This message came to me immidatly after I requested the sysadmin here at UB to upgrade to PGP to version 2.1 Do I need to explain this?

Notes: given the questionable legal status of the PGP software it has been removed from UCS supported areas. people interested in authentication/privacy should use ripem.

It sounds like someone needs to take a stand against the UCS policies at Buffalo or else they are going to go farther and farther... Trust me, that is happening on this campus too. I used to go to high school here on the other end of campus. It was a new HS when I started (first graduating class) so they had a lot to learn. I walked in, found the manager of the LAN and other sundry computer duties, and told him, "I would like to help you out in any way I can. I would suggest enlisting my help, because you don't want me on the other side." I thought it was kinda cute with the right balance of cockiness... Well, he didn't enlist my help... He gave up coordination of the LAN after a lot of student troubles and the next guy was a real tyrant. If it weren't for the work of five "lab supervisors" (i.e. student assistants to the sysadmin) the system would have fallen last year. I was one of the five and we worked very hard to keep the students' interests in mind while steering policy to an open and simple system. Now that we are gone, they made the policy more restrictive step by step. A student presumably got access to the sysadmin's account and changed all of the Novell stuff around so that the students were sysadmin but the sysadmin couldn't get into the network at all. (oops) Now they have gone to a closed lab policy: each person has to run his/her student ID through a scanner, gets assigned a computer, and is watched like prey. Any files that have "questionable" content or are named "unsuitably" are deleted and the student loses his/her account for a few days. They are suspending kids for a week just because they bypass the program that lets the sysadmin view their screen. Granted, this LAN is owned and operated by the school, but they would not set a policy even when we proposed one to them that was in their favor (at the time). So, the policy changes from day to day and the students, being the oppressed, get the short end of the stick. I have taken myself out of the situation as much as I can... Strangely, I now work for the university's LAN support group, but they know better than to assign me to jobs dealing with the HS. The students have no voice there--I realize that minors do not have freedom of speech, but grievances should be heard and policy should be decided in an unbiased way. I disagree with some of what the students are doing, but I abhor the policy (or lack thereof) of dealing with "crimes" by the students. If you want to let Buffalo take a turn for the worse as far as policy goes, then don't say anything about their decisions. I would NONviolently oppose whatever you think is not right. The questions I have for you are: how do you get an account on their system? If every student is given one (like our VMS system at BSU) then they will likely not take it away if you fight for your rights. If you have to request the account and they disable them as soon as you no longer "need" them, you should be careful about which channels you use... I would have friends complain for you. :) Do it anonymously through a remailer... No matter what, if you are passive, you'll lose. Chael Hall -- Chael Hall nowhere@bsu-cs.bsu.edu, 00CCHALL@BSUVC.BSU.EDU (317) 285-3648 after 5 pm EST