[Legal] (no subject)

Вт Апр 2 10:17:30 MSD 2002

Кто-нибудь знает, что за зверь упомянутая Section 508 of the
Rehabilitation Act, ╖1194.22, which defines access requirements for
government Web?

http://www.linuxworld.com/site-stories/2002/0401.fcc.html >>>

 FCC forces Ham radio operators to use Windows
Applying for or renewing an amateur radio license? If you ain't using Microsoft Windows, fugetaboutit.
Summary
'Linux? Step to the back of the bus, please. This section is reserved for Windows users only.' That's the message everyone but Microsoft Windows users get when they wish to do more than browse the FCC's Web site. Ironic that an agency bearing the name 'communications' does such a lousy job of it. (1,200 words)
<http://www.linuxworld.com/images/el_divsquare.gif>
By Joe Barr

(LinuxWorld) -- Early in January, I sent e-mail to each of the four FCC commissioners: Michael Powell, Kathleen Abernathy, Michael Copps, and Kevin Martin. Their names are displayed prominently on the FCC homepage (see Resources for the URL) so it seemed completely natural and fitting that I contact them about a problem on the FCC Web site. My complaint was that certain functionality on the site is not available to me because I use Linux instead of Windows. I never received a response from any commissioner.

I first became aware of the problem last year when a friend of mine, a lawyer and Linux aficionado, sent me a copy of a letter he had mailed to FCC Chairman Michael Powell. The letter asked that the FCC stop the "wholly unnecessary and entirely unconscionable" practice of providing online license renewals for amateur radio licenses only to users of Windows. Like me, my friend never received a reply.

Then I pretty much forgot about the issue. After all, it did not affect my daily life. Recently I began studying for a ham license. I mentioned that to another friend who happens to be a licensed amateur radio operator. That reminded her that she needed to report a recent change of address to the FCC. When she tried to do so from my desktop computer, the following pop-up window appeared in the browser:

[Windows NT/95]

Ugly, isn't it? Not just the popup. Not just the message. I mean the fact that the FCC is helping Microsoft in its illegal practices to maintain its monopoly. Intentional or not, that's the result here. Moreover, it appears to have been in place since the ULS first went online. I found a newsgroup post from August of 1999 that said "I did notice one of the other FCC Web page popped up with a window saying 'This plug-in is only available for Windows 95/98'. I have no clue what the plug-in did."

Whoever wrote the ULS applications, and thus far, I haven't been able to learn where it came from, or who currently maintains it, used JavaScript for the task. There is huge irony in this because JavaScript, like Java itself, was designed to provide interoperability across different platforms. To fashion a Windows-only JavaScript application requires either deliberate intent or myopic programmers. I asked some JavaScript experts how to create Windows-only code. Most opined it is the result of using Microsoft's ActiveX. If they are right, it means this site's functionality not only flies in the face of interoperability and open access to all, it's fundamentally insecure as well.

In my e-mail to the commissioners I wrote, "The problem as reported to me -- and as confirmed by a friend this past weekend -- is that certain functionality on the FCC Web site is available only to Windows users. Specifically, the JavaScript or CGI used to allow Ham radio operators to update their licensing information online. This leaves Hams using Macintosh, Linux, OS/2, FreeBSD, OpenBSD and other operating systems out in the cold."

I also asked the obvious question, "As the Internet, HTML, and Java are all about the interoperability of different types of computers and software platforms, how does it come about that a governmental agency implements a solution available only to a single platform?" I noted that since JavaScript works on many different platforms, making a JavaScript application "Windows only" seems to require deliberate intent.

Mr. Barr calls Washington
After a week, and not a word in reply from any of the FCC commissioners, I took it to the next level: I picked up the phone and called the FCC. When I asked to speak to their media relations people, the operator asked what my call was about. When I said it was about functionality on the FCC Web site, they directed my call not to public relations, but to David Kitzmiller, the FCC Webmaster.

Kitzmiller knew which corner of the bureaucracy to look in for answers, even though it didn't fall directly under his purview. He copied me on a portion of the e-mail he sent to the Wireless Telecommunications Bureau (WTB), who evidently is responsible for relations with the contractor providing the ULS services.

His e-mail appeared to be aimed at the right people, asking that they do the right things to fix the problem. In addition, he asked that they update the site's help and support pages to explain the situation. He concluded it by saying "let me know what happens with this, since we get quite a few e-mails to webmaster на fcc.gov on this subject." That was January 15, 2002.

For several weeks afterwards, I would query Kitzmiller for the latest status on the fix. Finally, I exhausted his patience. He told me on February 22 that he had been told by someone or something called "TPTB" at the WTB that the problem was bigger than they first thought. However, he went on to say that it would still be fixed. He quoted TPTB saying, "The FCC is in the process of revising the software and the revised software will work with Linux. The first application to be revised will be License Search later this month. Other ULS applications will follow."

Here we are a month beyond the promised date for implementing the first fix, and it still isn't in place. Neither have the help/support pages been updated as Kitzmiller requested.

Some active Ham friends of mine have suggested that the FCC site is in violation of Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, ╖1194.22, which defines access requirements for government Web sites among other things. I've asked the GSA this question directly, but have yet to receive a reply.

Time for the soapbox
I can almost understand the buffoonery of the FCC commissioners. Colin Powell's son Michael and the others have other things to do than be concerned about ordinary citizens trying to avail themselves of ordinary services on their Web site. They certainly can't be held accountable if the FCC's Web site is "accidentally" helping Microsoft maintain its malignant monopoly. In fact, they can't even be counted on to answer their mail: paper or electronic. They are busy with other things. They have bigger fish to fry.

Bigger fish like making sure the cable companies are unfettered by the regulations that bind their broadband competition at the Baby Bells. And defending themselves from the rash of lawsuits that action has spawned.

Some of their bigger fish don't live in the corporate pond, but in the pond of public morality. Like the integrity (or lack thereof) of individual amateur radio operators. Like Kevin Mitnick, for example. Mitnick has held and used his Ham license for 25 years. The FCC blocked his recent application for renewal, and not on the basis of any misuse of the license, but because he was convicted of computer crime.

Sagging as they must be under the weight of those awesome responsibilities, it's easy to see why I was pointed away from them and towards Kitzmiller. Speaking of Kitzmiller, I just received an update from him this morning. (Ed. Barr wrote this Friday, March 28, 2002. ) Kitzmiller wrote that the License Search application is now "available." When I raced to the Web site to try it, the new "Linux friendly" version had yet to appear. It does sound as if it is on the way, however. Maybe folks who don't do Windows won't have to ride in the back of this bus for too much longer. <http://www.idg.net/microsites/javaworld/javaworld/icons/dingbat.gif>

<http://www.linuxworld.com/images/shim.gif> <http://www.linuxworld.com/images/shim.gif> <http://www.linuxworld.com/images/shim.gif> About the author
Joe Barr is a freelance journalist covering Linux, open source, and network security. His 'Open Source' column has been a regular feature of LinuxWorld.com since its inception. As far as we know, he is the only living journalist whose works have appeared both in phrack, the legendary underground zine, and IBM Personal Systems Magazine.

<http://www.linuxworld.com/images/shim.gif> <http://www.linuxworld.com/images/shim.gif> <http://www.linuxworld.com/images/shim.gif> Resources

RELATED STORIES
╥ How to get Linux on your corporate desktop (LinuxWorld)

RELATED SITES
╥ FCC homepage
╥ FCC Universal Licensing System
╥ FCC statement on Mitnick
╥ FCC sued by consumer groups and cable competitors
╥ Section 508 Checklist
╥ Guide to the Section 508 Standards for Electronic and Information Technology

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