Category: Uncategorized
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The Flawed Legal Architecture of the Certificate Authority Trust Model
Researchers have recently criticized the Certificate Authority Trust Model — which involves the issuance and use of digital certificates to authenticate the identity of websites to end-users — because of an array of technical and institutional problems. The criticism is significant not only because of the systemic nature of the noted problems, but also because…
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Ninth Circuit Ruling in MDY v. Blizzard
The Ninth Circuit has ruled on the MDY v. Blizzard case, which involves contract, copyright, and DMCA claims. As with the district court ruling, I’ll withhold comment due to my involvement as an expert in the case, but the decision may be of interest to FTT readers. [Editor: The EFF has initial reactions here. Techdirt…
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Two Stories about the Comcast/Level 3 Dispute (Part 2)
In my last post I told a story about the Level 3/Comcast dispute that portrays Comcast in a favorable light. Now here’s another story that casts Comcast as the villain. Story 2: Comcast Abuses Its Market Power As Steve explained, Level 3 is an “Internet Backbone Provider.” Level 3 has traditionally been considered a tier…
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Two Stories about the Comcast/Level 3 Dispute (Part 1)
Like Steve and a lot of other people in the tech policy world, I’ve been trying to understand the dispute between Level 3 and Comcast. The combination of technical complexity and commercial secrecy has made the controversy almost impenetrable for anyone outside of the companies themselves. And of course, those who are at the center…
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Smart electrical meters and their smart peripherals
When I was a college undergraduate, I lived in a 1920’s duplex and I recall my roommate and I trying to figure out where our electrical bill was going. He was standing outside by the electrical meter, I was turning things on and off, and we were yelling back and forth so we could sort…
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Unpeeling the mystique of tamper-indicating seals
As computer scientists have studied the trustworthiness of different voting technologies over the past decade, we notice that “security seals” are often used by election officials. It’s natural to wonder whether they really provide any real security, or whether they are just for show. When Professor Avi Rubin volunteered as an election judge (Marylandese for…
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CITP Seeks Visitors for 2011-2012
The Center for Information Technology Policy (CITP) seeks candidates for positions as visiting faculty members or researchers, or postdoctoral research associates for one year appointments for the 2011-2012 academic year. Please see our website for additional information and requirements at http://citp.princeton.edu/call-for-visitors/. If you are interested, please submit a CV and cover letter, stating background, intended…
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What happens when there's no recount possible?
Greetings, This is my first posting on Freedom To Tinker, so a brief introduction first. I’ve been involved in electronic voting technology issues for about five years, as founder of Virginia Verified Voting where I wrote the law that prohibited purchase of more DREs (i.e., paperless voting machines), as a researcher on the EAC Voting…
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Dr. Felten Goes to Washington
Today the Federal Trade Commission announced that I will become their Chief Technologist, effective January 1. My main role at the FTC will be to provide advice on technology policy issues. (Princeton has an announcement too.) What does this mean for Princeton’s Center for Information Technology Policy? During my time at the FTC, I’ll be…
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Finding the best ideas in the world
Policy-makers often strive to solicit ideas from the public, but making this process effective is very, very hard. Americans need only think back to the health-reform town hall meetings last summer, many of which devolved into chaos. Online approaches, such as President Obama’s virtual town hall meeting, have also ran into problems. So, how can…