The Gator Corporation designs software to display advertisements on users’ computer screens, triggered in part by the specific web sites users visit. The author has developed an automated method of determining which specific advertisements Gator has associated with which web sites, data that may be helpful to web site operators, policy-makers, and others in assessing Gator’s practices. This article offers listings of more than eight thousand specific sites targeted by Gator as well as analysis of the advertisements shown. An interface is also available to let interested Internet users to test Gator’s advertisements on their own.
Benjamin Edelman v. N2H2, Inc.
I sought to research and document sites categorized and restricted by Internet blocking program N2H2. N2H2’s block site list is protected by technical measures including an encryption system, but I sought to write software that would nonetheless allow me to access, analyze, and report its contents. However, I feared that conducting this work might expose me to liability for violation of the N2H2 License, of the Copyright Act of 1976, and of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, as well as for misappropriation of N2H2’s trade secrets. With representation by the ACLU, I therefore sought from federal court a declaratory judgement that I could conduct this research and publication without fear of liability.
Web Sites Sharing IP Addresses: Prevalence and Significance
Web Sites Sharing IP Addresses: Prevalence and Significance. (September 2013)
More than 87% of active domain names are found to share their IP addresses (i.e. their web servers) with one or more additional domains, and more than two third of active domain names share their addresses with fifty or more additional domains. While this IP sharing is typically transparent to ordinary users, it causes complications for those who seek to filter the Internet, restrict users’ ability to access certain controversial content on the basis of the IP address used to host that content. With so many sites sharing IP addresses, IP-based filtering efforts are bound to produce “overblocking” — accidental and often unanticipated denial of access to web sites that abide by the stated filtering rules.
Replacement of Google with Alternative Search Systems in China: Documentation and Screen Shots with Jonathan Zittrain
The authors are studying Internet filtering in countries worldwide, and current investigations focus on restrictions on web access in China. Using a web-based system to test web filtering in China, the authors previously determined and confirmed that Google was inaccessible from at least one testing location in China; initially, in testing beginning August 29, a request for Google led to the error “host not found,” consistent with requests for other inaccessible or blocked sites. However, using related methods, the authors have now confirmed and documented reports that Chinese Internet access currently provides pages other than the ordinary Google home page in response to requests for google.com; such behavior is believed to have begun on September 8. The screen shots in this article document six instances of this replacement. Full article.
Qualified as expert in Internet filtering over objections from US Department of Justice
In Multnomah County Public Library et al., vs. United States of America, et al. (an ACLU challenge to the Children’s Internet Protection Act), I prepared an expert report, then was offered as an expert for oral testimony. Counsel for the United States of America challenged my credentials, remarking on my youth and lack of a relevant degree. The United States’ challenge was overruled.
The voir dire challenge of my designation as an expert:
Q Mr. Edelman, the highest academic degree that currently hold is a high school diploma, isn’t that correct?
A That’s correct.
Q The undergraduate degree that you expect to receive in June of this year is the only undergraduate degree that you will hold when you receive it, isn’t that right?
A That’s correct.
Q And that undergraduate degree that you have yet to receive that you will receive in June of 2002 will be in economics, is that correct?
A I will in June of 2002 receive a undergraduate degree in economics, that’s correct.
Q And you will not receive any degree in computer sciences, is that correct?
A That’s correct.
Q You don’t belong to any professional associations currently, is that right?
A That’s correct.
Q And you currently hold no professional licenses, is that correct?
A That’s correct.
Q You have not published any articles in any scholarly journals, is that correct?
A That’s correct.
Q And you have not published any peer reviewed articles of any kind is that correct?
A That’s correct.
JUDGE BARTLE: He may have no peers.
Q You testified that you spent nine years doing consulting for various organizations, is that right?
A Yes.
Q And you began that consulting while you were still in junior high school, isn’t that right?
A That’s correct.
Q You currently other than the teaching responsibilities that you have at Harvard College you don’t hold as formal teaching appointment, do you?
A I do not.
Q You also testified that you previously given testimony in Federal Court, is that right?
A Yes.
Q On one occasion you testified before an Federal District Court, is that correct?
A That’s correct.
Q You were not deposed for purposes of that testimony were you?
A I was not.
BHATTACHARYYA: I render my objection, Your Honors, to the qualifications of this witness as an expert under the Federal Rules of Evidence.
Remarks by the three-judge panel in qualifying me as an expert:
JUDGE BECKER: Well, I would observe that some of the great figures in history have been autodidacts … could spend a half a morning listening to all of the autodidacts.
[Rule] 702 says that it’s scientific technical or otherwise specialized knowledge, assist in the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue. In other words the helpfulness standard. A witness qualified as an expert by knowledge, skill, experience, training or education may testify thereto in the form of an opinion. That’s the applicable standard.
I know how I’m prepared to rule. Judge Fullam?
JUDGE FULLAM: I have two reasons for ruling the same way. One is that we waited just so we could hear this witness, and I think that would be a terrible waste.
The other is that I happen to on occasion rely upon my six year old grandchild for advice on the internet and computer.
JUDGE BECKER: Okay. Ms. Bhattacharyya, your objection is overruled. Mr. Edelman is qualified to give expert testimony.
Expert Report and Appendices for Multnomah County Public Library et al., vs. United States of America, et al.
I had the honor of testifying, in writing and orally, in Multnomah County Public Library et al., vs. United States of America, et al., an ACLU challenge to the Children’s Internet Protection Act. My expert report, rebuttal report, and supplemental report include documentation of specific pages wrongly blocked by adult filters.
See also my oral testimony including the United States’ attempt to prevent me from being qualified as an expert.
Shortcomings and Challenges in the Restriction of Internet Retransmissions of Over-the-Air Television Content to Canadian Internet Users
My expert memorandum Shortcomings and Challenges in the Restriction of Internet Retransmissions of Over-the-Air Television Content to Canadian Internet Users was attached to the National Association of Broadcasters’ submission to Industry Canada in its 2001 evaluation of retransmission of commercial television content over the Internet.
Privacy & Security Violations at Buy.com
In October 2000, I noticed that buy.com‘s product return system allowed any Internet user to view prepaid UPS return labels intended for use by some 45,000+ Buy.com customers. Labels included customers’ names, addresses, and phone numbers. Buy.com has since fixed the problem, replacing the information with an error message, but I kept a sample of the data that was temporarily publicly accessible. See coverage of the story in major media.
Expert Declarations in National Football League, et al., v. TVRADIONOW Corporation (iCraveTV)
I had the honor of submitting testimony, both in two expert declarations and orally, in National Football League, et al., v. TVRADIONOW Corporation (iCraveTV), litigation in federal court as to the propriety of iCraveTV’s retransmission of certain American television video to users nationwide and worldwide. My initial expert declaration and supplemental expert declaration.
Using Trumpet On Netcruiser Accounts
I devised a way to use Trumpet Winsock (then the best-established and most flexible way of connecting Windows computers to the Internet ) with Netcom Netcruiser (then the cheapest nationwide unlimited ISP). Method and instructions (obsolete).