From Read_Me.txt in dir:
] These files mirror, brought to you courtesy of V1ru5,
] TheVoidAKABoB, and SystemFailure, seem to go well
] with the presentation that Acidus was to give at
] Interz0ne.

Lots of information on the Blackboard CampusWide system.

CampusWide Information Mirror (Socialfreedom)

] Blackboard said the settlement shows its systems are
] secure but the whole case is better understood as a
] successful attempt to protect the firm's reputation
] against the possibly exaggerated claims of a pair of
] student hacker/crackers

The register got caught up in the spin as well.

Since when is using the law an appropriate way to silence critics? Thats the very definition of censorship.

Can we accept that this is really the final word on the story, given that its coming from blackboard, and that Acidus and Virgil are injoined from responding?

Is Blackboard's technology secure?

We may never know. What we do know is that Blackboard has effectively silenced their critics, with extreme prejudice. My lawyer is bigger then your lawyer should not trump the first amendment. In this case it has. These student settled because they did not have the means to defend themselves.

Acidus and Virgil owe $20,000 in (clears throat) "legal fees." They are college students. They can't really afford this and they need help. If you would like to contribute, you can paypal the following email address: gte344p@prism.gatech.edu

The Register - Blackboard press release

Just caught this one in my inbox.. Psyiode has started up a site to keep track of the Blackboard case.

Its important to note that Psyiode has no connection to Acidus, Virgil, or any of the Interz0ne con staff. Blackboard may decide to come after him too.

I like the domain. :)

www.fuckblackboard.com

] On Saturday night, Virgil and Acidus, two young security
] researchers, were scheduled to give a talk at Interz0ne
] II on security flaws they'd found in a popular ID card
] system for universities. It's run by Blackboard, formerly
] by AT&T, and you may know it as OneCard, CampusWide, or
] BuzzCard. On Saturday, instead of the talk, attendees got
] to hear an Interz0ne official read the Cease and Desist
] letter sent by corporate lawyers. The DMCA, among other
] federal laws including the Economic Espionage Act, were
] given as the reasons for shutting down the talk. I spoke
] with Virgil this morning.

Slashdot | Blackboard Campus IDs: Security Thru Cease & Desist

You know there is a problem when an HP VP in Israel tells you about something funny they read on Memestreams.

Yes its nice that I can complain (loudly) about a certain firm's software and get a phone call from the product manager less than 24 hours later asking how to make it better.

But it sucks when a motley collection of idle thoughts and rants is read, with seriousness no less, by people of means and influence. And then people ask me about it in meetings. Talk about odd. Silly people, my blog isn't like some other blogs in the security space (ala a mouthpiece for a company or to drive a consulting biz). Its just what it is, and what it is is most certainly not a catalyst for work place discussion or an indication of policy.

[sigh] I was quite happy without Acidus == Billy Hoffman being public knowledge. It was that way for 6+ years. Of course then Blackboard went and blew that out of the water. If only I would publish under another name.

Or maybe I already have ;-) No, I'm not that clever. Or maybe!?!.... nope, nada.

] Threats of DMCA-inspired lawsuits have been used to gag a
] pair of security researchers due to give a talk on the
] shortcomings of smartcard technology at the Interz0ne.com
] conference last weekend.
]
] Blackboard Inc. found out security researchers Billy
] Hoffman (AKA Acidus) and Virgil Griffith (Virgil) were
] about to present a paper on security flaws involving its
] popular university ID card system, and called in its
] lawyers.

The Register - DMCA threats gag security researchers

The multimedia or personal stuff that professors may think of as flashy filler is getting students to make an emotional investment in their education. "Sure, the content they offer is not as good as if a faculty member produced it. The content expert is always going to be better at creating the content, but that's not the point," said Knauff.

Some see the advent of Web 2.0-style tools in the classroom heralding a shift in everything from education theory to how schools are built. The bottom line: traditional lecturing may be on its way out, said Claire Schooley, an analyst at Forrester Research who follows learning trends at universities and corporations.

Seton Hall University uses social tools as a way to hook students even before they have officially started. A log-in is mailed to new students along with the acceptance materials, according to Jan Day, senior director of client engagement at Blackboard, an educational software company that worked with the university to implement the site.

"It's one thing to look at a discussion board, wikis and blogs. It's something else completely different to physically act in a 3D environment with others in your class. There is increased engagement and feelings of identity," said Jarrett.

"Just like with hybrids and the car industry a few years ago, I need to start building that car because if I wait three years, I'll miss that curve," Hartman said. "I'm building it now as a prototype, but I don't expect to take it out and race it."

This is me trolling Billy... :)

Blackboard, the big Web 2.0 app on campus | CNET News.com

Another anonymous reader writes with a link to the Inside Higher Education site. Those folks are reporting on Blackboard's 'pledge' not to sue open source projects used by universities and colleges. The Blackboard patent on educational groupware filed last year has come under a lot of fire, with many organizations simply seeking an open-source alternative. This newest peace offering to higher education groups has the Sakai open source consortium more than a little bit nervous. If Blackboard meant to set people at ease, all it has managed to do was confirm to onlookers that it 'wants to keep its legal options open.' Blackboard insists that this new pledge affords universities a number of legal privileges, and is designed to make educators 'sleep easy at night.' Somehow, very few people seem reassured.

We don't like Blackboard here. They sued Acidus and Virgil a few years ago because of security research they were doing on Blackboard's products.

Slashdot | Blackboard's 'Pledge' Not to Sue Open Source Software

From the EFF:

We've just updated our Unintended Consequences report (also available as a print-friendly PDF), which collects reported cases of the anti-circumvention provisions of the DMCA being used not against pirates, but against consumers, scientists, and legitimate competitors. In the seven years since the DMCA was enacted, this has grown into quite a list:

* Blackboard Threatens Security Researchers

Billy and Virgil are both noted in the report thanks to Blackboard:

In April 2003, educational software company Blackboard Inc. used a DMCA threat to stop the presentation of research on security vulnerabilities in its products at the InterzOne II conference in Atlanta. Students Billy Hoffman and Virgil Griffith were scheduled to present their research on security flaws in the Blackboard ID card system used by university campus security systems but were blocked shortly before the talk by a cease-and-desist letter invoking the DMCA.

Blackboard obtained a temporary restraining order against the students and the conference organizers at a secret "ex parte" hearing the day before the conference began, giving the students and conference organizer no opportunity to appear in court or challenge the order before the scheduled presentation. Despite the rhetoric in its initial cease and desist letter, Blackboard's lawsuit did not mention the DMCA. The invocation in the original cease-and-desist letter, however, underscores the way the statute has been used to chill security research.

Unintended Consequences: Seven Years Under the DMCA