Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding

[Tracy Beth Mitrano <tbm3 () CORNELL EDU>]

Hi Josh,

This case is interesting.  First, when I hit on the link, I get a 404 error.

More important, I cannot believe that this appropriation act would meet constitutional scrutiny.  Pornography is legal; 
obscenity and chid pornography are not.  Unless there are separate rulings related to grants or some such thing, the 
federal government is not allowed to restrict this form of “speech” via First Amendment law.  

And as a matter of policy, UPenn strikes it exactly correct for a research university especially.

If you have more information on that act, please share?  (Maybe Time Warner is blocking it! JK :-)

Tracy


On Feb 24, 2014, at 11:01 AM, Joshua Beeman <jbeeman () ISC UPENN EDU> wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I received an email recently from a grants administrator asking whether or
> not we had a filter in place to block pornography.  Her question was
> prompted by a new provision in the 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act, which
> (as I understand it) includes NIH funding.  The provision states:
>
> "None of the funds made available in this Act may be used to maintain or
> establish a computer network unless such network blocks the viewing,
> downloading, and exchanging of pornography."
>
> http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20140113/CPRT-113-HPRT-RU00-h3547-hamdt
> 2samdt_xml.pdf
>
> Penn does not block pornography at the border, because of the diverse
> nature of research at Penn, and the problems with defining pornography.
> That said, local network segments/subnets may have network security
> devices (e.g., next generation firewalls, web proxy's, etc.) that can
> perform this function.
>
> Is anyone aware of and/or reviewing this new provision in relation to
> grants and grant applications?  If so, any thoughts, suggestions,
> comments? 
>
> Thanks, as always, for any input.
>
> Sincerely,
> Josh
>
>
> --
> Joshua Beeman
> University Information Security Officer
> University of Pennsylvania / ISC
> 3401 Walnut Street, Suite 230A
> 215-746-7077 / jbeeman () isc upenn edu