Juno's supercomputer provokes privacy guards

[InfoSec News <isn () C4I ORG>]

http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1005-201-4700390-0.html?tag=mn_hd

By Lisa M. Bowman
Special to CNET News.com
February 2, 2001, 4:25 p.m. PT

Juno Online Service's jump into the supercomputing business has
alarmed consumer and privacy advocates, who fear the move could open
subscribers' computers to vulnerabilities--including snooping by third
parties such as the government.

Juno quietly posted a new agreement that will change the terms for
subscribers of its free Internet service. Those customers must allow
the downloading of software that would perform computational tasks
unrelated to Internet connection. They must also agree to leave their
computers on all the time if asked. The software would replace the
screensaver, and people would not be able to uninstall or tamper with
it. Furthermore, under the terms of the agreement, Juno would have the
right to "initiate a telephone connection from your computer to Juno's
central computers."

The market for free Internet service providers has been hit
particularly hard during the dot-com downturn, mainly because it
relies heavily on advertising dollars. To make more money, Juno, which
gets about one-third of its revenue from advertising, is hoping to
sell unused processing power on member computers to third parties, who
can string them together in a virtual daisy chain to form a
supercomputer.

However, defenders of privacy and consumer rights worry the new
requirements amount to an unprecedented exchange of personal property
and data to get something for free. Worse, they say, Juno customers
might not understand what kind of relationship they're getting
themselves into when they click on the agreement. They're also
criticizing the company for slipping the wording into the agreement
Jan. 18 and then not going public with the plan until Feb. 1.

Ari Schwartz, a policy analyst with the Center for Democracy and
Technology, worries the new rules will make it easier for government
investigators to violate constitutional provisions against
unreasonable search and seizure. For example, he said, weak
wiretapping laws could allow federal investigators to go through Juno
to gain access to customers' computers without their knowledge via the
software that's installed on their machines.

"Individuals are in some ways signing over their Fourth Amendment
rights by opening up their computers," Schwartz said. "It's too bad
that to protect people's privacy, they have to pay extra."

Juno spokesman Gary Baker downplayed such concerns and said the new
pact wouldn't actually require subscribers to keep their computers on
all the time--only for a few prescribed hours. He also said paid
subscribers, which make up about 20 percent of Juno's 4 million
customers, would be exempt from the rules. In addition, he said the
computers wouldn't be connected to the Internet constantly because
most of the computations would take place offline, synching up to the
system only when a customer connects to the Internet.

However, people who sign onto the service must agree to a policy that
"may require you to leave your computer turned on at all times."

Baker said he's confident that most of the company's existing
subscribers will agree to the terms. After all, he said, Juno already
requires members to agree to, among other things, a permanent display
screen that shows ads.

"They're already making some sacrifices in exchange for some free
Internet access," Baker said.

The company plans to announce more details of the plan, and who
qualifies, in the coming months.

"This is a tremendous resource that is being wasted by people when
they leave their computers off," he said.

The idea of accessing consumer machines for distributed computing
projects isn't new. For example, 18 million people have donated their
dormant computing power to the SETI Institute, the Search for
Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Other community-based programs have let
people give unused computer time to scientist researching diseases
such as AIDS. And United Devices lets people give their processing
power to commercial projects and causes such as cancer research in
exchange for cash and prizes.

Still, Richard Smith, chief technology officer of the Privacy
Foundation, is concerned that the software Juno installs on customers'
computers might make their machines less reliable, causing them to
slow or crash. Juno said it is designing the software so that it
doesn't interfere with home machines.

What's more, Smith said, companies who potentially could sign up for
the extra processing power might not want their intellectual property
floating freely on random customers' computers. Juno said it was still
researching security issues. Whatever the case, Juno's plan is sure to
be a test of how much consumers are willing to give up in exchange for
free service.

Smith said that when he first came across the agreement it was
troublesome. "I just read it over and said, 'Oh my God. Who would
agree to this?'"

Some people took to the message boards to dissect the new policy. One
person on DejaNews said: "It smacks of George Orwell's 1984. I'll give
up my Internet before I accept this sort of invasive intrusion into my
privacy."

Others wondered whether it was hoax or asked if someone could explain
what the terms were really saying. And still others took Juno's side,
pointing out that people shouldn't expect something for nothing.
"There's no such thing as a free lunch," wrote one.

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