Circuit Rider
by Jim Scheef
Version 4.9

New DACS Officers
We have a new President! As I’m sure you are aware by now, DACS is governed much the same way as a regular corporation in that you, the members, elect a Board of Directors and those directors then appoint the officers. Our new President is Rob Limbaugh. Rob was elected to the Board in the elections last December. If this seems quick, please keep in mind that I became President right after I was elected to the board. This Board has some great ideas for moving DACS forward and Rob will give us the leadership we need. This is good.

Patriot Act and DACS
While it has been replaced in the news by newer scandals, a few weeks ago the Inspector General of the US Department of Justice issued a report of its audit of how the department was using and misusing the powers granted under the USA Patriot Act and the renewal that passed last year. The report was alarming to say the least. More directly it mirrored almost word for word what we heard at the November general meeting when three people from Library Connections told us their experiences with the national security letter they received and fought. Their courage in fighting for our civil liberties is to be lauded all the more, now that we know the true scale of the problem.

Crime and Punishment in the Information Age
Later this month Julie Amero, a substitute teacher from Norwich, CT, will be sentenced to as much as 40 years in prison. Is she a terrorist? A child predator of some sort? Then surely she is a double murderer because 40 years is twice the normal sentence given for murder. Julie Amero was convicted of none of these crimes. No, she was the person in charge of the classroom when the classroom computer displayed some pornographic images. Julie Amero is barely computer literate. Her defense was not permitted to bring forensic evidence before the jury that would have demonstrated how this out of control situation happened. Why didn’t she just turn off the computer? Apparently the regular teacher had logged onto the computer that morning and left the room with instructions not to log off or turn off the computer because then the students would no longer have access. If you have experienced a barrage of pop-ups, you know how frustrating it can be. Combine this with a classroom of children and a non-technical person who has been told not to turn off the computer, and you have the situation that led to the charges against Julie Amero. Her conviction appears to be the result of an overly zealous prosecutor and a judge with no understanding of technology. But beyond all of this, does the potential punishment fit the crime? Of course not! You can read more at www.nwdocfinder.com/7765. I summarized this from Mark Gibbs “Backspin” column in the March 12th issue of Network World.

Now let’s think about this logically. Who else could be held negligent in such a case? What about the school’s network administrator? Or the person who set up and configured the computer for use in the classroom? Could or should they be held at least partially responsible in this situation? A simple pop-up blocker might have averted much of the “horror” that happened that day. Is Julie Amero going to prison because someone didn’t click a check box in Internet Options? Hopefully this case will be reversed on appeal or at minimum granted a new trial. If you work in IT or provide computer support, Julie Amero represents the “worst case scenario” of when something goes wrong.

Improvements to the Resource Center – Infrastructure Progress Report
The Resource Center network suffered another setback this month. After three trips to the RC, I finally had to reconfigure the router after resetting it to “factory new”. Read more about this in Server SIG Notes. Now I think I can say we are up, running and “stable”. Our next step is to design the infrastructure we need for a 21st century DACS. This includes both DACS itself and facilities to support the SIGs. DACS is incorporated as an educational non-profit. Education is our primary activity which we provide through the General Meetings, the special interest groups (SIGs) and networking between members. If these improvements to the network in the Resource Center further the learning opportunities for our members, then the effort will be worthy of our time. Come to the next Server and Networking SIG if you would like to help or just learn what we’re doing and how we’re doing it.