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CRA ELECTRONIC BULLETIN--JULY 30, 1993
From: David Farber <farber () central cis upenn edu>
Date: Fri, 30 Jul 1993 12:47:06 -0500
********************************************** CRA ELECTRONIC BULLETIN--JULY 30, 1993 ********************************************** =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Distributed By Juan Antonio Osuna Computing Research Association 1875 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 718 Washington, DC 20009 phone: (202) 234-2111 E-mail: josuna () cs umd edu =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- HOUSE PASSES NII LEGISLATION ============================================================= The House of Representatives passed the National Information Infrastructure Act of 1993 on July 26 with a sweeping 326 to 61 vote. Introduced by Rick Boucher (D-VA), the bill (HR 1757) expands the High-Performance Computing and Communications Act of 1991 to bring libraries, local governments, schools and health care providers onto national computer networks. Members who opposed the bill say the telephone, cable and electric companies are already building networks, rendering government involvement unnecessary. All but one of the 61 members who opposed were Republicans. Those who backed the bill say the government does have a role in spurring commercial development by fostering research and development. While before the Science, Space and Technology Subcommittee on Science, the bill underwent several changes, especially with respect to the National Research and Eduation Network, a testbed network expected to reach gigabit speeds in the next few years. Representatives from the regional telephone companies and the research and education communities (including CRA) deliberated for weeks over wording limiting use of this testbed, the only federally funded portion of the Internet. The telephone companies were concerned that federal support of networking impedes their entry into the business. Education and research groups argued that government support creates new technologies and uses, enhancing future markets. Compromise language was hammered out and agreed to by the two groups. The Senate version of the bill (S 4) still has the older, harsher restrictions originally proposed and supported by the telephone companies. However, the educational community (including CRA) and the telephone companies have reached agreement and both recommend that the language in HR 1757 be substituted in S 4. PRESIDENT APPOINTS LANE TO HEAD NSF ============================================================= President Clinton appointed on July 13 Neal F. Lane, a physicist and provost of Rice University, to head the National Science Foundation. Lane currently serves on the Blue Ribbon Panel on High Performance Computing, formed by NSF to evaluate technological trends and priorities. He has served as provost for Rice University since 1986, after having been the Chancellor of the University of Colorado for two years. In 1979 and 1980, he served as the director of NSF's Physics Division. Prior to that, he taught physics for 20 years. Lane holds his BS, MA, and PhD from the University of Oklahoma. PANEL TO REVIEW SKIPJACK (AKA CLIPPER) ============================================================= The National Institute of Standards and Technology has selected five people to review the classified encryption algorithm Skipjack, also popularly known as Clipper. The government proposes Skipjack as a new standard for encrypting voice communications. To avoid a trademark conflict, the government is renaming Clipper to Skipjack. The five reviewers will be Ernest Brickell of Sandia National Laboratories, Dorothy Denning of Georgetown University (also on the CRA board), Stephen Kent of BBN Communications, David Maher of AT&T, and Walter Tuchman of Amperif Corp. OMB DIRECTS AGENCIES TO PUT INFO ON INTERNET ============================================================= The Office of Management and Budget issued a circular (A-130) on July 2, directing federal agencies to make more information available through electronic networks, including Internet. "The development of public electronic networks, such as the Internet, provides an additional way for agencies to increase diversity of information sources available to the public," the 18-page circular said. GAO TELLS HOUSE OF NCIC COMPUTER ABUSE ============================================================= The General Accounting Office made a statement before a House subcommittee July 28 about security holes in the National Crime Information Center computer system. NCIC is the nation's largest computerized criminal justice information system, consisting of 24 million records accessible by 500,000 people. Upon a request from Gary Condit (D-CA), GAO testified on NCIC security before a joint meeting between the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil and Constitutional Rights and the House Government Operations Subcommittee on Information Justice, Transportation and Agriculture. NCIC is not easily penetratable from outside. However, because there is no password authentication, NCIC is easily abused by insiders, GAO said. Most users of the system simple identify themselves and their agencies using codes that are not kept secret. The GAO reported instances where law enforcement agents entered the system using false codes, retrieved information and sold it to private investigators. REPORTS OF INTEREST ============================================================= The Congressional Budget Office released "Promoting High Performance Computing and Communications," which examines the federal role in spurring commercial development of HPCC technologies. Copies may be requested from CBO at (202) 226-2809.
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- CRA ELECTRONIC BULLETIN--JULY 30, 1993 David Farber (Jul 30)