which also can be incorporated into an
|
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employment agreement. Such an agreement restricts an employee from
|
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competing with the employer for a specified term (e.g., two or three
|
||
years) and within a specified area (e.g., Maryland). Such term and
|
||
area restrictions must be reasonable in scope, or will not be
|
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enforceable.
|
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|
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------------------------------
|
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|
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Date: 6 Jun 1995 17:11:03 -0500
|
||
From: jseiger@cdt.org (Jonah Seiger)
|
||
Subject: File 7--CDT POLICY POST #16 -- SEN. DOLE TO INTRODUCE SWEEPING INTERNET
|
||
|
||
CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY Jun 6, 1995 / #16
|
||
---------------------------------------------------------------
|
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A briefing on public policy issues affecting civil liberties online
|
||
---------------------------------------------------------------
|
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|
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CONTENTS: (1) Sens. Dole & Grassley to introduce sweeping anti-indecency
|
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Internet censorship bill
|
||
(2) Sen. Lott To offer amendment to strike 'Defenses' section
|
||
of Exon CDA
|
||
(3) Legislative Update -- Status of Exon CDA
|
||
(4) Text of the Grassley/Dole proposal
|
||
(5) Petition Update -- 20,000 + signaures in the first two weeks
|
||
(6) About CDT/Contacting Us
|
||
|
||
This document may be re-distributed freely provided it remains in its
|
||
entirety.
|
||
-------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
(1) SENS DOLE (R-KS) & GRASSLEY (R-IA) TO INTRODUCE SWEEPING ANTI-INDECENCY
|
||
INTERNET CENSORSHIP BILL
|
||
|
||
OVERVIEW
|
||
--------
|
||
|
||
Senator Bob Dole (R-KS) is expected to up the ante on Internet censorship
|
||
tomorrow by co-sponsoring legislation with Senator Charles Grassley
|
||
(R-IA). The proposal to be offered by the Senate Majority leader and
|
||
Republican Presidental candidate is more sweeping than the Exon
|
||
Communicatons Decency Act, and comes on the heals of his recent attack
|
||
on "sex and violence" in the entertainment industry.
|
||
|
||
The Dole/Grassley proposal represents an even greater threat to the
|
||
First Amendment and the free flow of information in cyberspace than
|
||
the Exon Communications Decency Act, now pending before the Senate (a
|
||
vote on the CDA is expected as early as tomorrow, 6/7/95). The Dole
|
||
proposal will likely be offered as a substitute to the CDA. Senator
|
||
Dole is expected to announce his support for the bill at a 6/7 lunch
|
||
hosted by the anti-pornography group Enough Is Enough. The text of the
|
||
proposal is attached below.
|
||
|
||
The introduction of Dole/Grassley creates an even greater need for
|
||
support of Senator Leahy's alternative (S. 714). If the Senate rejects
|
||
Senator Leahy's alternative, it will pass either the Exon bill or the
|
||
even more draconian Dole/Grassley proposal, and the net as we know it
|
||
will never be the same again. To find out what you can do to help,
|
||
contact the Voters Telecommunications Watch (VTW) by sending a message
|
||
to vtw@vtw.org with a subject "send alert". Please also sign the
|
||
petition (URL and instructions at the end of this post)
|
||
|
||
|
||
SUMMARY OF DOLE/GRASSLEY PROPOSAL
|
||
---------------------------------
|
||
|
||
The Dole/Grassley bill would create new penalties in Title 18 for all
|
||
operators of electronic communications services who knowingly transmit
|
||
indecent material to anyone under 18 years of age. The bill would also
|
||
create criminal liability for system operators who willfully permit minors
|
||
to use an electronic communications service in order to obtain indecent
|
||
material from another service.
|
||
|
||
The Dole/Grassley bill would impose criminal liability on online service
|
||
providers, electronic bulletin board operators, as well as any other entity
|
||
that uses computer storage to deliver information to users, including video
|
||
dialtone services, cable television video on demand services, etc. The
|
||
degree of knowledge required to impose liability is unclear, but it appears
|
||
that an entity could be said to have the requisite knowledge if it is
|
||
merely informed by a third party that some material on its system is
|
||
indecent.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
(2) SEN. LOTT (R-MISS) TO OFFER AMENDMENT TO STRIKE 'DEFENSES' SECTION OF
|
||
EXON CDA.
|
||
|
||
Senator Lott is preparing to offer an amendment to strike the service
|
||
provider defenses from the Exon language already approved by the Senate
|
||
Commerce committee.
|
||
|
||
Analysis: Holding service providers such as America Online and Internet
|
||
access providers liable for the content on their system over which they
|
||
have no control will stifle the free flow of information in cyberspace and
|
||
create major business risk for the private companies that are building the
|
||
National Information Infrastructure. Furthermore, placing criminal
|
||
liability on service providers poses a serious risk to the privacy of
|
||
individual users by forcing service providers to monitor communications in
|
||
order to limit their own liability.
|
||
|
||
Status: Lott plans to offer this amendment when the on the Senate floor
|
||
when the telecommunications bill is being considered.
|
||
|
||
----------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
(3) LEGISLATIVE UPDATE -- STATUS OF EXON CDA
|
||
|
||
With the Senate telecommunications reform bill poised to go to the floor
|
||
this week, proposals to censor the Internet are proliferating beyond just
|
||
the Exon language. The most sweeping and threatening proposals come from
|
||
the Senate leadership and other Republicans. The provisions of the Exon
|
||
proposal that are already in the telecommunications bill contain
|
||
restrictions on indecent communications which would apply to all parts of
|
||
the Internet, commercial online services, and all other interactive media
|
||
including interactive television, etc. We believe these provisions to be
|
||
unconstitutional and continue to oppose them. CDT continues to work with
|
||
members of the Interactive Working Group in urging support for the Leahy
|
||
study bill as an alternative.
|
||
|
||
The Exon proposal now part of the Senate telecommunications bill still
|
||
poses serious risks to free speech online. The Exon proposal contains
|
||
restrictions on "indecent" communications, which could ban all
|
||
sexually-explicit communications on the Internet, along with all uses
|
||
of the "seven dirty words."
|
||
|
||
Analysis: CDT continues to argue that the indecency restrictions in the
|
||
Exon bill are unconstitutional under the First Amendment.
|
||
|
||
Status: Senator Leahy plans to offer an amendment to strike the Exon
|
||
provisions and replace them with his study bill (S.714) as an alternative.
|
||
|
||
CDT continues to work with members of the Interactive Working Group in
|
||
urging support for the Leahy study as an alternative to the Exon bill,
|
||
which we still believe to be unconstitutional.
|
||
|
||
For more information, see CDT's Communications Decency Act Archives:
|
||
|
||
http://www.cdt.org
|
||
ftp://ftp.cdt.org/pub/cdt/policy/freespeech/00-INDEX.FREESPEECH
|
||
|
||
------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
(4) TEXT OF THE DOLE/GRASSLEY PROPOSAL
|
||
|
||
104th Congress: First Session.
|
||
|
||
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
|
||
|
||
Mr. Grassley introduced the following bill, which was read twice and
|
||
referred to the Committee on ______________________________________
|
||
|
||
A BILL
|
||
|
||
To amend section 1464 of title 18, United States Code, to punish
|
||
transmission by computer of indecent material to minors.
|
||
|
||
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United
|
||
States of American in Congress assembled,
|
||
|
||
SECTION 1: TRANSMISSION BY COMPUTER OF INDECENT MATERIAL TO MINORS.
|
||
|
||
(a) OFFENSES. -- Section 1464 of title 18, United States Code, is
|
||
amended --
|
||
|
||
(1) in the heading by striking "Broadcasing obscene language"
|
||
and inserting "Utterance of indecent or profane language by radio com-
|
||
munication; transmission to minor of indecent material from remote
|
||
computer facility, electronic communications service, or electronic
|
||
bulletin board service";
|
||
|
||
(2) by striking "Whoever" and inserting "(a) UTTERANCE OF
|
||
INDECENT OR PROFANE LANGUAGE BY RADIO COMMUNICA-
|
||
TION. -- A person who"; and
|
||
|
||
(3) by adding at the end the following:
|
||
|
||
"(b) TRANSMISSION TO MINOR OF INDECENT MATERIAL FROM REMOTE
|
||
COMPUTER FACILITY, ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE, OR ELECTRONIC
|
||
BULLETIN BOARD SERVICE PROVIDER.--
|
||
|
||
"(1) DEFINITIONS -- As used in this subsection --
|
||
|
||
"(A) the term 'remote computer facility' means a facility
|
||
that --
|
||
|
||
"(i) provides to the public computer storage or processing
|
||
services by means of an electronic commu nications system; and
|
||
|
||
"(ii) permits a computer user to transfer electronic
|
||
or digital material from the facility to another computer;
|
||
|
||
"(B) the term 'electroni communications service' means any wire, radio,
|
||
electromagnetic, photo optical, or photo-electronic system for the
|
||
transmission of electronic communications, and any computer facility or
|
||
related electronic equipment for the electronic storage of such
|
||
communications, that permits a computer user to transfer electronic or
|
||
digital material from the service to another computer; and,
|
||
|
||
"(C) the term 'electronic bulletin board service' means a computer
|
||
system, regardless of whether operated for commercial purposes, that
|
||
exists primarily to provide remote or on-site users with digital images
|
||
or that exists primarily to permit remote or on-site users to
|
||
participatein or create on-line discussion groups or conferences.
|
||
|
||
"(2) TRANSMISSION BY REMOTE COMPUTER FACILITY
|
||
OPERATOR, ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS SERVICE
|
||
PROVIDER, OR ELECTRONIC BULLETIN BOARD SERVICE PROVIDER. -- A remote
|
||
computer facility operator, electronic commu-
|
||
nications service provider, electronic bulletin board service provider
|
||
who, with knowledge of the character of the material, knowingly or
|
||
recklessly --
|
||
|
||
"(A) transmits from the remote computer facility, electronic
|
||
communications service, or electronic bulletin board service provider a
|
||
communication that contains indecent material to a person under 18 years
|
||
of age; or
|
||
|
||
"(B) causes or allows to be transmitted from the remote computer
|
||
facility, electronic communications service, or electronic bulletin
|
||
board a communication that contains indecent material to a person under
|
||
18 years of age,
|
||
|
||
shall be fined in accordance with this title, imprisoned not more than
|
||
5 years, or both.
|
||
|
||
"(3) PERMITTING ACCESS BY MINOR. -- Any person who
|
||
willfully permits a person under 18 years of age to use a remote com-
|
||
puting service, electronic communications service, or electronic
|
||
bulletin board service to obtain indecent material from another remote
|
||
computing service, electronic communications service, or electronic
|
||
board service, shall be fined not more than $10,000, imprisoned not
|
||
more than 2 years, or both.
|
||
|
||
"(4) NONAPPLICABILITY TO PARENT OR LEGAL
|
||
GUARDIAN. -- This subsection shall not apply to a parent or legal
|
||
guardian who provides indecent material to the child of such parent
|
||
or legal guardian."
|
||
|
||
-------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
(5) PETITION UPDATE -- 20,000 SIGNATUES IN TWO WEEKS.
|
||
|
||
In the first two weeks of the petition effort, we have gathered over 20,000
|
||
signatures in support of Senator Leahy's alternative to the Exon
|
||
Communications Decency Act.
|
||
|
||
If you have not yet signed the petition, please visit the petition page
|
||
|
||
http://www.cdt.org/petition.html
|
||
|
||
If you do not have access to the Web, send a message to vtw@vtw.org with a
|
||
suject 'send petition' for instructions on how to sing by email.
|
||
|
||
The petition may be Delivered to Senator Leahy sometime this week, but it
|
||
will continue to be up to gather signatures until the House of
|
||
Representatives votes later this summer. Updates and a final singature
|
||
tally will be posted shortly.
|
||
|
||
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|
||
|
||
(6) ABOUT THE CENTER FOR DEMOCRACY AND TECHNOLOGY/CONTACTING US
|
||
|
||
The Center for Democracy and Technology is a non-profit public interest
|
||
organization. The Center's mission is to develop and advocate public
|
||
policies that advance constitutional civil liberties and democratic
|
||
values in new computer and communications technologies.
|
||
|
||
Contacting us:
|
||
|
||
To subscribe to CDT's news distribution list (to receive future Policy Posts
|
||
directly), send email to <cdt-lists@cdt.org> with a subject of 'subscribe
|
||
policy posts'.
|
||
|
||
** NOTE TO THOSE WHO HAVE ALREADY REQUESTED TO BE ADDED TO CDT's DISTRIBUTION
|
||
LIST: We are still working to build our listserv -- you will beging
|
||
receiving Policy Posts on this list very soon. We appreciate your patience!
|
||
|
||
General information on CDT can be obtained by sending mail to
|
||
<info@cdt.org>
|
||
|
||
CDT has set up the following auto-reply aliases to keep you informed on the
|
||
Communications Decency Act issue.
|
||
|
||
For information on the bill, including
|
||
CDT's analysis and the text of Senator
|
||
Leahy's alternative proposal and
|
||
information on what you can do to
|
||
help -- cda-info@cdt.org
|
||
|
||
For the current status of the bill,
|
||
including scheduled House and
|
||
Senate action (updated as events
|
||
warrant) -- cda-stat@cdt.org
|
||
|
||
World-Wide-Web:
|
||
|
||
http://www.cdt.org/
|
||
|
||
ftp:
|
||
|
||
ftp://ftp.cdt.org/pub/cdt/
|
||
|
||
gopher:
|
||
|
||
CDT's gopher site is still under construction and should be operational
|
||
soon.
|
||
|
||
snail mail:
|
||
|
||
Center For Democracy and Technology
|
||
1001 G Street, NW Suite 700 East
|
||
Washington, DC 20001
|
||
voice: +1.202.637.9800
|
||
fax: +1.202.637.9800
|
||
|
||
------------------------------
|
||
|
||
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1995 22:51:01 CDT
|
||
From: CuD Moderators <cudigest@sun.soci.niu.edu>
|
||
Subject: File 8--Cu Digest Header Info (unchanged since 19 Apr, 1995)
|
||
|
||
Cu-Digest is a weekly electronic journal/newsletter. Subscriptions are
|
||
available at no cost electronically.
|
||
|
||
CuD is available as a Usenet newsgroup: comp.society.cu-digest
|
||
|
||
Or, to subscribe, send a one-line message: SUB CUDIGEST your name
|
||
Send it to LISTSERV@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU
|
||
The editors may be contacted by voice (815-753-0303), fax (815-753-6302)
|
||
or U.S. mail at: Jim Thomas, Department of Sociology, NIU, DeKalb, IL
|
||
60115, USA.
|
||
|
||
To UNSUB, send a one-line message: UNSUB CUDIGEST <your name>
|
||
Send it to LISTSERV@VMD.CSO.UIUC.EDU
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Issues of CuD can also be found in the Usenet comp.society.cu-digest
|
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|
||
LAWSIG, and DL1 of TELECOM; on GEnie in the PF*NPC RT
|
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libraries and in the VIRUS/SECURITY library; from America Online in
|
||
the PC Telecom forum under "computing newsletters;"
|
||
On Delphi in the General Discussion database of the Internet SIG;
|
||
on RIPCO BBS (312) 528-5020 (and via Ripco on internet);
|
||
and on Rune Stone BBS (IIRGWHQ) (203) 832-8441.
|
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CuD is also available via Fidonet File Request from
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world.std.com in /src/wuarchive/doc/EFF/Publications/CuD/
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The most recent issues of CuD can be obtained from the
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||
URL: http://www.soci.niu.edu:80/~cudigest/
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|
||
COMPUTER UNDERGROUND DIGEST is an open forum dedicated to sharing
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|
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------------------------------
|
||
|
||
End of Computer Underground Digest #7.47
|
||
************************************
|
||
|