Educause Security Discussion mailing list archives
Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding
From: Tracy Beth Mitrano <tbm3 () CORNELL EDU>
Date: Mon, 24 Feb 2014 17:21:31 +0000
Well I’ll be darned, it is mentioned four times in this document … along with China and detainees of Guantanamo and a host of other restrictions … but for the life of me, I do not know how or if the pornography provision has ever been challenged, perhaps I will post to the NACUA list and see if the legal eagles know more about it and get back to you guys. Thanks, and to those who send me the unwrapped link especially! Tracy On Feb 24, 2014, at 11:36 AM, Manjak, Martin <mmanjak () ALBANY EDU> wrote:
Tracey, It 404ed because the link is wrapped. Try this: http://docs.house.gov/billsthisweek/20140113/CPRT-113-HPRT-RU00-h3547-hamdt2samdt_xml.pdf Marty Manjak ISO University at Albany -----Original Message----- From: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of Tracy Beth Mitrano Sent: Monday, February 24, 2014 11:25 AM To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU Subject: Re: [SECURITY] 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding 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
Current thread:
- 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding Joshua Beeman (Feb 24)
- Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding Tracy Beth Mitrano (Feb 24)
- Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding Manjak, Martin (Feb 24)
- Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding Tracy Beth Mitrano (Feb 24)
- Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding Carr, Michael G (Feb 24)
- Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding Gary Warner (Feb 24)
- Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding Matt Morton (Feb 24)
- Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding Tracy Beth Mitrano (Feb 24)
- Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding Joshua Beeman (Feb 25)
- Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding Matt Morton (Feb 25)
- Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding Tracy Beth Mitrano (Feb 27)
- Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding Jarret Cummings (Feb 27)
- Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding Jarret Cummings (Mar 24)
- Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding Joshua Beeman (Mar 25)
- Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding Manjak, Martin (Feb 24)
- Re: 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Act & NIH funding Tracy Beth Mitrano (Feb 24)